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The act or practice of making mischief, inciting quarrels, etc.

Mischievous. [R.] Lydgate.

Mischievous. [Obs.] Foote.

A kerchief for the neck; -- called also neck handkerchief.

e formerly abbeys. Encyc. Brit. Abbot of the people. a title formerly given to one of the chief magistrates in Genoa. -- Abbot of Misrule (or Lord of Misrule), in mediæval times, the master of revels, as at Christmas; in Scotland called the Abbot of Unreason. Encyc. Brit.

to the adverbial sense. See Above, adv., 4.) above all, before every other consideration; chiefly; in preference to other things. Over and above, prep. or adv., besides; in addition to.

figure. Worn on an amulet it was supposed to ward off fever. At present the word is used chiefly in jest to denote something without meaning; jargon.

Hence: In a state to be diffused or propagated; afoot; astir. "Mischiefs that I set abroach." Shak.

bing; swallowing; absorptive. Absorbent ground (Paint.), a ground prepared for a picture, chiefly with distemper, or water colors, by which the oil is absorbed, and a brilliancy is imparted to the colors.

tinent; sparing in the indulgence of the appetite or passions. Instances of longevity are chiefly among the abstemious. Arbuthnot.

rdinate; additional; accessory; esp., uniting in, or contributing to, a crime, but not as chief actor. See Accessory. To both their deaths thou shalt be accessary. Shak. Amongst many secondary and accessary causes that support monarchy, these are not of least reckoning. Milton.

Without a leader or chief.

unpleasant odor, and is produced for use as an illuminating gas in a number of ways, but chiefly by the action of water on calcium carbide. Its light is very brilliant. Watts.

One who attends; an assistant. "With such chiefs, and with James and John as acolytes." Motley.

The property of radiant energy (found chiefly in solar or electric light) by which chemical changes are produced, as in photography.

An obtaining; attainment. [Obs.] In the wit and policy of the capitain consisteth the chief adeption of the victory. Grafton.

Adieu; farewell; good-by; -- chiefly used among Spanish- speaking people.

o are intrusted with the execution of laws and the superintendence of public affairs; the chief magistrate and his cabinet or council; or the council, or ministry, alone, as in Great Britain. A mild and popular administration. Macaulay. The administration has been opposed in parliament. Johnson.

the highest rank; a naval officer of high rank, of which there are different grades. The chief gradations in rank are admiral, vice admiral, and rear admiral. The admiral is the commander in chief of a fleet or of fleets.

An apparatus consisting chiefly of a closed vessel (as a globe or cylinder) with one or more projecting bent tubes, through which steam is made to pass from the vessel, causing it to revolve. [Written also eolipile.]