S (continued 34)

SWATHE Swathe, n.

Defn: A bandage; a band; a swath. Wrapped me in above an hundred yards of swathe. Addison. Milk and a swathe, at first, his whole demand. Young. The solemn glory of the afternoon, with its long swathes of light between the far off rows of limes. G. Eliot.

SWATHER Swath"er, n. Etym: [See Swath, n.] (Agric.)

Defn: A device attached to a mowing machine for raising the uncut fallen grain and marking the limit of the swath.

SWATTE Swat"te, obs.

Defn: imp. of Sweat. Chaucer.

SWAY Sway, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Swayed; p. pr. & vb. n. Swaying.] Etym: [OE. sweyen, Icel. sveigja, akin to E. swing; cf. D. zwaaijen to wield, swing. See Swing, and cf. Swag, v. i.]

1. To move or wield with the hand; to swing; to wield; as, to sway the scepter. As sparkles from the anvil rise, When heavy hammers on the wedge are swayed. Spenser.

2. To influence or direct by power and authority; by persuasion, or by moral force; to rule; to govern; to guide. The will of man is by his reason swayed. Shak. She could not sway her house. Shak. This was the race To sway the world, and land and sea subdue. Dryden.

3. To cause to incline or swing to one side, or backward and forward; to bias; to turn; to bend; warp; as, reeds swayed by wind; judgment swayed by passion. As bowls run true by being made On purpose false, and to be swayed. Hudibras. Let not temporal and little advantages sway you against a more durable interest. Tillotson.

4. (Naut.)

Defn: To hoist; as, to sway up the yards.

Syn. — To bias; rule; govern; direct; influence; swing; move; wave; wield.

SWAY Sway, v. i.

1. To be drawn to one side by weight or influence; to lean; to incline. The balance sways on our part. Bacon.

2. To move or swing from side to side; or backward and forward.

3. To have weight or influence. The example of sundry churches . . . doth sway much. Hooker.

4. To bear sway; to rule; to govern. Hadst thou swayed as kings should do. Shak.

SWAY Sway, n.

1. The act of swaying; a swaying motion; the swing or sweep of a weapon. With huge two-handed sway brandished aloft. Milton.

2. Influence, weight, or authority that inclines to one side; as, the sway of desires. A. Tucker.

3. Preponderance; turn or cast of balance. Expert When to advance, or stand, or turn the sway Of battle. Milton.

4. Rule; dominion; control. Cowper. When vice prevails, and impious men bear sway, The post of honor is a private station. Addison.

5. A switch or rod used by thatchers to bind their work. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.

Syn. — Rule; dominion; power; empire; control; influence; direction; preponderance; ascendency.

SWAY-BACKED Sway"-backed`, a.

Defn: Having the back hollow or sagged, whether naturally or as the result of injury or weakness; — said of horses and other animals.

SWAY BAR Sway bar. (Vehicles) (a) A bar attached to the hounds, in the rear of the front axle, so as to slide on the reach as the axle is swung in turning the vehicle. (b) Either of the two bars used in coupling the front and rear sleds of a logging sled; also, the bar used to couple two logging cars.

SWAY-BRACING Sway"-bra`cing, n. (Engin.)

Defn: The horizontal bracing of a bridge, which prevents its swaying.

SWAYED Swayed, a.

Defn: Bent down, and hollow in the back; sway-backed; — said of a horse. Shak.

SWAYFUL Sway"ful, a.

Defn: Able to sway. [R.] Rush.

SWAYING Sway"ing, n.

Defn: An injury caused by violent strains or by overloading; — said of the backs of horses. Crabb.

SWEAL Sweal, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Swealed; p. pr. & vb. n. Swealing.] Etym: [OE. swelen to burn, AS. swelan; akin to G. schwelen to burn slowly, schwül sultry, Icel. svæla a thick smoke.]

Defn: To melt and run down, as the tallow of a candle; to waste away without feeding the flame. [Written also swale.] Sir W. Scott.

SWEAL Sweal, v. t.

Defn: To singe; to scorch; to swale; as, to sweal a pig by singeing off the hair.

SWEAR Swear, v. i. [imp. Swore, formerly Sware (; p. p. Sworn; p. pr. & vb. n. Swearing.] Etym: [OE. swerien, AS. swerian; akin to D. zweren, OS. swerian, OHG. swerien, G. schwören, Icel. sverja, Sw. svärja, Dan. sværge, Icel. & Sw. svara to answer, Dan. svare, Dan. & Sw. svar an answer, Goth. swaran to swear, and perhaps to E. swarm. *177. Cf. Answer.]

1. To affirm or utter a solemn declaration, with an appeal to God for the truth of what is affirmed; to make a promise, threat, or resolve on oath; also, to affirm solemnly by some sacred object, or one regarded as sacred, as the Bible, the Koran, etc. Ye shall swear by my name falsely. Lev. xix. 12. I swear by all the Roman gods. Shak.

2. (Law)

Defn: To give evidence on oath; as, to swear to the truth of a statement; he swore against the prisoner.

