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In Old English, the article the, when the following word began with a vowel, was often written with elision as if a part of the word. Thus in Chaucer, the forms thabsence, tharray, thegle, thend, thingot, etc., are found for the absence, the array, the eagle, the end, etc.

d the mazy ringlets of her hair. Pope. And now he thrids the bramble bush. J. R. Drake. I began To thrid the musky-circled mazes. Tennyson.

to skip; to move the feet nimbly; -- sometimes followed by it. See It, 5. This horse anon began to trip and dance. Chaucer. Come, and trip it, as you go, On the light fantastic toe. Milton. She bounded by, and tripped so light They had not time to take a steady sight. Dryden.

A circuitous walk, or a walk to and fro, ending where it began; a short walk; a stroll. Come, you and I must walk a turn together. Shak. I will take a turn in your garden. Dryden.

winding one part around another; to wreathe; to make up. Was it not to this end That thou began'st to twist so fine a story Shak.

Not usual; unfamiliar; strange. [Obs.] And the unacquainted light began to fear. Spenser.

The universal cause Acts not by partial, but by general laws. Pope. This universal frame began. Dryden.

To reprove severely; to rebuke; to chide. Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done. Matt. xi. 20 How much doth thy kindness upbraid my wickedness! Sir P. Sidney.

Power or style of speaking; as, a good utterance. They . . . began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Acts ii. 4. O, how unlike To that large utterance of the early gods! Keats.

of the republic, was also the date of the new calendar. In this calendar, the year, which began at midnight of the day of the autumnal equinox, was divided into twelve months of thirty days, with five additional days for festivals, and every fourth year six. Each month was divided into three decades of ten days each, t…

The sixth month of the calendar adopted by the first French republic. It began February 19, and ended March 20. See Vend.

lly, one that is larger than a common rowboat; as, a war vessel; a passenger vessel. [He] began to build a vessel of huge bulk. Milton.

A mask used to disfigure or disguise. "My very visor began to assume life." Shak. My weaker government since, makes you pull off the visor. Sir P. Sidney.

To shed, secrete, or fill with, water or liquid matter; as, his eyes began to water. If thine eyes can water for his death. Shak.

ce; interval; as, a great way; a long way. And whenever the way seemed long, Or his heart began to fail. Longfellow.

wear away, both thou and this people that is with thee. Ex. xviii. 18. His stock of money began to wear very low. Sir W. Scott. The family . . . wore out in the earlier part of the century. Beaconsfield. To wear off, to pass away by degrees; as, the follies of youth wear off with age. -- To wear on, to pass on; as, ti…

can not . . . make you a wholesome answer; my wit's diseased. Shak. A wholesome suspicion began to be entertained. Sir W. Scott.

to overtake. [Archaic] Even in the porch he him did win. Spenser. And when the stony path began, By which the naked peak they wan, Up flew the snowy ptarmigan. Sir W. Scott.

me on, Nerissa; I have work in hand That you yet know not of. Shak. In every work that he began . . . he did it with all his heart, and prospered. 2 Chron. xxxi. 21.

know, What nearer might concern him, how this world Of heaven and earth conspicuous first began. Milton.