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ed by an infinitive, or by to and a noun, formerly sometimes by against. "Tempering the severity of his looks with a reluctance to the action." Dryden. He had some reluctance to obey the summons. Sir W. Scott. Bear witness, Heaven, with what reluctancy Her helpless innocence I doom to die. Dryden.

to grow less intense; to become moderated; to abate; to relax; as, a fever remits; the severity of the weather remits.

Severity; rigor. [Obs. orR.] Bp. Burnet.

Severity of climate or season; inclemency; as, the rigor of the storm; the rigors of winter.

Severity, as of style, or the like. Jefferson.

Marked by severity or violence; harsh; hard; as, rough measures or actions. On the rough edge of battle. Milton. A quicker and rougher remedy. Clarendon. Kind words prevent a good deal of that perverseness which rough and imperious usage often produces. Locke.

Keeness and severity of remark; caustic exposure to reprobation; trenchant wit; sarcasm.

To chide with rudeness and clamor; to rate; also, to rebuke or reprove with severity.

To punish with severity; to chastise; to afflict, as for sins or faults, and with the purpose of correction. Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. Heb. xii. 6.

An instructor who examines with great or unnecessary severity; also, a searching or strict examination of a student by an instructor. [Cant, American Colleges]

keep out melancholy from the virtuous, and hinder the hatred of vice from souring into severity. Addison.

Having a certain hardness or severity of nature, manner, or aspect; hard; severe; rigid; rigorous; austere; fixed; unchanging; unrelenting; hence, serious; resolute; harsh; as, a sternresolve; a stern necessity; a stern heart; a stern gaze; a stern decree. The sterne wind so loud gan to rout. Chaucer. I would outstare…

Hence, freedom from bigotry and severity in judgment of the opinions or belief of others, especially in respect to religious matters.

Sourness or severity of countenance; sterness. [Obs.]

Truth; verity; veracity; as, by my troth. Shak. In troth, thou art able to instruct gray hairs. Addison.

ncerning any matter or subject, or generally on all subjects; real state of things; fact; verity; reality. Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbor. Zech. viii. 16. I long to know the truth here of at large. Shak. The truth depends on, or is only arrived at by, a legitimate deduction from all the facts which are tr…

To play the tutor toward; to treat with authority or severity. Addison.

To act the tyrant; to exercise arbitrary power; to rule with unjust and oppressive severity; to exercise power others not permitted by law or required by justice, or with a severity not necessary to the ends of justice and government; as, a prince will often tyrannize over his subjects; masters sometimes tyrannize over…

Severity; rigor; inclemency. The tyranny of the open night's too rough For nature to endure. Shak.

To relax in exertion, attention, severity, or the like; hence, to indulge in mirth or amusement.