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Augmenting, gaining, or giving force, by successive additions; as, a cumulative argument, i. e., one whose force increases as the statement proceeds. The argument . . . is in very truth not logical and single, but moral and cumulative. Trench.

Eager or inordinate desire, especially for wealth; greed of gain; avarice; covetousness. With the feelings of political distrust were mingled those of cupidity and envy, as the Spaniard saw the fairest provinces of the south still in the hands of the accursed race of Ishmael. Prescott.

attached to the upper part of the branches of a bit, and capable of being drawn tightly against the lower jaw of the horse. He that before ran in the pastures wild Felt the stiff curb control his angry jaws. Drayton. By these men, religion,that should be The curb, is made the spur of tyranny. Denham.…

have seen him curry a fellow's carcass handsomely. Beau. & FL. To curry favor, to seek to gain favor by flattery or attentions. See Favor, n.

time in which a certain succession of events or phenomena is completed, and then returns again and again, uniformly and continually in the same order; a periodical space of time marked by the recurrence of something peculiar; as, the cucle of the seasons, or of the year. Wages . . . bear a full proportion . . . to the…

ly; to be or remain in waiting, at the beck and call of another, with a view to please or gain favor. A man of his place, and so near our favor, To dance attendance on their lordships' pleasure. Shak.

See In one's danger, below. You stand within his danger, do you not Shak. Covetousness of gains hath brought [them] in dangerof this statute. Robynson (More's Utopia).

hrow with violence or haste; to cause to strike violently or hastily; -- often used with against. If you dash a stone against a stone in the botton of the water, it maketh a sound. Bacon.

A son's wife; a daughter-in-law. And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters. Ruth. i. 11.

Unproductive; bringing no gain; unprofitable; as, dead capital; dead stock in trade.

by a combination of interested parties; -- applied to stock speculations and political bargains. [Slang]

all beetle (Anobium tessellatum and other allied species). By forcibly striking its head against woodwork it makes a ticking sound, which is a call of the sexes to each other, but has been imagined by superstitious people to presage death.

to strive to maintain by reasoning; to dispute; to contest; to discuss; to argue for and against. A wise council . . . that did debate this business. Shak. Debate thy cause with thy neighbor himself. Prov. xxv. 9.

; one who is indebted; -- correlative to creditor. [I 'll] bring your latter hazard back again, And thankfully rest debtor for the first. Shak. In Athens an insolvent debtor became slave to his creditor. Mitford. Debtors for our lives to you. Tennyson.

generally used disparagingly. The fathers were ordered to decamp, and the house was once again converted into a tavern. Goldsmith.

One of those who conspired for constitutional government against the Emperor Nicholas on his accession to the throne at the death of Alexander I., in December, 1825; -- called also Dekabrist.

eclaration, or an open and explicit avowal; to proclaim one's self; -- often with for or against; as, victory declares against the allies. Like fawning courtiers, for success they wait, And then come smiling, and declare for fate. Dryden.

To cry down; to censure as faulty, mean, or worthless; to clamor against; to blame clamorously; to discredit; to disparage. For small errors they whole plays decry. Dryden. Measures which are extolled by one half of the kingdom are naturally decried by the other. Addison.

writing, on paper or parchment, duly executed and delivered, containing some transfer, bargain, or contract.

To fail in duty; to offend. That he gainst courtesy so foully did default. Spenser.