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er of property, power, knowledge, etc.; to acquaint; to inform; -- followed by of or with before the thing possessed, and now commonly used reflexively. I have possessed your grace of what I purpose. Shak. Record a gift . . . of all he dies possessed Unto his son. Shak. We possessed our selves of the kingdom of Naples.…

A subsequent disseizin committed by one of lands which the disseizee had before recovered of the same disseizor; a writ founded on such subsequent disseizin, now abolished. Burrill. Tomlins.

A person who disseizes another of lands which the disseizee had before recovered of the same disseizor. Blackstone.

The return of the judge before whom a cause was tried, after a verdict, of what was done in the cause, which is indorsed on the nisi prius record. Wharton.

Of, pertaining to, or designating, an epoch after the last Glacial and before the Terrace epoch. [R.]

A voter in certain boroughs of England, where, before the passage of the reform bill of 1832, the qualification for suffrage was to have boiled (walloped) his own pot in the parish for six months.

continent, and even as far north as New Jersey. The name potato was applied to this plant before it was to the Solanum tuberosum, and this is the "potato" of the Southern United States. -- Wild potato. (Bot.) (a) A vine (Ipomoea pandurata) having a pale purplish flower and an enormous root. It is common in sandy place…

A pot or tankard. Shak. A dry pottle of sack before him. Sir W. Scott.

ream or a flood; to emit; to let escape freely or wholly. I . . . have poured out my soul before the Lord. 1 Sam. i. 15. Now will I shortly pour out my fury upon thee. Ezek. vii. 8. London doth pour out her citizens ! Shak. Wherefore did Nature pour her bounties forth With such a full and unwithdrawing hand Milton.…

A white robe with a purple border, worn by a Roman boy before he was entitled to wear the toga virilis, or until about the completion of his fourteenth year, and by girls until their marriage. It was also worn by magistrates and priests.

A prefix denoting priority (of time, place, or rank); as, precede, to go before; precursor, a forerunner; prefix, to fix or place before; preëminent eminent before or above others. Pre- is sometimes used intensively, as in prepotent, very potent. [Written also præ-.]

To acquaint previously or beforehand. Fielding.

To act beforehand; to perform previously.

An inhabitant of the earth before Adam.

Existing or occurring before Adam; preadamic; as, preadamitic periods.

admission, as of steam, to the engine cylinder before the back stroke is completed, thus increasing the cushioning.

To advertise beforehand; to preannounce publicly.

To walk before. [R.] Jordan.

A walking or going before; precedence. [R.]

Preceding; going before; introductory. [R.] Simon Magus had preambulatory impieties. Jer. Taylor.