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Distressing; worrying; perplexing; corroding; as, carking cares.

A fortified residence, especially that of a prince or nobleman; a fortress. The house of every one is to him castle and fortress, as well for his defense againts injury and violence, as for his repose. Coke. Our castle's strength Will laugh a siege to scorn. Shak.

To yield or surrender; to give up; to resign; as, to cede a fortress, a province, or country, to another nation, by treaty. The people must cede to the government some of their natural rights. Jay.

An enchantress. Chaucer.

A castle or a fortress in France.

Having the characteristics of Circe, daughter of Sol and Perseis, a mythological enchantress, who first charmed her victims and then changed them to the forms of beasts; pleasing, but noxious; as, a Circean draught.

A fortress in or near a fortified city, commanding the city and fortifications, and intended as a final point of defense. Syn. - Stronghold. See Fortress.

To disengage one's self frpm incumbrances, distress, or entanglements; to become free. [He that clears at once will relapse; for finding himself out of straits, he will revert to the customs; but he that cleareth by degrees induceth a habit of frugality. Bacon.

esp. used of reputation or character. I would not be a stander-by to hear My sovereign mistress clouded so, without My present vengeance taken. Shak.

n of replevin, by which the defendant insists that the goods were lawfully taken, as a distress, by defendant, acting as servant for another. [Eng.] Cowell. Mozley & W.

The mistress or sweetheart of Harlequin in pantomimes. Brewer.

Serviceable; helpful. [Obs.] Be comfortable to my mother, your mistress, and make much of her. Shak.

Without comfort or comforts; in want or distress; cheerless. Comfortless through turanny or might. Spenser.

es, but you never read that we are commanded to forgive our friends. Bacon. Go to your mistress: Say, I command her come to me. Shak.

The act of commiserating; sorrow for the wants, afflictions, or distresses of another; pity; compassion. And pluck commiseration of his state From brassy bosoms and rough hearts of flint. Shak.

To qualify as a companion; to make equal. [Obs.] Companion me with my mistress. Shak.

Literally, suffering with another; a sensation of sorrow excited by the distress or misfortunes of another; pity; commiseration. Womanly igenuity set to work by womanly compassion. Macaulay.

A competitress.

The act of consoling; the state of being consoled; allevation of misery or distress of mind; refreshment of spirit; comfort; that which consoles or comforts the spirit. Against such cruelties With inward consolations recompensed. Milton. Are the consolations of God small with thee Job xv. 11.

To cheer in distress or depression; to alleviate the grief and raise the spirits of; to relieve; to comfort; to soothe. And empty heads console with empty sound. Pope. I am much consoled by the reflection that the religion of Christ has been attacked in vain by all the wits and philosophers, and its triumph has been co…