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Implying or imputing evil; depreciatory; disparaging; unfavorable.

con. So spake the archangel Michael; then paused, As at the world's great period. Milton. Evils which shall never end till eternity hath a period. Jer. Taylor. This is the period of my ambition. Shak.

The thing perpetrated; an evil action.

at everything in nature is ordered for or tends to the worst, or that the world is wholly evil; -- opposed to Ant: optimism.

Reasoning; argumentation. Of good and evil much they argued then, . . . Vain wisdom all, and false philosophy. Milton.

e seventeenth century, and so called from its bearing a figure of a pine tree. -- Pine weevil (Zoöl.), any one of numerous species of weevils whose larvæ bore in the wood of pine trees. Several species are known in both Europe and America, belonging to the genera Pissodes, Hylobius, etc. -- Pine wool, a fiber obtaine…

lace, to make room; to yield; to give way; to give advantage. "Neither give place to the devil." Eph. iv. 27. "Let all the rest give place." Shak. -- To have place, to have a station, room, or seat; as, such desires can have no place in a good heart. -- To take place. (a) To come to pass; to occur; as, the ceremony w…

That which smites, wounds, or troubles; a blow; a calamity; any afflictive evil or torment; a great trail or vexation. Shak. And men blasphemed God for the plague of hail. Wyclif. The different plague of each calamity. Shak.

c; as, a pliant thread; pliant wax. Also used figuratively: Easily influenced for good or evil; tractable; as, a pliant heart. The will was then ductile and pliant to right reason. South.

it. Plum bird, Plum budder (Zoöl.), the European bullfinch. -- Plum gouger (Zoöl.), a weevil, or curculio (Coccotorus scutellaris), which destroys plums. It makes round holes in the pulp, for the reception of its eggs. The larva bores into the stone and eats the kernel. -- Plum weevil (Zoöl.), an American weevil whi…

That which taints or destroys moral purity or health; as, the poison of evil example; the poison of sin. Poison ash. (Bot.) (a) A tree of the genus Amyris (A. balsamifera) found in the West Indies, from the trunk of which a black liquor distills, supposed to have poisonous qualities. (b) The poison sumac (Rhus venenata…

ollard, 3 (a). Poll book, a register of persons entitled to vote at an election. -- Poll evil (Far.), an inflammatory swelling or abscess on a horse's head, confined beneath the great ligament of the neck. -- Poll pick (Mining), a pole having a heavy spike on the end, forming a kind of crowbar. -- Poll tax, a tax le…

That which portends, or foretoken; esp., that which portends evil; a sign of coming calamity; an omen; a sign. Shak. My loss by dire portents the god foretold. Dryden.

th certainty; indubitably; peremptorily; dogmatically; -- opposed to negatively. Good and evil which is removed may be esteemed good or evil comparatively, and positively simply. Bacon. Give me some breath, some little pause, my lord, Before I positively speak herein. Shak. I would ask . . . whether . . . the divine la…

ter into and influence; to control the will of; to fill; to affect; -- said especially of evil spirits, passions, etc. "Weakness possesseth me." Shak. Those which were possessed with devils. Matt. iv. 24. For ten inspired, ten thousand are possessed. Roscommon.

The state of being possessed or controlled, as by an evil spirit, or violent passions; madness; frenzy; as, demoniacal possession. How long hath this possession held the man Shak. To give possession, to put in another's power or occupancy. -- To put in possession. (a) To invest with ownership or occupancy; to provide…

mold (Peronospora infestans), which is first seen upon the leaves and stems. -- Potato weevil (Zoöl.), an American weevil (Baridius trinotatus) whose larva lives in and kills the stalks of potato vines, often causing serious damage to the crop. -- Potato whisky, a strong, fiery liquor, having a hot, smoky taste, and…

A measure taken beforehand to ward off evil or secure good or success; a precautionary act; as, to take precautions against accident.

or that which, precedes an event, and indicates its approach; a forerunner; a harbinger. Evil thoughts are the invisible, airy precursors of all the storms and tempests of the soul. Buckminster.

above others in quality, rank, etc.; rarely, in a bad sense, superiority or notoriety in evil; as, preëminence in honor. The preëminence of Christianity to any other religious scheme. Addison. Painful preëminence! yourself to view Above life's weakness, and its comforts too. Pope. Beneath the forehead's walled preëmin…