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A man or woman engaged or joined in wedlock; a married person, husband or wife. At last such grace I found, and means I wrought, That that lady to my spouse had won. Spenser.

which serves for support; a staff; a prop; a crutch; a cane. His weak steps governing And aged limbs on cypress stadle stout. Spenser.

all on each of its sides, at the external angles of plastering, to prevent their being damaged. -- The staff of life, bread. "Bread is the staff of life." Swift. -- Staff tree (Bot.), any plant of the genus Celastrus, mostly climbing shrubs of the northern hemisphere. The American species (C. scandens) is commonly ca…

start a mill; to start a stream of water; to start a rumor; to start a business. I was engaged in conversation upon a subject which the people love to start in discourse. Addison.

In the Greek tragedy, a song of the chorus, continued without the interruption of dialogue or anapæstics. Liddell & Scott.

Ardent; eager; zealous; earnestly engaged; as, a strong partisan; a strong Whig or Tory. Her mother, ever strong against that match. Shak.

A person engaged in study; one who is devoted to learning; a learner; a pupil; a scholar; especially, one who attends a school, or who seeks knowledge from professional teachers or from books; as, the students of an academy, a college, or a university; a medical student; a hard student. Keep a gamester from the dice, a…

Betrothed; engaged to marry. [Obs.] The king was sure to Dame Elizabeth Lucy, and her husband before God. Sir T. More. I presume . . . that you had been sure as fast as faith could bind you, man and wife. Brome.

e; thus, by the Carlisle tables of mortality the chances of survivorship for two persons, aged 25 and 65, are 89 and 11 respectively, or about 8 to 1 that the elder die first.

Belonging to sutlers; engaged in the occupation of a sutler. Addison.

One engaged with others at a banquet or merrymaking. Sydney Smith.

An agent of a corporation, or of any body of men engaged in a business enterprise; an advocate or patron; an assignee.

oops, to the right or left. -- To take heart, to gain confidence or courage; to be encouraged. -- To take heed, to be careful or cautious. "Take heed what doom against yourself you give." Dryden. -- To take heed to, to attend with care, as, take heed to thy ways. -- To take hold of, to seize; to fix on. -- To take…

ommunicates intelligence, scandal, etc., and makes mischief. Spies and talebearers, encouraged by her father, did their best to inflame her resentment. Macaulay.

of threads, or other thing, united confusedly, or so interwoven as not to be easily disengaged; a snarl; as, hair or yarn in tangles; a tangle of vines and briers. Used also figuratively.

A group or series of four dramatic pieces, three tragedies and one satyric, or comic, piece (or sometimes four tragedies), represented consequently on the Attic stage at the Dionysiac festival.

To seize, rend, or tear something as prey; to be fixed upon, or engaged with, anything. [Obs.] Thus made she her remove, And left wrath tiring on her son. Chapman. Upon that were my thoughts tiring. Shak.

Effect; end; consequence; as, the prince was flattered to his ruin; he engaged in a war to his cost; violent factions exist to the prejudice of the state.

a broad purple border, worn by children of both sexes, by magistrates, and by persons engaged in sacred rites. -- Toga virilis Etym: [L.], the manly gown; the common toga. This was assumed by Roman boys about the time of completing their fourteenth year.

to any other loop or bight or ring; a kind of button or frog capable of being readily engaged and disengaged for temporary purposes.