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A bridle check; a jerk of one rein, given to a horse when he refuses to turn.

A dike of piles in the sea, a river, etc., to check the approach of an enemy.

One of the superior courts of law; -- so called from a checkered cloth, which covers, or formerly covered, the table. [Eng.]

A blow in the face, as in boxing; hence, any severe or stunning check or defeat, as in controversy. [Collog.] I should have been a stercoraceous mendicant if I had hollowed when I got a facer. C. Kingsley.

aving a visible fiber embodied in the surface of; -- applied esp. to a kind of paper for checks, drafts, etc.

removing the woody portion of flax from the fibrous. -- Flax comb, a hatchel, hackle, or heckle. -- Flax cotton, the fiber of flax, reduced by steeping in bicarbinate of soda and acidulated liquids, and prepared for bleaching and spinning like cotton. Knight. -- Flax dresser, one who breaks and swingles flax, or pre…

A suction valve or check valve at the lower end of a pipe; esp., such a valve in a steam-engine condenser opening to the air pump.

h one boy tries to catch others as they run one goal to another. (b) A game with sixteen checkers, or some substitute for them, one of which is called the fox, and the rest the geese; the fox, whose first position is in the middle of the board, endeavors to break through the line of the geese, and the geese to pen up t…

To variegate; to checker; to streak. [R.] Freaked with many a mingled hue. Thomson.

To checker; to diversify. [R. & Poet.] The painted windows, frecking gloom with glow. Lowell.

A plant with checkered petals, of the genus Fritillaria: the Guinea-hen flower. See Fritillaria.

purpose. Envy is a gadding passion, and walketh the streets. Bacon. The good nuns would check her gadding tongue. Tennyson. Gadding car, in quarrying, a car which carries a drilling machine so arranged as to drill a line of holes.

A kind of cotton or linen cloth, usually in stripes or checks, the yarn of which is dyed before it is woven; -- distinguished from printed cotton or prints.

A Japanese game, played on a checkerboard, in which the object of the game is to be the first in placing five pieces, or men, in a row in any direction.

To check or stop; to embarrass; to perplex. [Colloq.] When you were graveled for lack of matter. Shak. The physician was so graveled and amazed withal, that he had not a word more to say. Sir T. North.

ch gradation of tone in the photograph is reproduced by a graduated system of dotted and checkered spots, usually nearly invisible to the unaided eye, produced by the interposition between the camera and the object of a screen. The name alludes to the fact that this process was the first that was practically successful…

hemp from the tow, hards, or coarse part; a kind of large comb; -- called also hackle and heckle.

To go in front of; to get in the front of, so as to hinder or stop; to oppose; hence, to check or restrain; as, to head a drove of cattle; to head a person; the wind heads a ship.

To keep back or behind; to prevent from starting or moving forward; to check; to retard; to obstruct; to bring to a full stop; - - often followed by from; as, an accident hindered the coach; drought hinders the growth of plants; to hinder me from going. Them that were entering in ye hindered. Luke xi. 52. I hinder you…

To exhibit; to display; as, he was held up as an example. (d) To rein in; to check; to halt; as, hold up your horses. -- To hold water. (a) Literally, to retain water without leaking; hence (Fig.), to be whole, sound, consistent, without gaps or holes; -- commonly used in a negative sense; as, his statements will not…