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rule, a thin strip of brass separating columns of type in the form, and making a line between them in printing.

Mildness and suavity of manners; courtesy between equals; friendly equals; friendly civility; as, comity of manners; the comity of States. Comity of nations (International Law), the courtesy by which nations recognize within their own territory, or in their courts, the peculiar institutions of another nation or the rig…

A small interval (the difference beyween a major and minor half step), seldom used except by tuners. Comma bacillus (Physiol.), a variety of bacillus shaped like a comma, found in the intestines of patients suffering from cholera. It is considered by some as having a special relation to the disease; -- called also chol…

buying and selling of commodities; esp. the exchange of merchandise, on a large scale, between different places or communities; extended trade or traffic. The public becomes powerful in proportion to the opulence and extensive commerce of private men. Hume.

a commissioner or commissioners during the abeyance of the ordinary administration, as between the going out of one lord keeper and accession of another. [Eng.] -- The United States Christians Commission, an organization among the people of the North, during the Civil War, which afforded material comforts to the Union…

The point of union between two parts, as the angles of the lips or eyelids, the mandibles of a bird, etc.

owner or with other persons; -- so called from the community of interest which arises between the claimant of the right and the owner of the soil, or between the claimants and other commoners entitled to the same right. Common appendant, a right belonging to the owners or occupiers of arable land to put commonable bea…

Communion; sympathetic intercourse or conversation between friends. For days of happy commune dead. Tennyson.

Intercourse between two or more persons; esp., intimate association and intercourse implying sympathy and confidence; interchange of thoughts, purposes, etc.; agreement; fellowship; as, the communion of saints. We are naturally induced to seek communion and fellowship with others. Hooker. What communion hath light with…

Common character; likeness. [R.] The essential community of nature between organic growth and inorganic growth. H. Spencer.

as increase of travel; specif., a ticket for a certain number of, or for daily, trips between neighboring places at a reduced rate, such as are commonly used by those doing business in a city and living in a suburb. Commutation tickets are excepted from the prohibition against special rates contained in the Interstate…

An agreement between parties; a covenant or contract. The law of nations depends on mutual compacts, treaties, leagues, etc. Blackstone. Wedlock is described as the indissoluble compact. Macaulay. The federal constitution has been styled a compact between the States by which it was ratified. Wharton.…

ng compared; as, to bring a thing into comparison with another; there is no comparison between them.

. See under Logarithm. -- Arithmetical complement of a number (Math.), the difference between that number and the next higher power of 10; as, 4 is the complement of 6, and 16 of 84. -- Complement of an arc or angle (Geom.), the difference between that arc or angle and 90º. -- Complement of a parallelogram. (Math.)…

of the skin, esp. of the face. Tall was her stature, her complexion dark. Wordswoorth. Between the pale complexion of true love, And the red glow of scron and proud disdain. Shak.

tment of a debt, or avoidance of an obligation, by some form of compensation agreed on between the parties; also, the sum or amount of compensation agreed upon in the adjustment. Compositions for not taking the order of knighthood. Hallam. Cleared by composition with their creditors. Blackstone.

g understood; intelligible; conceivable by the mind. The horizon sets the bounds . . . between what is and what is not comprehensible by us. Locke.

An apparatus for confining or flattening between glass plates an object to be examined with the microscope; -- called also compressorium.

ch a combination of concave and convex sides as makes the focal axis the shortest line between them. See Illust. under Lens.

An overweening idea of one's self; vanity. Plumed with conceit he calls aloud. Cotton.