Search the Dictionary

To make bestial, or like a beast; to degrade; to brutalize. The process of bestializing humanity. Hare.

a long distance, then curving upward to a considerable height, and finally taking a retrograde direction, so as to fall near the place from which it was thrown, or even far in the rear of it.

milar purpose made in any other way, as with a stencil. Hence, figurately: Quality; kind; grade; as, a good brand of flour.

s to raise the temperature of one kilogram (sometimes, one gram) of water one degree centigrade, or from 0Foot pound.

themselves. The tinkers then formed an hereditary caste. Macaulay. To lose caste, to be degraded from the caste to which one has belonged; to lose social position or consideration.

ed from Anders Celsius, a Swedish astronomer, who invented it. It is the same as the centigrade thermometer or scale.

A diplomatic representative, or minister of an inferior grade, accredited by the government of one state to the minister of foreign affairs of another; also, a substitute, ad interim, for an ambassador or minister plenipotentiary.

e constituent atoms. These atoms are not assumed to be indivisible, but merely the finest grade of subdivision hitherto attained. Chemistry deals with the changes in the composition and constitution of molecules. See Atom, Molecule.

the cabin. -- Knights companions, in certain honorary orders, the members of the lowest grades as distinguished from knights commanders, knights grand cross, and the like.

Black tea, of higher grade (finer leaf and less dusty) than the present bohea. See Tea. Of black teas, the great mass is called Congou, or the "well worked", a name which took the place of the Bohea of 150 years ago, and is now itself giving way to the term "English breakfast tea." S. W. Williams.

tian rites and ceremonies. But centuries of subjection to Moslem rule have weakened and degraded it.

ad ribbon, usually worn after the manner of a baldric, constituting a mark of a very high grade in an honorary order. Cf. Grand cordon.

The lowest grade of commissioned officer in a British cavalry troop, who carried the standard. The office was abolished in 1871.

between the tapir and rhinoceros, and were allied to those animals, but had short, plantigrade, five-toed feet, like the elephant.

vessel by means of a cradle. In Lombardy . . . boats are cradled and transported over the grade. Knight. To cradle a picture, to put ribs across the back of a picture, to prevent the panels from warping.

To make like a creature; to degrade [Obs.] Degrade and creaturize that mundane soul. Cudworth.

To reduce from a higher to a lower state or grade of worth, dignity, purity, station, etc.; to degrade; to lower; to deteriorate; to abase; as, to debase the character by crime; to debase the mind by frivolity; to debase style by vulgar words. The coin which was adulterated and debased. Hale. It is a kind of taking God…

To remove from a class; to separate or degrade from one's class. North Am. Rev.

or one's former state; having declined in worth; having lost in goodness; deteriorated; degraded; unworthy; base; low. Faint-hearted and degenerate king. Shak. A degenerate and degraded state. Milton. Degenerate from their ancient blood. Swift. These degenerate days. Pope. I had planted thee a noble vine . . . : how th…

The state or condition of a species or group which exhibits degraded forms; degeneration. The degradation of the species man is observed in some of its varieties. Dana.