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Affording entertainment; pleasing; amusing; diverting. -- En`ter*tain"ing*ly, adv. -- En`ter*tain"ing*ness, n.

de work, made of gabions, fascines, or bags, filled with earth, or of earth heaped up, to afford cover from the flanking fire of an enemy.

A body of armed men to attend a person of distinction for the sake of affording safety when on a journey; one who conducts some one as an attendant; a guard, as of prisoners on a march; also, a body of persons, attending as a mark of respect or honor; -- applied to movements on land, as convoy is to movements at sea. T…

A brittle gem occurring in light green, transparent crystals, affording a brilliant clinodiagonal cleavage. It is a silicate of alumina and glucina.

bastard spurge, a genus of plants of many species, mostly shrubby, herbaceous succulents, affording an acrid, milky juice. Some of them are armed with thorns. Most of them yield powerful emetic and cathartic products.

Relating to, or affording, evidence; indicative; especially, relating to the evidences of Christianity. Bp. Fleetwood. "Evidential tracks." Earle.. -- Ev`i*den"tial*ly, adv.

To expand; to spread; to extend; to diffuse; to broaden. Afford art an ample field in which to expatiate itself. Dryden.

aving straight teeth) in front of the doffer. -- Fancy stocks, a species of stocks which afford great opportunity for stock gambling, since they have no intrinsic value, and the fluctuations in their prices are artificial. -- Fancy store, one where articles of fancy and ornament are sold. -- Fancy woods, the more ra…

To afford advantages for success to; to facilitate; as, a weak place favored the entrance of the enemy.

That which furnishes or affords food, especially for animals; pasture land. Feeding bottle. See under Bottle.

Affording defense; defensive. [Obs.] Congreve.

Capable of being defended, or of making or affording defense. [Obs.] No fort so fencible, nor walls so strong. Spenser.

resticted or favorable opportunity for action, operation, or achievement; province; room. Afforded a clear field for moral experiments. Macaulay.

A contrivance for affording a copious stream of water to the heated surface of an object of large bulk, as an anvil or die. Knight.

ht different in color from the mass of the material, as when green crystals of fluor spar afford blue reflections. It is due not to the difference in the color of a distinct surface layer, but to the power which the substance has of modifying the light incident upon it. The light emitted by fluorescent substances is in…

Relating to nourishment; affording, receiving, or sharing nourishment or nurture; -- applied to father, mother, child, brother, etc., to indicate that the person so called stands in the relation of parent, child, brother, etc., as regards sustenance and nurture, but not by tie of blood. Foster babe, or child, an infant…

-- French berry (Bot.), the berry of a species of buckthorn (Rhamnus catharticus), which affords a saffron, green or purple pigment. -- French casement (Arch.) See French window, under Window. -- French chalk (Min.), a variety of granular talc; -- used for drawing lines on cloth, etc. See under Chalk. -- French cow…

To offer for use; to provide (something); to give (something); to afford; as, to furnish food to the hungry: to furnish arms for defense. Ye are they . . . that furnish the drink offering unto that number. Is. lxv. 11. His writings and his life furnish abundant proofs that he was not a man of strong sense. Macaulay.…

a railroad crossing. -- Gate valva, a stop valve for a pipe, having a sliding gate which affords a straight passageway when open. -- Gate vein (Anat.), the portal vein. -- To break gates (Eng. Univ.), to enter a college inclosure after the hour to which a student has been restricted. -- To stand in the gate, or gat…

ise, in a machine or structure, to hold other parts in place or bind them together, or to afford a bearing surface; -- usually held or adjusted by means of a wedge, key, or screw. Gib and key, or Gib and cotter (Steam Engine), the fixed wedge or gib, and the driving wedge,key, or cotter, used for tightening the strap w…