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Failure to gain or win; as, loss of a race or battle.

To steal; to rob. [Obs.] And in the brunt of seventeen battles since He lurched all swords of the garland. Shak.

o, the construction of such defenses, in general, when of this character. See Illusts. of Battlement and Castle.

a shade of red; also, the color; -- so called from Magenta, in Italy, in allusion to the battle fought there about the time the dye was discovered. Called also fuchsine, roseïne, etc.

ngth; force; might; violent effort. [Obs., except in certain phrases.] There were in this battle of most might and main. R. of Gl. He 'gan advance, With huge force, and with importable main. Spenser.

Battle; contest. [Obs.] Fairfax.

The confusion of a hand to hand battle; a brisk, hand to hand engagement; a mêlée. [Obs.] Holland.

One of the solid parts of a battlemented parapet; a battlement. See Illust. of Battlement.

led into actual service except in emergencies. The king's captains and soldiers fight his battles, and yet... the power of the militia is he. Jer. Taylor.

fect with vexation, chagrin, or humiliation; to humble; to depress. The news of the fatal battle of Worcester, which exceedingly mortified our expectations. Evelyn. How often is the ambitious man mortified with the very praises he receives, if they do not rise so high as he thinks they ought! Addison.…

Mural crown (Rom. Antiq.), a golden crown, or circle of gold indented so as to resemble a battlement, bestowed on him who first mounted the wall of a besieged place, and there lodged a standard.

A battlement in ancient fortifications with interstices for firing through.

A naval battle; esp., a mock sea fight.

Not distant or remote in place or time; near. The loud tumult shows the battle nigh. Prior.

A bloody fray or battle. [Scot.] Jamieson.

etc.; to contend against; to confront; to resist; to withstand; as, to oppose the king in battle; to oppose a bill in Congress.

to an inquiry respecting some affair or future event, as the success of an enterprise or battle. Whatso'er she saith, for oracles must stand. Drayton.

To set in order; to arrange according to rule; to regulate; to set; to establish. "Battle well ordained." Spenser. The stake that shall be ordained on either side. Chaucer.

artillery; sometimes, a general term for all weapons and appliances used in war. All the battlements their ordnance fire. Shak. Then you may hear afar off the awful roar of his [Rufus Choate's] rifled ordnance. E. Ererett. Ordnance survey, the official survey of Great Britain and Ireland, conducted by the ordnance dep…

A standard or ensign, in battle. "A handkerchief like an oriflamb." Longfellow. And be your oriflamme to-day the helmet of Navarre. Macaulay.