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based upon the foibles of individuals, the manners of society, or the ludicrous events or accidents of life; a play in which mirth predominates and the termination of the plot is happy; -- opposed to tragedy. With all the vivacity if comedy. Macaulay. Are come to play a pleasant comedy. Shak.

by congelation, condensation, coagulation, induration, etc.; a clot; a lump; a calculus. Accidental ossifications or deposits of phosphates of lime in certain organs . . . are called osseous concretions. Dunglison.

pay due attention to; to respect. Consider, sir, the chance of war: the day Was yours by accident. Shak. England could grow into a posture of being more united at home, and more considered abroad. Sir W. Temple.

In a contingent manner; without design or foresight; accidentally.

An unexpected and untoward accident; something inopportune or embarassing; a hitch. In this unhappy contretemps. De Quincey.

ase or add to the strength or influence of some party or interest; as, every vote counts; accidents count for nothing. This excellent man . . . counted among the best and wisest of English statesmen. J. A. Symonds.

A pouch or sac without opening, usually membranous and containing morbid matter, which is accidentally developed in one of the natural cavaties or in the substance of an organ.

An accidental blowing off of, or other serious damage to, the breechblock of a gun; also, a removal of the breechblock for the purpose of disabling the gun.

By design; purposely; intentionally; -- opposed to accidentally, ignorantly, or inadvertently.

To restrain from proceeding; to stay or stop; to delay; as, we were detained by an accident. Let us detain thee, until we shall have made ready a kid for thee. Judges xiii. 15.

t was employed to signify the logic of appearances or illusions, whether these arise from accident or error, or from those necessary limitations which, according to this philosopher, originate in the constitution of the human intellect.

To cause to slip or waste away by degrees. [Obs.] This accident hath drilled away the whole summer. Swift.

Same as Drought. Sandys. Another ill accident is drouth at the spindling of corn. Bacon. One whose drouth [thirst], Yet scarce allayed, still eyes the current stream. Milton. In the dust and drouth of London life. Tennyson.

e Epicureans, and of the Stoics, encountered him. Acts xvii. 18. I am most fortunate thus accidentally to encounter you. Shak.

To make sober. [Obs.] Sad accidents to ensober his spirits. Jer. Taylor.

ng what they are (distinguished as real essence); the real being, divested of all logical accidents; that quality which constitutes or marks the true nature of anything; distinctive character; hence, virtue or quality of a thing, separated from its grosser parts. The laws are at present, both in form and essence, the g…

Not intrinsic nor essential; accidental; accompanying; superficial. The external circumstances are greatly different. Trench.

pplied to one vessel coming into collision with another. -- To fall among, to come among accidentally or unexpectedly. -- To fall astern (Naut.), to move or be driven backward; to be left behind; as, a ship falls astern by the force of a current, or when outsailed by another. -- To fall away. (a) To lose flesh; to b…

Funereal; deadly; fatal; dangerous. [R.] "Feral accidents." Burton.

To meet with, or light upon, accidentally; to gain the first sight or knowledge of, as of something new, or unknown; hence, to fall in with, as a person. Searching the window for a flint, I found This paper, thus sealed up. Shak. In woods and forests thou art found. Cowley.