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To acknowledge deliberately; to admit; to confess; to sanction. Thou hast avouched the Lord this day to be thy God. Deut. xxvi. 17.

To declare openly, as something believed to be right; to own or acknowledge frankly; as, a man avows his principles or his crimes. Which I to be the of Israel's God Avow, and challenge Dagon to the test. Milton.

Capable of being avowed, or openly acknowledged, with confidence. Donne.

An open declaration; frank acknowledgment; as, an avowal of such principles. Hume.

Openly acknowledged or declared; admitted. -- A*vow"ed*ly (, adv.

To confess; to acknowledge. [Obs.] Chaucer.

shipped by any person, signed by the agent of the owner of the vessel, or by its master, acknowledging the receipt of the goods, and promising to deliver them safe at the place directed, dangers of the sea excepted. It is usual for the master to sign two, three, or four copies of the bill; one of which he keeps in pos…

One who by defeating all rivals, has obtained an acknowledged supremacy in any branch of athetics or game of skill, and is ready to contend with any rival; as, the champion of England.

A body of Christian believers, holding the same creed, observing the same rites, and acknowledging the same ecclesiastical authority; a denomination; as, the Roman Catholic church; the Presbyterian church.

A work of acknowledged excellence and authrity, or its author; -- originally used of Greek and Latin works or authors, but now applied to authors and works of a like character in any language. In is once raised him to the rank of a legitimate English classic. Macaulay.

An acknowledgment of a fine of lands and tenements or confession of a thing done. [Eng.]

An instrument in writting whereby a defendant in an action acknowledges a plaintiff's demand to be just. Mozley & W.

lett. Commissioner of deeds, an officer having authority to take affidavits, depositions, acknowledgment of deeds, etc., for use in the State by which he is appointed. [U. S.] -- County commissioners, certain administrative officers in some of the States, invested by local laws with various powers in reference to the r…

eding from a sense of guilt or consciousness of causing pain; the sting of conscience. He acknowledged his disloyalty to the king, with expressions of great compunction. Clarendon.

To know; to understand; to acknowledge. [Obs.] Of muses, Hobbinol, I con no skill. Spenser. They say they con to heaven the highway. Spenser.

To admit to be true; to acknowledge. We concede that their citizens were those who lived under different forms. Burke.

A thing yielded; an acknowledgment or admission; a boon; a grant; esp. a grant by government of a privilege or right to do something; as, a concession to build a canal. This is therefore a concession , that he doth . . . believe the Scriptures to be sufficiently plain. Sharp. When a lover becomes satisfied by small com…

he parties to a fine of land in reference to the manner in which it should pass, being an acknowledgment that the land in question belonged to the complainant. See Fine. Burril.

To make acknowledgment or avowal in a matter pertaining to one's self; to acknowledge, own, or admit, as a crime, a fault, a debt. And there confess Humbly our faults, and pardon beg. Milton. I must confess I was most pleased with a beautiful prospect that none of them have mentioned. Addison.

Acknowledgment; avowal, especially in a matter pertaining to one's self; the admission of a debt, obligation, or crime. With a crafty madness keeps aloof, When we would bring him on to some confession Of his true state. Shak.