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move quietly or gently on the water, as a raft; to drift along; to move or glide without effort or impulse on the surface of a fluid, or through the air. They stretch their broad plumes and float upon the wind. Pope. There seems a floating whisper on the hills. Byron.

To throw the limbs and body one way and the other; to spring, turn, or twist with sudden effort or violence; to struggle, as a horse in mire; to flounder; to throw one's self with a jerk or spasm, often as in displeasure. To flutter and flounce will do nothing but batter and bruise us. Barrow. With his broad fins and f…

To fling the limbs and body, as in making efforts to move; to struggle, as a horse in the mire, or as a fish on land; to roll, toss, and tumble; to flounce. They have floundered on from blunder to blunder. Sir W. Hamilton.

To render (an effort or attempt) vain or nugatory; to baffle; to outwit; to balk; to frustrate; to defeat. And by foiled. Dryden. Her long locks that foil the painter's power. Byron.

, to strain; to urge to excessive, unnatural, or untimely action; to produce by unnatural effort; as, to force a consient or metaphor; to force a laugh; to force fruits. High on a mounting wave my head I bore, Forcing my strength, and gathering to the shore. Dryden.

ce or great labor, or by extraordinary exertion; hurried; strained; produced by unnatural effort or pressure; as, a forced style; a forced laugh. Forced draught. See under Draught. -- Forced march (Mil.), a march of one or more days made with all possible speed. -- For"ced*ly, adv. -- For"ced*ness, n.…

unforeseen or unexpected good, or some good which was not dependent on one's own skill or efforts; favored with good forune; lucky.

vorable issue; happy event; success; prosperity as reached partly by chance and partly by effort. Our equal crimes shall equal fortune give. Dryden. There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. Shak. His father dying, he was driven to seek his fortune. Swift.…

To get, as profit or advantage; to obtain or acquire by effort or labor; as, to gain a good living. What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul Matt. xvi. 26. To gain dominion, or to keep it gained. Milton. For fame with toil we gain, but lose with ease. Pope.

enser. -- To gather one's self together, to collect and dispose one's powers for a great effort, as a beast crouches preparatory to a leap. -- To gather way (Naut.), to begin to move; to move with increasing speed.

and to desist from any further pursuits after fame. Addison. -- To give up, to cease from effort; to yield; to despair; as, he would never give up.

To move gently and smoothly; to pass along without noise, violence, or apparent effort; to pass rapidly and easily, or with a smooth, silent motion, as a river in its channel, a bird in the air, a skater over ice. The river glideth at his own sweet will. Wordsworth.

d or tough, which is not readily separated or crushed; to bite off little by little, with effort; to wear or eat away by scraping or continuous biting with the teeth; to nibble at. His bones clean picked; his very bones they gnaw. Dryden.

tificial ponds in tropical countries, and highly valued as a food fish. Many unsuccessful efforts have been made to introduce it into Southern Europe. [Written also goramy.]

cky; fortunate; successful; prosperous; satisfying desire; as, a happy expedient; a happy effort; a happy venture; a happy omen. Chymists have been more happy in finding experiments than the causes of them. Boyle.

To fatigue; to tire with repeated and exhausting efforts; esp., to weary by importunity, teasing, or fretting; to cause to endure excessive burdens or anxieties; -- sometimes followed by out. [Troops] harassed with a long and wearisome march. Bacon. Nature oppressed and harass'd out with care. Addison. Vext with lawyer…

An effort to force up phlegm from the throat, accompanied with noise.

A violent action unintermitted; a single effort; a single course in a race that consists of two or more courses; as, he won two heats out of three. Many causes . . . for refreshment betwixt the heats. Dryden. [He] struck off at one heat the matchless tale of "Tam o'Shanter." J. C. Shairp.

To cause to move upward or onward by a lifting effort; to lift; to raise; to hoist; -- often with up; as, the wave heaved the boat on land. One heaved ahigh, to be hurled down below. Shak.

The act or effort of heaving [Obs.] He craks his gorge, his sides, With violent hefts. Shak.