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One who gives or bestows; one who confers anything gratuitously; a benefactor.

A jet or current of water or vapor directed upon some part of the body to benefit it medicinally; a douche bath.

To cause to come out for one's use or benefit; to extract; to educe; to bring forth; as: (a) To bring or take out, or to let out, from some receptacle, as a stick or post from a hole, water from a cask or well, etc. The drew out the staves of the ark. 2 Chron. v. 9. Draw thee waters for the siege. Nahum iii. 14. I open…

property at sea. The droits of admiralty are now paid into the Exchequer for the public benefit.

A stupid, awkward, inefficient person.[Slang]

Of all things on earth; possible; conceivable. What earthly benefit can be the result Pope.

also, the ceremonies (as at Oxford and Cambridge, England) commemorative of founders or benefactors.

achieve or reach; to try; to attempt. It is our duty to endeavor the recovery of these beneficial subjects. Ld. Chatham. To endeavor one's self, to exert one's self strenuously to the fulfillment of a duty. [Obs.] "A just man that endeavoreth himself to leave all wickedness." Latimer.

rarely by of; as, man is endowed by his Maker with reason; to endow with privileges or benefits.

To have, possess, and use with satisfaction; to occupy or have the benefit of, as a good or profitable thing, or as something desirable; as, to enjoy a free constitution and religious liberty. That the children of Israel may enjoy every man the inheritance of his fathers. Num. xxxvi. 8. To enjoy the pleasures of sin fo…

ody or mind, for the performance of anything; a trial; attempt; as, to make an essay to benefit a friend. "The essay at organization." M. Arnold.

The plant eyesight (euphrasia officionalis), formerly regarded as beneficial in disorders of the eyes. Then purged with euphrasy and rue The visual nerve, for he had much to see. Milton.

enance; allowance, esp. for meat and drink; pension. Specifically: (Eng. Univ.) Private benefaction for the maintenance of scholars. What maintenance he from his friends receives, Like exhibition thou shalt have from me. Shak. I have given more exhibitions to scholars, in my days, than to the priests. Tyndale.…

xpectative grace, a mandate given by the pope or a prince appointing a successor to any benefice before it becomes vacant. Foxe.

r unseeded; land plowed without being sowed for the season. The plowing of fallows is a benefit to land. Mortimer.

Rich; producing a large income; desirable; as, a fat benefice; a fat office; a fat job. Now parson of Troston, a fat living in Suffolk. Carlyle.

To enrich; to exalt; to benefit. They stuck not to say that the king cared not to plume his nobility and people to feather himself. Bacon. Dryden.

An estate held of a superior on condition of military service; a fee; a feud. See under Benefice, n., 2.

nt who held directly from him. (c) (Eng. Eccl. Law) The first year's whole profits of a benefice or spiritual living. (d) The earliest effects or results. See, Father, what first fruits on earth are sprung From thy implanted grace in man! Milton. -- First mate, an officer in a merchant vessel next in rank to the captai…

se the power of; to cease from doing. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. Ps. ciii. 2. Let y right hand forget her cunning. Ps. cxxxvii. 5. Hath thy knee forget to bow Shak.