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The quality or state of being shifty. Diplomatic shiftiness and political versatility. J. A. Syminds.

In few words; briefly; abruptly; curtly; as, to express ideas more shortly in verse than in prose.

t; sibilation. Milton would not have avoided them for their sibilancy, he who wrote . . . verses that hiss like Medusa's head in wrath. Lowell.

uctions of sibyls. Sibylline books. (a) (Rom. Antiq.) Books or documents of prophecies in verse concerning the fate of the Roman empire, said to have been purchased by Tarquin the Proud from a sibyl. (b) Certain Jewish and early Christian writings purporting to have been prophetic and of sibylline origin. They date fro…

given angle divided by the hypotenuse. See Trigonometrical function, under Function. -- Versed sine, that part of the diameter between the sine and the arc.

To tell or relate something in numbers or verse; to celebrate something in poetry. Milton. Bid her . . . sing Of human hope by cross event destroyed. Prior.

A student of Chinese; one versed in the Chinese language, literature, and history.

A version to food; refusal to take nourishment. [Written also sitiophobia.]

Possessed of, or displaying, skill; knowing and ready; expert; well-versed; able in management; as, a skillful mechanic; -- often followed by at, in, or of; as, skillful at the organ; skillful in drawing. And they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skillful of lamentations to wailing. Amos v. 16.…

oth poet of those times. Milton. Waller was smooth; but Dryden taught to join The varying verse, the full-resounding line. Pope. When sage Minerva rose, From her sweet lips smooth elocution flows. Gay.

ho mutually give receive formal entertainments. Society of Jesus. See Jesuit. -- Society verses Etym: [a translation of F. vers de société], the lightest kind of lyrical poetry; verses for the amusement of polite society.

Poetical composition; poetry; verse. This subject for heroic song. Milton.

The art of making songs or verse; metrical composition; versification. A half-effected inscription. Written with little skill of songcraft. Longfellow.

A poem of fourteen lines, -- two stanzas, called the octave, being of four verses each, and two stanzas, called the sestet, of three verses each, the rhymes being adjusted by a particular rule.

ding through woods or in meadows, as when it is tossed up in so many whimsical figures at Versailles. Addison. As soon as, or So soon as, imediately at or after another event. "As soon as he came nigh unto the camp . . . he saw the calf, and the dancing." Ex. xxxii. 19. See So . . . as, under So. -- Soon at, as soon a…

more recent version of soppy. Used esp. in phrase sopping wet.

One gammon of bacon hangs up for a show. Goldsmith. He [Burns] certainly wrote some so-so verses to the Tree of Liberty. Prof. Wilson.

A Sotadic verse or poem.

That for which a person is distinguished, in which he is specially versed, or which he makes an object of special attention; a speciality. Men of boundless knowledge, like Humbold, must have had once their specialty, their pet subject. C. Kingsley.

A stanza, verse, or phrase supposed to be endowed with magical power; an incantation; hence, any charm. Start not; her actions shall be holy as You hear my spell is lawful. Shak.