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ses, etc., to be sung with an orchestral accompaniment, but without action, scenery, or costume, although the oratorio grew out of the Mysteries and the Miracle and Passion plays, which were acted.

arting place; -- opposed to inner; as, the outer wall; the outer court or gate; the outer stump in cricket; the outer world. Outer bar, in England, the body of junior (or utter) barristers; -- so called because in court they occupy a place beyond the space reserved for Queen's counsel.

Hence: To hold apart; to stand between; to intervene betwixt, as combatants. The stumbling night did part our weary powers. Shak.

A stately and formal Spanish dance for which full state costume is worn; -- so called from the resemblance of its movements to those of the peacock. [Written also pavane, paven, pavian, and pavin.]

nches of trees so as to cause them to fall, especially the American oak pruner (Asemum moestum), whose larva eats the pith of oak branches, and when mature gnaws a circular furrow on the inside nearly to the bark. When the branches fall each contains a pupa.

ress rehearsal (Theater), a private preparatory performance of a drama, opera, etc., in costume.

The dead stump of a tree; also, the stem of a plant. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.] Halliwell. Neither young poles nor old runts are durable. Holland.

A soft crayon for use in stump drawing or in shading with the stump.

a drawing, with a thin wash of opaque color, or with color-crayon dust rubbed on with the stump, or to make any similar additions to the work, so as to produce a softened effect.

In crayon drawing, the use of the stump.

A costume consisting of a plain belted waist and skirt of the same material.

A stump or base of a branch that has been lopped off; a short branch, or a sharp or rough branch; a knot; a protuberance. The coat of arms Now on a naked snag in triumph borne. Dryden.

The shoot of a plant; a shoot from the seed, from the stump, or from the root or tuber, of a plant or tree; more rarely, a shoot from the stem of a plant, or the end of a branch.

To stum. [R.]

The stump of a tree; that part of a tree or plant which remains fixed in the earth when the stem is cut down; -- applied especially to the stump of a small tree, or shrub. Stubs sharp and hideous to behold. Chaucer. And prickly stubs instead of trees are found. Dryden.

The stumps of wheat, rye, barley, oats, or buckwheat, left in the ground; the part of the stalk left by the scythe or sickle. "After the first crop is off, they plow in the wheast stubble." Mortimer. Stubble goose (Zoöl.), the graylag goose. [Prov. Eng.] Chaucer. -- Stubble rake, a rake with long teeth for gleaning in…

Firm as a stub or stump; stiff; unbending; unyielding; persistent; hence, unreasonably obstinate in will or opinion; not yielding to reason or persuasion; refractory; harsh; -- said of persons and things; as, stubborn wills; stubborn ore; a stubborn oak; as stubborn as a mule. "Bow, stubborn knees." Shak. "Stubborn att…

To hesitate or stumble in uttering words; to speak with spasmodic repetition or pauses; to stammer. Trembling, stuttering, calling for his confessor. Macaulay.

a and Oregon, furnishing a soft and easily worked timber. The resinous exudation from the stumps, etc., has a sweetish taste, and has been used as a substitute for sugar. -- Sugar squirrel (Zoöl.), an Australian flying phalanger (Belideus sciureus), having a long bushy tail and a large parachute. It resembles a flying…

Not liable to stumble or fall; as, a sure-footed horse.