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icer. -- Commission of the peace, a commission under the great seal, constituting one or more persons justices of the peace. [Eng.] -- To put a vessel into commission (Naut.), to equip and man a goverment vessel, and send it out on service after it has been laid up; esp., the formal act of tacking command of a vessel…

To join a contest; to match; -- followed by with. [R.] Dr. H. More.

A warrant or order for the imprisonment of a person; -- more frequently termed a mittimus.

One or more persons elected or appointed, to whom any matter or bussiness is referred, either by a legislative body, or by a court, or by any collective body of men acting together. Commitee of the whole [house], a committee, embracing all the members present, into which a legislative or deliberative body sometimes res…

he blending of ingredients in one mass or compound. In the commixture of anything that is more oily or sweet, such bodies are least apt to putrefy. Bacon.

Belonging or relating equally, or similary, to more than one; as, you and I have a common interest in the property. Though life and sense be common to men and brutes. Sir M. Hale.

A common; a piece of land in which two or more persons have a common right. Bell.

To commove; to disturb; to stir up. [R.] Society being more or less commoted and made uncomfortable. Hawthorne.

Intercourse between two or more persons; esp., intimate association and intercourse implying sympathy and confidence; interchange of thoughts, purposes, etc.; agreement; fellowship; as, the communion of saints. We are naturally induced to seek communion and fellowship with others. Hooker. What communion hath light with…

her; barter; exchange. [Obs.] The use of money is . . . that of saving the commutation of more bulky commodities. Arbuthnot.

es. The sounds water and fire, being once annexed to those two elements, it was certainly more natural to call beings participating of the first "watery", and the last "fiery", than to commute the terms, and call them by the reverse. J. Harris The utmost that could be obtained was that her sentence should be commuted f…

djective or adverb. The comparative degree is formed from the positive by the use of -er, more, or less; as, brighter, more bright, or less bright. Comparative sciences, those which are based on a comprehensive comparison of the range of objects or facts in any branch or department, and which aim to study out and treat…

To examine the character or qualities of, as of two or more persons or things, for the purpose of discovering their resemblances or differences; to bring into comparison; to regard with discriminating attention. Compare dead happiness with living woe. Shak. The place he found beyond expression bright, Compared with aug…

The act of comparing; an examination of two or more objects with the view of discovering the resemblances or differences; relative estimate. As sharp legal practitioners, no class of human beings can bear comparison with them. Macaulay. The miracles of our Lord and those of the Old Testament afford many interesting poi…

a northerly and southerly direction. He that firat discovered the use of the compass did more for the supplying and increase of useful commodities than those who built workhouses. Locke.

nstrument for describing circles, measuring figures, etc., consisting of two, or (rarely) more, pointed branches, or legs, usually joined at the top by a rivet on which they move.

nce oe general principles of a subject or work in a narrow compass; abridged; summarized. More compendious and exeditious ways. Woodward. Three things be required in the oration of a man having authority -- that it be compendious, sententious, and delectable. Sir T. Elyot.

uperiority; emulous contest; rivalry, as for approbation, for a prize, or as where two or more persons are engaged in the same business and each seeking patronage; -- followed by for before the object sought, and with before the person or thing competed with. Competition to the crown there is none, nor can be. Bacon. A…

An associate; a confederate. [Obs.] Every hour more competitors Flock to their aid, and still their power increaseth. Shak.

Composed of two or more parts; composite; not simple; as, a complex being; a complex idea. Ideas thus made up of several simple ones put together, I call complex; such as beauty, gratitude, a man, an army, the universe. Locke.