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riage licenses, divorces, registration of wills, etc. -- To be on short commons, to have small allowance of food. [Colloq.]

A small terrotorial district in France under the government of a mayor and municipal council; also, the inhabitants, or the government, of such a district. See Arrondissement.

The act or fact of communicating; as, communication of smallpox; communication of a secret.

To exchange; to put or substitute something else in place of, as a smaller penalty, obligation, or payment, for a greater, or a single thing for an aggregate; hence; to lessen; to diminish; as, to commute a sentence of death to one of imprisonment for life; to commute tithes; to commute charges for fares. The sounds wa…

arth. Milton. Compare our faces and be judge yourself. Shak. To compare great things with small. Milton.

riner's compass, on which are marked the thirty-two points or rhumbs. -- Compass dial, a small pocket compass fitted with a sundial to tell the hour of the day. -- Compass plane (Carp.), a plane, convex in the direction of its length on the under side, for smoothing the concave faces of curved woodwork. -- Compass p…

tidal air, by the deepest possible inspiration. -- Complemental males (Zoöl.), peculiar small males living parasitically on the ordinary hermaphrodite individuals of certain barnacles.

rge family of dicotyledonous plants, having their flowers arranged in dense heads of many small florets and their anthers united in a tube. The daisy, dandelion, and asters, are examples.

Belonging to the order Compositæ; bearing involucrate heads of many small florets, as the daisy, thistle, and dandelion. Composite carriage, a railroad car having compartments of different classes. [Eng.] -- Composite number (Math.), one which can be divided exactly by a number exceeding unity, as 6 by 2 or 3.prime num…

and firmly attached near its base or, formerly, by means of an envelope of soft metal. In small arms the modern projectile, having a soft core and harder jacket, is subjected to compression throughout the entire cylindrical part.

The act or process of removing the dress of ore and of reducing the valuable part to smaller compass, as by currents of air or water.

A small musical imstrument on the principle of the accordion. It is a small elastic box, or bellows, having free reeds on the inside, and keys and handles on the outside of each of the two hexagonal heads.

believe the Scriptures to be sufficiently plain. Sharp. When a lover becomes satisfied by small compliances without further pursuits, then expect to find popular assemblies content with small concessions. Swift.

A small or private assembly, especially of an ecclesiastical nature. [Obs.] Bacon.

To make more close, compact, or dense; to compress or concentrate into a smaller compass; to consolidate; to abridge; to epitomize. In what shape they choose, Dilated or condensed, bright or obscure. Milton. The secret course pursued at Brussels and at Madrid may be condensed into the usual formula, dissimulation, proc…

The recess, seat, or inclosed place, where a priest sits to hear confessions; often a small structure furnished with a seat for the priest and with a window or aperture so that the penitent who is outside may whisper into the priest's ear without being seen by him or heard by others.

ving the pustules, etc., run together or unite, so as to cover the surface; as, confluent smallpox. Dunglison.

To gather into a small round mass.

led the Conscience fund. -- Court of Conscience, a court established for the recovery of small debts, in London and other trading cities and districts. [Eng.] Blackstone. -- In conscience, In all conscience, in deference or obedience to conscience or reason; in reason; reasonably. "This is enough in conscience." Howe…

er to influence or produce an effect; value; moment; rank; distinction. It is a matter of small consequence. Shak. A sense of your own worth and consequence. Cowper. In consequence, hence; for this cause. -- In consequence of, by reason of; as the effect of.