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To oblige, restrain, or hold, by authority, law, duty, promise, vow, affection, or other moral tie; as, to bind the conscience; to bind by kindness; bound by affection; commerce binds nations to each other. Who made our laws to bind us, not himself. Milton.

Fig.: Dismal, gloomy, or forbidding, like darkness; destitute of moral light or goodness; atrociously wicked; cruel; mournful; calamitous; horrible. "This day's black fate." "Black villainy." "Arise, black vengeance." "Black day." "Black despair." Shak.

Having a wicked, malignant disposition; morally bad.

r watery, as the eyes; to dim, or blur, as the sight. Figuratively: To obscure (mental or moral perception); to blind; to hoodwink. That tickling rheums Should ever tease the lungs and blear the sight. Cowper. To blear the eye of, to deceive; to impose upon. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Any mark of deformity or injury, whether physical or moral; anything; that diminishes beauty, or renders imperfect that which is otherwise well formed; that which impairs reputation. He shall take two he lambs without blemish, and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish. Lev. xiv. 10. The reliefs of an envious m…

ot or spot, as of color or of ink; especially a large or irregular spot. Also Fig.; as, a moral blotch. Spots and blotches . . . some red, others yellow. Harvey.

Severe or over strict in morals; gloom; as, blue and sour religionists; suiting one who is over strict in morals; inculcating an impracticable, severe, or gloomy mortality; as, blue laws.

A moral stain or blot. Lest she . . . will with her railing set a great blur on mine honesty and good name. Udall.

Act of boasting; vaunting or bragging. Reason and morals and where live they most, In Christian comfort, or in Stoic boast! Byron.

r in art or literature, of irregular, unconventional habits, questionable tastes, or free morals. [Modern]

Moral or political duty or obligation. I love your majesty According to my bond, nor more nor less. Shak.

Sensitive or responsive to moral excellence. Dr. H. More.

limit; to terminate; to fix the furthest point of extension of; -- said of natural or of moral objects; to lie along, or form, a boundary of; to inclose; to circumscribe; to restrain; to confine. Where full measure only bounds excess. Milton. Phlegethon . . . Whose fiery flood the burning empire bounds. Dryden.…

ivic duty and of usefulness to others, by stimulating their interest in wholesome mental, moral, industrial, and physical activities, etc. Hence, a member of any of the other similar organizations, which are now worldwide. In "The Boy Scouts of America" the local councils are generally under a scout commissioner, under…

ing is believed to have been atheistic; yet it was characterized by elevated humanity and morality. It presents release from existence (a beatific enfranchisement, Nirvâna) as the greatest good. Buddhists believe in transmigration of souls through all phases and forms of life. Their number was estimated in 1881 at 470,…

The unwritten code of moral principles regulating the actions of the Japanese knighthood, or Samurai; the chivalry of Japan.

view to change the existing order of things. "Selfishness, insubordination, and laxity of morals give rise to combinations, which belong particularly to the lower orders of society. Restless, jealous, ambitious, and little minds are ever forming cabals. Factions belong especially to free governments, and are raised by…

A requirement or appeal arising from the circumstances of the case; a moral requirement or appeal. Dependence is a perpetual call upon hummanity. Addison. Running into danger without any call of duty. Macaulay.

Whiteness; brightness; (as applied to moral conditions) usullied purity; innocence. [Obs.] Nor yor unquestioned integrity Shall e'er be sullied with one taint or spot That may take from your innocence and candor. Massinger.

Affected mentally or morally as with canker; sore, envenomed; malignant; fretful; ill-natured. "A cankered grandam's will." Shak.