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Mischief; hurt; damage; injury; detriment. Locke. England and France might, through their amity, Breed him some prejudice. Shak.

o instruct beforehand; to post; to coach; as, to prime a witness; the boys are primed for mischief. [Colloq.] Thackeray.

-- applied to the mind or affections, usually in an ill sense. Followed by to. "Prone to mischief." Shak. Poets are nearly all prone to melancholy. Landor.

To incite; to entice; to urge; to constrain; to oblige. These wretches put us upon all mischief. Swift. Put me not use the carnal weapon in my own defense. Sir W. Scott. Thank him who puts me, loath, to this revenge. Milton.

aint, rejoices heaven. Prior. Were he [Cain] alive, it would rejoice his soul to see what mischief it had made. Arbuthnot.

o make noticeable or conspicuous; to piont out. [Obs.] Thou art a man remarked to taste a mischief. Ford. His manacles remark him; there he sits. Milton.

hat call fame on such gentle acts as these. Milton. Thou hast seen it; for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with thy hand. Ps. x. 14.

or to a deity, of things consumed on the altar; to offer sacrifice. O teacher, some great mischief hath befallen To that meek man, who well had sacrificed. Milton.

nia] could see the policy of a gradual abolition of slavery. It might prevent much future mischief. Washington.

t flavoring; a relish; hence, a small quantity or admixture; a sprinkling; as, a spice of mischief. So much of the will, with a spice of the willful. Coleridge.

That which diverts, and makes mirth; pastime; amusement. It is as sport a fool do mischief. prov. x. 23. Her sports were such as carried riches of knowledge upon the stream of delight. Sir P. Sidney. Think it but a minute spent in sport. Shak.

upport; security. God is our refuge and strength. Ps. xlvi. 1. What they boded would be a mischief to us, you are providing shall be one of our principal strengths. Sprat. Certainly there is not a greater strength against temptation. Jer. Taylor.

; guile; a cunning design or artifice; a trick; subtlety. O full of all subtility and all mischief. Acts xiii. 10.

one who impertinently or maliciously communicates intelligence, scandal, etc., and makes mischief. Spies and talebearers, encouraged by her father, did their best to inflame her resentment. Macaulay.

Mischief; injury; calamity. [Obs.] That had them long opprest with tort. Spenser.

ful; as, a tremendous wind; a tremendous shower; a tremendous shock or fall. A tremendous mischief was a foot. Motley.

Harm; mischief. [Obs.] Shak. What a vengeance, or What the vengeance, what! -- emphatically. [Obs.] "But what a vengeance makes thee fly!" Hudibras. "What the vengeance! Could he not speak 'em fair" Shak. -- With a vengeance, with great violence; as, to strike with a vengeance. [Colloq.]

Reckless; heedless; as, wanton mischief.

To weave; to fabricate. [R. & Poetic.] Nares. While doth he mischief warp. Sternhold.

Ludicrously or sportively mischievous; disposed to mischief; roguish. [Colloq.] Pen looked uncommonly wicked. Thackeray.