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Originally, a high judicial officer of the German emperors; afterward, the holder of a fief, to whom was granted the right to exercise certain imperial powers within his own domains. [Germany]

To act against with equal power; to balance. So many freeholders of English will be able to beard and counterpoise the rest. Spenser.

A section of a ticket, showing the holder to be entitled to some specified accomodation or service, as to a passage over a designated line of travel, a particular seat in a theater, or the like.

ture and of law. Davies. Day and night, Seedtime and harvest, heat and hoary frost, Shall hold their course. Milton.

Any formal assembling of the retinue of a sovereign; as, to hold a court. The princesses held their court within the fortres. Macualay.

A device, usually of iron bent at the ends, used to hold together blocks of stone, timbers, etc.; a cramp iron.

ron insruments with sharp points, worn on the shoes to assist in gaining or keeping a foothold.

A machine for raising and lowering heavy weights, and, while holding them suspended, transporting them through a limited lateral distance. In one form it consists of a projecting arm or jib of timber or iron, a rotating post or base, and the necessary tackle, windlass, etc.; -- so called from a fancied similarity betwe…

kes of both countries. They may be regarded as the very latest class of prehistoric strongholds, reaching their greatest development in early historic times, and surviving through the Middle Ages. See also Lake dwellings, under Lake. Encyc. Brit.

A pen or inclosure of stakes and hurdles on the seacoast, for holding fish.

A bar or set of bars with skewers for holding paying-off bobbins, as in the roving machine, throstle, and mule.

A small furnace or iron cage to hold fire for charring the inside of a cask, and making the staves flexible. Knight.

A vicious habit of a horse; crib-biting. The horse lays hold of the crib or manger with his teeth and draws air into the stomach with a grunting sound.

To pinch and hold; to seize.

judgment of more critical ears to direct and determine what is graceful and what is not. Holder.

or crooked end. Especially: (a) The staff used by a shepherd, the hook of which serves to hold a runaway sheep. (b) A bishop's staff of office. Cf. Pastoral stafu. He left his crook, he left his flocks. Prior.

One of the temporary wooden braces, placed horizontally across a frame to hold it in position until the deck beams are in; a cross- pawl.

A sleeper supporting and connecting the rails, and holding them in place.

umbers or quantity. The balconies and verandas were crowded with spectators, anxious to behold their future sovereign. Prescott.

; destitute of sympathetic kindness and pity; savage; inhuman; hard-hearted; merciless. Behold a people cometh from the north country; . . . they are cruel and have no mercy. Jer. vi. 22,23.