Search the Dictionary

The act of attesting; testimony; witness; a solemn or official declaration, verbal or written, in support of a fact; evidence. The truth appears from the attestation of witnesses, or of the proper officer. The subscription of a name to a writing as a witness, is an attestation.

fixed, or a lengthening of the initial vowel, to mark past time, as in Greek and Sanskrit verbs.

s (Mus.), the scales of relative or attendant keys. See under Attendant, a. -- Auxiliary verbs (Gram.). See Auxiliary, n., 3.

By ellipsis of the verb, equivalent to an imperative: Go or come ~; begone; take ~. And the Lord said . . . Away, get thee down. Exod. xix. 24.

. (Zoöl) See Hammerhead. -- Balance knife, a carving or table knife the handle of which overbalances the blade, and so keeps it from contact with the table. -- Balance of power. (Politics), such an adjustment of power among sovereign states that no one state is in a position to interfere with the independence of the…

A Berserker, or Norse warrior who fought without armor, or shirt of mail. Hence, adverbially: Without shirt of mail or armor.

A prefix, originally the same word as by; joined with verbs, it serves: (a) To intensify the meaning; as, bespatter, bestir. (b) To render an intransitive verb transitive; as, befall (to fall upon); bespeak (to speak for). (c) To make the action of a verb particular or definite; as, beget (to get as offspring); beset (…

A worshiper of books; especially, a worshiper of the Bible; a believer in its verbal inspiration. De Quincey.

Consisting of two letters; as, a biliteral root of a Sanskrit verb. Sir W. Jones. -- n.

To stain with blood. Overbury.

burst, shatter, or destroy by an explosion; -- usually with up, down, open, or similar adverb; as, to blow up a building.

A crying out; a roaring; a bellowing; reverberation. [Obs.] The guns were heard . . . about a hundred Italian miles, in long boations. Derham.

Ready or intending to go; on the way toward; going; -- with to or for, or with an adverb of motion; as, a ship is bound to Cadiz, or for Cadiz. "The mariner bound homeward." Cowper.

sealed brief, With winged hastle, to the lord marshal. Shak. And she told me In a sweet, verbal brief. Shak.

An elementary principle or maximum; a short, proverbial rule, in law, ethics, or metaphysics. The legal brocard, "Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus," is a rule not more applicable to other witness than to consciousness. Sir W. Hamilton.

To intimidate with threats and by an overbearing, swaggering demeanor; to act the part of a bully toward. For the last fortnight there have been prodigious shoals of volunteers gone over to bully the French, upon hearing the peace was just signing. Tatler.

xpecedly or unaccountably, or to depart in such manner; -- usually with some qualifying adverb or preposition, as forth, out, away, into, upon, through, etc. Tears, such as angels weep, burst forth. Milton. And now you burst (ah cruel!) from my arms. Pope. A resolved villain Whose bowels suddenly burst out. Shak. We we…

A blockhead; a dunce. It is common, to a proverb, to call one who can not be taught, or who continues obstinately ignorant, a buzzard. Goldsmith.

A proverb. [Obs.]

A common saying; a proverb; a saying that has a general currency. I knew a wise man that had it for a byword. Bacon.