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his business he shall stand before kings. Prov. xxii. 29. Diligent cultivation of elegant literature. Prescott.

A literal factor, as numbered in characterizing a term. The term dimensions forms with the cardinal numbers a phrase equivalent to degree with the ordinal; thus, a2b2c is a term of five dimensions, or of the fifth degree.

Shak. To dine with Duke Humphrey, to go without dinner; -- a phrase common in Elizabethan literature, said to be from the practice of the poor gentry, who beguiled the dinner hour by a promenade near the tomb of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, in Old Saint Paul's.

ing some privilege, honor, or power; a document bearing record of a degree conferred by a literary society or educational institution.

A mineral of the scapolite group; -- so called from the double effect of fire upon it, in fusing it, and rendering it phosphorescent.

s; -- also called the apostles. -- Disciples of Christ. See Christian, n., 3, and Campbellite.

ck, by blows of a hammer, frost, rain, and other mechanical or atmospheric influences. Marlites are not disintegrated by exposure to the atmosphere, at least in six years. Kirwan.

l disposition. [Obs.] Sir T. Browne. Do dispositively what Moses is recorded to have done literally, . . . break all the ten commandments at once. Boyle.

Marked; special. The most distinguished politeness. Mad. D' Arblay.

An igneous rock composed of orthoclase, elæolite, and sodalite.

A plunge headforemost into water, the act of one who dives, literally or figuratively.

Lit., given; hence, in a literary work, as a drama or tale, that which is assumed as to characters, situation, etc., as a basis for the plot or story. W. E. Henley.

now in his dotage. Capable of distinguishing between the infancy and the dotage of Greek literature. Macaulay.

From a higher to a lower position, literally or figuratively; in a descending direction; from the top of an ascent; from an upright position; to the ground or floor; to or into a lower or an inferior condition; as, into a state of humility, disgrace, misery, and the like; into a state of rest; -- used with verbs indica…

Dramatic composition and the literature pertaining to or illustrating it; dramatic literature.

To move; to come or go; literally, to draw one's self; -- with prepositions and adverbs; as, to draw away, to move off, esp. in racing, to get in front; to obtain the lead or increase it; to draw back, to retreat; to draw level, to move up even (with another); to come up to or overtake another; to draw off, to retire o…

drinking; to receive and appropriate as in satisfaction of thirst. "Song was the form of literature which he [Burns] had drunk in from his cradle." J. C. Shairp. -- To drink off or up, to drink the whole at a draught; as, to drink off a cup of cordial. -- To drink the health of, or To drink to the health of, to drin…

To fall, in general, literally or figuratively; as, ripe fruit drops from a tree; wise words drop from the lips. Mutilations of which the meaning has dropped out of memory. H. Spencer. When the sound of dropping nuts is heard. Bryant.

An earring. [Obs.] The Ismaelites were accustomed to wear golden earlets. Judg. viii. 24 (Douay version).

A mythical monster of the early Anglo-Saxon literature; a dragon. W. Spalding.