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superior, and transfers to him his homage and service; the agreement of a tenant to acknowledge the purchaser of the estate as his landlord. Burrill. Blackstone.

To acknowledge deliberately; to admit; to confess; to sanction. Thou hast avouched the Lord this day to be thy God. Deut. xxvi. 17.

To declare openly, as something believed to be right; to own or acknowledge frankly; as, a man avows his principles or his crimes. Which I to be the of Israel's God Avow, and challenge Dagon to the test. Milton.

Capable of being avowed, or openly acknowledged, with confidence. Donne.

Openly acknowledged or declared; admitted. -- A*vow"ed*ly (, adv.

rd of the Elizabethan writers, probably in ridicule of some person who pretended to a knowledge of Latin which he did not possess. Baccare! you are marvelous forward. Shak.

alken inne by daylight. Chaucer. Behind one's back, when one is absent; without one's knowledge; as, to ridicule a person behind his back. -- Full back, Half back, Quarter back (Football), players stationed behind those in the front line. -- To be or lie on one's back, to be helpless. -- To put, or get, one's back u…

The application of a knowledge of bacteria for their detection and identification, as in the examination of polluted water.

e. -- Hydrostatic balance. See under Hydrostatic. -- To lay in balance, to put up as a pledge or security. [Obs.] Chaucer. -- To strike a balance, to find out the difference between the debit and credit sides of an account.

Pledge; security. [Obs.] Spenser. Band saw, a saw in the form of an endless steel belt, with teeth on one edge, running over wheels.

An agreement or stipulation; mutual pledge. And whon your honors mean to solemnize The bargain of your faith. Shak.

ace or lay the foundation of; to make or place a beginning of. The apostle begins our knowledge in the creatures, which leads us to the knowledge of God. Locke.

Left a distance by, in progress of improvement Hence: Inferior to in dignity, rank, knowledge, or excellence, or in any achievement. I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles. 2 Cor. xi. 5.

To confess; to acknowledge. [Obs.] Chaucer.

ceptance of a fact, opinion, or assertion as real or true, without immediate personal knowledge; reliance upon word or testimony; partial or full assurance without positive knowledge or absolute certainty; persuasion; conviction; confidence; as, belief of a witness; the belief of our senses. Belief admits of all degree…

asons, arguments, and deductions of the mind, or by circumstances other than personal knowledge; to regard or accept as true; to place confidence in; to think; to consider; as, to believe a person, a statement, or a doctrine. Our conqueror (whom I now Of force believe almighty). Milton. King Agrippa, believest thou the…

A ledge at the bottom of a bank or cutting, to catch earth that may roll down the slope, or to strengthen the bank.

That which is laid, staked, or pledged, as between two parties, upon the event of a contest or any contingent issue; the act of giving such a pledge; a wager. "Having made his bets." Goldsmith.

More advanced; more perfect; as, upon better acquaintance; a better knowledge of the subject. All the better. See under All, adv. -- Better half, an expression used to designate one's wife. My dear, my better half (said he), I find I must now leave thee. Sir P. Sidney. -- To be better off, to be in a better condition.…

One skilled in the knowledge of the Bible; a demonstrator of religious truth by the Scriptures.