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Tending to dissipate. Dissipative system (Mech.), an assumed system of matter and motions in which forces of friction and resistances of other kinds are introduced without regard to the heat or other molecular actions which they generate; -- opposed to conservative system.

Lit., given; hence, in a literary work, as a drama or tale, that which is assumed as to characters, situation, etc., as a basis for the plot or story. W. E. Henley.

the whole church; as, an ecumenical council. [Written also .] Ecumenical Bishop, a title assumed by the popes. -- Ecumenical council. See under Council.

elastic rod fixed horizontally at one end and loaded at the other. (b) (Mech.) The figure assumed by the longitudinal axis of an originally straight bar under any system of bending forces. Rankine. -- Elastic fluids, those which have the property of expanding in all directions on the removal of external pressure, as t…

To assume form; to come into existence; to be caused or produced. Thick clouds are spread, and storms engender there. Dryden.

ntities of, for the purpose of enhancing the price and making a profit; hence, to take or assume in undue quantity, proportion, or degree; as, to engross commodities in market; to engross power. Engrossed bill (Legislation), one which has been plainly engrossed on parchment, with all its amendments, preparatory to fina…

A syllogism which assumes as one of its premises a proposition which was the conclusion of a preceding syllogism, called, in relation to this, the prosyllogism.

The hypothetical individual who is assumed as the person from whom any race, city, etc., took its name; as, Hellen is an eponym of the Hellenes.

etween the instant when an observer notes a phenomenon, as the transit of a star, and the assumed instant of its actual occurrence; or, relatively, the difference between these instants as noted by two observers. It is usually only a fraction of a second; -- sometimes applied loosely to differences of judgment or metho…

Outside appearance; surface show; look; external aspect, whether natural, assumed, or acquired. To set a face upon their own malignant design. Milton. This would produce a new face of things in Europe. Addison. We wear a face of joy, because We have been glad of yore. Wordsworth.

An imaginary supernatural being or spirit, supposed to assume a human form (usually diminutive), either male or female, and to meddle for good or evil in the affairs of mankind; a fay. See Elf, and Demon. The fourth kind of spirit [is] called the Fairy. K. James. And now about the caldron sing, Like elves and fairies i…

To assume a look of shame or disappointment; to become or appear dejected; -- said of the countenance. Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. Gen. iv. 5. I have observed of late thy looks are fallen. Addison.

Not genuine or real; assumed or designed to deceive; counterfeit; hypocritical; as, false tears; false modesty; false colors; false jewelry. False face must hide what the false heart doth know. Shak.

sticks all turning about the same pivot, so as when opened to radiate from the center and assume the figure of a section of a circle.

To take as one's own child; to adopt; hence, to assume as one's own work; to acknowledge one's self author of or responsible for (a statement, policy, etc.). Men of wit Often fathered what he writ. Swift.

assal was bound to be faithful to his lord; the special oath by which this obligation was assumed; fidelity to a superior power, or to a government; loyality. It is no longer the practice to exact the performance of fealty, as a feudal obligation. Wharton (Law Dict. ). Tomlins.

That which is feigned; an assumed or false appearance; a pretense; a stratagem; a fetch. Courtley's letter is but a feint to get off. Spectator.

store its plastic condition; esp., the reheating of a globe of crown glass to allow it to assume a flat shape as it is rotated.

Mode of acting or manifestation to the senses, or the intellect; as, water assumes the form of ice or snow. In modern usage, the elements of a conception furnished by the mind's own activity, as contrasted with its object or condition, which is called the matter; subjectively, a mode of apprehension or belief conceived…

s independently of the authority of revelation or of the church; an unbeliever; -- a term assumed by deists and skeptics in the eighteenth century. Atheist is an old-fashioned word: I'm a freethinker, child. Addison.