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old; to restrain from departure or removal; not to let go of; to retain in one's power or possession; not to lose; to retain; to detain. If we lose the field, We can not keep the town. Shak. That I may know what keeps me here with you. Dryden. If we would weigh and keep in our minds what we are considering, that would…

One who, or that which, keeps; one who, or that which, holds or has possession of anything.

A position or condition which affords entrance, control, pr possession, etc.; as, the key of a line of defense; the key of a country; the key of a political situation. Hence, that which serves to unlock, open, discover, or solve something unknown or difficult; as, the key to a riddle; the key to a problem. Those who ar…

of motion of a pendulum, scale beam, or other piece required to oscillate with the least possible friction. Knife-edge file. See Illust. of File.

A knight who carried a banner, who possessed fiefs to a greater amount than the knight bachelor, and who was obliged to serve in war with a greater number of attendants. The dignity was sometimes conferred by the sovereign in person on the field of battle.

o be no stranger to; to be more or less familiar with the person, character, etc., of; to possess experience of; as, to know an author; to know the rules of an organization. He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin. 2 Cor. v. 21. Not to know me argues yourselves unknown. Milton.

ve all that has been said of the sea serpent or kraken, would be credulity; to reject the possibility of their existence, would be presumption. Goldsmith. Like a kraken huge and black. Longfellow.

Possessing much land.

for. [Colloq.] Bp Hall. -- To lay in for, to make overtures for; to engage or secure the possession of. [Obs.] "I have laid in for these." Dryden. -- To lay on, to strike; to beat; to attack. Shak. -- To lay out, to purpose; to plan; as, he lays out to make a journey.

took not upon him flesh and blood that he might conquer and rule nations, lead armies, or possess places. South.

Of or pertaining to learning; possessing, or characterized by, learning, esp. scholastic learning; erudite; well-informed; as, a learned scholar, writer, or lawyer; a learned book; a learned theory. The learnedlover lost no time. Spenser. Men of much reading are greatly learned, but may be little knowing. Locke. Words…

To grant to another by lease the possession of, as of lands, tenements, and hereditaments; to let; to demise; as, a landowner leases a farm to a tenant; -- sometimes with out. There were some [houses] that were leased out for three lives. Addison.

To allow the possession and use of, on condition of the return of an equivalent in kind; as, to lend money or some article of food. Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury, nor lend him thy victuals for increase. Levit. xxv. 37.

; volatility. The levity that is fatigued and disgusted with everything of which it is in possession. Burke.

to mistake the limitation . . . of their own faculties, for an inherent limitation of the possible modes of existence in the universe. J. S. Mill.

fully. O death, how bitter is the remembrance of thee to a man that liveth at rest in his possessions! Ecclus. xli. 1.

The act of delivering possession of lands or tenements.

The state or quality of being alive; possession of energy or vigor; animation; quickening.

A piece of magnetic iron ore possessing polarity like a magnetic needle. See Magnetite.

. A mode of marching by a body of men going one after another as closely as possible, in which the leg of each moves at the same time with the corresponding leg of the person before him.