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Trickery; imposture; as, political jugglery.

Strong desire; passion. (Archaic.) Some people have a letch for unmasking impostors, or for avenging the wrongs of others. De Quincey.

In Gothic vaulting, any rib which does not spring from the impost and is not a ridge rib, but passes from one boss or intersection of the principal ribs to another.

abounding in miracles. [Obs.] When said was all this miracle. Chaucer. Miracle monger, an impostor who pretends to work miracles. -- Miracle play, one of the old dramatic entertainments founded on legends of saints and martyrs or (see 2d Mystery, 2) on events related in the Bible.

A deceiver; an impostor.

A beggar; a begging impostor. Deceived by the tales of a Lincoln's Inn mumper. Macaulay.

Any scheme or device proposed by a quack. The incentives of agitators, the arts of impostors and the nostrums of quacks. Brougham.

To go beyond in performance; to excel; to surpass. An imposture outdoes the original. L' Estrange. I grieve to be outdone by Gay. Swift.

erceptible; plain; distinct; obvious; readily perceived and detected; gross; as, palpable imposture; palpable absurdity; palpable errors. "Three persons palpable." P. Plowman. [Lies] gross as a mountain, open, palpable. Shak. -- Pal"pa*ble*ness, n. -- Pal"pa*bly, adv.

Delusion; illusion; trick. [Obs.] The sophisms of infidelity, and the prestiges of imposture. Bp. Warburton.

Consisting of impostures; juggling. [Obs.] Barrow.

nomination. It is impossible for the divine power to set a seal to a lie by ratifying an imposture with such a miracle. South.

ation; any trick, fraud, or device that deludes and disappoint; a make-believe; delusion; imposture, humbug. "A mere sham." Bp. Stillingfleet. Believe who will the solemn sham, not I. Addison.

One who shams; an impostor. Johnson.

ame as Slide rule, under Slide, n. -- Sliding scale. (a) A scale for raising or lowering imposts in proportion to the fall or rise of prices. (b) A variable scale of wages or of prices. (c) A slide rule. -- Sliding ways (Naut.), the timber guides used in launching a vessel.

Hence, an impostor in argument; a captious or fallacious reasoner.

The impost, or point at which an arch rests upon its support, and from which it seems to spring. Hence:

arch (Arch.), the horizontal line drawn through the junction of the vertical face of the impost with the curve of the intrados; -- called also spring of an arch.

ion. Stilted arch (Arch.), an arch in which the springing line is some distance above the impost, the space between being occupied by a vertical member, molded or ornamented, as a continuation of the archivolt, intrados, etc.

To lay an impost upon; to cause to pay tallage.