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To catch. [Now obs. in spelling, and colloq. in pronunciation.] To ketch him at a vantage in his snares. Spenser.

ct to do a thing at the proper time; delay to assert a claim. It ill became him to take advantage of such a laches with the eagerness of a shrewd attorney. Macaulay.

ull in statement; diffuse; full; profuse. I might be very large upon the importance and advantages of education. Felton.

The action of a lever; mechanical advantage gained by the lever. Leverage of a couple (Mech.), the perpendicular distance between the lines of action of two forces which act in parallel and opposite directions. -- Leverage of a force, the perpendicular distance from the line in which a force acts upon a body to a poin…

ch an artist or writer indulges, assuming that it will be permitted for the sake of the advantage or effect gained; as, poetic license; grammatical license, etc.

ost me this glory. Baxter. To lose ground, to fall behind; to suffer gradual loss or disadvantage. -- To lose heart, to lose courage; to become timid. "The mutineers lost heart." Macaulay. -- To lose one's head, to be thrown off one's balance; to lose the use of one's good sense or judgment. In the excitement of such…

Failure to use advantageously; as, loss of time.

Any enticement; that which invites by the prospect of advantage or pleasure; a decoy. Milton.

To tend; to contribute; to have effect; -- with for or against; as, it makes for his advantage. M. Arnold. Follow after the things which make for peace. Rom. xiv. 19. Considerations infinite Do make against it. Shak.

nts in military or naval tactics; to make changes in position with reference to getting advantage in attack or defense.

The art of mangonizing, or setting off to advantage. [Obs.]

To furbish up for sale; to set off to advantage. [Obs. or R.] B. Jonson.

To draw anything from, as if by milking; to compel to yield profit or advantage; to plunder. Tyndale. They [the lawyers] milk an unfortunate estate as regularly as a dairyman does his stock. London Spectator. To milk the street, to squeeze the smaller operators in stocks and extract a profit from them, by alternately r…

of a totally different nature, or some surrounding object), as a means of protection or advantage.

To employ amiss; as, to misemploy time, advantages, talents, etc. Their frugal father's gains they misemploy. Dryden.

To use for a bad purpose; to abuse; to misuse; as, to misimprove time, talents, advantages, etc. South.

That by which anything is prepared for use, or set off to advantage; equipment; embellishment; setting; as, the mounting of a sword or diamond.

In certain games, to score against, or take an advantage over (an opponent), as for an error, announcing the act by saying "muggins."

d giving; reciprocally given and received; reciprocal; interchanged; as, a mutual love, advantage, assistance, aversion, etc. Conspiracy and mutual promise. Sir T. More. Happy in our mutual help, And mutual love. Milton. A certain shyness on such subjects, which was mutual between the sisters. G. Eliot.…

to puzzle; to impose upon the credulity of ; as, to mystify an opponent. He took undue advantage of his credulity and mystified him exceedingly. Ld. Campbell.