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and aft vessel. -- Main brace. (a) (Mech.) The brace which resists the chief strain. Cf. Counter brace. (b) (Naut.) The brace attached to the main yard. -- Main center (Steam Engine), a shaft upon which a working beam or side lever swings. -- Main chance. See under Chance. -- Main couple (Arch.), the principal trus…

A counter used in card playing and other games.

war; warlike; brave. But peaceful kings, o'er martial people set, Each other's poise and counterbalance are. Dryden.

To come in collision with; to confront in conflict; to encounter hostilely; as, they met the enemy and defeated them; the ship met opposing winds and currents.

False; counterfeit; containing falsehood; as, a mendacious statement. -- Men*da"cious*ly, adv. -- Men*da"cious*ness, n.

Imitating reality, but not real; false; counterfeit; assumed; sham. That superior greatness and mock majesty. Spectator. Mock bishop's weed (Bot.), a genus of slender umbelliferous herbs (Discopleura) growing in wet places. -- Mock heroic, burlesquing the heroic; as, a mock heroic poem. -- Mock lead. See Blende (a).…

ing to contempt, by mimicry, by insincere imitation, or by a false show of earnestness; a counterfeit appearance. It is, as the air, invulnerable, And our vain blows malicious mockery. Shak. Grace at meals is now generally so performed as to look more like a mockery upon devotion than any solemn application of the mind…

Mock; counterfeit; sham. [Obs.]

a black root and white blossoms, said by Homer to have been given by Hermes to Ulysses to counteract the spells of Circe. Milton.

One who coins or prints money; also, a counterfeiter of money. [R.]

An old game played with counters, or men, which are placed angles of a figure drawn on a board or on the ground; also, the board or ground on which the game is played. The nine-men's morris is filled up with mud. Shak.

groups of parts. The independent motions of different parts sounding together constitute counterpoint. Grove.

A wry face; a grimace; a mow. Counterfeit sad looks, Make mouths upon me when I turn my back. Shak. Down in the mouth, chapfallen; of dejected countenance; depressed; discouraged. [Obs. or Colloq.] -- Mouth friend, one who professes friendship insincerely. Shak. -- Mouth glass, a small mirror for inspecting the mouth…

bably derived from the former practice of shopkeepers, who were accustomed to nail bad or counterfeit pieces of money to the counter.

To neutralize the force of; to counteract.

culiar or opposite dispositions of; to reduce to a state of indifference inefficience; to counteract; as, to neutralize parties in government; to neutralize efforts, opposition, etc. Counter citations that neutralize each other. E. Everett.

ascertaining the number of rotations made by a machine or wheel in manufacturing cloth; a counter. Ure.

To put in opposition, with a view to counterbalance or countervail; to set against; to offer antagonistically. I may . . . oppose my single opinion to his. Locke.

The act of opposing; an attempt to check, restrain, or defeat; resistance. The counterpoise of so great an opposition. Shak. Virtue which breaks through all opposition. Milton.

A kind of antidote for poisons; a counter poison formerly in vogue. [Obs.]