Search the Dictionary

A part which acts by falling, as a stamp in a fulling mill, or the device in a spinning machine to arrest motion when a thread breaks.

A fall or falling band. [Obs.] These laces, ribbons, and these faules. Herrick.

A small lateral lode falling into the main lode or mineral vein. Ure.

acter of or as being which anything is regarded or treated; to be, or as being. We take a falling meteor for a star. Cowley. If a man can be fully assured of anything for a truth, without having examined, what is there that he may not embrace for truLocke. Most of our ingenious young men take up some cried-up English p…

Falling of scurf from the head; desquamation.

ing, breaking, or yielding. "Upon the first giving of the weather." Addison. Giving in, a falling inwards; a collapse. -- Giving out, anything uttered or asserted; an outgiving. His givings out were of an infinite distance From his true meant design. Shak.

Foraminifera, which live abundantly at or near the surface of the sea. Their dead shells, falling to the bottom, make up a large part of the soft mud, generally found in depths below 3,000 feet, and called globigerina ooze. See Illust. of Foraminifera.

A fence or rail to prevent falling from the deck of a vessel.

A single particle of ice falling from a cloud; a frozen raindrop; a pellet of hail.

The noise made by steam escaping through a narrow orifice, or by water falling on a hot stove.

ven situation, position, or relation, within certain limits, or the like; to prevent from falling or escaping; to sustain; to restrain; to keep in the grasp; to retain. The loops held one curtain to another. Ex. xxxvi. 12. Thy right hand shall hold me. Ps. cxxxix. 10. They all hold swords, being expert in war. Cant. ii…

Incapable of falling or erring; infalliable. [Obs.] -- Il`la*bil"i*ty, n. [Obs.]

[Obs.] Portentous blaze of comets and impressions in the air. Milton. A fiery impression falling from out of Heaven. Holland.

A falling on or upon; an incident; an event. [Obs.] Bp. Hall.

Falling or striking upon, as a ray of light upon a reflecting surface.

Not deciduous or falling, as the leaves of trees in autumn; lasting; evergreen; persistent; permanent; perennial. The indeciduous and unshaven locks of Apollo. Sir T. Browne.

Unevenness; want of levelness; the alternate rising and falling of a surface; as, the inequalities of the surface of the earth, or of a marble slab, etc. The country is cut into so many hills and inequalities as renders it defensible. Addison.

A slide, modulation, or accent of the voice; as, the rising and the falling inflection.

The act or state of coming or falling between; occurrence; incident. [Obs.] Holland.

Falling or coming between; happening accidentally. [Obs.] Boyle.