Search the Dictionary

of a caravan, of a storm, of a pestilence. Also used figuratively, of a course of life or action. All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth. Ps. xxv. 10. The paths of glory lead but to the grave. Gray.

der emotions, esp. pity or grief; full of pathos; as, a pathetic song or story. "Pathetic action." Macaulay. No theory of the passions can teach a man to be pathetic. E. Porter. Pathetic muscle (Anat.), the superior oblique muscle of the eye. -- Pathetic nerve (Anat.), the fourth cranial, or trochlear, nerve, which su…

wakens tender emotions, such as pity, sorrow, and the like; contagious warmth of feeling, action, or expression; pathetic quality; as, the pathos of a picture, of a poem, or of a cry. The combination of incident, and the pathos of catastrophe. T. Warton.

Love of country; devotion to the welfare of one's country; the virtues and actions of a patriot; the passion which inspires one to serve one's country. Berkley.

A temporary stop or rest; an intermission of action; interruption; suspension; cessation.

A small roundish stone or bowlder; especially, a stone worn and rounded by the action of water; a pebblestone. "The pebbles on the hungry beach." Shak. As children gathering pebbles on the shore. Milton.

Moved or worked by the action of the foot or feet on a pedal or treadle.

th hard labor, in a prison, in lieu of transportation. [Great Brit.] -- Penal suit, Penal action (Law), a suit for penalties.

A body so suspended from a fixed point as to swing freely to and fro by the alternate action of gravity and momentum. It is used to regulate the movements of clockwork and other machinery.

substance or substances into which albuminous portions of the food are transformed by the action of the gastric and pancreatic juices. Peptones are also formed from albuminous matter by the action of boiling water and boiling dilute acids.

ighly oxidized compounds of chromium, which has a deep blue color, and is produced by the action of hydrogen peroxide.

s. -- Peremptory plea, a plea by a defendant tending to impeach the plaintiff's right of action; a plea in bar.

or to bring to perfection; -- usually followed by of. "A perfective alteration." Fuller. Actions perfective of their natures. Ray.

complish something; to acquit one's self in any business; esp., to represent sometimes by action; to act a part; to play on a musical instrument; as, the players perform poorly; the musician performs on the organ.

The act of performing; the carrying into execution or action; execution; achievement; accomplishment; representation by action; as, the performance of an undertaking of a duty. Promises are not binding where the performance is impossible. Paley.

Peristaltic contraction or action.

Peristaltic action, especially of the intestines.

The thing perpetrated; an evil action.

Denoting person; as, a personal pronoun. Personal action (Law), a suit or action by which a man claims a debt or personal duty, or damages in lieu of it; or wherein he claims satisfaction in damages for an injury to his person or property, or the specific recovery of goods or chattels; -- opposed to real action. -- Pe…

One who personates. "The personators of these actions." B. Jonson.