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To look gay and joyous; to have an appearance suited to excite joy; as, smiling spring; smilimg plenty. The desert smiled, And paradise was opened in the wild. Pope.

or to inhale, forcibly through the nose; to sniff. He snuffs the wind, his heels the sand excite. Dryden.

Not intoxicated or excited by spirituous liquors; as, the sot may at times be sober.

To awake or excite to action; to rouse desire in; to summon; to appeal to; to invite. That fruit . . . solicited her longing eye. Milton. Sounds and some tangible qualities solicit their proper senses, and force an entrance to the mind. Locke.

Excitement; invitation; as, the solicitation of the senses. Locke.

Adapted to excite wonder and admiration by a display of pomp or of scenic effects; as, a spectacular celebration of some event; a spectacular play.

To animate with vigor; to excite; to encourage; to inspirit; as, civil dissensions often spirit the ambition of private men; -- sometimes followed by up. Many officers and private men spirit up and assist those obstinate people to continue in their rebellion. Swift .

To move suddenly, or be excited, on feeling alarm; to start. Why shrinks the soul Back on herself, and startles at destruction Addison.

A state of agitating excitement; a state of worry; confusion; as, to be in a stew. [Colloq.]

To appease; to calm; to quiet, as tumult, agitation, or excitement; as, to still the passions. Shak. Toil that would, at least, have stilled an unquiet impulse in me. Hawthorne.

That which stimulates, provokes, or excites. His feelings had been exasperated by the constant application of stimulants. Macaulay.

To excite as if with a goad; to excite, rouse, or animate, to action or more vigorous exertion by some pungent motive or by persuasion; as, to stimulate one by the hope of reward, or by the prospect of glory. To excite and stimulate us thereunto. Dr. J. Scott.

That which excites or produces a temporary increase of vital action, either in the whole organism or in any of its parts; especially (Physiol.), any substance or agent capable of evoking the activity of a nerve or irritable muscle, or capable of producing an impression upon a sensory organ or more particularly upon its…

To incite to action; to arouse; to instigate; to prompt; to excite. "To stir men to devotion." Chaucer. An Ate, stirring him to blood and strife. Shak. And for her sake some mutiny will stir. Dryden.

Hence, a person not easily excited; an apathetic person; one who is apparently or professedly indifferent to pleasure or pain. A Stoic of the woods, a man without a tear. Campbell. School of Stoics. See The Porch, under Porch.

Hopelessly insensible or stupid; not easily aroused or excited; dull; impassive; foolish.

A medicine that strengthens the stomach and excites its action.

In a strange manner; in a manner or degree to excite surprise or wonder; wonderfully. How strangely active are the arts of peace! Dryden. It would strangely delight you to see with what spirit he converses. Law.

To rouse; to excite. [Obs.] Daniel.

, or taken unawares, by some act or event which could not reasonably be foreseen; emotion excited by what is sudden and strange; a suddenly excited feeling of wonder or astonishment. Pure surprise and fear Made me to quit the house. Shak.