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To withhold from knowledge; to keep secret; to refrain from avowing or confessing. Heaven from all creatures hides the book of fate. Pope.

Shown; exhibited; declared; avowed; professed; apparent; -- often used as opposed to real or actual; as, an ostensible reason, motive, or aim. D. Ramsay.

In an ostensible manner; avowedly; professedly; apparently. Walsh. Ostensibly, we were intended to prevent filibustering into Texas, but really as a menace to Mexico. U. S. Grant.

To make open declaration of, as of one's knowledge, belief, action, etc.; to avow or acknowledge; to confess publicly; to own or admit freely. "Hear me profess sincerely." Shak. The best and wisest of them all professed To know this only, that he nothing knew. Milton.

Openly declared, avowed, acknowledged, or claimed; as, a professed foe; a professed tyrant; a professed Christian. The professed (R. C. Ch.) , a certain class among the Jesuits bound by a special vow. See the note under Jesuit.

The act of professing or claiming; open declaration; public avowal or acknowledgment; as, professions of friendship; a profession of faith. A solemn vow, promise, and profession. Bk. of Com. Prayer.

makes open declaration of, his sentiments or opinions; especially, one who makes a public avowal of his belief in the Scriptures and his faith in Christ, and thus unites himself to the visible church. "Professors of religion." Bacon.

To affirm in a public or formal manner; to bear witness; to declare solemnly; to avow. He protest that his measures are pacific. Landor. The lady doth protest too much, methinks. Shak.

The act of making a protest; a public avowal; a solemn declaration, especially of dissent. " The protestation of our faith." Latimer.

without concealment; openly; as, property publicly offered for sale; an opinion publicly avowed; a declaration publicly made.

The act of rebelling; open and avowed renunciation of the authority of the government to which one owes obedience, and resistances to its officers and laws, either by levying war, or by aiding others to do so; an organized uprising of subjects for the purpose of coercing or overthrowing their lawful ruler or government…

The act of recognizing, or the state of being recognized; acknowledgment; formal avowal; knowledge confessed or avowed; notice. The lives of such saints had, at the time of their yearly memorials, solemn recognition in the church of God. Hooker.

Acknowledgment of a person or thing; avowal; profession; recognition.

To avow knowledge of; to allow that one knows; to consent to admit, hold, or the like; to admit with a formal acknowledgment; as, to recognize an obligation; to recognize a consul.

The act of remitting, or the state of being remitted; remission. Disavowing the remitment of Claudius. Milton.

To cast off; to disavow; to have nothing to do with; to renounce; to reject. Servitude is to be repudiated with greater care. Prynne.

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.

Convicted by one's own consciousness, knowledge, avowal, or acts.

ped Joseph out of his coat. Gen. xxxvii. 23. Opinions which . . . no clergyman could have avowed without imminent risk of being stripped of his gown. Macaulay.

ll be adopted is uncertain. Ulterior object or aim, an object or aim beyond that which is avowed.