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The act of overturning, or the state of being overturned; entire overthrow; an overthrow from the foundation; utter ruin; destruction; as, the subversion of a government; the subversion of despotic power; the subversion of the constitution. The subversion [by a storm] of woods and timber . . . through my whole estate.…

Tending to subvert; having a tendency to overthrow and ruin. Lying is a vice subversive of the very ends and design of conversation. Rogers.

To overturn from the foundation; to overthrow; to ruin utterly. These are his substance, sinews, arms, and strength, With which he yoketh your rebellious necks, Razeth your cities, and subverts your towns. Shak. This would subvert the principles of all knowledge. Locke.

One who, or that which, subverts; an overthrower. Sir T. More.

Foulness; filth. [Obs.] Though we wipe away with never so much care the dirt thrown at us, there will be left some sulliage behind. Gov. of Tongue.

To overthrow, undermine, or force away, in order to get a substitute in place of. You never will supplant the received ideas of God. Landor.

A line of grass or grain cut and thrown together by the scythe in mowing or cradling.

To pull upon (a tackle) by throwing the weight of the body upon the fall between the block and a cleat.

That which is thrown into a common fund; hence, an appointed or accustomed duty. [Obs.] They do their work in the days of peace . . . and come to pay their symbol in a war or in a plague. Jer. Taylor.

A kind of small hand-pump for throwing a stream of liquid, or for purposes of aspiration. It consists of a small cylindrical barrel and piston, or a bulb of soft elastic material, with or without valves, and with a nozzle which is sometimes at the end of a flexible tube; -- used for injecting animal bodies, cleansing w…

everse; -- rarely used except in the expression "heads or tails," employed when a coin is thrown up for the purpose of deciding some point by its fall.

The refuse part of stamped ore, thrown behind the tail of the buddle or washing apparatus. It is dressed over again to secure whatever metal may exist in it. Called also tails. Pryce.

A tasseled shawl or scarf worn over the head or thrown round the shoulders while at prayer.

mong all the keys alike. -- Unequal temperament (Mus.), that in which the variations are thrown into the keys least used.

To throw, as a muscle, into a state of permanent contraction; to cause tetanus in. See Tetanus, n., 2.

A work thrown up at the end of a bridge nearest the enemy, for covering the communications across a river; a bridgehead.

imp. of Throw.

To hurl; to throw; to cast. [Obs.] I'll thrill my javelin. Heywood.

r a person, held in New York City, during which people in the tall buildings of Manhattan throw large quantities of paper, confetti, paper ribbons, or the like onto the parading group. The name comes form the ticker tape originally thrown onto the parade when it passed stockbrokers' offices in lower Manhattan, before s…

Wavering, or liable to waver and fall at the slightest touch; unstable; easily overthrown. [Obs.] Thy head stands so tickle on thy shoulders, that a milkmaid, if she be in love, may sigh it off. Shak.