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A direction equivalent to very; as, adagio assai, very slow.

to the unwarrantable assumption that the soul sleeps from the period of death to the resurrection of the body. Thodey. That calm assumption of the virtues. W. Black.

Having little or no tendency to take a fixed or definite position or direction: thus, a suspended magnetic needle, when rendered astatic, loses its polarity, or tendency to point in a given direction. Astatic pair (Magnetism), a pair of magnetic needles so mounted as to be nearly or quite astatic, as in some galvanomet…

Primarily, this word expresses the relations of presence, nearness in place or time, or direction toward; as, at the ninth hour; at the house; to aim at a mark. It is less definite than in or on; at the house may be in or near the house. From this original import are derived all the various uses of at. It expresses: -…

Across the direction or course of; as, a fleet standing athwart our course. Athwart hawse, across the stem of another vessel, whether in contact or at a small distance. -- Athwart ships, across the ship from side to side, or in that direction; -- opposed to fore and aft.

ic pressure, the pressure exerted by the atmosphere, not merely downwards, but in every direction. In amounts to about 14.7 Ibs. on each square inch. -- Atmospheric railway, one in which pneumatic power, obtained from compressed air or the creation of a vacuum, is the propelling force. -- Atmospheric tides. See under…

Attack at once; -- a direction at the end of a movement to show that the next is to follow immediately, without any pause.

Backward; in a backward direction; as, emitted aversely.

Aside; off; in another direction. The axis of rotation is inclined away from the sun. Lockyer.

On the weather side, or toward the wind; in the direction from which the wind blows; -- opposed to alee; as, helm aweather ! Totten.

Turned or twisted toward one side; not in a straight or true direction, or position; out of the right course; distorted; obliquely; asquint; with oblique vision; as, to glance awry. "Your crown's awry." Shak. Blows them transverse, ten thousand leagues awry. Into the devious air. Milton.

of, or resembling, an axis; around an axis. To take on an axial, and not an equatorial, direction. Nichol.

posite sides. -- Synclinal axis, a line from which the strata slope upward in opposite directions, so as to form a valley. -- Axis cylinder (Anat.), the neuraxis or essential, central substance of a nerve fiber; -- called also axis band, axial fiber, and cylinder axis. -- Axis in peritrochio, the wheel and axle, one…

l engine during the exhaust or the compression stroke, tending to drive the piston in a direction reverse to that in which it should travel; also, an explosion in the exhaust passages of such ah engine.

In a contrary or reverse manner, way, or direction; contrarily; as, to read backwards. We might have . . . beat them backward home. Shak.

To indicate to fishermen, by shouts or signals from shore, the direction taken by the shoals of herring.

joint, a joint in which a ball moves within a socket, so as to admit of motion in every direction within certain limits. -- Ball bearings, a mechanical device for lessening the friction of axle bearings by means of small loose metal balls. -- Ball cartridge, a cartridge containing a ball, as distinguished from a blan…

An aneroid barometer for use with accompanying graphic diagrams and printed directions designed to aid mariners to interpret the indications of the barometer so as to determine the existence of a violent storm at a distance of several hundred miles.

ing through a barrier. -- Barrier reef, a form of coral reef which runs in the general direction of the shore, and incloses a lagoon channel more or less extensive. -- To fight at barriers, to fight with a barrier between, as a martial exercise. [Obs.]

The upward direction of a vein in a mine; the emergence of a stratum at the surface.