Search the Dictionary

Pertaining to the circumference; encompassing; encircling; circuitous. Parkhurst.

Adhesive; -- said of a roof in a mine to which coal clings.

To surround and cling to; to entwine about. "Clasping ivy." Milton.

To adhere closely; to stick; to hold fast; to cling. My bones cleave to my skin. Ps. cii. 5. The diseases of Egypt . . . shall cleave unto thee. Deut. xxviii. 60. Sophistry cleaves close to and protects Sin's rotten trunk, concealing its defects. Cowper.

imp. of Cling. [Obs.]

imp. & p. p. of Cling.

related genera. When young they are fixed by a stem. When adult they become detached and cling to seaweeds, etc., by their dorsal cirri; -- called also feather stars.

An inclosing limit; boundary; circumference; as, within the compass of an encircling wall.

To grow, as a vine, clinging to the ground or to some other support by means of roots or rootlets, or by tendrils, along its length. "Creeping vines." Dryden.

A plant that clings by rootlets, or by tendrils, to the ground, or to trees, etc.; as, the Virginia creeper (Ampelopsis quinquefolia).

Growing along, and clinging to, the ground, or to a wall, etc., by means of rootlets or tendrils. Casements lined with creeping herbs. Cowper. Ceeping crowfoot (Bot.), a plant, the Ranunculus repens.- Creeping snowberry, an American plant (Chiogenes hispidula) with white berries and very small round leaves having the f…

A wreath or garland, or any ornamental fillet encircling the head, especially as a reward of victory or mark of honorable distinction; hence, anything given on account of, or obtained by, faithful or successful effort; a reward. "An olive branch and laurel crown." Shak. They do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we…

ary; as, a dismal outlook; dismal stories; a dismal place. Full well the busy whisper, circling round, Convey'd the dismal tidings when he frowned. Goldsmith. A dismal description of an English November. Southey.

a whirlpool. And smiling eddies dimpled on the main. Dryden. Wheel through the air, in circling eddies play. Addison.

To cling to; to cherish; to love. Shak.

To fix one's self; to take firm hold; to clinch; to cling. A horse leech will hardly fasten on a fish. Sir T. Browne.

To encompass with the arms extended or encircling; to measure by throwing the arms about; to span. [Obs.] Purchas.

Encircling like a fringe; bordering. [R.] "The fringent air." Emerson.

Circling the earth periodically.

rcles, or incloses; a circumference; a belt; esp., a belt, sash, or article of dress encircling the body usually at the waist; a cestus. Within the girdle of these walls. Shak. Their breasts girded with golden girdles. Rev. xv. 6.