Unabridged Dictionary - Letter F
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F
F (&ecre;f).
1. F is the sixth letter of the English alphabet, and a nonvocal
consonant. Its form and sound are from the Latin. The Latin borrowed
the form from the Greek digamma w
consonant. The form and value of Greek letter came from the
Ph\'d2nician, the ultimate source being probably Egyptian.
Etymologically fis most closely related to p,k,v, and b; as in E.
five, Gr. f, L. lupus, Gr. fox, vixen ; fragile, break ; fruit, brook,
v. t.; E. bear, L. ferre. See Guide to Pronunciation, &root; 178, 179,
188, 198, 230.
2. (Mus.) The name of the fourth tone of the model scale, or scale of
C. F sharp (F #) is a tone intermediate between F and G.
F clef, the bass clef. See under Clef.
Fa
Fa (?), n. [It.] (Mus.) (a) A syllable applied to the fourth tone of
the diatonic scale in solmization. (b) The tone F.
Fabaceous
Fa*ba"ceous (?), a. [L. fabaceus, fr. faba bean.] Having the nature of
a bean; like a bean.
Fabella
Fa*bel"la (?), n.; pl. Fabellae (-l. [NL., dim. of L. faba a bean.]
(Anat.) One of the small sesamoid bones situated behind the condyles
of the femur, in some mammals.
Fabian
Fa"bi*an (?), a. [L. Fabianus, Fabius, belonging to Fabius.] Of,
pertaining to, or in the manner of, the Roman general, Quintus Fabius
Maximus Verrucosus; cautious; dilatory; avoiding a decisive contest.
Fabian policy, a policy like that of Fabius Maximus, who, by carefully
avoiding decisive contests, foiled Hannibal, harassing his army by
marches, countermarches, and ambuscades; a policy of delays and
cautions.
Fable
Fa"ble (?), n. [F., fr. L. fabula, fr. fari to speak, say. See Ban,
and cf. Fabulous, Fame.]
1. A Feigned story or tale, intended to instruct or amuse; a
fictitious narration intended to enforce some useful truth or precept;
an apologue. See the Note under Apologue.
Jotham's fable of the trees is the oldest extant. Addison
.
2. The plot, story, or connected series of events, forming the subject
of an epic or dramatic poem.
The moral is the first business of the poet; this being formed, he
contrives such a design or fable as may be most suitable to the
moral. Dryden.
3. Any story told to excite wonder; common talk; the theme of talk.
"Old wives' fables. " 1 Tim. iv. 7.
We grew The fable of the city where we dwelt. Tennyson.
4. Fiction; untruth; falsehood.
It would look like a fable to report that this gentleman gives away
a great fortune by secret methods. Addison.
Fable
Fa"ble, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Fabled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Fabling (?).]
To compose fables; hence, to write or speak fiction ; to write or
utter what is not true. "He Fables not." Shak.
Vain now the tales which fabling poets tell. Prior.
He fables, yet speaks truth. M. Arnold.
Fable
Fa"ble, v. t. To fiegn; to invent; to devise, and speak of, as true or
real; to tell of falsely.
The hell thou fablest. Milton.
Fabler
Fa"bler (?), n. A writer of fables; a fabulist; a dealer in untruths
or falsehoods. Br. Hall.
Fabliau
Fa`bli`au" (?), n.; pl. Fabliaux . [F., fr. OF.fablel, dim. of fable a
fable.] (Fr. Lit.) One of the metrical tales of the Trouv\'8ares, or
early poets of the north of France.
Fabric
Fab"ric (?), n. [L. fabrica fabric, workshop: cf. F. fabrique fabric.
See Forge.]
1. The structure of anything; the manner in which the parts of a thing
are united; workmanship; texture; make; as cloth of a beautiful
fabric.
2. That which is fabricated; as : (a) Framework; structure; edifice;
building.
Anon out of the earth a fabric huge Rose like an exhalation.
Milton.
(b) Cloth of any kind that is woven or knit from fibers, either
vegetable or animal; manufactured cloth; as, silks or other fabrics.
3. The act of constructing; construction. [R.]
Tithe was received by the bishop, . . . for the fabricof the
churches for the poor. Milman.
4. Any system or structure consisting of connected parts; as, the
fabric of the universe.
The whole vast fabric of society. Macaulay.
Fabric
Fab"ric, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Fabricked (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Fabricking.] To frame; to built; to construct. [Obs.] "Fabric their
mansions." J. Philips.
Fabricant
Fab"ri*cant (?), n. [F.] One who fabricates; a manufacturer. Simmonds.
Fabricate
Fab"ri*cate (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Fabricated (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Fabricating (?).] [L. fabricatus, p.p. of fabricari, fabricare, to
frame, build, forge, fr. fabrica. See Fabric, Farge.]
1. To form into a whole by uniting its parts; to frame; to construct;
to build; as, to fabricate a bridge or ship.
2. To form by art and labor; to manufacture; to produce; as, to
fabricate woolens.
3. To invent and form; to forge; to devise falsely; as, to fabricate a
lie or story.
Our books were not fabricated with an accomodation to prevailing
usages. Paley.
Fabrication
Fab`ri*ca"tion (?), n. [L. fabricatio; cf. F. fabrication.]
1. The act of fabricating, framing, or constructing; construction;
manufacture; as, the fabrication of a bridge, a church, or a
government. Burke.
2. That which is fabricated; a falsehood; as, the story is doubtless a
fabrication. Syn. -- See Fiction.
Fabricator
Fab"ri*ca`tor (?), n. [L.] One who fabricates; one who constructs or
makes.
The fabricator of the works of Ossian. Mason.
Fabricatress
Fab"ri*ca`tress (?), n. A woman who fabricates.
Fabrile
Fab"rile (?), a. [L. fabrilis, fr. faber workman. See Forge.]
Pertaining to a workman, or to work in stone, metal, wood etc.; as,
fabrile skill.
Fabulist
Fab"u*list (?), n. [Cf. F. fabuliste, fr. L. fabula. See Fable.] One
who invents or writes fables.
Fabulize
Fab"u*lize (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Fabulized (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Fabulizing (?).] [Cf. F. fabuliser. See Fable.] To invent, compose, or
relate fables or fictions. G. S. Faber.
Fabulosity
Fab`u*los"i*ty (?), n. [L. fabulositas: cf. F. fabulosit\'82.]
1. Fabulousness. [R.] Abp. Abbot.
2. A fabulous or fictitious story. [R.] Sir T. Browne.
Fabulous
Fab"u*lous (?), a. [L. fabulosus; cf. F. fabuleux. See Fable.]
1. Feigned, as a story or fable; related in fable; devised; invented;
not real; fictitious; as, a fabulous description; a fabulous hero.
The fabulous birth of Minerva. Chesterfield.
2. Passing belief; exceedingly great; as, a fabulous price. Macaulay.
Fabulous age, that period in the history of a nation of which the only
accounts are myths and unverified legends; as, the fabulous age of
Greek and Rome. -- Fab"u*lous*ly (#), adv. -- Fab"u*lous*ness, n.
Faburden
Fab"ur*den (?), n. [F. foux bpirdon. See False, and Burden a verse.]
1. (Mus.) (a) A species of counterpoint with a drone bass. (b) A
succession of chords of the sixth. [Obs.]
2. A monotonous refrain. [Obs.] Holland.
Fac
Fac (?), n. [Abbrev. of facsimile.] A large ornamental letter used,
esp. by the early printers, at the commencement of the chapters and
other divisions of a book. Brande & C.
Fa\'87ade
Fa`\'87ade" (?), n. [F., fr. It. facciata, fr. fassia face, L. facies.
See Face.] (Arch.) The front of a building; esp., the principal front,
having some architectural pretensions. Thus a church is said to have
its facade unfinished, though the interior may be in use.
Face
Face (?), n. [F., from L. facies form, shape, face, perh. from facere
to make (see Fact); or perh. orig. meaning appearance, and from a root
meaning to shine, and akin to E. fancy. Cf. Facetious.]
1. The exterior form or appearance of anything; that part which
presents itself to the view; especially, the front or upper part or
surface; that which particularly offers itself to the view of a
spectator.
A mist . . . watered the whole face of the ground. Gen. ii. 6.
Lake Leman wooes me with its crystal face. Byron.
2. That part of a body, having several sides, which may be seen from
one point, or which is presented toward a certain direction; one of
the bounding planes of a solid; as, a cube has six faces.
3. (Mach.) (a) The principal dressed surface of a plate, disk, or
pulley; the principal flat surface of a part or object. (b) That part
of the acting surface of a cog in a cog wheel, which projects beyond
the pitch line. (c) The width of a pulley, or the length of a cog from
end to end; as, a pulley or cog wheel of ten inches face.
4. (Print.) (a) The upper surface, or the character upon the surface,
of a type, plate, etc. (b) The style or cut of a type or font of type.
5. Outside appearance; surface show; look; external aspect, whether
natural, assumed, or acquired.
To set a face upon their own malignant design. Milton.
This would produce a new face of things in Europe. Addison.
We wear a face of joy, because We have been glad of yore.
Wordsworth.
6. That part of the head, esp. of man, in which the eyes, cheeks,
nose, and mouth are situated; visage; countenance.
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread. Gen. iii. 19.
7. Cast of features; expression of countenance; look; air; appearance.
We set the best faceon it we could. Dryden.
8. (Astrol.) Ten degrees in extent of a sign of the zodiac. Chaucer.
9. Maintenance of the countenance free from abashment or confusion;
confidence; boldness; shamelessness; effrontery.
This is the man that has the face to charge others with false
citations. Tillotson.
10. Presence; sight; front; as in the phrases, before the face of, in
the immediate presence of; in the face of, before, in, or against the
front of; as, to fly in the face of danger; to the face of, directly
to; from the face of, from the presenceof.
11. Mode of regard, whether favorable or unfavorable; favor or anger;
mostly in Scriptural phrases.
The Lord make his face to shine upon thee. Num. vi. 25.
My face [favor] will I turn also from them. Ezek. vii. 22.
12. (Mining) The end or wall of the tunnel, drift, or excavation, at
which work is progressing or was last done.
13. (Com.) The exact amount expressed on a bill, note, bond, or other
mercantile paper, without any addition for interest or reduction for
discount.<-- = face value --> McElrath.
NOTE: &hand; Fa ce is us ed ei ther ad jectively or as part of a
compound; as, face guard or face-guard; face cloth; face plan or
face-plan; face hammer.
Face ague (Med.), a form of neuralgia, characterized by acute
lancinating pains returning at intervals, and by twinges in certain
parts of the face, producing convulsive twitches in the corresponding
muscles; -- called also tic douloureux. -- Face card, one of a pack of
playing cards on which a human face is represented; the king, queen,
or jack. -- Face cloth, a cloth laid over the face of a corpse. --
Face guard, a mask with windows for the eyes, worn by workman exposed
to great heat, or to flying particles of metal, stone, etc., as in
glass works, foundries, etc. -- Face hammer, a hammer having a flat
face. -- Face joint (Arch.), a joint in the face of a wall or other
structure. -- Face mite (Zo\'94ll.), a small, elongated mite (Demdex
folliculorum), parasitic in the hair follicles of the face. -- Face
mold, the templet or pattern by which carpenters, ect., outline the
forms which are to be cut out from boards, sheet metal, ect. -- Face
plate. (a) (Turning) A plate attached to the spindle of a lathe, to
which the work to be turned may be attached. (b) A covering plate for
an object, to receive wear or shock. (c) A true plane for testing a
dressed surface. Knight. -- Face wheel. (Mach.) (a) A crown wheel. (b)
A Wheel whose disk face is adapted for grinding and polishing; a
lap.<-- face value = face, 13. Also used metaphorically, = apparent
value: "Take at its face value" --> Cylinder face (Steam Engine), the
flat part of a steam cylinder on which a slide valve moves. -- Face of
an anvil, its flat upper surface. -- Face of a bastion (Fort.), the
part between the salient and the shoulder angle. -- Face of coal
(Mining), the principal cleavage plane, at right angles to the
stratification. -- Face of a gun, the surface of metal at the muzzle.
-- Face of a place (Fort.), the front comprehended between the flanked
angles of two neighboring bastions. Wilhelm. -- Face of a square
(Mil.), one of the sides of a battalion when formed in a square. --
Face of a watch, clock, compass, card etc., the dial or graduated
surface on which a pointer indicates the time of day, point of the
compass, etc. -- Face to face. (a) In the presence of each other; as,
to bring the accuser and the accused face to face. (b) Without the
interposition of any body or substance. "Now we see through a glass
darkly; but then face to face." 1 Cor. xiii. 12. (c) With the faces or
finished surfaces turned inward or toward one another; vis \'85 vis;
-- opposed to back to back. -- To fly in the face of, to defy; to
brave; to withstand. -- To make a face, to distort the countenance; to
make a grimace. Shak.
Face
Face (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Faced (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Facing (?).]
1. To meet in front; to oppose with firmness; to resist, or to meet
for the purpose of stopping or opposing; to confront; to encounter;
as, to face an enemy in the field of battale.
I'll face This tempest, and deserve the name of king. Dryden.
2. To Confront impudently; to bully.
I will neither be facednor braved. Shak.
3. To stand opposite to; to stand with the face or front toward; to
front upon; as, the apartments of the general faced the park.
He gained also with his forces that part of Britain which faces
Ireland. Milton.
4. To cover in front, for ornament, protection, etc.; to put a facing
upon; as, a building faced with marble.
5. To line near the edge, esp. with a different material; as, to face
the front of a coat, or the bottom of a dress.
6. To cover with better, or better appearing, material than the mass
consists of, for purpose of deception, as the surface of a box of tea,
a barrel of sugar, etc.
7. (Mach.) To make the surface of (anything) flat or smooth; to dress
the face of (a stone, a casting, etc.); esp., in turning, to shape or
smooth the flat surface of, as distinguished from the cylindrical
surface.
8. To cause to turn or present a face or front, as in a particular
direction.
