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To deserve; to merit. [Obs.] Heywood.

e purpose; to have an encounter or conflict. Weapons more violent, when next we meet, May serve to better us and worse our foes. Milton.

Serving to preserve remembrance; commemorative; as, a memorial building. There high in air, memorial of my name, Fix the smooth oar, and bid me live to fame. Pope.

heir graves with flowers, by patriotic exercises, etc., the dead soldiers and sailors who served the Civil War (1861-65) in the United States; Decoration Day. It is a legal holiday in most of the States. In the Southern States, the Confederate Memorial Day is: May 30 in Virginia; April 26 in Alabama, Florida, Georgia,…

Something, or an aggregate of things, remembered; hence, character, conduct, etc., as preserved in remembrance, history, or tradition; posthumous fame; as, the war became only a memory. The memory of the just is blessed. Prov. x. 7. That ever-living man of memory, Henry the Fifth. Shak. The Nonconformists . . . have, a…

Reward deserved; any mark or token of excellence or approbation; as, his teacher gave him ten merits. Those laurel groves, the merits of thy youth. Prior.

By merit; deservedly.

One who observes method. [Obs.]

nsisting of a short pendulum with a sliding weight. It is set in motion by clockwork, and serves to measure time in music.

A minute inclosed crystal, often observed when minerals or rocks are examined in thin sections under the microscope.

econd rank attained by a combatant officer after a term of service as naval cadet. Having served three and a half years in this rank, and passed an examination, he is eligible to promotion to the rank of lieutenant.

als and plants or to the natural objects among which they live, -- a characteristic which serves as their chief means of protection against enemies; imitation; mimesis; mimetism.

One who serves at the altar; one who performs sacerdotal duties; the pastor of a church duly authorized or licensed to preach the gospel and administer the sacraments. Addison.

The memorandum; a record; a note to preserve the memory of anything; as, to take minutes of a contract; to take minutes of a conversation or debate.

A timeserver; an inconstant person. Shak.

him, to his harm and ours. Shak. Such whose consciences misgave them, how ill they had deserved. Milton.

To fail to hit; to fly wide; to deviate from the true direction. Men observe when things hit, and not when they miss. Bacon. Flying bullets now, To execute his rage, appear too slow; They miss, or sweep but common souls away. Waller.

An antidote against poison, or a composition in form of an electuary, supposed to serve either as a remedy or a preservative against poison; an alexipharmic; -- so called from King Mithridates, its reputed inventor. [Love is] a drop of the true elixir; no mithridate so effectual against the infection of vice. Southey.…

One who serves a mitrailleuse.

-- also, a medley. There is also a mixture of good and evil wisely distributed by God, to serve the ends of his providence. Atterbury.