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Prior or preceding in dignity, order, rank, right, or worth; rather than. He that cometh after me is preferred before me. John i. 15. The eldest son is before the younger in succession. Johnson.

he abbot of St. Martin was born, he had so little the figure of a man that it bespoke him rather a monster. Locke.

reddish white color, crystallizing in rhombohedrons. It is somewhat harder than lead, and rather brittle; masses show broad cleavage surfaces when broken across. It melts at 507º Fahr., being easily fused in the flame of a candle. It is found in a native state, and as a constituent of some minerals. Specific gravity 9.…

That which is destitute of light or whiteness; the darkest color, or rather a destitution of all color; as, a cloth has a good black. Black is the badge of hell, The hue of dungeons, and the suit of night. Shak.

A clause, as in a blanket mortgage or policy, that includes a group or class of things, rather than a number mentioned individually and having the burden, loss, or the like, apportioned among them.

To pelt or strike with anything rolled. Alas, I had rather be set quick i' the earth, And bowled to death with turnipsShak. To bowl (a player) out, in cricket, to put out a striker by knocking down a bail or a stump in bowling.

To diminish the force of; to lessen the shock of, as a fall or blow. I'll rather leap down first, and break your fall. Dryden.

Rather broad; moderately broad.

especially in an unusually bloody or barbarous manner. Macaulay. [Ithocles] was murdered, rather butchered. Ford.

of matter concreted, congealed, or molded into a solid mass of any form, esp. into a form rather flat than high; as, a cake of soap; an ague cake. Cakes of rusting ice come rolling down the flood. Dryden. Cake urchin (Zoöl), any species of flat sea urchins belonging to the Clypeastroidea. -- Oil cake the refuse of fla…

hat attends multiplicity of publication is, that some of them may be calculated to injure rather than benefit society. Goldsmith. The minister, on the other hand, had never gone through an experience calculated to lead him beyond the scope of generally received laws. Hawthorne.

a large projectile with small velocity, used for the purpose of breaking or smashing in, rather than piercing, the object aimed at, as the side of a ship. It has no trunnions, but is supported on its carriage by a bolt passing through a loop on its under side.

Coming without regularity; occasional; incidental; as, casual expenses. A constant habit, rather than a casual gesture. Hawthorne.

The hundredth part of a meter; a measure of length equal to rather more than thirty-nine hundredths (0.3937) of an inch. See Meter.

Vexation; mortification. I must own that I felt rather vexation and chagrin than hope and satisfaction. Richard Porson. Hear me, and touch Belinda with chagrin. Pope.

A painter who cares for and studies light and shade rather than color.

Peurile; trifling; weak. Methinks that simplicity in her countenance is rather childish than innocent. Addison.

trong emotion. "A deep and choky voice." Aytoun. The allusion to his mother made Tom feel rather chokey. T. Hughes.

A substance (as albumin, gum, gelatin, etc.) which is of a gelatinous rather than a crystalline nature, and which diffuses itself through animal membranes or vegetable parchment more slowly than crystalloids do; -- opposed to crystalloid.

pain to which it is not in our power to afford the proper and adequate remedy; they imply rather an augmentation of the power of bearing, than a diminution of the burden." Johnson.