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nces, character, conduct, occupation, etc.; hence, human affairs; also, lives, considered collectively, as a distinct class or type; as, low life; a good or evil life; the life of Indians, or of miners. That which before us lies in daily life. Milton. By experience of life abroad in the world. Ascham. Lives of great me…

Linen goods collectively; linen underwear, esp. of women; the clothing of linen and cotton with its lace, etc., worn by a women.

The collective body of literary productions, embracing the entire results of knowledge and fancy preserved in writing; also, the whole body of literary productions or writings upon a given subject, or in reference to a particular science or branch of knowledge, or of a given country or period; as, the literature of Bib…

The young brought forth at one time, by a sow or other multiparous animal, taken collectively. Also Fig. A wolf came to a sow, and very kindly offered to take care of her litter. D. Estrange. Reflect upon numerous litter of strange, senseless opinions that crawl about the world. South.

of legislation not appropriated to the official use of the assembly; hence, the persons, collectively, who frequent such a place to transact business with the legislators; any persons, not members of a legislative body, who strive to influence its proceedings by personal agency. [U.S.]

A separate portion; a number of things taken collectively; as, a lot of stationery; -- colloquially, sometimes of people; as, a sorry lot; a bad lot. I, this winter, met with a very large lot of English heads, chiefly of the reign of James I. Walpole.

To take in the gross; to speak of collectively. Not forgetting all others, . . . whom for brevity, but out of no resentment you, I lump all together. Sterne.

Machines, in general, or collectively.

The collective body of magistrates.

The collective body of those who manage or direct any enterprise or interest; the board of managers.

The collective body of officials or persons of rank in China. S. W. Williams.

The human race; man, taken collectively. The proper study of mankind is man. Pore.

The sum of naval affairs; naval economy; the department of navigation and sea forces; the collective shipping of a country; as, the mercantile marine.

cohering together so as to make one body, or an aggregation of particles or things which collectively make one body or quantity, usually of considerable size; as, a mass of ore, metal, sand, or water. If it were not for these principles, the bodies of the earth, planets, comets, sun, and all things in them, would grow…

The collective body of matrons. Burke. Can a politician slight the feelings and convictions of the whole matronage of his country Hare.

Mats, in general, or collectively; mat work; a matlike fabric, for use in covering floors, packing articles, and the like; a kind of carpeting made of straw, etc.

The arrangement or relation of the parts of a machine; the parts of a machine, taken collectively; the arrangement or relation of the parts of anything as adapted to produce an effect; as, the mechanism of a watch; the mechanism of a sewing machine; the mechanism of a seed pod.

The collective body of members, as of a society.

sell to them. -- Mercantile marine, the persons and vessels employed in commerce, taken collectively. -- Mercantile paper, the notes or acceptances given by merchants for goods bought, or received on consignment; drafts on merchants for goods sold or consigned. McElrath.

The body of merchants taken collectively; as, the merchantry of a country.