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The state of becoming obsolete.

Going out of use; becoming obsolete; passing into desuetude.

A falling out, happening, or coming to pass; hence, that which falls out or happens; occurrence; incident. The unlooked-for incidents of family history, and its hidden excitements, and its arduous occasions. I. Taylor.

A coming or happening; as, the occurence of a railway collision. Voyages detain the mind by the perpetual occurrence and expectation of something new. I. Watts.

To or against the surface of; -- used to indicate the motion of a thing as coming or falling to the surface of another; as, rain falls on the earth. Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken. Matt. xxi. 44.

or proposition, in distinction from the respondent, or defendant, who maintains it. How becomingly does Philopolis exercise his office, and seasonably commit the opponent with the respondent, like a long-practiced moderator! Dr. H. More.

Of or pertaining to an orator or to oratory; characterized by oratory; rhetorical; becoming to an orator; as, an oratorical triumph; an oratorical essay. -- Or`a*tor"ic*al*ly, adv.

The act or process of bringing or coming into existence; first production. "The origination of the universe." Keill. What comes from spirit is a spontaneous origination. Hickok.

Changing into bone; becoming bone; as, the ossifying process.

To be necessary, fit, becoming, or expedient; to behoove; -- in this sense formerly sometimes used impersonally or without a subject expressed. "Well ought us work." Chaucer. To speak of this as it ought, would ask a volume. Milton. Ought not Christ to have suffered these things Luke xxiv. 26.

The coming out of a stratum to the surface of the ground. Lyell.

loose drawers worn by children and women; particularly, the lower part of such a garment, coming below the knee, often made in a separate piece; -- chiefly in the plural.

Becoming to, or characteristic of, parents; tender; affectionate; devoted; as, parental care. The careful course and parental provision of nature. Sir T. Browne.

Becoming to a patriot; patriotic.

Capable of becoming, or being made, perfect.

taken; continued pursuit or prosecution of any business, or enterprise begun. "The king-becoming graces . . . perseverance, mercy, lowliness." Shak. Whose constant perseverance overcame Whate'er his cruel malice could invent. Milton.

(Tempering) A color, brown shaded with purple, coming between dark brown and light blue in the table of colors in drawing the temper of hardened steel.

ells; pneumatic bones. Pneumatic action, or Pneumatic lever (Mus.), a contrivance for overcoming the resistance of the keys and other movable parts in an organ, by causing compressed air from the wind chest to move them. -- Pneumatic dispatch, a system of tubes, leading to various points, through which letters, packag…

theory that living organisms originate in cells or embryos of different kinds, instead of coming from a single cell; -- opposed to monogenesis.

That which portends, or foretoken; esp., that which portends evil; a sign of coming calamity; an omen; a sign. Shak. My loss by dire portents the god foretold. Dryden.