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The plea of the general issue in an action of debt on bond.

erson who ought to have been made a plaintiff or defendant in a suit, or of some cause of action which ought to be joined.

The doctrines, or action, of the Nonjurors.

A large water wheel, turned by the action of a stream against its floats, and carrying at its circumference buckets, by which water is raised and discharged into a trough; used in Arabia, China, and elsewhere for irrigating land; a Persian wheel.

An iodine compound obtained as a yellowish gray, odorless, tasteless powder by the action of iodine on phenolphthalein.

Words or actions denoting submission to authority; dutifulness. Shak.

or any of its activities, is directed; that on which the purpose are fixed as the end of action or effort; that which is sought for; end; aim; motive; final cause. Object, beside its proper signification, came to be abusively applied to denote motive, end, final cause.... This innovation was probably borrowed from the…

The act of objecting; as, to prevent agreement, or action, by objection. Johnson.

end beyond obligation, and direct the affections, desires, and intentions, as well as the actions. Whewell.

Censorious speech; defamatory language; language that casts contempt on men or their actions; blame; reprehension. Shall names that made yuor city the glory of the earth be mentioned with obloquy and detraction Addison.

To take notice of by appropriate conduct; to conform one's action or practice to; to keep; to heed; to obey; to comply with; as, to observe rules or commands; to observe civility. Ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread. Ex. xii. 17. He wolde no such cursedness observe. Chaucer. Must I budge Must I observe you S…

To reduce the edge, pungency, or violent action of; to dull; to blunt; to deaden; to quell; as, to obtund the acrimony of the gall. [Archaic] Harvey. They...have filled all our law books with the obtunding story of their suits and trials. Milton.

ance preceding an effect which, without being the real cause, becomes the occasion of the action of the efficient cause; thus, the act of touching gunpowder with fire is the occasional, but not the efficient, cause of an explosion.

to the intervention of the First Cause, by which they account for the apparent reciprocal action of the soul and the body.

men. -- Occult sciences, those sciences of the Middle Ages which related to the supposed action or influence of occult qualities, or supernatural powers, as alchemy, magic, necromancy, and astrology.

m, and to be developed by various agencies, as by magnets, heat, light, chemical or vital action, etc.; -- called also odyle or the odylic force. [Archaic] That od force of German Reichenbach Which still, from female finger tips, burnt blue. Mrs. Browning.

erent from what is usual or common; unusual; singular; peculiar; unique; strange. "An odd action." Shak. "An odd expression." Thackeray. The odd man, to perform all things perfectly, is, in my poor opinion, Joannes Sturmius. Ascham. Patients have sometimes coveted odd things. Arbuthnot. Locke's Essay would be a very od…

f old wine. Cf. OEnanthylic. OEnanthic acid, an acid obtained from oenanthic ether by the action of alkalies. -- OEnanthic ether, an ethereal substance (not to be confused with the bouquet, or aroma, of wine) found in wine lees, and consisting of a complex mixture of the ethereal salts of several of the higher acids o…

that by which a person or thing is actuated or impelled; also, the source of a purpose or action; as, they went of their own will; no body can move of itself; he did it of necessity. For it was of the Lord to harden their hearts. Josh. xi. 20.

Denoting the action of removing or separating; separation; as, to take off the hat or cloak; to cut off, to pare off, to clip off, to peel off, to tear off, to march off, to fly off, and the like.