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of gravity or modesty. They . . . looked as demurely as they could; for 't was a hanging matter to laugh unseasonably. Dryden.

action, for the judgment of the court on the question, whether, assuming the truth of the matter alleged by the opposite party, it is sufficient in law to sustain the action or defense, and hence whether the party resting is bound to answer or proceed further. Demurrer to evidence, an exception taken by a party to the…

the constituent parts massed or crowded together; close; compact; thick; containing much matter in a small space; heavy; opaque; as, a dense crowd; a dense forest; a dense fog. All sorts of bodies, firm and fluid, dense and rare. Ray. To replace the cloudy barrier dense. Cowper.

The ratio of mass, or quantity of matter, to bulk or volume, esp. as compared with the mass and volume of a portion of some substance used as a standard.

he dense calcified substance of which teeth are largely composed. It contains less animal matter than bone, and in the teeth of man is situated beneath the enamel.

A matter depending, or in suspense, and still to be determined; ground of controversy or quarrel. [Obs.] To go on now with my first dependence. Beau. & Fl.

To deprive of superabundant water, as by evaporation or distillation; to clear of aqueous matter; to rectify; -- used of spirits and acids.

That is deposited, or laid or thrown down; as, a deposit in a flue; especially, matter precipitated from a solution (as the siliceous deposits of hot springs), or that which is mechanically deposited (as the mud, gravel, etc., deposits of a river). The deposit already formed affording to the succeeding portion of the c…

That which is deposited; matter laid or thrown down; sediment; alluvial matter; as, banks are sometimes depositions of alluvial matter.

To free from impurities, heterogeneous matter, or feculence; to purify; to cleanse. To depurate the mass of blood. Boyle.

The act or process of depurating or freeing from foreign or impure matter, as a liquid or wound.

f ascend. The rain descended, and the floods came. Matt. vii. 25. We will here descend to matters of later date. Fuller.

One who business it is so detect criminals or discover matters of secrecy.

To cleanse; to purge away, as foul or offending matter from the body, or from an ulcer.

The lifeless food matter in the cytoplasm of an ovum or a cell, as distinguished from the active or true protoplasm; yolk substance; yolk.

rifying, or the state of being devitrified. Specifically, the conversion of molten glassy matter into a stony mass by slow cooling, the result being the formation of crystallites, microbites, etc., in the glassy base, which are then called devitrification products.

Dewrotting; the process of decomposing the gummy matter of flax and hemp and setting the fibrous part, by exposure on a sward to dew, rain, and sunshine.

ine. Most frequently the urine is not only increased in quantity, but contains saccharine matter, in which case the disease is generally fatal. Diabetes mellitus Etym: [NL., sweet diabetes], that form of diabetes in which the urine contains saccharine matter. -- Diabetes insipidus Etym: [NL., lit., diabetes], the form…

Disagreement in opinion; dissension; controversy; quarrel; hence, cause of dissension; matter in controversy. What was the difference It was a contention in public. Shak. Away therefore went I with the constable, leaving the old warden and the young constable to compose their difference as they could. T. Ellwood.…

Joining them together and digesting them into order. Blair. We have cause to be glad that matters are so well digested. Shak.