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ctical truth; an axiom of practical wisdom; an adage; a proverb; an aphorism. 'T is their maxim, Love is love's reward. Dryden.

A kind of machine gun; -- named after its inventor, Hiram S. Maxim.

A gold coin of Bavaria, of the value of about 13s. 6d. sterling, or about three dollars and a quarter.

The act or process of increasing to the highest degree. Bentham.

To increase to the highest degree. Bentham.

ee; -- opposed to Ant: minimum. Good legislation is the art of conducting a nation to the maximum of happiness, and the minimum of misery. P. Colquhoun. Maximum thermometer, a thermometer that registers the highest degree of temperature attained in a given time, or since its last adjustment.

An automatic machine gun in which the mechanism is worked by the recoil, assisted by the pressure of gases from the muzzle, which expand in a gas chamber against a disk attached to the end of the barrel, thus moving the latter to the rear with increased recoil, and against the front wall of the gas chamber, checking th…

ns, of all calibers, manufactured by the combined firms of Vickers' Sons of Sheffield and Maxim of Birmingham and elsewhere, England.

Agreeable, 4. The effect of which is, that marriages grow less frequent, agreeably to the maxim above laid down. Paley.

A comprehensive maxim or principle expressed in a few words; a sharply defined sentence relating to abstract truth rather than to practical matters. The first aphorism of Hippocrates is, "Life is short, and the art is long." Fleming.

tructive saying; a terse remark, conveying some important truth; a sententious precept or maxim.

In a curve referred to polar coördinates, any point for which the radius vector is a maximum or minimum.

The system of bards; the learning and maxims of bards.

One of the largest species of sharks (Cetorhinus maximus), so called from its habit of basking in the sun; the liver shark, or bone shark. It inhabits the northern seas of Europe and America, and grows to a length of more than forty feet. It is a harmless species.

An elementary principle or maximum; a short, proverbial rule, in law, ethics, or metaphysics. The legal brocard, "Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus," is a rule not more applicable to other witness than to consciousness. Sir W. Hamilton.

A sewer; as, the Cloaca Maxima of Rome.

tely, like something hollow when subject to too much pressure; to undergo a collapse; as, Maximilian's government collapsed soon after the French army left Mexico; many financial projects collapse after attaining some success and importance.

curve (Geom.), the amount by which the number of double points on a curve is short of the maximum for curves of the same degree.

ement delivered with authority; an order; a command; an authoritative rule, principle, or maxim; a prescription; as, listen to the dictates of your conscience; the dictates of the gospel. I credit what the Grecian dictates say. Prior.

One who dictates; one who prescribes rules and maxims authoritatively for the direction of others. Locke.