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A contemptible or vicious critic. The rancorous and reptile crew of poeticules, who decompose into criticasters. Swinburne.

An old woman; -- usually in contempt. But still the crone was constant to her note. Dryden.

The cover or case of a pie, in distinction from the soft contents.

sture cries it out." Shak. -- To cry quits, to propose, or declare, the abandonment of a contest. -- To cry up, to enhance the value or reputation of by public and noisy praise; to extol; to laud publicly or urgently.

Jocosely or in contempt, a boy or girl, esp. an awkward, rude, illmannered boy. O, thuo dissembling cub! what wilt thou be When time hath sowed a drizzle on thy case Shak.

The process of determining the solid or cubic contents of a body.

. falls to rating of them as if they were dogs. Bunyan. Cudgel play, a fight or sportive contest with cudgels. -- To cross the cudgels, to forbear or give up the contest; -- a phrase borrowed from the practice of cudgel players, who lay one cudgel over another when the contest is ended. -- To take up cudgels for, to…

Not easily managed; as, a cumbersome contrivance or machine. He holds them in utter contempt, as lumbering, cumbersome, circuitous. I. Taylor. -- Cum"ber*some*ly, adv. -- Cum"ber*some*ness,n.

The contents of such a vessel; a cupful. Give me a cup of sack, boy. Shak.

A worthless, snarling fellow; -- used in contempt. What would you have, you curs, That like nor peace nor war Shak.

A flag; an ensign; -- in contempt. [Obs.] Shak. Behind the curtain, in concealment; in secret. -- Curtain lecture, a querulous lecture given by a wife to her husband within the bed curtains, or in bed. Jerrold. A curtain lecture is worth all the sermons in the world for teaching the virtues of patience and long-suffer…

One who cuts purses for the sake of stealing them or their contents (an act common when men wore purses fastened by a string to their girdles); one who steals from the person; a pickpocket To have an open ear, a quick eye, and a nimble hand, is necessary for a cutpurse. Shak.

hical opinions. Hence the term Cynic symbolized, in the popular judgment, moroseness, and contempt for the views of others.

e quality of being cynical; the mental state, opnions, or conduct, of a cynic; morose and contemptuous views and opinions.

A female parent; -- used of beasts, especially of quadrupeds; sometimes applied in contempt to a human mother. Our sire and dam, now confined to horses, are a relic of this age (13th century) . . . .Dame is used of a hen; we now make a great difference between dame and dam. T. L. K. Oliphant. The dam runs lowing up end…

A little fellow; -- in sport or contempt. "A dandiprat hop-thumb." Stanyhurst.

A little or insignificant dandy; a contemptible fop.

To fight out; to contest; to decide by combat. [Obs.] "To darrain the battle." Chaucer .

To contend (with); to treat (with), by way of opposition, check, or correction; as, he has turbulent passions to deal with. To deal by, to treat, either well or ill; as, to deal well by servants. "Such an one deals not fairly by his own mind." Locke. -- To deal in. (a) To have to do with; to be engaged in; to practice…

Liable to be debated; disputable; subject to controversy or contention; open to question or dispute; as, a debatable question. The Debatable Land or Ground, a tract of land between the Esk and the Sark, claimed by both England and Scotland; the Batable Ground.