Search the Dictionary

consequence of strong emotion; a condition of great excitement; as, this quarrel has set my blood in a fever. An envious fever Of pale and bloodless emulation. Shak. After life's fitful fever he sleeps well. Shak. Brain fever, Continued fever, etc. See under Brain, Continued, etc. -- Fever and ague, a form of fever r…

or individuals constituing a whole; often, by ellipsis of a noun, a few people. "Are not my days few" Job x. 20. Few know and fewer care. Proverb.

pilfer. Fain would they filch that little food away. Dryden. But he that filches from me my good name, Robs me of that which not enriches him, And makes me poor indeed. Shak.

Course of thought; thread of narration. [Obs.] Let me resume the file of my narration. Sir H. Wotton. File firing, the act of firing by file, or each file independently of others. -- File leader, the soldier at the front of any file, who covers and leads those in rear of him. -- File marching, the marching of a line…

isfaction. "Ye shall eat your fill." Lev. xxv. 19. I'll bear thee hence, where I may weep my fill. Shak.

's furnace. -- Fire raft, a raft laden with combustibles, used for setting fire to an enemy's ships. -- Fire roll, a peculiar beat of the drum to summon men to their quarters in case of fire. -- Fire setting (Mining), the process of softening or cracking the working face of a lode, to facilitate excavation, by expos…

The thing first thought or done. The very firstlings of my heart shall be The firstlings of my hand. Shak.

Abounding with fish. [R.] "My fishful pond." R. Carew.

clinched tightly for the purpose of striking a blow. Who grasp the earth and heaven with my fist. Herbert.

ake efinite. An ass's nole I fixed on his head. Shak. O, fix thy chair of grace, that all my powers May also fix their reverence. Herbert. His heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord. Ps. cxii. 7. And fix far deeper in his head their stings. Milton.

d low; ruined; destroyed. What ruins kingdoms, and lays cities flat! Milton. I feel . . . my hopes all flat. Milton.

Anything displayed for show. [Obs.] In these my borrowed flaunts. Shak.

Without spot or blame. [R.] My consnience will not count me fleckless. Tennyson.

not having struck one stroke. Shak. Flee fornication. 1 Cor. vi. 18. So fled his enemies my warlike father. Shak.

quantity shorn from a sheep, or animal, at one time. Who shore me Like a tame wether, all my precious fleece. Milton.

d unrestrained sallies, of imagination, humor, caprice, etc.; given to disorder Proofs of my flighty and paradoxical turn of mind. Coleridge. A harsh disciplinarian and a flighty enthusiast. J. S. Har

e full; to have a season of dissipation. J. H. Newman. "When I was as young as you, I had my fling. I led a life of pleasure." D. Jerrold.

To finish or make an end of; as, to floor a college examination. [Colloq.] I've floored my little-go work. T. Hughes.

The fairest, freshest, and choicest part of anything; as, the flower of an army, or of a family; the state or time of freshness and bloom; as, the flower of life, that is, youth. The choice and flower of all things profitable the Psalms do more briefly contain. Hooker. The flower of the chivalry of all Spain. Southey.…

To cover or wrap up; to conceal. Nor fold my fault in cleanly coined excuses. Shak.