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ssions of humility. And whereas the papist boasts himself to be a Roman Catholic, it is a mere contradiction, one of the pope's bulls, as if he should say universal particular; a Catholic schimatic. Milton. The Golden Bull, an edict or imperial constitution made by the emperor Charles IV. (1356), containing what became…

nts, or to gain public applause; flattering talk for a selfish purpose; anything said for mere show. [Cant or Slang, U.S.] All that flourish about right of search was bunkum -- all that brag about hanging your Canada sheriff was bunkum . . . slavery speeches are all bunkum. Haliburton. To speak for Buncombe, to speak f…

An officer who directs and lays out the meres or boundaries for the workmen; -- called also bailiff, and barmaster. [Eng.]

Only; solely; merely. Observe but how their own principles combat one another. Milton. If they kill us, we shall but die. 2 Kings vii. 4. A formidable man but to his friends. Dryden.

The process of breaking up the flat masses into which wrought iron is first hammered, in order that the pieces may be reheated and wrought into bar iron.

of camel's hair or similar materials. -- Camel's-hair shawl. A name often given to a cashmere shawl. See Cashmere shawl under Cashmere.

ty; capability of undestanding or feeling. Capacity is now properly limited to these [the mere passive operations of the mind]; its primary signification, which is literally room for, as well as its employment, favars this; although it can not be dented that there are examples of its usage in an active sense. Sir W. Ha…

h comes without design or without being foreseen; contingency. Losses that befall them by mere casualty. Sir W. Raleigh.

s in the presence of certain agents which were formerly believed to exert an influence by mere contact. It is now believed that such reactions are attended with the formation of an intermediate compound or compounds, so that by alternate composition and decomposition the agent is apparenty left unchanged; as, the catal…

hite amorphous mass. See Starch, Granulose, Lignin. Unsized, well bleached linen paper is merely pure cellulose. Goodale. Starch cellulose, the delicate framework which remains when the soluble part (granulose) of starch is removed by saliva or pepsin. Goodale.

used for dragging cables about the deck. -- Chain mail, flexible, defensive armor of hammered metal links wrought into the form of a garment. -- Chain molding (Arch.), a form of molding in imitation of a chain, used in the Normal style. -- Chain pier, a pier suspended by chain. -- Chain pipe (Naut.), an opening in…

lly existing, anything that is truly an agent or the cause of any event; but they signify merely men's ignorance of the real and immediate cause. Samuel Clark. Any society into which chance might throw him. Macaulay. That power Which erring men call Chance. Milton.

Freedom from all that is meretricious, gaundy, or affected; as, chasteness of design.

y; bright; pleasant; as, a cheery person. His cheery little study, where the sunshine glimmered so pleasantly. Hawthorne.

arrangement, of the constituent atoms. These atoms are not assumed to be indivisible, but merely the finest grade of subdivision hitherto attained. Chemistry deals with the changes in the composition and constitution of molecules. See Atom, Molecule.

Any merely ornamental adjunct of a woman's dress, as a bunch of ribbon, lace, etc.

Merely imaginary; fanciful; fantastic; wildly or vainly conceived; having, or capable of having, no existence except in thought; as, chimerical projects.

One who, or that which, has no weight or influence. Here he was a mere cipher. W. Irving.

must therefore distinguish between the essentials in religious worship . . . and what is merely circumstantial. Sharp.

ing. The first twenty-five [years] must have been wasted for collectional purposes. H. A. Merewether.