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ies, in character, which enables one to encounter danger and trouble with tranquility and firmness, to disdain injustice, meanness and revenge, and to act and sacrifice for noble objects.

der gentle or susceptible to mild influences; sometimes, in a bad sense, to take away the firmness of; to weaken. Thou would'st have . . . melted down thy youth. Shak. For pity melts the mind to love. Dryden.

Steadiness and firmness of mind; self-command in personal danger, or under suffering; unshaken courage and endurance; coolness; pluck; resolution.

dy of troops or men formed in close array, or any combination of people distinguished for firmness and solidity of a union. At present they formed a united phalanx. Macaulay. The sheep recumbent, and the sheep that grazed, All huddling into phalanx, stood and gazed. Cowper.

The quality or state of having been proved or tried; firmness or hardness that resists impression, or does not yield to force; impenetrability of physical bodies.

Destitute of a manly or courageous strength and firmness of mind; of weak spirit; mean-spirited; spiritless; cowardly; -- said of persons, as, a pussillanimous prince.

The state of being resolved, settled, or determined; firmness; steadiness; constancy; determination. Be it with resolution then to fight. Shak.

Fixedness of purpose; firmness; resolution. Dr. H. More.

That which resembles a rock in firmness; a defense; a support; a refuge. The Lord is my rock, and my fortress. 2 Sam. xxii. 2.

Heaviness; firmness. [Obs.]

Fig.: To lose firmness or elasticity; to sink; to droop; to flag; to bend; to yield, as the mind or spirits, under the pressure of care, trouble, doubt, or the like; to be unsettled or unbalanced. [R.] the mind I sway by, and the heart I bear, Shall never sag with doubt nor shake with fear. Shak.

Fig.: To move from firmness; to weaken the stability of; to cause to waver; to impair the resolution of. When his doctrines grew too strong to be shook by his enemies, they persecuted his reputation. Atterbury. Thy equal fear that my firm faith and love Can by his fraud be shaken or seduced. Milton.…

The reeled filaments of silk, twisted without doubling to give them firmness.

Wanting firmness of texture or substance; thin; flimsy; as, sleazy silk or muslin. [Spelt also slazy.]

Hanging down at the side; limp; drooping; without firmness or shapeliness; moving in an ungainly manner.

Moral firmness; soundness; strength; validity; truth; certainty; - - as opposed to weakness or fallaciousness; as, the solidity of arguments or reasoning; the solidity of principles, triuths, or opinions.

State or quality of being solid; firmness; compactness; solidity, as of material bodies.

The state or quality of being stable, or firm; steadiness; firmness; strength to stand without being moved or overthrown; as, the stability of a structure; the stability of a throne or a constitution.

The quality or state of being steadfast; firmness; fixedness; constancy. "The steadfastness of your faith." Col. ii. 5. To prove her wifehood and her steadfastness. Chaucer.

One who, or that which, is regarded as embodying or affording force, strength, or firmness; that on which confidence or reliance is based; support; security. God is our refuge and strength. Ps. xlvi. 1. What they boded would be a mischief to us, you are providing shall be one of our principal strengths. Sprat. Certainl…