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Destitute of courage; timid; cowardly. Fie, coward woman, and soft-hearted wretch. Shak.

danger; extreme timidity; pusillanimity; base fear of danger or hurt; lack of spirit. The cowardice of doing wrong. Milton. Moderation was despised as cowardice. Macualay.

Cowardice. [Obs.]

Cowardly. [Obs.] " A base and a cowardish mind." Robynson (More's Utopia).

To render cowardly. [Obs.] God . . . cowardizeth . . . insolent spirits. Bp. Hall.

Cowardice.

Wanting courage; basely or weakly timid or fearful; pusillanimous; spiritless. The cowardly rascals that ran from the battle. Shak.

Cowardice. [Obs.] Shak.

The termination of many English words; as, coward, reynard, drunkard, mostly from the French, in which language this ending is of German origin, being orig. the same word as English hard. It usually has the sense of one who has to a high or excessive degree the quality expressed by the root; as, braggart, sluggard.…

ad; thorough or downright, in a bad sense; shameless; unmitigated; as, an arrant rogue or coward. I discover an arrant laziness in my soul. Fuller.

; menial; as, a base fellow; base motives; base occupations. "A cruel act of a base and a cowardish mind." Robynson (More's Utopia). "Base ingratitude." Milton.

Bold; courageous; daring; intrepid; -- opposed to cowardly; as, a brave man; a brave act.

Base; wicked and mean; cowardly; despicable. Arnold had sped his caitiff flight. W. Irving.

Timid; fearful; cowardly. Bunyan.

eir populous youth about the hive In clusters. Milton. We loved him; but, like beasts And cowardly nobles, gave way unto your clusters, Who did hoot him out o' the city. Shak.

A mean, half-hearted fellow; a coward. [Slang, Eng.] It was in the second affair that poor little Barney showed he was a cocktail. Thackeray.

A mean, paltry fellow; a coward. [Obs.] Shak.

. . . as if they really were so. South. One of two bad ways you must conceit me, Either a coward or a flatterer. Shak.

Cowardly. The Lady Powis . . . patted him with her fan, and called him a cowhearted fellow. R. North.

Timorous; fearful; cowardly. [R.] Shak.