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us shaped like a comma, found in the intestines of patients suffering from cholera. It is considered by some as having a special relation to the disease; -- called also cholera bacillus. -- Comma butterfly (Zoöl.), an American butterfly (Grapta comma), having a white comma-shaped marking on the under side of the wings…

onor of your sovereign. Junius. Any sudden assent to the proposal . . . might possibly be considered as committing the faith of the United States. Marshall.

The act of referring or intrusting to a committee for consideration and report; as, the commitment of a petition or a bill.

to which a legislative or deliberative body sometimes resolves itself, for the purpose of considering a particular measure under the operation of different rules from those governing the general legislative proceedings. The committee of the whole has its own chairman, and reports its action in the form of recommendatio…

A ticket for transportation at a reduced rate in consideration of some special circumstance, as increase of travel; specif., a ticket for a certain number of, or for daily, trips between neighboring places at a reduced rate, such as are commonly used by those doing business in a city and living in a suburb. Commutation…

A figure by which one person or thing is compared to another, or the two are considered with regard to some property or quality, which is common to them both; e.g., the lake sparkled like a jewel.

e gospel. South. Complex of lines (Geom.), all the possible straight lines in space being considered, the entire system of lines which satisfy a single relation constitute a complex; as, all the lines which meet a given curve make up a complex. The lines which satisfy two relations constitute a congruency of lines; as,…

I pray, my lords, let me compound this strife. Shak. To compound a felony, to accept of a consideration for forbearing to prosecute, such compounding being an indictable offense. See Theftbote.

Macaulay. To be in conclave, to be engaged in a secret meeting; -- said of several, or a considerable number of, persons.

The parties that are confederated, considered as a unit; a confederacy. Articles of confederation. See under Article.

s at her pavilion. Shak. To congratulate one's self, to rejoice; to feel satisfaction; to consider one's self happy or fortunate.

missioners; esp., a meeting of the representatives of several governments or societies to consider and determine matters of common interest. The European powers strove to . . . accommodate their differences at the congress of Vienna. Alison.

term [construction] signifies determining the meaning and proper effect of language by a consideration of the subject matter and attendant circumstances in connection with the words employed. Abbott. Interpretation properly precedes construction, but it does not go beyond the written text. Parsons. Construction of an…

To have reference to, in judging or acting; to have regard to; to consider; as, to consult one's wishes. We are . . . to consult the necessities of life, rather than matters of ornament and delight. L'Estrange.

A council or conference, as of physicians, held to consider a special case, or of lawyers restained in a cause. Writ of consultation (Law), a writ by which a cause, improperly removed by prohibition from one court to another, is returned to the court from which it came; -- so called because the judges, on consultation,…

To look at on all sides or in all its bearings; to view or consider with continued attention; to regard with deliberate care; to meditate on; to study. To love, at least contemplate and admire, What I see excellent. Milton. We thus dilate Our spirits to the size of that they contemplate. Byron.

The act of the mind in considering with attention; continued attention of the mind to a particular subject; meditation; musing; study. In contemplation of created things, By steps we may ascend to God. Milton. Contemplation is keeping the idea which is brought into the mind for some time actually in view. Locke.…

during the Civil War, escaped to, or was brought within, the Union lines. Such slave was considered contraband of war. [U.S.] Contraband of war, that which, according to international law, cannot be supplied to a hostile belligerent except at the risk of seizure and condemnation by the aggrieved belligerent. Wharton.…

The agreement of two or more persons, upon a sufficient consideration or cause, to do, or to abstain from doing, some act; an agreement in which a party undertakes to do, or not to do, a particular thing; a formal bargain; a compact; an interchange of legal rights. Wharton.

Contrivance; invention; arrangement; design; plan. [Obs.] Consider the admirable contrivement and artifice of this great fabric. Glanvill. Active to meet their contrivements. Sir G. Buck.