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rmly hold to an act; to compel; to constrain; to bind to any act of duty or courtesy by a formal pledge. That they may not incline or be obligated to any vile or lowly occupations. Landor.

The formal decision, or expression of views, of a judge, an umpire, a counselor, or other party officially called upon to consider and decide upon a matter or point submitted. To be of opinion, to think; to judge. -- To hold opinion with, to agree with. [Obs.] Shak.

An elaborate discourse, delivered in public, treating an important subject in a formal and dignified manner; especially, a discourse having reference to some special occasion, as a funeral, an anniversary, a celebration, or the like; -- distinguished from an argument in court, a popular harangue, a sermon, a lecture, e…

A proposal; an offer; a proposition formally submitted for consideration, acceptance, or rejection. "The great overture of the gospel." Barrow.

A retraction; esp., a formal retraction. Sandys.

An oration or eulogy in praise of some person or achievement; a formal or elaborate encomium; a laudatory discourse; laudation. See Synonym of Eulogy.

Pompous show; formal display or exhibition. Be rich, but of your wealth make no parade. Swift.

hich is false in point of form, that is, which is contrary to logical rules or formulæ; a formal fallacy, or pseudo- syllogism, in which the conclusion does not follow from the premises.

A formal conference on public affairs; a general council; esp., an assembly of representatives of a nation or people having authority to make laws. They made request that it might be lawful for them to summon a parliament of Gauls. Golding.

private houses, a sitting room for the family and for familiar guests, -- a room for less formal uses than the drawing- room. Esp., in modern times, the dining room of a house having few apartments, as a London house, where the dining parlor is usually on the ground floor.

To go successfully through, as an examination, trail, test, etc.; to obtain the formal sanction of, as a legislative body; as, he passed his examination; the bill passed the senate.

A stately and formal Spanish dance for which full state costume is worn; -- so called from the resemblance of its movements to those of the peacock. [Written also pavane, paven, pavian, and pavin.]

One who by teaching has become formal, positive, or pedantic in his ways; one who has the manner of a schoolmaster; a pedant. Goldsmith.

In a perfunctory manner; formally; carelessly. Boyle.

The act of permitting or allowing; formal consent; authorization; leave; license or liberty granted. High permission of all-ruling Heaven. Milton. You have given me your permission for this address. Dryden.

prayer; a supplication; an imploration; an entreaty; especially, a request of a solemn or formal kind; a prayer to the Supreme Being, or to a person of superior power, rank, or authority; also, a single clause in such a prayer. A house of prayer and petition for thy people. 1 Macc. vii. 37. This last petition heard of…

nal forms and ceremonies; making a show of religion without the spirit of it; ceremonial; formal; hypocritical; self-righteous. "Excess of outward and pharisaical holiness. " Bacon. "Pharisaical ostentation." Macaulay. -- Phar`i*sa"ic*al*ly, adv. -- Phar`i*sa"ic*al*ness, n.

One of a sect or party among the Jews, noted for a strict and formal observance of rites and ceremonies and of the traditions of the elders, and whose pretensions to superior sanctity led them to separate themselves from the other Jews.

d to carbon monoxide, which, uniting with the hydrogen of the water in the cell, produces formaldehyde, the latter forming various sugars through polymerization. Vines suggests that the carbohydrates are secretion products of the chloroplasts, derived from decomposition of previously formed proteids. The food substance…

that is picked up, as a meal hastily got up for the occasion, a chance acquaintance, an informal game, etc.