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Misstep; misbehavior. "To punish my mistreadings." Shak.

rnment formed on the model of the American constitution; a model of eloquence, virtue, or behavior.

or practice of the duties of life; manner of living as regards right and wrong; conduct; behavior; -- usually in the plural. Corrupt in their morals as vice could make them. South.

equence of crime; a natural death. What can be more natural than the circumstances in the behavior of those women who had lost their husbands on this fatal day Addison.

n, distinguished from the surrounding protoplasm by a difference in refrangibility and in behavior towards chemical reagents. It is more or less protoplasmic, and consists of a clear fluid (achromatin) through which extends a network of fibers (chromatin) in which may be suspended a second rounded body, the nucleolus (…

Futility; trifling talk or behavior; drollery. [R.] Dr. H. More.

cording with usage; strange; rude; barbarous; uncouth; clownish; as, an outlandish dress, behavior, or speech. Something outlandish, unearthy, or at variance with ordinary fashion. Hawthorne. --Out*land"ish*ly, adv. -- Out*land"ish*ness, n.

The state or behavior of a parasite; the act of a parasite. "Court parasitism." Milton.

Fig.: Refinement; elegance of manners. This Roman polish and this smooth behavior. Addison.

Smooth and refined in behavior or manners; well bred; courteous; complaisant; obliging; civil. He marries, bows at court, and grows polite. Pope.

The quality or state of being polite; refinement of manners; urbanity; courteous behavior; complaisance; obliging attentions.

Firm; determined; fixed. "A most posed . . . and grave behavior." [Obs.] Urquhart.

thers, in a competition; reward or prize to be adjudged; a bounty; as, a premium for good behavior or scholarship, for discoveries, etc. To think it not the necessity, but the premium and privilege of life, to eat and sleep without any regard to glory. Burke. The law that obliges parishes to support the poor offers a p…

Proud or disdainful behavior or treatment; insolence or arrogance of demeanor; haughty bearing and conduct; insolent exultation; disdain. Let not the foot of pride come against me. Ps. xxxvi. 11. That hardly we escaped the pride of France. Shak.

aw of conduct; an opinion or belief which exercises a directing influence on the life and behavior; a rule (usually, a right rule) of conduct consistently directing one's actions; as, a person of no principle. All kinds of dishonesty destroy our pretenses to an honest principle of mind. Law.

ith established principles, rules, or customs; fitness; appropriateness; as, propriety of behavior, language, manners, etc. "The rule of propriety," Locke.

man; dictated or directed by prudence or wise forethought; evincing prudence; as, prudent behavior. Moses established a grave and prudent law. Milton.

Attentive to punctilio; very nice or exact in the forms of behavior, etiquette, or mutual intercourse; precise; exact in the smallest particulars. "A punctilious observance of divine laws." Rogers. "Very punctilious copies of any letters. The Nation. Punctilious in the simple and intelligible instances of common life.…

Violent or riotous behavior; a state of excitement, passion, or debauchery; as, to be on the rampage. [Prov. or Low.] Dickens.

Possessing, or conforming to, religion; pious; godly; as, a religious man, life, behavior, etc. Men whose lives Religious titled them the sons of God. Mlton