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To roll or wind together; to roll or twist one part on another. Then Satan first knew pain, And writhed him to and fro convolved. Milton.

The act of choosing; selection; choice. [Obs.] The first election and coöptation of a friend. Howell.

pattern, model, or example; as, his virtues are an excellent copy for imitation. Let him first learn to write, after a copy, all the letters. Holder.

A member of a French political club of the time of the first Revolution, of which Danton and Marat were members, and which met in an old Cordelier convent in Paris.

secure a mantle in some costumes of state. Cordon bleu (kd" bl Etym: [F., blue cordon], a first-rate cook, or one worthy to be the cook of the cordons bleus, or Knights of the Holy Ghost, famous for their good dinners. -- Cordon sanitaire (kd" s Etym: [F., sanitary cordon], a line of troops or military posts around a…

, or propriety; to rectify; as, to correct manners or principles. This is a defect in the first make of same men's minds which can scarce ever be corrected afterwards. T. Burnet.

alk, and arising from different points of a common axis, the outermost blossoms expanding first, as in the hawthorn.

mproving beauty, particularly the beauty of the complexion; as, a cosmetical preparation. First, robed in white, the nymph intent adores, With head uncovered, the cosmetic powers. Pope.

ise of deliberate judgment; prudence. They all confess, therefore, in the working of that first cause, that counsel is used. Hooker.

ves a copy in reverse, and of course in the same position as that of plate from which the first was printed, the object being to enable the engraver to inspect the state of the plate. -- Counter revolution, a revolution opposed to a former one, and restoring a former state of things. -- Counter revolutionist, one eng…

n lowly sheds, With smoky rafters, than in tapestry walls And courts of princes, where it first was named, And yet is most pretended. Milton. Pardon me, Messer Claudio, if once more I use the ancient courtesies of speech. Longfellow.

A first cousin. See Note under Cousin, 1.

A stone placed on the impost of a pier for receiving the first stone of an arch.

The first joint of the leg of an insect or crustacean.

The well-browned, crisp rind of roasted pork. For the first time in his life he tested crackling. Lamb.

rmerly worn in many parts of Europe; -- so called from Cracow, in Poland, where they were first worn in the fourteenth century. Fairholt.

In the game of craps, a first throw of the dice in which the total is two, three, or twelve, in which case the caster loses.

A manger or open frame for hay; a crib; a rack. [Obs.] Begin from first where He encradled was, In simple cratch, wrapt in a wad of hay. Spenser. Cratch cradle, a representation of the figure of the cratch, made upon the fingers with a string; cat's cradle; -- called also scratch cradle.

A Crawford peach; a well-known freestone peach, wich yellow flesh, first raised by Mr. William Crawford, of New Jersey.

A fine, small line, fastened to a hawk's leash, when it is first lured.