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rfeit; to simulate. With acted fear the villain thus pursued. Dryden. To act a part, to sustain the part of one of the characters in a play; hence, to simulate; to dissemble. -- To act the part of, to take the character of; to fulfill the duties of.

pheasaut's eye (Adonis autumnalis); -- named from Adonis, whose blood was fabled to have stained the flower.

A plane or arched surface for sustaining bodies by its movement through the air; a spread wing, as of a bird.

The science that treats of the equilibrium of elastic fluids, or that of bodies sustained in them. Hence it includes aëronautics.

Actingpatient, or sustaining, action. [Archaic] "The body agent." Bacon.

plate of iron having one or more angles, used for forming the corners, or connecting or sustaining the sides of an iron structure to which it is riveted. -- Angle leaf (Arch.), a detail in the form of a leaf, more or less conventionalized, used to decorate and sometimes to strengthen an angle. -- Angle meter, an inst…

Incombustible; capable of sustaining a strong heat without alteration of form or properties.

Iron bars or framing employed for the consolidation of a building, as in sustaining slender columns, holding up canopies, etc. Oxf. Gloss.

To soil; to stain. [Obs. or Poet.] Beau. & Fl. Ne'er assoil my cobwebbed shield. Wordsworth.

One who sustains a great burden.

A stain or staining; state of being in dishonor or condemnation. [Obs.] He lived from all attainder of suspect. Shak. Bill of attainder, a bill brought into, or passed by, a legislative body, condemning a person to death or outlawry, and attainder, without judicial sentence.

To stain; to obscure; to sully; to disgrace; to cloud with infamy. For so exceeding shone his glistring ray, That Phattaint. Spenser. Lest she with blame her honor should attaint. Spenser.

To keep away from; to keep clear of; to endeavor no to meet; to shun; to abstain from; as, to avoid the company of gamesters. What need a man forestall his date of grief. And run to meet what he would most avoid Milton. He carefully avoided every act which could goad them into open hostility. Macaulay.…

to arrange them so as to cause the ship to move astern. -- To back up, to support; to sustain; as, to back up one's friends. -- To back a warrant (Law), is for a justice of the peace, in the county where the warrant is to be executed, to sign or indorse a warrant, issued in another county, to apprehend an offender.…

The column of bones in the back which sustains and gives firmness to the frame; the spine; the vertebral or spinal column.

ess properly, any belt. [Also spelt bawdrick.] A radiant baldric o'er his shoulder tied Sustained the sword that glittered at his side. Pope.

To support or sustain; to hold up.

One who, or that which, bears, sustains, or carries. "Bearers of burdens." 2 Chron. ii. 18. "The bearer of unhappy news." Dryden.

Prevailing style or taste; rage; fashion. [Obs.] She stained her hair yellow, which was then the beauty. Jer. Taylor. Beauty spot, a patch or spot placed on the face with intent to heighten beauty by contrast.

To make bloody; to stain with blood. [Obs.] Chaucer.