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To unite in a kind of sexual union, as two or more cells or individuals among the more simple plants and animals.

d of sexual union; -- applied to a blending of the contents of two or more cells or individuals in some plants and lower animals, by which new spores or germs are developed.

of all one's inherited physical qualities; the aggregate of the vital powers of an individual, with refernce to ability to endure hardship, resist disease, etc.; as, a robust constitution. Our constitutions have never been enfeebled by the vices or luxuries of the oid world. Story.

Wasting away gradually. Darwin. - Con*ta*bes"cence, n.

That which is contributed; -- either the portion which an individual furnishes to the common stock, or the whole which is formed by the gifts of individuals. A certain contribution for the poor saints which are at jerusalem. Rom. xv. 26. Aristotle's actual contributions to the physical sciences. Whewell.…

To recover health and strength gradually, after sickness or weakness; as, a patient begins to convalesce.

An individual book, or a single set of books containing the works of an author; as, a copy of the Bible; a copy of the works of Addison.

One of the individual members of a compound coral; or that part formed by a single coral animal. [Written also corallet.]

A body of individuals; an assemblage. [Obs.] He was in a core of people. Bacon.

The embryological history of groups or families of individuals.

The phylogeny of groups or families of individuals. Haeckel.

A vegetable or animal made up of a number of individuals, such as, for example, would be formed by a process of budding from a parent stalk wherre the buds remain attached.

united in an association, and endowed by law with the rights and liabilities of an individual; incorporated; as, a corporate town.

capacity of succession; a society having the capacity of transacting business as an individual.

To eat away by degrees; to wear away or diminish by gradually separating or destroying small particles of, as by action of a strong acid or a caustic alkali. Aqua fortis corroding copper . . . is wont to reduce it to a green- blue solution. Boyle.

Eating away; having the power of gradually wearing, changing, or destroying the texture or substance of a body; as, the corrosive action of an acid. "Corrosive liquors." Grew. "Corrosive famine."Thomson.

An individual of marked ability or excellence, esp. in some sport; as, he is a crackajack at tennis. [Slang]

or promises given; mercantile reputation entitling one to be trusted; -- applied to individuals, corporations, communities, or nations; as, to buy goods on credit. Credit is nothing but the expectation of money, within some limited time. Locke.

a gallery, occasioned by the pressure of incumbent strata upon the pillars or sides; a gradual movement of mining ground.

With a constantly increasing volume of voice; with gradually increasing strength and fullness of tone; -- a direction for the performance of music, indicated by the mark, or by writing the word on the score.