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To fit, adapt, or qualify for a particular purpose or condition; to make ready; to put into a state for use or application; as, to prepare ground for seed; to prepare a lesson. Our souls, not yet prepared for upper light. Dryden.

The particular position of the child during labor relatively to the passage though which it is to be brought forth; -- specifically designated by the part which first appears at the mouth of the uterus; as, a breech presentation. Presentation copy, a copy of a book, engraving, etc., presented to some one by the author…

ety; as, preservation of life, fruit, game, etc.; a picture in good preservation. Give us particulars of thy preservation. Shak.

To force into service, particularly into naval service; to impress. To peaceful peasant to the wars is pressed. Dryden.

. Wharton. -- Presumption of law (Law), a postulate applied in advance to all cases of a particular class; e. g., the presumption of innocence and of regularity of records. Such a presumption is rebuttable or irrebuttable.

A charge in addition to the freight; originally, a gratuity to the captain for his particular care of the goods (sometimes called hat money), but now belonging to the owners or freighters of the vessel, unless by special agreement the whole or part is assigned to the captain. Homans.

. -- Prime minister, the responsible head of a ministry or executive government; applied particularly to that of England. -- Prime mover. (Mech.) (a) A natural agency applied by man to the production of power. Especially: Muscular force; the weight and motion of fluids, as water and air; heat obtained by chemical com…

embers of the royal family only. In Italy a prince is inferior to a duke as a member of a particular order of nobility; in Spain he is always one of the royal family.

Personal interest; particular business.[Obs.] Nor must I be unmindful of my private. B. Jonson.

To grant some particular right or exemption to; to invest with a peculiar right or immunity; to authorize; as, to privilege representatives from arrest. To privilege dishonor in thy name. Shak.

A connection, or bond of union, between parties, as to some particular transaction; mutual or successive relationship to the same rights of property.

taken as confessed. The action of a court of equity on that portion of the pleading in a particular case which the pleading on the other side does not deny. -- Pro rata. Etym: [L. See Prorate.] In proportion; proportion. -- Pro re nata Etym: [L.] (Law), for the existing occasion; as matters are.

Extravagance in expenditure, particularly of money; excessive liberality; profusion; waste; -- opposed to frugality, economy, and parsimony."The prodigality of his wit." Dryden.

ege, or other seminary, whose business it is to read lectures, or instruct students, in a particular branch of learning; as a professor of theology, of botany, of mathematics, or of political economy.

nding to a great length; unnecessarily long; minute in narration or argument; excessively particular in detail; -- rarely used except with reference to discourse written or spoken; as, a prolix oration; a prolix poem; a prolix sermon. With wig prolix, down flowing to his waist. Cowper.

or in writing, but properly not under seal, for the performance or nonperformance of some particular thing. The word promise is used to denote the mere engagement of a person, without regard to the consideration for it, or the corresponding duty of the party to whom it is made. Chitty. Parsons. Burrill.…

Hence, any organization or plan for spreading a particular doctrine or a system of principles.

Belonging to the natural or essential constitution; peculiar; not common; particular; as, every animal has his proper instincts and appetites. Those high and peculiar attributes . . . which constitute our proper humanity. Coleridge.

A new convert especially a convert to some religion or religious sect, or to some particular opinion, system, or party; thus, a Gentile converted to Judaism, or a pagan converted to Christianity, is a proselyte. Ye [Scribes and Pharisees] compass sea and land to make one proselyte. Matt. xxiii. 15. Fresh confidence the…

nsul, or other authorized officer, upon his arrival in port after a disaster, stating the particulars of it, and showing that any damage or loss sustained was not owing to the fault of the vessel, her officers or crew, but to the perils of the sea, etc., ads the case may be, and protesting against them.…