To face down, to put down by bold or impudent opposition. "He faced
men down." Prior. -- To face (a thing) out, to persist boldly or
impudently in an assertion or in a line of conduct. "That thinks with
oaths to face the matter out." Shak
Face
Face, v. i.
1. To carry a false appearance; to play the hypocrite. "To lie, to
face, to forge." Spenser.
2. To turn the face; as, to face to the right or left.
Face about, man; a soldier, and afraid! Dryden.
3. To present a face or front.
Faced
Faced (?), a. Having (such) a face, or (so many) faces; as,
smooth-faced, two-faced.
Faser
Fa"ser (?), n.
1. One who faces; one who puts on a false show; a bold-faced person.
[Obs.]
There be no greater talkers, nor boasters, nor fasers. Latimer.
2. A blow in the face, as in boxing; hence, any severe or stunning
check or defeat, as in controversy. [Collog.]
I should have been a stercoraceous mendicant if I had hollowed when
I got a facer. C. Kingsley.
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Page 536
Facet
Fac"et (?), n. [F. facette, dim. of face face. See Face.]
1. A little face; a small, plane surface; as, the facets of a diamond.
[Written also facette.]
2. (Anat.) A smooth circumscribed surface; as, the articular facet of
a bone.
3. (Arch.) The narrow plane surface between flutings of a column.
4. (Zo\'94l.) One of the numerous small eyes which make up the
compound eyes of insects and crustaceans.
Facet
Fac"et, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Faceted; p. pr. & vb. n. Faceting.] To cut
facets or small faces upon; as, to facet a diamond.
Facete
Fa*cete" (?), a. [L. facetus elegant, fine, facetious; akin to facies.
See Face, and cf. Facetious.] Facetious; witty; humorous. [Archaic] "A
facete discourse." Jer. Taylor.
"How to interpose" with a small, smart remark, sentiment facete, or
unctuous anecdote. Prof. Wilson.
-- Fa*cete"ly, adv. -- Fa*cete"ness, n.
Faceted
Fac"et*ed (?), a. Having facets.
Faceti\'91
Fa*ce"ti*\'91 (, n. pl. [L., fr. facetus. See Facete.] Witty or
humorous writings or saying; witticisms; merry conceits.
Facetious
Fa*ce"tious (?), a. [Cf. F. fac\'82tieux. See Faceti\'91.]
1. Given to wit and good humor; merry; sportive; jocular; as, a
facetious companion.
2. Characterized by wit and pleasantry; exciting laughter; as, a
facetious story or reply. -- Fa*ce"tious*ly, adv. -- Fa*ce"tious*ness,
n.
Facette
Fa*cette" (?), n. [F.] See Facet, n.
Facework
Face"work` (?), n. The material of the outside or front side, as of a
wall or building; facing.
Facia
Fa"ci*a (?), n. (Arch.) See Fascia.
Facial
Fa"cial (?), a. [LL. facialis, fr. L. facies face : cf. F. facial.] Of
or pertaining to the face; as, the facial artery, vein, or nerve. --
Fa"cial*ly, adv. Facial angle (Anat.), the angle, in a skull, included
between a straight line (ab, in the illustrations), from the most
prominent part of the forehead to the front efge of the upper jaw
bone, and another (cd) from this point to the center of the external
auditory opening. See Gnathic index, under Gnathic.
Faciend
Fa"ci*end (?), n. [From neut. of L. faciendus, gerundive of facere to
do.] (Mach.) The multiplicand. See Facient,
2.
Facient
Fa"cient (?), n. [L. faciens, -- entis, p. pr. of facere to make, do.
See Fact.]
1. One who does anything, good or bad; a doer; an agent. [Obs.] Br.
Hacket.
2. (Mach.) (a) One of the variables of a quantic as distinguished from
a coefficient. (b) The multiplier.
NOTE: &hand; The terms facient, faciend, and factum, may imply that
the multiplication involved is not ordinary multiplication, but is
either some specified operation, or, in general, any mathematical
operation. See Multiplication.
Facies
Fa"ci*es (?), n. [L., from, face. See Face.]
1. The anterior part of the head; the face.
2. (Biol.) The general aspect or habit of a species, or group of
species, esp. with reference to its adaptation to its environment.
3. (Zo\'94l.) The face of a bird, or the front of the head, excluding
the bill.
Facies Hippocratica. (Med.) See Hippocratic.
Facile
Fac"ile (?) a. [L. facilis, prop., capable of being done or made,
hence, facile, easy, fr. facere to make, do: cf. F. facile. Srr Fact,
and cf. Faculty.]
1. Easy to be done or performed: not difficult; performable or
attainable with little labor.
Order . . . will render the work facile and delightful. Evelyn.
2. Easy to be surmounted or removed; easily conquerable; readily
mastered.
The facile gates of hell too slightly barred. Milton.
3. Easy of access or converse; mild; courteous; not haughty, austere,
or distant; affable; complaisant.
I meant she should be courteous, facile, sweet. B. Jonson.
4. Easily persuaded to good or bad; yielding; ductile to a fault;
pliant; flexible.
Since Adam, and his facile consort Eve, Lost Paradise, deceived by
me. Milton.
This is treating Burns like a child, a person of so facile a
disposition as not to be trusted without a keeper on the king's
highway. Prof. Wilson.
5. Ready; quick; expert; as, he is facile in expedients; he wields a
facile pen. -- Fac"ile-ly, adv. -- Fac"ile*ness, n.
Facilitate
Fa*cil"i*tate (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Facilitated (?); p. pr. & vb.
n. Facilitating (?).] [Cf. F. faciliter. See Facility.] To make easy
or less difficult; to free from difficulty or impediment; to lessen
the labor of; as, to facilitate the execution of a task.
To invite and facilitate that line of proceeding which the times
call for. I. Taylor.
Facilitation
Fa*cil`i*ta"tion (?), n. The act of facilitating or making easy.
Facility
Fa*cil"i*ty (?), n.; pl. Facilities (#). [L. facilitas, fr. facilis
easy: cf. F. facilitFacile.]
1. The quality of being easily performed; freedom from difficulty;
ease; as, the facility of an operation.
The facility with which government has been overturned in France.
Burke
.
2. Ease in performance; readiness proceeding from skill or use;
dexterity; as, practice gives a wonderful facility in executing works
of art.
3. Easiness to be persuaded; readiness or compliance; -- usually in a
bad sense; pliancy.
It is a great error to take facility for good nature. L'Estrange.
4. Easiness of access; complaisance; affability.
Offers himself to the visits of a friend with facility. South.
5. That which promotes the ease of any action or course of conduct;
advantage; aid; assistance; -- usually in the plural; as, special
facilities for study. Syn. -- Ease; expertness; readiness; dexterity;
complaisance; condescension; affability. -- Facility, Expertness,
Readiness. These words have in common the idea of performing any act
with ease and promptitude. Facility supposes a natural or acquired
power of dispatching a task with lightness and ease. Expertness is the
kind of facility acquired by long practice. Readiness marks the
promptitude with which anything is done. A merchant needs great
facility in dispatching business; a bunker, great expertness in
casting accounts; both need great readiness in passing from one
employment to another. "The facility which we get of doing things by a
custom of doing, makes them often pass in us without our notice."
Locke. "The army was celebrated for the expertness and valor of the
soldiers." "A readiness obey the known will of God is the surest means
to enlighten the mind in respect to duty."
Facing
Fa"cing (?), n.
1. A covering in front, for ornament or other purpose; an exterior
covering or sheathing; as, the facing of an earthen slope, sea wall,
etc. , to strengthen it or to protect or adorn the exposed surface.
2. A lining placed near the edge of a garment for ornament or
protection.
3. (Arch.) The finishing of any face of a wall with material different
from that of which it is chiefly composed, or the coating or material
so used.
4. (Founding) A powdered substance, as charcoal, bituminous coal,
ect., applied to the face of a mold, or mixed with the sand that forms
it, to give a fine smooth surface to the casting.
5. (Mil.) (a) pl. The collar and cuffs of a military coat; -- commonly
of a color different from that of the coat. (b) The movement of
soldiers by turning on their heels to the right, left, or about; --
chiefly in the pl.
Facing brick, front or pressed brick.
Facingly
Fa"cing*ly, adv. In a facing manner or position.
Facinorous
Fa*cin"o*rous (?), a. [L. facinorous, from facinus deed, bad deed,
from facere to make, do.] Atrociously wicked. [Obs.] Jer. Taylor. --
Fa*cin"o*rous*ness, n. [Obs.]
Facound
Fac"ound (?), n. [F. faconde, L. facundia. See Facund.] Speech;
eloquence. [Obs.]
Her facound eke full womanly and plain. Chaucer.
Facsimile
Fac*sim"i*le (?), n.; pl. Facsimiles (-l. [L. fac simile make like; or
an abbreviation of factum simile made like; facere to make + similes
like. See Fact, and Simile.] A copy of anything made, either so as to
be deceptive or so as to give every part and detail of the original;
an exact copy or likeness. Facsimile telegraph, a telegraphic
apparatus reproducing messages in autograph.
Facsimile
Fac*sim"i*le, (
Fact
Fact (?), n. [L. factum, fr. facere to make or do. Cf. Feat, Affair,
Benefit, Defect, Fashion, and -fy.]
1. A doing, making, or preparing. [Obs.]
A project for the fact and vending Of a new kind of fucus, paint
for ladies. B. Jonson.
2. An effect produced or achieved; anything done or that comes to
pass; an act; an event; a circumstance.
What might instigate him to this devilish fact, I am not able to
conjecture. Evelyn.
He who most excels in fact of arms. Milton.
3. Reality; actuality; truth; as, he, in fact, excelled all the rest;
the fact is, he was beaten.
4. The assertion or statement of a thing done or existing; sometimes,
even when false, improperly put, by a transfer of meaning, for the
thing done, or supposed to be done; a thing supposed or asserted to be
done; as, history abounds with false facts.
I do not grant the fact. De Foe.
This reasoning is founded upon a fact which is not true. Roger
Long.
NOTE: &hand; Th eTerm fa ct ha s in jurisprudence peculiar uses in
contrast with low; as, attorney at low, and attorney in fact; issue
in low, and issue in fact. There is also a grand distinction
between low and fact with reference to the province of the judge
and that of the jury, the latter generally determining the fact,
the former the low.
Burrill Bouvier. Accessary before, OR after, the fact. See under
Accessary. -- Matter of fact, an actual occurrence; a verity; used
adjectively: of or pertaining to facts; prosaic; unimaginative; as, a
matter-of-fact narration. Syn. -- Act; deed; performance; event;
incident; occurrence; circumstance.
Faction
Fac"tion (?), n. [L. factio a doing, a company of persons acting
together, a faction: cf. F. faction See Fashion.]
1. (Anc. Hist.) One of the divisions or parties of charioteers
(distinguished by their colors) in the games of the circus.
2. A party, in political society, combined or acting in union, in
opposition to the government, or state; -- usually applied to a
minority, but it may be applied to a majority; a combination or clique
of partisans of any kind, acting for their own interests, especially
if greedy, clamorous, and reckless of the common good.
3. Tumult; discord; dissension.
They remained at Newbury in great faction among themselves.
Clarendon.
Syn. -- Combination; clique; junto. See Cabal.
Factionary
Fac"tion*a*ry (?), a. [Cf. F. factionnaire, L. factionarius the head
of a company of charioteers.] Belonging to a faction; being a
partisan; taking sides. [Obs.]
Always factionary on the party of your general. Shak.
Factioner
Fac"tion*er (-?r), n. One of a faction. Abp. Bancroft.
Factionist
Fac"tion*ist, n. One who promotes faction.
Factious
Fac"tious (?). a. [L. factiosus: cf. F. factieux.]
1. Given to faction; addicted to form parties and raise dissensions,
in opposition to government or the common good; turbulent; seditious;
prone to clamor against public measures or men; -- said of persons.
Factious for the house of Lancaster. Shak.
2. Pertaining to faction; proceeding from faction; indicating, or
characterized by, faction; -- said of acts or expressions; as,
factious quarrels.
Headlong zeal or factious fury. Burke.
-- Fac"tious*ly, adv. -- Fac"tious-ness, n.
Factitious
Fac*ti"tious (?), a. [L. factitius, fr. facere to make. See Fact, and
cf. Fetich.] Made by art, in distinction from what is produced by
nature; artificial; sham; formed by, or adapted to, an artificial or
conventional, in distinction from a natural, standard or rule; not
natural; as, factitious cinnabar or jewels; a factitious taste. --
Fac-ti"tious*ly, adv. -- Fac*ti"tious-ness, n.
He acquires a factitious propensity, he forms an incorrigible
habit, of desultory reading. De Quincey.
Syn. -- Unnatural. -- Factitious, Unnatural. Anything is unnatural
when it departs in any way from its simple or normal state; it is
factitious when it is wrought out or wrought up by labor and effort,
as, a factitious excitement. An unnatural demand for any article of
merchandise is one which exceeds the ordinary rate of consumption; a
factitious demand is one created by active exertions for the purpose.
An unnatural alarm is one greater than the occasion requires; a
factitious alarm is one wrought up with care and effort.
Factitive
Fac"ti*tive (?). a. [See Fact.]
1. Causing; causative.
2. (Gram.) Pertaining to that relation which is proper when the act,
as of a transitive verb, is not merely received by an object, but
produces some change in the object, as when we say, He made the water
wine.
Sometimes the idea of activity in a verb or adjective involves in
it a reference to an effect, in the way of causality, in the active
voice on the immediate objects, and in the passive voice on the
subject of such activity. This second object is called the
factitive object. J. W. Gibbs.
Factive
Fac"tive (?), a. Making; having power to make. [Obs.] "You are . . .
factive, not destructive." Bacon.
Facto
Fac"to (?), adv. [L., ablative of factum deed, fact.] (Law) In fact;
by the act or fact. De facto. (Law) See De facto.
Factor
Fac"tor (?), n. [L. factor a doer: cf. F. facteur a factor. See Fact.]
