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that which has reference to the doctrine of rights and obligations; as by the adjective "moral" we denote that which has reference to the doctrine of duties. Whewell.

ity to the principles of righteousness and rectitude in all things; strict performance of moral obligations; practical conformity to human or divine law; integrity in the dealings of men with each other; rectitude; equity; uprightness. Justice and judgment are the haditation of thy throne. Ps. ixxxix. 11. The king-beco…

One or more detached verses at the end of a literary composition, serving to convey the moral, or to address the poem to a particular person; -- orig. employed in old French poetry. Shak.

; decay; ruin. There is in it such a labefaction of all principles as may be injurious to morality. Johnson.

Figuratively, anything which enlightens intellectually or morally; anything regarded metaphorically a performing the uses of a lamp. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. Ps. cxix. 105. Ages elapsed ere Homer's lamp appeared. Cowper.

Connecticut; -- a nickname alluding to the moral character of its inhabitants, implied by the rigid laws (see Blue laws) of the early period.

To slide or slip in moral conduct; to fail in duty; to fall from virtue; to deviate from rectitude; to commit a fault by inadvertence or mistake. To lapse in fullness Is sorer than to lie for need. Shak.

stroke of satire or sarcasm; an expression or retort that cuts or gives pain; a cut. The moral is a lash at the vanity of arrogating that to ourselves which succeeds well. L'Estrange.

Lax in moral or religious principles.

In morals: The will of God as the rule for the disposition and conduct of all responsible beings toward him and toward each other; a rule of living, conformable to righteousness; the rule of action as obligatory on the conscience or moral nature.

Not subject to, or restrained by, the law of morality or of society; as, lawless men or behavior.

Free to excess; regardless of law or moral restraint; licentious. " Most like a liberal villain." Shak.

Dissolute; licentious; profligate; loose in morals; as, libertine principles or manners. Bacon.

le, a tall flagstaff planted in the ground, often surmounted by a liberty cap. [U. S.] -- Moral liberty, that liberty of choice which is essential to moral responsibility. -- Religious liberty, freedom of religious opinion and worship.

Unrestrained by law or morality; lawless; immoral; dissolute; lewd; lascivious; as, a licentious man; a licentious life. "Licentious wickedness." Shak.

do that which is intended to deceive another, when he a right to know the truth, or when morality requires a just representation.

length; hence, long-winded; tedious. The longspun allegories fulsome grow, While the dull moral lies too plain below. Addison.

To rise and to be eminent; to be elevated or ennobled, in a moral sense. On no occasion does he [Paul] loom so high, and shine so gloriously, as in the context. J. M. Mason.

Not strict in matters of morality; not rigid according to some standard of right. The loose morality which he had learned. Sir W. Scott.

or quality, of being loose; as, the looseness of a cord; looseness of style; looseness of morals or of principles.