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lly in front of their doors, to be pelted and hooted at by the mob, but sometimes to be taken to the water and ducked; -- called also a castigatory, a tumbrel, and a trebuchet; and often, but not so correctly, a ducking stool. Sir. W. Scott.

Humor; temper of mind. [Colloq.] Dickens.

gain. Shak. They with their quills did all the hurt they could, And cuffed the tender chickens from their food. Dryden.

The breastplate taken by itself.

Broken glass for remelting.

). If he acts according to the best reason he hath, he is not culpable, though he be mistaken in his measures. Sharp.

f several species of Strychnos (S. toxifera, etc.). It sometimes has little effect when taken internally, but is quickly fatal when introduced into the blood, and used by the Indians as an arrow poison. [Written also urari, woorali, woorari, etc.]

The coagulated or thickened part of milk, as distingushed from the whey, or watery part. It is eaten as food, especially when made into cheese. Curds and cream, the flower of country fare. Dryden.

To thicken; to congeal. Then Mary could feel her heart's blood curdle cold. Southey.

Exciting attention or inquiry; awakening surprise; inviting and rewarding inquisitiveness; not simple or plain; strange; rare. "Acurious tale" Shak. A multitude of curious analogies. Mocaulay. Many a quaint and curiousvolume of forgotten lore. E. A. Poe. Abstruse investigations in recondite branches of learning or scie…

disease in potatoes, in which the leaves, at their first appearance, seem curled and shrunken. Blue curls. (Bot.) See under Blue.

That which is in circulation, or is given and taken as having or representing value; as, the currency of a country; a specie currency; esp., government or bank notes circulating as a substitute for metallic money.

condemnation. The priest shall write these curses in a book. Num. v. 23. Curses, like chickens, come home to roost. Old Proverb.

A hanging screen intended to darken or conceal, and admitting of being drawn back or up, and reclosed at pleasure; esp., drapery of cloth or lace hanging round a bed or at a window; in theaters, and like places, a movable screen for concealing the stage.

Like a cushion; soft; pliable. A flat and cushiony noce. Dickens.

r person; -- in an indefinite sense; as, a queer customer; an ugly customer. [Colloq.] Dickens.

Value; estimation; the gratification or pleasure taken in anything. [Obs.] I ne told no deyntee of her love. Chaucer.

eject; to deaden; to cloud; to check or restrain, as action or vigor; to make dull; to weaken; to discourage. "To damp your tender hopes." Akenside. Usury dulls and damps all industries, improvements, and new inventions, wherein money would be stirring if it were not for this slug. Bacon. How many a day has been damped…

common huckleberry. The bush is also called blue tangle, and is found from New England to Kentucky, and southward.

To darken to obscure. [Obs.] Milton.