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x or determine the rate or amount of. This sum is assessed and raised upon individuals by commissioners in the act. Blackstone.

In England, the persons appointed, under a commission of bankruptcy, to manage the estate of a bankrupt for the benefit of his creditors.

authority, warrant, or legal power; to give a right to act; to empower; as, to authorize commissioners to settle a boundary.

s or trust; as, the Board of Admiralty; a board of trade; a board of directors, trustees, commissioners, etc. Both better acquainted with affairs than any other who sat then at that board. Clarendon. We may judge from their letters to the board. Porteus.

A noncommissioned officer in the British artillery. Bombardier beetle (Zoöl.), a kind of beetle (Brachinus crepitans), so called because, when disturbed, it makes an explosive discharge of a pungent and acrid vapor from its anal glands. The name is applied to other related species, as the B. displosor, which can produc…

worldwide. In "The Boy Scouts of America" the local councils are generally under a scout commissioner, under whose supervision are scout masters, each in charge of a troop of two or more patrols of eight scouts each, who are of three classes, tenderfoot, second-class scout, and first-class scout.

A warrant or commission given to a pilot, authorizing him to pilot vessels in certain waters. Branches of a bridle, two pieces of bent iron, which bear the bit, the cross chains, and the curb. -- Branch herring. See Alewife. -- Root and branch , totally, wholly.

A pilot who has a branch or commission, as from Trinity House, England, for special navigation.

A commission giving an officer higher rank than that for which he receives pay; an honorary promotion of an officer.

The fee, reward, or commission, given or changed for transacting business as a broker.

to paint, or make clean or bright with a brush; to cleanse or improve; to renew. You have commissioned me to paint your shop, and I have done my best to brush you up like your neighbors. Pope.

ms in a regiment, as a volunteer, with a view of acquiring military skill and obtaining a commission.

The position, rank, or commission of a cadet; as, to get a cadetship.

The rank, post, or commission of a captain. Washington. Captaincy general, the office, power, teritory, or jurisdiction of a captain general; as, the captaincy general of La Habana (Cuba and its islands).

That part of a legal instrument, as a commission, indictment, etc., which shows where, when, and by what authority, it taken, found, or executed. Bouvier. Wharton.

nd; kindly; gentle; beneficent. The graceful tact; the Christian art. Tennyson. Christian Commission. See under Commission. -- Christian court. Same as Ecclesiastical court. -- Christian era, the present era, commencing with the birth of Christ. It is supposed that owing to an error of a monk (Dionysius Exiguus, d. a…

An officer appointed and commissioned to collect and receive customs, duties, taxes, or toll. A great part of this is now embezzled . . . by collectors, and other officers. Sir W. Temple.

The office, rank, or commission of a colonel.

One to whom is committed some charge, duty, or office, by a superior power; a commissioner. Great Destiny, the Commissary of God. Donne.

Relating to commission; of the nature of, or involving, commission. [R.]