Search the Dictionary

; an instance of grievous distress; a pain or grief. To repay that money will be a biting affliction. Shak.

Free from affliction.

The state of being afflicted; affliction. [Obs.] Bp. Hall.

To alleviate; to abate; to mitigate; as, to allay the severity of affliction or the bitterness of adversity. It would allay the burning quality of that fell poison. Shak.

Trial by danger or by affliction; adventure; risk; hardship; state of being tried. [Obs.] Through many hard assays which did betide. Spenser.

To try to move, by entreaty, by afflictions, or by temptations; to tempt. [Obs. or Archaic] It made the laughter of an afternoon That Vivien should attempt the blameless king. Thackeray.

up. (a) To be supported; to have fortitude; to be firm; not to sink; as, to bear up under afflictions. (b) (Naut.) To put the helm up (or to windward) and so put the ship before the wind; to bear away. Hamersly. -- To bear upon (Mil.), to be pointed or situated so as to affect; to be pointed directly against, or so as…

That bites; sharp; cutting; sarcastic; caustic. "A biting affliction." "A biting jest." Shak.

h affects like a blow, as the violence of winds or waves; a stroke; an adverse action; an affliction; a trial; adversity. Those planks of tough and hardy oak that used for yeas to brave the buffets of the Bay of Biscay. Burke. Fortune's buffets and rewards. Shak.

A succession of blows; continued violence, as of winds or waves; afflictions; adversity. He seems to have been a plant of slow growth, but . . . fitted to endure the buffeting on the rudest storm. Wirt.

comforting the spirits of men. Bacon. That we may be adle to comfort them that are in any affliction. 2 Cor. i. 4. (Rev. Ver. ). A perfect woman, nobly planned, To warn, to comfort, and command. Wordsworth.

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.

participate; to possess or enjoy in common; to have sympathy. Ye did communicate with my affliction. Philip. iv. 4.

-- opposed to acting on the square. [Slang] -- To take up the cross, to bear troubles and afflictions with patience from love to Christ.

A test of the most decisive kind; a severe trial; as, the crucible of affliction. Hessian crucible (Chem.), a cheap, brittle, and fragile, but very refractory crucible, composed of the finest fire clay and sand, and commonly used for a single heating; -- named from the place of manufacture.

Intense suffering or affliction; painful trial. Do ye prove What crucifixions are in love Herrick.

The cause of great harm, evil, or misfortune; that which brings evil or severe affliction; torment. The common curse of mankind, folly and ignorance. Shak. All that I eat, or drink, or shall beget, Is propagated curse. Milton. The curse of Scotland (Card Playing), the nine of diamonds. -- Not worth a curse. See under…

want of confidence; doubt of the power, ability, or disposition of others. [Archaic] That affliction grew heavy upon me, and weighed me down even to a diffidence of God's mercy. Donne.

spirits; to depress the spirits of; to dishearten; to discourage. Not dispirited with my afflictions. Dryden. He has dispirited himself by a debauch. Collier.

That which occasions suffering; painful situation; misfortune; affliction; misery. Affliction's sons are brothers in distress. Burns.