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made proportional; also, proportional; proportionate. -- Pro*por"tion*a*ble*ness, n. But eloquence may exist without a proportionable degree of wisdom. Burke. Proportionable, which is no longer much favored, was of our [i. e., English writers'] own coining. Fitzed. Hall.

Of or pertaining to the pulpit, or preaching; as, a pulpit orator; pulpit eloquence.

Hence, artificial eloquence; fine language or declamation without conviction or earnest feeling.

An orator; specifically, an artificial orator without genuine eloquence; a declaimer. Macaulay.

; -- said of style, thought, or discourse; as, to rise in force of expression; to rise in eloquence; a story rises in interest.

One of a class of men who taught eloquence, philosophy, and politics in ancient Greece; especially, one of those who, by their fallacious but plausible reasoning, puzzled inquirers after truth, weakened the faith of the people, and drew upon themselves general hatred and contempt. Many of the Sophists doubdtless card n…

To bind or hold by, or as if by, a spell or charm; to fascinate, esp. by eloquence of speech, as in a political campaign. - - Spell"bind`er (#), n.

ainst him Job xxxiii. 13. Now private pity strove with public hate, Reason with rage, and eloquence with fate. Denham.

polished to smoothness; as, terse language; a terse style. Terse, luminous, and dignified eloquence. Macaulay. A poet, too, was there, whose verse Was tender, musical, and terse. Longfellow.

The god of eloquence and letters among the ancient Egyptians, and supposed to be the inventor of writing and philosophy. He corresponded to the Mercury of the Romans, and was usually represented as a human figure with the head of an ibis or a lamb.

A violent or rapid flow; a strong current; a flood; as, a torrent of vices; a torrent of eloquence. At length, Erasmus, that great injured name, . . . Stemmed the wild torrent of a barbarous age. Pope.

hree " liberal" arts, grammar, logic, and rhetoric; -- being a triple way, as it were, to eloquence.

and language; that which is composed in metrical form; versification; poetry. Such prompt eloquence Flowed from their lips in prose or numerous verse. Milton. Virtue was taught in verse. Prior. Verse embalms virtue. Donne.

racticed or experienced; as, a veteran officer or soldier; veteran skill. The insinuating eloquence and delicate flattery of veteran diplomatists and courtiers. Macaulay.

Used adjectively, meaning how remarkable, or how great; as, what folly! what eloquence! what courage! What a piece of work is man! Shak. O what a riddle of absurdity! Young.

e or authority; to manage; to control; to sway. The famous orators . . . whose resistless eloquence Wielded at will that fierce democraty. Milton. Her newborn power was wielded from the first by unprincipled and ambitions men. De Quincey.

, either with physical or moral force; as, to withstand an attack of troops; to withstand eloquence or arguments. Piers Plowman. I withstood him to the face. Gal. ii. 11. Some village Hampden, that, with dauntless breast. The little tyrant of his fields withstood. Gray.