Search the Dictionary

A power, attributed to some persons while in a mesmeric state, of discering objects not perceptible by the senses in their normal condition.

Able to perceive clearly; keen; acute; penetrating; discriminating; as, a clear intellect; a clear head. Mother of science! now I feel thy power Within me clear, not only to discern Things in their causes, but to trace the ways Of highest agents. Milton.

Having a clear understanding; quick of perception; intelligent. "He was laborious and clear-headed." Macaulay. -- Clear"-head`ed*ness, n.

The act of knowing; knowledge; perception. I will not be myself nor have cognation Of what I feel: I am all patience. Shak.

Apprehension by the understanding; perception; observation. Within the cognizance and lying under the control of their divine Governor. Bp. Hurd

To know or perceive; to recognize. The reasoning faculty can deal with no facts until they are cognized by it. H. Spencer.

omely when old and decrepit, surely was very beautiful when he was young. South. Not once perceive their foul disfigurement But boast themselves more comely than before. Milton.

The faculty of the reflective group which is supposed to perceive resemblances and contrasts. Beyond comparison, so far superior as to have no likeness, or so as to make comparison needless. -- In comparison of, In comparison with, as compared with; in proportion to. [Archaic] "So miserably unpeopled in comparison of…

The capacity of the mind to perceive and understand; the power, act, or process of grasping with the intellect; perception; understanding; as, a comprehension of abstract principles.

f apprehending of forming an idea in the mind; the power of recalling a past sensation or perception. Under the article of conception, I shall confine myself to that faculty whose province it is to enable us to form a notion of our past sensations, or of the objects of sense that we have formerly perceived. Stewart.…

That which connects or joins together; bond; tie. Any sort of connection which is perceived or imagined between two or more things. I. Taylor.

Immediate knowledge or perception of the presence of any object, state, or sensation. See the Note under Attention. Annihilate the consciousness of the object, you annihilate the consciousness of the operation. Sir W. Hamilton. And, when the steam Which overflowed the soul had passed away, A consciousness remained that…

Perceiving together.

A partial separation of parts, with or without a perceptible opening; a chink or fissure; a narrow breach; a crevice; as, a crack in timber, or in a wall, or in glass.

To move in a stealthy or secret manner; to move imperceptibly or clandestinely; to steal in; to insinuate itself or one's self; as, age creeps upon us. The sothistry which creeps into most of the books of argument. Locke. Of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women. 2. Tim. iii. 6.…

Inability to perceive or distinguish certain colors, esp. red; color blindness. It has various forms and degrees. So called from the chemist Dalton, who had this infirmity. Nichol.

ignorance; gloom; secrecy. Look, what you do, you do it still i' th' dark. Shak. Till we perceive by our own understandings, we are as mucdark, and as void of knowledge, as before. Locke.

Wanting the sense of hearing, either wholly or in part; unable to perceive sounds; hard of hearing; as, a deaf man. Come on my right hand, for this ear is deaf. Shak.

To make deaf; to deprive of the power of hearing; to render incapable of perceiving sounds distinctly. Deafened and stunned with their promiscuous cries. Addison.

Incapacity of perceiving sounds; the state of the organs which prevents the impression which constitute hearing; want of the sense of hearing.