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To commit the first act of hostility or offense; to begin a quarrel or controversy; to make an attack; -- with on.

The person who first attacks or makes an aggression; he who begins hostility or a quarrel; an assailant. The insolence of the aggressor is usually proportioned to the tameness of the sufferer. Ames.

A triple prayer in the sacrifice of the Mass, beginning with the words "Agnus Dei."

A tendency to become alkaline; or the state of a substance in which alkaline properties begin to be developed, or to predominant. Ure.

The repetition of the same letter at the beginning of two or more words immediately succeeding each other, or at short intervals; as in the following lines: - Behemoth, biggest born of earth, upheaved His vastness. Milton. Fly o'er waste fens and windy fields. Tennyson.

The first letter in the Greek alphabet, answering to A, and hence used to denote the beginning. In am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Rev. xxii. 13.

Elevation of spirits; heroics; haughty airs. [Colloq.] Richardson. The man of law began to get into his altitude. Sir W. Scott. Meridian altitude, an arc of the meridian intercepted between the south point on the horizon and any point on the meridian. See Meridian, 3.

fender, being led into court with a rope about his neck, and a lighted torch in his hand, begged pardon of his God, the court, etc. In popular language, the phrase now denotes a public apology or recantation, and reparation to an injured party, for improper language or treatment.

To keep in extraction; to beguile; to delude. He amused his followers with idle promises. Johnson.

A prefix of one or two unaccented syllables to a verse properly beginning with an accented syllable.

A repetition of the last word or any prominent word in a sentence or clause, at the beginning of the next, with an adjunct idea; as, "He retained his virtues amidst all his misfortunes -- misfortunes which no prudence could foresee or prevent."

A repetition of a word or of words at the beginning of two or more successive clauses.

acaulay. Angelic Hymn, a very ancient hymn of the Christian Church; -- so called from its beginning with the song of the heavenly host recorded in Luke ii. 14. Eadie.

A repetition of words beginning a sentence, after a long parenthesis; as, Shall that heart (which not only feels them, but which has all motions of life placed in them), shall that heart, etc.

Each player's stake, which is put into the pool before (ante) the game begins.

One of the antipodes; anything exactly opposite. In tale or history your beggar is ever the just antipode to your king. Lamb.

The dropping of a letter or syllable from the beginning of a word; e. g., cute for acute.

The loss of a short unaccented vowel at the beginning of a word; -- the result of a phonetic process; as, squire for esquire. New Eng. Dict.

Shortened by dropping a letter or a syllable from the beginning of a word; as, an aphetic word or form. -- A*phet"ic*al*ly, adv. New Eng. Dict.

A figure in which the speaker professes to be at a loss what course to pursue, where to begin to end, what to say, etc.