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A great number; a multitude. Where one sin has entered,legions will force their way through the same breach. Rogers.

Those animals in which the protoplasmic mass, constituting the egg, is converted into a multitude of cells, which are metamorphosed into the tissues of the body. A central cavity is commonly developed, and the cells around it are at first arranged in two layers, -- the ectoderm and endoderm. The group comprises nearly…

ess or compassion; to touch pathetically; to excite, as an emotion. Shak. When he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them. Matt. ix. 36. [The use of images] in orations and poetry is to move pity or terror. Felton.

The quality of being multiple, manifold, or various; a state of being many; a multitude; as, a multiplicity of thoughts or objects. "A multiplicity of goods." South.

Consisting of a multitude; manifold in number or condition; as, multitudinous waves. "The multitudinous seas." Shak. A renewed jingling of multitudinous chains. G. Kennan.

The state of being busy; multitude of business. [Obs.]

A collection of many individuals; a numerous assemblage; a multitude; many. Ladies are always of great use to the party they espouse, and never fail to win over numbers. Addison.

A form of government by the multitude; a mobocracy. Hare.

That which oppresses; a hardship or injustice; cruelty; severity; tyranny. "The multitude of oppressions." Job xxxv. 9.

Hence: An expression of popular homage; the tribute of the multitude to a public favorite. To rain an April of ovation round Their statues. Tennyson.

e, to cover; to overwhelm; to press excessively upon. When any country is overlaid by the multitude which live upon it. Sir W. Raleigh. As when a cloud his beams doth overlay. Spenser. Framed of cedar overlaid with gold. Milton. And overlay With this portentous bridge the dark abyss. Milton.

or leaf of the palm, anciently borne or worn as a symbol of victory or rejoicing. A great multitude . . . stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palme in their hands. Rev. vii. 9.

r; -- so called in commemoration of our Savior's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, when the multitude strewed palm branches in the way.

A loud sound, or a succession of loud sounds, as of bells, thunder, cannon, shouts, of a multitude, etc. "A fair peal of artillery." Hayward. Whether those peals of praise be his or no. Shak. And a deep thunder, peal on peal, afar. Byron.

annoy; to harass with petty vexations. We are pestered with mice and rats. Dr. H. More. A multitude of scribblers daily pester the world. Dryden.

The common people; the vulgar; the multitude, -- comprehending all persons not distinguished by rank, office, education, or profession. Pope. To . . . calm the peers and please the populace. Daniel. They . . . call us Britain's barbarous populaces. Tennyson.

A multitude of individuals crowded together; They could not come nigh unto him for the press. Mark ii. 4. Cylinder press, a printing press in which the impression is produced by a revolving cylinder under which the form passes; also, one in which the form of type or plates is curved around a cylinder, instead of restin…

ed; untried; as, raw soldiers; a raw recruit. Approved himself to the raw judgment of the multitude. De Quincey.

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

A shoal; a multitude; as, a school of fish.