1. (Law) One who transacts business for another; an agent; a
substitute; especially, a mercantile agent who buys and sells goods
and transacts business for others in commission; a commission merchant
or consignee. He may be a home factor or a foreign factor. He may buy
and sell in his own name, and he is intrusted with the possession and
control of the goods; and in these respects he differs from a broker.
Story. Wharton.
My factor sends me word, a merchant's fled That owes me for a
hundred tun of wine. Marlowe.
2. A steward or bailiff of an estate. [Scot.] Sir W. Scott.
3. (Math.) One of the elements or quantities which, when multiplied
together, from a product.
4. One of the elements, circumstances, or influences which contribute
to produce a result; a constituent.
The materal and dynamical factors of nutrition. H. Spencer.
Factor
Fac"tor, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Factored (-t?rd); p. pr. & vb. n.
Factoring.] (Mach.) To resolve (a quantity) into its factors.
Factorage
Fac"tor*age (?), n. [Cf. F. factorage.] The allowance given to a
factor, as a compensation for his services; -- called also a
commission.
Factoress
Fac"tor*ess (?), n. A factor who is a woman. [R.]
Factorial
Fac*to"ri*al (?), a.
1. Of or pertaining to a factory. Buchanan.
2. (Math.) Related to factorials.
Factorial
Fac*to"ri*al, n. (Math.) (a) pl. A name given to the factors of a
continued product when the former are derivable from one and the same
function F(x) by successively imparting a constant increment or
decrement h to the independent variable. Thus the product F(x).F(x +
h).F(x + 2h) . . . F[x + (n-1)h] is called a factorial term, and its
several factors take the name of factorials. Brande & C. (b) The
product of the consecutive numbers from unity up to any given number.
Factoring
Fac"tor*ing (?), n. (Math.) The act of resolving into factors.
Factorize
Fac"tor*ize (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Factorized (-?zd); p. pr. & vb.
n. Factorizing (-?"z?ng).] (Law) (a) To give warning to; -- said of a
person in whose hands the effects of another are attached, the warning
being to the effect that he shall not pay the money or deliver the
property of the defendant in his hands to him, but appear and answer
the suit of the plaintiff. (b) To attach (the effects of a debtor) in
the hands of a third person ; to garnish. See Garnish. [Vt. & Conn.]
Factorship
Fac"tor*ship, n. The business of a factor.
Factory
Fac"to*ry (?), n.; pl. Factories (-r. [Cf. F. factorerie.]
1. A house or place where factors, or commercial agents, reside, to
transact business for their employers. "The Company's factory at
Madras." Burke.
2. The body of factors in any place; as, a chaplain to a British
factory. W. Guthrie.
3. A building, or collection of buildings, appropriated to the
manufacture of goods; the place where workmen are employed in
fabricating goods, wares, or utensils; a manufactory; as, a cotton
factory.
Factory leg (Med.), a variety of bandy leg, associated with partial
dislocation of the tibia, produced in young children by working in
factories.
Factotum
Fac*to"tum (?), n.; pl. Factotums (-t. [L., do everything; facere to
do + totus all : cf. F. factotum. See Fact, and Total.] A person
employed to do all kinds of work or business. B. Jonson.
Factual
Fac"tu*al (?), a. Relating to, or containing, facts. [R.]
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Factum
Fac"tum (?), n.; pl. Facta (#). [L. See Fact.]
1. (Law) A man's own act and deed; particularly: (a) (Civil Law)
Anything stated and made certain. (b) (Testamentary Law) The due
execution of a will, including everything necessary to its validity.
2. (Mach.) The product. See Facient, 2.
Facture
Fac"ture (?), n. [F. facture a making, invoice, L. factura a making.
See Fact.]
1. The act or manner of making or doing anything; -- now used of a
literary, musical, or pictorial production. Bacon.
2. (Com.) An invoice or bill of parcels.
Facul\'91
Fac"u*l\'91 (?), n. pl. [L., pl. of facula a little torch.] (Astron.)
Groups of small shining spots on the surface of the sun which are
brighter than the other parts of the photosphere. They are generally
seen in the neighborhood of the dark spots, and are supposed to be
elevated portions of the photosphere. Newcomb.
Facular
Fac"u*lar (?) a. (Astron.) Of or pertaining to the facul\'91. R. A.
Proctor.
Faculty
Fac"ul*ty (?), n.; pl. Faculties (#). [F. facult, L. facultas, fr.
facilis easy (cf. facul easily), fr. fecere to make. See Fact, and cf.
Facility.]
1. Ability to act or perform, whether inborn or cultivated; capacity
for any natural function; especially, an original mental power or
capacity for any of the well-known classes of mental activity;
psychical or soul capacity; capacity for any of the leading kinds of
soul activity, as knowledge, feeling, volition; intellectual endowment
or gift; power; as, faculties of the mind or the soul.
But know that in the soul Are many lesser faculties that serve
Reason as chief. Milton.
What a piece of work is a man ! how noble in reason ! how infinite
in faculty ! Shak.
2. Special mental endowment; characteristic knack.
He had a ready faculty, indeed, of escaping from any topic that
agitated his too sensitive and nervous temperament. Hawthorne.
3. Power; prerogative or attribute of office. [R.]
This Duncan Hath borne his faculties so meek. Shak.
4. Privilege or permission, granted by favor or indulgence, to do a
particular thing; authority; license; dispensation.
The pope . . . granted him a faculty to set him free from his
promise. Fuller.
It had not only faculty to inspect all bishops' dioceses, but to
change what laws and statutes they should think fit to alter among
the colleges. Evelyn.
5. A body of a men to whom any specific right or privilege is granted;
formerly, the graduates in any of the four departments of a university
or college (Philosophy, Law, Medicine, or Theology), to whom was
granted the right of teaching (profitendi or docendi) in the
department in which they had studied; at present, the members of a
profession itself; as, the medical faculty; the legal faculty, ect.
6. (Amer. Colleges) The body of person to whom are intrusted the
government and instruction of a college or university, or of one of
its departments; the president, professors, and tutors in a college.
Dean of faculty. See under Dean. -- Faculty of advocates. (Scot.) See
under Advocate. Syn. -- Talent; gift; endowment; dexterity;
expertness; cleverness; readiness; ability; knack.
Facund
Fac"und (?), a. [L. facundus, fr. fari to speak.] Eloquent. [Archaic]
Facundious
Fa*cun"di*ous (?), a. [L. facundiosus.] Eloquement; full of words.
[Archaic]
Facundity
Fa*cun"di*ty (?), n. [L. facunditas.] Eloquence; readiness of speech.
[Archaic]
Fad
Fad (?), n. [Cf. Faddle.] A hobby ; freak; whim. -- Fad"dist, n.
It is your favorite fad to draw plans. G. Eliot.
Faddle
Fad"dle (?), v. i. [Cf. Fiddle, Fiddle-faddle.] To trifle; to toy. --
v. t. To fondle; to dandle. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.
Fade
Fade (?) a. [F., prob. fr. L. vapidus vapid, or possibly fr,fatuus
foolish, insipid.] Weak; insipid; tasteless; commonplace. [R.]
"Passages that are somewhat fade." Jeffrey.
His masculine taste gave him a sense of something fade and
ludicrous. De Quincey.
Fade
Fade (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Faded; p. pr. & vb. n. Fading.] [OE.
faden, vaden, prob. fr. fade, a.; cf. Prov. D. vadden to fade, wither,
vaddigh languid, torpid. Cf. Fade, a., Vade.]
1. To become fade; to grow weak; to lose strength; to decay; to perish
gradually; to wither, as a plant.
The earth mourneth and fadeth away. Is. xxiv. 4.
2. To lose freshness, color, or brightness; to become faint in hue or
tint; hence, to be wanting in color. "Flowers that never fade."
Milton.
3. To sink away; to disappear gradually; to grow dim; to vanish.
The stars shall fade away. Addison
He makes a swanlike end, Fading in music. Shak.
Fade
Fade, v. t. To cause to wither; to deprive of freshness or vigor; to
wear away.
No winter could his laurels fade. Dryden.
Faded
Fad"ed (?), a. That has lost freshness, color, or brightness; grown
dim. "His faded cheek." Milton.
Where the faded moon Made a dim silver twilight. Keats.
Fadedly
Fad"ed*ly, adv. In a faded manner.
A dull room fadedly furnished. Dickens.
Fadeless
Fade"less, a. Not liable to fade; unfading.
Fader
Fa"der (?), n. Father. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Fadge
Fadge (?), v. i. [Cf. OE. faden to flatter, and AS. f to join, unit,
G. f\'81gen, or AS. \'bef\'91gian to depict; all perh. form the same
root as E. fair. Cf. Fair, a., Fay to fit.] To fit; to suit; to agree.
They shall be made, spite of antipathy, to fadge together. Milton.
Well, Sir, how fadges the new design ? Wycherley.
Fadge
Fadge (?), n. [Etymol. uncertain.] A small flat loaf or thick cake;
also, a fagot. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.
Fading
Fad"ing (?), a. Losing freshness, color, brightness, or vigor. -- n.
Loss of color, freshness, or vigor. -- Fad"ing*ly, adv. --
Fad"ing*ness, n.
Fading
Fad"ing, n. An Irish dance; also, the burden of a song. "Fading is a
fine jig." [Obs.] Beau. & Fl.
Fadme
Fad"me (?), n. A fathom. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Fady
Fad"y (?), a. Faded. [R.] Shenstone.
F\'91cal
F\'91"cal (?), a. See Fecal.
F\'91ces
F\'91"ces (?), n.pl. [L. faex, pl. faeces, dregs.] Excrement; ordure;
also, settlings; sediment after infusion or distillation. [Written
also feces.]
F\'91cula
F\'91c"u*la (?), n. [L.] See Fecula.
Fa\'89ry
Fa"\'89r*y (?), n. & a. Fairy. [Archaic] Spenser.
Faffle
Faf"fle (?), v. i. [Cf. Famble, Maffle.] To stammer. [Prov. Eng.]
Halliwell.
Fag
Fag (?) n. A knot or coarse part in cloth. [Obs.]
Fag
Fag, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Fagged (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Fagging (?).]
[Cf. LG. fakk wearied, weary, vaak slumber, drowsiness, OFries. fai,
equiv. to f\'bech devoted to death, OS. f, OHG. feigi, G. feig, feige,
cowardly, Icel. feigr fated to die, AS. f, Scot. faik, to fail, stop,
lower the price; or perh. the same word as E. flag to droop.]
1. To become weary; to tire.
Creighton withheld his force till the Italian began to fag. G.
Mackenzie.
2. To labor to wearness; to work hard; to drudge.
Read, fag, and subdue this chapter. Coleridge.
3. To act as a fag, or perform menial services or drudgery, for
another, as in some English schools.
To fag out, to become untwisted or frayed, as the end of a rope, or
the edge of canvas.
Fag
Fag, v. t.
1. To tire by labor; to exhaust; as, he was almost fagged out.
2. Anything that fatigues. [R.]
It is such a fag, I came back tired to death. Miss Austen.
Brain fag. (Med.) See Cerebropathy.
Fagend
Fag"*end" (?), n.
1. An end of poorer quality, or in a spoiled condition, as the coarser
end of a web of cloth, the untwisted end of a rope, ect.
2. The refuse or meaner part of anything.
The fag-end of business. Collier.
Fagging
Fag"ging (?), n. Laborious drudgery; esp., the acting as a drudge for
another at an English school.
Fagot
Fag"ot (?) n. [F., prob. aug. of L. fax, facis, torch, perh. orig., a
bundle of sticks; cf. Gr. Fagotto.]
1. A bundle of sticks, twigs, or small branches of trees, used for
fuel, for raising batteries, filling ditches, or other purposes in
fortification; a fascine. Shak.
2. A bundle of pieces of wrought iron to be worked over into bars or
other shapes by rolling or hammering at a welding heat; a pile.
3. (Mus.) A bassoon. See Fagotto.
4. A person hired to take the place of another at the muster of a
company. [Eng.] Addison.
5. An old shriveled woman. [Slang, Eng.]
Fagot iron, iron, in bars or masses, manufactured from fagots. --
Fagot vote, the vote of a person who has been constituted a voter by
being made a landholder, for party purposes. [Political cant, Eng.]
Fagot
Fag"ot (?) v. t. [imp. & p. p. Fagoted; p. pr. & vb. n. Fagoting.] To
make a fagot of; to bind together in a fagot or bundle; also, to
collect promiscuously. Dryden.
Fagotto
Fa*got"to (?), n. [It. See Fagot.] (Mus.) The bassoon; -- so called
from being divided into parts for ease of carriage, making, as it
were, a small fagot.
Faham
Fa"ham (?), n. The leaves of an orchid (Angraecum fragrans), of the
islands of Bourbon and Mauritius, used (in France) as a substitute for
Chinese tea.
Fahlband
Fahl"band` (?), n. [G., fr. fahl dun-colored + band a band.] (Mining)
A stratum in crystalline rock, containing metallic sulphides. Raymond.
Fahlerz, Fahlband
Fahl"erz (?), Fahl"band (?), n. [G. fahlerz; fahl dun-colored, fallow
+ erz ore.] (Min.) Same as Tetrahedrite.
Fahlunite
Fah"lun*ite (?), n. [From Falhun, a place in Sweden.] (Min.) A
hydration of iolite.
Fahrenheit
Fah"ren*heit (?) a. [G.] Conforming to the scale used by Gabriel
Daniel Fahrenheit in the graduation of his thermometer; of or relating
to Fahrenheit's thermometric scale. -- n. The Fahrenheit termometer or
scale.
NOTE: &hand; Th e Fa hrenheit th ermometer is so graduated that the
freezing point of water is at 32 degrees above the zero of its
scale, and the boiling point at 212 degrees above. It is commonly
used in the United States and in England.
Fa\'8bence
Fa`\'8b*ence" (?), n. [F., fr. Faenza, a town in Italy, the original
place of manufacture.] Glazed earthenware; esp., that which is
decorated in color.
