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t was among the ruins of the Capitol that I first conceived the idea of a work which has amused and exercised near twenty years of my life. Gibbon. Conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. Is. lix. 13.

To consider or think studiously; to ponder; to reflect; to muse; to meditate. So many hours must I contemplate. Shak.

A cornemuse. [Obs.]

eign. -- Court fool, a buffoon or jester, formerly kept by princes and nobles for their amusement. -- Court guide, a directory of the names and adresses of the nobility and gentry in a town. -- Court hand, the hand or manner of writing used in records and judicial proceedings. Shak. -- Court lands (Eng. Law), lands…

A temporary passion or infatuation, as for same new amusement, pursuit, or fashion; as, the bric-a-brac craze; the æsthetic craze. Various crazes concerning health and disease. W. Pater.

One who has the care and superintendence of anything, as of a museum; a custodian; a keeper.

of stone or iron are propelled by hand over the ice towards a mark. Curling . . . is an amusement of the winter, and played on the ice, by sliding from one mark to another great stones of 40 to 70 pounds weight, of a hemispherical form, with an iron or wooden handle at top. The object of the player is to lay his stone…

The leaping, tripping, or measured stepping of one who dances; an amusement, in which the movements of the persons are regulated by art, in figures and in accord with music.

of the women in the East Indies whose profession is to dance in the temples, or for the amusement of spectators. There are various classes of dancing girls. -- Dancing master, a teacher of dancing. -- Dancing school, a school or place where dancing is taught.

To beguile; to amuse, so as to divert the attention; to while away; to take away as if by deception. These occupations oftentimes deceived The listless hour. Wordsworth.

mateur; especially, one who follows an art or a branch of knowledge, desultorily, or for amusement only.

To set at large; to release from inclosure. Till his free muse threw down the pale, And did at once dispark them all. Waller.

To play; to wanton; to move in gayety; to move lightly and without restraint; to amuse one's self. Where light disports in ever mingling dyes. Pope. Childe Harold basked him in the noontide sun, Disporting there like any other fly. Byron.

ich diverts; that which turns or draws the mind from care or study, and thus relaxes and amuses; sport; play; pastime; as, the diversions of youth. "Public diversions." V. Knox. Such productions of wit and humor as expose vice and folly, furnish useful diversion to readers. Addison.

any occupation, business, or study; to cause to have lively and agreeable sensations; to amuse; to entertain; as, children are diverted with sports; men are diverted with works of wit and humor. We are amused by a tale, diverted by a comedy. C. J. Smith.

Diversion; amusement; recreation. [R.]

A rude ancient ax or hatchet, seen in museums.

made to fall against the next, it starts a sequence which ends when all have fallen. For amusement, people have arranged such sequences involving thousands of dominoes, arrayed in fanciful patterns. Domino theory. A political theory current in the 1960's, according to which the conversion of one country in South Asia t…

Destitute of that which interests or amuses; barren; unembellished; jejune; plain. These epistles will become less dry, more susceptible of ornament. Pope.

Greek sculptures in the British Museum. They were obtained at Athens, about 1811, by Lord Elgin.