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acrid, in either a literal or figurative sense; implacableness; resentfulness; severity; keenness of reproach or sarcasm; deep distress, grief, or vexation of mind. The lip that curls with bitterness. Percival. I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. Job vii. 11.

To repress or weaken, as any appetite, desire, or power of the mind; to impair the force, keenness, or susceptibility, of; as, to blunt the feelings.

Corrective punishment; chastisement; reproof; pungent criticism. The keenest castigation of her slanderers. W. Irving.

Able to perceive clearly; keen; acute; penetrating; discriminating; as, a clear intellect; a clear head. Mother of science! now I feel thy power Within me clear, not only to discern Things in their causes, but to trace the ways Of highest agents. Milton.

Same as Damask, or Damaskeen, v. t. "Damascened armor." Beaconsfield. "Cast and damascened steel." Ure.

autiful texture, ornamented with waving lines; especially, that which is inlaid with damaskeening; -- formerly much valued for sword blades, from its great flexibility and tenacity.

Marking a difference; distinguishing. -- Dis*crim"i*na`ting*ly, adv. And finds with keen discriminating sight, Black's not so black; -- nor white so very white. Canning.

Characterized by a quality somewhat severe, grave, or hard; hence, sharp; keen; shrewd; quaint; as, a dry tone or manner; dry wit. He was rather a dry, shrewd kind of body. W. Irving.

Not keen in edge or point; lacking sharpness; blunt. "Thy scythe is dull." Herbert.

Sharp; keen; bitter; severe. [Obs.] "A nipping and an eager air." "Eager words." Shak.

genera Aquila and Haliæetus. The eagle is remarkable for strength, size, graceful figure, keenness of vision, and extraordinary flight. The most noted species are the golden eagle (Aquila chrysaëtus); the imperial eagle of Europe (A. mogilnik or imperialis); the American bald eagle (Haliæetus leucocephalus); the Europe…

Sharpness; readiness of fitness to cut; keenness; intenseness of desire. The full edge of our indignation. Sir W. Scott. Death and persecution lose all the ill that they can have, if we do not set an edge upon them by our fears and by our vices. Jer. Taylor.

That which gives pleasure or keen satisfaction. The hope of everlasting enjoyments. Glanvill.

The act of exasperating or the state of being exasperated; irritation; keen or bitter anger. Extorted from him by the exasperation of his spirits. South.

Exceeding; extreme; keen; -- used in a bad or a good sense; as, exquisite pain or pleasure.

Thin; attenuate; keen; as, a fine edge.

Keenness or sharpness; as, the fineness of a needle's point, or of the edge of a blade.

ghthouses. Knight. -- Frost nail, a nail with a sharp head driven into a horse's shoe to keen him from slipping. -- Frost smoke, an appearance resembling smoke, caused by congelation of vapor in the atmosphere in time of severe cold. The brig and the ice round her are covered by a strange black obscurity: it is the f…

A grappling iron. The iron hooks and grapples keen. Spenser. Grapple plant (Bot.), a South African herb (Herpagophytum leptocarpum) having the woody fruits armed with long hooked or barbed thorns by which they adhere to cattle, causing intense annoyance. -- Grapple shot (Life-saving Service), a projectile, to which ar…

Having a keen appetite for food or drink; ravenous; voracious; very hungry; -- followed by of; as, a lion that is greedy of his prey.