Search the Dictionary

y, an amount in the public treasury at any time greater than is required for the ordinary purposes of the government.

One who views and examines for the purpose of ascertaining the condition, quantity, or quality of anything; as, a surveyor of highways, ordnance, etc.

as, reeds swayed by wind; judgment swayed by passion. As bowls run true by being made On purpose false, and to be swayed. Hudibras. Let not temporal and little advantages sway you against a more durable interest. Tillotson.

face) so as to remove loose dirt, dust, etc.; to brush, or rub over, with a broom for the purpose of cleaning; as, to sweep a floor, the street, or a chimney. Used also figuratively. I will sweep it with the besom of destruction. Isa. xiv. 23.

To admit or turn (anything) for the purpose of shaping it; -- said of a lathe; as, the lathe can swing a pulley of 12 inches diameter. To swing a door, gate, etc. (Carp.), to put it on hinges so that it can swing or turn.

The cultivation of forest trees for timber or other purposes; forestry; arboriculture.

The operation of dividing the symphysis pubis for the purpose of facilitating labor; -- formerly called the Sigualtian section. [Written also symphysotomy.] Dunglison.

A congregation or assembly of Jews met for the purpose of worship, or the performance of religious rites.

A concession made for the purpose of retorting with greater force.

A kind of small hand-pump for throwing a stream of liquid, or for purposes of aspiration. It consists of a small cylindrical barrel and piston, or a bulb of soft elastic material, with or without valves, and with a nozzle which is sometimes at the end of a flexible tube; -- used for injecting animal bodies, cleansing w…

r regularity and systems. I. Watts. A representation of phenomena, in order to answer the purposes of science, must be systematic. Whewell.

used except in the expression "heads or tails," employed when a coin is thrown up for the purpose of deciding some point by its fall.

and Arcite . . . takes up seven years." Dryden. (n) To receive, accept, or adopt for the purpose of assisting; to espouse the cause of; to favor. Ps. xxvii.

s of which are covered with a substance which resembles tallow and is applied to the same purposes.

s; specifically, the act of filling up a hole in a rock, or the branch of a mine, for the purpose of blasting the rock or exploding the mine.

s, a strong aromatic odor, and a very bitter taste. It is used for medicinal and culinary purposes.

Hence, to draw from (anything) in any analogous way; as, to tap telegraph wires for the purpose of intercepting information; to tap the treasury.

Manipulation applied to a hernial tumor, or to an intestinal obstruction, for the purpose of reducing it. Dunglison.

furnishes an extremely strong and durable timber highly valued for shipbuilding and other purposes; also, the timber of the tree. [Written also teek.] African teak, a tree (Oldfieldia Africana) of Sierra Leone; also, its very heavy and durable wood; -- called also African oak. -- New Zeland teak, a large tree (Vitex l…

To stratch, as cloth, for the purpose of raising a nap; teasel.