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and having erect much branched stems, and very slender branchlets which are sometimes mistaken for leaves. Asparagus racemosus is a shrubby climbing plant with fragrant flowers. Specifically: The Asparagus officinalis, a species cultivated in gardens.

To make rough or uneven. The asperated part of its surface. Boyle.

face and shores of the Dead Sea, which is therefore called Asphaltites, or the Asphaltic Lake. It is found also in many parts of Asia, Europe, and America. See Bitumen.

nother." [Sportive] "A schoolboy, stammering out his Asses' Bridge." F. Harrison. -- To make an ass of one's self, to do or say something very foolish or absurd.

ws, weapons, etc.; an onslaught; the rush or charge of an attacking force; onset; as, to make assault upon a man, a house, or a town. The Spanish general prepared to renew the assault. Prescott. Unshaken bears the assault Of their most dreaded foe, the strong southwest. Wordsworth.

To make sure or safe; to assure. [Obs.] Hooker.

To value; to make a valuation or official estimate of for the purpose of taxation.

To make sibilant; to change to a sibilant. J. Peile.

To appoint; to allot; to apportion; to make over. In the order I assign to them. Loudon. The man who could feel thus was worthy of a better station than that in which his lot had been assigned. Southey. He assigned to his men their several posts. Prescott.

The act of assigning or allotting; apportionment. This order being taken in the senate, as touching the appointment and assignation of those provinces. Holland.

assimilate our law to the law of Scotland. John Bright. Fast falls a fleecy; the downy flakes Assimilate all objects. Cowper.

To make or keep sober. [Obs.] Gower.

n associate; a confederate or partner in any scheme. How Pennsylvania's air agrees with Quakers, And Carolina's with associators. Dryden.

To furnish with, or make up of, various sorts or a variety of goods; as, to assort a cargo.

Accustomedness; habit; habitual use. Assuetude of things hurtful doth make them lose their force to hurt. Bacon.

To take to or upon one's self; to take formally and demonstratively; sometimes, to appropriate or take unjustly. Trembling they stand while Jove assumes the throne. Pope. The god assumed his native form again. Pope.

Pretended; hypocritical; make-believe; as, an assumed character.

To take up; to elevate; to assume. [Obs.] Sheldon.

To make sure or certain; to render confident by a promise, declaration, or other evidence. His promise that thy seed shall bruise our foe . . . Assures me that the bitterness of death Is past, and we shall live. Milton.

One who takes out a life assurance policy.