Search the Dictionary

The combination of several actions into one.

The act or process of constituting; the action of enacting, establishing, or appointing; enactment; establishment; formation.

onstraining, or the state of being constrained; that which compels to, or restrains from, action; compulsion; restraint; necessity. Long imprisonment and hard constraint. Spenser. Not by constraint, but bDryden.

as constrict the fibers. Arbuthnot. Membranous organs inclosing a cavity which their contraction constrict. Todd & Bowman.

Rest or quietness of the mind in one's present condition; freedom from discontent; satisfaction; contentment; moderate happiness. Such is the fullness of my heart's content. Shak.

Content; satisfaction. [Obs.] Bacon.

Gratification; pleasure; satisfaction. [Obs.] At Paris the prince spent one whole day to give his mind some contentment in viewing of a famous city. Sir H. Wotton.

ing to pass. Aristotle says we are not to build certain rules on the contingency of human actions. South.

o endure; to persist; to keep up or maintain a particular condition, course, or series of actions; as, the army continued to advance. If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed. John viii. 31.

inued fever (Med.), a fever which presents no interruption in its course. -- Continued fraction (Math.), a fraction whose numerator is 1, and whose denominator is a whole number plus a fraction whose numerator is 1 and whose denominator is a whole number, plus a fraction, and so on. -- Continued proportion (Math.), a…

o reduce to a less compass; to shorten, narrow, or lesen; as, to contract one's shpere of action. In all things desuetude doth contract and narrow our faculties. Dr. H. More.

Capable of contraction. Small air bladders distable and contractible. Arbuthnot.

A state of permanent rigidity or contraction of the muscles, generally of the flexor muscles.

y; opposed; antagonistic; inconsistent; contradictory. [R.] The struggles of contrariant factions. Coleridge.

nother as if it were one's own, without right; as, the conversion of a horse. Or bring my action of conversion And trover for my goods. Hudibras.

An unnatural, violent, and unvoluntary contraction of the muscular parts of an animal body.

To act or operate jointly with another or others; to concur in action, effort, or effect. Whate'er coöperates to the common mirth. Crashaw.

To give a common action, movement, or condition to; to regulate and combine so as to produce harmonious action; to adjust; to harmonize; as, to coördinate muscular movements.

A mineral substance or petrifaction, in the form of coral.

cipally by attrition of the detritus carried along by the stream, but also by the solvent action of the water.