Search the Dictionary

hallenge; a provocation; a summons to combat. A war without a just defiance made. Dryden. Stood for her cause, and flung defiance down. Tennyson.

e; scheme; plot. The vast design and purposTennyson. The leaders of that assembly who withstood the designs of a besotted woman. Hallam. A . . . settled design upon another man's life. Locke. How little he could guess the secret designs of the court! Macaulay.

d with grief; as, a bereaved and disconsolate parent. One morn a Peri at the gate Of Eden stood disconsolate. Moore. The ladies and the knights, no shelter nigh, Were dropping wet, disconsolate and wan. Dryden.

was not meet for us to see the king's dishonor. Ezra iv. 14. His honor rooted in dishonor stood. Tennyson.

urse). [Obsolescent] Mr. Burchell, on the contrary, dissuaded her with great ardor: and I stood neuter. Goldsmith. War, therefore, open or concealed, alike My voice dissuades. Milton.

So separated as not to be confounded with any other thing; not liable to be misunderstood; not confused; well-defined; clear; as, we have a distinct or indistinct view of a prospect. Relation more particular and distinct. Milton.

Alms; charitable gratuity or portion. So sure the dole, so ready at their call, They stood prepared to see the manna fall. Dryden. Heaven has in store a precious dole. Keble.

To make clear; to clear up what is obscure or not understood; to explain.

The clearing up of anything which is obscure or not easily understood; an explanation. The eclaircissement ended in the discovery of the informer. Clarendon.

ing to elements; literally; as, the words, "Take, eat; this is my body," elementally understood.

Omission; a figure of syntax, by which one or more words, which are obviously understood, are omitted; as, the virtues I admire, for, the virtues which I admire.

attle. One in bright arms embattled full strong. Spenser. Here once the embattled farmers stood And fired the shot heard round the world. Emerson.

Intimate or close encircling with the arms; pressure to the bosom; clasp; hug. We stood tranced in long embraces, Mixed with kisses. Tennyson.

A figure of speech by which what is to be understood affirmatively is stated negatively, and the contrary; affirmation by contraries.

th delight or wonder; to enrapture; to charm. And I so ravished with her heavenly note, I stood entranced, and had no room for thought. Dryden.

Designed for, and understood by, the specially initiated alone; not communicated, or not intelligible, to the general body of followers; private; interior; acroamatic; -- said of the private and more recondite instructions and doctrines of philosophers. Opposed to exoteric. Enough if every age produce two or three crit…

and so on; -- used to point out that other things which could be mentioned are to be understood. Usually abbreviated into etc. or &c. (&c). Shak.

of a candidate for admission to the bar or the ministry. He neglected the studies, . . . stood low at the examinations. Macaulay. Examination in chief, or Direct examination (Law), that examination which is made of a witness by a party calling him. -- Cross-examination, that made by the opposite party. -- Reëxaminat…

or go beyond; to surpass. She opened; but to shut Excelled her power; the gates wide open stood. Milton.

Well known; well understood; common; frequent; as, a familiar illustration. That war, or peace, or both at once, may be As things acquainted and familiar to us. Shak. There is nothing more familiar than this. Locke.