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; steel-clad. This day will be launched . . . the first armor-plated steam frigate in the possession of Great Britain. Times (Dec. 29, 1860).

Snatched away; seized or possessed, as a demoniac; raving; mad; crack-brained. [Obs.] Odd, arreptitious, frantic extravagances. Howell.

person, or the seizure of his effects; esp., a process by which money or movables in the possession of a third party are attached.

ongruous; in a manner. -- As now, just now. [Obs.] Chaucer. -- As swythe, as quickly as possible. [Obs.] Chaucer. -- As well, also; too; besides. Addison. -- As well as, equally with, no less than. "I have understanding as well as you." Job xii. 3. -- As yet, until now; up to or at the present time; still; now.…

of persuading or confuting, of defending himself against accusations, . . . no man could possibly hold an ascendent position. Grote.

To pretend to possess; to take in appearance. Ambition assuming the mask of religion. Porteus. Assume a virtue, if you have it not. Shak.

Not possessing a mouth.

To gain or obtain possession of; to acquire. [Obs. with a material object.] Chaucer.

o the goods of a stranger not naturalized. Littré. Droit d'aubaine (, the right, formerly possessed by the king of France, to all the personal property of which an alien died possessed. It was abolished in 1819. Bouvier.

Property; possession. [Scot.] Sir W. Scott.

Possessed of or endowed with authority; as, an authorized agent.

The sovereignty of reason in the sphere of morals; or man's power, as possessed of reason, to give law to himself. In this, according to Kant, consist the true nature and only possible proof of liberty. Fleming.

her. [Obs.] Writ of Ayle, an ancient English writ which lay against a stranger who had dispossessed the demandant of land of which his grandfather died seized.

robably in ridicule of some person who pretended to a knowledge of Latin which he did not possess. Baccare! you are marvelous forward. Shak.

In concealment or reserve; in one's own possession; as, to keep back the truth; to keep back part of the money due to another.

The person to whom goods are committed in trust, and who has a temporary possession and a qualified property in them, for the purposes of the trust. Blackstone.

Destitute of, or wholly wanting (something once possessed, or something one should possess). "Bankrupt in gratitude." Sheridan. Bankrupt law, a law by which the property of a person who is unable or unwilling to pay his debts may be taken and distributed to his creditors, and by which a person who has made a full surre…

e then completes the purchase; i.e., the bargain vests the use, and the statute vests the possession. Blackstone. -- Into the bargain, over and above what is stipulated; besides. -- To sell bargains, to make saucy ( usually indelicate) repartees. [Obs.] Swift. -- To strike a bargain, to reach or ratify an agreement.…

A title or degree of nobility; originally, the possessor of a fief, who had feudal tenants under him; in modern times, in France and Germany, a nobleman next in rank below a count; in England, a nobleman of the lowest grade in the House of Lords, being next below a viscount.

A state of being obliged to face an antagonist or a difficulty, when escape has become impossible. Embolden'd by despair, he stood at bay. Dryden. The most terrible evils are just kept at bay by incessant efforts. I. Taylor