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e perspicuity, unequaled and inimitable; . . . a purity always simple, and raciness often elegant. London Times.

Ammophila arundinacea). See Beach grass, under Beach. -- Wood reed grass (Bot.), a tall, elegant grass (Cinna arundinacea), common in moist woods.

To purify from what is gross, coarse, vulgar, inelegant, low, and the like; to make elegant or exellent; to polish; as, to refine the manners, the language, the style, the taste, the intellect, or the moral feelings. Love refines The thoughts, and heart enlarges. Milton.

The art of composition; especially, elegant composition in prose.

An outer garment; a dress of a rich, flowing, and elegant style or make; hence, a dress of state, rank, office, or the like. Through tattered clothes small vices do appear; Robes and furred gowns hide all. Shak.

Not finished or complete; inelegant; lacking chasteness or elegance; not in good taste; unsatisfactory in mode of treatment; -- said of literature, language, style, and the like. "The rude Irish books." Spenser. Rude am I in my speech. Shak. Unblemished by my rude translation. Dryden.

A spacious and elegant apartment for the reception of company or for works of art; a hall of reception, esp. a hall for public entertainments or amusements; a large room or parlor; as, the saloon of a steamboat. The gilden saloons in which the first magnates of the realm . . . gave banquets and balls. Macaulay.…

To write unskillfully and inelegantly. Though with a golden pen you scrawl. Swift.

ard aspect; make; figure; form; guise; as, the shape of a tree; the shape of the head; an elegant shape. He beat me grievously, in the shape of a woman. Shak.

ngs (which among men were formerly worn chiefly by the luxurious or aristocratic); hence, elegantly dressed; aristocratic; luxurious; -- chiefly applied to men, often by way of reproach.

somewhat fleshy leaves and pretty blossoms, appearing in springtime. (b) (Zoöl.) A small, elegant American butterfly (Erora læta) which appears in spring. The hind wings of the male are brown, bordered with deep blue; those of the female are mostly blue. -- Spring bed, a mattress, under bed, or bed bottom, in which sp…

Conformity to a recognized standard; manner which is deemed elegant and appropriate, especially in social demeanor; fashion. According to the usual style of dedications. C. Middleton.

Adequate substance or means; competence. "An elegant sufficiency." Thomson.

Rich; elegant; as, superb furniture or decorations.

er the bases of the tail quills. They are sometimes much longer than the quills, and form elegant plumes. Those above the quills are called the upper tail coverts, and those below, the under tail coverts. -- Tail end, the latter end; the termination; as, the tail end of a contest. [Colloq.] -- Tail joist. (Arch.) Same…

Being in conformity to the principles of good taste; elegant; as, tasty furniture; a tasty dress.

Elegantly concise; free of superfluous words; polished to smoothness; as, terse language; a terse style. Terse, luminous, and dignified eloquence. Macaulay. A poet, too, was there, whose verse Was tender, musical, and terse. Longfellow.

as horses. Hence, having the characteristics of such breeding; mettlesome; courageous; of elegant form, or the like. -- n.

Fig.: Composition; quality; fineness. [Obs.] A neat courtier, Of a most elegant thread. B. Jonson. Air thread, the fine white filaments which are seen floating in the air in summer, the production of spiders; gossamer. -- Thread and thrum, the good and bad together. [Obs.] Shak. -- Thread cell (Zoöl.), a lasso cell.…

Uncommon; rare; exquisite; elegant. [Obs.] Harness . . . so uncouth and so rish. Chaucer.