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A boy; especially, a boy servant. [Obs.] Wyclif. Chaucer. O murderous slumber, Lay'st thou thy leaden mace upon my boy That plays thee music Gentle knave, good night. Shak.

ater amount than the knight bachelor, and who was obliged to serve in war with a greater number of attendants. The dignity was sometimes conferred by the sovereign in person on the field of battle.

A number of things tied or knit together; a bundle; a fagot. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.] Halliwell. When they [stems of asphodel] be dried, they ought to be made up into knitchets, or handfuls. Holland.

Union formed by knitting, as of bones. Knitting machine, one of a number of contrivances for mechanically knitting stockings, jerseys, and the like. -- Knitting , a stiff rod, as of steel wire, with rounded ends for knitting yarn or threads into a fabric, as in stockings. -- Knitting sheath, a sheath to receive the e…

t on the line bears the same proportion to a mile that thirty seconds do to an hour. The number of knots which run off from the reel in half a minute, therefore, shows the number of miles the vessel sails in an hour. Hence:

One hundred thousand; also, a vaguely great number; as, a lac of rupees. [Written also lack.] [East Indies]

In card playing and other games, the points won in excess of the number necessary to complete a game; -- so called when they are counted in the score of the following game.

eeding most other things of like in bulk, capacity, quantity, superficial dimensions, or number of constituent units; big; great; capacious; extensive; -- opposed to small; as, a nlarge horse; a large house or room; a large lake or pool; a large jug or spoon; a large vineyard; a large army; a large city.…

Zoöl.), one of a peculiar kind of defensive and offensive stinging cells, found in great numbers in all coelenterates, and in a few animals of other groups. They are most highly developed in the tentacles of jellyfishes, hydroids, and Actiniæ. Each of these cells is filled with, fluid, and contains a long, slender, oft…

A number of hermitages or cells in the same neighborhood occupied by anchorites who were under the same superior. C. Kingsley.

ns of temperature and pressure, all gases and vapors contain in the same volume the same number of ultimate molecules; -- so named after Avogadro, an Italian scientist. Sometimes called Ampère's law. -- Bode's law (Astron.), an approximative empirical expression of the distances of the planets from the sun, as follows…

Heavy; dull; sluggish. "Leaden slumber." Shak.

s, used in tables of contents, etc., to lead the eye across a space to the right word or number.

three creatures of any kind, especially greyhounds, foxes, bucks, and hares; hence, the number three in general. [I] kept my chamber a leash of days. B. Jonson. Then were I wealthier than a leash of kings. Tennyson.

A body of foot soldiers and cavalry consisting of different numbers at different periods, -- from about four thousand to about six thousand men, -- the cavalry being about one tenth.

Belonging to a legion; consisting of a legion or legions, or of an indefinitely great number; as, legionary soldiers; a legionary force. "The legionary body of error." Sir T. Browne.

A single piece or subdivision of a series, or of a number of long pieces which may be connected together; as, a length of pipe; a length of fence.

A suborder of copepod Crustacea, including a large number of remarkable forms, mostly parasitic on fishes. The young, however, are active and swim freely. See Illustration in Appendix.

Smaller; not so large or great; not so much; shorter; inferior; as, a less quantity or number; a horse of less size or value; in less time than before.

A disease in which the white corpuscles of the blood are largely increased in number, and there is enlargement of the spleen, or the lymphatic glands; leuchæmia.