Search the Dictionary

; the king, queen, or knave of playing cards. "`I am a coat card indeed.' `Then thou must needs be a knave, for thou art neither king nor queen.'" Rowley. -- Coat link, a pair of buttons or studs joined by a link, to hold together the lappels of a double-breasted coat; or a button with a loop for a single-breasted coa…

usset gown. H. Brocke. The judges, . . . althout they are not of the first magnitude, nor need be of the degree of the coif, yet are they considerable. Bacon.

To comply; to yield; to surrender. "We need not fear his coming in" Massinger. (e) To be brought into use. "Silken garments did not come in till late." Arbuthnot. (f) To be added or inserted; to be or become a part of. (g) To accrue as gain from any business or investment. (h) To mature and yield a harvest; as, the cro…

The act of commending; praise; favorable representation in words; recommendation. Need we . . . epistles of commendatiom 2 Cor. iii. 1. By the commendation of the great officers. Bacon.

s. Beyond comparison, so far superior as to have no likeness, or so as to make comparison needless. -- In comparison of, In comparison with, as compared with; in proportion to. [Archaic] "So miserably unpeopled in comparison of what it once was." Addison. -- Comparison of hands (Law), a mode of proving or disproving…

ts or compartments; division; also, a division or compartment. [Obs.] Their temples . . . needed no compartitions. Sir H. Wotton.

ument for determining directions upon the carth's surface by means of a magnetized bar or needle turning freely upon a pivot and pinting in a northerly and southerly direction. He that firat discovered the use of the compass did more for the supplying and increase of useful commodities than those who built workhouses.…

near the compass on iron vessels to neutralize the effect of the ship's attraction on the needle.

ity or innocence. He was privileged from his childhood from suspicion of incontinency and needed no compurgation. Bp. Hacket.

ever gave it him. Send for him hither, And let him confess a truth. Shak. As I confess it needs must be. Tennyson. As an actor confessed without rival to shine. Goldsmith.

whole or the available part of any stock or species of property, which compels those who need such stock or property to buy of them at their own price; as, a corner in a railway stock. [Broker's Cant] Corner stone, the stone which lies at the corner of two walls, and unites them; the principal stone; especially, the s…

luminous beams around the point in the heavens indicated by the direction of the dipping needle.

To treat by pushing down or displacing the opaque lens with a needle; as, to couch a cataract. To couch a spear or lance, to lower to the position of attack; to place in rest. He stooped his head, and couched his spear, And spurred his steed to full career. Sir W. Scott. To couch malt, to spread malt on a floor. Mortim…

countries cannot change my state. Stirling. Many a famous realm And country, whereof here needs no account Milton.

, any being created with life; an animal; a man. He asked water, a creature so common and needful that it was against the law of nature to deny him. Fuller. God's first creature was light. Bacon. On earth, join, all ye creatures, to extol Him first, him last, him midst, and without end. Milton. And most attractive is t…

A kind of knitting done by means of a hooked needle, with worsted, silk, or cotton; crochet work. Commonly used adjectively. Crochet hook, Crochet needle, a small hook, or a hooked needle (often of bone), used in crochet work.

ilize; to refine. To cultivate the wild, licentious savage. Addison. The mind of man hath need to be prepared for piety and virtue; it must be cultivated to the end. Tillotson.

swear. Then began he to curse and to swear. Matt. xxi. 74. His spirits hear me, And yet I need must curse. Shak.

To mend as a rent or hole, with interlacing stitches of yarn or thread by means of a needle; to sew together with yarn or thread. He spent every day ten hours in his closet, in darning his stockins. Swift. Darning last. See under Last. -- Darning needle. (a) A long, strong needle for mending holes or rents, especially…

y a single beat or excursion; -- said of galvanometers and other instruments in which the needle or index moves to the extent of its deflection and stops with little or no further oscillation. Deadbeat escapement. See under Escapement.