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nair. Milton. A parcel of buxom bonny dames, that were laughing, singing, dancing, and as merry as the day was long. Tatler. -- Bux"om*ly, adv. -- Bux"om*ness, n.

Cheerful; sprightly; lively; merry. "The canty dame." Wordsworth [Scot. & Prov. Eng.] Contented with little, and canty with mair. Burns.

, esp. when fattened; a male chicken gelded to improve his flesh for the table. Shak. The merry thought of a capon. W. Irving.

Any merrymaking, feasting, or masquerading, especially when overstepping the bounds of decorum; a time of riotous excess. Tennyson. He saw the lean dogs beneath the wall Hold o'er the dead their carnival Byron.

ng together, or against something. [Jove] clicked all his marble thumbs. Ben Jonson. When merry milkmaids click the latch. Tennyson.

thout interruption or cesstaion; continuous; unceasing; lasting; abiding. He that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast. Prov. xv. 15.

One who dances or who practices dancing. The merry dancers, beams of the northern lights when they rise and fall alternately without any considerable change of length. See Aurora borealis, under Aurora.

as, to dine a hundred men. A table massive enough to have dined Johnnie Armstrong and his merry men. Sir W. Scott.

To divert or amuse; to make merry. They could disport themselves. Buckle.

lake alcoholic liquors to excess; to be intemperate in the Pope. And they drank, and were merry with him. Gem. xliii. 34. Bolingbroke always spoke freely when he had drunk freely. Thackeray. To drink to, to salute in drinking; to wish well to, in the act of taking the cup; to pledge in drinking. I drink to the general…

One whose practice it is to raise mirth by odd tricks; a jester; a buffoon; a merry-andrew. Prior.

lancholy strain or tune in music; any tune. [Obs.] "Tune a deploring dump." "Play me some merry dump." Shak.

se nations shalt thou find no ease. Deut. xxviii. 65. Take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. Luke xii. 19.

egree; to render tipsy. [Colloq. & Sportive] "The elevated cavaliers sent for two tubs of merry stingo." Sir W. Scott.

To make merry or jolly; to enliven; to animate; to gladden greatly; to cheer; as, good news exhilarates the mind; wine exhilarates a man.

Witty or humorous writings or saying; witticisms; merry conceits.

Given to wit and good humor; merry; sportive; jocular; as, a facetious companion.

oot a bill, to pay it. [Colloq.] -- To foot it, to walk; also, to dance. If you are for a merry jaunt, I'll try, for once, who can foot it farthest. Dryden.

Full of levity; dancing, playing, or frisking about; full of pranks; frolicsome; gay; merry. The frolic wind that breathes the spring. Milton. The gay, the frolic, and the loud. Waller.

The wishbone or merrythought of birds, formed by the united clavicles.