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To begin; to commence; to set on foot; as, to institute an inquiry; to institute a suit. And haply institute A course of learning and ingenious studies. Shak.

the beginning of a contraction or narrowing in a tube or cylinder.

To act between parties with a view to reconcile differences; to make intercession; to beg or plead in behalf of another; to mediate; -- usually followed by with and for; as, I will intercede with him for you. I to the lords will intercede, not doubting Their favorable ear. Milton.

A word or form of speech thrown in to express emotion or feeling, as O! Alas! Ha ha! Begone! etc. Compare Exclamation. An interjection implies a meaning which it would require a whole grammatical sentence to expound, and it may be regarded as the rudiment of such a sentence. But it is a confusion of thought to rank it…

tural reservoirs in hills or mountains by passages having the form of a siphon, the water beginning to flow when it has accumulated so as to fill the upper part of the siphon, and ceasing when, by running through it, it has fallen below the orifice of the upper part of the siphon in the reservoir.

To open to notice; to begin; to present; as, he introduced the subject with a long preface.

As a demonstrative, especially at the beginning of a sentence, pointing to that which is about to be stated, named, or mentioned, or referring to that which apparent or well known; as, I saw it was John. It is I; be not afraid. Matt. xiv. 27. Peter heard that it was the Lord. John xxi. 7. Often, in such cases, as a sub…

sport or diversion; not in truth and reality; not in earnest. And given in earnest what I begged in jest. Shak. -- Jest book, a book containing a collection of jests, jokes, and amusing anecdotes; a Joe Miller.

Easter; -- so called because the introit is the 66th Psalm, which, in the Latin version, begins with the words, "Jubilate Deo."

nterruption of level in a piece of brickwork or masonry. From the jump, from the start or beginning. [Colloq.] -- Jump joint. (a) A butt joint. (b) A flush joint, as of plank in carvel-built vessels. -- Jump seat. (a) A movable carriage seat. (b) A carriage constructed with a seat which may be shifted so as to make ro…

rge brown beetles of the genus Lachnosterna and related genera; -- so called because they begin to fly, in the northern United States, about the first of June. The larvæ of the June beetles live under ground, and feed upon the roots of grasses and other plants. Called also May bug or May beetle. -- June grass (Bot.),…

The last and worst of the four ages of the world; -- considered to have begun B. C. 3102, and to last 432,000 years.

tal tone of a movement to which its modulations are referred, and with which it generally begins and ends; keynote. Both warbling of one song, both in one key. Shak.

knees, worn in the Highlands of Scotland by men, and in the Lowlands by young boys; a filibeg. [Written also kelt.]

To beget. [Obs.] Spenser.

A school for young children, conducted on the theory that education should be begun by gratifying and cultivating the normal aptitude for exercise, play, observation, imitation, and construction; -- a name given by Friedrich Froebel, a German educator, who introduced this method of training, in rooms opening on a garde…

To set on fire; to cause to burn with flame; to ignite; to cause to begin burning; to start; to light; as, to kindle a match, or shavings. His breath kindleth coals. Job xii. 21.

of strength; to become wearied or worn out, as with labor; to give out. "The horses were beginning to knock up under the fatigue of such severe service." De Quincey. -- To knock off, to cease, as from work; to desist. -- To knock under, to yield; to submit; to acknowledge one's self conquered; -- an expression proba…

o form knots or joints, as in a cord, a plant, etc.; to become entangled. Cut hay when it begins to knot. Mortimer.

ical appointments in the interest of the political policy of centralization. The struggle began with the passage by the Prussian Diet in May, 1873, of the so-called May laws, or Falk laws, aiming at the regulation of the clergy. Opposition eventually compelled the government to change its policy, and from 1880 to 1887…