Search the Dictionary

ed to things as persons. [Obs.] That they [engines of war] be both easy to be carried and handsome to be moved and turned about. Robynson (Utopia). For a thief it is so handsome as it may seem it was first invented for him. Spenser.

In a handsome manner.

The quality of being handsome. Handsomeness is the mere animal excellence, beauty the mere imaginative. Hare.

Not handsome; not beautiful; ungraceful; not comely or pleasing; plain; homely. Were she other than she is, she were unhandsome. Shak. I can not admit that there is anything unhandsome or irregular . . . in the globe. Woodward.

A handsome butterfly (Pyrameis Atalanta) of Europe and America. The larva feeds on nettles. Admiral shell (Zoöl.), the popular name of an ornamental cone shell (Conus admiralis). Lord High Admiral, a great officer of state, who (when this rare dignity is conferred) is at the head of the naval administration of Great Br…

e, a limited quantity of meat and drink, when provisions fall short. I can give the boy a handsome allowance. Thackeray.

A fabaceous tree of Brazil (Centrolobium robustum) having handsomely striped wood; --called also zebrawood.

and some other species having medicinal properties. Asclepias butterfly (Zoöl.), a large, handsome, red and black butterfly (Danais Archippus), found in both hemispheres. It feeds on plants of the genus Asclepias.

ephus. Many varieties (called China asters, German asters, etc.) are cultivated for their handsome compound flowers.

A handsome Asiatic tree (Melia azedarach), common in the southern United States; -- called also, Pride of India, Pride of China, and Bead tree.

Full of beauty; beautiful; very handsome. [Mostly poetic] -- Beau"te*ous*ly, adv. --

A young lady of superior beauty and attractions; a handsome lady, or one who attracts notice in society; a fair lady.

A handsome girl. [Obs.]

Gayly; handsomely.

Handsome; beautiful; pretty; attractively lively and graceful. Till bonny Susan sped across the plain. Gay. Far from the bonnie banks of Ayr. Burns.

Well-dressed; handsome; smart; brave; -- used of persons or their clothing, etc.; as, a braw lad. "A braw new gown." Burns.

ecially, P.Sanguisorba, the common, or garden, burnet. Burnet moth (Zoöl.), in England, a handsome moth (Zygæna filipendula), with crimson spots on the wings. -- Burnet saxifrage. (Bot.) See Saxifrage. -- Canadian burnet, a marsh plant (Poterium Canadensis). -- Great burnet, Wild burnet, Poterium (or Sanguisorba) of…

much inflated calyx. See Behen. -- Rose campion, a garden plant (Lychnis coronaria) with handsome crimsome crimson flowers.

c. Canterbury ball (Bot.), a species of Campanula of several varietes, cultivated for its handsome bell-shaped flowers. -- Canterbury gallop, a gentle gallop such as was used by pilgrims riding, to Canterbury; a canter. -- Canterbury table, one of the tales which Chaucer puts into the mouths of certain pilgrims to Ca…

Well-shaped; handsome. "The girl was a tight, clever wench as any was." Arbuthnot.