Search the Dictionary

Timid; fearful; cowardly. Bunyan.

upper third part of the field. It is supposed to be composed of the dexter, sinister, and middle chiefs. In chief. (a) At the head; as, a commander in chief. (b) (Eng. Law) From the king, or sovereign; as, tenure in chief, tenure directly from the king.

The tumid upper lip of certain mammals, as of a camel.

sm to accompany the striking of the hours or their divisions. We have heard the chimes at midnight. Shak.

the buttercup family, which in Southern Europe often produces beautiful roselike flowers midwinter. -- Christmas tree, a small evergreen tree, set up indoors, to be decorated with bonbons, presents, etc., and illuminated on Christmas eve.

A costly cloth, of uncertain material, used in the Middle Ages. [Obs.] [Written also checklaton, chekelatoun.] His robe was of ciclatoun, That coste many a Jane. Chaucer.

d, earth, or stone, rising in tiers one above another, and divided lengthwise through the middle by a barrier around which the track or course was laid out. It was used for chariot races, games, and public shows.

bited by the ancient Greeks and Romans, or rendered famous by their deeds. Though throned midst Latium's classic plains. Mrs. Hemans. The epithet classical, as applied to ancient authors, is determined less by the purity of their style than by the period at which they wrote. Brande & C. He [Atterbury] directed the clas…

prattle; chattering. [Scot. & North of Eng.] Emmy found herself entirely at a loss in the midst of their clavers. Thackeray.

Adroitly; dexterously. Middleton.

th a line or rope so as to hold securely and yet be readily released. It is bolted by the middle to a deck or mast, etc., or it may be lashed to a rope.

parts of bodies; as, the ground cleaves by frost. The Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst. Zech. xiv. 4.

Incised nearly to the midrob; as, a cleft leaf.

quator to the pole was divided, according to the successive increase of the length of the midsummer day.

therefore, a very thick sole. Cf. Chopine. In France the peasantry goes barefoot; and the middle sort . . . makes use of wooden clogs. Harvey. Clog almanac, a primitive kind of almanac or calendar, formerly used in England, made by cutting notches and figures on the four edges of a clog, or square piece of wood, brass,…

which the public opinion of the metropolis vented itself . . . Every man of the upper or middle class went daily to his coffeehouse to learn the news and discuss it. Every coffeehouse had one or more orators, to whose eloquence the crowd listened with admiration, and who soon became what the journalists of our own tim…

d allied animals, inclosed within the hoof, and corresponding to the third phalanx of the middle finger, or toe, of most mammals. -- Coffin joint, the joint next above the coffin bone.

An actor or player in comedy. "The famous comedian, Roscius." Middleton.

o the comitia, or popular assembles of the Romans for electing officers and passing laws. Middleton.

by partitions, or lines; as, the compartments of a cabinet, a house, or a garden. In the midst was placed a large compartment composed of grotesque work. Carew.