Search the Dictionary

A person deficient in intellect; one who acts absurdly, or pursues a course contrary to the dictates of wisdom; one without judgment; a simpleton; a dolt. Extol not riches, then, the toil of fools. Milton. Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other. Franklin.

The thickened or sloping portion of a wall, or of an embankment at its foot. Footing course (Arch.), one of the courses of masonry at the foot of a wall, broader than the courses above. -- To pay one's footing, to pay a fee on first doing anything, as working at a trade or in a shop. Wright. -- Footing beam, the tie…

The mark or impression of the foot; a track; hence, visible sign of a course pursued; token; mark; as, the footsteps of divine wisdom. How on the faltering footsteps of decay Youth presses. Bryant.

Near the beginning; preceeding; as, the former part of a discourse or argument.

To commit fornication; to have unlawful sexual intercourse.

Unlawful sexual intercourse on the part of an unmarried person; the act of such illicit sexual intercourse between a man and a woman as does not by law amount to adultery.

An unmarried person, male or female, who has criminal intercourse with the other sex; one guilty of fornication.

oming 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.

That which comes as the result of an undertaking or of a course of action; good or ill success; especially, favorable issue; happy event; success; prosperity as reached partly by chance and partly by effort. Our equal crimes shall equal fortune give. Dryden. There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which, taken at the fl…

The lowest and supporting part or member of a wall, including the base course (see Base course (a), under Base, n.) and footing courses; in a frame house, the whole substructure of masonry.

h a heart of that fine frame To pay this debt of love but to a brother. Shak. Put your discourse into some frame. Shak.

ghted; laden; filled; stored; charged. A vessel of our country richly fraught. Shak. A discourse fraught with all the commending excellences oSouth. Enterprises fraught with world-wide benefits. I. Taylor.

lsion; able to follow one's own impulses, desires, or inclinations; determining one's own course of action; not dependent; at liberty. That which has the power, or not the power, to operate, is that alone which is or is not free. Locke.

A crowd; a throng; a concourse. [Archaic.] Tennyson.

Addicted to any course of conduct; inclined to indulge in any practice; habitual; persistent. He has been loud and frequent in declaring himself hearty for the government. Swift.

arts for voices and instruments are given. -- Full sea, high water. -- Full swing, free course; unrestrained liberty; "Leaving corrupt nature to . . . the full swing and freedom of its own extravagant actings." South (Colloq.) -- In full, at length; uncontracted; unabridged; written out in words, and not indicated by…

The course of action which peculiarly pertains to any public officer in church or state; the activity appropriate to any business or profession. Tradesmen . . . going about their functions. Shak. The malady which made him incapable of performing his regal functions. Macaulay.

xy or Milky Way. Galactic circle (Astron.), the great circle of the heavens, to which the course of the galaxy most nearly conforms. Herschel. -- Galactic poles, the poles of the galactic circle.

A visit between whalers at sea; a holding of social intercourse between those on different vessels at sea, or (Local U. S.) between persons ashore.

A going; a course. [Obs.]