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sus perceived their wickedness. Matt. xxii. 18. You may, fair lady, Perceive I speak sincerely. Shak. Till we ourselves see it with our own eyes, and perceive it by our own understandings, we are still in the dark. Locke.

To fix surely; to appoint. [Obs.]

Done merely to get rid of a duty; performed mechanically and as a thing of rote; done in a careless and superficial manner; characterized by indifference; as, perfunctory admonitions. Macaulay.

the moon which is nearest to the earth; -- opposed to Ant: apogee. It is sometimes, but rarely, used of the nearest points of other orbits, as of a comet, a planet, etc. Called also epigee, epigeum.

ose who live within a polar circle, whose shadows, during some summer days, will move entirely round, falling toward every point of the compass.

believer in the theory that the fundamental phenomena of life are to be explained upon purely chemical and physical principles; -- opposed to vitalist.

into eight reals. -- To give a piece of one's mind to, to speak plainly, bluntly, or severely to (another). Tackeray. -- Piece broker, one who buys shreds and remnants of cloth to sell again. -- Piece goods, goods usually sold by pieces or fixed portions, as shirtings, calicoes, sheetings, and the like.…

er space, or appropriated to some definite object or use; position; ground; site; spot; rarely, unbounded space. Here is the place appointed. Shak. What place can be for us Within heaven's bound Milton. The word place has sometimes a more confused sense, and stands for that space which any body takes up; and so the uni…

bed melody of the Roman Catholic service, sung in unison, in tones of equal length, and rarely extending beyond the compass of an octave. (b) A simple melody. -- Plain speaking, plainness or bluntness of speech.

Speaking with plain, unreserved sincerity; also, spoken sincerely; as, plain-spoken words. Dryden.

ng larva of the coelenterates. It usually has a flattened oval or oblong form, and is entirely covered with cilia.

e to strong chemical reagents. It is used for crucibles, for stills for sulphuric acid, rarely for coin, and in the form of foil and wire for many purposes. Specific gravity 21.5. Atomic weight 194.3. Symbol Pt. Formerly called platina. Platinum black (Chem.), a soft, dull black powder, consisting of finely divided met…

fied by the defendant's plea. In chancery practice, a plea is a special answer showing or relying upon one or more things as a cause why the suit should be either dismissed, delayed, or barred. In criminal practice, the plea is the defendant's formal answer to the indictment or information presented against him.…

A network; a plait; a fold; rarely a garment. [Obs.] "Many a folded plight." Spenser.

To ascertain, as by the balance; to weigh. He can not sincerely consider the strength, poise the weight, and discern the evidence. South.

One who does not try for honors, but is content to take a degree merely; a passman. [Cambridge Univ., Eng.]

t contrary to the nature of things; -- sometimes used to express extreme improbability; barely able to be, or to come to pass; as, possibly he is honest, as it is possible that Judas meant no wrong. With God all things are possible. Matt. xix. 26.

etimes reach, a condition in which both representation and traditional decoration are entirely abolished and a work of art becomes a purely subjective expression in an arbitrary and personal language.

n possibility, not in actuality. "A potential hero." Carlyle. Potential existence means merely that the thing may be at ome time; actual existence, that it now is. Sir W. Hamilton. Potential cautery. See under Cautery. -- Potential energy. (Mech.) See the Note under Energy. -- Potential mood, or mode (Gram.), that fo…

Ripe or mature before the proper or natural time; early or prematurely ripe or developed; as, precocious trees. [R.] Sir T. Browne.