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A fine powder, as of sandarac, or cuttlefish bone, -- formerly used to prevent ink from spreading on manuscript.

A subsidy of twelve pence in the pound, formerly granted to the crown on all goods exported or imported, and if by aliens, more. [Eng.] Blackstone.

-- Powder mine, a mine exploded by gunpowder. See Mine. -- Powder monkey (Naut.), a boy formerly employed on war vessels to carry powder; a powder boy. -- Powder post. See Dry rot, under Dry. -- Powder puff. See Puff, n.

Paving or flooring made of small squares or lozenges set diagonally. [Formerly written pointal.]

chicken (Zoöl.), any American grouse of the genus Tympanuchus, especially T. Americanus (formerly T. cupido), which inhabits the prairies of the central United States. Applied also to the sharp-tailed grouse. -- Prairie clover (Bot.), any plant of the leguminous genus Petalostemon, having small rosy or white flowers…

obtained by adding ammonia to a solution of mercuric chloride or corrosive sublimate; -- formerly called also infusible white precipitate, and now amido-mercuric chloride. (b) A white crystalline substance obtained by adding a solution of corrosive sublimate to a solution of sal ammoniac (ammonium chloride); -- former…

se person; one rigidly or ceremoniously exact in the observance of rules; a formalist; -- formerly applied to the English Puritans. The most dissolute cavaliers stood aghast at the dissoluteness of the emancipated precisian. Macaulay.

The privilege or prerogative formerly enjoyed by the king of buying provisions for his household in preference to others. [Eng.]

The official notice (formerly required to be given in court) of the surrender of a copyhold estate. Blackstone. Presentment of a bill of exchange, the offering of a bill to the drawee for acceptance, or to the acceptor for payment. See Bill of exchange, under Bill.

Neat; tidy; proper. [Obs.] Tusser. Prest money, money formerly paid to men when they enlisted into the British service; -- so called because it bound those that received it to be ready for service when called upon.

A meteor or exhalation formerly supposed to be thrown from the clouds with such violence that by collision it is set on fire. [Obs.]

cowslip. There are several varieties, as the white-, the red-, the yellow-flowered, etc. Formerly called also primerole, primerolles.

pinnacles of waxwork and tapers with which the posts and center of a funeral hearse were formerly crowned. Oxf. Gloss.

power. I will depart my pris, or may prey, by deliberation. Chaucer. His own prize, Whom formerly he had in battle won. Spenser.

n the affirmative and on the negative side; as, they debated the question pro and con; -- formerly used also as a verb. -- Pros and cons, the arguments or reasons on either side.

A sum of money paid formerly to the bishop or archdeacon, now to the ecclesiastical commissioners, by an incumbent, as a commutation for entertainment at the time of visitation; -- called also proxy. Procuration money (Law), money paid for procuring a loan. Blackstone.

ould work, he put in proof. Spenser. You shall have many proofs to show your skill. Ford. Formerly, a very rude mode of ascertaining the strength of spirits was practiced, called the proof. Ure.

rtation; -- opposed to free trade. Writ of protection. (Law) (a) A writ by which the king formerly exempted a person from arrest; -- now disused. [Eng.] Blackstone. (b) A judicial writ issued to a person required to attend court, as party, juror, etc., intended to secure him from arrest in coming, staying, and returnin…

Formerly, a declaration in common-law pleading, by which the party interposes an oblique allegation or denial of some fact, protesting that it does or does not exist, and at the same time avoiding a direct affirmation or denial.

Formerly, a chief clerk in the Court of King's Bench and in the Court of Common Pleas, now superseded by the master. [Eng.] Wharton. Burrill.