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The act of reducing to a fine powder or to small particles; pulverization; the state of being comminuted. Bentley.

One intrusted with a commission, now only a small commission, as an errand; esp., an attendant or subordinate employee in a public office, hotel, or the like. The commissionaire familiar to European travelers performs miscellaneous services as a light porter, messenger, solicitor for hotels, etc.

iage licenses, divorces, registration of wills, etc. -- To be on short commons, to have small allowance of food. [Colloq.]

A small terrotorial district in France under the government of a mayor and municipal council; also, the inhabitants, or the government, of such a district. See Arrondissement.

The act or fact of communicating; as, communication of smallpox; communication of a secret.

To exchange; to put or substitute something else in place of, as a smaller penalty, obligation, or payment, for a greater, or a single thing for an aggregate; hence; to lessen; to diminish; as, to commute a sentence of death to one of imprisonment for life; to commute tithes; to commute charges for fares. The sounds wa…

be a companion; fit for good fellowship; agreeable; sociable. "Each companionable guest." Mallett. "Companionable wit." Clarendon. -- Com*pan"ion*a*ble*ness, n. -- Com*pan"ion*a*bly, adv.

rth. Milton. Compare our faces and be judge yourself. Shak. To compare great things with small. Milton.

iner's compass, on which are marked the thirty-two points or rhumbs. -- Compass dial, a small pocket compass fitted with a sundial to tell the hour of the day. -- Compass plane (Carp.), a plane, convex in the direction of its length on the under side, for smoothing the concave faces of curved woodwork. -- Compass pl…

tidal air, by the deepest possible inspiration. -- Complemental males (Zoöl.), peculiar small males living parasitically on the ordinary hermaphrodite individuals of certain barnacles.

ge family of dicotyledonous plants, having their flowers arranged in dense heads of many small florets and their anthers united in a tube. The daisy, dandelion, and asters, are examples.

Belonging to the order Compositæ; bearing involucrate heads of many small florets, as the daisy, thistle, and dandelion. Composite carriage, a railroad car having compartments of different classes. [Eng.] -- Composite number (Math.), one which can be divided exactly by a number exceeding unity, as 6 by 2 or 3.prime num…

nd firmly attached near its base or, formerly, by means of an envelope of soft metal. In small arms the modern projectile, having a soft core and harder jacket, is subjected to compression throughout the entire cylindrical part.

fancy. His wit's as thick as Tewksbury mustard; there's more conceit in him than is in a mallet. Shak.

The act or process of removing the dress of ore and of reducing the valuable part to smaller compass, as by currents of air or water.

A small musical imstrument on the principle of the accordion. It is a small elastic box, or bellows, having free reeds on the inside, and keys and handles on the outside of each of the two hexagonal heads.

elieve the Scriptures to be sufficiently plain. Sharp. When a lover becomes satisfied by small compliances without further pursuits, then expect to find popular assemblies content with small concessions. Swift.

A small or private assembly, especially of an ecclesiastical nature. [Obs.] Bacon.

To make more close, compact, or dense; to compress or concentrate into a smaller compass; to consolidate; to abridge; to epitomize. In what shape they choose, Dilated or condensed, bright or obscure. Milton. The secret course pursued at Brussels and at Madrid may be condensed into the usual formula, dissimulation, proc…

The act of consulting together formally; serious conversation or discussion; interchange of views. Nor with such free and friendly conference As he hath used of old. Shak.