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y Maker first ordained And bound them with inviolable bands. Spenser. And keep our faiths firm and inviolable. Shak.

Strength; power; firmness; inflexibility; as, to rule with a rod of iron. Bar iron. See Wrought iron (below). -- Bog iron, bog ore; limonite. See Bog ore, under Bog. -- Cast iron (Metal.), an impure variety of iron, containing from three to six percent of carbon, part of which is united with a part of the iron, as a…

Having iron sides, or very firm sides.

eable; irreversible; unalterable; as, an irrevocable promise or decree; irrevocable fate. Firm and irrevocable is my doom. Shak. -- Ir*rev"o*ca*ble*ness, n. -- Ir*rev"o*ca*bly, adv.

A point in debate or controversy on which the parties take affirmative and negative positions; a presentation of alternatives between which to choose or decide.

The act of joining; a putting together; conjunction. Confirmed by mutual joinder of your hands. Shak.

d discrimination is acquired. See 2. A judgment is the mental act by which one thing is affirmed or denied of another. Sir W. Hamilton. The power by which we are enabled to perceive what is true or false, probable or improbable, is called by logicians the faculty of judgment. Stewart.

chancery, showing when, before whom, and (in English practice), where, it was sworn or affirmed. Wharton. Bouvier.

To prove; to ratify; to confirm. [Obs.] Shak.

To fasten or secure firmly; to fasten or tighten with keys or wedges. Francis. To key up. (a) (Arch.) To raise (the whole ring of an arch) off its centering, by driving in the keystone forcibly. (b) (Mus.) To raise the pitch of. (c) Hence, fig., to produce nervous tension in.

highest degree of the speculative faculties, consists in the perception of the truth of affirmative or negative propositions. Locke.

lpi in most insects. It often consists of a thin anterior part (ligula or palpiger) and a firmer posterior plate (mentum).

iation from truth or rectitude. To guard against those lapses and failings to which our infirmities daily expose us. Rogers.

Not tense, firm, or rigid; loose; slack; as, a lax bandage; lax fiber. The flesh of that sort of fish being lax and spongy. Ray.

To place in position; to establish firmly; to arrange with regularity; to dispose in ranks or tiers; as, to lay a corner stone; to lay bricks in a wall; to lay the covers on a table.

formerly sold as medicine, having astringent properties. -- Lemnian reddle, a reddle of firm consistence and deep red color; -- used by artificers in coloring.

To permit; to allow; to suffer; -- either affirmatively, by positive act, or negatively, by neglecting to restrain or prevent.

The sky; the atmosphere; the firmament. [Obs. or Scot.]

To make loose; to free from tightness, tension, firmness, or fixedness; to make less dense or compact; as, to loosen a string, or a knot; to loosen a rock in the earth. After a year's rooting, then shaking doth the tree good by loosening of the earth. Bacon.

minded and immoral. Macaulay. All old religious jealousies were condemned as low-minded infirmities. Bancroft.