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Rigorous; stringent; harsh. [Obs.] Punishing with the rod of district severity. Foxe.

A receding from each other in moving from a common center; the state of being divergent; as, an angle is made by the divergence of straight lines. Rays come to the eye in a state of divergency.

Tending in different directions from a common center; spreading apart; divergent. Diverging series (Math.), a series whose terms are larger as the series is extended; a series the sum of whose terms does not approach a finite limit when the series is extended indefinitely; -- opposed to a converging series.…

iligence (and the like), to exert one's self; to put forth one's best or most or most diligent efforts. "We will . . . do our best to gain their assent." Jowett (Thucyd.). -- To do one's business, to ruin one. [Colloq.] Wycherley. -- To do one shame, to cause one shame. [Obs.] -- To do over. (a) To make over; to perf…

One who does; one performs or executes; one who is wont and ready to act; an actor; an agent. The doers of the law shall be justified. Rom. ii. 13.

A gentle trot, like that of a dog.

Sir; Mr; Signior; -- a title in Spain, formerly given to noblemen and gentlemen only, but now common to all classes. Don is used in Italy, though not so much as in Spain France talks of Dom Calmet, England of Dom Calmet, England of Dan Lydgate. Oliphant.

The quality or rank of a don, gentleman, or knight. Hudibras.

is obliged to take; a disagreeable portion thrust upon one. I am for curing the world by gentle alteratives, not by violent doses. W. Irving. I dare undertake that as fulsome a dose as you give him, he shall readily take it down. South.

Gentleness and sweetness of manner; agreeableness. Chesterfield.

A word of endearment for one regarded as pure and gentle. O my dove, . . . let me hear thy voice. Cant. ii. 14. Dove tick (Zoöl.), a mite (Argas reflexus) which infests doves and other birds. -- Soiled dove, a prostitute. [Slang]

Mild as a dove; gentle; pure and lovable. Longfellow.

owy in dress; attentive to dress. A dressy flaunting maidservant. T. Hook. A neat, dressy gentleman in black. W. Irving.

To train in the military art; to exercise diligently, as soldiers, in military evolutions and exercises; hence, to instruct thoroughly in the rudiments of any art or branch of knowledge; to discipline. He [Frederic the Great] drilled his people, as he drilled his grenadiers. Macaulay.

To be forced along; to be impelled; to be moved by any physical force or agent; to be driven. The hull drives on, though mast and sail be torn. Byron. The chaise drives to Mr. Draper's chambers. Thackeray.

To bestow or communicate by a suggestion; to let fall in an indirect, cautious, or gentle manner; as, to drop hint, a word of counsel, etc.

dimness; want of luster; want of vividness, or of brightness. [Written also dulness.] And gentle dullness ever loves a joke. Pope.

An urgent request or demand of payment; as, he sent his debtor a dun.

the power of uninterrupted or long continuance in any condition; the power of resisting agents or influences which tend to cause changes, decay, or dissolution; lastingness. A Gothic cathedral raises ideas of grandeur in our minds by the size, its height, . . . its antiquity, and its durability. Blair.…

To release from pressure or restraint; to move gently; to lift slightly; to shift a little; as, to ease a bar or nut in machinery.