3. To make an appeal to God in an irreverant manner; to use the name of God or sacred things profanely; to call upon God in imprecation; to curse. [I] swore little; diced not above seven times a week. Shak. To swear by, to place great confidence in a person or thing; to trust implicitly as an authority. "I simply meant to ask if you are one of those who swear by Lord Verulam." Miss Edgeworth. — To swear off, to make a solemn vow, or a serious resolution, to abstain from something; as, to swear off smoking. [Slang]

SWEAR Swear, v. t.

1. To utter or affirm with a solemn appeal to God for the truth of the declaration; to make (a promise, threat, or resolve) under oath. Swear unto me here by God, that thou wilt not deal falsely with me. Gen. xxi. 23. He swore consent to your succession. Shak.

2. (Law)

Defn: To put to an oath; to cause to take an oath; to administer an oath to; — ofetn followed by in or into; as, to swear witnesses; to swear a jury; to swear in an officer; he was sworn into office.

3. To declare or charge upon oath; as, he swore treason against his friend. Johnson.

4. To appeal to by an oath. Now, by Apollo, king, Thou swear'st thy gods in vain. Shak. To swear the peace against one, to make oath that one is under the actual fear of death or bodily harm from the person, in which case the person must find sureties that he will keep the peace.

SWEARER Swear"er, n.

1. One who swears; one who calls God to witness for the truth of his declaration.

2. A profane person; one who uses profane language. Then the liars and swearers are fools. Shak.

SWEARING Swear"ing, a. & n.

Defn: from Swear, v. Idle swearing is a cursedness. Chaucer.

SWEAT Sweat, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Sweat or Sweated (Obs. Swat (); p. pr. & vb. n. Sweating.] Etym: [OE. sweten, AS. swætan, fr. swat, n., sweat; akin to OFries. & OS. swet, D. zweet, OHG. sweiz, G. schweiss, Icel. sviti, sveiti, Sw. svett, Dan. sved, L. sudor sweat, sudare to sweat, Gr. sveda sweat, svid to sweat. *178. Cf. Exude, Sudary, Sudorific.]

1. To excrete sensible moisture from the pores of the skin; to perspire. Shak.

2. Fig.: To perspire in toil; to work hard; to drudge. He 'd have the poets sweat. Waller.

3. To emit moisture, as green plants in a heap.

SWEAT Sweat, v. t.

1. To cause to excrete moisture from the skin; to cause to perspire; as, his physicians attempted to sweat him by most powerful sudorifics.

2. To emit or suffer to flow from the pores; to exude. It made her not a drop for sweat. Chaucer. With exercise she sweat ill humors out. Dryden.

3. To unite by heating, after the application of soldier.

4. To get something advantageous, as money, property, or labor from (any one), by exaction or oppression; as, to sweat a spendthrift; to sweat laborers. [Colloq.] To sweat coin, to remove a portion of a piece of coin, as by shaking it with others in a bag, so that the friction wears off a small quantity of the metal. The only use of it [money] which is interdicted is to put it in circulation again after having diminished its weight by "sweating", or otherwise, because the quantity of metal contains is no longer consistent with its impression. R. Cobden.

SWEAT Sweat, n. Etym: [Cf. OE. swot, AS. swat. See Sweat, v. i.]

1. (Physiol.)

Defn: The fluid which is excreted from the skin of an animal; the fluid secreted by the sudoriferous glands; a transparent, colorless, acid liquid with a peculiar odor, containing some fatty acids and mineral matter; perspiration. See Perspiration. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread. Gen. iii. 19.

2. The act of sweating; or the state of one who sweats; hence, labor; toil; drudgery. Shak.

3. Moisture issuing from any substance; as, the sweat of hay or grain in a mow or stack. Mortimer.

4. The sweating sickness. [Obs.] Holinshed.

5. (Man.)

Defn: A short run by a race horse in exercise. Sweat box (Naut.), a small closet in which refractory men are confined. — Sweat glands (Anat.), sudoriferous glands. See under Sudoriferous.

SWEATER Sweat"er, n.

1. One who sweats.

2. One who, or that which, causes to sweat; as: (a) A sudorific. (b) A woolen jacket or jersey worn by athletes. (c) An employer who oppresses his workmen by paying low wages. [Slang]

SWEATILY Sweat"i*ly, adv.

Defn: In a sweaty manner.

SWEATINESS Sweat"i*ness, n.

Defn: Quality or state of being sweaty.

SWEATING Sweat"ing,

Defn: a. & n. from Sweat, v. Sweating bath, a bath producing sensible sweat; a stove or sudatory. — Sweating house, a house for sweating persons in sickness. — Sweating iron, a kind of knife, or a piece of iron, used to scrape off sweat, especially from horses; a horse scraper. — Sweating room. (a) A room for sweating persons. (b) (Dairying) A room for sweating cheese and carrying off the superfluous juices. — Sweating sickness (Med.), a febrile epidemic disease which prevailed in some countries of Europe, but particularly in England, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, characterized by profuse sweating. Death often occured in a few hours.

