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To aspire to; to long for; to try to reach; to mount to. [Obs.] That gallant spirit hath aspired the clouds. Shak.

r metallic compound, to chemical or metallurgical examination, in order to determine the amount of a particular metal contained in it, or to ascertain its composition.

fically: One who examines metallic ores or compounds, for the purpose of determining the amount of any particular metal in the same, especially of gold or silver.

To fix or determine the rate or amount of. This sum is assessed and raised upon individuals by commissioners in the act. Blackstone.

The act of assessing; the act of determining an amount to be paid; as, an assessment of damages, or of taxes; an assessment of the members of a club.

cy to point in a given direction. Astatic pair (Magnetism), a pair of magnetic needles so mounted as to be nearly or quite astatic, as in some galvanometers.

An instrument for comparing the relative amount of the light of stars.

the pressure exerted by the atmosphere, not merely downwards, but in every direction. In amounts to about 14.7 Ibs. on each square inch. -- Atmospheric railway, one in which pneumatic power, obtained from compressed air or the creation of a vacuum, is the propelling force. -- Atmospheric tides. See under Tide.…

To lessen the amount, force, or value of; to make less complex; to weaken. To undersell our rivals . . . has led the manufacturer to . . . attenuate his processes, in the allotment of tasks, to an extreme point. I. Taylor. We may reject and reject till we attenuate history into sapless meagerness. Sir F. Palgrave.…

To enlarge or increase in size, amount, or degree; to swell; to make bigger; as, to augment an army by reëforcements; rain augments a stream; impatience augments an evil. But their spite still serves His glory to augment. Milton.

A large mass or body of snow and ice sliding swiftly down a mountain side, or falling down a precipice.

To descend; to fall; to dismount. [Obs.] And from their sweaty courses did avale. Spenser.

xxii. 43. Avenge, O Lord, thy slaughtered saints, whose bones Lie scattered on the Alpine mountains cold. Milton. He had avenged himself on them by havoc such as England had never before seen. Macaulay.

st for the benefit of all. It is called general average, because it falls upon the gross amount of ship, cargo, and freight at risk and saved by the sacrifice. Kent. -- Particular average signifies the damage or partial loss happening to the ship, or cargo, or freight, in consequence of some fortuitous or unavoidable…

held the Continent in awe. Macaulay. The solitude of the desert, or the loftiness of the mountain, may fill the mind with awe -- the sense of our own littleness in some greater presence or power. C. J. Smith. To stand in awe of, to fear greatly; to reverence profoundly.

An extended upper part, as of a mountain or ridge. [The mountains] their broad bare backs upheave Into the clouds. Milton.

Anything like , or serving the purpose of, a backbone. The lofty mountains on the north side compose the granitic axis, or backbone of the country. Darwin. We have now come to the backbone of our subject. Earle.

unts be complete and the balances correctly taken. -- Balance thermometer, a thermometer mounted as a balance so that the movement of the mercurial column changes the indication of the tube. With the aid of electrical or mechanical devices adapted to it, it is used for the automatic regulation of the temperature of ro…

An outlaw; a brigand. No savage fierce, bandit, or mountaineer. Milton.

A mound, pile, or ridge of earth, raised above the surrounding level; hence, anything shaped like a mound or ridge of earth; as, a bank of clouds; a bank of snow. They cast up a bank against the city. 2 Sam. xx. 15.