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The basking or liver shark; -- called also homer. See Liver shark, under Liver.

lyric; a song of praise or thankgiving intended to be used in religious service; as, the Homeric hymns; Watts' hymns. Admonishing one another in psalms and hymns. Col. iii. 16. Where angels first should practice hymns, and string Their tuneful harps. Dryden. Hymn book, a book containing a collection of hymns, as for u…

wenty-four books, on the destruction of Ilium, the ancient Troy. The Iliad is ascribed to Homer.

To exempt from oblivion; to perpetuate in fame. Alexander had no Homer to immortalize his quilty name. T. Dawes.

f Capital. Ionic dialect (Gr. Gram.), a dialect of the Greek language, used in Ionia. The Homeric poems are written in what is designated old Ionic, as distinguished from new Ionic, or Attic, the dialect of all cultivated Greeks in the period of Athenian prosperity and glory. -- Ionic foot. (Pros.) See Ionic, n., 1.…

hy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. Ps. cxix. 105. Ages elapsed ere Homer's lamp appeared. Cowper.

to lapse into the barbarity of those northern nations from whom we are descended. Swift. Homer, in his characters of Vulcan and Thersites, has lapsed into the burlesque character. Addison.

A fabulous herb of occult power, having a black root and white blossoms, said by Homer to have been given by Hermes to Ulysses to counteract the spells of Circe. Milton.

relating to, or resembling, Nestor, the aged warior and counselor mentioned by Homer; hence, wise; experienced; aged; as, Nestorian caution.

To be drowsy or dull; to be careless. Nor is it Homer nods, but we that dream. Pope.

An epic poem attributed to Homer, which describes the return of Ulysses to Ithaca after the siege of Troy.

anything is divided, or of which it is composed; proportional division or ingredient. An homer is the tenth part of an ephah. Ex. xvi. 36. A thought which, quartered, hath but one part wisdom, And ever three parts coward. Shak.

specifically, easily moved to anger; irascible; quick-tempered; as, a passionate nature. Homer's Achilles is haughty and passionate. Prior.

sensible; to move deeply; as, to penetrate one's heart with pity. Shak. The translator of Homer should penetrate himself with a sense of the plainness and directness of Homer's style. M. Arnold.

ans, a fabulous seafaring people fond of the feast, the lyre, and the dance, mentioned by Homer.

ed by imagination and poetic diction; -- contradistinguished from prose; as, the poems of Homer or of Milton.

ich expresses ownership, origin, or some possessive relation of one thing to another; as, Homer's admirers; the pear's flavor; the dog's faithfulness. -- Possessive pronoun, a pronoun denoting ownership; as, his name; her home; my book.

order of proceeding or moving; coming after; -- opposed to prior. Hesiod was posterior to Homer. Broome.

ensation of nausea. For who, without a qualm, hath ever looked On holy garbage, though by Homer cooked Roscommon.

om an author or speaker, by way of authority or illustration; as, to quote a passage from Homer.