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Choice of words for the expression of ideas; the construction, disposition, and application of words in discourse, with regard to clearness, accuracy, variety, etc.; mode of expression; language; as, the diction of Chaucer's poems. His diction blazes up into a sudden explosion of prophetic grandeur. De Quincey.…

hindrance; prejudice to interest, fame, credit, profit, or other good. They would throw a construction on his conduct, to his disadvantage before the public. Bancroft.

nd by action; to perform completely; to finish; to accomplish; -- a sense conveyed by the construction, which is that of the past participle done. "Ere summer half be done." "I have done weeping." Shak.

ck, a dock connected with which are naval stores, materials, and all conveniences for the construction and repair of ships. -- Sectional dock, a form of floating dock made in separate sections or caissons. -- Slip dock, a dock having a sloping floor that extends from deep water to above high-water mark, and upon whic…

A compact, narrow-gauge locomotive used for moving construction trains, switching, etc.

ructed without the use of a liquid, affording a feeble current, and chiefly useful in the construction of electroscopes of great delicacy; -- called also Zamboni's , from the names of the two earliest constructors of it. -- Dry pipe (Steam Engine), a pipe which conducts dry steam from a boiler. -- Dry plate (Photog.)…

Any construction, whether a temporary breastwork or permanent fortification, for attack or defense, the material of which is chiefly earth.

commanded by a brigadier general, whose title is Chief of Engineers. It has charge of the construction of fortifications for land and seacoast defense, the improvement of rivers and harbors, the construction of lighthouses, etc., and, in time of war, supervises the engineering operations of the armies in the field.…

ip mathematically from a model or drawing to the full or building size, in the process of construction. Ham. Nav. Encyc.

A building up; construction. [Obs.] Cockeram.

The act of constructing; construction. [R.] Tithe was received by the bishop, . . . for the fabricof the churches for the poor. Milman.

The act of fabricating, framing, or constructing; construction; manufacture; as, the fabrication of a bridge, a church, or a government. Burke.

unded; not firm or trustworthy; erroneous; as, a false claim; a false conclusion; a false construction in grammar. Whose false foundation waves have swept away. Spenser.

Material for the construction of a floor or floors.

Constitution; mode of construction, organization, etc.; system; as, a republican form of government.

The manner in which a thing is formed; structure; construction; conformation; form; as, the peculiar formation of the heart.

The strong point; that in which one excels. fort"a The construction of a fable seems by no means the forte of our modern poetical writers. Jeffrey.

Anything composed of parts fitted and united together; a fabric; a structure; esp., the constructional system, whether of timber or metal, that gives to a building, vessel, etc., its model and strength; the skeleton of a structure. These are thy glorius works, Parent of good, Almighty! thine this universal frame. Milto…

The work of framing, or the completed work; the frame or constructional part of anything; as, the framework of society. A staunch and solid piece of framework. Milton.

In certain constructions, as from forth, from out, etc., the ordinary and more obvious arrangment is inverted, the sense being more distinctly forth from, out from -- from being virtually the governing preposition, and the word the adverb. See From off, under Off, adv., and From afar, under Afar, adv. Sudden partings s…