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violent contests, bodily or mental; pertaining to athletic or polemic feats; athletic; combative; hence, strained; unnatural. As a scholar, he [Dr. Parr] was brilliant, but he consumed his power in agonistic displays. De Quincey.

The science of athletic combats, or contests in public games.

t which gathers and stores seeds of grasses, for food. The remarkable species (Myrmica barbata) found in Texas clears circular areas and carefully cultivates its favorite grain, known as ant rice.

Wing-footed, as the bat. -- n.

To alleviate; to abate; to mitigate; as, to allay the severity of affliction or the bitterness of adversity. It would allay the burning quality of that fell poison. Shak.

That system of medical practice which aims to combat disease by the use of remedies which produce effects different from those produced by the special disease treated; -- a term invented by Hahnemann to designate the ordinary practice, as opposed to homeopathy.

To grant (something) as a deduction or an addition; esp. to abate or deduct; as, to allow a sum for leakage.

Approval; approbation. [Obs.] Crabbe.

To abate, impair, or debase by mixture; to allay; as, to alloy pleasure with misfortunes.

y which a speaker appeals to his hearers or opponents for their opinion on the point in debate. Walker.

Mystical; having a secondary spiritual meaning; as, the rest of the Sabbath, in an anagogical sense, signifies the repose of the saints in heaven; an anagogical explication. -- An`a*gog"ic*al*ly, adv.

The positive pole of a voltaic battery.

The positive pole of an electric battery, or more strictly the electrode by which the current enters the electrolyte on its way to the other pole; -- opposed to cathode.

One who contends with another, especially in combat; an adversary; an opponent. Antagonist of Heaven's Almigthy King. Milton. Our antagonists in these controversies. Hooker.

Opposing in combat, combating; contending or acting against; as, antagonistic forces. -- An*tag`o*nis"tic*al*ly, adv. They were distinct, adverse, even antagonistic. Milman.

e, from the proclamation of liberty granted to the city of Antioch, about the time of the battle of Pharsalia, B.C. 48.

A remedy possessing the property of preventing the return of periodic paroxysms, or exacerbations, of disease, as in intermittent fevers.

An artificial alkaloid, believed to be efficient in abating fever.

unknown; being in painful suspense; -- applied to persons; as, anxious for the issue of a battle.

ng neither a tail nor cheek pouches. The name is applied esp. to species of the genus Hylobates, and is sometimes used as a general term for all Quadrumana. The higher forms, the gorilla, chimpanzee, and ourang, are often called anthropoid apes or man apes.