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waved by the wind; a standard; a banner; an ensign; the colors; as, the national flag; a military or a naval flag.

An ancient military weapon, like the common flail, often having the striking part armed with rows of spikes, or loaded. Fairholt. No citizen thought himself safe unless he carried under his coat a small flail, loaded with lead, to brain the Popish assassins. Macaulay.

engthen and secure by forts or batteries, or by surrounding with a wall or ditch or other military works; to render defensible against an attack by hostile forces.

One of the great military roads constructed by the Romans in England and other parts of Europe; -- so called from the fosse or ditch on each side for keeping it dry.

(O.Eng. Law), a feudal tenure held by certain services which, though honorable, were not military. Abbott. -- Free States, those of the United States before the Civil War, in which slavery had ceased to exist, or had never existed. -- Free stuff (Carp.), timber free from knots; clear stuff. -- Free thought, that wh…

A soldier especially expert and well drilled, who takes his place in front of a military company, as a guide for the others in their exercises; a file leader. He originally stood in front of the right wing. [Written also flugelman.]

The military force of the whole nation, consisting of all men able to bear arms. The national fyrd or militia. J. R. Green.

A military punishment formerly in use, wherein the offender was made to run between two files of men facing one another, who struck him as he passed. To run the gantlet, to suffer the punishment of the gantlet; hence, to go through the ordeal of severe criticism or controversy, or ill-treatment at many hands. Winthrop…

One of the chief military officers of a government or country; the commander of an army, of a body of men not less than a brigade. In European armies, the highest military rank next below field marshal.

Military skill in a general officer or commander.

the sick and wounded and the status of those who minister to them in war. Ambulances and military hospitals are made neutral, and this condition affects physicians, chaplains, nurses, and the ambulance corps. Great Britain signed the convention in 1865. -- Geneva cross (Mil.), a red Greek cross on a white ground; --…

A body of troops, or of men or animals, drawn up in a circle; -- a military formation used by the Romans, answering to the modern infantry square. Him round A globe of fiery seraphim inclosed. Milton. Globe amaranth (Bot.), a plant of the genus Gomphrena (G. globosa), bearing round heads of variously colored flowers, w…

judges, etc.; hence, the dress of peace; the dress of civil officers, in distinction from military. He Mars deposed, and arms to gowns made yield. Dryden.

degree in any series, rank, quality, order; relative position or standing; as, grades of military rank; crimes of every grade; grades of flour. They also appointed and removed, at their own pleasure, teachers of every grade. Buckle.

y, among Freemasons and other secret orders. -- Grand master. (a) The head of one of the military orders of knighthood, as the Templars, Hospitallers, etc. (b) The head of the order of Freemasons or of Good Templars, etc. -- Grand paunch, a glutton or gourmand. [Obs.] Holland. -- Grand pensionary. See under Pensiona…

A member, either officer or private, of any military body called Guards.

That branch of military science which comprehends the theory of projectiles, and the manner of constructing and using ordnance.

Originally, the complete dress, especially in a military sense, of a man or a horse; hence, in general, armor. At least we 'll die witch harness on our back. Shak.

Formerly, a payment or tribute of arms or military accouterments, or the best beast, or chattel, due to the lord on the death of a tenant; in modern use, a customary tribute of goods or chattels to the lord of the fee, paid on the decease of a tenant. Blackstone. Bouvier. Heriot custom, a heriot depending on usage. --…

One who by his tenure was to maintain a horse for military service; a kind of light horseman in the Middle Ages who was mounted on a hobby. Hallam. Sir J. Davies.