Search the Dictionary

entablature, etc.; specifically, a complete system of columns, whether on all sides of a court, or surrounding a building, such as the cella of a temple. Used in the former sense, it gives name to the larger and inner court of a Roman dwelling, the peristyle. See Colonnade.

f good appearance; presentable; as, a personable man or woman. Wise, warlike, personable, courteous, and kind. Spenser. The king, . . . so visited with sickness, was not personable. E. Hall.

constable. -- Petit jury, a jury of twelve men, impaneled to try causes at the bar of a court; -- so called in distinction from the grand jury. -- Petit larceny, the stealing of goods of, or under, a certain specified small value; -- opposed to grand larceny. The distinction is abolished in England. -- Petit maître…

supplication, or application to, as to any branch of the government; as, to petition the court; to petition the governor. You have . . . petitioned all the gods for my prosperity. Shak.

An ancient court of record in England, formerly incident to every fair and market, of which the steward of him who owned or had the toll was the judge. Blackstone.

nything supremely excellent; the embodiment or perfection of something. "The very pink of courtesy." Shak.

ting lengths of pipe or as accessory to a pipe. -- Pipe office, an ancient office in the Court of Exchequer, in which the clerk of the pipe made out leases of crown lands, accounts of cheriffs, etc. [Eng.] -- Pipe tree (Bot.), the lilac and the mock orange; -- so called because their were formerly used to make pipe st…

A broad way in a city; an open space; an area; a court or short part of a street open only at one end. "Hangman boys in the market place." Shak.

Of or pertaining to pleas or pleading, in courts of law. [Obs.] Clayton.

A public court or assembly in the Middle Ages, over which the sovereign president when a consultation was held upon affairs of state. Brande & C.

A private memorial tendered to a court, in which a person sets forth his cause of action; the exhibiting of an action in writing. Blackstone.

To act on the stage; to personate a character. A lord will hear your play to-night. Shak. Courts are theaters where some men play. Donne. To play into a person's hands, to act, or to manage matters, to his advantage or benefit. -- To play off, to affect; to feign; to practice artifice. -- To play upon. (a) To make sp…

A cause in court; a lawsuit; as, the Court of Common Pleas. See under Common. The Supreme Judicial Court shall have cognizance of pleas real, personal, and mixed. Laws of Massachusetts.

r person having uthority to determine; to argue at the bar; as, to plead a cause before a court or jury. Every man should plead his own matter. Sir T. More.

An officious person who courts favor servilely; a pickthank. [Obs.] Shak.

One who flatters, or courts the favor of, the common people; a demagogue. [R.]

with full power to transact any business; especially, an ambassador or envoy to a foreign court, with full power to negotiate a treaty, or to transact other business.

iscipline of the police. -- Police constable, or Police officer, a policeman. -- Police court, a minor court to try persons brought before it by the police. -- Police inspector, an officer of police ranking next below a superintendent. -- Police jury, a body of officers who collectively exercise jurisdiction in cer…

Smooth and refined in behavior or manners; well bred; courteous; complaisant; obliging; civil. He marries, bows at court, and grows polite. Pope.

The quality or state of being polite; refinement of manners; urbanity; courteous behavior; complaisance; obliging attentions.