Fail
Fail (?) v. i. [imp. & p. p. Failed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Failing.] [F.
failir, fr. L. fallere, falsum, to deceive, akin to E. fall. See Fail,
and cf. Fallacy, False, Fault.]
1. To be wanting; to fall short; to be or become deficient in any
measure or degree up to total absence; to cease to be furnished in the
usual or expected manner, or to be altogether cut off from supply; to
be lacking; as, streams fail; crops fail.
As the waters fail from the sea. Job xiv. 11.
Till Lionel's issue fails, his should not reign. Shak.
2. To be affected with want; to come short; to lack; to be deficient
or unprovided; -- used with of.
If ever they fail of beauty, this failure is not be attributed to
their size. Berke.
3. To fall away; to become diminished; to decline; to decay; to sink.
When earnestly they seek Such proof, conclude they then begin to
fail. Milton.
4. To deteriorate in respect to vigor, activity, resources, etc.; to
become weaker; as, a sick man fails.
5. To perish; to die; -- used of a person. [Obs.]
Had the king in his last sickness failed. Shak.
6. To be found wanting with respect to an action or a duty to be
performed, a result to be secured, etc.; to miss; not to fulfill
expectation.
Take heed now that ye fail not to do this. Ezra iv. 22.
Either my eyesight fails, or thou look'st pale. Shak.
7. To come short of a result or object aimed at or desired ; to be
baffled or frusrated.
Our envious foe hath failed. Milton.
8. To err in judgment; to be mistaken.
Which ofttimes may succeed, so as perhaps Shall grieve him, if I
fail not. Milton.
9. To become unable to meet one's engagements; especially, to be
unable to pay one's debts or discharge one's business obligation; to
become bankrupt or insolvent.
Fail
Fail (?), v. t.
1. To be wanting to ; to be insufficient for; to disappoint; to
desert.
There shall not fail thee a man on the throne. 1 Kings ii. 4.
2. To miss of attaining; to lose. [R.]
Though that seat of earthly bliss be failed. Milton.
Fail
Fail, n. [OF. faille, from failir. See Fail, v. i.]
1. Miscarriage; failure; deficiency; fault; -- mostly superseded by
failure or failing, except in the phrase without fail. "His highness'
fail of issue." Shak.
2. Death; decease. [Obs.] Shak.
Failance
Fail"ance (?), n. [Of. faillance, fr. faillir.] Fault; failure;
omission. [Obs.] Bp. Fell.
Failing
Fail"ing, n.
1. A failing short; a becoming deficient; failure; deficiency;
imperfection; weakness; lapse; fault; infirmity; as, a mental failing.
And ever in her mind she cas about For that unnoticed failing in
herself. Tennyson.
2. The act of becoming insolvent of bankrupt. Syn. -- See Fault.
Faille
Faille (?), n. [F.] A soft silk, heavier than a foulard and not
glossy.
Failure
Fail"ure (?), n. [From Fail.]
1. Cessation of supply, or total defect; a failing; deficiency; as,
failure of rain; failure of crops.
2. Omission; nonperformance; as, the failure to keep a promise.
3. Want of success; the state of having failed.
4. Decau, or defect from decay; deterioration; as, the failure of
memory or of sight.
5. A becoming insolvent; bankruptcy; suspension of payment; as,
failure in business.
6. A failing; a slight fault. [Obs.] Johnson.
Fain
Fain (?), a. [OE. fain, fagen, AS. f\'91gen; akin to OS. fagan, Icel.
faginn glad; AS. f\'91gnian to rejoice, OS. fagan&omac;n, Icel. fagna,
Goth. fagin&omac;n, cf. Goth. fah&emac;ds joy; and fr. the same root
as E. fair. Srr Fair, a., and cf. Fawn to court favor.]
1. Well-pleased; glad; apt; wont; fond; inclined.
Men and birds are fain of climbing high. Shak.
To a busy man, temptation is fainto climb up together with his
business. Jer. Taylor.
2. Satisfied; contented; also, constrained. Shak.
The learned Castalio was fain to make trechers at Basle to keep
himself from starving. Locke.
Fain
Fain, adv. With joy; gladly; -- with wold.
He would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine
did eat. Luke xv. 16.
Fain Would I woo her, yet I dare not. Shak.
Fain
Fain, v. t. & i. To be glad ; to wish or desire. [Obs.]
Whoso fair thing does fain to see. Spencer.
Fain\'82ant
Fai`n\'82`ant" (?), a. [F.; fait he does + n\'82ant nothing.] Doing
nothing; shiftless. -- n. A do-nothing; an idle fellow; a sluggard.
Sir W. Scott.
Faint
Faint (?), a. [Compar. Fainter (-?r); superl. Faintest.] [OE. faint,
feint, false, faint, F. feint, p.p. of feindre to feign, suppose,
hesitate. See Faign, and cf. Feint.]
1. Lacking strength; weak; languid; inclined to swoon; as, faint with
fatigue, hunger, or thirst.
2. Wanting in courage, spirit, or energy; timorous; cowardly;
dejected; depressed; as, "Faint heart ne'er won fair lady." Old
Proverb.
3. Lacking distinctness; hardly perceptible; striking the senses
feebly; not bright, or loud, or sharp, or forcible; weak; as, a faint
color, or sound.
4. Performed, done, or acted, in a weak or feeble manner; not
exhibiting vigor, strength, or energy; slight; as, faint efforts;
faint resistance.
The faint prosecution of the war. Sir J. Davies.
Faint
Faint, n. The act of fainting, or the state of one who has fainted; a
swoon. [R.] See Fainting, n.
The saint, Who propped the Virgin in her faint. Sir W. Scott.
Faint
Faint, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Fainted; p. pr. & vb. n. Fainting.]
1. To become weak or wanting in vigor; to grow feeble; to lose
strength and color, and the control of the bodily or mental functions;
to swoon; -- sometimes with away. See Fainting, n.
Hearing the honor intended her, she fainted away. Guardian.
If I send them away fasting . . . they will faint by the way. Mark
viii. 8.
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2. To sink into dejection; to lose courage or spirit; to become
depressed or despondent.
If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small. Prov.
xxiv. 10.
3. To decay; to disappear; to vanish.
Gilded clouds, while we gaze upon them, faint before the eye. Pope.
Faint
Faint (?), v. t. To cause to faint or become dispirited; to depress;
to weaken. [Obs.]
It faints me to think what follows. Shak.
Fainthearted
Faint"*heart`ed (?), a. Wanting in courage; depressed by fear; easily
discouraged or frightened; cowardly; timorous; dejected.
Fear not, neither be faint-hearted. Is. vii. 4.
-- Faint"*heart`ed*ly, adv. -- Faint"*heart`ed*ness, n.
Fainting
Faint"ing (?), n. Syncope, or loss of consciousness owing to a sudden
arrest of the blood supply to the brain, the face becoming pallid, the
respiration feeble, and the heat's beat weak. Fainting fit, a fainting
or swoon; syncope. [Colloq.]
Faintish
Faint"ish, a. Slightly faint; somewhat faint. -- Faint"ish*ness, n.
Faintling
Faint"ling (?), a. Timorous; feeble-minded. [Obs.] "A fainting, silly
creature." Arbuthnot.
Faintly
Faint"ly, adv. In a faint, weak, or timidmanner.
Faintness
Faint"ness, n.
1. The state of being faint; loss of strength, or of consciousness,
and self-control.
2. Want of vigor or energy. Spenser.
3. Feebleness, as of color or light; lack of distinctness; as,
faintness of description.
4. Faint-heartedness; timorousness; dejection.
I will send a faintness into their hearts. Lev. xxvi. 36.
Faints
Faints (?), n.pl. The impure spirit which comes over first and last in
the distillation of whisky; -- the former being called the strong
faints, and the latter, which is much more abundant, the weak faints.
This crude spirit is much impregnated with fusel oil. Ure.
Fainty
Faint"y (?), a. Feeble; languid. [R.] Dryden.
Fair
Fair (?), a. [Compar. Fairer (?); superl. Fairest.] [OE. fair, fayer,
fager, AS. f\'91ger; akin to OS. & OHG. fagar, Isel. fagr, Sw. fager,
Dan. faver, Goth. fagrs fit, also to E. fay, G. f\'81gen, to fit.
fegen to sweep, cleanse, and prob. also to E. fang, peace, pact, Cf.
Fang, Fain, Fay to fit.]
1. Free from spots, specks, dirt, or imperfection; unblemished; clean;
pure.
A fair white linen cloth. Book of Common Prayer.
2. Pleasing to the eye; handsome; beautiful.
Who can not see many a fair French city, for one fair French made.
Shak.
3. Without a dark hue; light; clear; as, a fair skin.
The northern people large and fair-complexioned. Sir M. Hale.
4. Not overcast; cloudless; clear; pleasant; propitious; favorable; --
said of the sky, weather, or wind, etc.; as, a fair sky; a fair day.
You wish fair winds may waft him over. Prior.
5. Free from obstacles or hindrances; unobstructed; unincumbered;
open; direct; -- said of a road, passage, etc.; as, a fair mark; in
fair sight; a fair view.
The caliphs obtained a mighty empire, which was in a fair way to
have enlarged. Sir W. Raleigh.
6. (Shipbuilding) Without sudden change of direction or curvature;
smooth; fowing; -- said of the figure of a vessel, and of surfaces,
water lines, and other lines.
7. Characterized by frankness, honesty, impartiality, or candor; open;
upright; free from suspicion or bias; equitable; just; -- said of
persons, character, or conduct; as, a fair man; fair dealing; a fair
statement. "I would call it fair play." Shak.
8. Pleasing; favorable; inspiring hope and confidence; -- said of
words, promises, etc.
When fair words and good counsel will not prevail on us, we must be
frighted into our duty. L' Estrange.
9. Distinct; legible; as, fair handwriting.
10. Free from any marked characteristic; average; middling; as, a fair
specimen.
The news is very fair and good, my lord. Shak.
Fair ball. (Baseball) (a) A ball passing over the home base at the
height called for by the batsman, and delivered by the pitcher while
wholly within the lines of his position and facing the batsman. (b) A
batted ball that falls inside the foul lines; -- called also a fair
hit. -- Fair maid. (Zo\'94l.) (a) The European pilchard (Clupea
pilchardus) when dried. (b) The southern scup (Stenotomus Gardeni).
[Virginia] -- Fair one, a handsome woman; a beauty, -- Fair play,
equitable or impartial treatment; a fair or equal chance; justice. --
From fair to middling, passable; tolerable. [Colloq.] -- The fair sex,
the female sex. Syn. -- Candid; open; frank; ingenuous; clear; honest;
equitable; impartial; reasonable. See Candid.
Fair
Fair, adv. Clearly; openly; frankly; civilly; honestly; favorably;
auspiciously; agreeably. Fair and square, justly; honestly; equitably;
impartially. [Colloq.] -- To bid fair. See under Bid. -- To speak
fair, to address with courtesy and frankness. [Archaic]
Fair
Fair, n.
1. Fairness, beauty. [Obs.] Shak.
2. A fair woman; a sweetheart.
I have found out a gift for my fair. Shenstone.
3. Good fortune; good luck.
Now fair befall thee ! Shak.
The fair, anything beautiful; women, collectively. "For slander's mark
was ever yet the fair." Shak.
Fair
Fair, v. t.
1. To make fair or beautiful. [Obs.]
Fairing the foul. Shak.
2. (Shipbuilding) To make smooth and flowing, as a vessel's lines.
Fair
Fair, n. [OE. feire, OF. feire, F. foire, fr. L. fariae, pl., days of
rest, holidays, festivals, akin to festus festal. See Feast.]
1. A gathering of buyers and sellers, assembled at a particular place
with their merchandise at a stated or regular season, or by special
appointment, for trade.
2. A festival, and sale of fancy articles. erc., usually for some
charitable object; as, a Grand Army fair.
3. A competitive exhibition of wares, farm products, etc., not
primarily for purposes of sale; as, the Mechanics' fair; an
agricultural fair.
After the fair, Too late. [Colloq.]
Fair-haired
Fair"-haired` (?), a. Having fair or light-colored hair.
Fairhood
Fair"hood (?), n. Fairness; beauty. [Obs.] Foxe.
Fairily
Fair"i*ly (?), adv. In the manner of a fairy.
Numerous as shadows haunting fairily The brain. Keats.
Fairing
Fair"ing, n. A present; originally, one given or purchased at a fair.
Gay. Fairing box, a box receiving savings or small sums of money.
Hannah More.
Fairish
Fair"ish, a. Tolerably fair. [Colloq.] W. D. Howells.
Fair-leader
Fair"-lead`er (?), n. (Naut.) A block, or ring, serving as a guide for
the running rigging or for any rope.
Fairly
Fair"ly, adv.
1. In a fairmanner; clearly; openly; plainly; fully; distinctly;
frankly.
Even the nature of Mr. Dimmesdale's disease had never fairly been
revealed to him. Hawthorne.
2. Favorably; auspiciously; commodiously; as, a town fairly situated
for foreign traade.
3. Honestly; properly.
Such means of comfort or even luxury, as lay fairly within their
grasp. Hawthorne.
4. Softly; quietly; gently. [Obs.] Milton.
Fair-minded
Fair"-mind`ed (?), a. Unprejudiced; just; judicial; honest. --
Fair"*mind`ed*ness, n.
Fair-natured
Fair"-na`tured (?), a. Well-disposed. "A fair-natured prince." Ford.
Fairness
Fair"ness, n. The state of being fair, or free form spots or stains,
as of the skin; honesty, as of dealing; candor, as of an argument,
etc.
Faair-spoken
Faair"-spo`ken (?), a. Using fair speech, or uttered with fairness;
bland; civil; courteous; plausible. "A marvelous fair-spoken man."
Hooker.
