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A nomination by the pope to a benefice before it became vacant, depriving the patron of his right of presentation. Blackstone.

Course of business or occupation; continued employment with a view to same end; as, mercantile pursuits; a literary pursuit.

, and exchange places, the one without a corner endeavoring to get a corner while it is vacant, leaving some other without one. -- Puss moth (Zoöl.), any one of several species of stout bombycid moths belonging to Cerura, Harpyia, and allied genera, esp. Harpyia vinuli, of Europe. The larvæ are humpbacked, and have tw…

er) to him a certain amount of stock, grain, etc., at a certain price and date. [Brokers' Cant] A put and a call may be combined in one instrument, the holder of which may either buy or sell as he chooses at the fixed price. Johnson's Cyc.

Hence, a short, insignificant person; a dwarf. Pygmies are pygmies still, though perched on Alps. And pyramids are pyramids in vales. Young.

A quadrangle; hence, a prison. [Cant or Slang]

the point in question by artifice, play upon words, caviling, or by raising any insignificant or impertinent question or point; to trifle in argument or discourse; to equivocate.

An exercise, or a course of exercises, conducted as a coaching or as an examination. [Cant, U.S.]

e, in the trades, one who works for lower wages than those prescribed by a trades union. [Cant]

he purpose of annoying; as, to ratten a mechanic who works during a strike. [Trades-union Cant] J. McCarthy.

o delight to ecstasy. "Ravished . . . for the joy." Chaucer. Thou hast ravished my heart. Cant. iv. 9.

Manner of reciting, or acting a part, on the stage; way of rendering. [Cant]

pictorial suggestion on a coat of arms of the name of the person to whom it belongs. See Canting arms, under Canting.

An abbreviation for Red Republican. See under Red, a. [Cant]

led in allusion to the red light kept in front of many such resorts at night. [Colloq. or Cant]

Any one of several species of small northern finches of the genus Acanthis (formerly Ægiothus), native of Europe and America. The adults have the crown red or rosy. The male of the most common species (A. linarius) has also the breast and rump rosy. Called also redpoll linnet. See Illust. under Linnet.…

who has relapsed, or fallen back, into error; a backlider; specifically, one who, after recanting error, returns to it again. [Obs.]

which the pollinia of orchids are attached, or the hooks which support the seeds in many acanthaceous plants.

Ti withdraw; to recall; to disavow; to recant; to take back; as, to retract an accusation or an assertion. I would as freely have retracted this charge of idolatry as I ever made it. Bp. Stillingfleet.

To retract; to recant. [Obs.]