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a conceit consisting in a change of the form or meaning of a word. Quips, and cranks, and wanton wiles. Milton.

keep in check. Part wield their arms, part curb the foaming steed. Milton. Where pinching want must curbthy warm desires. Prior.

To twist or make onto coils, as a serpent's body. Of his tortuous train, Curled many a wanton wreath in sight of Eve. Milton.

The act of dallying, trifling, or fondling; interchange of caresses; wanton play. Look thou be true, do not give dalliance Too mnch the rein. Shak. O, the dalliance and the wit, The flattery and the strifeTennyson.

To interchange caresses, especially with one of the opposite sex; to use fondling; to wanton; to sport. Not dallying with a brace of courtesans. Shak. Our aerie . . . dallies with the wind. Shak.

the feet and drinketh damage. Prov. xxvi. 6. Great errors and absurdities many commit for want of a friend to tell them of them, to the great damage both of their fame and fortune. Bacon.

lectual darkness; unrefined; ignorant. The age wherin he lived was dark, but he Cobld not want light who taught the world oto see. Denhan. The tenth century used to be reckoned by mediæval historians as the darkest part of this intellectual night. Hallam.

Want of clearness or perspicuity; obscurity; as, the darkness of a subject, or of a discussion.

Wanting in religious spirit and vitality; as, dead faith; dead works. "Dead in trespasses." Eph. ii. 1.

Wanting the sense of hearing, either wholly or in part; unable to perceive sounds; hard of hearing; as, a deaf man. Come on my right hand, for this ear is deaf. Shak.

g sounds; the state of the organs which prevents the impression which constitute hearing; want of the sense of hearing.

Scarcity which renders dear; want; lack; specifically, lack of food on account of failure of crops; famine. There came a dearth over all the land of Egypt. Acts vii. 11. He with her press'd, she faint with dearth. Shak. Dearth of plot, and narrowness of imagination. Dryden.

of time, place, and of decency in general. Burke. Immodest words admit of no defense, For want of decency is want of sense. Roscommon.

Want or absence of something necessary for completeness or perfection; deficiency; -- opposed to superfluity. Errors have been corrected, and defects supplied. Davies.

Wanting in something; incomplete; lacking a part; deficient; imperfect; faulty; -- applied either to natural or moral qualities; as, a defective limb; defective timber; a defective copy or account; a defective character; defective rules.

The state of being deficient; inadequacy; want; failure; imperfection; shortcoming; defect. "A deficiencyof blood." Arbuthnot. [Marlborough] was so miserably ignorant, that his deficiencies made him the ridicule of his contemporaries. Buckle. Deficiency of a curve (Geom.), the amount by which the number of double point…

Wanting, to make up completeness; wanting, as regards a requirement; not sufficient; inadequate; defective; imperfect; incomplete; lacking; as, deficient parts; deficient estate; deficient strength; deficient in judgment. The style was indeed deficient in ease and variety. Macaulay. Deficient number. (Arith.) See under…

The state of being deformed; want of proper form or symmetry; any unnatural form or shape; distortion; irregularity of shape or features; ugliness. To make an envious mountain on my back, Where sits deformity to mock my body. Shak.

A diligent seeking or search; manifested want; desire to posses; request; as, a demand for certain goods; a person's company is in great demand. In 1678 came forth a second edition [Pilgrim's Progress] with additions; and the demand became immense. Macaulay.

The state of being deprived; privation; loss; want; bereavement.