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Near the ground; not high or lofty; not pretentious or magnificent; unpretending; unassuming; as, a humble cottage. THy humble nest built on the ground. Cowley.

A bone near the middle of the buttock of a horse. Crabb.

tock. They formerly occupied the country between Lakes Huron, Erie, and Ontario, but were nearly exterminated by the Five Nations about 1650.

and boiling dilute sulphuric acid all convert starch by hydration into dextrin and sugar. Nearly all of the digestive ferments are hydrolytic in their action.

A constellation of the southern hemisphere, near the south pole.

Having the form, or nearly the form, of an hyperbola.

the Greek. The Phoenician letter was probably of Egyptian origin. Its original value was nearly the same as that of the Italian I, or long e as in mete. Etymologically I is most closely related to e, y, j, g; as in dint, dent, beverage, L. bibere; E. kin, AS. cynn; E. thin, AS. ynne; E. dominion, donjon, dungeon. In E…

The language of the Icelanders. It is one of the Scandinavian group, and is more nearly allied to the Old Norse than any other language now spoken.

Threatening to occur immediately; near at hand; impending; -- said especially of misfortune or peril. "In danger imminent." Spenser.

To hang over; to be suspended above; to threaten frome near at hand; to menace; to be imminent. See Imminent. Destruction sure o'er all your heads impends. Pope.

To improve on or upon, to make useful additions or amendments to, or changes in; to bring nearer to perfection; as, to improve on the mode of tillage.

ak. If I had a suit to Master Shallow, I would humor his men with the imputation of being near their master. Shak.

ape from a danger, penalty, etc. [Colloq.] -- To be (or keep) in with. (a) To be close or near; as, to keep a ship in with the land. (b) To be on terms of friendship, familiarity, or intimacy with; to secure and retain the favor of. [Colloq.]

To form flesh; to granulate, as a wound. [R.] My uncle Toby's wound was nearly well -- 't was just beginning to incarnate. Sterne.

To become more nearly full; to show more of the surface; to wax; as, the moon increases. Increasing function (Math.), a function whose value increases when that of the variable increases, and decreases when the latter is diminished.

Hither and Farther India; in a restricted sense, Hither India, or Hindostan. India ink, a nearly black pigment brought chiefly from China, used for water colors. It is in rolls, or in square, and consists of lampblack or ivory black and animal glue. Called also China ink. The true India ink is sepia. See Sepia. -- Ind…

to the intersection of the surface with a parallel to the tangent plane and indefinitely near it. It is an ellipse when the curvature is synclastic, and an hyperbola when the curvature is anticlastic.

Not direct; not straight or rectilinear; deviating from a direct line or course; circuitous; as, an indirect road.

, the influence by which an electric current produces magnetic polarity in certain bodies near or around which it passes. -- Electro-static induction, the action by which a body possessing a charge of statical electricity develops a charge of statical electricity of the opposite character in a neighboring body. -- In…

ty; sluggishness; -- said especially of the uterus, when, in labor, its contractions have nearly or wholly ceased. Center of inertia. (Mech.) See under Center.