Search the Dictionary

A species of demoniac enthusiasm or possession coming upon one who had accidentally looked upon a nymph; ecstasy. [R.] De Quincey. The nympholepsy of some fond despair. Byron.

Possessing only small coins; impoverished. [R.] Lamb.

d specifically of a person beset by a spirit from without. Tylor. Whether by obsession or possession, I will not determine. Burton.

To hold; to keep; to possess. [Obs.] His mother, then, is mortal, but his Sire He who obtains the monarchy of heaven. Milton.

Possessing inferior hardness, brilliancy, or beauty; -- used of inferior precious stones and gems, because those found in the Orient are generally superior.

The act of taking or holding possession; possession; occupation. Title by occupancy (Law), a right of property acquired by taking the first possession of a thing, or possession of a thing which belonged to nobody, and appropriating it. Blackstone. Kent.

One who occupies, or takes possession; one who has the actual use or possession, or is in possession, of a thing.

The act or process of occupying or taking possession; actual possession and control; the state of being occupied; a holding or keeping; tenure; use; as, the occupation of lands by a tenant.

One who occupies, or has possession.

To take or hold possession of; to hold or keep for use; to possess. Woe occupieth the fine [/end] of our gladness. Chaucer. The better apartments were already occupied. W. Irving .

Denoting possession or ownership, or the relation of subject to attribute; as, the apartment of the consul: the power of the king; a man of courage; the gate of heaven. "Poor of spirit." Macaulay.

An order of Entomostraca possessing hard bivalve shells. They are of small size, and swim freely about. [Written also Ostracoda.]

Owned; possessed. [Obs.] The knight the which that castle ought. Spenser.

An adjective suffix meaning full of, abounding in, having, possessing the qualities of, like; as in gracious, abounding in grace; arduous, full of ardor; bulbous, having bulbs, bulblike; riotous, poisonous, piteous, joyous, etc.

A putting out of possession; dispossession; ejection; disseizin. Ouster of the freehold is effected by abatement, intrusion, disseizin, discontinuance, or deforcement. Blackstone. Ouster le main. Etym: [Ouster + F. la main the hand, L. manus.] (Law) A delivery of lands out of the hands of a guardian, or out of the king…

Beyond possession, control, or occupation; hence, in, or into, a state of want, loss, or deprivation; -- used of office, business, property, knowledge, etc.; as, the Democrats went out and the Whigs came in; he put his money out at interest. "Land that is out at rack rent." Locke. "He was out fifty pounds." Bp. Fell. I…

One who puts out, ousts, or expels; also, an ouster; dispossession. [R.]

tate or quality of being distanguishable from the perceiving mind, by being in space, and possessing marerial quality; externality; objectivity. The outness of the objects of sense. Sir W. Hamiltom.

To run over; to grow or spread over in excess; to invade and occupy; to take possession of; as, the vine overran its trellis; the farm is overrun with witch grass. Those barbarous nations that overran the world. Spenser.

To possess; to have, as the rightful owner; to own. [Obs.] Thou dost here usurp The name thou ow'st not. Shak.