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Hence, that which gives form or origin to anything; as:

That of which anything is composed; constituent substance; material; the material or substantial part of anything; the constituent elements of conception; that into which a notion may be analyzed; the essence; the pith; the embodiment. He is the matter of virtue. B. Jonson.

unit of quantity or extent; an extent or quantity in the fractions or multiples of which anything is estimated and stated; hence, a rule by which anything is adjusted or judged.

Food, in general; anything eaten for nourishment, either by man or beast. Hence, the edible part of anything; as, the meat of a lobster, a nut, or an egg. Chaucer. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, . . . to you it shall be for meat. Gen. i. 29. Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat…

; the parts of a machine, taken collectively; the arrangement or relation of the parts of anything as adapted to produce an effect; as, the mechanism of a watch; the mechanism of a sewing machine; the mechanism of a seed pod.

One of a number of copies of anything multiplied mechanically.

The act of mediating; action or relation of anything interposed; action as a necessary condition, means, or instrument; interposition; intervention. The soul [acts] by the mediation of these passions. South.

Anything used for healing diseases or wounds; a medicine; a healing application.

To tincture or impregnate with anything medicinal; to drug. "Medicated waters." Arbuthnot.

To keep the mind in a state of contemplation; to dwell on anything in thought; to think seriously; to muse; to cogitate; to reflect. Jer. Taylor. In his law doth he meditate day and night. Ps. i. 2.

any event or action occurs; necessary means of motion or action; that through or by which anything is accomplished, conveyed, or carried on; specifically, in animal magnetism, spiritualism, etc., a person through whom the action of another being is said to be manifested and transmitted. Whether any other liquors, being…

tigrade or 32º Fahr., that of urea is 132º Centigrade. -- Melting pot, a vessel in which anything is melted; a crucible.

Anything intended to preserve the memory of a person or event; something which serves to keep something else in remembrance; a monument. Macaulay. Churches have names; some as memorials of peace, some of wisdom, some in memory of the Trinity itself. Hooker.

To repair, as anything that is torn, broken, defaced, decayed, or the like; to restore from partial decay, injury, or defacement; to patch up; to put in shape or order again; to re-create; as, to mend a garment or a machine.

A speaking or notice of anything, -- usually in a brief or cursory manner. Used especially in the phrase to make mention of. I will make mention of thy righteousness. Ps. lxxi. 16. And sleep in dull, cold marble, where no mention Of me more must be heard of. Shak.

The substance of which anything is made; material; hence, constitutional disposition; character; temper. Not till God make men of some other metal than earth. Shak.

A suffix denoting that by which anything is measured; as, barometer, chronometer, dynamometer.

An orderly procedure or process; regular manner of doing anything; hence, manner; way; mode; as, a method of teaching languages; a method of improving the mind. Addison.

To draw anything from, as if by milking; to compel to yield profit or advantage; to plunder. Tyndale. They [the lawyers] milk an unfortunate estate as regularly as a dairyman does his stock. London Spectator. To milk the street, to squeeze the smaller operators in stocks and extract a profit from them, by alternately r…

nes, out of the earth; to dig in the earth for minerals; to dig a passage or cavity under anything in order to overthrow it by explosives or otherwise.