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To be wanting; to fall short; to be or become deficient in any measure or degree up to total absence; to cease to be furnished in the usual or expected manner, or to be altogether cut off from supply; to be lacking; as, streams fail; crops fail. As the waters fail from the sea. Job xiv. 11. Till Lionel's issue fails, h…

ship; also, to discover or come near, as land. (c) To concur with; to agree with; as, the measure falls in with popular opinion. (d) To comply; to yield to. "You will find it difficult to persuade learned men to fall in with your projects." Addison. -- To fall off. (a) To drop; as, fruits fall off when ripe. (b) To wi…

A dry measure in Spain and Spanish America, varying from 1 De Colange.

A measure of quantity, differing for different commodities. [Obs.] Hebert.

A measure of length, containing six feet; the space to which a man can extend his arms; -- used chiefly in measuring cables, cordage, and the depth of navigable water by soundings.

A false step; a mistake or wrong measure.

A measure of land mentioned in Domesday Book. It is supposed to have consisted of a few acres only. [Obs.]

The breadth of a finger, or the fourth part of the hand; a measure of nearly an inch; also, the length of finger, a measure in domestic use in the United States, of about four and a half inches or one eighth of a yard. A piece of steel three fingers thick. Bp. Wilkins.

A varying measure of capacity, usually being the fourth part of a barrel; specifically, a measure equal to nine imperial gallons. [Eng.]

A dry measure formerly used in Scotland; the fourth part of a boll of grain or meal. The Linlithgow wheat firlot was to the imperial bushel as 998 to 1000; the barley firlot as 1456 to 1000. Brande & C.

The state or quality of being fit; as, the fitness of measures or laws; a person's fitness for office.

A measure of length equivalent to twelve inches; one third of a yard. See Yard.

The breadth of a foot; -- used as a measure. Longfellow. Not so much as a footbreadth. Deut. ii. 5.

Tread; step; especially, measured tread. Hark, I hear the footing of a man. Shak.

ahead of; to preoccupy; also, to exclude, hinder, or prevent, by prior occupation, or by measures taken in advance.

An advanced stage of progress or of preparation; advancement; as, his measures were in great forwardness. Robertson.

To take the ffirst steps or measures in erecting or building up; to furnish the materials for beginning; to begin to raise; to originate; as, to found a college; to found a family. There they shall found Their government, and their great senate choose. Milton.

regulate; to shape; to conform. And frame my face to all occasions. Shak. We may in some measure frame our minds for the reception of happiness. Landor. The human mind is framed to be influenced. I. Taylor.

Complete measure; utmost extent; the highest state or degree. The swan's-down feather, That stands upon the swell at full of tide. Shak. Full of the moon, the time of full moon.

Movable goods which may be valued by weight or measure, in contradistinction from those which must be judged of individually. Jamieson.