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Tending to dissolve; loosening; laxative. Bacon.

fer to be scattered; -- applied to fluids and to substances whose particles are small and loose; as, to spill water from a pail; to spill quicksilver from a vessel; to spill powder from a paper; to spill sand or flour.

Soft, and full of cavities; of an open, loose, pliable texture; as, a spongy excrescence; spongy earth; spongy cake; spongy bones.

To pass over by leaping; as, to spring a fence. To spring a butt (Naut.), to loosen the end of a plank in a ship's bottom. -- To spring a leak (Naut.), to begin to leak. -- To spring an arch (Arch.), to build an arch; -- a common term among masons; as, to spring an arcg over a lintel. -- To spring a rattle, to cause…

s often mixed with cotton. -- Spun yarn (Naut.), a line formed of two or more rope-yarns loosely twisted.

To become somewhat displaced or loosened; as, a rivet or a seam may start under strain or pressure. To start after, to set out after; to follow; to pursue. -- To start against, to act as a rival candidate against. -- To start for, to be a candidate for, as an office. -- To start up, to rise suddenly, as from a seat…

A kind of neckcloth worn in a loose and disorderly fashion.

The lower part or basement of a building or pedestal; -- used loosely for several different forms of basement.

To play fast and loose; to pass from one side to the other; to trim.

rench having an adjustable L-shaped jaw piece sliding in a sleeve that is pivoted to, and loosely embraces, the handle. Pressure on the handle increases the grip.

A long, loose garment reaching to the feet. Spenser. But when mild morn, in saffron stole, First issues from her eastern goal. T. Warton.

To scatter; to spread by scattering; to cast or to throw loosely apart; -- used of solids, separated or separable into parts or particles; as, to strew seed in beds; to strew sand on or over a floor; to strew flowers over a grave. And strewed his mangled limbs about the field. Dryden. On a principal table a desk was op…

es as the door is closed. (b) A part of the centering of an arch, which is driven back to loosen the centering in striking it.

A nerve or tendon of an animal body. The string of his tongue was loosed. Mark vii. 35.

sed and made to fill the space closely by means of a sleeve, called the gland, which fits loosely around the rod, and is pressed upon the packing by bolts or other means.

Resembling tow; having long, loose scales, or matted filaments, like tow; stupose.

are and standard but no moldboard. It follows in the furrow made by an ordinary plow, and loosens the soil to an additional depth without bringing it to the surface. Knight.

To hang or move, as something loose and heavy; to sway; to swing. [Prov. Eng.]

To pass a broom across (a surface) so as to remove loose dirt, dust, etc.; to brush, or rub over, with a broom for the purpose of cleaning; as, to sweep a floor, the street, or a chimney. Used also figuratively. I will sweep it with the besom of destruction. Isa. xiv. 23.

A line, cord, or other thing suspended and hanging loose, upon which anything may swing; especially, an apparatus for recreation by swinging, commonly consisting of a rope, the two ends of which are attached overhead, as to the bough of a tree, a seat being placed in the loop at the bottom; also, any contrivance by whi…