Search the Dictionary

Prey; plunder; food obtained by violence.

Food obtained by violence; plunder; prey; raven. "Fowls of ravyne." Chaucer. Though Nature, red in tooth and claw With ravine, shrieked against his creed. Tennyson.

To attain or obtain by stretching forth the hand; too extend some part of the body, or something held by one, so as to touch, strike, grasp, or the like; as, to reach an object with the hand, or with a spear. O patron power, . . . thy present aid afford, Than I may reach the beast. Dryden.

To acquire as an actual possession; to obtain as the result of plans and efforts; to gain; to get; as, to realize large profits from a speculation. Knighthood was not beyond the reach of any man who could by diligent thrift realize a good estate. Macaulay.

To gather; to obtain; to receive as a reward or harvest, or as the fruit of labor or of works; -- in a good or a bad sense; as, to reap a benefit from exertions. Why do I humble thus myself, and, suing For peace, reap nothing but repulse and hate Milton.

An acknowledgement of indebtedness made by a receiver under order of court to obtain funds for the preservation of the assets held by him, as for operating a railroad. Receivers' certificates are ordinarily a first lien on the assets, prior to that of bonds or other securities.

To get or obtain again; to get renewed possession of; to win back; to regain. David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away. 1. Sam. xxx. 18.

capable of being brought back to a former condition, as from sickness, misfortune, etc.; obtainable from a debtor or possessor; as, the debt is recoverable; goods lost or sunk in the ocean are not recoverable. A prodigal course Is like the sun's; but not, like his, recoverable. Shak. If I am recoverable, why am I thus…

The person against whom a judgment is obtained in common recovery.

The obtaining in a suit at law of a right to something by a verdict and judgment of court.

as, to reduce a dislocation, a fracture, or a hernia. Reduced iron (Chem.), metallic iron obtained through deoxidation of an oxide of iron by exposure to a current of hydrogen or other reducing agent. When hydrogen is used the product is called also iron by hydrogen. -- To reduce an equation (Alg.), to bring the unkno…

An East Indian dyewood, obtained from Pterocarpus santalinus, Cæsalpinia Sappan, and several other trees.

also referrible.] It is a question among philosophers, whether all the attractions which obtain between bodies are referable to one general cause. W. Nicholson.

To obtain repairs or supplies; as, the fleet returned to refit.

he apparent altitude of a heavenly body on account of atmospheric refraction, in order to obtain the true altitude. Angle of refraction (Opt.), the angle which a refracted ray makes with the perpendicular to the surface separating the two media traversed by the ray. -- Conical refraction (Opt.), the refraction of a ra…

One who registers; esp., one who , by virtue of securing an official registration, obtains a certain right or title of possession, as to a trade-mark.

tial removal, of any evil, or of anything oppressive or burdensome, by which some ease is obtained; succor; alleviation; comfort; ease; redress. He seec the dire contagion spread so fast, That, where it seizes, all relief is vain. Dryden.

The legal means to recover a right, or to obtain redress for a wrong. Civil remedy. See under Civil. -- Remedy of the mint (Coinage), a small allowed deviation from the legal standard of weight and fineness; -- called also tolerance.

or placing back of a person to a title or right he had before; the restitution of one who obtains possession of property under a defective title, to his rights under some valid title by virtue of which he might legally have entered into possession only by suit. Bouvier.

To obtain again.