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To delay; to pause; to suspend proceedings or judgment in view of a doubt or difficulty; to hesitate; to put off the determination or conclusion of an affair. Upon this rub, the English embassadors thought fit to demur. Hayward.

behavior; demeanor; bearing. The gravity of his deportment carried him safe through many difficulties. Swift.

; to disapprove of strongly. His purpose was deprecated by all round him, and he was with difficulty induced to adandon it. Sir W. Scott.

east despond. Scott's Letters. Others depress their own minds, [and] despond at the first difficulty. Locke. We wish that . . . desponding patriotism may turn its eyes hitherward, and be assured that foundations of our national power still stand strong. D. Webster.

To prevent by fear; hence, to hinder or prevent from action by fear of consequences, or difficulty, risk, etc. Addison. Potent enemies tempt and deter us from our duty. Tillotson. My own face deters me from my glass. Prior.

e use or control of the mental powers; quickness and skill in managing any complicated or difficult affair; adroitness. His wisdom . . . was turned . . . into a dexterity to deliver himself. Bacon. He had conducted his own defense with singular boldness and dexterity. Hallam.

ô, etc. "Diacritical points." Sir W. Jones. A glance at this typography will reveal great difficulties, which diacritical marks necessarily throw in the way of both printer and writer. A. J. Ellis.

Difficult; hard to manage; stubborn. [Obs.] -- Dif"fi*cile*ness, n. [Obs.] Bacon.

To make difficult. [Obs.] W. Montagu.

A state of things in which evils or obstacles present themselves on every side, and it is difficult to determine what course to pursue; a vexatious alternative or predicament; a difficult choice or position. A strong dilemma in a desperate case! To act with infamy, or quit the place. Swift. Horns of a dilemma, alternat…

nclusion; an exercise or act of this power; reasoning; range of reasoning faculty. [Obs.] Difficult, strange, and harsh to the discourses of natural reason. South. Sure he that made us with such large discourse, Looking before and after, gave us not That capability and godlike reason To fust in us unused. Shak.…

The act of disentangling or clearing from difficulties. Warton.

Difficult situation; dilemma; strait. [Obs.] "I stand in such disjoint." Chaucer.

o one uniform rule, would probably have been as dissatisfactory to some of the States, as difficult for the Convention. A. Hamilton. -- Dis*sat`is*fac"to*ri*ness, n.

r transform into, as a text. Done to death by slanderous tongues. Shak. The ground of the difficulty is done away. Paley. Suspicions regarding his loyalty were entirely done away. Thackeray. To do on our own harness, that we may not; but we must do on the armor of God. Latimer. Then Jason rose and did on him a fair Blu…

nts (Rumex), some species of which are well-known weeds which have a long taproot and are difficult of extermination.

Any mechanical contrivance intended to remedy a difficulty or serve some purpose in an exigency; as, the doctor of a calico- printing machine, which is a knife to remove superfluous coloring matter; the doctor, or auxiliary engine, called also donkey engine.

te of; to appoint, as by decree or by fate. A man of genius . . . doomed to struggle with difficulties. Macaulay.

Difficulty expressed or urged for solution; point unsettled; objection. To every doubt your answer is the same. Blackmore. No doubt, undoubtedly; without doubt. -- Out of doubt, beyond doubt. [Obs.] Spenser.

To draw along, as something burdensome; hence, to pass in pain or with difficulty. Have dragged a lingering life. Dryden. To drag an anchor (Naut.), to trail it along the bottom when the anchor will not hold the ship.