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A style of ornamentation either painted, inlaid, or carved in low relief. It consists of a pattern in which plants, fruits, foliage, etc., as well as figures of men and animals, real or imaginary, are fantastically interlaced or put together.

An institution for the protection or relief of some class of destitute, unfortunate, or afflicted persons; as, an asylum for the aged, for the blind, or for the insane; a lunatic asylum; an orphan asylum.

A paste of clay used in decorating coarse pottery in relief.

Same as Bas-relief.

An abode; a cottage. [Prov. Eng.] Wright. It was a relief to dismiss them [Sir Roger's servants] into little beings within my manor. Steele.

iation formed for mutual insurance, as among tradesmen or in labor unions, to provide for relief in sickness, old age, and for the expenses of burial. Usually called friendly society in Great Britain.

friends to drink ale at some poor man's house, and there to contribute in charity for his relief. [Prov. Eng.]

bs without blemish, and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish. Lev. xiv. 10. The reliefs of an envious man are those little blemishes and imperfections that discover themselves in an illustrious character. Spectator.

Standing prominently out to view; markedly conspicuous; striking the eye; in high relief. Shadows in painting . . . make the figure bolder. Dryden.

Remedy; relief; amends; reparation; hence, one who brings relief. He gaf the sike man his boote. Chaucer. Thou art boot for many a bruise And healest many a wound. Sir W. Scott. Next her Son, our soul's best boot. Wordsworth.

See Bottomery. [Obs.] There was a scivener of Wapping brought to hearing for relief against a bummery bond. R. North.

Art of producing metal decorative work other than statuary, as reliefs, intaglios, engraving, chasing, etc.

A carving in relief, esp. one on a small scale used as a jewel for personal adornment, or like.

One who receives relief for a night in a parish to which he does not belong; a vagrant.

Hollow relief; sculpture in relief within a sinking made for the purpose, so no part of it projects beyond the plain surface around.

A fight in which centaurs take part, -- a common theme for relief sculpture, as in the Parthenon metopes.

The field or ground on which carving appears in relief.

Whatever is bestowed gratuitously on the needy or suffering for their relief; alms; any act of kindness. She did ill then to refuse her a charity. L'Estrange.

One of a number of processes by which an impression from an engraved plate is obtained in relief, to be used for printing on an ordinary printing press.

A stereotype plate or any similar reproduction of ornament, or lettering, in relief. Cliché casting, a mode of obtaining an impression from a die or woodcut, or the like, by striking it suddenly upon metal which has been fused and is just becoming solid; also, the casting so obtained.