Fairway
Fair"way` (?), n. The navigable part of a river, bay, etc., through
which vessels enter or depart; the part of a harbor or channel ehich
is kept open and unobstructed for the passage of vessels. Totten. <--
[2]. That part of a golf course between the tee and the green which is
of closely mowed grass, as contrasted to the rough. -->
Fair-weather
Fair"-weath`er (?), a.
1. Made or done in pleasant weather, or in circumstances involving but
little exposure or sacrifice; as, a fair-weather voyage. Pope.
2. Appearing only when times or circumstances are prosperous; as, a
fair-weather friend.
Fair-weather sailor, a make-believe or inexperienced sailor; -- the
nautical equivalent of carpet knight.
Fair-world
Fair"-world` (?) n. State of prosperity. [Obs.]
They think it was never fair-world with them since. Milton.
Fairy
Fair"y (?), n.; pl. Fairies (#). [OE. fairie, faierie, enchantment,
fairy folk, fairy, OF. faerie enchantment, F. f\'82er, fr. LL. Fata
one of the goddesses of fate. See Fate, and cf. Fay a fairy.] [Written
also fa\'89ry.]
1. Enchantment; illusion. [Obs.] Chaucer.
The God of her has made an end, And fro this worlde's fairy Hath
taken her into company. Gower.
2. The country of the fays; land of illusions. [Obs.]
He [Arthur] is a king y-crowned in Fairy. Lydgate.
3. An imaginary supernatural being or spirit, supposed to assume a
human form (usually diminutive), either male or female, and to meddle
for good or evil in the affairs of mankind; a fay. See Elf, and Demon.
The fourth kind of spirit [is] called the Fairy. K. James.
And now about the caldron sing, Like elves and fairies in a ring.
Shak.
5. An enchantress. [Obs.] Shak.
Fairy of the mine, an imaginary being supposed to inhabit mines, etc.
German folklore tells of two species; one fierce and malevolent, the
other gentle, See Kobold.
No goblin or swart fairy of the mine Hath hurtful power over true
virginity. Milton.
Fairy
Fair"y, a.
1. Of or pertaining to fairies.
2. Given by fairies; as, fairy money. Dryden.
Fairy bird (Zo\'94l.), the Euoropean little tern (Sterna minuta); --
called also sea swallow, and hooded tern. -- Fairy bluebird.
(Zo\'94l.) See under Bluebird. -- Fairy martin (Zo\'94l.), a European
swallow (Hirrundo ariel) that builds flask-shaped nests of mud on
overhanging cliffs. -- Fairy rings OR circles, the circles formed in
grassy lawns by certain fungi (as Marasmius Oreades), formerly
supposed to be caused by fairies in their midnight dances. -- Fairy
shrimp (Zo\'94l.), a European fresh-water phyllopod crustacean
(Chirocephalus diaphanus); -- so called from its delicate colors,
transparency, and graceful motions. The name is sometimes applied to
similar American species. -- Fairy stone (Paleon.), an echinite.
Fairyland
Fair"y*land` (?) n. The imaginary land or abode of fairies.
Fairylike
Fair"y*like` (?), a. Resembling a fairy, or what is made or done be
fairies; as, fairylike music.
Faith
Faith (?), n. [OE. feith, fayth, fay, OF. feid, feit, fei, F. foi, fr.
L. fides; akin to fidere to trust, Gr. th is perhaps due to the
influence of such words as truth, health, wealth. See Bid, Bide, and
cf. Confide, Defy, Fealty.]
1. Belief; the assent of the mind to the truth of what is declared by
another, resting solely and implicitly on his authority and veracity;
reliance on testimony.
2. The assent of the mind to the statement or proposition of another,
on the ground of the manifest truth of what he utters; firm and
earnest belief, on probable evidence of any kind, especially in regard
to important moral truth.
Faith, that is, fidelity, -- the fealty of the finite will and
understanding to the reason. Coleridge.
3. (Theol.) (a) The belief in the historic truthfulness of the
Scripture narrative, and the supernatural origin of its teachings,
sometimes called historical and speculative faith. (b) The belief in
the facts and truth of the Scriptures, with a practical love of them;
especially, that confiding and affectionate belief in the person and
work of Christ, which affects the character and life, and makes a man
a true Christian, -- called a practical, evangelical, or saving faith.
Without faith it is impossible to please him [God]. Heb. xi. 6.
The faith of the gospel is that emotion of the mind which is called
"trust" or "confidence" exercised toward the moral character of
God, and particularly of the Savior. Dr. T. Dwight.
Faith is an affectionate, practical confidence in the testimony of
God. J. Hawes.
4. That which is believed on any subject, whether in science,
politics, or religion; especially (Theol.), a system of religious
belief of any kind; as, the Jewish or Mohammedan faith; and
especially, the system of truth taught by Christ; as, the Christian
faith; also, the creed or belief of a Christian society or church.
Which to believe of her, Must be a faith that reason without
miracle Could never plant in me. Shak.
Now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed. Gal. i. 23.
5. Fidelity to one's promises, or allegiance to duty, or to a person
honored and beloved; loyalty.
Children in whom is no faith. Deut. xxvii. 20.
Whose failing, while her faith to me remains, I should conceal.
Milton.
6. Word or honor pledged; promise given; fidelity; as, he violated his
faith.
For you alone I broke me faith with injured Palamon. Dryden.
7. Credibility or truth. [R.]
The faith of the foregoing narrative. Mitford.
Act of faith. See Auto-da-f\'82. -- Breach of faith, Confession of
faith, etc. See under Breach, Confession, etc. -- Faith cure, a method
or practice of treating diseases by prayer and the exercise of faith
in God. -- In good faith, with perfect sincerity. <-- faith healing,
faith healer = faith cure. -->
Faith
Faith (?), interj. By my faith; in truth; verily.
Faithed
Faithed (?), a. Having faith or a faith; honest; sincere. [Obs.] "Make
thy words faithed." Shak.
Faithful
Faith"ful (?), a.
1. Full of faith, or having faith; disposed to believe, especially in
the declarations and promises of God.
You are not faithful, sir. B. Jonson.
2. Firm in adherence to promises, oaths, contracts, treaties, or other
engagements.
The faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that
love him. Deut. vii. 9.
3. True and constant in affection or allegiance to a person to whom
one is bound by a vow, be ties of love, gratitude, or honor, as to a
husband, a prince, a friend; firm in the observance of duty; loyal; of
true fidelity; as, a faithful husband or servant.
So spake the seraph Abdiel, faithful found, Among the faithless,
faithful only he. Milton.
4. Worthy of confidence and belief; conformable to truth ot fact;
exact; accurate; as, a faithful narrative or representation.
It is a faithful saying. 2 Tim. ii. 11.
The Faithful, the adherents of any system of religious belief; esp.
used as an epithet of the followers of Mohammed. Syn. -- Trusty;
honest; upright; sincere; veracious; trustworthy. -- Faith"ful*ly,
adv. -Faith"ful*ness, n.
Faithless
Faith"less, a.
1. Not believing; not giving credit.
Be not faithless, but believing. John xx. 27.
2. Not believing on God or religion; specifically, not believing in
the Christian religion. Shak.
3. Not observant of promises or covenants.
4. Not true to allegiance, duty, or vows; perfidious; trecherous;
disloyal; not of true fidelity; inconstant, as a husband or a wife.
A most unnatural and faithless service. Shak.
5. Serving to disappoint or deceive; delusive; unsatisfying. "Yonder
faithless phantom." Goldsmith. -- Faith"less*ly, adv.Faith"less*ness,
n.
Faitour
Fai"tour (?), n. [OF. faitor a doer, L. factor. See Factor.] A doer or
actor; particularly, an evil doer; a scoundrel. [Obs.]
Lo! faitour, there thy meed unto thee take. Spenser.
Fake
Fake (?), n. [Cf. Scot. faik fold, stratum of stone, AS. f\'91c space,
interval, G. fach compartment, partition, row, and E. fay to fit.]
(Naut.) One of the circles or windings of a cable or hawser, as it
lies in a coil; a single turn or coil.
Fake
Fake, v. t. (Naut.) To coil (a rope, line, or hawser), by winding
alternately in opposite directions, in layers usually of zigzag or
figure of eight form,, to prevent twisting when running out. Faking
box, a box in which a long rope is faked; used in the life-saving
service for a line attached to a shot.
Fake
Fake, v. t. [Cf. Gael. faigh to get, acquire, reach, or OD. facken to
catch or gripe.] [Slang in all its senses.]
1. To cheat; to swindle; to steal; to rob.
2. To make; to construct; to do.
3. To manipulate fraudulently, so as to make an object appear better
or other than it really is; as, to fake a bulldog, by burning his
upper lip and thus artificially shortening it.
Fake
Fake, n. A trick; a swindle. [Slang]
Fakir
Fa"kir (?), n. [Ar. faq\'c6r poor.] An Oriental religious ascetic or
begging monk. [Written also faquir anf fakeer.]
Falanaka
Fa"la*na"ka (?), n. [Native name.] (Zo\'94l.) A viverrine mammal of
Madagascar (Eupleres Goudotii), allied to the civet; -- called also
Falanouc.
Falcade
Fal*cade" (f&acr;l*k&amac;d"), n. [F., ultimately fr. L. falx, falcis,
a sickle or scythe.] (Man.) The action of a horse, when he throws
himself on his haunches two or three times, bending himself, as it
were, in very quick curvets. Harris.
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Page 539
Falcate, Falcated
Fal"cate (?), Fal"ca*ted (?), a. [L. falcatus, fr. falx, falcis, a
sickle or scythe.] Hooked or bent like a sickle; as, a falcate leaf; a
falcate claw; -- said also of the moon, or a planet, when horned or
crescent-formed.
Falcation
Fal*ca"tion (?), n. The state of being falcate; a bend in the form of
a sickle. Sir T. Browne.
Falcer
Fal"cer (?), n. [From L. falx, falcis, a sickle.] (Zo\'94l.) One of
the mandibles of a spider.
Falchion
Fal"chion (?), n. [OE. fauchon, OF. fauchon, LL. f\'84lcio, fr. L.
falx, falcis, a sickle, cf. Gr. falcon; cf. It. falcione. Cf.
Defalcation.]
1. A broad-bladed sword, slightly curved, shorter and lighter than the
ordinary sword; -- used in the Middle Ages.
2. A name given generally and poetically to a sword, especially to the
swords of Oriental and fabled warriors.
Falcidian
Fal*cid"i*an (?), a. [L. Falcidius.] Of or pertaining to Publius
Falcidius, a Roman tribune. Falcidian law (Civil Law), a law by which
a testator was obliged to leave at least a fourth of his estate to the
heir. Burrill.
Falciform
Fal"ci*form (?), a. [L. falx, falcis, a sickle + -form: cf. F.
falciforme.] Having the shape of a scithe or sickle; resembling a
reaping hook; as, the falciform ligatment of the liver.
Falcon
Fal"con (?), n. [OE. faucon, faucoun, OF. faucon, falcon, faucon, fr.
LL. falco, perh. from L. falx, falcis, a sickle or scythe, and named
from its curving talons. Cf. Falchion.]
1. (Zo\'94l.) (a) One of a family (Falconid\'91) of raptorial birds,
characterized by a short, hooked beak, strong claws, and powerful
flight. (b) Any species of the genus Falco, distinguished by having a
toothlike lobe on the upper mandible; especially, one of this genus
trained to the pursuit of other birds, or game.
In the language of falconry, the female peregrine (Falco
peregrinus) is exclusively called the falcon. Yarrell.
2. (Gun.) An ancient form of cannon.
Chanting falcon. (Zo\'94l.) See under Chanting.
Falconer
Fal"con*er (?), n. [OE. fauconer, OF. falconier, fauconier, F.
fauconnier. See Falcon.] A person who breeds or trains hawks for
taking birds or game; one who follows the sport of fowling with hawks.
Johnson.
Falconet
Fal"co*net (?), n. [Dim. of falcon: cf. F. fauconneau, LL. falconeta,
properly, a young falcon.]
1. One of the smaller cannon used in the 15th century and later.
2. (Zo\'94l.) (a) One of several very small Asiatic falcons of the
genus Microhierax. (b) One of a group of Australian birds of the genus
Falcunculus, resembling shrikes and titmice.
Falcongentil
Fal"con*gen`til (?), n. [F. faucon-gentil. See Falcon, and Genteel.]
(Zo\'94l.) The female or young of the goshawk (Astur palumbarius).
Falconine
Fal"co*nine (?), a. (Zo\'94l.) Like a falcon or hawk; belonging to the
Falconid\'91
Falconry
Fal"con*ry (?), n. [Cf. F. fauconnerie. See Falcon.]
1. The art of training falcons or hawks to pursue and attack wild fowl
or game.
2. The sport of taking wild fowl or game by means of falcons or hawks.
Falcula
Fal"cu*la (?), n. [L., a small sickle, a billhook.] (Zo\'94l.) A
curved and sharp-pointed claw.
Falculate
Fal"cu*late (?), a. (Zo\'94l.) Curved and sharppointed, like a
falcula, or claw of a falcon.
Faldage
Fald"age (?), n. [LL. faldagium, fr. AS. fald, E. fold. Cf. Foldage.]
(O. Eng. Law) A privilege of setting up, and moving about, folds for
sheep, in any fields within manors, in order to manure them; -- often
reserved to himself by the lord of the manor. Spelman.
Faldfee
Fald"fee` (?), n. [AS. fald (E.fold) + E. fee. See Faldage.] (O. Eng.
Law) A fee or rent paid by a tenant for the privilege of faldage on
his own ground. Blount.
Falding
Fald"ing, n. A frieze or rough-napped cloth. [Obs.]
Faldistory
Fal"dis*to*ry (?), n. [LL. faldistorium, faldestorium, from OHG.
faldstuol; faldan, faltan, to fold (G. falten) + stuol stool. So
called because it could be folded or laid together. See Fold, and
Stool, and cf. Faldstool, Fauteuil.] The throne or seat of a bishop
within the chancel. [Obs.]
