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A staff of authority. Though he had both spurs and wand, they seemed rather marks of sovereignty than instruments of punishment. Sir P. Sidney.

ency to be maintained by physical force. In this sense, levying war against the sovereign authority is treason.

information to; to give notice to; to notify; to admonish; hence, to notify or summon by authority; as, to warn a town meeting; to warn a tenant to quit a house. "Warned of the ensuing fight." Dryden. Cornelius the centurion . . . was warned from God by an holy angel to send for thee. Acts x. 22. Who is it that hath w…

That which warrants or authorizes; a commission giving authority, or justifying the doing of anything; an act, instrument, or obligation, by which one person authorizes another to do something which he has not otherwise a right to do; an act or instrument investing one with a right or authority, and thus securing him f…

One who warrants, gives authority, or legally empowers.

Authority; security; warranty. [Obs.] Shak.

Justificatory mandate or precept; authority; warrant. [R.] Shak. If they disobey precept, that is no excuse to us, nor gives us any warranty . . . to disobey likewise. Kettlewe

estive occasion, especially in drinking to some one. Geoffrey of Monmouth relates, on the authority of Walter Calenius, that this lady [Rowena], the daughter of Hengist, knelt down on the approach of the king, and, presenting him with a cup of wine, exclaimed, Lord king wæs heil, that is, literally, Health be to you. N…

Lacking in elements of political strength; not wielding or having authority or energy; deficient in the resources that are essential to a ruler or nation; as, a weak monarch; a weak government or state. I must make fair weather yet awhile, Till Henry be more weak, and I more strong. Shak.

l observations, and of probable changes in the weather; esp., one published by government authority. -- Weather spy, a stargazer; one who foretells the weather. [R.] Donne. -- Weather strip (Arch.), a strip of wood, rubber, or other material, applied to an outer door or window so as to cover the joint made by it with…

A street; a village; a castle; a dwelling; a place of work, or exercise of authority; -- now obsolete except in composition; as, bailiwick, Warwick, Greenwick. Stow.

To direct or regulate by influence or authority; to manage; to control; to sway. The famous orators . . . whose resistless eloquence Wielded at will that fierce democraty. Milton. Her newborn power was wielded from the first by unprincipled and ambitions men. De Quincey.

Power; authority; rule. [Obs.] To have them in your might and in your wielding. Chaucer.

The choice or determination of one who has authority; a decree; a command; discretionary pleasure. Thy will be done. Matt. vi. 10. Our prayers should be according to the will of God. Law.

Language considered as implying the faith or authority of the person who utters it; statement; affirmation; declaration; promise. Obey thy parents; keep thy word justly. Shak. I know you brave, and take you at your word. Dryden. I desire not the reader should take my word. Dryden.

or proper use or meaning by violence; to pervert; to distort. Wrest once the law to your authority. Shak. Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor. Ex. xxiii. 6. Their arts of wresting, corrupting, and false interpreting the holy text. South.

An instrument in writing, under seal, in an epistolary form, issued from the proper authority, commanding the performance or nonperformance of some act by the person to whom it is directed; as, a writ of entry, of error, of execution, of injunction, of mandamus, of return, of summons, and the like.

Nonconformity or disobedience to lawful authority, divine or human; deviation from duty; -- the opposite of moral Ant: right. When I had wrong and she the right. Chaucer. One spake much of right and wrong. Milton.