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The state or posture of one who offends or makes attack; aggressive attitude; the act of the attacking party; -- opposed to defensive. To act on the offensive, to be the attacking party.

A revolving disk on which figures drawn in different relative attitudes are seen successively, so as to produce the appearance of an object in actual motion, as an animal leaping, etc., in consequence of the persistence of the successive visual impressions of the retina. It is often arranged so that the figures may be…

agreeable in a picture, natural or artificial; graphic; vivid; as, a picturesque scene or attitude; picturesque language. What is picturesque as placed in relation to the beautiful and the sublime It is . . . the characteristic pushed into a sensible excess. De Quincey. -- Pic`tur*esque"ly, adv. -- Pic`tur*esque"ness…

The attitude assumed by a pointer dog when he finds game; as, the dog came to a point. See Pointer.

Standing still, with all the feet on the ground; -- said of the attitude of a lion, horse, or other beast.

The state of being posited, or placed; the manner in which anything is placed; attitude; condition; as, a firm, an inclined, or an upright position. We have different prospects of the same thing, according to our different positions to it. Locke.

on of a figure with regard to the several principal members by which action is expressed; attitude. Atalanta, the posture of whose limbs was so lively expressed . . . one would have sworn the very picture had run. Sir P. Sidney. In most strange postures We have seen him set himself. Shak. The posture of a poetic figure…

To be disobedient to authority; to assume a hostile or insubordinate attitude; to revolt. Hoe could my hand rebel against my heart How could you heart rebel against your reason Dryden.

Rising; -- applied to a bird in the attitude of rising; also, sometmes, to a bird in profile with wings addorsed.

To cause to sit; to make to assume a specified position or attitude; to give site or place to; to place; to put; to fix; as, to set a house on a stone foundation; to set a book on a shelf; to set a dish on a table; to set a chest or trunk on its bottom or on end. I do set my bow in the cloud. Gen. ix. 13.…

A hanging down of the head; a drooping attitude; a limp appearance; an ungainly, clownish gait; a sidewise depression or hanging down, as of a hat brim.

To go to opposite sides; to take an attitude of offense or defense, or of defiance; to quarrel. [Obs.] Are you such fools To square for this Shak.

To maintain an invincible or permanent attitude; to be fixed, steady, or firm; to take a position in resistance or opposition. "The standing pattern of their imitation." South. The king granted the Jews . . . to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life. Esther viii. 11.

The act of standing; also, attitude or pose in standing; posture. [R.] A station like the herald, Mercury. Shak. Their manner was to stand at prayer, whereupon their meetings unto that purpose . . . had the names of stations given them. Hooker.

ry, or other excellence, of a statue artistically made; as, statuesquelimbs; a statuesque attitude. Their characters are mostly statuesque even in this respect, that they have no background. Hare.

o go forward; -- used only in past participle. "Well struck in years." Shak. To strike an attitude, To strike a balance. See under Attitude, and Balance. -- To strike a jury (Law), to constitute a special jury ordered by a court, by each party striking out a certain number of names from a prepared list of jurors, so a…

ensive thoughts." Beaumont. "A suspensive veto." Macaulay. The provisional and suspensive attitude. J. Morley. Suspensive condition (Scots Law), a condition precedent, or a condition without the performance of which the contract can not be completed.

y; as, to vary the properties, proportions, or nature of a thing; to vary a posture or an attitude; to vary one's dress or opinions. Shall we vary our device at will, Even as new occasion appears Spenser.

An object of worship. In attitude and aspect formed to be At once the artist's worship and despair. Longfellow. Devil worship, Fire worship, Hero worship, etc. See under Devil, Fire, Hero, etc.