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pass near the surface of; to brush the surface of; to glide swiftly along the surface of. Homer describes Mercury as flinging himself from the top of Olympus, and skimming the surface of the ocean. Hazlitt.

A lot; also, a kind of divination by means of lots. Sortes Homericæ or Virgilianæ Etym: [L., Homeric or Virgilian lots], a form of divination anciently practiced, which consisted in taking the first passage on which the eye fell, upon opening a volume of Homer or Virgil, or a passage drawn from an urn which several wer…

outh of an eunuch Addison. Zoilus calls the companions of Ulysses the "squeaking pigs" of Homer. Pope.

asons, stratagems, and spoils. Shak. Those oft are stratagems which error seem, Nor is it Homer nods, but we that dream. Pope.

To engross; to appropriate; -- usually with up. Homer excels . . . in this, that he swallowed up the honor of those who succeeded him. Pope.

or combining, both divinity and humanity. [R.] The gorgeous and imposing figures of his [Homer's] theanthropic sytem. Gladstone.

A stroke; a touch. By this single trait Homer makes an essential difference between the Iliad and Odyssey. Broome.

ill be necessary to avoid that perpetual repetition of the same epithets which we find in Homer. Pope. He had abandoned the frontiers, retiring upon Glasgow. Sir. W. Scott. Philip swore upon the Evangelists to abstain from aggression in my absence. Landor.

To excite; to rouse; to move to action; to awaken. Then Homer's and Tyrtæus' martial muse Wakened the world. Roscommon. Venus now wakes, and wakens love. Milton. They introduce Their sacred song, and waken raptures high. Milton.