Search the Dictionary

sual number of petals in consequence of the abnormal multiplication of the parts of the floral whorls.

enus of large eels of the family Mirænidæ. They differ from the common eel in lacking pectoral fins and in having the dorsal and anal fins continuous. The murry (Muræna Helenæ) of Southern Europe was the muræna of the Romans. It is highly valued as a food fish.

ho therefore approve of athletic sports and exercises as conductive to good health, good morals, and right feelings in religious matters. T. Hughes. (b) An active, robust, and cheerful Christian life, as opposed to a meditative and gloomy one. C. Kingsley. -- Muscular excitability (Physiol.), that property in virtue o…

d like a mushroom, capable of grasping the ground in whatever way it falls. -- Mushroom coral (Zoöl.), any coral of the genus Fungia. See Fungia. -- Mushroom spawn (Bot.), the mycelium, or primary filamentous growth, of the mushroom; also, cakes of earth and manure containing this growth, which are used for propagati…

To be obliged; to be necessitated; -- expressing either physical or moral necessity; as, a man must eat for nourishment; we must submit to the laws.

Any assemblage or display; a gathering. Of the temporal grandees of the realm, mentof their wives and daughters, the muster was great and splendid. Macaulay. Muster book, a book in which military forces are registred. -- Muster file, a muster roll. -- Muster master (Mil.), one who takes an account of troops, and of t…

A chief; a leader; a Sepoy corporal. Balfour (Cyc. of India).

se; and specifically, made by lowering the soft palate, in some cases with closure of the oral passage, the voice thus issuing (wholly or partially) through the nose, as in the consonants m, n, ng (see Guide to Pronunciation, §§ 20, 208); characterized by resonance in the nasal passage; as, a nasal vowel; a nasal utter…

Of or pertaining to the lower or animal nature, as contrasted with the higher or moral powers, or that which is spiritual; being in a state of nature; unregenerate. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. 1 Cor. ii. 14.

t or an event unavoidable; irresistible force; overruling power; compulsion, physical or moral; fate; fatality. So spake the fiend, and with necessity, The tyrant's plea, excused his devilish deeds. Milton.

; consisting in the absence of something; privative; as, a negative argument; a negative morality; negative criticism. There in another way of denying Christ, ... which is negative, when we do not acknowledge and confess him. South.

Intellectual and moral darkness; ignorance.

unwholesome; insalubrious; as, noxious air, food, or climate; pernicious; corrupting to morals; as, noxious practices or examples. Too frequent an appearance in places of public resort is noxious to spiritual promotions. Swift.

their surface, and were formerly thought to be of animal nature. They are now considered corallines of the genera Melobesia and Lithothamnion.

Oral; not written. Nuncupative will or testament, a will or testament made by word of mouth only, before witnesses, as by a soldier or seaman, and depending on oral testimony for proof. Blackstone.

Nuncupative; oral.

Idioplasma. -- Nutritive polyp (Zoöl.), any one of the zooids of a compound hydroid, or coral, which has a mouth and digestive cavity. -- Nu"tri*tive*ly, adv. -- Nu"tri*tive*ness, n.

Hardened in feelings, esp. against moral or mollifying influences; unyielding; hard-hearted; stubbornly wicked. The very custom of evil makes the heart obdurate against whatsoever instructions to the contrary. Hooker. Art thou obdurate, flinty, hard as steel, Nay, more than flint, for stone at rain relenteth Shak.…

hich has independent exostence or authority, apart from our experience or thought. Thus, moral law is said to have objective authority, that is, authority belonging to itself, and not drawn from anything in our nature. Calderwood (Fleming's Vocabulary).

To bring or place under obligation, moral or legal; to hold by a constraining motive. "Obligated by a sense of duty." Proudfit. That's your true plan -- to obligate The present ministers of state. Churchill.