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or state of a person or thing, either natural or acquired, regarded as something had, possessed, and firmly retained; as, a religious habit; his habit is morose; elms have a spreading habit; esp., physical temperament or constitution; as, a full habit of body.

One who possesses or gives half only; one who shares. [Obs.] Bp. Montagu.

tic or Alpine race. It was characterized by expert use of bronze, a knowledge of iron, possession of domestic animals, agriculture, and artistic skill and sentiment in manufacturing pottery, ornaments, etc.

Personal possession; ownership; hence, control; direction; management; -- usually in the plural. "Receiving in hand one year's tribute." Knolles. Albinus . . . found means to keep in his hands the goverment of Britain. Milton.

a certain amount of time or distance in starting, granted in a race to the competitor possessing inferior advantages; or an additional weight or other hindrance imposed upon the one possessing superior advantages, in order to equalize, as much as possible, the chances of success; as, the handicap was five seconds, or…

ndition of the soul arising from good fortune or propitious happening of any kind; the possession of those circumstances or that state of being which is attended enjoyment; the state of being happy; contentment; joyful satisfaction; felicity; blessedness.

hibition. I can not bear elections, and still less the hash of them over again in a first session. Walpole.

To hold in possession or control; to own; as, he has a farm.

A possessor; a holder. Shak.

Possession; goods; estate. I 'll lend you something; my having is not much. Shak.

A listening to facts and evidence, for the sake of adjudication; a session of a court for considering proofs and determining issues. His last offenses to us Shall have judicious hearing. Shak. Another hearing before some other court. Dryden.

One who inherits, or is entitled to succeed to the possession of, any property after the death of its owner; one on whom the law bestows the title or property of another at the death of the latter. I am my father's heir and only son. Shak.

lebore, and extracted as a white crystalline substance with a sharp tingling taste. It possesses the essential virtues of the plant; -- called also elleborin.

The form of the objective and the possessive case of the personal pronoun she; as, I saw her with her purse out.

A possession; the Israelites, as God's chosen people; also, a flock under pastoral charge. Joel iii. 2. 1 Peter v. 3.

The daughters of Hesperus, or Night (brother of Atlas), and fabled possessors of a garden producing golden apples, in Africa, at the western extremity of the known world. To slay the guarding dragon and get some of these apples was one of the labors of Hercules. Called also Atlantides.

Unequal development of the tail lobes of fishes; the possession of a heterocercal tail.

Differing in kind; having unlike qualities; possessed of different characteristics; dissimilar; -- opposed to homogeneous, and said of two or more connected objects, or of a conglomerate mass, considered in respect to the parts of which it is made up. -- Het`er*o*ge"ne*ous*ly, adv. -- Het`er*o*ge"ne*ous*ness, n. Hete…

Possessing a characteristic quality in a supreme or superior degree; as, high (i. e., intense) heat; high (i. e., full or quite) noon; high (i. e., rich or spicy) seasoning; high (i. e., complete) pleasure; high (i. e., deep or vivid) color; high (i. e., extensive, thorough) scholarship, etc. High time it is this war n…

Possessed of noble or honorable principles.