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The lowest point; the time of greatest depression. The seventh century is the nadir of the human mind in Europe. Hallam. Nadir of the sun (Astron.), the axis of the conical shadow projected by the earth. Crabb.

th, south east, and west. (b) (Astrol.) The rising and setting of the sun, the zenith and nadir. -- Cardinal signs (Astron.) Aries, Lidra, Cancer, and Capricorn. -- Cardinal teeth (Zoöl.), the central teeth of bivalve shell. See Bivalve. -- Cardinal veins (Anat.), the veins in vertebrate embryos, which run each side…

brought together or closed; to pinch; to close in upon. May this hard earth cleave to the Nadir hell, Down, down, and close again, and nip me flat, If I be such a traitress. Tennyson.

throne formerly of the kings of Delhi, India, but since 1739, when it was carried off by Nadir Shah, held by the shahs of Persia (later Iran); -- so called from its bearing a fully expanded peacock's tail done in gems.

h is vertical to the spectator; the point of the heavens directly overhead; -- opposed to nadir. From morn To noon he fell, from noon to dewy eve, A summer's day; and with the setting sun Dropped from the zenith, like a falling star. Milton.