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To go through a process of natural evolution or growth, by successive changes from a less perfect to a more perfect or more highly organized state; to advance from a simpler form of existence to one more complex either in structure or function; as, a blossom develops from a bud; the seed develops into a plant; the embr…

the actual direction of a plumb line and the direction it would have if the earth were a perfect ellipsoid and homogeneous, -- caused by the attraction of a mountain, or irregularities in the earth's density.

rd, as of notes an octave apart; harmony. The fair music that all creatures made . . . In perfect diapason. Milton.

Effected or produced by a flood or deluge of water; -- said of coarse and imperfectly stratified deposits along ancient or existing water courses. Similar unstratified deposits were formed by the agency of ice. The time of deposition has been called the Diluvian epoch.

In a dim or obscure manner; not brightly or clearly; with imperfect sight.

In a dioecious manner. Dioeciously hermaphrodite (Bot.), having flowers structurally perfect, but practically dioecious, -- those on one plant producing no pollen, and those on another no ovules.

Subjection to rule; submissiveness to order and control; habit of obedience. The most perfect, who have their passions in the best discipline, are yet obliged to be constantly on their guard. Rogers.

To mar the figure of; to render less complete, perfect, or beautiful in appearance; to deface; to deform. Disfiguring not God's likeness, but their own. Milton.

The state or quality of being disinterested; impartiality. That perfect disinterestedness and self-devotion of which man seems to be incapable, but which is sometimes found in woman. Macaulay.

o something else in bulk, form, value, or extent; out of proportion; inadequate; as, in a perfect body none of the limbs are disproportionate; it is wisdom not to undertake a work disproportionate means. -- Dis`pro*por"tion*ate*ly, adv. -- Dis`pro*por"tion*ate*ness, n.

Of or belonging to God; as, divine perfections; the divine will. "The immensity of the divine nature." Paley.

. Hamilton. Doubt, in order to be operative in requiring an acquittal, is not the want of perfect certainty (which can never exist in any question of fact) but a defect of proof preventing a reasonable assurance of quilt. Wharton.

Imperfectly baked; hence, not brought to perfection; unfinished; also, of weak or dull understanding. [Colloq.] Halliwell.

To sleep imperfectly or unsoundly; to slumber; to be heavy with sleepiness; to doze. "He drowsed upon his couch." South. In the pool drowsed the cattle up to their knees. Lowell.

Imperfect obscurity; a middle degree between light and darkness; twilight; as, the dusk of the evening.

To perfect with painstaking; to improve or refine with labor and study, or by successive operations; as, to elaborate a painting or a literary work. The sap is . . . still more elaborated and exalted as it circulates through the vessels of the plant. Arbuthnot.

on, and often chemical changes when the circuit passes between the poles or through any imperfectly conducting substance or space. It is generally brought into action by any disturbance of molecular equilibrium, whether from a chemical, physical, or mechanical, cause.

To clear from spots or stains, or from any imperfection. [Obs.] Hales.

rtaining to, or characterized by, emmetropia. The normal or emmetropic eye adjusts itself perfectly for all distances. J. Le Conte.

Pertaining to a scale of perfect intonation which recognizes all the notes and intervals that result from the exact tuning of diatonic scales and their transposition into other keys.