Search the Dictionary

In a good sense, tenderness of feeling; gentleness. There is no flesh in man's obdurate heart. Cowper.

A variable quantity, considered as increasing or diminishing; - - called, in the modern calculus, the function or integral.

t worth having; empty compliment; trash; unsubstantial talk of writing. The flummery of modern criticism. J. Morley.

long its length, stopped by the fingers or by keys which are opened by the fingers. The modern flute is closed at the upper end, and blown with the mouth at a lateral hole. The breathing flute's soft notes are heard around. Pope.

To treat or handle with tenderness or in a loving manner; to caress; as, a nurse fondles a child.

The act of caressing; manifestation of tenderness. Cyrus made no . . . amorous fondling To fan her pride, or melt her guardless heart. Mickle.

a verse, the syllables being formerly distinguished by their quantity or length, but in modern poetry by the accent.

estation to the senses, or the intellect; as, water assumes the form of ice or snow. In modern usage, the elements of a conception furnished by the mind's own activity, as contrasted with its object or condition, which is called the matter; subjectively, a mode of apprehension or belief conceived as dependent on the co…

which one excels. fort"a The construction of a fable seems by no means the forte of our modern poetical writers. Jeffrey.

In modern parlance, incorrectly applied to painting on plaster in any manner.

e formerly occupying a large part of the coast of Holland and Northwestern Germany. The modern dialects of Friesic are spoken chiefly in the province of Friesland, and on some of the islands near the coast of Germany and Denmark.

A loose outer garment; especially, a gown forming a part of European modern costume for women and children; also, a coarse hirtlike garment worn by some workmen over their ther clothes; a smock frock; as, a marketman's frock.

from the 8th to the 11th century; Middle H. G., from the 12th to the 15th century; and Modern or New H. G., the language of Luther's Bible version and of modern German literature. The dialects of Central Germany, the basis of the modern literary language, are often called Middle German, and the Southern German dialect…

lled also the dative infinitive; as, "Ic hæbbe mete tô etanne" (I have meat to eat.) In Modern English the name has been applied to verbal or participal nouns in -ing denoting a transitive action; e. g., by throwing a stone.

Cautiousness; tenderness.

An order of ganoid fishes, including the modern gar pikes and many allied fossil forms. They have rhombic, ganoid scales, a heterocercal tail, paired fins without an axis, fulcra on the fins, and a bony skeleton, with the vertebræ convex in front and concave behind, forming a ball and socket joint. See Ganoidel.…

er drift. -- Glacial epoch or period (Geol.), a period during which the climate of the modern temperate regions was polar, and ice covered large portions of the northern hemisphere to the mountain tops. -- Glacial theory or hypothesis. (Geol.) See Glacier theory, under Glacier.

als, 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, which long retain color when gathere…

ith traitors." J. H. Newman. -- To handle without gloves, to treat without reserve or tenderness; to deal roughly with. [Colloq.] -- To take up the glove, to accept a challenge or adopt a quarrel. -- To throw down the glove, to challenge to combat.

and of gilded copper, formerly hung around the neck of officers in full uniform in some modern armies.