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gard studiously. Fixedly did look Upon the muddy waters which he conned As if he had been reading in a book. Wodsworth. I did not come into Parliament to con my lesson. Burke. To con answer, to be able to answer. [Obs.] -- To con thanks, to thank; to acknowledge obligation. [Obs.] Shak.

Spreading or communicable from one to another; exciting similar emotions or conduct in others. His genius rendered his courage more contagious. Wirt. The spirit of imitation is contagious. Ames.

A broad ice sheet resting on a plain or plateau and spreading outward from a central névé, or region of accumulation.

these proofs will convict a testament, to have that in it which other men can nowhere by reading find. Hooker.

rict infected with disease, to cut off communication, and thus prevent the disease from spreading.

A slight admixture, infusion, or adulteration; a partial overspreading; as, wine with a dash of water; red with a dash of purple. Innocence when it has in it a dash of folly. Addison.

degree resembling death; to the last degree; completely; wholly. [Colloq.] I was tired of reading, and dead sleepy. Dickens. Dead drunk, so drunk as to be unconscious.

The act of deploying; a spreading out of a body of men in order to extend their front. -Wilhelm. Deployments . . . which cause the soldier to turn his back to the enemy are not suited to war.H.L. Scott.

A reading table or lectern to support the book from which the liturgical service is read, differing from the pulpit from which the sermon is preached; also (esp. in the United States), a pulpit. Hence, used symbolically for "the clerical profession."

cal; aimless; as, desultory minds. Atterbury. He [Goldsmith] knew nothing accurately; his reading had been desultory. Macaulay.

To pass by spreading every way, to diffuse itself.

Capable of flowing or spreading in all directions; that may be diffused.

The act of diffusing, or the state of being diffused; a spreading; extension; dissemination; circulation; dispersion. A diffusion of knowledge which has undermined superstition. Burke.

Having the quality of diffusing; capable of spreading every way by flowing; spreading widely; widely reaching; copious; diffuse. "A plentiful and diffusive perfume." Hare.

Tendency to become diffused; tendency, as of heat, to become equalized by spreading through a conducting medium.

Having the margin wide and spreading.

To extend or expand itself. [R.] While tyrant Hdispreading through the sky. Thomson.

state of being disseminated; diffusion for propagation and permanence; a scattering or spreading abroad, as of ideas, beliefs, etc. The universal dissemination of those writings. Wayland.

A double reading, or twofold interpretation, as of a Scripture text. [R.]

Diverging; spreading asunder; widely diverging.