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ormal or elegant meal. (b) That which engages the attention agreeably, amuses or diverts, whether in private, as by conversation, etc., or in public, by performances of some kind; amusement. Theatrical entertainments conducted with greater elegance and refinement. Prescott.

A real being, whether in thought (as an ideal conception) or in fact; being; essence; existence. Self-subsisting entities, such as our own personality. Shairp. Fortune is no real entity, . . . but a mere relative signification. Bentley.

An effusion of wit; a bright thought tersely and sharply expressed, whether in verse or prose.

Furniture or outfit, whether useful or ornamental; especially, the furniture and supplies of a vessel, fitting her for a voyage or for warlike purposes, or the furniture and necessaries of an army, a body of troops, or a single soldier, including whatever is necessary for efficient service; equipments; accouterments; h…

A combining unit, whether an atom, a radical, or a molecule; as, in acid salt two or more equivalents of acid unite with one or more equivalents of base. Mechanical equivalent of heat (Physics), the number of units of work which the unit of heat can perform; the mechanical energy which must be expended to raise the tem…

uty drawn from this science; a particular system of principles and rules concerting duty, whether true or false; rules of practice in respect to a single class of human actions; as, political or social ethics; medical ethics. The completeness and consistency of its morality is the peculiar praise of the ethics which th…

The science of improving stock, whether human or animal. F. Galton.

abitants. On the European plain, having rooms to let, and leaving it optional with guests whether they will take meals in the house; -- said of hotels. [U. S.]

f division by two without a remainder; -- said of numbers; as, 4 and 10 are even numbers. Whether the number of the stars is even or odd. Jer. Taylor. On even ground, with equal advantage. -- On even keel (Naut.), in a level or horizontal position.

o inquire or search into; to explore; as, to examine a mineral; to examine a ship to know whether she is seaworthy; to examine a proposition, theory, or question. Examine well your own thoughts. Chaucer. Examine their counsels and their cares. Shak.

The act of excluding, or of shutting out, whether by thrusting out or by preventing admission; a debarring; rejection; prohibition; the state of being excluded. His sad exclusion from the doors of bliss. Milton. The exclusion of the duke from the crown of England and Ireland. Hume.

An impersonal title of the chief magistrate or officer who administers the government, whether king, president, or governor; the governing person or body.

Exertion for the sake of training or improvement whether physical, intellectual, or moral; practice to acquire skill, knowledge, virtue, perfectness, grace, etc. "Desire of knightly exercise." Spenser. An exercise of the eyes and memory. Locke.

To be as a fact and not as a mode; to have an actual or real being, whether material or spiritual. Who now, alas! no more is missed Than if he never did exist. Swift. To conceive the world . . . to have existed from eternity. South.

thing that is believed to be about to happen or come; to have a previous apprehension of, whether of good or evil; to look for with some confidence; to anticipate; -- often followed by an infinitive, sometimes by a clause (with, or without, that); as I expect to receive wages; I expect that the troops will be defeated.…

The effect upon the judgment or feelings produced by any event, whether witnessed or participated in; personal and direct impressions as contrasted with description or fancies; personal acquaintance; actual enjoyment or suffering. "Guided by other's experiences." Shak. I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, a…

sentation of meaning, sentiment, or feeling, etc.; significant and impressive indication, whether by language, appearance, or gesture; that manner or style which gives life and suggestive force to ideas and sentiments; as, he reads with expression; her performance on the piano has expression. The imitators of Shakespea…

Capable of being extended, whether in length or breadth; susceptible of enlargement; extensible; extendible; -- the opposite of contractible or compressible. "An extensible membrane" Holder.

Outside appearance; surface show; look; external aspect, whether natural, assumed, or acquired. To set a face upon their own malignant design. Milton. This would produce a new face of things in Europe. Addison. We wear a face of joy, because We have been glad of yore. Wordsworth.

Ability to act or perform, whether inborn or cultivated; capacity for any natural function; especially, an original mental power or capacity for any of the well-known classes of mental activity; psychical or soul capacity; capacity for any of the leading kinds of soul activity, as knowledge, feeling, volition; intellec…