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To know; to understand. [Obs.] I can rimes of Rodin Hood. Piers Plowman. I can no Latin, quod she. Piers Plowman. Let the priest in surplice white, That defunctive music can. Shak.

ns reaching out from opposite banks, and supported near the middle of their own length on piers which they overhang, thus forming cantalevers which meet over the space to be spanned or sustain a third portion, to complete the connection.

angles marked by, or decorated with, projecting moldings or small columns; as, a cantoned pier or pilaster.

jectile with small velocity, used for the purpose of breaking or smashing in, rather than piercing, the object aimed at, as the side of a ship. It has no trunnions, but is supported on its carriage by a bolt passing through a loop on its under side.

Pasteboard for paper boxes; also, a pasteboard box. Carton pierre (, a species of papier-maché, imitating stone or bronze sculpture. Knight.

g (Arch.), a form of molding in imitation of a chain, used in the Normal style. -- Chain pier, a pier suspended by chain. -- Chain pipe (Naut.), an opening in the deck, lined with iron, through which the cable is passed into the lockers or tiers. -- Chain plate (Shipbuilding), one of the iron plates or bands, on a v…

A bargain; profit; gain. [Obs.] Piers Plowman.

nd; to inclose; to encircle. Prior. Pope. Their heads are circled with a short turban. Dampier. So he lies, circled with evil. Coleridge. To circle in, to confine; to hem in; to keep together; as, to circle bodies in. Sir K. Digby.

of being close. Half stifled by the closeness of the room. Swift. We rise not against the piercing judgment of Augustus, nor the extreme caution or closeness of Tiberius. Bacon. An affectation of closeness and covetousness. Addison.

To penetrate or pierce; to wound. Which, with his cruel tusk, him deadly cloyed. Spenser. He never shod horse but he cloyed him. Bacon.

To parboil, or soften by boiling. It [the guava fruit] may be coddled. Dampier.

to expose the bottom (of a river, etc.) and permit the laying of foundations, building of piers, etc.

Suitable or becoming; proper; agreeable. This is a happier and more comely time Than when these fellows ran about the streets, Crying confusion. Shak. It is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely. Ps. cxlvii. 1.

ners entitled to the same right. Common appendant, a right belonging to the owners or occupiers of arable land to put commonable beasts upon the waste land in the manor where they dwell. -- Common appurtenant, a similar right applying to lands in other manors, or extending to other beasts, besides those which are gene…

of denomination; as, 3 cwt., 1 qr., 5 lb.; -- called also denominate number. -- Compound pier (Arch.), a clustered column. -- Compound quantity (Alg.), a quantity composed of two or more simple quantities or terms, connected by the sign + (plus) or - (minus). Thus, a + b - c, and bb - b, are compound quantities. --…

To unite in a legue or confederacy; to ally. With these the Piercies them confederate. Daniel.

ys been conscientuously attached to what is called the Tory, and which might with more propierty be called the Conservative, party. Quart. Rev. (1830). Conservative system (Mech.), a material sustem of such a nature that after the system has undergone any series of changes, and been brought back in any manner to its or…

termined, or dependent on something future; a contingency. His understanding could almost pierce into future contingets. South.

reit is united by a band or clasp. It is worn in processions and on some other occasions. Piers plowman. A hundred and sixty priests all in their copes. Bp. Burnet.

A copier. [Obs.] "A copist after nature." Shaftesbury.