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.), the selective preference of one sex for certain characteristics in the other, such as bright colors, musical notes, etc.; also, the selection which results from certain individuals of one sex having more opportunities of pairing with the other sex, on account of greater activity, strength, courage, etc.; applied li…

To obscure; to dim the brightness of. Thou shad'st The full blaze of thy beams. Milton.

Not brightly luminous; faintly light. The moon . . . with more pleasing light, Shadowy sets off the face things. Milton.

Bright; glittering; radiant; fair; showy; sheeny. [R., except in poetry.] This holy maiden, that is so bright and sheen. Chaucer. Up rose each warrier bold and brave, Glistening in filed steel and armor sheen. Fairfax.

Brightly. [R.] Mrs. Browning.

Bright; shining; radiant; sheen. "A sheeny summer morn." Tennyson.

Bright; clear; pure; unmixed. "Sheer ale." Shak. Thou sheer, immaculate, and silver fountain. Shak.

To emit rays of light; to give light; to beam with steady radiance; to exhibit brightness or splendor; as, the sun shines by day; the moon shines by night. Hyperion's quickening fire doth shine. Shak. God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of…

A bright piece of money. [Slang] Has she the shiners, d' ye think Foote. black eye.

Emitting light, esp. in a continuous manner; radiant; as, shining lamps; also, bright by the reflection of light; as, shining armor. "Fish . . . with their fins and shining scales." Milton.

Brightness. J. Spence.

Bright; luminous; clear; unclouded. Like distant thunder on a shiny day. Dryden.

Fig.: Aspect or part regarded as contrasted with some other; as, the bright side of poverty. By the side of, close at hand; near to. -- Exterior side. (Fort.) See Exterior, and Illust. of Ravelin. -- Interior side (Fort.), the line drawn from the center of one bastion to that of the next, or the line curtain produced…

Bright; resplendent; white. "Silver hair." Shak. Others, on silver lakes and rivers, bathed Their downy breast. Milton.

esembling, or having the luster of, silver; grayish white and lustrous; of a mild luster; bright. All the enameled race, whose silvery wing Waves to the tepid zephyrs of the spring. Pope.

crooked. -- Sin"u*ous*ly, adv. Streaking the ground with sinuous trace. Milton. Gardens bright with sinuous rills. Coleridge.

A mineral of a bright metallic luster and tin-white to pale lead-gray color. It consist of arsenic and cobalt.

A mixture of white lead and lime, with which the bright parts of machines, such as the connecting rods of steamboats, are painted to be preserved from oxidation.

The act of smiling; a peculiar change or brightening of the face, which expresses pleasure, moderate joy, mirth, approbation, or kindness; -- opposed to frown. Sweet intercourse Of looks and smiles: for smiles from reason flow. Milton.

herb (Sarcodes sanguinea) growing in the coniferous forests of California. It is all of a bright red color, and is fabled to grow from the snow, through which it sometimes shoots up.