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ing or hindering; obstruction of action, access, or approach; thwarting. South. Casca, be sudden, for we fear prevention. Shak.

of being prostrate; great depression; lowness; dejection; as, a postration of spirits. "A sudden prostration of strength." Arbuthnot.

A sudden and single emission of breath from the mouth; hence, any sudden or short blast of wind; a slight gust; a whiff. " To every puff of wind a slave." Flatman.

A sudden attack of illness, faintness, or pain; an agony. " Qualms of heartsick agony." Milton.

enabled him to quell the disaffected minority. Macaulay. Northward marching to quell the sudden revolt. Longfellow.

To cool suddenly, as heated steel, in tempering.

A sudden turn; a starting from the point or line; hence, an artful evasion or subterfuge; a shift; a quibble; as, the quirks of a pettifogger. "Some quirk or . . . evasion." Spenser. We ground the justification of our nonconformity on dark subtilties and intricate quirks. Barrow.

A hostile or predatory incursion; an inroad or incursion of mounted men; a sudden and rapid invasion by a cavalry force; a foray. Marauding chief! his sole delight. The moonlight raid, the morning fight. Sir W. Scott. There are permanent conquests, temporary occupation, and occasional raids. H. Spenser.…

nne." Chaucer. All they could rap and rend pilfer. Hudibras. -- To rap out, to utter with sudden violence, as an oath. A judge who rapped out a great oath. Addison.

Sudden in action; quick; hasty. [Obs.] "Strong as aconitum or rash gunpowder." Shak.

Repercussion, or beating back; a quick and sudden resistance. The strong rebuff of some tumultuous cloud. Milton.

ng; a holding in mind, or bringing to mind; recollection. Lest fierce remembrance wake my sudden rage. Milton. Lest the remembrance of his grief should fail. Addison.

A causal combat or action; a sudden contest or fight without premeditation, as between individuals or small parties. The confederates should . . . outnumber the enemy in all rencounters and engagements. Addison.

To separate into parts with force or sudden violence; to tear asunder; to split; to burst; as, powder rends a rock in blasting; lightning rends an oak. The dreadful thunder Doth rend the region. Shak.

ake a delicious retreat. L'Estrange. That pleasing shade they sought, a soft retreat From sudden April showers, a shelter from the heat. Dryden.

To hold back; to repress; to restrain. [Obs.] [She] still strove their sudden rages to revoke. Spenser.

A sudden reaction; a sudden and complete change; -- applied to the feelings. A sudden and violent revulsion of feeling, both in the Parliament and the country, followed. Macaulay.

Increasing; strengthening; -- a direction indicating a sudden increase of force (abbreviated rf., rfz.) Cf. Forzando, and Sforzando.

s of Old World picarian birds of the family Coraciadæ. The name alludes to their habit of suddenly turning over or "tumbling" in flight.

To wake from sleep or repose; as, to rouse one early or suddenly.