Search the Dictionary

ly; to postpone; to close or suspend for the day; -- commonly said of the meeting, or the action, of convened body; as, to adjourn the meeting; to adjourn a debate. It is a common practice to adjourn the reformation of their lives to a further time. Barrow. 'Tis a needful fitness That we adjourn this court till further…

A process by which land is attached security or in satisfaction of a debt.

An ingredient, in a prescription, which aids or modifies the action of the principal ingredient.

To expose to the chemical action of air; to oxygenate (the blood) by respiration; to arterialize. Aërated bread, bread raised by charging dough with carbonic acid gas, instead of generating the gas in the dough by fermentation.

Exposure to the free action of the air; airing; as, aëration of soil, of spawn, etc.

The science which treats of the air and other gaseous bodies under the action of force, and of their mechanical effects.

he science of measuring the air, including the doctrine of its pressure, elasticity, rarefaction, and condensation; pneumatics.

r greatly intensifying speech. It consists of a phonograph diaphragm so arranged that its action opens and closes valves, producing synchronous air blasts sufficient to operate a larger diaphragm with greater amplitude of vibration.

The science of sensation in relation to nervous action. H. Spenser.

Any proceeding or action which it is wished to refer to or characterize vaguely; as, an affair of honor, i. e., a duel; an affair of love, i. e., an intrigue.

That attraction which takes place, at an insensible distance, between the heterogeneous particles of bodies, and unites them to form chemical compounds; chemism; chemical or elective affinity or attraction.

Fig.: In motion; in action; astir; in progress. The matter being afoot. Shak.

In opposition to, whether the opposition is of sentiment or of action; on the other side; counter to; in contrariety to; hence, adverse to; as, against reason; against law; to run a race against time. The gate would have been shut against her. Fielding. An argument against the use of steam. Tyndale.…

The faculty of acting or of exerting power; the state of being in action; action; instrumentality. The superintendence and agency of Providence in the natural world. Woodward.

Actingpatient, or sustaining, action. [Archaic] "The body agent." Bacon.

To move with a violent, irregular action; as, the wind agitates the sea; to agitate water in a vessel. "Winds . . . agitate the air." Cowper.

or the state of being agitated; the state of being moved with violence, or with irregular action; commotion; as, the sea after a storm is in agitation.

To harmonize in opinion, statement, or action; to be in unison or concord; to be or become united or consistent; to concur; as, all parties agree in the expediency of the law. If music and sweet poetry agree. Shak. Their witness agreed not together. Mark xiv. 56. The more you agree together, the less hurt can your enem…

The quality of being agreeable or pleasing; that quality which gives satisfaction or moderate pleasure to the mind or senses. That author . . . has an agreeableness that charms us. Pope.

State of agreeing; harmony of opinion, statement, action, or character; concurrence; concord; conformity; as, a good agreement subsists among the members of the council. What agreement hath the temple of God with idols 2 Cor. vi. 16. Expansion and duration have this further agreement. Locke.