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urposive characters." Bastian. Purposive modification of structure in a bone. Owen. It is impossible that the frog should perform actions morepurposive than these. Huxley.

r servant; as, to ratify an agreement, treaty, or contract; to ratify a nomination. It is impossible for the divine power to set a seal to a lie by ratifying an imposture with such a miracle. South.

o return. Evil on itself shall back recoil. Milton. The solemnity of her demeanor made it impossible . . . that we should recoil into our ordinary spirits. De Quincey.

ies; to refute a disputant. There were so many witnesses in these two miracles that it is impossible to refute such multitudes. Addison.

nting; rant. I could show that the rodomontades of Almanzor are neither so irrational nor impossible. Dryden.

State of being current; currency; popularity. it is impossible for detached papers to have a general run, or long continuance, if not diversified with humor. Addison.

Impossible to be searched; inscrutable; impenetrable.

le in square measure. The solution of this famous problem is now generally admitted to be impossible.

ation; to be successful; as, he succeeded in his plans; his plans succeeded. It is almost impossible for poets to succeed without ambition. Dryden. Spenser endeavored it in Shepherd's Kalendar; but neither will it succeed in English. Dryden.

arks of the feet; to trace; to trail; as, to track a deer in the snow. It was often found impossible to track the robbers to their retreats among the hills and morasses. Macaulay.

the schoolmen call unicity. De Quincey. The unicity we strive not to express, for that is impossible, but to designate by the nearest analogy. Coleridge.

Impossible. [R.]

A painful spasmodic contraction of the vagina, often rendering copulation impossible.

back; to cause to move away or retire; as, to withdraw aid, favor, capital, or the like. Impossible it is that God should withdraw his presence from anything. Hooker.

s roof The enemy of all your graces lives. Shak. Till this be cured by religion, it is as impossible for a man to be happy -- that is, pleased and contented within himself -- as it is for a sick man to be at ease. Tillotson.