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A kind of coarse brocade, or figured fabric, used chiefly for tapestry, linings for carriages, etc.

A thin woolen stuff, used chiefly for flags, colors, and ships' signals.

force of clerks; the body of officials in a department who labor under the direction of a chief.

he business of government by means of departments or bureaus, each under the control of a chief, in contradiction to a system in which the officers of government have an associated authority and responsibility; also, government conducted on this system.

A chief magistrate of a municipal town in Holland, Flanders, and Germany, corresponding to mayor in England and the United States; a burghmaster.

Having a large, strong, or gross body; stout; lusty; -- now used chiefly of human beings, but formerly of animals, in the sense of stately or beautiful, and of inanimate things that were huge and bulky. "Burly sacks." Drayton. In his latter days, with overliberal diet, [he was] somewhat corpulent and burly. Sir T. More…

A manor house; a castle. [Prov. Eng.] To this very day, the chief house of a manor, or the lord's seat, is called bury, in some parts of England. Miege.

The advisory council of the chief executive officer of a nation; a cabinet council.

A chief judge in the Turkish empire, so named originally because his jurisdiction extended to the cases of soldiers, who are now tried only by their own officers.

A large pear, shaped like a flattened top, used chiefly for cooking. Johnson.

The Muse that presides over eloquence and heroic poetry; mother of Orpheus, and chief of the nine Muses.

A woven fabric originally made of camel's hair, now chiefly of goat's hair and silk, or of wool and cotton. [Sometimes written camelot and camblet.]

-- Camp meeting, a religious gathering for open-air preaching, held in some retired spot, chiefty by Methodists. It usualy last for several days, during which those present lodge in tents, temporary houses, or cottages. -- Camp stool, the same as camp chair, except that the stool has no back. -- Flying camp (Mil.), a…

dais, or the like, or carried on poles over an exalted personage or a sacred object, etc. chiefly as a mark of honor. "Golden canoniec and beds of state." Dryden.

One of the chief divisions of a long poem; a book.

A division of a shield occupying one third part of the chief, usually on the dexter side, formed by a perpendicular line from the top of the shield, meeting a horizontal line from the side. The king gave us the arms of England to be borne in a canton in our arms. Evelyn.

A charm; an incantation; a shell; a trick; adroit mischief. [Written also cantraip.] [Scot.]

Also called India rubber (because it was first brought from India, and was formerly used chiefly for erasing pencil marks) and gum elastic. See Vulcanization. Mineral caoutchouc. See under Mineral.

The top, or uppermost part; the chief. Thou art the cap of all the fools alive. Shak.

First in importance; chief; principal. A capital article in religion Atterbury. Whatever is capital and essential in Christianity. I. Taylor.