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ma of war." Thackeray. Westward the course of empire takes its way; The four first acts already past, A fifth shall close the drama with the day; Time's noblest offspring is the last. Berkeley. The drama and contrivances of God's providence. Sharp.

her liquid; to immerse. Now dam the ditches and the floods restrain; Their moisture has already drenched the plain. Dryden.

o prepare for use; to fit for any use; to render suitable for an intended purpose; to get ready; as, to dress a slain animal; to dress meat; to dress leather or cloth; to dress or trim a lamp; to dress a garden; to dress a horse, by currying and rubbing; to dress grain, by cleansing it; in mining and metallurgy, to dre…

One who dresses; one who put in order or makes ready for use; one who on clothes or ornaments.

Slow in action; sluggish; unready; awkward. This people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing. Matt. xiii. 15. O, help my weak wit and sharpen my dull tongue. Spenser.

Performing, or ready to perform, the duties required by one who has the right to claim submission, obedience, or deference; submissive to natural or legal superiors; obedient, as to parents or superiors; as, a dutiful son or daughter; a dutiful ward or servant; a dutiful subject.

Not making resistance or showing unwillingness; tractable; yielding; complying; ready. He gained their easy hearts. Dryden. He is too tyrannical to be an easy monarch. Sir W. Scott.

all see the economy . . . of poems better observed than in Terence. B. Jonson. The Jews already had a Sabbath, which, as citizens and subjects of that economy, they were obliged to keep. Paley.

Willing acceptance. [Obs.] A ready embracement of . . . his kindness. Barrow.

of the taking of an adverse pawn which makes a first move of two squares by a pawn already so advanced as to threaten the first of these squares. The pawn which takes en passant is advanced to the threatened square.

s slight augmentation of the positive degree, and sometimes equivalent to very; as, he is ready enough to embrace the offer. I know you well enough; you are Signior Antonio. Shak. Thou knowest well enough . . . that this is no time to lend money. Shak.

reckoning; price. Most dear in the esteem And poor in worth! Shak. I will deliver you, in ready coin, The full and dear'st esteem of what you crave. J. Webster.

ence, experienced; having facility of operation or performance from practice; knowing and ready from much practice; clever; skillful; as, an expert surgeon; expert in chess or archery. A valiant and most expert gentleman. Shak. What practice, howsoe'er expert In fitting aptest words to things . . . Hath power to give t…

To flatten; to spread out; to unfold; to expand. [Obs.] The horse-chestnut is . . . ready to explain its leaf. Evelyn.

Ready; quick; expert; as, he is facile in expedients; he wields a facile pen. -- Fac"ile-ly, adv. -- Fac"ile*ness, n.

Special mental endowment; characteristic knack. He had a ready faculty, indeed, of escaping from any topic that agitated his too sensitive and nervous temperament. Hawthorne.

To stand out in the field, ready to catch, stop, or throw the ball.

Vehement in anger or cruelty; ready or eager to kill or injure; of a nature to inspire terror; ferocious. "A fierce whisper." Dickens. "A fierce tyrant." Pope. The fierce foe hung upon our broken rear. Milton. Thou huntest me as a fierce lion. Job. x. 16.

ing two sets of teeth crossing obliquely. -- File blank, a steel blank shaped and ground ready for cutting to form a file. -- File cutter, a maker of files. -- Second-cut file, a file having teeth of a grade next finer than bastard. -- Single-cut file, a file having only one set of parallel teeth; a float. -- Smoo…

Prepared; ready. [Obs.] So fit to shoot, she singled forth among her foes who first her quarry's strength should feel. Fairfax.