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Proceeding from want of understanding or common judgment; characterized by weakness or folly; unwise; absurd; stupid; as, silly conduct; a silly question.

Weak in intellect; not wise or sagacious; of but moderate understanding or attainments; hence, foolish; silly. "You have simple wits." Shak. The simple believeth every word; but the prudent man looketh well to his going. Prov. xiv. 15.

pon him this name of singularity [universal bishop]. Hooker. Catholicism . . . must be understood in opposition to the legal singularity of the Jewish nation. Bp. Pearson.

which one sits while doing something, as reading a book, playing a game, etc. For the understanding of any one of St. Paul's Epistles I read it all through at one sitting. Locke.

Knowledge; understanding. [Obsoles.] That by his fellowship he color mightskill of any wight. Spenser. Nor want we skill or art. Milton.

of timber, stone, or iron, on or near the level of the ground, for the support of some superstructure, to steady framework, to keep in place the rails of a railway, etc.; a stringpiece.

itate; acting with deliberation; tardy; inactive. He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding. Prov. xiv. 29.

A mean, sneaking fellow. A set of simpletons and superstitious sneaks. Glanvill.

To make (its way) by entering pores or interstices; -- often with through. The rivulet beneath soaked its way obscurely through wreaths of snow. Sir W. Scott.

ulterate; to damage; to pervert; as, to sophisticate wine. Howell. To sophisticate the understanding. Southey. Yet Butler professes to stick to plain facts, not to sophisticate, not to refine. M. Arnold. They purchase but sophisticated ware. Dryden.

seat of feeling, in distinction from intellect; -- sometimes, the intellect only; the understanding; the seat of knowledge, as distinguished from feeling. In a more general sense, "an animating, separable, surviving entity, the vehicle of individual personal existence." Tylor. The eyes of our souls only then begin to…

morbid state; -- said of body or mind; as, a sound body; a sound constitution; a sound understanding.

A large stake driven into the ground as a support for some superstructure; a pile. Spile hole, a small air hole in a cask; a vent.

or material. There is a spirit in man; and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding. Job xxxii. 8. As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. James ii. 26. Spirit is a substance wherein thinking, knowing, doubting, and a power of moving, do subsist. Locke.…

ituality and comfort in public worship depends on the state of mind in which we come. Bickersteth.

as a joint, ligament, or muscle, by sudden and excessive exertion, as by wrenching; to overstrain, or stretch injuriously, but without luxation; as, to sprain one's ankle.

An overstretching of the truth; a lie. [Slang]

Rigidly; interpreted; exactly limited; confined; restricted; as, to understand words in a strict sense.

To apply the mind to; to read and examine for the purpose of learning and understanding; as, to study law or theology; to study languages.

To regard as a fool, or as foolish. [R.] The modern sciolist stultifies all understanding but his own, and that which he conceives like his own. Hazlitt.