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aining, expounding, or interpreting; the act of clearing from obscurity and making intelligible; as, the explanation of a passage in Scripture, or of a contract or treaty.

y, adv. -- Fac*ti"tious-ness, n. He acquires a factitious propensity, he forms an incorrigible habit, of desultory reading. De Quincey.

on the subject of such activity. This second object is called the factitive object. J. W. Gibbs.

Distinct; legible; as, fair handwriting.

Fanaticism. [R.] Gibbon.

sorrow. Shak. That enormous engine was flanked by two fellows almost of equal magnitude. Gibbon.

To make a wry face in contempt, or to grin in scorn; to deride; to sneer; to mock; to gibe; as, to fleer and flout. To fleer and scorn at our solemnity. Shak.

A severe or contemptuous remark; an expression of sarcastic scorn; a gibe; a sarcasm. I, who love to have a fling, Both at senate house and king. Swift.

To utter contemptious language, with an air of disdain; to jeer or gibe. [Obs.] Beau. & Fl.

ractice mocking; to behave with contempt; to sneer; to fleer; -- often with at. Fleer and gibe, and laugh and flout. Swift.

ncident upon it. The light emitted by fluorescent substances is in general of lower refrangibility than the incident light. Stockes.

nchpin; a pin fastening the cap-square of a gun. Forelock bolt, a bolt retained by a key, gib, or cotter passing through a slot. -- Forelock hook (Rope Making), a winch or whirl by which a bunch of three yarns is twisted into a standard. Knight. -- To take time, or occasion, by the forelock, to make prompt use of any…

The gibbet. [Obs.] Bp. Butler. Fork beam (Shipbuilding), a half beam to support a deck, where hatchways occur. -- Fork chuck (Wood Turning), a lathe center having two prongs for driving the work. -- Fork head. (a) The barbed head of an arrow. (b) The forked end of a rod which forms part of a knuckle joint. -- In for…

hen; to confirm; to furnish with power to resist attack. Timidity was fortified by pride. Gibbon. Pride came to the aid of fancy, and both combined to fortify his resolution. Sir W. Scott.

Having fortitude; courageous. [R.] Gibbon.

The condition or quality of being fragile; brittleness; frangibility. Bacon.

A contemptuous speech or piece of conduct; a gibe or flout. [Obs.] Beau. & Fl.

Nonsense; gibberish; confused and unmeaning talk; confused mixture. Her dress, like her talk, is a galimatias of several countries. Walpole.

A plant of the genus Zingiber, of the East and West Indies. The species most known is Z. officinale.

A cut; a sarcastic remark; a gibe; a sneer. I thank thee for that gird, good Tranio. Shak.