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Active; lively; brisk; smart; -- often applied to convalescents; as, she is quite peart to-day. [O. Eng. & Colloq. U. S.] There was a tricksy girl, I wot, albeit clad in gray, As peart as bird, as straight as bolt, as fresh as flowers in May. Warner (1592).

Lively; brisk; sprightly; smart. [Obs.] Shak.

To engage in sport or lively recreation; to exercise for the sake of amusement; to frolic; to spot. As Cannace was playing in her walk. Chaucer. The lamb thy riot dooms to bleed to-day, Had he thy reason, would he skip and play! Pope. And some, the darlings of their Lord, Play smiling with the flame and sword. Keble.…

Fig.: Pointed; keen; satirical. His wit . . . became more lively and poignant. Sir W. Scott.

A lively Bohemian or Polish dance tune in 2-4 measure, with the third quaver accented. Polka jacket, a kind of knit jacket worn by women.

mbers by which action is expressed; attitude. Atalanta, the posture of whose limbs was so lively expressed . . . one would have sworn the very picture had run. Sir P. Sidney. In most strange postures We have seen him set himself. Shak. The posture of a poetic figure is a description of his heroes in the performance of…

Grass-green; clear, lively green, without any mixture. Lindley.

a previous performance; to play or perform a prelude to; as, to prelude a concert with a lively air.

Quickly; rapidly; -- a direction for a quick, lively movement or performance; quicker than allegro, or any rate of time except prestissimo.

To make lively, active, or sprightly; to impart additional energy to; to stimulate; to make quick or rapid; to hasten; to accelerate; as, to quicken one's steps or thoughts; to quicken one's departure or speed.

A lively, spirited march; also, a lively style of dancing.

a strong or distinctive character of thought or language; peculiar and piquant; fresh and lively. Our raciest, most idiomatic popular word. M. Arnold. Burn's English, though not so racy as his Scotch, is generally correct. H. Coleridge. The rich and racy humor of a natural converser fresh from the plow. Prof. Wilson.…

tion of real life. Whereat I waked, and found Before mine eyes all real, as the dream Had lively shadowed. Milton.

A lively dance of the Highlanders of Scotland; also, the music to the dance; -- often called Scotch reel. Virginia reel, the common name throughout the United States for the old English "country dance," or contradance (contredanse). Bartlett.

regret the first time he read Robinson Crusoe Macaulay. Never any prince expressed a more lively regret for the loss of a servant. Clarendon. From its peaceful bosom [the grave] spring none but fond regrets and tender recollections. W. Irving.

A gay, lively dance for one couple, -- said to have been borrowed from Provence in France. W. Irving. Whose dancing dogs in rigadoons excel. Wolcott.

A composition, vocal or instrumental, commonly of a lively, cheerful character, in which the first strain recurs after each of the other strains. "The Rondo-form was the earliest and most frequent definite mold for musical construction." Grove.

tune in which a simple strain is often repeated; a simple rural strain which is short and lively. Spenser. Tennyson.

To excite to lively thought or action from a state of idleness, languor, stupidity, or indifference; as, to rouse the faculties, passions, or emotions. To rouse up a people, the most phlegmatic of any in Christendom. Atterbury.

Of a lively flesh color, or the color of the human skin in high health; as, ruddy cheeks or lips. Dryden. Ruddy duck (Zoöl.), an American duck (Erismatura rubida) having a broad bill and a wedge- shaped tail composed of stiff, sharp feathers. The adult male is rich brownish red on the back, sides, and neck, black on th…