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The act of choosing; choice; selection.

The act of adorning, or the state of being adorned; adornment. In the selection of their ground, as well as in the embellishment of it. Prescott.

A selection of passages from the Gospels, as a lesson in divine service. Porson.

To take by selection; to choose out; to cite or quote, as a passage from a book. I have extracted out of that pamphlet a few notorious falsehoods. Swift. To extract the root (Math.), to ascertain the root of a number or quantity.

Casual choice; fortuitous selection; hazard. [R.] No mode of election operating in the spirit of fortition or rotation can be generally good. Burke.

A selection from one of the gospels, for use in a religious service; as, the gospel for the day.

A lesson or selection, esp. of Scripture, read in divine service.

breeding (Stockbreeding), breeding by a certain family line of descent, especially in the selection of the dam or mother. -- Line conch (Zoöl.), a spiral marine shell (Fasciolaria distans), of Florida and the West Indies. It is marked by narrow, dark, revolving lines. -- Line engraving. (a) Engraving in which the eff…

st sense; -- used especially in contradistinction to mental or moral science. -- Natural selection (Biol.), a supposed operation of natural laws analogous, in its operation and results, to designed selection in breeding plants and animals, and resulting in the survival of the fittest. The theory of natural selection s…

The theory which holds natural selection, as explained by Darwin, to be the chief factor in the evolution of plants and animals, and denies the inheritance of acquired characters; -- esp. opposed to Neo-Lamarckism. Weismannism is an example of extreme Neo- Darwinism. -- Ne`o-Dar*win"i*an, a. & n.

An instrument for measuring the distance of distinct vision, mainly for the selection of eveglasses.

A selection or extract from a book; especially (Theol.), a selection from the Bible, appointed to be read in the churches or used as a text for a sermon.

Choice; right of selection; as, to have one's pick. France and Russia have the pick of our stables. Ld. Lytton.

A hymn, or other selection, sung during a church procession; as, the processional was the 202d hymn.

Genesis through an internal force, as opposed to natural selection.

A book containing a selection of extracts for exercises in reading; an elementary book for practice in a language; a reading book.

A chapelet; a garland; a series or collection, as of beautiful thoughts or of literary selections. Every day propound to yourself a rosary or chaplet of good works to present to God at night. Jer. Taylor.

ing run, according to the usual order, conditions, quality, etc.; on the average; without selection or specification. -- To let run (Naut.), to allow to pass or move freely; to slacken or loosen. -- To run after, to pursue or follow; to search for; to endeavor to find or obtain; as to run after similies. Locke. -- T…

With care and selection. [R.]

nly on difference in number and position of the stamens and pistils of plants. -- Sexual selection (Biol.), the selective preference of one sex for certain characteristics in the other, such as bright colors, musical notes, etc.; also, the selection which results from certain individuals of one sex having more opportu…