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A sudden encounter; a collision; a shock; -- said of things. [Obs.] From these laws may be deduced the rules of the congresses and reflections of two bodies. Cheyne.

ose principal duty is to inquire, with the help of a jury, into the cause of any violent, sudden or mysterious death, or death in prison, usually on sight of the body and at the place where the death occurred. [In England formerly also written and pronounced crowner.]

A sudden flash or play of light. A very vivid but exceeding short-lived splender, not to call coruscation. Boyle.

A sudden, noisy, and violent expulsion of air from the chest, caused by irritation in the air passages, or by the reflex action of nervous or gastric disorder, etc.

A sudden stroke; an unexpected device or stratagem; -- a term used in various ways to convey the idea of promptness and force. Coup de grace (ke gr Etym: [F.], the stroke of mercy with which an executioner ends by death the sufferings of the condemned; hence, a decisive, finishing stroke. -- Coup de main (ke m Etym: […

n together; a pair or couple; especially two lines of verse that rhyme with each other. A sudden couplet rushes on your mind. Crabbe.

To cause to sound suddenly and sharply; to snap; as, to crack a whip.

To make slight cracks; to make small, sharp, sudden noises, rapidly or frequently repeated; to crepitate; as, burning thorns crackle. The unknown ice that crackles underneath them. Dryden.

m; crotchet; also, a fit of temper or passion. [Prov. Eng.] Violent of temper; subject to sudden cranks. Carlyle.

A loud, sudden, confused sound, as of manu things falling and breaking at once. The wreck of matter and the crash of worlds. Addison.

The noise produced bu a sudden discharge of wind from the bowels.

A fall on one's head when riding at full speed, as in hunting; hence, a sudden failure or collapse. [Slang.]

hed between competing lines. -- To cut short, to arrest or check abruptly; to bring to a sudden termination. "Achilles cut him short, and thus replied." Dryden. -- To cut stick, to make off clandestinely or precipitately. [Slang] -- To cut teeth, to put forth teeth; to have the teeth pierce through the gum and appear…

To strike by a thrust; to hit with a sudden blow or thrust. "To dab him in the neck." Sir T. More.

To throw with a sudden effort or thrust, as a dart or other missile weapon; to hurl or launch.

A sudden check; abashment; frustration; ruin; as, his hopes received a dash.

fuse; to benumb. While flashing beams do daze his feeble eyen. Spenser. Such souls, Whose sudden visitations daze the world. Sir H. Taylor. He comes out of the room in a dazed state, that is an odd though a sufficient substitute for interest. Dickens.

inconveniences of too strong a perspiration, which are debility, faintness, and sometimes sudden death. Arbuthnot.

Hence, to depart suddenly; to run away; -- generally used disparagingly. The fathers were ordered to decamp, and the house was once again converted into a tavern. Goldsmith.

Burning with a sudden and sparkling combustion, as niter; hence, slightly explosive; liable to snap and crackle when heated, as salt.