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Any substance supposed to be capable of absorbing, retaining, and transporting contagious or infectious germs; as, woolen clothes are said to be active fomites.

fool away, to get rid of foolishly; to spend in trifles, idleness, folly, or without advantage.

One of a row of lights in the front of the stage in a theater, etc., and on a level therewith. Before the footlights, upon the stage; -- hence, in the capacity of an actor.

. The fors and against. those in favor and those opposed; the pros and the cons; the advantages and the disadvantages. Jane Austen.

der forbear. Shenstone. The King In open battle or the tilting field Forbore his own advantage. Tennyson.

To relinquish the enjoyment or advantage of; to give up; to resign; to renounce; -- said of a thing already enjoyed, or of one within reach, or anticipated. All my patrimony,, If need be, I am ready to forego. Milton. Thy lovers must their promised heaven forego. Keble. [He] never forewent an opportunity of honest prof…

Superiority; advantage; start; precedence. And, but for ceremony, such a wretch . . . Had the forehand and vantage of a king. Shak.

or fore part of anything. Flames in the forehead of the morning sky. Milton. So rich advantage of a promised glory As smiles upon the forehead of this action. Shak.

Called to mind previously. Bp. Montagu.

An advanced stage of progress or of preparation; advancement; as, his measures were in great forwardness. Robertson.

the same breast, or brought up by the same nurse as another, but is not of the same parentage. -- Foster dam, one who takes the place of a mother; a nurse. Dryden. -- Foster earth, earth by which a plant is nourished, though not its native soil. J. Philips. -- Foster father, a man who takes the place of a father in…

Not favorable; unpropitious; not fair or advantageous; as, a foul wind; a foul road; cloudy or rainy; stormy; not fair; -- said of the weather, sky, etc. So foul a sky clears not without a storm. Shak.

with the Sacs, formerly occupied the region about Green Bay, Wisconsin; -- called also Outagamies. Fox and geese. (a) A boy's game, in which one boy tries to catch others as they run one goal to another. (b) A game with sixteen checkers, or some substitute for them, one of which is called the fox, and the rest the gee…

To extempt from charge for postage, as a letter, package, or packet, etc.

Deception deliberately practiced with a view to gaining an unlawful or unfair advantage; artifice by which the right or interest of another is injured; injurious stratagem; deceit; trick. If success a lover's toil attends, Few ask, if fraud or force attained his ends. Pope.

To fray; to wear or pull into tatters or tag ends; to tatter; - -used literally and figuratively. [Prov. Eng. & U. S.]

The state of being fresh. The Scots had the advantage both for number and freshness of men. Hayward. And breathe the freshness of the open air. Dryden. Her cheeks their freshness lose and wonted grace. Granville.

That which is produced; the effect or consequence of any action; advantageous or desirable product or result; disadvantageous or evil consequence or effect; as, the fruits of labor, of self-denial, of intemperance. The fruit of rashness. Shak. What I obtained was the fruit of no bargain. Burke. They shall eat the fruit…

Fruit, taken collectively; fruitage. J. Philips.

Productive of no advantage or good effect; vain; idle; useless; unprofitable; as, a fruitless attempt; a fruitless controversy. They in mutual accusation spent The fruitless hours. Milton.