Search the Dictionary

A rent, service, tribute, custom, tax, impost, or duty; an excise. Burrill. He enables St. Peter to pay his gabel by the ministry of a fish. Jer. Taylor.

offhand by an actor on the stage in his part as written, usually consisting of some seasonable or local allusion. [Slang] Gag rein (Harness), a rein for drawing the bit upward in the horse's mouth. -- Gag runner (Harness), a loop on the throat latch guiding the gag rein.

A man of mettle or spirit; a gay; fashionable man; a young blood. Shak.

A side way or space in a canal to enable vessels to pass each other; a siding.

To deprive of anything exceptionable; as, to geld a book, or a story; to expurgate. [Obs.] Dryden.

ts, they may receive a common substantive name. A genus is not necessarily the lowest definable group of species, for it may often be divided into several subgenera. In proportion as its definition is exact, it is natural genus; if its definition can not be made clear, it is more or less an artificial genus.…

rtified town on the south coast of Spain, held by the British since 1704; hence, an impregnable stronghold.

d by good humor and good breeding. Macaulay. -- Good cheap, literally, good bargain; reasonably cheap. -- Good consideration (Law). (a) A consideration of blood or of natural love and affection. Blackstone. (b) A valuable consideration, or one which will sustain a contract. -- Good fellow, a person of companionable q…

Agreeable companionship; companionableness.

hould untie it should be master of Asia, Alexander the Great averted the ill omen of his inability to loosen it by cutting it with his sword. Hence, a Gordian knot is an inextricable difficulty; and to cut the Gordian knot is to remove a difficulty by bold and energetic measures.

Grieving; grief; affliction. The . . . grievance of a mind unreasonably yoked. Milton.

ngthen; to stiffen; to inure; also, to confirm in wickedness or shame; to make unimpressionable. "Harden not your heart." Ps. xcv. 8. I would harden myself in sorrow. Job vi. 10.

A slightly acrid gum resin produced by the common hemp (Cannabis saltiva), of the variety Indica, when cultivated in a warm climate; also, the tops of the plant, from which the resinous product is obtained. It is narcotic, and has long been used in the East for its intoxicating effect. See Bhang, and Ganja.…

Not easily restrained; ungovernable; obstinate; stubborn. Not let headstrong boy my will control. Dryden.

Willful; rash; precipitate; hurried on by will or passion; ungovernable. All the talent required is to be hot, to be heady, -- to be violent on one side or the other. Sir W. Temple.

arning and of light Would want a god himself to help him out. Swift. -- To help over, to enable to surmount; as, to help one over an obstacle. -- To help to, to supply with; to furnish with; as, to help one to soup. -- To help up, to help (one) to get up; to assist in rising, as after a fall, and the like. "A man is…

Destitute of help or strength; unable to help or defend one's self; needing help; feeble; weak; as, a helpless infant. How shall I then your helpless fame defend Pope.

A plant of the genus Cannabis (C. sativa), the fibrous skin or bark of which is used for making cloth and cordage. The name is also applied to various other plants yielding fiber.

Resembling the liver in color or in form; as, hepatic cinnabar.

Of or pertaining to familiar intercourse; social; affable; conversable; companionable. [R.] His virtues active, chiefly, and homiletical, not those lazy, sullen ones of the cloister. Atterbury.