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iority in prominence or in excellence; distinction above others in quality, rank, etc.; rarely, in a bad sense, superiority or notoriety in evil; as, preëminence in honor. The preëminence of Christianity to any other religious scheme. Addison. Painful preëminence! yourself to view Above life's weakness, and its comfort…

e who are eminent; superior in excellence; surpassing, or taking precedence of, others; rarely, surpassing others in evil, or in bad qualities; as, preëminent in guilt. In goodness and in power preëminent. Milton.

al occurring in crystalline aggregates having a botryoidal or mammillary structure, and rarely in distinct crystals. It is a hydrous silicate of alumina and lime.

Biased by opinions formed prematurely; prejudiced. "Prejudicate readers." Sir T. Browne.

nts," that is, by the writing itself, " per has literas praesentes; " -- in this sense, rarely used in the singular.

ace and authority; a sovereign; a monarch; -- originally applied to either sex, but now rarely applied to a female. Wyclif (Rev. i. 5). Go, Michael, of celestial armies prince. Milton. Queen Elizabeth, a prince admirable above her sex. Camden.

than can be brought against it. South. I do not say that the principles of religion are merely probable; I have before asserted them to be morally certain. Bp. Wilkins.

o avow or acknowledge; to confess publicly; to own or admit freely. "Hear me profess sincerely." Shak. The best and wisest of them all professed To know this only, that he nothing knew. Milton.

necessarily long; minute in narration or argument; excessively particular in detail; -- rarely used except with reference to discourse written or spoken; as, a prolix oration; a prolix poem; a prolix sermon. With wig prolix, down flowing to his waist. Cowper.

To afford hopes or expectation; to give ground to expect good; rarely, to give reason to expect evil. Will not the ladies be afeard of the lion I fear it, I promise you. Shak.

; to utter, as words or syllables; to speak with the proper sound and accent as, adults rarely learn to pronounce a foreign language correctly.

To arm with proof armor; to arm securely; as, to proof-arm herself. [R.] Beau. & Fl.

To draw out or lengthen in time or (rarely) in space; to continue; to prolong; as, to protract an argument; to protract a war.

The doctrine of the merely human existence of Christ.

Nearsighted, or dim-sighted; seeing obscurely; as, a purblind eye; a purblind mole. The saints have not so sharp eyes to see down from heaven; they be purblindand sand-blind. Latimer. O purblind race of miserable men. Tennyson. -- Pur"blind`ly, adv. -- Pur"blind`ness, n.

er of quality. -- Qual"i*ta*tive*ly, adv. Qualitative analysis (Chem.), analysis which merely determines the constituents of a substance without any regard to the quantity of each ingredient; -- contrasted with quantitative analysis.

the ruts, or so that a rut shall be between the wheels. Every creature that met us would rely on us for quartering. De Quincey.

Completely; wholly; entirely; totally; perfectly; as, the work is not quite done; the object is quite accomplished; to be quite mistaken. Man shall not quite be lost, but saved who will. Milton. The same actions may be aimed at different ends, and arise from quite contrary principles. Spectator.

, a splice connecting the adjacent ends of rails, in distinction from a chair, which is merely a seat. The two devices are sometimes united. Among several hundred varieties, the fish joint is standard. See Fish joint, under Fish. -- Rail train (Iron & Steel Manuf.), a train of rolls in a rolling mill, for making rails…

from place to place without any determinate business or object; an excursion or stroll merely for recreation. Coming home, after a short Christians ramble. Swift.