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A wading bird with lobate toes, of the genus Fulica. The common European or bald coot is F. atra (see under bald); the American is F. Americana.

To enter into or maintain a hostile contest; to struggle; to combat; especially, to strive or contend on equal terms or with success; to match; to equal; -- usually followed by with. Host coped with host, dire was the din of war. Philips. Their generals have not been able to cope with the troops of Athens. Addison.…

has been planted. -- Corn fritter, a fritter having green Indian corn mixed through its batter. [U. S.] -- Corn laws, laws regulating trade in corn, especially those in force in Great Britain till 1846, prohibiting the importation of foreign grain for home consumption, except when the price rose above a certain rate.…

Abatement of noxious qualities; the counteraction of what is inconvenient or hurtful in its effects; as, the correction of acidity in the stomach.

The head; -- used contemptuously. Try whether your costard or my bat be the harder. Shak.

A batten laid lengthwise between two rafters to afford a bearing for laths laid crosswise.

litary position, of a certain arrangement of troops, the most advantageous position for a battlefield, etc.

One of the pairs of plates of two metals which compose a voltaic battery; -- called a voltaic couple or galvanic couple.

An incubator for sickly infants, esp. those prematurely born.

To brood or sit on; to incubate. While the hen is covering her eggs, the male . . . diverts her with his songs. Addison.

To brood; to incubate. [Obs.] [Tortoises] covey a whole year before they hatch. Holland.

eakly timid or fearful; pusillanimous; spiritless. The cowardly rascals that ran from the battle. Shak.

instruments are used in craning up a soul, sunk below the center, to the highest heavens. Bates. An upstart craned up to the height he has. Massinger.

; to advance or gain influence by servile or obsequious conduct. Secretly crawling up the battered walls. Knolles. Hath crawled into the favor of the king. Shak. Absurd opinions crawl about the world. South.

An embrasure or indentation in a battlement; a loophole in a fortress; an indentation; a notch. See Merlon, and Illust. of Battlement.

r before sunrise; -- said certain birds and insects. Others feed only in the twilight, as bats and owls, and are called crepuscular. Whewell.

A game much played in England, and sometimes in America, with a ball, bats, and wickets, the players being arranged in two contesting parties or sides.

a negro man] lived in a hovel, . . . which his master had given him. W. Irving. A few old battered crones of office. Beaconsfield.

her forward or rearward, so as to form a line nearly perpendicular to the general line of battle.

or, or a short, rough manner, though kind at heart; snappish; peevish; surly. Thou crusty batch of nature, what's the news Shak.