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To pounce upon. [R.] [The gallant monarch] like eagle o'er his serie towers, To souse annoyance that comes near his nest. Shak.

hen similar in color, form, and action. Span blocks (Naut.), blocks at the topmast and topgallant-mast heads, for the studding-sail halyards. -- Span counter, an old English child's game, in which one throws a counter on the ground, and another tries to hit it with his counter, or to get his counter so near it that he…

A lover; a gallant; a beau.

To attend as a beau, or gallant, for aid and protection; as, to squire a lady. [Colloq.] Goldsmith.

To stamp with the foot. [Colloq.] "In gallant procession, the priests mean to stomp." R. Browning.

as a strain of woe in his story; a strain of trickery appears in his career. "A strain of gallantry." Sir W. Scott. Such take too high a strain at first. Bacon. The genius and strain of the book of Proverbs. Tillotson. It [Pilgrim's Progress] seems a novelty, and yet contains Nothing but sound and honest gospel strains…

A young man dwelling in the country; a rustic; esp., a cuntry gallant or lover; -- chiefly in poetry. It were a happy life To be no better than a homely swain. Shak. Blest swains! whose nymphs in every grace excel. Pope.

Refined; accomplished; -- said of persons. [R. & Obs.] "Your polite and terse gallants." Massinger.

ule. Not theories, but theorems (Coleridge. By the theorems, Which your polite and terser gallants practice, I re-refine the court, and civilize Their barbarous natures. Massinger.

The second mast, or that which is next above the lower mast, and below the topgallant mast.

Fine; gallant. [Slang] Johnson.

y means of its cable or buoy rope. Tripping line (Naut.), a small rope attached to the topgallant or royal yard, used to trip the yard, and in lowering it to the deck; also, a line used in letting go the anchor. Luce.