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The quality or condition of being prevalent; superior strength, force, or influence; general existence, reception, or practice; wide extension; as, the prevalence of virtue, of a fashion, or of a disease; the prevalence of a rumor. The duke better knew what kind of argument were of prevalence with him. Clarendon.…

An auxiliary rope to strengthen a mast. Preventer bolts, or Preventer plates (Naut.), fixtures connected with preventers to reënforce other rigging. -- Preventer stay. (Naut.) Same as Preventer, 3.

The spring of life; youth; hence, full health, strength, or beauty; perfection. "Cut off in their prime." Eustace. "The prime of youth." Dryden.

have many proofs to show your skill. Ford. Formerly, a very rude mode of ascertaining the strength of spirits was practiced, called the proof. Ure.

To cause to sink totally; to deprive of strength; to reduce; as, a person prostrated by fever.

eat depression; lowness; dejection; as, a postration of spirits. "A sudden prostration of strength." Arbuthnot.

try or to ascertain by an experiment, or by a test or standard; to test; as, to prove the strength of gunpowder or of ordnance; to prove the contents of a vessel by a standard measure. Thou hast proved mine heart. Ps. xvii. 3.

Power; strength; might; force; potency. " Youths of puissance." Tennyson. The power and puissance of the king. Shak.

In a puissant manner; powerfully; with great strength.

e characterized by livid spots on the skin from extravasated blood, with loss of muscular strength, pain in the limbs, and mental dejection; the purples. Dunglison.

ar seemed asleep for nine long years; at length Both sides resolved to push, we tried our strength. Dryden.

Destitute of a manly or courageous strength and firmness of mind; of weak spirit; mean-spirited; spiritless; cowardly; -- said of persons, as, a pussillanimous prince.

(b) To make manifest; to develop; also, to bring into action; to exert; as, to put forth strength. (c) To propose, as a question, a riddle, and the like. (d) To publish, as a book. -- To put forward. (a) To advance to a position of prominence responsibility; to promote. (b) To cause to make progress; to aid.…

Hence, to soften; to abate; to diminish; to assuage; to reduce the strength of, as liquors. I do not seek to quench your love's hot fire, But qualify the fire's extreme rage. Shak.

Peculiar flavor, taste, or strength, as of wine; that quality, or assemblage of qualities, which indicates origin or kind, as in wine; hence, characteristic flavor; smack. "A race of heaven." Shak. Is it [the wine] of the right race Massinqer.

rt of the track on which the wheels roll. It is usually shaped with reference to vertical strength, and is held in place by chairs, splices, etc.

To increase the strength, vigor, or vehemence of; to excite; to intensify; to invigorate; to heighten; as, to raise the pulse; to raise the voice; to raise the spirits or the courage; to raise the heat of a furnace.

klaying), a course of bricks laid diagonally between the face courses in a thick wall, to strengthen.

To recover strength after a decline in prices; -- said of the market, stocks, etc.

ear point and the far point of distinct vision, -- usually measured and designated by the strength of the lens which if added to the refracting media of the eye would cause the rays from the near point to appear as if they came from the far point. -- Range finder (Gunnery), an instrument, or apparatus, variously const…