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A sudden and violent attack of a disorder; a stroke of disease, as of epilepsy or apoplexy, which produces convulsions or unconsciousness; a convulsion; a paroxysm; hence, a period of exacerbation of a disease; in general, an attack of disease; as, a fit of sickness. And when the fit was on him, I did mark How he did s…

of an army, as of a brigade, regiment, or battalion; the extreme right or left; as, to attack an enemy in flank is to attack him on the side. When to right and left the front Divided, and to either flank retired. Milton.

To attack sideways. [Obs.] Evelyn.

-- Flat nail, a small, sharp-pointed, wrought nail, with a flat, thin head, larger than a tack. Knight. -- Flat paper, paper which has not been folded. -- Flat rail, a railroad rail consisting of a simple flat bar spiked to a longitudinal sleeper. -- Flat rods (Mining), horizontal or inclined connecting rods, for tr…

To draw apart the blocks of; -- said of a tackle. Totten.

ble of being moved forward by pulleys; -- used for carrying troops over narrow moats in attacking the outworks of a fort. (c) A kind of ferryboat which is guided and impelled by means of chains which are anchored on each side of a stream, and pass over wheels on the vessel, the wheels being driven by stream power. (d)…

, that it can neither be prepared nor kept in glass vessels. If set free it immediately attacks the containing material, so that it was not isolated until 1886. It is a pungent, corrosive, colorless gas. Symbol F. Atomic weight 19.

round, to move about in haste. [Colloq.] -- To fly at, to spring toward; to rush on; to attack suddenly. -- To fly in the face of, to insult; to assail; to set at defiance; to oppose with violence; to act in direct opposition to; to resist. -- To fly off, to separate, or become detached suddenly; to revolt. -- To fl…

s. -- Fore sight, that one of the two sights of a gun which is near the muzzle. -- Fore tackle (Naut.), the tackle on the foremast of a ship. -- Fore topmast. (Naut.) See Fore-topmast, in the Vocabulary. -- Fore wind, a favorable wind. [Obs.] Sailed on smooth seas, by fore winds borne. Sandys. -- Fore world, the an…

To arm or prepare for attack or resistance before the time of need. South.

oöl.) (a) One of numerous species of blood-sucking flies, of the family Tabanidæ, which attack both men and beasts. See Horse fly. (b) A fly of the genus Hippobosca, esp. H. equina. See Horse tick. -- Forest glade, a grassy space in a forest. Thomson. -- Forest laws, laws for the protection of game, preservation of t…

That which fortifies; especially, a work or works erected to defend a place against attack; a fortified place; a fortress; a fort; a castle. Fortification agate, Scotch pebble.

To add strength to; to strengthen; to confirm; to furnish with power to resist attack. Timidity was fortified by pride. Gibbon. Pride came to the aid of fancy, and both combined to fortify his resolution. Sir W. Scott.

Power to resist attack; strength; firmness. [Obs.] The fortitude of the place is best known to you. Shak.

view to secure and strengthen, as a vessel by passing cables around it; to tighten; as a tackle by drawing the lines together. Tottem.

A mode of opening the game, in which a pawn is sacrificed to gain an attacking position.

lay's game to blacken the greatest literary champion of the cause he had set himself to attack. Saintsbury.

A tackle for hoisting cargo in our out. Clew garnet. See under Clew.

To favor; to advocate. (d) To attack; to assault. [Low] (e) To sell for; to be parted with for (a price). -- To go for nothing, to be parted with for no compensation or result; to have no value, efficacy, or influence; to count for nothing. -- To go forth. (a) To depart from a place. (b) To be divulged or made genera…

n an inflammation of the fibrous and ligamentous parts of the joints, and almost always attacks first the great toe, next the smaller joints, after which, it may attack the greater articulations. It is attended with various sympathettic phenomena, particularly in the digestive organs. It may also attack internal organs…