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A receptacle or case of any firm material and of various shapes.

That which holds anything tightly or supports it firmly; a bandage or a prop.

That which braces, binds, or makes firm; a band or bandage.

To destroy the strength, firmness, or consistency of; as, to break flax.

Made infirm or weak, by disease, age, or hardships. The one being who remembered him as he been before his mind was broken. G. Eliot. The broken soldier, kindly bade to stay, Sat by his fire, and talked the night away. Goldsmith.

Anything that wants firmness or solidity; that which is more specious than real; a false show; a cheat or fraud; a delusive scheme; an empty project; a dishonest speculation; as, the South Sea bubble. Then a soldier . . . Seeking the bubble reputation Even in the cannon's mouth. Shak.

Firm; sturdy. And for the good old cause stood buff, 'Gainst many a bitter kick and cuff. Hudibras.

An official of a bureau; esp. an official confirmed in a narrow and arbitrary routine. C. Kingsley.

To support with a buttress; to prop; to brace firmly. To set it upright again, and to prop and buttress it up for duration. Burke.

A law, or rule of doctrine or discipline, enacted by a council and confirmed by the pope or the sovereign; a decision, regulation, code, or constitution made by ecclesiastical authority. Various canons which were made in councils held in the second centry. Hock.

Of or pertaining to cartilage; gristly; firm and tough like cartilage.

Absolutely; directly; expressly; positively; as, to affirm categorically.

Bond of union; that which unites firmly, as persons in friendship, or men in society. "The cement of our love."

Having the quality of cementating or uniting firmly.

g a part of the vertebræ, ribs, and sternum united with the dermal plates so as to form a firm shell. The jaws are covered by a horny beak. See Reptilia; also, Illust. in Appendix.

nsecrated by the bishop on Maundy Thursday, and used in the administration of baptism, confirmation, ordination, etc.

To prove or confirm by circumstances; to entr into details concerning. Neither will time permint to circumstantiate these particulars, which I have only touched in the general. State Trials (1661).

To refer to or specify, as for support, proof, illustration, or confirmation. The imperfections which you have cited. Shak.

To hold firmly; to hold fast by grasping or embracing tightly. "Clinch the pointed spear." Dryden.

Firmly barred or closed.