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d discipline; a stickler for the observance of rules and methods of training; as, he is a better disciplinarian than scholar.

lly as to matters of propriety and self- control; prudence; circumspection; wariness. The better part of valor is discretion. Shak. The greatest parts without discretion may be fatal to their owner. Hume.

Reduction from a better to a worse state; as, disimprovement of the earth.

To refuse to acknowledge or allow; to deny. Then they, who brother's better claim disown, Expel their parents, and usurp the throne. Dryden.

To succeed; to avail; to answer the purpose; to serve; as, if no better plan can be found, he will make this do. You would do well to prefer a bill against all kings and parliaments since the Conquest; and if that won't do; challenge the crown. Collier. To do by. See under By. -- To do for. (a) To answer for; to serve…

Inferior ore, separated from the better by cobbing. Raymond.

and husks. Shak. The draff and offal of a bygone age. Buckle. Mere chaff and draff, much better burnt. Tennyson.

Waste matter; any worthless matter separated from the better part; leavings; dregs; refuse. All world's glory is but dross unclean. Spenser. At the devil's booth are all things sold, Each ounce of dross coats its ounce of gold. Lowell.

The state or time of passing away; a falling from a better to a worse state; low state or condition; decline; decay. "Our ebb of life." Roscommon. Painting was then at its lowest ebb. Dryden. Ebb and flow, the alternate ebb and flood of the tide; often used figuratively. This alternation between unhealthy activity and…

e. Earle. In the Greek poets, as also in Plautus, we shall see the economy . . . of poems better observed than in Terence. B. Jonson. The Jews already had a Sabbath, which, as citizens and subjects of that economy, they were obliged to keep. Paley.

nd embossed the hills. Sylvester. Alloy in coin of gold . . . may make the metal work the better, but it embaseth it. Bacon. Such pitiful embellishments of speech as serve for nothing but to embase divinity. South.

An embassy. "He sent a solemn embassage." Bacon. Except your embassages have better success. Motley.

To purge of faults; to make better; to correct; esp., to make corrections in (a literary work); to alter for the better by textual criticism, generally verbal.

The act of altering for the better, or correcting what is erroneous or faulty; correction; improvement. "He lies in his sin without repentance or emendation." Jer. Taylor.

an end to pain; -- opposed to Ant: beginning, when used of anything having a first part. Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof. Eccl. vii. 8.

Lasting; durable; long-suffering; as, an enduring disposition. "A better and enduring substance." Heb. x. 34. -- En*dur"ing*ly, adv. T. Arnold. -- En*dur"ing*ness, n.

after the conclusion of the play. A good play no epilogue, yet . . . good plays prove the better by the help of good epilogues. Shak.

To describe by an epithet. [R.] Never was a town better epitheted. Sir H. Wotton.

and to any subject which admits of them; neither inferior nor superior, greater nor less, better nor worse; corresponding; alike; as, equal quantities of land, water, etc. ; houses of equal size; persons of equal stature or talents; commodities of equal value.

g estranged; alienation. An estrangement from God. J. C. Shairp. A long estrangement from better things. South.