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To give reception to; to receive, in general; to receive and take into consideration; to admit, treat, or make use of; as, to entertain a proposal. I am not here going to entertain so large a theme as the philosophy of Locke. De Quincey. A rumor gained ground, -- and, however absurd, was entertained by some very sensib…

amusing, admitting, or cherishing; hospitable reception; also, reception or treatment, in general. The entertainment of Christ by faith. Baxter. The sincere entertainment and practice of the precepts of the gospel. Bp. Sprat.

le at the current state of the technology, and therefore refers to a class of machines in general, not a specific machine. push the envelope Increase the capability of some type of machine or system; -- usu. by technological development.

A hydrous phosphate of alumina and manganese. It is generally of a rose-pink color, -- whence the name.

Spreading widely, or generally prevailing; affecting great numbers, as an epidemic does; as, epidemic rage; an epidemic evil. It was the epidemical sin of the nation. Bp. Burnet.

derstood by, the specially initiated alone; not communicated, or not intelligible, to the general body of followers; private; interior; acroamatic; -- said of the private and more recondite instructions and doctrines of philosophers. Opposed to exoteric. Enough if every age produce two or three critics of this esoteric…

e to the attainment of an object; indispensably necessary. Judgment's more essential to a general Than courage. Denham. How to live -- that is the essential question for us. H. Spencer.

n. [Obs.] From every work he challenged essoin. Spenser. Essoin day (Eng. Law), the first general return day of the term, on which the court sits to receive essoins. Blackstone.

The state; the general body politic; the common-wealth; the general interest; state affairs. [Obs.] I call matters of estate not only the parts of sovereignty, but whatsoever . . . concerneth manifestly any great portion of people. Bacon.

r the extrinsic (money), or intrinsic (moral), value; to fix the worth of roughly or in a general way; as, to estimate the value of goods or land; to estimate the worth or talents of a person. It is by the weight of silver, and not the name of the piece, that men estimate commodities and exchange them. Locke. It is alw…

A portion of the floor of a room raised above the general level, as a place for a bed or a throne; a platform; a dais. He [the teacher] himself should have his desk on a mounted estrade or platform. J. G. Fitch.

A native or inhabitant of Ethiopia; also, in a general sense, a negro or black man.

series if unsaturated hydrocarbons of which ethylene is the type, and represented by the general formula CnH2n.

A tribe of Ophiuroidea, including the genera Euryale, Astrophyton, etc. They generally have the arms branched. See Astrophyton.

A general name for the history of the steps by which any living organism has acquired the morphological and physiological characters which distinguish it; a gradual unfolding of successive phases of growth or development.

thers; a person, thing, or case, specified as distinct, or not included; as, almost every general rule has its exceptions. Such rare exceptions, shining in the dark, Prove, rather than impeach, the just remark. Cowper.

Not exceptional; usual. [Obs.] My general and exceptless rashness. Shak.

be exchanged. The officers captured with Burgoyne were exchangeable within the powers of General Howe. Marshall.

he royal revenue. [Eng.] Hence, the treasury; and, colloquially, pecuniary possessions in general; as, the company's exchequer is low. Barons of the exchequer. See under Baron. -- Chancellor of the exchequer. See under Chancellor. -- Exchequer bills or bonds (Eng.), bills of money, or promissory bills, issued from th…

any way; to rouse to feeling; to kindle to passionate emotion; to stir up to combined or general activity; as, to excite a person, the spirits, the passions; to excite a mutiny or insurrection; to excite heat by friction.