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The great world; that part of the universe which is exterior to man; -- contrasted with microcosm, or man. See Microcosm.

The amount or number by which one aggregate exceeds all other aggregates with which it is contrasted; especially, the number by which the votes for a successful candidate exceed those for all other candidates; as, he is elected by a majority of five hundred votes. See Plurality. To go over to, or To join, the majority,…

Evil practice; illegal or immoral conduct; practice contrary to established rules; specifically, the treatment of a case by a surgeon or physician in a manner which is contrary to accepted rules and productive of unfavorable results. [Written also malepractice.]

A contract by which one employs another to manage any business for him. By the Roman law, it must have been gratuitous. Erskine.

ing, manganese; specif., designating compounds in which manganese has a higher valence as contrasted with manganous compounds. Cf. Manganous. Manganic acid, an acid, H2MnO4, formed from manganese, analogous to sulphuric acid.

to, designating, those compounds of manganese in which the element has a lower valence as contrasted with manganic compounds; as, manganous oxide. Manganous acid, a hypothetical compound analogous to sulphurous acid, and forming the so-called manganites.

Collateral security deposited with a broker to secure him from loss on contracts entered into by him on behalf of his principial, as in the speculative buying and selling of stocks, wheat, etc. N. Biddle. Margin draft (Masonry), a smooth cut margin on the face of hammer-dressed ashlar, adjacent to the joints. -- Margi…

The marriage vow or contract. [Obs.] Chaucer.

g of a considerable number of human beings under circumstances of atrocity or cruelty, or contrary to the usages of civilized people; as, the massacre on St. Bartholomew's Day.

oned on the supposition that all the days of the year are of a mean or uniform length, in contradistinction from apparent time, or that actually indicated by the sun, and from sidereal time, or that measured by the stars.

An absorption of one estate, or one contract, in another, or of a minor offense in a greater.

m, calcium, or copper, whose oxide or hydroxide has basic rather than acid properties, as contrasted with the nonmetals, or metalloids. No sharp line can be drawn between the metals and nonmetals, and certain elements partake of both acid and basic qualities, as chromium, manganese, bismuth, etc.

, pertaining to, or characterized by, the essential and implied properties of a metal, as contrasted with a nonmetal or metalloid; basic; antacid; positive. Metallic iron, iron in the state of the metal, as distinquished from its ores, as magnetic iron. -- Metallic paper, paper covered with a thin solution of lime, wh…

. Dry meter, a gas meter having measuring chambers, with flexible walls, which expand and contract like bellows and measure the gas by filling and emptying. -- W, a gas meter in which the revolution of a chambered drum in water measures the gas passing through it.

Having a medium compass between the soprano and contralto; -- said of the voice of a female singer. -- n.

memorandum; a record; a note to preserve the memory of anything; as, to take minutes of a contract; to take minutes of a conversation or debate.

Specifically: An event or effect contrary to the established constitution and course of things, or a deviation from the known laws of nature; a supernatural event, or one transcending the ordinary laws by which the universe is governed. They considered not the miracle of the loaves. Mark vi. 52.

Misconception, error, which when non-negligent may be ground for rescinding a contract, or for refusing to perform it. No mistake, surely; without fail; as, it will happen at the appointed time, and no mistake. [Low]

formerly prefixed to the name of a woman, married or unmarried, but now superseded by the contracted forms, Mrs., for a married, and Miss, for an unmarried, woman. Now Mistress Gilpin (careful soul). Cowper.

ent, and uncompounded with each other, no matter how thoroughly and finely commingled; -- contrasted with a compound; thus, gunpowder is a mechanical mixture of carbon, sulphur, and niter.