Search the Dictionary

To engross; to appropriate; -- usually with up. Homer excels . . . in this, that he swallowed up the honor of those who succeeded him. Pope.

Fine; splendid; excellent; also, extravagant; excessive. [Obs. or Slang] B. Jonson.

The power of perceiving and relishing excellence in human performances; the faculty of discerning beauty, order, congruity, proportion, symmetry, or whatever constitutes excellence, particularly in the fine arts and belles-letters; critical judgment; discernment.

Judgment; distinction; discrimination. Who would excel, when few can make a test Betwixt indifferent writing and the best Dryden.

Very excellent; most excellent; perfect. [Colloq.] "Four tiptop voices." Gray. "Sung in a tiptop manner." Goldsmith.

ade made at Toledo in Spain, which city was famous in the 16th and 17th centuries for the excellence of its weapons.

Moderately good or agreeable; not contemptible; not very excellent or pleasing, but such as can be borne or received without disgust, resentment, or opposition; passable; as, a tolerable administration; a tolerable entertainment; a tolerable translation. Dryden. -- Tol"er*a*ble*ness, n. -- Tol"er*a*bly, adv.…

To excel; to rise above others. But write thy, and top. Dryden.

One that excels, surpasses, or is extraordinary of its kind. [Slang]

To surpass; to outgo; to excel; to exceed. How much her worth transcended all her kind. Dryden.

The quality or state of being transcendent; superior excellence; supereminence. The Augustinian theology rests upon the transcendence of Deity at its controlling principle. A. V. G. Allen.

Very excellent; superior or supreme in excellence; surpassing others; as, transcendent worth; transcendent valor. Clothed with transcendent brightness. Milton.

In fact; in deed; in reality; in truth. Beauty is excelled by manly grace And wisdom, which alone is truly fair. Milton.

A good fellow; an excellent person. [Slang] Alfred is a trump, I think you say. Thackeray. To put to one's trumps, or To put on one's trumps, to force to the last expedient, or to the utmost exertion. But when kings come so low as to fawn upon philosophy, which before they neither valued nor understood, it is a sign th…

Refined; select; excellent; choice. [Obs.] "Sugar that is try." Chaucer.

Unobjectionable; unquestionably excellent; as, a person of undeniable connections. [Colloq.] G. Eliot.

unparalleled; unrivaled; exceeding; surpassing; -- in a good or bad sense; as, unequaled excellence; unequaled ingratitude or baseness. [Written also unequalled.]

Not liable to any exception or objection; unobjectionable; faultless; good; excellent; as, a man of most unexceptionable character. -- Un`ex*cep"tion*a*ble*ness, n. -- Un`ex*cep"tion*a*bly, adv.

Not improved; not made better or wiser; not advanced in knowledge, manners, or excellence.

Being without a like or equal; unmatched; unequaled; unparalleled; single in kind or excellence; sole. -- U*nique"ly, adv. -- U*nique"ness, n.