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A just valuation or estimate of merit, worth, weight, etc.; recognition of excellence.

Worthy of being approved; meritorious. -- Ap*prov"a*ble*ness, n.

presumptuously; to make undue claims to, from vanity or baseless pretensions to right or merit; as, the pope arrogated dominion over kings. He arrogated to himself the right of deciding dogmatically what was orthodox doctrine. Macaulay.

re than good-will to me attribute naught. Spenser. Ascribes his gettings to his parts and merit. Pope. And fairly quit him of the imputed blame. Spenser.

ibute nothing to God that hath any repugnancy or contradiction in it. Abp. Tillotson. The merit of service is seldom attributed to the true and exact performer. Shak.

One who has a claim to precedence; a superior, as in merit, social standing, etc.; -- usually in the plural. Their betters would hardly be found. Hooker. For the better, in the way of improvement; so as to produce improvement. "If I have altered him anywhere for the better." Dryden.

Faulty; meriting blame. Shak.

To float; to rise like a buoy. "Rising merit will buoy up at last." Pope.

t with and condemning as wrong; reprehension; blame. Both the censure and the praise were merited. Macaulay.

To assert a right; to claim a place. Where nature doth with merit challenge. Shak.

se and attract; that which fascinates; any alluring quality. Charms strike the sight, but merit wins the soul. Pope. The charm of beauty's powerful glance. Milton.

The use of artful subterfuge, designed to draw away attention from the merits of a case or question; -- specifically applied to legal proceedings; trickery; chicanery; caviling; sophistry. Prior. To shuffle from them by chicane. Burke. To cut short this, I propound it fairly to your own canscience. Berkeley.…

rinciples and methods for political methods in the conduct of the civil service. esp. the merit system instead of the spoils system in making appointments to office.

d actions in fit time and place. Sir J. Davies. Strength, comeliness of shape, or amplest merit. Milton. Comeliness signifies something less forcible than beauty, less elegant than grace, and less light than prettiness. Johnson.

Merit, acguired by works, which can claim reward on the score of general benevolence. Such a worthiness of condignity, and proper merit of the heavenly glory, cannot be found in any the best, most perfect, and excellent of created beings. Bp. Bull.

According to merit.

One skilled in judging of the merits of literary or artistic works; a connoisseur; an adept; hence, one who examines literary or artistic works, etc., and passes judgment upon them; a reviewer. The opininon of the most skillful critics was, that nothing finer [than Goldsmith's "Traveler"] had appeared in verse since th…

To express one's views as to the merit or demerit of; esp., to animadvert upon; to find fault with; as, to criticise conduct. Blackwood's Mag.

n virtue or wisdom. And pardon craved for his so rash default. Spenser. Regardless of our merit or default. Pope.

the punishment justly due; claim to recompense, usually in a good sense; right to reward; merit. According to their deserts will I judge them. Ezek. vii. 27. Andronicus, surnamed Pius For many good and great deserts to Rome. Shak. His reputation falls far below his desert. A. Hamilton.