Search the Dictionary

of stone or iron are propelled by hand over the ice towards a mark. Curling . . . is an amusement of the winter, and played on the ice, by sliding from one mark to another great stones of 40 to 70 pounds weight, of a hemispherical form, with an iron or wooden handle at top. The object of the player is to lay his stone…

. Then began he to curse and to swear. Matt. xxi. 74. His spirits hear me, And yet I need must curse. Shak.

d tail; formerly, the dog of a person not qualified to course, which, by the forest laws, must have its tail cut short, partly as a mark, and partly from a notion that the tail is necessary to a dog in running; hence, a dog not fit for sporting. Hope is a curtail dog in some affairs. Shak.

or as with, a sharp instrument; to make an incision in; to gash; to sever; to divide. You must cut this flesh from off his breast. Shak. Before the whistling winds the vessels fly, With rapid swiftness cut the liquid way. Pope.

A musical instrument used by the ancients. It is supposed to have been similar to the modern kettle drum, though perhaps smaller.

A kind of Muscovite, or potash mica, containing water.

hus I stand blest in thy presence, A secret damp of grief comes o'er my soul. Addison. It must have thrown a damp over your autumn excursion. J. D. Forbes.

To move with measured steps, or to a musical accompaniment; to go through, either alone or in company with others, with a regulated succession of movements, (commonly) to the sound of music; to trip or leap rhytmically. Jack shall pipe and Gill shall dance. Wiher. Good shepherd, what fair swain is this Which dances wit…

of the women in the East Indies whose profession is to dance in the temples, or for the amusement of spectators. There are various classes of dancing girls. -- Dancing master, a teacher of dancing. -- Dancing school, a school or place where dancing is taught.

To make foul; to sully; to tarnish. I must not think there are Evils enough to darken all his goodness. Shak.

The character of making ostentatious or blustering parade or show. [R. & Colloq.] He must fight a duel before his claim to . . . dashism can be universally allowed. V. Knox.

g the Hellenes of his day. Jowett (Thucyd. ) If my debtors do not keep their day, . . . I must with patience all the terms attend. Dryden.

om a moving load, as a train of cars, or a variable pressure, as of wind. -- Dead march (Mus.), a piece of solemn music intended to be played as an accompaniment to a funeral procession. -- Dead nettle (Bot.), a harmless plant with leaves like a nettle (Lamium album). -- Dead oil (Chem.), the heavy oil obtained in t…

to debauch a woman; to debauch an army. Learning not debauched by ambition. Burke. A man must have got his conscience thoroughly debauched and hardened before he can arrive to the height of sin. South. Her pride debauched her judgment and her eyes. Cowley.

An ancient Greek musical instrument of ten strings, resembling the harp.

To beguile; to amuse, so as to divert the attention; to while away; to take away as if by deception. These occupations oftentimes deceived The listless hour. Wordsworth.

gether deceptive, and hiding the deeper reality from our eyes. Trench. Deceptive cadence (Mus.), a cadence on the subdominant, or in some foreign key, postponing the final close.

as, the day declines; virtue declines; religion declines; business declines. That empire must decline Whose chief support and sinews are of coin. Waller. And presume to know . . . Who thrives, and who declines. Shak.

es and decorums of his station. Hallam. If your master Would have a queen his beggar, you must tell him, That majesty, to keep decorum, must No less beg than a kingdom. Shak.

ength, quality, or excellence; as, they days decrease in length from June to December. He must increase, but I must decrease. John iii. 30.