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ress possibility, liberty, power, will, obligation, or necessity, by the use of may, can, must, might, could, would, or should; as, I may go; he can write.

each, to a certain extent, supposes the other; theory is dependent on practice; practice must have preceded theory. Sir W. Hamilton.

e of action; esp., a command respecting moral conduct; an injunction; a rule. For precept must be upon precept. Isa. xxviii. 10. No arts are without their precepts. Dryden.

musicians preluded on their instruments. Sir. W. Scott. We are preluding too largely, and must come at once to the point. Jeffrey.

rce or charm derived from acknowledged character or reputation. "The prestige of his name must go for something." Sir G. C. Lewis.

To publish a book or an article. From the moment he prints, he must except to hear no more truth. Pope.

Personal interest; particular business.[Obs.] Nor must I be unmindful of my private. B. Jonson.

s, to engage a person on probation. Hence, specifically: (a) The novitiate which a person must pass in a convent, to probe his or her virtue and ability to bear the severities of the rule. (b) The trial of a ministerial candidate's qualifications prior to his ordination, or to his settlement as a pastor. (c) Moral tria…

To make improvement; to advance. Bayard. If man progresses, art must progress too. Caird.

eshow; to herald; to prefigure. Methought thy very gait did prophesy A royal nobleness; I must embrace thee. Shak.

nity; -- opposed to private; as, the public treasury. To the public good Private respects must yield. Milton. He [Alexander Hamilton] touched the dead corpse of the public credit, and it sprung upon its feet. D. Webster.

; also, preaching. I say the pulpit (in the sober use Of its legitimate, peculiar powers) Must stand acknowledged, while the world shall stand, The most important and effectual guard, Support, and ornament of virtue's cause. Cowper.

may be pulverized by grinding or beating, but to pulverize malleable bodies other methods must be pursued.

ng the extent of information required in the exercise of a particular authority, recourse must be had to the objects within the purview of that authority. Madison.

To make an advance, attack, or effort; to be energetic; as, a man must push in order to succeed. At the time of the end shall the kind of the south push at him and the king of the north shall come against him. Dan. xi. 40. War seemed asleep for nine long years; at length Both sides resolved to push, we tried our streng…

r for their lives. Clarendon. Cocks and lambs . . . at the mercy of cats and wolves . . . must never expect better quarter. L'Estrange.

oubtless; certainly.[R.] South. What it was in the apostles' time, that, questionless, it must be still. Milton.

s; especially, rapidity of motion; speed; celerity; as, quickness of wit. This deed . . . must send thee hence With fiery quickness. Shak. His mind had, indeed, great quickness and vigor. Macaulay.

Damp; musty. [Prov. Eng.]

Having a rank smell or taste, from chemical change or decomposition; musty; as, rancid oil or butter.