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An indefinitely small space; a mere spot indicated or supposed. Specifically: (Geom.) That which has neither parts nor magnitude; that which has position, but has neither length, breadth, nor thickness, -- sometimes conceived of as the limit of a line; that by the motion of which a line is conceived to be produced.…

o delay; to adjourn; as, to postpone the consideration of a bill to the following day, or indefinitely. His praise postponed, and never to be paid. Cowper.

The general body of mankind, or of a nation, state, or community; the people, indefinitely; as, the American public; also, a particular body or aggregation of people; as, an author's public. The public is more disposed to censure than to praise. Addison.

at can be drawn through four points, A., B, C, I, the lines being supposed to be produced indefinitely.

d at each corner and one in the middle; especially, such an arrangement of trees repeated indefinitely, so as to form a regular group with rows running in various directions.

One of a system of diverging lines passing through a point, and regarded as extending indefinitely in both directions. See Half-ray. Bundle of rays. (Geom.) See Pencil of rays, below. -- Extraordinary ray (Opt.), that one or two parts of a ray divided by double refraction which does not follow the ordinary law of refr…

More than once; again and again; indefinitely.

on a shelf. Hence: To lay on the shelf; to put aside; to dismiss from service; to put off indefinitely; as, to shelve an officer; to shelve a claim.

At a past time indefinitely referred to; once; formerly. Did they not sometime cry "All hail" to me Shak.

Following in time; coming or being after something else at any time, indefinitely; as, subsequent events; subsequent ages or years; a period long subsequent to the foundation of Rome.

A quantity of money or currency; any amount, indefinitely; as, a sum of money; a small sum, or a large sum. "The sum of forty pound." Chaucer. With a great sum obtained I this freedom. Acts xxii. 28.

by a formal vote, the consideration of (a bill, motion, or the like) till called for, or indefinitely.

Hence, indefinitely, a great number. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand. Ps. xci. 7.

f rest after it has been twisted; torsibility. Angle of torsion (of a curve) (Geom.), the indefinitely small angle between two consecutive osculating planes of a curve of double curvature. -- Moment of torsion (Mech.) the moment of a pair of equal and opposite couples which tend to twist a body. -- Torsion balance (P…

Yet more; indefinitely more; above; over. From twenty years old and upward. Num. i. 3. Upward of, or Upwards of, more than; above. I have been your wife in this obedience Upward of twenty years. Shak.

f the force, of a line joining its point of application with a new position of that point indefinitely near to the first, to which the point is conceived to have been moved, without disturbing the equilibrium of the system, or the connections of its parts with each other. Strictly speaking, it is not a velocity but a l…

Whatever; whatsoever; what thing soever; -- used indefinitely. "What after so befall." Chaucer. Whether it were the shortness of his foresight, the strength of his will, . . . or what it was. Bacon.