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fically, to confer orally with an enemy; to treat with him by words, as on an exchange of prisoners, an armistice, or terms of peace. They are at hand, To parley or to fight; therefore prepare. Shak.

To set at liberty on parole; as, to parole prisoners.

n house, a prison. Shak. -- Prison ship (Naut.), a ship fitted up for the confinement of prisoners. -- Prison van, a carriage in which prisoners are conveyed to and from prison.

, law, grant, or the like; as, the contract was impaired by its proviso. He doth deny his prisoners, But with proviso and exception. Shak.

fourth of the crew) on a man-of- war. -- To give, or show, quarter (Mil.), to accept as prisoner, on submission in battle; to forbear to kill, as a vanquished enemy. -- To keep quarter. See Quarter, n., 3.

was in question for the robbery. Shak. The Scottish privy council had power to put state prisoners to the question. Macaulay.

e, or of captive, or of captured property, by payment of a consideration; redemption; as, prisoners hopeless of ransom. Dryden.

f being redeemed; repurchase; ransom; release; rescue; deliverance; as, the redemption of prisoners taken in war; the redemption of a ship and cargo. Specifically:

liberty to, or to set at liberty; to let go. Now at that feast he released unto them one prisoner, whomsoever they desired. Mark xv. 6.

n grevious and inhuman crimes, offenders should be remitted to their prince. Hayward. The prisoner was remitted to the guard. Dryden.

The act of retorting on an enemy by inflicting suffering or death on a prisoner taken from him, in retaliation for an act of inhumanity. Vattel (Trans. )

actual restraint; to remove or withdraw from a state of exposure to evil; as, to rescue a prisoner from the enemy; to rescue seamen from destruction. Had I been seized by a hungry lion, I would have been a breakfast to the best, Rather than have false Proteus rescue me. Shak.

To take from a captor; to recapture; as, to retake a ship or prisoners.

g the game of fives, but played with a football. Now we play rounders, and then we played prisoner's base. Bagehot.

Incapable of doing harm; no longer dangerous; in secure care or custody; as, the prisoner is safe. But Banquo's safe Ay, my good lord, safe in a ditch he bides. Shak. Safe hit (Baseball), a hit which enables the batter to get to first base even if no error is made by the other side.

or confine effectually; to render incapable of getting loose or escaping; as, to secure a prisoner; to secure a door, or the hatches of a ship.

Harshness; cruel treatment; sharpness of punishment; as, severity practiced on prisoners of war.

" Sir W. Raleigh. (c) To inclose; to confine; to imprison; to fasten in; as, to shut up a prisoner. Before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Gal. iii. 23.

A kind of thin, weak broth or oatmeal porridge, served out to prisoners and paupers in England; also, a drink made of oatmeal, sugar, and water, sometimes used in the English navy or army. [Written also skilligolee, skillygalee, etc.]

Full of sorrow; exhibiting sorrow; sad; dejected; distressed. "This sorrowful prisoner." Chaucer. My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death. Matt. xxvi. 38.