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The repetition of the same letter at the beginning of two or more words immediately succeeding each other, or at short intervals; as in the following lines: - Behemoth, biggest born of earth, upheaved His vastness. Milton. Fly o'er waste fens and windy fields. Tennyson.

The first letter in the Greek alphabet, answering to A, and hence used to denote the beginning. In am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Rev. xxii. 13.

A prefix of one or two unaccented syllables to a verse properly beginning with an accented syllable.

A repetition of the last word or any prominent word in a sentence or clause, at the beginning of the next, with an adjunct idea; as, "He retained his virtues amidst all his misfortunes -- misfortunes which no prudence could foresee or prevent."

A repetition of a word or of words at the beginning of two or more successive clauses.

ulay. Angelic Hymn, a very ancient hymn of the Christian Church; -- so called from its beginning with the song of the heavenly host recorded in Luke ii. 14. Eadie.

A repetition of words beginning a sentence, after a long parenthesis; as, Shall that heart (which not only feels them, but which has all motions of life placed in them), shall that heart, etc.

The dropping of a letter or syllable from the beginning of a word; e. g., cute for acute.

The loss of a short unaccented vowel at the beginning of a word; -- the result of a phonetic process; as, squire for esquire. New Eng. Dict.

Shortened by dropping a letter or a syllable from the beginning of a word; as, an aphetic word or form. -- A*phet"ic*al*ly, adv. New Eng. Dict.

wn origin, which was formerly ascribed to the apostles. It certainly dates back to the beginning of the sixth century, and some assert that it can be found in the writings of Ambrose in the fourth century. -- Apostle spoon (Antiq.), a spoon of silver, with the handle terminating in the figure of an apostle. One or mor…

rson, some person or thing, absent or present; as, Milton's apostrophe to Light at the beginning of the third book of "Paradise Lost."

o the market place, and there he arranged his men in the streets. Berners. [They] were beginning to arrange their hampers. Boswell. A mechanism previously arranged. Paley.

rsday. -- Right ascension (Astron.), that degree of the equinoctial, counted from the beginning of Aries, which rises with a star, or other celestial body, in a right sphere; or the arc of the equator intercepted between the first point of Aries and that point of the equator that comes to the meridian with the star; -…

The beginning of corrosive, decomposing, or destructive action, by a chemical agent.

A variety of the game of bridge in which the players, beginning with the dealer, bid for the privilege of naming the trump and playing with the dummy for that deal, there being heavy penalties for a player's failure to make good his bid. The score value of each trick more than six taken by the successful bidder is as f…

The rise, dawn, or beginning. Hawthorne.

iving promise of success, prosperity, or happiness; predicting good; as, an auspicious beginning. Auspicious union of order and freedom. Macaulay.

Slipping back; falling back into sin or error; sinning. Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord. Jer. iii. 14.

billiard table near one end, marking a limit within which the cue balls are placed in beginning a game; also, a line around the table, parallel to the sides, used in playing a particular game, called the balk line game.