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A pneumatic or hydraulic cushion for a falling weight, as in the valve gear of a steam engine, to prevent shock.

ance of light in the morning; show of approaching sunrise. And oft at dawn, deep noon, or falling eve. Thomson. No sun, no moon, no morn, no noon, No dawn, no dusk, no proper time of day. Hood.

A falling away; decay; deterioration; declension. "The old castle, where the family lived in their decadence.' Sir W. Scott.

A falling off. [R.] Sir T. Browne.

Falling off, or subject to fall or be shed, at a certain season, or a certain stage or interval of growth, as leaves (except of evergreens) in autumn, or as parts of animals, such as hair, teeth, antlers, etc.; also, shedding leaves or parts at certain seasons, stages, or intervals; as, deciduous trees; the deciduous m…

A falling off towards a worse state; a downward tendency; deterioration; decay; as, the declension of virtue, of science, of a state, etc. Seduced the pitch and height of all his thoughts To base declension. Shak.

The act or state of falling off or declining from excellence or perfection; deterioration; decay; decline. "The declination of monarchy." Bacon. Summer . . . is not looked on as a time Of declination or decay. Waller.

A falling off; a tendency to a worse state; diminution or decay; deterioration; also, the period when a thing is tending toward extinction or a less perfect state; as, the decline of life; the decline of strength; the decline of virtue and religion. Their fathers lived in the decline of literature. Swift.…

Consisting of two rising and two falling clauses, placed in alternate opposition to each other; as, a decussated period.

more grave or low in tone; as, to deepen the tones of an organ. Deepens the murmur of the falling floods. Pope.

y allegiance or duty, or to which one has attached himself; desertion; failure in duty; a falling away; apostasy; backsliding. "Defection and falling away from God." Sir W. Raleigh. The general defection of the whole realm. Sir J. Davies.

Deficiency in amount or quality; a falling short; lack; as, a deficit in taxes, revenue, etc. Addison.

Flowing down; falling off. [Obs.] Bailey.

The separation of ripened leaves from a branch or stem; the falling or shedding of the leaves.

A falling down, or out of place; prolapsion.

An imperfect or half cadence, falling on the dominant instead of on the key note.

Falling short of the natural size, from being impoverished or starved. Gray.

The stripping or falling off of plumes or feathers. Bp. Stillingfleet

The falling of value; reduction of worth. Burke.

A falling in of the surface; a sinking below its true place; a cavity or hollow; as, roughness consists in little protuberances and depressions.