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Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



101 words match “NECESSITY”

DWELL v.
To abide; to remain; to continue. I 'll rather dwell in my necessity. Shak. Thy soul was like a star and dwelt apart. Wordsworth.
EMERGENCY n.
ence or combination of circumstances which calls for immediate action or remedy; pressing necessity; exigency. To whom she might her doubts propose, On all emergencies that rose. Swift. A safe counselor in most difficult emergencies. Brougham.
EXCESS n.
he state of surpassing or going beyond limits; the being of a measure beyond sufficiency, necessity, or duty; that which exceeds what is usual or prover; immoderateness; superfluity; superabundance; extravagance; as, an excess of provisions or of light. To gild refined gold, to paint the lily, To throw a perfume on the…
EXIGENCY n.
The state of being exigent; urgent or exacting want; pressing necessity or distress; need; a case demanding immediate action, supply, or remedy; as, an unforeseen exigency. "The present exigency of his affairs." Ludlow.
EXIGENT n.
Exigency; pressing necessity; decisive moment. [Obs.] Why do you cross me in this exigent Shak.
EXTEMPORIZE v.
To do, make, or utter extempore or off-hand; to prepare in great haste, under urgent necessity, or with scanty or unsuitable materials; as, to extemporize a dinner, a costume, etc. Themistocles . . . was of all men the best able to extemporize the right thing to be done. Jowett (Thucyd. ). Pitt, of whom it was said tha…
EXTREMITY n.
ighest degree of inconvenience, pain, or suffering; greatest need or peril; extreme need; necessity. Divers evils and extremities that follow upon such a compulsion shall here be set in view. Milton. Upon mere extremity he summoned this last Parliament. Milton.
FALSIFICATION n.
Willful misstatement or misrepresentation. Extreme necessity . . . forced him upon this bold and violent falsification of the doctrine of the alliance. Bp. Warburton.
FATALISM n.
The doctrine that all things are subject to fate, or that they take place by inevitable necessity.
FATALIST n.
One who maintains that all things happen by inevitable necessity.
FATALITY n.
The state of being fatal, or proceeding from destiny; invincible necessity, superior to, and independent of, free and rational control. The Stoics held a fatality, and a fixed, unalterable course of events. South.
FATE n.
by which the order of things is prescribed; the immutable law of the universe; inevitable necessity; the force by which all existence is determined and conditioned. Necessity and chance Approach not me; and what I will is fate. Milton. Beyond and above the Olympian gods lay the silent, brooding, everlasting fate of whi…
FORCE n.
nce, to do no force, to make no account of; not to heed. [Obs.] Chaucer. -- Of force, of necessity; unavoidably; imperatively. "Good reasons must, of force, give place to better." Shak. -- Plastic force (Physiol.), the force which presumably acts in the growth and repair of the tissues. -- Vital force (Physiol.), th…
FREE a. 2 definitions
Not subjected to the laws of physical necessity; capable of voluntary activity; endowed with moral liberty; -- said of the will. Not free, what proof could they have given sincere Of true allegiance, constant faith, or love. Milton.
FREE WILL n.
ted of moral beings of willing or choosing without the restraints of physical or absolute necessity.
FREEDOM n.
Exemption from necessity, in choise and action; as, the freedom of the will.
GOAD n.
A pointed instrument used to urge on a beast; hence, any necessity that urges or stimulates. The daily goad urging him to the daily toil. Macaulay.
HARD adv.
pushed or hard run for time, money, etc. [Colloq.] -- Hard up, closely pressed by want or necessity; without money or resources; as, hard up for amusements. [Slang]
HAVE v.
To be under necessity or obligation; to be compelled; followed by an infinitive. Science has, and will long have, to be a divider and a separatist. M. Arnold. The laws of philology have to be established by external comparison and induction. Earle.
HEDGE v.
I myself sometimes, leaving the fear of God on the left hand and hiding mine honor in my necessity, am fain to shuffle, to hedge and to lurch. Shak.
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