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Human life; the life of a mortal being. From this instant There 's nothing serious in mortality. Shak.

pecifically, a theater devoted to the performance of operas. -- Opera seria Etym: [It.], serious or tragic opera; grand opera.

An assumption of buffoonery to cover some serious purpose. [R.] Donaldson.

Such as may be allowed to pass without serious objection; tolerable; admissable; moderate; mediocre. My version will appear a passable beauty when the original muse is absent. Dryden.

Thoughtful, sober, or sad; employed in serious reflection; given to, or favorable to, earnest or melancholy musing. The pensive secrecy of desert cell. Milton. Anxious cares the pensive nymph oppressed. Pope.

The state of being pensive; serious thoughtfulness; seriousness. Hooker.

Frivolous or bantering talk; a frivolous manner of treating any subject, whether serious or otherwise; light raillery. Hannah More.

One who plays, or amuses himself; one without serious aims; an idler; a trifler. Shak.

dius trinotatus) whose larva lives in and kills the stalks of potato vines, often causing serious damage to the crop. -- Potato whisky, a strong, fiery liquor, having a hot, smoky taste, and rich in amyl alcohol (fusel oil); it is made from potatoes or potato starch. -- Potato worm (Zoöl.), the large green larva of a…

To give serious advice on morals or religion; to discourse in the manner of a preacher.

eligious discourse; the art of sermonizing; also, a sermon; a public religious discourse; serious, earnest advice. Milner. Preaching cross, a cross, sometimes surmounting a pulpit, erected out of doors to designate a preaching place. -- Preaching friars. See Dominican.

The life; the mortal point; a vital part; a part susceptible of serious injury or keen feeling; the sensitive living flesh; the part of a finger or toe to which the nail is attached; the tender emotions; as, to cut a finger nail to the quick; to thrust a sword to the quick, to taunt one to the quick; -- used figurative…

To puzzle; to banter; to chaff or mock with pretended seriousness of discourse; to make sport of, as by obscure questions. He quizzed unmercifully all the men in the room. Thackeray.

Given to reflection or serious consideration; reflective; contemplative; as, a reflecting mind. Reflecting circle, an astronomical instrument for measuring angless, like the sextant or Hadley's quadrant, by the reflection of light from two plane mirrors which it carries, and differing from the sextant chiefly in having…

bserve us is now and then produced by prudential motives or by dint of habit; but without seriousness there can be no religious principle at the bottom, no course of conduct from religious motives; in a word, there can be no religion. Paley. Religion [was] not, as too often now, used as equivalent for godliness; but .…

Fitted to excite ridicule; absurd and laughable; unworthy of serious consideration; as, a ridiculous dress or behavior. Agricola, discerning that those little targets and unwieldy glaives ill pointed would soon become ridiculous against the thrust and close, commanded three Batavian cohorts . . . to draw up and come to…

to make to perish; to bring to destruction; to bring to poverty or bankruptcy; to impair seriously; to damage essentially; to overthrow. this mortal house I'll ruin. Shak. By thee raised, I ruin all my foes. Milton. The eyes of other people are the eyes that ruin us. Franklin. By the fireside there are old men seated,…

Serious; grave; sober; steadfast; not light or frivolous. [Obs.] "Ripe and sad courage." Bacon. Which treaty was wisely handled by sad and discrete counsel of both parties. Ld. Berners.

To make grave or serious; to make melancholy or sorrowful. Her gloomy presence saddens all the scene. Pope.

Seriously; soberly; gravely. [Obs.] To tell thee sadly, shepherd, without blame Or our neglect, we lost her as we came. Milton.