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That which consoles; a speech or writing intended for consolation. [R.] Milton.

The fundamental, organic law or principles of government of men, embodied in written documents, or implied in the institutions and usages of the country or society; also, a written instrument embodying such organic law, and laying down fundamental rules and principles for the conduct of affairs. Our constitution had be…

y its provisions. Burke. Constitutionalities, bottomless cavilings and questionings about written laws. Carlyle.

yed. Abbott. Interpretation properly precedes construction, but it does not go beyond the written text. Parsons. Construction of an equation (Math.), the drawing of such lines and figures as will represent geometrically the quantities in the equation, and their relations to each other. -- Construction train (Railroad)…

One who puts a certain construction upon some writing or instrument, as the Constitutions of the United States; as, a strict constructionist; a broad constructionist.

e, as of physicians, held to consider a special case, or of lawyers restained in a cause. Writ of consultation (Law), a writ by which a cause, improperly removed by prohibition from one court to another, is returned to the court from which it came; -- so called because the judges, on consultation, find the prohibition…

the contents of a cask or bale or of a room; the contents of a book. I shall prove these writings . . . authentic, and the contents true, and worthy of a divine original. Grew.

The part or parts of something written or printed, as of Scripture, which precede or follow a text or quoted sentence, or are so intimately associated with it as to throw light upon its meaning. According to all the light that the contexts afford. Sharp.

w what to say; he knew also, when to leave off, -- a continence which is practiced by few writers. Dryden.

A twisting; a writhing; wry motion; a twist; as, the contortion of the muscles of the face. Swift. All the contortions of the sibyl, without the inspiration. Burke.

A formal writing which contains the agreement of parties, with the terms and conditions, and which serves as a proof of the obligation.

One who, or that which, contributes; specifically, one who writes articles for a newspaper or magazine.

counter register of accounts, or to examine, rectify, or verify accounts. [More commonly written controller.]

for controversy about the title. Locke. A dispute is commonly oral, and a controversy in writing. Johnson.

matter of controversy; to dispute or oppose by reasoning; to contend against in words or writings; to contest; to debate. Some controverted points had decided according to the sense of the best jurists. Macaulay.

One who controverts; a controversial writer; a controversialist. Some controverters in divinity are like swaggerers in a tavern. B. Jonson.

extraordinary assembly of the parkiament or estates of the realm, held without the king's writ, -- as the assembly which restored Charles II. to the throne, and that which declared the throne to be abdicated by James II. Our gratitude is due . . . to the Long Parliament, to the Convention, and to William of Orange. Mac…

re strictly (Law), to transfer (real estate) or pass (a title to real estate) by a sealed writing. The Earl of Desmond . . . secretly conveyed all his lands to feoffees in trust. Spenser.

le to property, esp. real estate, is transferred; transfer of ownership; an instrument in writing (as a deed or mortgage), by which the title to property is conveyed from one person to another. [He] found the conveyances in law to be so firm, that in justice he must decree the land to the earl. Clarendon.…

The business of a conveyancer; the act or business of drawing deeds, leases, or other writings, for transferring the title to property from one person to another.