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he truth of revelation, or the sacred Scriptures. The skeptical system subverts the whole foundation of morals. R. Hall. -- Skep"tac*al*ly, adv. -- Skep"tic*al*ness, n.

Durable; not subject to overthrow or change; firm; as, a stable foundation; a stable position. Stable equibrium (Mech.), the kind of equilibrium of a body so placed that if disturbed it returns to its former position, as in the case when the center of gravity is below the point or axis of support; -- opposed to unstabl…

upright in a certain locality, as a tree fixed by the roots, or a building resting on its foundation. It stands as it were to the ground yglued. Chaucer. The ruined wall Stands when its wind worn battlements are gone. Byron.

. False and dazzling fires to stumble men. Milton. One thing more stumbles me in the very foundation of this hypothesis. Locke.

initely; as, subsequent events; subsequent ages or years; a period long subsequent to the foundation of Rome.

To build beneath something; to lay as the foundation. [R.] He substructs the religion of Asia as the base. Emerson.

Underbuilding; the foundation, or any preliminary structure intended to raise the lower floor or basement of a building above the natural level of the ground. It is a magnificent strong building, with a substruction very remarkable. Evelyn.

An under structure; a foundation; groundwork.

of overturning, or the state of being overturned; entire overthrow; an overthrow from the foundation; utter ruin; destruction; as, the subversion of a government; the subversion of despotic power; the subversion of the constitution. The subversion [by a storm] of woods and timber . . . through my whole estate. Evelyn.…

To overturn from the foundation; to overthrow; to ruin utterly. These are his substance, sinews, arms, and strength, With which he yoketh your rebellious necks, Razeth your cities, and subverts your towns. Shak. This would subvert the principles of all knowledge. Locke.

To build over or upon another structure; to erect upon a foundation. This is the only proper basis on which to superstruct first innocency and then virtue. Dr. H. More.

That which id superstructed, or built upon some foundation; an edifice; a superstructure. My own profession hath taught me not to erect new superstructions upon an old ruin. Denham.

Any material structure or edifice built on something else; that which is raised on a foundation or basis; esp. (Arch.),

That which upholds, sustains, or keeps from falling, as a prop, a pillar, or a foundation of any kind.

To keep from falling; to bear; to uphold; to support; as, a foundation sustains the superstructure; a beast sustains a load; a rope sustains a weight. Every pillar the temple to sustain. Chaucer.

A scholar on the foundation of Queen's College, Oxford, England, whose original dress was a tabard. Nares.

rip up; to remove from a fixed state by violence; as, to tear up a floor; to tear up the foundation of government or order.

urface of small stone rolled hard and smooth, distinguished from macadam road by its firm foundation of large stones with fragments of stone wedged tightly, in the interstices; as, telford pavement, road, etc.

That which constitutes a just cause of exclusive possession; that which is the foundation of ownership of property, real or personal; a right; as, a good title to an estate, or an imperfect title.

riginal sense; being of the nature of a trope; figurative; metaphorical. Jer. Taylor. The foundation of all parables is some analogy or similitude between the tropical or allusive part of the parable and the thing intended by it. South. Tropic month. See Lunar month, under Month. -- Tropic year, the solar year; the pe…