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promote; contributive. "Ministerial to intellectual culture." De Quincey. The ministerial benches, the benches in the House of Commons occupied by members of the cabinet and their supporters; -- also, the persons occupying them. "Very solid and very brilliant talents distinguish the ministerial benches." Burke.…

for the sake of saving and increasing his hoard. As some lone miser, visiting his store, Bends at his treasure, counts, recounts it o'er. Goldsmith.

Having a bad or ugly form. "The mountains are misshapen." Bentley. -- Mis*shap"en*ly, adv. -- Mis*shap"en*ness, n.

m the hand, or from any instrument or rngine, so as to strike an object at a distance. We bend the bow, or wing the missile dart. Pope.

Characterized by an extreme degree of fluidity; moving or flowing with great freedom; as, benzine and mercury are mobile liquids; -- opposed to viscous, viscoidal, or oily.

scivorus) is usually found in or near water. Above, it is olive brown, barred with black; beneath, it is brownish yellow, mottled with darker. The upland moccasin is Ancistrodon atrofuscus. They resemble rattlesnakes, but are without rattles. Moccasin flower (Bot.), a species of lady's slipper (Cypripedium acaule) foun…

as, the modification of an opinion, or of a machine; the various modifications of light. Bentley.

abstruse speculation, but also of far less moment and consequence of us than the others. Bentley.

hosis, into an organism similar to the parent organism; -- opposed to metagenesis. E. van Beneden.

A species of cassowary (Casuarius Bennetti) found in New Britain, and noted for its agility in running and leaping. It is smaller and has stouter legs than the common cassowary. Its crest is biloted; the neck and breast are black; the back, rufous mixed with black; and the naked skin of the neck, blue.…

horse-radish tree, and its seeds, as well as those of M. aptera, are known in commerce as ben or ben nuts, and yield the oil called oil of ben.

Designating an organic acid obtained from oil of ben. See Moringa.

W. Scott. Mortal foe, Mortal enemy, an inveterate, desperate, or implacable enemy; a foe bent on one's destruction.

ptacle in which mortar is mixed. -- Mortar board. (a) A small square board with a handle beneath, for holding mortar; a hawk. (b) A cap with a broad, projecting, square top; -- worn by students in some colleges. [Slang]

A machine formerly used for bending a crossbow by winding it up.

One who mounts a bench or stage in the market or other public place, boasts of his skill in curing diseases, and vends medicines which he pretends are infalliable remedies; a quack doctor. Such is the weakness and easy credulity of men, that a mountebank ... is preferred before an able physician. Whitlock.…

See Flounder, and Dab. -- Mud dauber (Zoöl.), a mud wasp. -- Mud devil (Zoöl.), the fellbender. -- Mud drum (Steam Boilers), a drum beneath a boiler, into which sediment and mud in the water can settle for removal. -- Mud eel (Zoöl.), a long, slender, aquatic amphibian (Siren lacertina), found in the Southern Unite…

to have had brains so muddled and confounded, that he scarce ever kept in the right way. Bentley. Often drunk, always muddled. Arbuthnot.

Very liberal in giving or bestowing; lavish; as, a munificent benefactor. -- Mu*nif"i*cent*ly, adv.

The expressed juice of the grape, or other fruit, before fermentation. "These men ben full of must." Wyclif (Acts ii. 13. ). No fermenting must fills ... the deep vats. Longfellow.