Search the Dictionary

Anything which protects or defends; defense; shelter; protection. "My council is my shield." Shak.

A plate or rim of iron nailed to the hoof of an animal to defend it from injury.

Not distant in time; near at hand. Marinell was sore offended That his departure thence should be so short. Spenser. He commanded those who were appointed to attend him to be ready by a short day. Clarendon.

A work raised in the middle of a wide ditch, to defend it. Crabb.

Large fenders hung over a vessel's side to protect it in handling a cargo. Totten.

who uses snuff by inhaling it through the nose. -- To take it in snuff, to be angry or offended. Shak. -- Up to snuff, not likely to be imposed upon; knowing; acute. [Slang]

r termites, in which the head and jaws are very large and strong. The soldiers serve to defend the nest. See Termite. Soldier beetle (Zoöl.), an American carabid beetle (Chauliognathus Americanus) whose larva feeds upon other insects, such as the plum curculio. -- Soldier bug (Zoöl.), any hemipterous insect of the gen…

cial bail, Bail above, or Bail to the action (Law), sureties who undertake that, if the defendant is convicted, he shall satisfy the plaintiff, or surrender himself into custody. Tomlins. Wharton (Law Dict.). -- Special constable. See under Constable. Bouvier. -- Special damage (Law), a damage resulting from the act…

To fill with spite; to offend; to vex. [R.] Darius, spited at the Magi, endeavored to abolish not only their learning, but their language. Sir. W. Temple.

of metal used in making splint armor. See Splint armor, below. The knees and feet were defended by splints, or thin plates of steel. Sir. W. Scott.

y or nauseated; hence, nice to excess in taste; fastidious; easily disgusted; apt to be offended at trifling improprieties. Quoth he, that honor's very squeamish That takes a basting for a blemish. Hudibras. His muse is rustic, and perhaps too plain The men of squeamish taste to entertain. Southern. So ye grow squeamis…

To fasten, support, or defend with stakes; as, to stake vines or plants.

the interim [we] let the commands stand by neglected." Dr. H. More. (c) To maintain; to defend; to support; not to desert; as, to stand by one's principles or party. (d) To rest on for support; to be supported by. Whitgift. -- To stand corrected, to be set right, as after an error in a statement of fact. Wycherley. -…

To stick up, to stand erect; as, his hair sticks up. -- To stick up for, to assert and defend; as, to stick up for one's rights or for a friend. [Colloq.] -- To stick upon, to dwell upon; not to forsake. "If the matter be knotty, the mind must stop and buckle to it, and stick upon it with labor and thought." Locke.…

in a foolish argument. Jer. Taylor. A war ensues: the Cretans own their cause, Stiff to defend their hospitable laws. Dryden.

In a stout manner; lustily; boldly; obstinately; as, he stoutly defended himself.

A military punishment formerly practiced, which consisted in drawing an offender to the top of a beam and letting him fall to the length of the rope, by which means a limb was often dislocated. Shak.

trepid; as, a strenuous advocate for national rights; a strenuous reformer; a strenuous defender of his country. And spirit-stirring wine, that strenuous makes. Chapman. Strenuous, continuous labor is pain. I. Taylor. -- Stren"u*ous*ly, adv. -- Stren"u*ous*ness, n.

) out of play by knocking off the bail, or knocking down the stumps of the wicket he is defending while he is off his allotted ground; -- sometimes with out. T. Hughes.

a witness, of the person on whom it is served, under a penalty; the process by which a defendant in equity is commanded to appear and answer the plaintiff's bill. [Written also subpena.] Subpoena ad testificandum (. Etym: [NL.] A writ used to procure the attendance of a witness for the purpose of testifying. -- Subpo…