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which one (of two); -- used interrogatively and relatively. [Archaic] Now choose yourself whether that you liketh. Chaucer. One day in doubt I cast for to compare Whether in beauties' glory did exceed. Spenser. Whether of them twain did the will of his father Matt. xxi. 31.

The retention of the afterbirth in cows. Gardner.

The quality or state of being able; power to perform, whether physical, moral, intellectual, conventional, or legal; capacity; skill or competence in doing; sufficiency of strength, skill, resources, etc.; -- in the plural, faculty, talent. Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send reli…

An animal or a plant native to the region. It may well be doubted whether this frog is an aboriginal of these islands. Darwin.

ied to the repeal of laws, decrees, ordinances, the abolition of customs, etc. Let us see whether the New Testament abrogates what we so frequently see in the Old. South. Whose laws, like those of the Medes and Persian, they can not alter or abrogate. Burke.

To hinder; to withhold. Whether he abstain men from marrying. Milton.

To lie or sail along the coast or side of; to accost. [Obs.] Whether high towering or accosting low. Spenser.

An associate in the commission of a crime; a participator in an offense, whether a principal or an accessory. "And thou, the cursed accomplice of his treason." Johnson.

corals. Sometimes, in a wider sense, applied to all the Anthozoa, expert the Alcyonaria, whether forming corals or not.

An engagement between troops in war, whether on land or water; a battle; a fight; as, a general action, a partial action.

Tendency or impulse to act. [R.] Acturience, or desire of action, in one form or another, whether as restlessness, ennui, dissatisfaction, or the imagination of something desirable. J. Grote.

To direct speech to; to make a communication to, whether spoken or written; to apply to by words, as by a speech, petition, etc., to speak to; to accost. Are not your orders to address the senate Addison. The representatives of the nation addressed the king. Swift.

The decision upon the question whether the debtor is a bankrupt. Abbott.

A quality or property of the body or the mind, whether natural or acquired; as, color, in the body, judgment in the mind.

. 26. The high priest . . . said . . . I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ. Matt. xxvi. 63. The commissioners adjured them not to let pass so favorable an opportunity of securing their liberties. Marshall.

One who administers affairs; one who directs, manages, executes, or dispenses, whether in civil, judicial, political, or ecclesiastical affairs; a manager.

To suffer to enter; to grant entrance, whether into a place, or into the mind, or consideration; to receive; to take; as, they were into his house; to admit a serious thought into the mind; to admit evidence in the trial of a cause.

hort a distance two impressions upon the skin can be distinguished, and thus to determine whether the condition of tactile sensibility is normal or altered.

to Ant: negative; as, there were forty votes in the affirmative, and ten in the negative. Whether there are such beings or not, 't is sufficient for my purpose that many have believed the affirmative. Dryden.

In opposition to, whether the opposition is of sentiment or of action; on the other side; counter to; in contrariety to; hence, adverse to; as, against reason; against law; to run a race against time. The gate would have been shut against her. Fielding. An argument against the use of steam. Tyndale.…