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The match cord formerly used in firing cannon.

thick edge or point, as an instrument; dull; not sharp. The murderous knife was dull and blunt. Shak.

Dull; stupid. Blunt-witted lord, ignoble in demeanor! Shak.

Somewhat blunt. -- Blunt"ish*ness, n.

In a blunt manner; coarsely; plainly; abruptly; without delicacy, or the usual forms of civility. Sometimes after bluntly giving his opinions, he would quietly lay himself asleep until the end of their deliberations. Jeffrey.

of edge or point; dullness; obtuseness; want of sharpness. The multitude of elements and bluntness of angles. Holland.

In an involuntary manner; not voluntarily; not intentionally or willingly.

The quality or state of being involuntary; unwillingness; automatism.

Not under the influence or control of the will; not voluntary; as, the involuntary movements of the body; involuntary muscle fibers.

Involuntary. [Obs.] Fuller.

In a voluntary manner; of one's own will; spontaneously.

The quality or state of being voluntary; spontaneousness; specifically, the quality or state of being free in the exercise of one's will.

tualism. Schopenhauer and Fichte are typical exponents of the two types of metaphysical voluntarism, Schopenhauer teaching that the evolution of the universe is the activity of a blind and irrational will, Fichte holding that the intelligent activity of the ego is the fundamental fact of reality.

the will; produced in or by an act of choice. That sin or guilt pertains exclusively to voluntary action is the true principle of orthodoxy. N. W. Taylor.

The principle of supporting a religious system and its institutions by voluntary association and effort, rather than by the aid or patronage of the state.

One who enters into service voluntarily, but who, when in service, is subject to discipline and regulations like other soldiers; -- opposed to conscript; specifically, a voluntary member of the organized militia of a country as distinguished from the standing army.

A navy of vessels fitted out and manned by volunteers who sail under the flag of the regular navy and subject to naval discipline. Prussia in 1870, in the Franco-German war, organized such a navy, which was commanded by merchant seamen with temporary commissions, with the claim (in which England acquiesced) that it did…

Tennessee; -- a nickname.

A religious and philanthropic organization, similar to the Salvation Army, founded (1896) by Commander and Mrs. Ballington Booth.

(a) The relinquishment of a right, claim, or privilege, as to mill site, etc. (b) The voluntary leaving of a person to whom one is bound by a special relation, as a wife, husband, or child; desertion.