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disabled from free and rapid motion; a bond; a shackle. [They] bound him with fetters of brass. Judg. xvi. 21.

d from the soul; the corporeal person. As if this flesh, which walls about our life, Were brass impregnable. Shak.

A leaf or very thin sheet of metal; as, brass foil; tin foil; gold foil.

shaped instrument of metal, as a steel wedge used in mining, etc. I will go get a leaf of brass, And with a gad of steel will write these words. Shak.

An oblong tray of wood or brass, with upright sides, for holding type which has been set, or is to be made up, etc.

gib, and the driving wedge,key, or cotter, used for tightening the strap which holds the brasses at the end of a connecting rod.

appearance, as opposed to what is solid and genuine. Gilding metal, a tough kind of sheet brass from which cartridge shells are made.

A thin quadrant, made of brass, wood, etc., showing a stereographic projection on the plane of the equator. By it are found the hour of the day, the sun's azimuth, the altitude of objects in degrees, etc. See Gunter's scale.

oncordant; musical; consonant; as, harmonic sounds. Harmonic twang! of leather, horn, and brass. Pope.

A brass coin bearing the emblem of a harp, -- formerly current in Ireland. B. Jonson.

A kind of set of drawers. [U. S.] "Mahogany highboys glittering with brass handles." K. L. Bates.

e. -- His*tor"ic*al*ness, n. -- His*to*ric"i*ty, n. There warriors frowning in historic brass. Pope. Historical painting, that branch of painting which represents the events of history. -- Historical sense, that meaning of a passage which is deduced from the circumstances of time, place, etc., under which it was wri…

of a horn (of an ox or a ram); now applied to various elaborately wrought instruments of brass or other metal, resembling a horn in shape. "Wind his horn under the castle wall." Spenser. See French horn, under French.

equator, and graduated in hours and subdivisions of hours of right ascension. (c) A small brass circle attached to the north pole of an artificial globe, and divided into twenty-four parts or hours. It is used to mark differences of time in working problems on the globe. -- Hour hand, the hand or index which shows the…

." Coleridge. Let others better mold the running mass Of metals, and inform the breathing brass. Dryden. Breath informs this fleeting frame. Prior. Breathes in our soul,informs our mortal part. Pope.

A contrivance, usually of brass or iron, and furnished with points, worn to protect the hand, to add force to a blow, and to disfigure the person struck; as, brass knuckles; -- called also knuckle duster. [Slang.] Knuckle joint (Mach.), a hinge joint, in which a projection with an eye, on one piece, enters a jaw betwee…

A brass rule with sights, formerly used, in connection with a circumferentor, to take altitudes. Knight.

Foil or wire made of gold, silver, or brass. De Colange.

arts and form a chamber between for the reception of steam, etc. ; -- called also lantern brass.

A piece of brass, lead, or other soft metal, used to hold a cutting or polishing powder in cutting glass, gems, and the like, or in polishing cutlery, etc. It is usually in the form of wheel or disk, which revolves on a vertical axis. Lap joint, a joint made by one layer, part, or piece, overlapping another, as in the…