Faldstool
Fald"stool` (?), n. [See Faldistory.] A folding stool, or portable
seat, made to fold up in the manner of a camo stool. It was formerly
placed in the choir for a bishop, when he offciated in any but his own
cathedral church. Fairholt.
NOTE: &hand; In th e modern practice of the Church of England, the
term faldstool is given to the reading desk from which the litany
is read. This esage is a relic of the ancient use of a lectern
folding like a camp stool.
Falernian
Fa*ler"ni*an (?), a. Of or pertaining to Mount Falernus, in Italy; as,
Falernianwine.
Falk
Falk (f&add;k), n. (Zo\'94l.) The razorbill. [Written also falc, and
faik.] [Prov. Eng.]
Fall
Fall (f&add;l), v. i. [imp. Fell (?); p. p. Fallen (?); p. pr. & vb.
n. Falling.] [AS. feallan; akin to D. vallen, OS. & OHG. fallan, G.
fallen, Icel. Falla, Sw. falla, Dan. falde, Lith. pulti, L. fallere to
deceive, Gr. sfa`llein to cause to fall, Skr. sphal, sphul, to
tremble. Cf. Fail, Fell, v. t., to cause to fall.]
1. To Descend, either suddenly or gradually; particularly, to descend
by the force of gravity; to drop; to sink; as, the apple falls; the
tide falls; the mercury falls in the barometer.
I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Luke x. 18.
2. To cease to be erect; to take suddenly a recumbent posture; to
become prostrate; to drop; as, a child totters and falls; a tree
falls; a worshiper falls on his knees.
I fell at his feet to worship him. Rev. xix. 10.
3. To find a final outlet; to discharge its waters; to empty; -- with
into; as, the river Rhone falls into the Mediterranean.
4. To become prostrate and dead; to die; especially, to die by
violence, as in battle.
A thousand shall fall at thy side. Ps. xci. 7.
He rushed into the field, and, foremost fighting, fell. Byron.
5. To cease to be active or strong; to die away; to lose strength; to
subside; to become less intense; as, the wind falls.
6. To issue forth into life; to be brought forth; -- said of the young
of certain animals. Shak.
7. To decline in power, glory, wealth, or importance; to become
insignificant; to lose rank or position; to decline in weight, value,
price etc.; to become less; as, the falls; stocks fell two points.
I am a poor falle man, unworthy now To be thy lord and master.
Shak.
The greatness of these Irish lords suddenly fell and vanished. Sir
J. Davies.
8. To be overthrown or captured; to be destroyed.
Heaven and earth will witness, If Rome must fall, that we are
innocent. Addison.
9. To descend in character or reputation; to become degraded; to sink
into vice, error, or sin; to depart from the faith; to apostatize; to
sin.
Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall
after the same example of unbelief. Heb. iv. 11.
10. To become insnared or embarrassed; to be entrapped; to be worse
off than before; asm to fall into error; to fall into difficulties.
11. To assume a look of shame or disappointment; to become or appear
dejected; -- said of the countenance.
Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. Gen. iv. 5.
I have observed of late thy looks are fallen. Addison.
12. To sink; to languish; to become feeble or faint; as, our spirits
rise and fall with our fortunes.
13. To pass somewha suddenly, and passively, into a new state of body
or mind; to become; as, to fall asleep; to fall into a passion; to
fall in love; to fall into temptation.
14. To happen; to to come to pass; to light; to befall; to issue; to
terminate.
The Romans fell on this model by chance. Swift.
Sit still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall.
Ruth. iii. 18.
They do not make laws, they fall into customs. H. Spencer.
15. To come; to occur; to arrive.
The vernal equinox, which at the Nicene Council fell on the 21st of
March, falls now [1694] about ten days sooner. Holder.
16. To begin with haste, ardor, or vehemence; to rush or hurry; as,
they fell to blows.
They now no longer doubted, but fell to work heart and soul. Jowett
(Thucyd. ).
17. To pass or be transferred by chance, lot, distribution,
inheritance, or otherwise; as, the estate fell to his brother; the
kingdom fell into the hands of his rivals.
18. To belong or appertain.
If to her share some female errors fall, Look on her face, and
you'll forget them all. Pope.
19. To be dropped or uttered carelessly; as, an unguarded expression
fell from his lips; not a murmur fell from him.
To fall abroad of (Naut.), to strike against; -- applied to one vessel
coming into collision with another. -- To fall among, to come among
accidentally or unexpectedly. -- To fall astern (Naut.), to move or be
driven backward; to be left behind; as, a ship falls astern by the
force of a current, or when outsailed by another. -- To fall away. (a)
To lose flesh; to become lean or emaciated; to pine. (b) To renounce
or desert allegiance; to revolt or rebel. (c) To renounce or desert
the faith; to apostatize. "These . . . for a while believe, and in
time of temptation fall away." Luke viii. 13. (d) To perish; to
vanish; to be lost. "How . . . can the soul . . . fall away into
nothing?" Addison. (e) To decline gradually; to fade; to languish, or
become faint. "One color falls away by just degrees, and another rises
insensibly." Addison. -- To fall back. (a) To recede or retreat; to
give way. (b) To fail of performing a promise or purpose; not to
fulfill. -- To fall back upon. (a) (Mil.) To retreat for safety to (a
stronger position in the rear, as to a fort or a supporting body of
troops). (b) To have recourse to (a reserved fund, or some available
expedient or support). -- To fall calm, to cease to blow; to become
calm. -- To fall down. (a) To prostrate one's self in worship. "All
kings shall fall down before him." Ps. lxxii. 11. (b) To sink; to come
to the ground. "Down fell the beauteous youth." Dryden. (c) To bend or
bow, as a suppliant. (d) (Naut.) To sail or drift toward the mouth of
a river or other outlet. -- To fall flat, to produce no response or
result; to fail of the intended effect; as, his speech fell flat. --
To fall foul of. (a) (Naut.) To have a collision with; to become
entangled with (b) To attack; to make an assault upon. -- To fall
from, to recede or depart from; not to adhere to; as, to fall from an
agreement or engagement; to fall from allegiance or duty. -- To fall
from grace (M. E. Ch.), to sin; to withdraw from the faith. -- To fall
home (Ship Carp.), to curve inward; -- said of the timbers or upper
parts of a ship's side which are much within a perpendicular. -- To
fall in. (a) To sink inwards; as, the roof fell in. (b) (Mil.) To take
one's proper or assigned place in line; as, to fall in on the right.
(c) To come to an end; to terminate; to lapse; as, on the death of Mr.
B., the annuuity, which he had so long received, fell in. (d) To
become operative. "The reversion, to which he had been nominated
twenty years before, fell in." Macaulay. -- To fall into one's hands,
to pass, often suddenly or unexpectedly, into one's ownership or
control; as, to spike cannon when they are likely to fall into the
hands of the enemy. -- To fall in with. (a) To meet with accidentally;
as, to fall in with a friend. (b) (Naut.) To meet, as a ship; also, to
discover or come near, as land. (c) To concur with; to agree with; as,
the measure falls in with popular opinion. (d) To comply; to yield to.
"You will find it difficult to persuade learned men to fall in with
your projects." Addison. -- To fall off. (a) To drop; as, fruits fall
off when ripe. (b) To withdraw; to separate; to become detached; as,
friends fall off in adversity. "Love cools, friendship falls off,
brothers divide." Shak. (c) To perish; to die away; as, words fall off
by disuse. (d) To apostatize; to forsake; to withdraw from the faith,
or from allegiance or duty.
Those captive tribes . . . fell off From God to worship calves.
Milton.
(e) To forsake; to abandon; as, his customers fell off. (f) To
depreciate; to change for the worse; to deteriorate; to become less
valuable, abundant, or interesting; as, a falling off in the wheat
crop; the magazine or the review falls off. "O Hamlet, what a falling
off was there!" Shak. (g) (Naut.) To deviate or trend to the leeward
of the point to which the head of the ship was before directed; to
fall to leeward. -- To fall on. (a) To meet with; to light upon; as,
we have fallen on evil days. (b) To begin suddenly and eagerly. "Fall
on, and try the appetite to eat." Dryden. (c) To begin an attack; to
assault; to assail. "Fall on, fall on, and hear him not." Dryden. (d)
To drop on; to descend on. -- To fall out. (a) To quarrel; to begin to
contend.
A soul exasperated in ills falls out With everything, its friend,
itself. Addison.
(b) To happen; to befall; to chance. "There fell out a bloody quarrel
betwixt the frogs and the mice." L'Estrange. (c) (Mil.) To leave the
ranks, as a soldier. -- To fall over. (a) To revolt; to desert from
one side to another. (b) To fall beyond. Shak. -- To fall short, to be
deficient; as, the corn falls short; they all fall short in duty. --
To fall through, to come to nothing; to fail; as, the engageent has
fallen through. -- To fall to, to begin. "Fall to, with eager joy, on
homely food." Dryden. -- To fall under. (a) To come under, or within
the limits of; to be subjected to; as, they fell under the
jurisdiction of the emperor. (b) To come under; to become the subject
of; as, this point did not fall under the cognizance or deliberations
of the court; these things do not fall under human sight or
observation. (c) To come within; to be ranged or reckoned with; to be
subordinate to in the way of classification; as, these substances fall
under a different class or order. -- To fall upon. (a) To attack. [See
To fall on.] (b) To attempt; to have recourse to. "I do not intend to
fall upon nice disquisitions." Holder. (c) To rush against.
NOTE: &hand; Fa ll primarily denotes descending motion, either in a
perpendicular or inclined direction, and, in most of its
applications, implies, literally or figuratively, velocity, haste,
suddenness, or violence. Its use is so various, and so mush
diversified by modifying words, that it is not easy to enumerate
its senses in all its applications.
Fall
Fall (?), v. t.
1. To let fall; to drop. [Obs.]
For every tear he falls, a Trojan bleeds. Shak.
2. To sink; to depress; as, to fall the voice. [Obs.]
3. To diminish; to lessen or lower. [Obs.]
Upon lessening interest to four per cent, you fall the price of
your native commodities. Locke.
4. To bring forth; as, to fall lambs. [R.] Shak.
5. To fell; to cut down; as, to fall a tree. [Prov. Eng. & Local,
U.S.]
Fall
Fall, n.
1. The act of falling; a dropping or descending be the force of
gravity; descent; as, a fall from a horse, or from the yard of ship.
2. The act of dropping or tumbling from an erect posture; as, he was
walking on ice, and had a fall.
3. Death; destruction; overthrow; ruin.
They thy fall conspire. Denham.
Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
Prov. xvi. 18.
4. Downfall; degradation; loss of greatness or office; termination of
greatness, power, or dominion; ruin; overthrow; as, the fall of the
Roman empire.
Beholds thee glorious only in thy fall. Pope.
5. The surrender of a besieged fortress or town ; as, the fall of
Sebastopol.
6. Diminution or decrease in price or value; depreciation; as, the
fall of prices; the fall of rents.
7. A sinking of tone; cadence; as, the fall of the voice at the close
of a sentence.
8. Declivity; the descent of land or a hill; a slope.
9. Descent of water; a cascade; a cataract; a rush of water down a
precipice or steep; -- usually in the plural, sometimes in the
singular; as, the falls of Niagara.
10. The discharge of a river or current of water into the ocean, or
into a lake or pond; as, the fall of the Po into the Gulf of Venice.
Addison.
11. Extent of descent; the distance which anything falls; as, the
water of a stream has a fall of five feet.
12. The season when leaves fall from trees; autumn.
What crowds of patients the town doctor kills, Or how, last fall,
he raised the weekly bills. Dryden.
13. That which falls; a falling; as, a fall of rain; a heavy fall of
snow.
14. The act of felling or cutting down. "The fall of timber." Johnson.
15. Lapse or declinsion from innocence or goodness. Specifically: The
first apostasy; the act of our first parents in eating the forbidden
fruit; also, the apostasy of the rebellious angels.
16. Formerly, a kind of ruff or band for the neck; a falling band; a
faule. B. Jonson.
17. That part (as one of the ropes) of a tackle to which the power is
applied in hoisting.
Fall herring (Zo\'94l.), a herring of the Atlantic (Clupea mediocris);
-- also called tailor herring, and hickory shad. -- To try a fall, to
try a bout at wrestling. Shak.
Fallacious
Fal*la"cious (?), a. [L. fallaciosus, fr. fallacia: cf. F. fallacieux.
See Fallacy.] Embodying or pertaining to a fallacy; illogical; fitted
to deceive; misleading; delusive; as, fallacious arguments or
reasoning. -- Fal*la"cious*ly, adv. -Fal*la"cious*ness, n.
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Fallacy
Fal"la*cy (?), n.; pl. Fallacies (#). [OE. fallace, fallas, deception,
F. fallace, fr. L. fallacia, fr. fallax deceitful, deceptive, fr.
fallere to deceive. See Fail.]
1. Deceptive or false appearance; deceitfulness; that which misleads
the eye or the mind; deception.
Winning by conquest what the first man lost, By fallacy surprised.
Milton.
2. (Logic) An argument, or apparent argument, which professes to be
decisive of the matter at issue, while in reality it is not; a
sophism. Syn. -- Deception; deceit; mistake. -- Fallacy, Sophistry. A
fallacy is an argument which professes to be decisive, but in reality
is not; sophistry is also false reasoning, but of so specious and
subtle a kind as to render it difficult to expose its fallacy. Many
fallacies are obvious, but the evil of sophistry lies in its
consummate art. "Men are apt to suffer their minds to be misled by
fallacies which gratify their passions. Many persons have obscured and
confounded the nature of things by their wretched sophistry; though an
act be never so sinful, they will strip it of its guilt." South.
Fallals
Fal"*lals` (?), n.pl. Gay ornaments; frippery; gewgaws. [Colloq.]
Thackeray.
Fallax
Fal"lax (?), n. [L. fallax deceptive. See Fallacy.] Cavillation; a
caviling. [Obs.] Cranmer.
