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The spirit of those who extol the advantage to ignorance; obscuriantism.

Contrary to good, in a physical sense; contrary or opposed to advantage, happiness, etc.; bad; evil; unfortunate; disagreeable; unfavorable. Neither is it ill air only that maketh an ill seat, but ill ways, ill markets, and ill neighbors. Bacon. There 's some ill planet reigns. Shak.

nanimate object) in form, color, ornamentation, or instinctive habits, so as to derive an advantage thereby; sa, when a harmless snake imitates a venomous one in color and manner, or when an odorless insect imitates, in color, one having secretion offensive to birds.

I take the imports from, and not the exports to, these conquests, as the measure of these advantages which we derived from them. Burke.

Capable of being used to advantage; profitable; serviceable; advantageous. The essays of weaker heads afford improvable hints to better. Sir T. Browne. -- Im*pro"a*ble*ness, n. -- Im*prov"a*bly, adv.

Tending to incommode; not commodious; not affording ease or advantage; unsuitable; giving trouble; inconvenient; annoying; as, an incommodious seat; an incommodious arrangement. -- In`com*mo"di*ous*ly, adv. -- In`com*mo"di*ous*ness, n.

Inconvenience; trouble; annoyance; disadvantage; encumbrance. [Archaic] Bunyan. A great incommodity to the body. Jer. Taylor. Buried him under a bulk of incommodities. Hawthorne.

That which gives trouble, embarrassment, or uneasiness; disadvantage; anything that disturbs quiet, impedes prosperity, or increases the difficulty of action or success; as, one inconvenience of life is poverty. A place upon the top of Mount Athos above all clouds of rain, or other inconvenience. Sir W. Raleigh. Man is…

iving trouble, uneasiness, or annoyance; hindering progress or success; uncomfortable; disadvantageous; incommodious; inopportune; as, an inconvenient house, garment, arrangement, or time.

k and plastering. -- Inside track, the inner part of a race course; hence, colloquially, advantage of place, facilities, etc., in competition.

Participation in advantage, profit, and responsibility; share; portion; part; as, an interest in a brewery; he has parted with his interest in the stocks.

To run between parties and intercept without right the advantage that one should gain from the other; to traffic without a proper license; to intrude; to forestall others; to intermeddle.

One who does mean work for another's advantage, as jackals were once thought to kill game which lions appropriated. [Colloq.] Ld. Lytton.

To seek private gain under pretense of public service; to turn public matters to private advantage. And judges job, and bishops bite the town. Pope.

One who turns official or public business to private advantage; hence, one who performs low or mercenary work in office, politics, or intrigue.

lect to do a thing at the proper time; delay to assert a claim. It ill became him to take advantage of such a laches with the eagerness of a shrewd attorney. Macaulay.

Full in statement; diffuse; full; profuse. I might be very large upon the importance and advantages of education. Felton.

The action of a lever; mechanical advantage gained by the lever. Leverage of a couple (Mech.), the perpendicular distance between the lines of action of two forces which act in parallel and opposite directions. -- Leverage of a force, the perpendicular distance from the line in which a force acts upon a body to a poin…

hich an artist or writer indulges, assuming that it will be permitted for the sake of the advantage or effect gained; as, poetic license; grammatical license, etc.

lost me this glory. Baxter. To lose ground, to fall behind; to suffer gradual loss or disadvantage. -- To lose heart, to lose courage; to become timid. "The mutineers lost heart." Macaulay. -- To lose one's head, to be thrown off one's balance; to lose the use of one's good sense or judgment. In the excitement of su…