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s, by a guard, usually consisting of three or four men, to insure greater security from attacks on the outposts.

ith the beak; hence, to eat. [The hen] went pecking by his side. Dryden. To peck at, to attack with petty and repeated blows; to carp at; to nag; to tease.

A small hemipterous insect (Phylloxera vastatrix) allied to the aphids. It attacks the roots and leaves of the grapevine, doing great damage, especially in Europe.

A horseman armed with a lance, who in a bullfight receives the first attack of the bull, and excites him by picking him without attempting to kill him.

-- To give a piece of one's mind to, to speak plainly, bluntly, or severely to (another). Tackeray. -- Piece broker, one who buys shreds and remnants of cloth to sell again. -- Piece goods, goods usually sold by pieces or fixed portions, as shirtings, calicoes, sheetings, and the like.

Boar hunting; -- so called by Anglo-Indians. [Colloq.] Tackeray.

, to place three guns together so that they may stand upright, supporting each other; to stack arms.

e forces have fixed positions; -- in distinction from a skirmish. -- To pitch into, to attack; to assault; to abuse. [Slang]

k, or which appears at that pole of a voltaic battery attached to the plate that is not attacked by the exciting liquid; -- formerly called vitreous electricity; -- opposed to Ant: negative electricity. -- Positive eyepiece. See under Eyepiece. -- Positive law. See Municipal law, under Law. -- Positive motion (Mach.…

eive; to dissemble; -- in allusion to the habit of the opossum, which feigns death when attacked or alarmed.

hold, or advantage, applied to the raising or removing of heavy bodies, as by a lever, a tackle, capstan, and the like; also, the apparatus, tackle, or device by which the advantage is gained. A politician, to do great things, looks for a power -- what our workmen call a purchase. Burke.

To make an advance, attack, or effort; to be energetic; as, a man must push in order to succeed. At the time of the end shall the kind of the south push at him and the king of the north shall come against him. Dan. xi. 40. War seemed asleep for nine long years; at length Both sides resolved to push, we tried our streng…

ay a card or a hand in the game called put. To put about (Naut.), to change direction; to tack. -- To put back (Naut.), to turn back; to return. "The French . . . had put back to Toulon." Southey. -- To put forth. (a) To shoot, bud, or germinate. "Take earth from under walls where nettles put forth." Bacon. (b) To le…

A sudden attack of illness, faintness, or pain; an agony. " Qualms of heartsick agony." Milton.

. Mark vi. 19. No man hath any quarrel to me. Shak. He thought he had a good quarrel to attack him. Holinshed.

n of nearly pure gold with enough silver to reduce the fineness so as to allow acids to attack and remove all metals except the gold; -- called also inquartation. Compare Parting.

An attack or invasion for the purpose of making arrests, seizing property, or plundering; as, a raid of the police upon a gambling house; a raid of contractors on the public treasury. [Colloq. U. S.]

To let go; as in the command, Raise tacks and sheets, i. e., Let go tacks and sheets.

To attack with raillery, either in good humor and pleasantry, or with slight contempt or satire. Honeycomb . . . raillies me upon a country life. Addison. Strephon had long confessed his amorous pain. Which gay Corinna rallied with disdain. Gay.

Rising with fore paws in the air as if attacking; -- said of a beast of prey, especially a lion. The right fore leg and right hind leg should be raised higher than the left. Rampant arch. (a) An arch which has one abutment higher than the other. (b) Same as Rampant vault, below. -- Rampant gardant (Her.), rampant, but…