Fallen
Fall"en (?), a. Dropped; prostrate; degraded; ruined; decreased; dead.
Some ruined temple or fallen monument. Rogers.
Fallency
Fal"len*cy (?), n. [LL. fallentia, L. fallens p.pr of fallere.] An
exception. [Obs.] Jer. Taylor.
Faller
Fall"er (?), n.
1. One who, or that which, falls.
2. (Mach.) A part which acts by falling, as a stamp in a fulling mill,
or the device in a spinning machine to arrest motion when a thread
breaks.
Fallfish
Fall"fish` (?), n. (Zo\'94l.) A fresh-water fish of the United States
(Semotilus bullaris); -- called also silver chub, and Shiner. The name
is also applied to other allied species.
Fallibility
Fal`li*bil"i*ty (?), n. The state of being fallible; liability to
deceive or to be deceived; as, the fallibity of an argument or of an
adviser.
Fallible
Fal"li*ble (?), a. [LL. fallibilis, fr. L. fallere to deceive: cf. F.
faillible. See Fail.] Liable to fail, mistake, or err; liable to
deceive or to be deceived; as, all men are fallible; our opinions and
hopes are fallible.
Fallibly
Fal"li*bly, adv. In a fallible manner.
Falling
Fall"ing (?), a. & n. from Fall, v. i. Falling away, Falling off, etc.
See To fall away, To fall off, etc., under Fall, v. i. -- Falling
band, the plain, broad, linen collar turning down over the doublet,
worn in the early part of the 17th century. -- Falling sickness
(Med.), epilepsy. Shak. -- Falling star. (Astron.) See Shooting star.
-- Falling stone, a stone falling through the atmosphere; a meteorite;
an a\'89rolite. -- Falling tide, the ebb tide. -- Falling weather, a
rainy season. [Colloq.] Bartlett.
Fallopian
Fal*lo"pi*an (?), a. [From Fallopius, or Fallopio, a physician of
Modena, who died in 1562.] (Anat.) Pertaining to, or discovered by,
Fallopius; as, the Fallopian tubes or oviducts, the ducts or canals
which conduct the ova from the ovaries to the uterus.
Fallow
Fal"low (?), a. [AS. fealu, fealo, pale yellow or red; akin to D. vaal
fallow, faded, OHG. falo, G. falb, fahl, Icel. f\'94lr, and prob. to
Lith. palvas, OSlav. plavpallidus pale, pallere to be pale, Gr.
palita. Cf. Pale, Favel, a., Favor.]
1. Pale red or pale yellow; as, a fallow deer or greyhound. Shak.
2. [Cf. Fallow, n.] Left untilled or unsowed after plowing;
uncultivated; as, fallow ground.
Fallow chat, Fallow finch (Zo\'94l.), a small European bird, the
wheatear (Saxicola \'91nanthe). See Wheatear.
Fallow
Fal"low, n. [So called from the fallow, or somewhat yellow, color of
naked ground; or perh. akin to E. felly, n., cf. MHG. valgen to plow
up, OHG. felga felly, harrow.]
1. Plowed land. [Obs.]
Who . . . pricketh his blind horse over the fallows. Chaucer.
2. Land that has lain a year or more untilled or unseeded; land plowed
without being sowed for the season.
The plowing of fallows is a benefit to land. Mortimer.
3. The plowing or tilling of land, without sowing it for a season; as,
summer fallow, properly conducted, has ever been found a sure method
of destroying weeds.
Be a complete summer fallow, land is rendered tender and mellow.
The fallow gives it a better tilth than can be given by a fallow
crop. Sinclair.
Fallow crop, the crop taken from a green fallow. [Eng.] -- Green
fallow, fallow whereby land is rendered mellow and clean from weeds,
by cultivating some green crop, as turnips, potatoes, etc. [Eng.]
Fallow
Fal"low (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Fallowed (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Fallowing.] [From Fallow, n.] To plow, harrow, and break up, as land,
without seeding, for the purpose of destroying weeds and insects, and
rendering it mellow; as, it is profitable to fallow cold, strong,
clayey land.
Fallow deer
Fal"low deer` (?). [So called from its fallow or pale yellow color.]
(Zo\'94l.) A European species of deer (Cervus dama), much smaller than
the red deer. In summer both sexes are spotted with white. It is
common in England, where it is often domesticated in the parks.
Fallowist
Fal"low*ist (?), n. One who favors the practice of fallowing land.
[R.] Sinclair.
Fallowness
Fal"low*ness, n. A well or opening, through the successive floors of a
warehouse or manufactory, through which goods are raised or lowered.
[U.S.] Bartlett.
Falsary
Fal"sa*ry (?), n. [L. falsarius, fr. falsus. See False, a.] A
falsifier of evidence. [Obs.] Sheldon.
False
False (?), a. [Compar. Falser (?); superl. Falsest.] [L. falsus, p.p.
of fallere to deceive; cf. OF. faus, fals, F. faux, and AS. fals
fraud. See Fail, Fall.]
1. Uttering falsehood; unveracious; given to deceit; dishnest; as, a
false witness.
2. Not faithful or loyal, as to obligations, allegiance, vows, etc.;
untrue; treacherous; perfidious; as, a false friend, lover, or
subject; false to promises.
I to myself was false, ere thou to me. Milton.
3. Not according with truth or reality; not true; fitted or likely to
deceive or disappoint; as, a false statement.
4. Not genuine or real; assumed or designed to deceive; counterfeit;
hypocritical; as, false tears; false modesty; false colors; false
jewelry.
False face must hide what the false heart doth know. Shak.
5. Not well founded; not firm or trustworthy; erroneous; as, a false
claim; a false conclusion; a false construction in grammar.
Whose false foundation waves have swept away. Spenser.
6. Not essential or permanent, as parts of a structure which are
temporary or supplemental.
7. (Mus.) Not in tune.
False arch (Arch.), a member having the appearance of an arch, though
not of arch construction. -- False attic, an architectural erection
above the main cornice, concealing a roof, but not having windows or
inclosing rooms. -- False bearing, any bearing which is not directly
upon a vertical support; thus, the weight carried by a corbel has a
false bearing. -- False cadence, an imperfect or interrupted cadence.
-- False conception (Med.), an abnormal conception in which a mole, or
misshapen fleshy mass, is produced instead of a properly organized
fetus. -- False croup (Med.), a spasmodic affection of the larynx
attended with the symptoms of membranous croup, but unassociated with
the deposit of a fibrinous membrane. -- False door OR window (Arch.),
the representation of a door or window, inserted to complete a series
of doors or windows or to give symmetry. -- False fire, a combustible
carried by vessels of war, chiefly for signaling, but sometimes burned
for the purpose of deceiving an enemy; also, a light on shore for
decoying a vessel to destruction. -- False galena. See Blende. --
False imprisonment (Law), the arrest and imprisonment of a person
without warrant or cause, or contrary to law; or the unlawful
detaining of a person in custody. -- False keel (Naut.), the timber
below the main keel, used to serve both as a protection and to
increase the shio's lateral resistance. -- False key, a picklock. --
False leg. (Zo\'94l.) See Proleg. -- False membrane (Med.), the
fibrinous deposit formed in croup and diphtheria, and resembling in
appearance an animal membrane. -- False papers (Naut.), documents
carried by a ship giving false representations respecting her cargo,
destination, ect., for the purpose of deceiving. -- False passage
(Surg.), an unnatural passage leading off from a natural canal, such
as the urethra, and produced usually by the unskillful introduction of
instruments. -- False personation (Law), the intentional false
assumption of the name and personality of another. -- False pretenses
(Law), false representations concerning past or present facts and
events, for the purpose of defrauding another. -- False rail (Naut.),
a thin piece of timber placed on top of the head rail to strengthen
it. -- False relation (Mus.), a progression in harmony, in which a
certain note in a chord appears in the next chord prefixed by a flat
or sharp. -- False return (Law), an untrue return made to a process by
the officer to whom it was delivered for execution. -- False ribs
(Anat.), the asternal rebs, of which there are five pairs in man. --
False roof (Arch.), the space between the upper ceiling and the roof.
Oxford Gloss. -- False token, a false mark or other symbol, used for
fraudulent purposes. -- False scorpion (Zo\'94l.), any arachnid of the
genus Chelifer. See Book scorpion. -- False tack (Naut.), a coming up
into the wind and filling away again on the same tack. -- False
vampire (Zo\'94l.), the Vampyrus spectrum of South America, formerly
erroneously supposed to have blood-sucking habits; -- called also
vampire, and ghost vampire. The genuine blood-sucking bats belong to
the genera Desmodus and Diphylla. See Vampire. -- False window.
(Arch.) See False door, above. -- False wing. (Zo\'94l.) See Alula,
and Bastard wing, under Bastard. -- False works (Civil Engin.),
construction works to facilitate the erection of the main work, as
scaffolding, bridge centering, etc.
False
False, adv. Not truly; not honestly; falsely. "You play me false."
Shak.
False
False, v. t. [L. falsare to falsify, fr. falsus: cf. F. fausser. See
False, a.]
1. To report falsely; to falsify. [Obs.] Chaucer.
2. To betray; to falsify. [Obs.]
[He] hath his truthe falsed in this wise. Chaucer.
3. To mislead by want of truth; to deceive. [Obs.]
In his falsed fancy. Spenser.
4. To feign; to pretend to make. [Obs.] "And falsed oft his blows."
Spenser.
False-faced
False"-faced` (?), a. Hypocritical. Shak.
False-heart
False"-heart` (?), a. False-hearted. Shak.
False-hearted
False"-heart`ed, a. Hollow or unsound at the core; treacherous;
deceitful; perfidious. Bacon. -- False"*heart`ed*ness, n. Bp.
Stillingfleet.
Falsehood
False"hood (?), n. [False + -hood]
1. Want of truth or accuracy; an untrue assertion or representation;
error; misrepresentation; falsity.
Though it be a lie in the clock, it is but a falsehood in the hand
of the dial when pointing at a wrong hour, if rightly following the
direction of the wheel which moveth it. Fuller.
2. A deliberate intentional assertion of what is known to be untrue; a
departure from moral integrity; a lie.
3. Treachery; deceit; perfidy; unfaithfulness.
Betrayed by falsehood of his guard. Shak.
4. A counterfeit; a false appearance; an imposture.
For his molten image is falsehood. Jer. x. 14.
No falsehood can endure Touch of celestial temper. Milton.
Syn. -- Falsity; lie; untruth; fiction; fabrication. See Falsity.
Falsely
False"ly (?), adv. In a false manner; erroneously; not truly;
perfidiously or treacherously. "O falsely, falsely murdered." Shak.
Oppositions of science, falsely so called. 1 Tim. vi. 20.
Will ye steal, murder . . . and swear falsely ? Jer. vii. 9.
Falseness
False"ness, n. The state of being false; contrariety to the fact;
inaccuracy; want of integrity or uprightness; double dealing;
unfaithfulness; treachery; perfidy; as, the falseness of a report, a
drawing, or a singer's notes; the falseness of a man, or of his word.
Falser
Fals"er (?), n. A deceiver. [Obs.] Spenser.
Falsetto
Fal*set"to (?), n.; pl. Falsettos (#). [It. falsetto, dim. fr. L.
falsus. See False.] A false or artificial voice; that voice in a man
which lies above his natural voice; the male counter tenor or alto
voice. See Head voice, under Voice.
Falsicrimen
Fal"si*cri"men (?). [L.] (Civ. Law) The crime of falsifying.
NOTE: &hand; Th is term in the Roman law included not only forgery,
but every species of fraud and deceit. It never has been used in so
extensive a sense in modern common law, in which its predominant
significance is forgery, though it also includes perjury and
offenses of a like character.
Burrill. Greenleaf.
Falsifiable
Fal"si*fi`a*ble (?), a. [Cf. OF. falsifiable.] Capable of being
falsified, counterfeited, or corrupted. Johnson.
Falsification
Fal`si*fi*ca"tion (?), n. [Cf. F. falsification.]
1. The act of falsifying, or making false; a counterfeiting; the
giving to a thing an appearance of something which it is not.
To counterfeit the living image of king in his person exceedeth all
falsifications. Bacon.
2. Willful misstatement or misrepresentation.
Extreme necessity . . . forced him upon this bold and violent
falsification of the doctrine of the alliance. Bp. Warburton.
3. (Equity) The showing an item of charge in an account to be wrong.
Story.
Falsificator
Fal"si*fi*ca`tor (?), n. [Cf. F. falsificateur.] A falsifier. Bp.
Morton.
Falsifier
Fal"si*fi`er (?), n. One who falsifies, or gives to a thing a
deceptive appearance; a liar.
Falsify
Fal"si*fy (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Falsified (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Falsifying.] [L. falsus false + -ly: cf. F. falsifier. See False, a.]
1. To make false; to represent falsely.
The Irish bards use to forge and falsify everything as they list,
to please or displease any man. Spenser.
2. To counterfeit; to forge; as, to falsify coin.
3. To prove to be false, or untrustworthy; to confute; to disprove; to
nullify; to make to appear false.
By how much better than my word I am, By so much shall I falsify
men's hope. Shak.
Jews and Pagans united all their endeavors, under Julian the
apostate, to baffie and falsify the prediction. Addison.
4. To violate; to break by falsehood; as, to falsify one's faith or
word. Sir P. Sidney.
5. To baffie or escape; as, to falsify a blow. Bulter.
6. (Law) To avoid or defeat; to prove false, as a judgment.
Blackstone.
7. (Equity) To show, in accounting, (an inem of charge inserted in an
account) to be wrong. Story. Daniell.
8. To make false by multilation or addition; to tamper with; as, to
falsify a record or document.
Falsify
Fal"si*fy, v. i. To tell lies; to violate the truth.
It is absolutely and universally unlawful to lie and falsify.
South.
Falsism
Fals"ism (?), n. That which is evidently false; an assertion or
statement the falsity of which is plainly apparent; -- opposed to
truism.
