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Expressing concession. (Often approaching though in meaning). We wish, however, to avail ourselves of the interest, transient as it may be, which this work has excited. Macaulay.

A line which approaches nearer to some curve than assignable distance, but, though infinitely extended, would never meet it. Asymptotes may be straight lines or curves. A rectilinear asymptote may be conceived as a tangent to the curve at an infinite distance.

great atrocity, great atrocity. Revelations . . . so atrocious that nothing in history approaches them. De Quincey.

To draw to, or cause to tend to; esp. to cause to approach, adhere, or combine; or to cause to resist divulsion, separation, or decomposition. All bodies and all parts of bodies mutually attract themselves and one another. Derham.

To speak reproachfully of; to twit; to upbraid. [Obs.]

A person dispatched before another person or company, to give notice of his or their approach.

opening for entrance into a place; a passage by which a place may by reached; a way of approach or of exit. "The avenues leading to the city by land." Macaulay. On every side were expanding new avenues of inquiry. Milman.

One who administered the Eucharist with unleavened bread; -- a name of reproach given by those of the Greek church to the Latins.

A mineral occurring in triclinic crystals approaching pyroxene in angle, and of a greenish black color. It is a silicate of iron, manganese, and lime.

A supernatural being supposed to warn a family of the approaching death of one of its members, by wailing or singing in a mournful voice.

A fortress or fortified town, on the frontier of a country, commanding an avenue of approach.

A signal fire to notify of the approach of an enemy, or to give any notice, commonly of warning. No flaming beacons cast their blaze afar. Gay.

-- To be on her beam ends, to incline, as a vessel, so much on one side that her beams approach a vertical position.

ompass, with respect to something else; as, the land bears N. by E. To bear against, to approach for attack or seizure; as, a lion bears against his prey. [Obs.] -- To bear away (Naut.), to change the course of a ship, and make her run before the wind. -- To bear back, to retreat. "Bearing back from the blows of their…

ry to find; to search by various means or ways. Addison. -- To beat about the bush, to approach a subject circuitously. -- To beat up and down (Hunting), to run first one way and then another; -- said of a stag. -- To beat up for recruits, to go diligently about in order to get helpers or participators in an enterpr…

Any place where uproar and confusion prevail.

To have a firm persuasion, esp. of the truths of religion; to have a persuasion approaching to certainty; to exercise belief or faith. Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. Mark ix. 24. With the heart man believeth unto righteousness. Rom. x. 10.

To asperse with calumny or reproach. Whom never faction could bespatter. Swift.

Characterized by sharpness, severity, or cruelty; harsh; stern; virulent; as, bitter reproach. Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them. Col. iii. 19.

her a literal or figurative sense; implacableness; resentfulness; severity; keenness of reproach or sarcasm; deep distress, grief, or vexation of mind. The lip that curls with bitterness. Percival. I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. Job vii. 11.