Search the Dictionary

To get possession of; to make one's self secure of; to acquire certainly; as, to secure an estate. Secure arms (Mil.), a command and a position in the manual of arms, used in wet weather, the object being to guard the firearm from becoming wet. The piece is turned with the barrel to the front and grasped by the right h…

To try to acquire or gain; to strive after; to aim at; as, to seek wealth or fame; to seek one's life.

it, tact in behavior, acuteness in the observation of character, in contrast to habits of acquired learning or of speculation." -- Moral sense. See under Moral, (a). -- The inner, or internal, sense, capacity of the mind to be aware of its own states; consciousness; reflection. "This source of ideas every man has whol…

To acquire a silvery color. [R.] The eastern sky began to silver and shine. L. Wallace.

To gain a slight taste of; to acquire a slight, superficial knowledge of; to smack. Chaucer.

A young salmon two or three years old, when it has acquired its silvery color.

duty or occupation; employment. By spending this day [Sunday] in religious exercises, we acquire new strength and resolution to perform God's will in our several stations the week following. R. Nelson.

To acquire by labor. [Obs.] Piers Plowman. To devour all that others swink. Chaucer.

To assume; to adopt; to acquire, as shape; to permit to one's self; to indulge or engage in; to yield to; to have or feel; to enjoy or experience, as rest, revenge, delight, shame; to form and adopt, as a resolution; -- used in general senses, limited by a following complement, in many idiomatic phrases; as, to take a…

Intellectual ability, natural or acquired; mental endowment or capacity; skill in accomplishing; a special gift, particularly in business, art, or the like; faculty; a use of the word probably originating in the Scripture parable of the talents (Matt. xxv. 14- 30). He is chiefly to be considered in his three different…

. -- Terminal statue. See Terminus, n., 2 and 3. -- Terminal velocity. (a) The velocity acquired at the end of a body's motion. (b) The limit toward which the velocity of a body approaches, as of a body falling through the air.

An appellation of dignity, distinction, or preëminence (hereditary or acquired), given to persons, as duke marquis, honorable, esquire, etc. With his former title greet Macbeth. Shak.

The power possessed or acquired by some persons of bearing doses of medicine which in ordinary cases would prove injurious or fatal. Tolerance of the mint. (Coinage) Same as Remedy of the mint. See under Remedy.

the conditions of experience, transcend the sphere of that contingent knowledge which is acquired by experience.

t equal; not matched; not of the same size, length, breadth, quantity, strength, talents, acquirements, age, station, or the like; as, the fingers are of unequal length; peers and commoners are unequal in rank.

Not gotten; not acquired.

Not studied; not acquired by study; unlabored; natural.

principle of a treaty which leaves belligerents mutually in possession of what they have acquired by their arms during the war. Brande & C.

p. in regard to germ plasm as the basis of heredity and the impossibility of transmitting acquired characteristics; -- often called neo-Darwinism.

The results of wise judgments; scientific or practical truth; acquired knowledge; erudition. Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds. Acts vii. 22.