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ine critically or minutely; to scrutinize. Sifting the very utmost sentence and syllable. Hooker. Opportunity I here have had To try thee, sift thee. Milton. Let him but narrowly sift his ideas. I. Taylor. To sift out, to search out with care, as if by sifting.

ially from the act of preaching; as, to silence a minister of the gospel. The Rev. Thomas Hooker of Chelmsford, in Essex, was silenced for nonconformity. B. Trumbull.

t now good or evil, . . . which otherwise of itself were not simply the one or the other. Hooker. Simply the thing I am Shall make me live. Shak.

To sequester; to withdraw; to retire. [Obs.] An agent singling itself from consorts. Hooker.

nction. No bishop of Rome ever took upon him this name of singularity [universal bishop]. Hooker. Catholicism . . . must be understood in opposition to the legal singularity of the Jewish nation. Bp. Pearson.

Sister Block (Naut.), a tackle block having two sheaves, one above the other. -- Sister hooks, a pair of hooks fitted together, the shank of one forming a mousing for the other; -- called also match hook. -- Sister of charity, Sister of mercy. (R. C. Ch.) See under Charity, and Mercy.

revent its turning when descending a steep hill; a drag; a skidpan; also, by extension, a hook attached to a chain, and used for the same purpose.

particular art. [Obs.] Learned in one skill, and in another kind of learning unskillful. Hooker.

A loop of rope, or a rope or chain with hooks, for suspending a barrel, bale, or other heavy object, in hoisting or lowering.

A short line of horsehair, gut, etc., by which a fishhook is attached to a longer line.

To fish for eels by thrusting the baited hook into their holes or hiding places. Walton.

A short line (often of horsehair) connecting a fishing line with the hook; a snell; a leader.

ed in one body or company; associable. [R.] They are sociable parts united into one body. Hooker.

A combination of two hooks which close upon each other, by means of a spring, as soon as the fish bites. [U. S.]

To mend; to patch up. "To solder up a broken cause." Hooker.

legal forms. Baptism to be administered in one place, and marriage solemnized in another. Hooker.

A sophist. See Sophist. [Obs.] Hooker.

. Flowers, in such sort worn, can neither be smelt nor seen well by those that wear them. Hooker. I'll deceive you in another sort. Shak. To Adam in what sort Shall I appear Milton. I shall not be wholly without praise, if in some sort I have copied his style. Dryden.

Predominant; greatest; utmost; paramount. We acknowledge him [God] our sovereign good. Hooker.

A rope having its ends made fast so that a purchase can be hooked to the bight; also, a rope made fast in the center so that both ends can be used.