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An inflammable temper; spirit; mettle; pluck; as, a man of spunk. [Colloq.] A lawless and dangerous set, men of spunk, and spirit, and power, both of mind and body. Prof. Wilson.

To quell; to crush; to silence or put down. [Colloq.] Oh 't was your luck and mine to be squelched. Beau. & Fl. If you deceive us you will be squelched. Carlyle.

Influenced in fortune by the stars. [Obs.] My third comfort, Starred most unluckily. Shak.

That which is contended against; occasion of contest. [Obs.] "Lamenting her unlucky strife." Spenser.

corrupt. -- To strike oil, to find petroleum when boring for it; figuratively, to make a lucky hit financially. [Slang, U.S.] -- To strike one luck, to shake hands with one and wish good luck. [Obs.] Beau. & Fl. -- To strike out. (a) To produce by collision; to force out, as, to strike out sparks with steel. (b) To b…

a. It is usually thought to be a charm, talisman, or religious token, esp. a sign of good luck or benediction. Max MüLler distinguished from the swastika, with arms prolonged to the right, the suavastika, with arms prolonged to the left, but this distinction is not commonly recognized. Other names for the swastika are…

To pluck; to snatch; to steal. [Slang, U.S.]

to theatrical ranting. [Obs.] Shak. -- To tear down, to demolish violently; to pull or pluck down. -- To tear off, to pull off by violence; to strip. -- To tear out, to pull or draw out by violence; as, to tear out the eyes. -- To tear up, to rip up; to remove from a fixed state by violence; as, to tear up a floor…

Success; fortune; luck; chance. [Obs.] Evil thedom on his monk's snout. Chaucer.

A letter of the Greek alphabet corresponding to th in English; -- sometimes called the unlucky letter, from being used by the judges on their ballots in passing condemnation on a prisoner, it being the first letter of the Greek qa`natos, death. Theta function (Math.), one of a group of functions used in developing the…

osses, or obstructs; a cross accident; as, he would have succeeded, had it not been for unlucky traverses not under his control.

To pull; to pluck. [Obs.] To ease the pain, His tugged cars suffered with a strain. Hudibras.

Small pinchers used to pluck out hairs, and for other purposes.

To pull with a sudden jerk; to pluck with a short, quick motion; to snatch; as, to twitch one by the sleeve; to twitch a thing out of another's hand; to twitch off clusters of grapes. Thrice they twitched the diamond in her ear. Pope.

Ill-fated; unlucky. [Prov. Eng. & Scot.]

Not fortunate; unsuccessful; not prosperous; unlucky; attended with misfortune; unhappy; as, an unfortunate adventure; an unfortunate man; an unfortunate commander; unfortunate business. -- n.

Ill luck; misfortune. [Obs.] "The cause of her unhap." Sir P. Sidney.

Not happy or fortunate; unfortunate; unlucky; as, affairs have taken an unhappy turn.

not producing the desired event; not fortunate; meeting with, or resulting in, failure; unlucky; unhappy. -- Un`suc*cess"ful*ly, adv. -- Un`suc*cess"ful*ness, n.

Inconvenient; troublesome; vexatious; unlucky; unfortunate; as, an untoward wind or accident. -- Un*to"ward*ly, adv. -- Un*to"ward*ness, n.