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an Catholic in praying; a third of a rosary, or fifty beads. Her chaplet of beads and her missal. Longfellow.

A commissure; especially, the optic commissure, or crucial union of the optic nerves. -- Chi*as"mal (, a..

alachian) allied to the Choctaws. They formerly occupied the northern part of Alabama and Mississippi, but now live in the Indian Territory.

Resembling a child, or that which belongs to children; becoming a child; meek; submissive; dutiful. "Childlike obedience." Hooker.

kindly; gentle; beneficent. The graceful tact; the Christian art. Tennyson. Christian Commission. See under Commission. -- Christian court. Same as Ecclesiastical court. -- Christian era, the present era, commencing with the birth of Christ. It is supposed that owing to an error of a monk (Dionysius Exiguus, d. abou…

ate alphabet, system of characters, or other mode of writing, contrived for the safe transmission of secrets; also, a writing in such characters. His father . . . engaged him when he was very young to write all his letters to England in cipher. Bp. Burnet. Cipher key, a key to assist in reading writings in cipher.…

The act of passing from place to place or person to person; free diffusion; transmission. The true doctrines of astronomy appear to have had some popular circulation. Whewell.

Surrounding the esophagus; -- in Zool. said of the nerve commissures and ganglia of arthropods and mollusks.

positive evidence in that the latter is the testimony of eyewitnesses to a fact or the admission of a party; but the prevalent opinion now is that all such testimony is dependent on circumstances for its support. All testimony is more or less circumstantial. Wharton.

documents required by law, give bonds, or perform other acts requisite, and procure a permission to sail, and such papers as the law requires. -- To clear a ship for action, or To clear for action (Naut.), to remove incumbrances from the decks, and prepare for an engagement. -- To clear the land (Naut.), to gain suc…

A certificate that a ship or vessel has been cleared at the customhouse; permission to sail. Every ship was subject to seizure for want of stamped clearances. Durke

leness, or readiness; stiff; awkward, as if benumbed; unwieldy; unhandy; hence; ill-made, misshapen, or inappropriate; as, a clumsy person; a clumsy workman; clumsy fingers; a clumsy gesture; a clumsy excuse. But thou in clumsy verse, unlicked, unpointed, Hast shamefully defied the Lord's anointed. Dryden.…

sight. Dryden. Fig.: There are no obstacles. "Seeing that the coast was clear, Zelmane dismissed Musidorus." Sir P. Sidney. Coast guard. (a) A body of men originally employed along the coast to prevent smuggling; now, under the control of the admiralty, drilled as a naval reserve. [Eng.] (b) The force employed in lifes…

To draw back the hammer of a firearm, and set it for firing. Cocked, fired, and missed his man. Byron.

rror as to act convulsively. At the same time coercion is not negatived by the fact of submission under force. "Coactus volui" (I consented under compulsion) is the condition of mind which, when there is volition forced by coercion, annuls the result of such coercion. Wharton.

d other refreshments, and where men meet for conversation. The coffeehouse must not be dismissed with a cursory mention. It might indeed, at that time, have been not improperly called a most important political institution . . . The coffeehouses were the chief organs through which the public opinion of the metropolis v…

Wanting in power to excite; dull; uninteresting. What a deal of cold business doth a man misspend the better part of life in! B. Jonson. The jest grows cold . . . when in comes on in a second scene. Addison.

An officer appointed and commissioned to collect and receive customs, duties, taxes, or toll. A great part of this is now embezzled . . . by collectors, and other officers. Sir W. Temple.

The office, rank, or commission of a colonel.

aceous formation of western North America, especially developed in Colorado and the upper Missouri region.