Search the Dictionary

ote a proposed object; fit or proper under the circumstances; conducive to self-interest; desirable; advisable; advantageous; -- sometimes contradistinguished from right. It is expedient for you that I go away. John xvi. 7. Nothing but the right can ever be expedient, since that can never be true expediency which would…

; liberal; as, expensive dress; an expensive house or family. War is expensive, and peace desirable. Burke.

Worthy of being wished for; desirable. [Obs.] Puller.

Rich; producing a large income; desirable; as, a fat benefice; a fat office; a fat job. Now parson of Troston, a fat living in Suffolk. Carlyle.

To furnish an abudant supply to; to furnish with as mush as is desired or desirable; to occupy the whole of; to swarm in or overrun. And God blessed them, saying. Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas. Gen. i. 22. The Syrians filled the country. 1 Kings xx. 27.

To be prosperous; to increase in wealth, honor, comfort, happiness, or whatever is desirable; to thrive; to be prominent and influental; specifically, of authors, painters, etc., to be in a state of activity or production. When all the workers of iniquity do flourish. Ps. xcii 7 Bad men as frequently prosper and flouri…

That which is produced; the effect or consequence of any action; advantageous or desirable product or result; disadvantageous or evil consequence or effect; as, the fruits of labor, of self-denial, of intemperance. The fruit of rashness. Shak. What I obtained was the fruit of no bargain. Burke. They shall eat the fruit…

iquid, accompanying many alcoholic liquors (as potato whisky, corn whisky, etc.), as an undesirable ingredient, and consisting of several of the higher alcohols and compound ethers, but particularly of amyl alcohol; hence, specifically applied to amyl alcohol.

Possessing desirable qualities; adapted to answer the end designed; promoting success, welfare, or happiness; serviceable; useful; fit; excellent; admirable; commendable; not bad, corrupt, evil, noxious, offensive, or troublesome, etc. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. Gen. i. 31. G…

Pleasant; agreeable; desirable. We have many goodly days to see. Shak.

it, or a belief that it is obtainable; an expectation of something which is thought to be desirable; confidence; pleasing expectancy. The hypocrite's hope shall perish. Job vii. 13. He wished, but not with hope. Milton. New thoughts of God, new hopes of Heaven. Keble.

Giving no ground of hope; promising nothing desirable; desperate; as, a hopeless cause. The hopelessword of "never to return" Breathe I against thee, upon pain of life. Shak.

To grow better; to advance or make progress in what is desirable; to make or show improvement; as, to improve in health. We take care to improve in our frugality and diligence. Atterbury.

The act of improving; advancement or growth; promotion in desirable qualities; progress toward what is better; melioration; as, the improvement of the mind, of land, roads, etc. I look upon your city as the best place of improvement. South. Exercise is the chief source of improvement in all our faculties. Blair.…

Worthy of envy; desirable; enviable. [Obs.] Such a person appeareth in a far more honorable and invidious state than any prosperous man. Barrow.

o consideration. Prosperity, considered absolutely and irrespectively, is better and more desirable than adversity. South.

To put a desired or desirable condition; to cause to thrive. Who makes or ruins with a smile or frown. Dryden.

That which establishes or places in a desirable state or condition; the material of which something may be made; as, early misfortune was the making of him.

Unprovided with needful or desirable accessories, means of sustenance, etc.; destitute; unaided; bare. Patriots who had exposed themselves for the public, and whom they say now left naked. Milton.

Moving in a forward direction; tending toward a contemplated or desirable end; forward; as, an onward course, progress, etc.