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Power more than natural; irresistible influence. He hath a witchcraft Over the king in 's tongue. Shak.

the fifth century. Sir G. C. Lewis. He accredited and repeated stories of apparitions and witchcraft. Southey.

ic, etc., worn as a charm or preservative against evils or mischief, such as diseases and witchcraft, and generally inscribed with mystic forms or characters.

To gain an ascendency over by charms or incantations; to affect (esp. to injure) by witchcraft or sorcery. See how I am bewitched; behold, mine arm Is like a blasted sapling withered up. Shak.

d rheumatic diseases; -- called also ordeal bean, being used by the negroes in trials for witchcraft.

bdue, control, or summon by incantation or supernatural influence; to affect by magic. No witchcraft charm thee! Shak.

The act of fascinating, bewhiching, or enchanting; enchantment; witchcraft; the exercise of a powerful or irresistible influence on the affections or passions; unseen, inexplicable influence. The Turks hang old rags . . . upon their fairest horses, and other goodly creatures, to secure them against fascination. Waller.…

Caused or acting by witchcraft. [Obs.] "Fascinous diseases." Harvey.

ore. [R.] It seemed even more unaccountable than if it had been a thing of ghostology and witchcraft. Hawthorne.

Witchcraft; magic; a spell. Tennyson.

Invocation of evil spirits; witchcraft. [Obs.] Hallywell.

rces in nature attained by a study of occult science, including enchantment, conjuration, witchcraft, sorcery, necromancy, incantation, etc. An appearance made by some magic. Chaucer. Celestial magic, a supposed supernatural power which gave to spirits a kind of dominion over the planets, and to the planets an influenc…

others; harboring violent enmity; malevolent; malicious; spiteful; -- opposed to benign. Witchcraft may be by operation of malign spirits. Bacon.

a species of Strychnos growing in West Africa, used, like the ordeal bean, in trials for witchcraft. -- Ordeal tree (Bot.), a poisonous tree of Madagascar (Tanghinia, or Cerbera, venenata). Persons suspected of crime are forced to eat the seeds of the plumlike fruit, and criminals are put to death by being pricked wi…

oets were ranked in the class of philosophers. Broome. Heresy is ranked with idolatry and witchcraft. Dr. H. More.

assistance, of evil spirits, or the power of commanding evil spirits; magic; necromancy; witchcraft; enchantment. Adder's wisdom I have learned, To fence my ear against thy sorceries. Milton.

To free from a witch or witches; to fee from witchcraft. [R.] B. Jonson.

Of or pertaining to witchcraft; caused by, or suggesting, magical influence; supernatural; unearthly; wild; as, a weird appearance, look, sound, etc. Myself too had weird seizures. Tennyson. Those sweet, low tones, that seemed like a weird incantation. Longfellow. Weird sisters, the Fates. [Scot.] G. Douglas.…

m and appetite, either temporarily or permanently, whether by supernatural influences, by witchcraft, or voluntarily; a lycanthrope. Belief in werewolves, formerly general, is not now extinct. The werwolf went about his prey. William of Palerne. The brutes that wear our form and face, The werewolves of the human race.…

Sorcery; enchantment; witchcraft. Great Comus, Deep skilled in all his mother's witcheries. Milton. A woman infamous . . . for witcheries. Sir W. Scott.