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; to struggle, as a horse in mire; to flounder; to throw one's self with a jerk or spasm, often as in displeasure. To flutter and flounce will do nothing but batter and bruise us. Barrow. With his broad fins and forky tail he laves The rising sirge, and flounces in the waves. Addison.

To practice mocking; to behave with contempt; to sneer; to fleer; -- often with at. Fleer and gibe, and laugh and flout. Swift.

A genus of perennial herbs (Iris) with swordlike leaves and large three-petaled flowers often of very gay colors, but probably white in the plant first chosen for the royal French emblem.

p. p. of Fly; -- often used with the auxiliary verb to be; as, the birds are flown.

um fluoride, a mineral of many different colors, white, yellow, purple, green, red, etc., often very beautiful, crystallizing commonly in cubes with perfect octahedral cleavage; also massive. It is used as a flux. Some varieties are used for ornamental vessels. Also called fluor spar, or simply fluor.…

A warm dry wind that often blows in the northern valleys of the Alps, due to the indraught of a storm center passing over Central Europe. The wind, heated by compression in its descent from the mountains, reaches the base, particularly in winter, dry and warm.

og bell, Fog horn, etc., a bell, horn, whistle or other contrivance that sounds an alarm, often automatically, near places of danger where visible signals would be hidden in thick weather. -- Fog bank, a mass of fog resting upon the sea, and resembling distant land. -- Fog ring, a bank of fog arranged in a circular f…

ople in general, or a separate class of people; -- generally used in the plural form, and often with a qualifying adjective; as, the old folks; poor folks. [Colloq.] In winter's tedious nights, sit by the fire With good old folks, and let them tell thee tales. Shak.

vity; to cherish and promote by excitements; to encourage; to abet; to instigate; -- used often in a bad sense; as, to foment ill humors. Locke. But quench the choler you foment in vain. Dryden. Exciting and fomenting a religious rebellion. Southey.

omotive organ of a mollusk. It is a median organ arising from the ventral region of body, often in the form of a flat disk, as in snails. See Illust. of Buccinum.

A prefix to verbs, having usually the force of a negative or privative. It often implies also loss, detriment, or destruction, and sometimes it is intensive, meaning utterly, quite thoroughly, as in forbathe.

Strength or energy of body or mind; active power; vigor; might; often, an unusual degree of strength or energy; capacity of exercising an influence or producing an effect; especially, power to persuade, or convince, or impose obligation; pertinency; validity; special signification; as, the force of an appeal, an argume…

rmed his equity of redemption. -- To foreclose a mortgage, (not technically correct, but often used to signify) the obtaining a judgment for the payment of an overdue mortgage, and the exposure of the mortgaged property to sale to meet the mortgage debt. Wharton.

werful medicine, both as a sedative and diuretic. See Digitalis. Pan through the pastures oftentimes hath run To pluck the speckled foxgloves from their stem. W. Browne.

or be led into sin; not strong against temptation; weak in resolution; also, unchaste; -- often applied to fallen women. Man is frail, and prone to evil. Jer. Taylor.

The free coinage of silver; often, specif., the free coinage of silver at a fixed ratio with gold, as at the ratio of 16 to 1, which ratio for some time represented nearly or exactly the ratio of the market values of gold and silver respectively.

the city, the possession of the rights and privileges of a freeman of the city; formerly often, and now occasionally, conferred on one not a resident, as a mark of honorary distinction for public services.

The condition of returning frequently; occurrence often repeated; common occurence; as, the frequency of crimes; the frequency of miracles. The reasons that moved her to remove were, because Rome was a place of riot and luxury, her soul being almost stifled with, the frequencies of ladies' visits. Fuller.…

Often to be met with; happening at short intervals; often repeated or occurring; as, frequent visits. "Frequent feudal towers." Byron.

The act or habit of frequenting or visiting often; resort. Chesterfield.