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y, by artifice, stratagem, or dexterity; to escape from in a covert manner; to mock by an unexpected escape; to baffle; as, to elude an officer; to elude detection, inquiry, search, comprehension; to elude the force of an argument or a blow. Me gentle Delia beckons from the plain, Then, hid in shades, eludes he eager s…

Sudden or unexpected appearance; an unforeseen occurrence; a sudden occasion. Most our rarities have been found out by casual emergency. Glanvill.

Suddenly appearing; arising unexpectedly; Protection granted in emergent danger. Burke. Emergent year (Chron.), the epoch or date from which any people begin to compute their time or dates; as, the emergent year of Christendom is that of the birth of Christ; the emergent year of the United States is that of the declara…

distant object partly concealed, or not obvious to notice; to see at a glance; to discern unexpectedly; to spy; as, to espy land; to espy a man in a crowd. As one of them opened his sack to give his ass provender in the inn, . . . he espied his money. Gen. xlii. 27. A goodly vessel did I then espy Come like a giant fro…

As might not be expected; -- serving to introduce what is unexpected or less expected. I have made several discoveries, which appear new, even to those who are versed in critical learning. Addison.

ssel coming into collision with another. -- To fall among, to come among accidentally or unexpectedly. -- To fall astern (Naut.), to move or be driven backward; to be left behind; as, a ship falls astern by the force of a current, or when outsailed by another. -- To fall away. (a) To lose flesh; to become lean or em…

An unusual or unexpected thing; a wonder. See Fearly. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.] Drayton.

tera, and Dog flea. See Illustration in Appendix. A flea in the ear, an unwelcome hint or unexpected reply, annoying like a flea; an irritating repulse; as, to put a flea in one's ear; to go away with a flea in one's ear. -- Beach flea, Black flea, etc. See under Beach, etc.

To fall, sink, or throw one's self, heavily, clumsily, and unexpectedly on the ground. [Colloq.] Dickens.

ble stroke at billiards (called a scratch in the United States); hence, any accidental or unexpected advantage; as, he won by a fluke. [Cant, Eng.] A. Trollope.

Happening by chance; coming or occuring unexpectedly, or without any known cause; chance; as, the fortuitous concourse of atoms. It was from causes seemingly fortuitous . . . that all the mighty effects of the Reformation flowed. Robertson. So as to throw a glancing and fortuitous light upon the whole. Hazlitt.…

Receiving same unforeseen or unexpected good, or some good which was not dependent on one's own skill or efforts; favored with good forune; lucky.

The arrival of something in a sudden or unexpected manner; chance; accident; luck; hap; also, the personified or deified power regarded as determining human success, apportioning happiness and unhappiness, and distributing arbitrarily or fortuitously the lots of life. 'T is more by fortune, lady, than by merit. Shak. O…

A shoot of light; a small stream of light; a beam; a ray; a glimpse. Transient unexpected gleams of joi. Addison. At last a gleam Of dawning light turned thitherward in haste His [Satan's] traveled steps. Milton. A glimmer, and then a gleam of light. Longfellow.

A transient glance; an unexpected view of something that startles one; a sudden fear. [Prov. Eng. & Scot.] Halliwell.

Something sent by God; an unexpected acquisiton or piece of good fortune.

That which happens or comes suddenly or unexpectedly; also, the manner of occurrence or taking place; chance; fortune; accident; casual event; fate; luck; lot. Chaucer. Whether art it was or heedless hap. Spenser. Cursed be good haps, and cursed be they that build Their hopes on haps. Sir P. Sidney. Loving goes by haps…

Unforeseen; unexpected; not provided against; unprepared. [Obs.] All improvided for dread of death. E. Hall.

Influence acting unexpectedly or temporarily on the mind; sudden motive or influence; impulse. "The impulsion of conscience." Clarendon. "Divine impulsion prompting." Milton.

Unexpected. [Obs.]