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The act of improving; advancement or growth; promotion in desirable qualities; progress toward what is better; melioration; as, the improvement of the mind, of land, roads, etc. I look upon your city as the best place of improvement. South. Exercise is the chief source of improvement in all our faculties. Blair.…

use to begin, esp. with formality or solemn ceremony; hence, to set in motion, action, or progress; to initiate; -- used especially of something of dignity or worth or public concern; as, to inaugurate a new era of things, new methods, etc. As if kings did closes remarkable days to inaugurate their favors. Sir H. Wotto…

Beginning; commencement; initiation. Bacon. Marked with vivacity of inception, apathy of progress, and prematureness of decay. Rawle.

Motion on foot; progress in walking. [Obs.] The incession or local motion of animals. Sir T. Browne.

rts, would be looked on as the first inchoation of them. Sir M. Hale. It is now in actual progress, from the rudest inchoation to the most elaborate finishing. I. Taylor.

Not convenient; giving trouble, uneasiness, or annoyance; hindering progress or success; uncomfortable; disadvantageous; incommodious; inopportune; as, an inconvenient house, garment, arrangement, or time.

ol.), those nerves which modify, inhibit, or suppress a motor or secretory act already in progress.

Incapable of being perceived by the senses; imperceptible. Hence: Progressing by imperceptible degrees; slow; gradual; as, insensible motion. Two small and almost insensible pricks were found upon Cleopatra's arm. Sir T. Browne. They fall away, And languish with insensible decay. Dryden.

To obstruct or interrupt the progress of; to stop; to hinder or oppose; as, to intercept the current of a river. Who intercepts me in my expedition Shak. We must meet first, and intercept his course. Dryden.

Intermediate; not final or definitive; made or done during the progress of an action.

he death and the resurrection of the body. -- Intermediate terms (Math.), the terms of a progression or series between the first and the last (which are called the extremes); the means. -- Intermediate tie. (Arch.) Same as Intertie.

To break into, or between; to stop, or hinder by breaking in upon the course or progress of; to interfere with the current or motion of; to cause a temporary cessation of; as, to interrupt the remarks speaking. Do not interrupt me in my course. Shak.

Obstruction caused by breaking in upon course, current, progress, or motion; stop; hindrance; as, the author has met with many interruptions in the execution of his work; the speaker or the argument proceeds without interruption.

To grow or spread over; to affect injuriously and progressively; as, gangrene invades healthy tissue.

tinerant, being kept in the king's palace, and removing with his household in those royal progresses which he continually made. Blackstone.

m place to place; done on a journey. It was rather an itinerary circuit of justice than a progress. Bacon.

Slow in progress; tardy. " No motion so swift or languid." Bentley.

A gliding, slipping, or gradual falling; an unobserved or imperceptible progress or passing away,; -- restricted usually to immaterial things, or to figurative uses. The lapse to indolence is soft and imperceptible. Rambler. Bacon was content to wait the lapse of long centuries for his expected revenue of fame. I. Tayl…

To acquire knowledge or skill; to make progress in acquiring knowledge or skill; to receive information or instruction; as, this child learns quickly. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me. Matt. xi. 29. To learn by heart. See By heart, under Heart. -- To learn by rote, to memorize by repetition without exercise of th…

of the stage upon which the limelight as cast, usually where the most important action is progressing or where the leading player or players are placed and upon which the attention of the spectators is therefore concentrated. Hence, consspicuous position before the public; as, politicians who are never happy except in…