LUCK n.
er than skill. If thou dost play with him at any game, Thou art sure to lose; and of that natural luck, He beats thee 'gainst the odds. Shak. Luck penny, a small sum given back for luck to one who pays money. [Prov. Eng.] -- To be is luck, to receive some good, or to meet with some success, in an unexpected manner, or…
MAGIC n.
me for all of the pretended arts which claim to produce effects by the assistance of supernatural beings, or departed spirits, or by a mastery of secret forces in nature attained by a study of occult science, including enchantment, conjuration, witchcraft, sorcery, necromancy, incantation, etc. An appearance made by so…
MAGNET n. 2 definitions
nd some of its ores, and, when freely suspended, of pointing to the poles; -- called also natural magnet. Dinocrates began to make the arched roof of the temple of Arsinoë all of magnet, or this loadstone. Holland. Two magnets, heaven and earth, allure to bliss, The larger loadstone that, the nearer this. Dryden.…
MAJOR n. 8 definitions
), that premise of a syllogism which contains the major term. -- Major scale (Mus.), the natural diatonic scale, which has semitones between the third and fourth, and seventh and fourth, and seventh and eighth degrees; the scale of the major mode, of which the third is major. See Scale, and Diatonic. -- Major second…
MALVACEOUS a.
Pertaining to, or resembling, a natural order of plants (Malvaceæ), of which the mallow is the type. The cotton plant, hollyhock, and abutilon are of this order, and the baobab and the silk-cotton trees are now referred to it.
MANNERISM n.
nerism is pardonable,and is sometimes even agreeable, when the manner, though vicious, is natural . . . . But a mannerism which does not sit easy on the mannerist, which has been adopted on principle, and which can be sustained only by constant effort, is always offensive. Macaulay.
MARVELOUS a. 2 definitions
ing of the character of miracle, or superna The marvelous fable includes whatever is supernatural, and especially the machines of the gods. Pope. The marvelous, that which exceeds natural power, or is preternatural; that which is wonderful; -- opposed to the probable.
MATURE a. 7 definitions
Brought by natural process to completeness of growth and development; fitted by growth and development for any function, action, or state, appropriate to its kind; full-grown; ripe. Now is love mature in ear. Tennison. How shall I meet, or how accost, the sage, Unskilled in speech, nor yet mature of age Pope.…
MELLITIC a. 2 definitions
ite. Mellitic acid (Chem.), a white, crystalline, organic substance, C6(CO2H)6, occurring naturally in combination with aluminium in the mineral mellite, and produced artificially by the oxidation of coal, graphite, etc., and hence called also graphitic acid.