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To cut in or into with a sharp instrument; to carve; to engrave. I on thy grave this epitaph incise. T. Carew.

ed by incising; the separation of the parts of any substance made by a cutting or pointed instrument; a cut; a gash.

Having the quality of incising, cutting, or penetrating, as with a sharp instrument; cutting; hence, sharp; acute; sarcastic; biting. "An incisive, high voice." G. Eliot. And her incisive smile accrediting That treason of false witness in my blush. Mrs. Browning.

anything, as the hand of a watch, a movable finger on a gauge, scale, or other graduated instrument. In printing, a sign [*] used to direct particular attention to a note or paragraph; -- called also fist.

A pressure gauge; a water gauge, as for a steam boiler; an apparatus or instrument for showing the working of a machine or moving part; as:

An instrument for ascertaining the strength of an indigo solution, as in volumetric analysis. Ure.

The act of writing on the back of a note, bill, or other written instrument.

An instrument for measuring or ascertaining the degree or rate of electrical induction.

er of the inhabitants of hell; hellish; diabolical; as, infernal spirits, or conduct. The instruments or abettors in such infernal dealings. Addison. Infernal machine, a machine or apparatus maliciously designed to explode, and destroy life or property. -- Infernal stone (lapis infernalis), lunar caustic; formerly so…

Conducive; instrumental. [Obs.] Sir T. Browne.

t and health The tender crops. Chaucer. Descend, ye Nine, descend and sing, The breathing instruments inspire. Pope.

That which integrates; esp., an instrument by means of which the area of a figure can be measured directly, or its moment of inertia, or statical moment, etc., be determined.

The true meaning, understanding, or intention of a law, or of any legal instrument.

An instrument for measuring small movements, distances, or displacements by means of the interference of two beams of light; -- called also refractometer.

A short piece of instrumental music played between the parts of a song or cantata, or the acts of a drama; especially, in church music, a short passage played by the organist between the stanzas of a hymn, or in German chorals after each line.

An intervening agent or instrument. Cowper.

roduce for the first time; -- applied commonly to the discovery of some serviceable mode, instrument, or machine. Thus first Necessity invented stools. Cowper.

An instrument or utensil made of iron; -- chiefly in composition; as, a flatiron, a smoothing iron, etc. My young soldier, put up your iron. Shak.

kstraws being thrown confusedly together on a table, to be gathered up singly by a hooked instrument, without touching or disturbing the rest of the pile. See Spilikin.

To strike or stab with a pointed instrument. L'Estrange.