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lid of the Ark of the Covenant. See Ark, 2. -- Sisters of Mercy (R. C. Ch.),a religious order founded in Dublin in the year 1827. Communities of the same name have since been established in various American cities. The duties of those belonging to the order are, to attend lying-in hospitals, to superintend the educat…

A line above or below a hanging net, to which the net is attached in order to strengthen it.

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.

Proceeding with regard to method; systematic. "Aristotle, strict, methodic, and orderly." Harris.

To reduce to method; to dispose in due order; to arrange in a convenient manner; as, to methodize one's work or thoughts. Spectator.

a group of mammals having a small size as a typical characteristic. It includes the lower orders, as the Insectivora, Cheiroptera, Rodentia, and Edentata.

its, as of a line, a surface, or a solid; an intervening point or part in space, time, or order of series; the midst; central portion; specif., the waist. Chaucer. "The middle of the land." Judg. ix. 37. In this, as in most questions of state, there is a middle. Burke.

Formerly, a kind of naval cadet, in a ship of war, whose business was to carry orders, messages, reports, etc., between the officers of the quarter-deck and those of the forecastle, and render other services as required.

a military expedition. Bacon. Military law. See Martial law, under Martial. -- Military order. (a) A command proceeding from a military superior. (b) An association of military persons under a bond of certain peculiar rules; especially, such an association of knights in the Middle Ages, or a body in modern times taki…

Being the last one of a million of units or objects counted in regular order from the first of a series or succession; being one of a million.

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.

One of an austere order of mendicant hermits of friars founded in the 15th century by St. Francis of Paola.

h the third and sixth are minor, -- much used for mournful and solemn subjects. -- Minor orders (Eccl.), the rank of persons employed in ecclesiastical offices who are not in holy orders, as doorkeepers, acolytes, etc. -- Minor scale (Mus.) The form of the minor scale is various. The strictly correct form has the thi…

In the Middle Ages, one of an order of men who subsisted by the arts of poetry and music, and sang verses to the accompaniment of a harp or other instrument; in modern times, a poet; a bard; a singer and harper; a musician. Chaucer.

writing, a manner or form of backward writing, making manuscript resembling in slant and order of letters the reflection of ordinary writing in a mirror. The substitution of this manner of writing for the common manner is a symptom of some kinds of nervous disease.

To place in a wrong order, or improper manner.

Harm; damage; esp., disarrangement of order; trouble or vexation caused by human agency or by some living being, intentionally or not; often, calamity, mishap; trivial evil caused by thoughtlessness, or in sport. Chaucer. Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs. Ps. lii. 2. The practice whereof shall, I hope, secure me from many…

An indulgence as to food or dress granted to a member of a religious order. Shipley.

To order ill; to manage erroneously; to conduct badly. [Obs.] Shak.

A minute arachnid, of the order Acarina, of which there are many species; as, the cheese mite, sugar mite, harvest mite, etc. See Acarina.