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ather, or other stuff, worn on the fore part of the body, to keep the clothes clean, to defend them from injury, or as a covering. It is commonly tied at the waist by strings.

ined a surplus of wealth. J. S. Mill. Without some power of persuading or confuting, of defending himself against accusations, . . . no man could possibly hold an ascendent position. Grote.

To maintain; to defend. [Obs. or Archaic] That . . . I may assert Eternal Providence, And justify the ways of God to men. Milton. I will assert it from the scandal. Jer. Taylor.

ho maintains or vindicates a claim or a right; an affirmer, supporter, or vindicator; a defender; an asserter. The assertors of liberty said not a word. Macaulay. Faithful assertor of thy country's cause. Prior.

A legal agent qualified to act for suitors and defendants in legal proceedings; an attorney at law.

tion of mind; disliking; disinclined; unwilling; reluctant. Averse alike to flatter, or offend. Pope. Men who were averse to the life of camps. Macaulay. Pass by securely as men averse from war. Micah ii. 8.

Turned away, esp. as an expression of feeling; also, offended; unpropitious. Who scornful pass it with averted eye. Keble.

To defeat or evade; to invalidate. Thus, in a replication, the plaintiff may deny the defendant's plea, or confess it, and avoid it by stating new matter. Blackstone.

The defendant in replevin, who avows the distress of the goods, and justifies the taking. Cowell.

to be executed, to sign or indorse a warrant, issued in another county, to apprehend an offender. -- To back water (Naut.), to reverse the action of the oars, paddles, or propeller, so as to force the boat or ship backward.

A pecuniary mulct or penalty laid upon a delinquent for offending against a ban; as, a mulct paid to a bishop by one guilty of sacrilege or other crimes. Ban of the empire (German Hist.), an imperial interdict by which political rights and privileges, as those of a prince, city, or district, were taken away.…

To raise a mound or dike about; to inclose, defend, or fortify with a bank; to embank. "Banked well with earth." Holland.

le", formerly a castle or fortress in Paris, used as a prison, especially for political offenders; hence, a rhetorical name for a prison.

ly: A form of punishment among the Turks, Chinese, and others, consisting in beating an offender on the soles of his feet.

fication, consisting of two faces and two flanks, and so constructed that it is able to defend by a flanking fire the adjacent curtain, or wall which extends from one bastion to another. Two adjacent bastions are connected by the curtain, which joins the flank of one with the adjacent flank of the other. The distance b…

ty of duties, as the preservation of order in church service, the chastisement of petty offenders, etc.

iron with sliding shackles, and a lock at the end, to confine the feet of prisoners or offenders, esp. on board of ships. Methought I lay Worse than the mutines in the bilboes. Shak.

A declaration made in writing, stating some wrong the complainant has suffered from the defendant, or a fault committed by some person against a law.

as to have its sides make an angle wit the sides of the lower story, thus enabling the defenders to fire downward, and in all directions; -- formerly much used in America and Germany.

shing like the morn. Milton. In the presence of the shameless and unblushing, the young offender is ashamed to blush. Buckminster. He would stroke The head of modest and ingenuous worth, That blushed at its own praise. Cowper.