Search the Dictionary

eresy. Oath of abjuration, an oath asserting the right of the present royal family to the crown of England, and expressly abjuring allegiance to the descendants of the Pretender. Brande & C.

To declare by acclamations. While the shouting crowd Acclaims thee king of traitors. Smollett.

a convex and concave, of substances having different refractive and dispersive powers, as crown and flint glass, with the curvatures so adjusted that the chromatic aberration produced by the one is corrected by other, and light emerges from the compound lens undecomposed. -- Achromatic prism. See Prism. -- Achromatic…

r in Edinburgh. -- Lord advocate (Scot.), the public prosecutor of crimes, and principal crown lawyer. -- Judge advocate. See under Judge.

Gaping, as with wonder, expectation, or eager attention. Dazzles the crowd and sets them all agape. Milton.

A feathery crown of seed; egret; as, the aigrette or down of the dandelion or the thistle.

down a small anchor ahead of that by which the ship rides, with the cable fastened to the crown of the latter to prevent its coming home. -- To cast anchor, to drop or let go an anchor to keep a ship at rest. -- To cat the anchor, to hoist the anchor to the cathead and pass the ring-stopper. -- To fish the anchor, t…

der lost. Pope. Ancient demesne (Eng. Law), a tenure by which all manors belonging to the crown, in the reign of William the Conqueror, were held. The numbers, names, etc., of these were all entered in a book called Domesday Book. -- Ancient lights (Law), windows and other openings which have been enjoined without mol…

A genus of plants of the Ranunculus or Crowfoot family; windflower. Some of the species are cultivated in gardens.

An heir apparent. [Obs.] I'll draw it [the sword] as apparent to the crown. Shak.

d of an estate already conveyed. Burrill. Kent. To appoint one's self, to resolve. [Obs.] Crowley.

great; to pant; to long; -- followed by to or after, and rarely by at; as, to aspire to a crown; to aspire after immorality. Aspiring to be gods, if angels fell; Aspiring to be angels, men rebel. Pope.

rom an evening serenade; also, a pianoforte composition suggestive of morning. Grove. The crowing cock . . . Sang his aubade with lusty voice and clear. Longfellow.

court (Eng. Hist.), a court erected by Stat. 27 Hen. VIII., to augment to revenues of the crown by the suppression of monasteries. It was long ago dissolved. Encyc. Brit.

A celestial crown or accidental glory added to the bliss of heaven, as a reward to those (as virgins, martyrs, preachers, etc.) who have overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil.

A species of crowfoot. Johnson.

ght course; distorted; obliquely; asquint; with oblique vision; as, to glance awry. "Your crown's awry." Shak. Blows them transverse, ten thousand leagues awry. Into the devious air. Milton.

own a small anchor ahead of a large one, the cable of the small one being fastened to the crown of the large one. -- To back the field, in horse racing, to bet against a particular horse or horses, that some one of all the other horses, collectively designated "the field", will win. -- To back the oars, to row backwa…

A fence or railing to mark the limits of a place, or to keep back a crowd. No sooner were the barriers opened, than he paced into the lists. Sir W. Scott.

The laurel tree (Laurus nobilis). Hence, in the plural, an honorary garland or crown bestowed as a prize for victory or excellence, anciently made or consisting of branches of the laurel. The patriot's honors and the poet's bays. Trumbull.