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ing for future use or application; a making ready; preparation. Providence for war is the best prevention of it. Bacon.

The act of puffing; bestowment of extravagant commendation.

ck, to suffer torture, physical or mental. -- To live at rack and manger, to live on the best at another's expense. [Colloq.] -- To put to the rack, to subject to torture; to torment. A fit of the stone puts a kingto the rack, and makes him as miserable as it does the meanest subject. Sir W. Temple.…

To bestow in a profuse or abundant manner; as, to rain favors upon a person.

es (Crotalus horridus), and the diamond rattlesnake of the south (C. adamanteus), are the best known. See Illust. of Fang. Ground rattlesnake (Zoöl.), a small rattlesnake (Caudisona, or Sistrurus, miliaria) of the Southern United States, having a small rattle. It has nine large scales on its head. -- Rattlesnake fern…

To arrive at by effort of any kind; to attain to; to gain; to be advanced to. The best account of the appearances of nature which human penetration can reach, comes short of its reality. Cheyne.

on. You make no further reckoning of it [beauty] than of an outward fading benefit nature bestowed. Sir P. Sidney.

acceptance, with favoring representations; to put in a favorable light before any one; to bestow commendation on; as, he recommended resting the mind and exercising the body. Mæcenas recommended Virgil and Horace to Augustus, whose praises . . . have made him precious to posterity. Dryden.

To sing or repeat a tune. [Obs.] Shak. Whether the birds or she recorded best. W. Browne.

lton. It is a chance which does redeem all sorrows. Shak. To redeem the time, to make the best use of it.

To make amends or compensation to; to relieve of anything unjust or oppressive; to bestow relief upon. "'T is thine, O king! the afflicted to redress." Dryden. Will Gaul or Muscovite redress ye Byron.

with a feeling of interest; observation; heed; notice. Full many a lady I have eyed with best regard. Shak.

reliance; trustworthy. "A reliable witness to the truth of the miracles." A. Norton. The best means, and most reliable pledge, of a higher object. Coleridge. According to General Livingston's humorous account, his own village of Elizabethtown was not much more reliable, being peopled in those agitated times by "unknow…

That which is taken as food; a meal; figuratively, any refreshment. "Sleep . . . thy best repast." Denham. Go and get me some repast. Shak.

e; especially, blame expressed to the face; censure for a fault; chiding; reproach. Those best can bear reproof who merit praise. Pope.

er in public opinion; the character attributed to a person, thing, or action; repute. The best evidence of reputation is a man's whole life. Ames.

rom destruction. Had I been seized by a hungry lion, I would have been a breakfast to the best, Rather than have false Proteus rescue me. Shak.

Reputation; repute. [Obs.] Many of the best respect in Rome. Shak.

in hand, the present comfort of having done our duty, and, for the rest, it offers us the best security that Heaven can give. Tillotson.

too long, resumes the light he gave. Denham. Perhaps God will resume the blessing he has bestowed ere he attains the age of manhood. Sir W. Scott.