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adlong; rushing swiftly, violently, or recklessly; moving precipitately. They leave their little lives Above the clouds, precipitant to earth. J. Philips. Should he return, that troop so blithe and bold, Precipitant in fear would wing their flight. Pope.

nce; without delay; forthwith; also, less definitely, soon; shortly; before long; after a little while; by and by. Shak. And presently the fig tree withered away. Matt. xxi. 19.

they depend on, under a pretext of service and kindness. L'Estrange. With how much or how little pretext of reason. Dr. H. More.

A little prick; a small, sharp point; a fine, sharp process or projection, as from the skin of an animal, the bark of a plant, etc.; a spine. Bacon.

Originally, a small prayer book for church service, containing the little office of the Virgin Mary; also, a work of elementary religious instruction. The primer, or office of the Blessed Virgin. Bp. Stillingfleet.

a star of the first magnitude in the constellation Canis Minor, or the Little Dog.

Hence, language which evinces little imagination or animation; dull and commonplace discourse.

Thrush. Prunella salt (Old Chem.), niter fused and cast into little balls.

An aqueous medicine, containing little, if any, medicinal agent; a tea or tisane.

Short and fat or sturdy; dumpy; podgy; as, a short, pudgy little man; a pudgy little hand. Thackeray.

A kind of perfume in the form of a powder, formerly much used, -- often in little bags. Smells of incense, ambergris, and pulvillios. Addison.

e buffoon or harlequin of a puppet show. Punch and Judy, a puppet show in which a comical little hunchbacked Punch, with a large nose, engages in altercation with his wife Judy.

The quality or state of being puny; littleness; pettiness; feebleness.

nestly or dishonestly; property; possession; acquisition. Chaucer. B. Jonson. We met with little purchase upon this coast, except two small vessels of Golconda. De Foe. A beauty-waning and distressed widow . . . Made prize and purchase of his lustful eye. Shak.

an object clause or infinitive. They in most grave and solemn wise unfolded Matter which little purported. Rowe.

Very small; little; petty. [Obs.] Bacon.

ur-lobed corollas which are pale blue with a yellowish center; -- also called bluets, and little innocents.

A little quarrel. See 1st Quarrel, 2. [Obs.] "Quarrelets of pearl [teeth]." Herrick.

tting alternately from each face of a quarter, to secure lumber that will warp relatively little or show the grain advantageously.

One who asks questions; an inquirer. "Little time for idle questioners." Tennyson.