Search the Dictionary

attempt to gain; to solicit; to seek. They might almost seem to have courted the crown of martyrdem. Prescott. Guilt and misery . . . court privacy and silitude. De Quincey.

To utter smartly and sententiously; as, to crack a joke. B. Jonson.

Smartweed (Polygonum Hydropiper).

asks he what avails him not in fight, And would but cumber and retard his flight Dryden. Martha was cumbered about much serving. Luke x. 40. Cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground Luke xiii. 7. The multiplying variety of arguments, especially frivolous ones, . . . but cumbers the memory. Locke.

To put an untimely death; to put an end to; to destroy. "Irencut off by martyrdom." Addison. (c) To interrupt; as, to cut off communication; to cut off (the flow of) steam from (the boiler to) a steam engine. (d) To intercept; as,, to cut off an enemy's retreat.

Little and active; spruce; trim; smart; neat in dress or appearance; lively. He wondered how so many provinces could be held in subjection by such a dapper little man. Milton. The dapper ditties that I wont devise. Spenser. Sharp-nosed, dapper steam yachts. Julian Hawthorne.

A painting representing the beheading of a saint or martyr, esp. of St. John the Baptist.

Tending to descend; tending downwards; descending. Smart.

e by which arguments are placed in various points of view, and then turned to one point. Smart.

Having two angles. Smart.

Love; choice. [Obs.] T. Martin.

To render unacquainted; to make unfamiliar. [Obs.] While my sick heart With dismal smart Is disacquainted never. Herrick.

ficial approbation to; to disallow; to decline to sanction; as, the sentence of the court-martial was disapproved by the commander in chief.

already existing chemical compounds into simpler ones, sometimes called disassimilation. Martin.

In a dissimilar manner; in a varied style. With verdant shrubs dissimilarly gay. C. Smart.

A song; a lay; a little poem intended to be sung. "Religious, martial, or civil ditties." Milton.ditties sing. Sandys.

To turn aside. [Obs.] The redcross knight diverst, but forth rode Britomart. Spenser.

A short ballet, or other entertainment, between the acts of a play. Smart.

One who dodges or evades; one who plays fast and loose, or uses tricky devices. Smart.

An entrance way, but taken in the sense of the house or apartment to which it leads. Martin's office is now the second door in the street. Arbuthnot. Blank door, Blind door, etc. (Arch.) See under Blank, Blind, etc. -- In doors, or Within doors, within the house. -- Next door to, near to; bordering on. A riot unpunis…