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To go beyond bounds; to surpass; to be in excess. [Obs.] "This passes, Master Ford." Shak.

external agent or influence; a passive condition; -- opposed to action. A body at rest affords us no idea of any active power to move, and, when set is motion, it is rather a passion than an action in it. Locke.

A plant affording a blue dye; the woad (Isatis tinctoria); also, the dye itself.

Special countenance or support; favor, encouragement, or aid, afforded to a person or a work; as, the patronage of letters; patronage given to an author.

ridge, England, one who pays for his living in commons; -- corresponding to commoner at Oxford. Ld. Lytton.

An officer in the Spartan army commanding fifty men. Mitford.

Noisy; obstreperous. [Obs.] Ford.

.; a material point. -- Physical signs (Med.), the objective signs of the bodily state afforded by a physical examination.

rms (Mil.), a place calculated for the rendezvous of men in arms, etc., as a fort which affords a safe retreat for hospitals, magazines, etc. Wilhelm. -- High place (Script.), a mount on which sacrifices were offered. "Him that offereth in the high place." Jer. xlviii. 35. -- In place, in proper position; timely. --…

. . fraught with the plastic beauty and grace of the palmy days of Italian art. J. S. Harford. Plastic clay (Geol.), one of the beds of the Eocene period; -- so called because used in making pottery. Lyell. -- Plastic element (Physiol.), one that bears within the germs of a higher form. -- Plastic exudation (Med.),…

To afford or impart pleasure; to excite agreeable emotions. What pleasing scemed, for her now pleases more. Milton. For we that live to please, must please to live. Johnson.

Capable of affording pleasure or satisfaction; gratifying; abounding in pleasantness or pleasantry. Planting of orchards is very . . . pleasurable. Bacon. O, sir, you are very pleasurable. B. Jonson. -- Pleas"ur*a*ble*ness, n. -- Pleas"ur*a*bly, adv.

To give or afford pleasure to; to please; to gratify. Shak. [Rolled] his hoop to pleasure Edith. Tennyson.

Affording pleasure. [R.]

A block of wood let into a wall, to afford a hold for nails. Fire plug, a street hydrant to which hose may be attached. [U. S.] -- Hawse plug (Naut.), a plug to stop a hawse hole. -- Plug and feather. (Stone Working) See Feather, n., 7. -- Plug centerbit, a centerbit ending in a small cylinder instead of a point, so…

An apparatus for affording a view of the different cavities of the body.

A scholar at Merton College, Oxford, who has a certain academical allowance or portion; -- corrupted into postmaster. Shipley.

A piece of furniture like an ottoman, generally circular and affording cushion seats on all sides.

To design or purpose beforehand; to predetermine. Mitford.

Affording entrance; receptive; yielding; willing; open; prompt. [Obs.] " Pregnant to good pity." Shak.