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Neat, without elegance or dignity; -- formerly applied to things with a serious meaning; now chiefly applied to persons. "Neat and spruce array." Remedy of Love.

. -- Pair of stairs, a set or flight of stairs. -- pair, in this phrase, having its old meaning of a set. See Pair, n., 1. -- Run of stars (Arch.), a single set of stairs, or section of a stairway, from one platform to the next. -- Stair rod, a rod, usually of metal, for holding a stair carpet to its place. -- Up…

being or thing at any given time. State is a term nearly synonymous with "mode," but of a meaning more extensive, and is not exclusively limited to the mutable and contingent. Sir W. Hamilton. Declare the past and present state of things. Dryden. Keep the state of the question in your eye. Boyle.

A combining form meaning solid, hard, firm, as in stereo- chemistry, stereography.

Constant; continual. [Obs.] By still practice learn to know thy meaning. Shak.

To stretch beyond its proper limit; to do violence to, in the matter of intent or meaning; as, to strain the law in order to convict an accused person. There can be no other meaning in this expression, however some may pretend to strain it. Swift.

Violence; force; power. It was their meaning to take what they needed by stronghand. Sir W. Raleigh.

rs, syllable, or syllables added or appended to the end of a word or a root to modify the meaning; a postfix.

cid, etc. (as peroxide, bicarbonate, disulphide, and acid sulphate), which retain the old meanings of super-, but with sharper definition. Cf. Acid, a., Bi-, Di-, and Per-.

ed to large orchestral works in freer form, with arguments or programmes to explain their meaning, such as the "symphonic poems" of Liszt. The term was formerly applied to any composition for an orchestra, as overtures, etc., and still earlier, to certain compositions partly vocal, partly instrumental.…

A prefix meaning with, along with, together, at the same time. Syn- becomes sym- before p, b, and m, and syl- before l.

The quality of being synonymous; sameness of meaning.

To prate; to talk idly; to use many words with little meaning; to chat. The tattling quality of age, which is always narrative. Dryden.

A repetition of the same meaning in different words; needless repetition of an idea in different words or phrases; a representation of anything as the cause, condition, or consequence of itself, as in the following lines: -- The dawn is overcast, the morning lowers, And heavily in clouds brings on the day. Addison.…

ch holds on through a discourse; the general drift or course of thought; purport; intent; meaning; understanding. When it [the bond] is paid according to the tenor. Shak. Does not the whole tenor of the divine law positively require humility and meekness to all men Spart.

A word or expression; specifically, one that has a precisely limited meaning in certain relations and uses, or is peculiar to a science, art, profession, or the like; as, a technical term. "Terms quaint of law." Chaucer. In painting, the greatest beauties can not always be expressed for want of terms. Dryden.…

A word placed before nouns to limit or individualize their meaning.

A high order of angels in the celestial hierarchy; -- a meaning given by the schoolmen. Milton. Great Sire! whom thrones celestial ceaseless sing. Young.

ord from the vocabulary of Mrs. Quickly, the hostess in Shakespeare's Henry IV., probably meaning terror.

lmost constant prefix to the infinitive, even in situations where it has no prepositional meaning, as where the infinitive is direct object or subject; thus, I love to learn, i.e., I love learning; to die for one's country is noble, i.e., the dying for one's country. Where the infinitive denotes the design or purpose,…