OVERWHELM v.
To cover over completely, as by a great wave; to overflow and bury beneath; to ingulf; hence, figuratively, to immerse and bear down; to overpower; to crush; to bury; to oppress, etc., overpoweringly. The sea overwhelmed their enemies. Ps. lxxviii. 53. Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhe…
PALSY n.
Paralysis, complete or partial. See Paralysis. "One sick of the palsy." Mark ii. 3. Bell's palsy, paralysis of the facial nerve, producing distortion of one side of the face; -- so called from Sir Charles Bell, an English surgeon who described it. -- Scrivener's palsy. See Writer's cramp, under Writer. -- Shaking pal…
PARALYSIS n.
Abolition of function, whether complete or partial; esp., the loss of the power of voluntary motion, with or without that of sensation, in any part of the body; palsy. See Hemiplegia, and Paraplegia. Also used figuratively. "Utter paralysis of memory." G. Eliot. Mischievous practices arising out of the paralysis of the…
PERFECTION n. 2 definitions
The quality or state of being perfect or complete, so that nothing requisite is wanting; entire development; consummate culture, skill, or moral excellence; the highest attainable state or degree of excellence; maturity; as, perfection in an art, in a science, or in a system; perfection in form or degree; fruits in per…
PERIOD n. 4 definitions
ies; a division of time, as a series of years, months, or days, in which something is completed, and ready to recommence and go on in the same order; as, the period of the sun, or the earth, or a comet.
PERISTYLE n.
A range of columns with their entablature, etc.; specifically, a complete system of columns, whether on all sides of a court, or surrounding a building, such as the cella of a temple. Used in the former sense, it gives name to the larger and inner court of a Roman dwelling, the peristyle. See Colonnade.…