Falsity
Fal"si*ty (?), n.;pl. Falsities (#). [L. falsitas: cf. F.
fausset\'82, OF. also, falsit\'82. See False, a.]
1. The quality of being false; coutrariety or want of conformity to
truth.
Probability does not make any alteration, either in the truth or
falsity of things. South.
2. That which is false; falsehood; a lie; a false assertion.
Men often swallow falsities for truths. Sir T. Brown.
Syn. -- Falsehood; lie; deceit. -- Falsity, Falsehood, Lie. Falsity
denotes the state or quality of being false. A falsehood is a false
declaration designedly made. A lie is a gross, unblushing
falsehood. The falsity of a person's assertion may be proved by the
evidence of others and thus the charge of falsehood be fastened
upon him.
Falter
Fal"ter (?), v. t. To thrash in the chaff; also, to cleanse or
sift, as barley. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.
Falter
Fal"ter, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Faltered (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Faltering.] [OE. falteren, faltren, prob. from fault. See Fault, v.
& n.]
1. To hesitate; to speak brokenly or weakly; to stammer; as, his
tongue falters.
With faltering speech and visage incomposed. Milton.
2. To tremble; to totter; to be unsteady. "He found his legs
falter." Wiseman.
3. To hesitate in purpose or action.
Ere her native king Shall falter under foul rebellion's arms. Shak.
4. To fail in distinctness or regularity of exercise; -- said of
the mind or of thought.
Here indeed the power of disinct conception of space and distance
falters. I. Taylor.
Falter
Fal"ter, v. t. To utter with hesitation, or in a broken, trembling,
or weak manner.
And here he faltered forth his last farewell. Byron.
Mde me most happy, faltering "I am thine." Tennyson.
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Falter
Fal"ter (?), n. [See Falter, v. i.] Hesitation; trembling;
feebleness; an uncertain or broken sound; as, a slight falter in
her voice.
The falter of an idle shepherd's pipe. Lowell.
Faltering
Fal"ter*ing, a. Hesitating; trembling. "With faltering speech."
Milton. -- n. Falter; halting; hesitation. -- Fal"ter*ing*ly, adv.
Faluns
Fa`luns" (?), n. [F.] (Geol.) A series of strata, of the Middle
Tertiary period, of France, abounding in shells, and used by Lyell
as the type of his Miocene subdivision.
Falwe
Fal"we (?), a. & n. Fallow. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Falx
Falx (?), n. [L., a sickle.] (Anat.) A curved fold or process of
the dura mater or the peritoneum; esp., one of the partitionlike
folds of the dura mater which extend into the great fissures of the
brain.
Famble
Fam"ble (?), v. i. [OE. falmelen; cf. SW. famla to grope, Dan.
famle to grope, falter, hesitate, Isel. f\'belma to grope. Cf.
Famble.] To stammer. [Obs.] Nares.
Famble
Fam"ble, n. [Cf. Famble, v.] A hand [Slang & Obs.] "We clap our
fambles." Beau. & Fl.
Fame
Fame (?), n. [OF. fame, L. fama, fr. fari to speak, akin to Gr.
Ban, and cf. Fable, Fate, Euphony, Blame.]
1. Public report or rumor.
The fame thereof was heard in Pharaoh's house. Gen. xlv. 16.
2. Report or opinion generally diffused; renown; public estimation;
celebrity, either favorable or unfavorable; as, the fame of
Washington.
I find thou art no less than fame hath bruited. Shak.
Syn. -- Notoriety; celebrity; renown; reputation.
Fame
Fame, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Famed (?),; p. pr. & vb. n. Faming.]
1. To report widely or honorably.
The field where thou art famed To have wrought such wonders.
Milton.
2. To make famous or renowned.
Those Hesperian gardens famed of old. Milton.
Fameless
Fame"less, a. Without fame or renown. -- Fame"less*ly, adv.
Familiar
Fa*mil`iar (?), a. [OE. familer, familier, F. familier, fr. L.
familiaris, fr. familia family. See Family.]
1. Of or pertaining to a family; domestic. "Familiar feuds." Byron.
2. Closely acquainted or intimate, as a friend or companion; well
versed in, as any subject of study; as, familiar with the
Scriptures.
3. Characterized by, or exhibiting, the manner of an intimate
friend; not formal; unconstrained; easy; accessible. "In loose,
familiar strains." Addison.
Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar. Shak.
4. Well known; well understood; common; frequent; as, a familiar
illustration.
That war, or peace, or both at once, may be As things acquainted
and familiar to us. Shak.
There is nothing more familiar than this. Locke.
5. Improperly acquainted; wrongly intimate. Camden.
Familiar spirit
, a demon or evil spirit supposed to attend at call. 1 Sam. xxviii. 3,
7-9.
Familiar
Fa*mil"iar, n.
1. An intimate; a companion.
All my familiars watched for my halting. Jer. xx. 10.
2. An attendant demon or evil spirit. Shak.
3. (Court of Inquisition) A confidential officer employed in the
service of the tribunal, especially in apprehending and imprisoning
the accused.
Familiarity
Fa*mil`iar"i*ty (?), n.; pl. Familiarities (#). [OE. familarite, F.
familiarit\'82fr. L. faniliaritas. See Familiar.]
1. The state of being familiar; intimate and frequent converse, or
association; unconstrained intercourse; freedom from ceremony and
constraint; intimacy; as, to live in remarkable familiarity.
2. Anything said or done by one person to another unceremoniously and
without constraint; esp., in the pl., such actions and words as
propriety and courtesy do not warrant; liberties. Syn. --
Acquaintance; fellowship; affability; intimacy. See Acquaintance.
Familiarization
Fa*mil`iar*i*za"tion (?), n. The act or process of making familiar;
the result of becoming familiar; as, familiarization with scenes of
blood.
Familiarize
Fa*mil"iar*ize (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Familiarized (?); p. pr. & vb.
n. Familiarizing (?).] [Cf. F. familiariser.]
1. To make familiar or intimate; to habituate; to accustom; to make
well known by practice or converse; as, to familiarize one's self with
scenes of distress.
2. To make acquainted, or skilled, by practice or study; as, to
familiarize one's self with a business, a book, or a science.
Familiarly
Fa"mil"iar*ly, adv. In a familiar manner.
Familiarness
Fa*mil"iar*ness, n. Familiarity. [R.]
Familiary
Fa*mil"ia*ry (?), a. [L. familiaris. See Familiar.] Of or pertaining
to a family or household; domestic. [Obs.] Milton.
Familism
Fam"i*lism (?), n. The tenets of the Familists. Milton.
Familist
Fam"i*list (?), n. [From Family.] (Eccl. Hist.) One of afanatical
Antinomian sect originating in Holland, and existing in England about
1580, called the Family of Love, who held that religion consists
wholly in love.
Familistery
Fam"i*lis*ter*y (?), n.; pl. Familisteries (. [F. familist\'8are.] A
community in which many persons unite as in one family, and are
regulated by certain communistic laws and customs.
Familistic, Familistical
Fam`i*listic (?), Fam`i*lis"tic*al (?), a. Pertaining to Familists.
Baxter.
Family
Fam"i*ly (?), n.; pl. Families (#). [L. familia, fr. famulus servant;
akin to Oscan famel servant, cf. faamat he dwells, Skr. dh\'beman
house, fr. dh\'beto set, make, do: cf. F. famille. Cf. Do, v. t.,
Doom, Fact, Feat.]
1. The collective body of persons who live in one house, and under one
head or manager; a household, including parents, children, and
servants, and, as the case may be, lodgers or boarders.
2. The group comprising a husband and wife and their dependent
children, constituting a fundamental unit in the organization of
society.
The welfare of the family underlies the welfare of society. H.
Spencer.
3. Those who descend from one common progenitor; a tribe, clan, or
race; kindred; house; as, the human family; the family of Abraham; the
father of a family.
Go ! and pretennd your family is young. Pope.
4. Course of descent; genealogy; line of ancestors; lineage.
5. Honorable descent; noble or respectable stock; as, a man of family.
6. A groupe of kindred or closely related individuals; as, a family of
languages; a family of States; the chlorine family.
7. (Biol.) A groupe of organisms, either animal or vegetable, related
by certain points of resemblance in structure or development, more
comprehensive than a genus, because it is usually based on fewer or
less pronounced points of likeness. In zo\'94logy a family is less
comprehesive than an order; in botany it is often considered the same
thing as an order.
Family circle. See under Circle. -- Family man. (a) A man who has a
family; esp., one who has a wife and children living with him andd
dependent upon him. (b) A man of domestic habits. "The Jews are
generally, when married, most exemplary family men." Mayhew. -- Family
of curves OR surfaces (Geom.), a group of curves or surfaces derived
from a single equation. -- In a family way, like one belonging to the
family. "Why don't we ask him and his ladies to come over in a family
way, and dine with some other plain country gentlefolks?" Thackeray.
-- In the family way, pregnant. [Colloq.]
Famine
Fam"ine (?), n. [F. famine, fr. L. fames hunger; cf. Gr. h\'beni loss,
lack, h\'be to leave.] General scarcity of food; dearth; a want of
provisions; destitution. "Worn with famine." Milton.
There was a famine in the land. Gen. xxvi. 1.
Famine fever (Med.), typhus fever.
Famish
Fam"ish (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Famished (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Famishing.] [OE. famen; cf. OF. afamer, L. fames. See Famine, and cf.
Affamish.]
1. To starve, kill, or destroy with hunger. Shak.
2. To exhaust the strength or endurance of, by hunger; to distress
with hanger.
And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to
Pharaoh for bread. Cen. xli. 55.
The pains of famished Tantalus he'll feel. Dryden.
3. To kill, or to cause to suffer extremity, by deprivation or denial
of anything necessary.
And famish him of breath, if not of bread. Milton.
4. To force or constrain by famine.
He had famished Paris into a surrender. Burke.
Famish
Fam"ish, v. i.
1. To die of hunger; to starve.
2. To suffer extreme hunger or thirst, so as to be exhausted in
strength, or to come near to perish.
You are all resolved rather to die than to famish? Shak.
3. To suffer extremity from deprivation of anything essential or
necessary.
The Lord will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish. Prov.
x. 3.
Famishment
Fam"ish*ment (?), n. State of being famished.
Famosity
Fa*mos"i*ty (?), n. [L. famositas infamy: cf. F. famosit\'82. See
Famous.] The state or quality of being famous. [Obs.] Johnson.
Famous
Fa"mous (?), a. [L. famosus, fr. fama fame: cf. F. fameux. See Fame.]
Celebrated in fame or public report; renowned; mach talked of;
distinguished in story; -- used in either a good or a bad sense,
chiefly the former; often followed by for; as, famous for erudition,
for eloquence, for military skill; a famous pirate.
Famous for a scolding tongue. Shak.
Syn. -- Noted; remarkable; signal; conspicuous; celebrated; renowned;
illustrious; eminent; transcendent; excellent. -- Famous, Renowned,
Illustrious. Famous is applied to a person or thing widely spoken of
as extraordinary; renowned is applied to those who are named again and
again with honor; illustrious, to those who have dazzled the world by
the splendor of their deeds or their virtues. See Distinguished.
Famoused
Fa"moused (?), a. Renowned. [Obs.] Shak.
Famously
Fa"mous*ly (?), adv. In a famous manner; in a distinguished degree;
greatly; splendidly.
Then this land was famously enriched With politic grave counsel.
Shak.
Famousness
Fa"mous*ness, n. The state of being famous.
Famular
Fam"u*lar (?), n. [Cf. L. famularis of servants.] Domestic; familiar.
[Obs.] Chaucer.
Famulate
Fam"u*late (?), v. i. [L. famulatus, p.p. of famulari to serve, fr.
famulus servant.] To serve. [Obs.]
Famulist
Fam"u*list (?), n. [L. famulus servant.] A collegian of inferior rank
or position, corresponding to the sizar at Cambridge. [Oxford Univ.,
Eng.]
Fan
Fan (?), n. [AS. fann, fr. L. vannus fan, van for winnowing grain; cf.
F. van. Cf. Van a winnowing machine, Winnow.]
1. An instrument used for producing artificial currents of air, by the
wafting or revolving motion of a broad surface; as: (a) An instrument
for cooling the person, made of feathers, paper, silk, etc., and often
mounted on sticks all turning about the same pivot, so as when opened
to radiate from the center and assume the figure of a section of a
circle. (b) (Mach.) Any revolving vane or vanes used for producing
currents of air, in winnowing grain, blowing a fire, ventilation,
etc., or for checking rapid motion by the resistance of the air; a fan
blower; a fan wheel. (c) An instrument for winnowing grain, by moving
which the grain is tossed and agitated, and the chaff is separated and
blown away. (d) Something in the form of a fan when spread, as a
peacock's tail, a window, etc. (e) A small vane or sail, used to keep
the large sails of a smock windmill always in the direction of the
wind.
Clean provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with
the fan. Is. xxx. 24.
2. That which produces effects analogous to those of a fan, as in
exciting a flame, etc.; that which inflames, heightens, or
strengthens; as, it served as a fan to the flame of his passion.
3. A quintain; -- from its form. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Fan blower, a wheel with vanes fixed on a rotating shaft inclosed in a
case or chamber, to create a blast of air (fan blast) for forge
purposes, or a current for draft and ventilation; a fanner. -- Fan
cricket (Zo\'94l.), a mole cricket. -- Fan light (Arch.), a window
over a door; -- so called from the semicircular form and radiating
sash bars of those windows which are set in the circular heads of
arched doorways. -- Fan shell (Zo\'94l.), any shell of the family
Pectinid\'91. See Scallop, n., 1. -- Fan tracery (Arch.), the
decorative tracery on the surface of fan vaulting. -- Fan vaulting
(Arch.), an elaborate system of vaulting, in which the ribs diverge
somewhat like the rays of a fan, as in Henry VII.'s chapel in
Westminster Abbey. It is peculiar to English Gothic. -- Fan wheel, the
wheel of a fan blower. -- Fan window. Same as Fan light (above).
Fan