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ill add strength, force, security, or efficiency; as, to arm the hit of a sword; to arm a hook in angling.

ake sure of; to fix; to determine. [Archaic] The divine law . . . ascertaineth the truth. Hooker. The very deferring [of his execution] shall increase and ascertain the condemnation. Jer. Taylor. The ministry, in order to ascertain a majority . . . persuaded the queen to create twelve new peers. Smollett. The mildness…

To make sure or safe; to assure. [Obs.] Hooker.

iated; union; connection, whether of persons of things. "Some . . . bond of association." Hooker. Self-denial is a kind of holy association with God. Boyle.

Waiting for; expectation. [Obs.] Languishing attendance and expectation of death. Hooker.

being attributed; ascribable; imputable. Errors . . . attributable to carelessness. J. D. Hooker.

ect; effectual; valid; as, an available plea. [Obs.] Laws human are available by consent. Hooker.

An instrument for pruning trees, consisting of two blades, or a blade and a hook, fixed on the end of a long rod.

mingled with respect. [Obs. or Obsolescent] His frown was full of terror, and his voice Shook the delinquent with such fits of awe. Cowper.

Any substance, esp. food, used in catching fish, or other animals, by alluring them to a hook, snare, inclosure, or net.

The point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc., to prevent it from being easily extracted. Hence: Anything which stands out with a sharp point obliquely or crosswise to something else. "Having two barbs or points." Ascham.

One of the small hooklike processes on the barbules of feathers.

scale, for measuring heights. -- Siphon barometer, a barometer having a tube bent like a hook with the longer leg closed at the top. The height of the mercury in the longer leg shows the pressure of the atmosphere. -- Wheel barometer, a barometer with recurved tube, and a float, from which a cord passes over a pulley…

A short rein looped over the check hook or the hames to keep the horse's head up; -- called in the United States a checkrein.

preliminary; previously; aforetime. They may be taught beforehand the skill of speaking. Hooker.

gion; faith. No man can attain [to] belief by the bare contemplation of heaven and earth. Hooker.

est planks in her sides, more generally called wales. They have the beams, knees, and foothooks bolted to them. Also, the frames or ribs that form the ship's body from the keel to the top of the sides; as, the midship bend.

it, social standing, etc.; -- usually in the plural. Their betters would hardly be found. Hooker. For the better, in the way of improvement; so as to produce improvement. "If I have altered him anywhere for the better." Dryden.

Having two legs. Hooker.

A cutting instrument, with hook-shaped point, and fitted with a handle; -- used in pruning, etc.; a billhook. When short, called a hand bill, when long, a hedge bill.