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Originally, the highest note in the scale of Guido; hence, proverbially, any extravagant saying. "Why, this is above E-la!" Beau. & Fl.

To long; to yearn. [Obs.] And ever as he rode, his heart did earn To prove his puissance in battle brave. Spenser.

lue given by the buyer to the seller, by way of token or pledge, to bind the bargain and prove the sale. Kent. Ayliffe. Benjamin. Earnest money (Law), money paid as earnest, to bind a bargain or to ratify and prove a sale.

Low; grovelling; vulgar.

In an eccentric manner. Drove eccentrically here and there. Lew Wallace.

border; as, to edge a dress; to edge a garden with box. Hills whose tops were edged with groves. Pope.

ilding up, especially in a moral or spiritual sense; moral, intellectual, or spiritual improvement; instruction. The assured edification of his church. Bp. Hall. Out of these magazines I shall supply the town with what may tend to their edification. Addison.

To instruct and improve, especially in moral and religious knowledge; to teach. It does not appear probable that our dispute [about miracles] would either edify or enlighten the public. Gibbon.

In addition; also; likewise. [Obs. or Archaic] 'T will be prodigious hard to prove That this is eke the throne of love. Prior. A trainband captain eke was he Of famous London town. Cowper.

To perfect with painstaking; to improve or refine with labor and study, or by successive operations; as, to elaborate a painting or a literary work. The sap is . . . still more elaborated and exalted as it circulates through the vessels of the plant. Arbuthnot.

The act or process of producing or refining with labor; improvement by successive operations; refinement.

nd effective manner; as, an eloquent orator or preacher. O Death, all-eloquent! You only prove What dust we dote on when 't is man we love. Pope.

ound; to shelter closely; to place in the midst of something. His house embosomed in the grove. Pope. Some tender flower . . . . Embosomed in the greenest glade. Keble.

act of altering for the better, or correcting what is erroneous or faulty; correction; improvement. "He lies in his sin without repentance or emendation." Jer. Taylor.

To prove; to evince. [R.] Hooker.

oy or involve one's self; to devote attention and effort; to enlist; as, to engage in controversy.

It has charge of the construction of fortifications for land and seacoast defense, the improvement of rivers and harbors, the construction of lighthouses, etc., and, in time of war, supervises the engineering operations of the armies in the field.

To rove over; to range. [Obs.] Spenser.

The act of making rich, or that which enriches; increase of value by improvements, embellishment, etc.; decoration; embellishment.

To attribute; to ascribe. [Obs.] The ancient proverb . . . entitles this work . . . peculiarly to God himself. Milton.