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a; a parable. His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb. John xvi. 29.

Mentioned or comprised in a proverb; used as a proverb; hence, commonly known; as, a proverbial expression; his meanness was proverbial. In case of excesses, I take the German proverbial cure, by a hair of the same beast, to be the worst. Sir W. Temple.

A proverbial phrase.

One who makes much use of proverbs in speech or writing; one who composes, collects, or studies proverbs.

To turn into a proverb; to speak in proverbs.

In a proverbial manner; by way of proverb; hence, commonly; universally; as, it is proverbially said; the bee is proverbially busy.

An old saying, which has obtained credit by long use; a proverb. Letting "I dare not" wait upon "I would," Like the poor cat i' the adage. Shak.

Pertaining to an adage; proverbial. "Adagial verse." Barrow.

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 blockhead; a dunce. It is common, to a proverb, to call one who can not be taught, or who continues obstinately ignorant, a buzzard. Goldsmith.

A proverb. [Obs.]

A common saying; a proverb; a saying that has a general currency. I knew a wise man that had it for a byword. Bacon.

To match; to mate in contest; to furnish a complement to; as, to cap text; to cap proverbs. Shak. Now I have him under girdle I'll cap verses with him to the end of the chapter. Dryden.

take the corn and leave the chaff behind. Dryden. Old birds are not caught with caff. Old Proverb.

.] Nores. Thet char is chared, as the good wife said when she had hanged her husband. Old Proverb.

acceptation. T. Fuller Claw me, claw thee, stand by me and I will stand by you; -- an old proverb. Tyndale. To claw away, to scold or revile. "The jade Fortune is to be clawed away for it, if you should lose it." L'Estrange. To claw (one) on the back, to tickle; to express approbation. (Obs.) Chaucer. -- To claw (one)…

write these curses in a book. Num. v. 23. Curses, like chickens, come home to roost. Old Proverb.

rd or scimiter, made chiefly at Damascus, having a variegated appearance of watering, and proverbial for excellence. -- Damascus iron, or Damascus twist, metal formed of thin bars or wires of iron and steel elaborately twisted and welded together; used for making gun barrels, etc., of high quality, in which the surfac…

s power; liable to a penalty to be inflicted by him. [Obs.] This sense is retained in the proverb, "Out of debt out of danger." Those rich man in whose debt and danger they be not. Robynson (More's Utopia). -- To do danger, to cause danger. [Obs.] Shak.

A saying in which two members of the sentence are contrasted; an antithetical proverb. [Obs.] Italy, a paradise for horses, a hell for women, as the diverb goes. Burton.