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ndling; not to be rudely or hastily dealt with; nice; critical; as, a delicate subject or question. There are some things too delicate and too sacred to be handled rudely without injury to truth. F. W. Robertson.

To inquire authoritatively or earnestly; to ask, esp. in a peremptory manner; to question. I did demand what news from Shrewsbury. Shak.

Capable of being demonstrated; that can be proved beyond doubt or question. The grand articles of our belief are as demonstrable as geometry. Glanvill.

A stop or pause by a party to an action, for the judgment of the court on the question, whether, assuming the truth of the matter alleged by the opposite party, it is sufficient in law to sustain the action or defense, and hence whether the party resting is bound to answer or proceed further. Demurrer to evidence, an e…

A refusal to grant; rejection of a request. The commissioners, . . . to obtain from the king's subjects as much as they would willingly give, . . . had not to complain of many peremptory denials. Hallam.

To refuse to grant; to withhold; to refuse to gratify or yield to; as, to deny a request. Who finds not Providence all good and wise, Alike in what it gives, and what denies Pope. To some men, it is more agreeable to deny a vicious inclination, than to gratify it. J. Edwards.

In the manner of one denies a request. Tennyson.

. [A Scotticism] The fairy Glorians, whose credibility on this point can not be called in question, depones to the confinement of Merlin in a tree. Dunlop.

To express a wish for; to entreat; to request. Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord 2 Kings iv. 28. Desire him to go in; trouble him no more. Shak.

To bring to a conclusion, as a question or controversy; to settle authoritative or judicial sentence; to decide; as, the court has determined the cause.

act of giving or disposing of real estate by will; -- sometimes improperly applied to a bequest of personal estate.

The governor of Algiers; -- so called before the French conquest in 1830.

lack of self-reliance; modesty; modest reserve; bashfulness. It is good to speak on such questions with diffidence. Macaulay. An Englishman's habitual diffidence and awkwardness of adress. W. Irving.

o a point or end; as, a direct line; direct means. What is direct to, what slides by, the question. Locke.

arvey's discovery of the circulation of the blood. A brilliant career of discovery and conquest. Prescott. We speak of the "invention" of printing, the discovery of America. Trench.

"We sat and . . . discussed the farm . . . and the price of grain." Tennyson. "To discuss questions of taste." Macaulay.

To disentangle. [R.] "To disintricate the question." Sir W. Hamilton.

Capable of being disputed; liable to be called in question, controverted, or contested; or doubtful certainty or propriety; controvertible; as, disputable opinions, propositions, points, or questions. Actions, every one of which is very disputable. Jer. Taylor.

A rhetorical exercise in which parties reason in opposition to each other on some question proposed.

; to attempt to overthrow; to controvert; to express dissent or opposition to; to call in question; to deny the truth or validity of; as, to dispute assertions or arguments. To seize goods under the disputed authority of writs of assistance. Bancroft.