SWEATY Sweat"y, a. [Compar. Sweatier; superl. Sweatiest.]

1. Moist with sweat; as, a sweaty skin; a sweaty garment.

2. Consisting of sweat; of the nature of sweat. No noisome whiffs or sweaty streams. Swift.

3. Causing sweat; hence, laborious; toilsome; difficult. "The sweaty forge." Prior.

SWEDE Swede, n. Etym: [Cf. G. Schwede.]

1. A native or inhabitant of Sweden.

2. (Bot.)

Defn: A Swedish turnip. See under Turnip.

SWEDENBORGIAN Swe`den*bor"gi*an, n.

Defn: One who holds the doctrines of the New Jerusalem church, as taught by Emanuel Swedenborg, a Swedish philosopher and religious writer, who was born a. d. 1688 and died 1772. Swedenborg claimed to have intercourse with the spiritual world, through the opening of his spiritual senses in 1745. He taught that the Lord Jesus Christ, as comprehending in himself all the fullness of the Godhead, is the one only God, and that there is a spiritual sense to the Scriptures, which he (Swedenborg) was able to reveal, because he saw the correspondence between natural and spiritual things.

SWEDENBORGIAN Swe`den*bor"gi*an, a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to Swedenborg or his views.

SWEDENBORGIANISM Swe`den*bor"gi*an*ism, n.

Defn: The doctrines of the Swedenborgians.

SWEDISH Swed"ish, a. Etym: [Cf. G. schwedisch, Sw. svensk.]

Defn: Of or pertaining to Sweden or its inhabitants. Swedish turnip. (Bot.) See under Turnip.

SWEDISH Swed"ish, n.

Defn: The language of Swedes.

SWEENY Swee"ny, n. (Far.)

Defn: An atrophy of the muscles of the shoulder in horses; also, atrophy of any muscle in horses. [Written also swinney.]

SWEEP Sweep, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Swept; p. pr. & vb. n. Sweeping.] Etym: [OE. swepen; akin to AS. swapan. See Swoop, v. i.]

1. To pass a broom across (a surface) so as to remove loose dirt, dust, etc.; to brush, or rub over, with a broom for the purpose of cleaning; as, to sweep a floor, the street, or a chimney. Used also figuratively. I will sweep it with the besom of destruction. Isa. xiv. 23.

2. To drive or carry along or off with a broom or a brush, or as if with a broom; to remove by, or as if by, brushing; as, to sweep dirt from a floor; the wind sweeps the snow from the hills; a freshet sweeps away a dam, timber, or rubbish; a pestilence sweeps off multitudes. The hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies. Isa. xxviii. 17. I have already swept the stakes. Dryden.

3. To brush against or over; to rub lightly along. Their long descending train, With rubies edged and sapphires, swept the plain. Dryden.

4. To carry with a long, swinging, or dragging motion; hence, to carry in a stately or proud fashion. And like a peacock sweep along his tail. Shak.

5. To strike with a long stroke. Wake into voice each silent string, And sweep the sounding lyre. Pope.

6. (Naut.)

Defn: To draw or drag something over; as, to sweep the bottom of a river with a net.

7. To pass over, or traverse, with the eye or with an instrument of observation; as, to sweep the heavens with a telescope. To sweep, or sweep up, a mold (Founding), to form the sand into a mold by a templet, instead of compressing it around the pattern.

SWEEP Sweep, v. i.

1. To clean rooms, yards, etc., or to clear away dust, dirt, litter, etc., with a broom, brush, or the like.

2. To brush swiftly over the surface of anything; to pass with switness and force, as if brushing the surface of anything; to move in a stately manner; as, the wind sweeps across the plain; a woman sweeps through a drawing-room.

3. To pass over anything comprehensively; to range through with rapidity; as, his eye sweeps through space.

SWEEP Sweep, n.

1. The act of sweeping.

2. The compass or range of a stroke; as, a long sweep.

3. The compass of any turning body or of any motion; as, the sweep of a door; the sweep of the eye.

4. The compass of anything flowing or brushing; as, the flood carried away everything within its sweep.

5. Violent and general destruction; as, the sweep of an epidemic disease.

6. Direction and extent of any motion not rectlinear; as, the sweep of a compass.

7. Direction or departure of a curve, a road, an arch, or the like, away from a rectlinear line. The road which makes a small sweep. Sir W. Scott.

8. One who sweeps; a sweeper; specifically, a chimney sweeper.

9. (Founding)

Defn: A movable templet for making molds, in loam molding.

10. (Naut.) (a) The mold of a ship when she begins to curve in at the rungheads; any part of a ship shaped in a segment of a circle. (b) A large oar used in small vessels, partly to propel them and partly to steer them.

11. (Refining)

Defn: The almond furnace. [Obs.]

12. A long pole, or piece of timber, moved on a horizontal fulcrum fixed to a tall post and used to raise and lower a bucket in a well for drawing water. [Variously written swape, sweep, swepe, and swipe.]

13. (Card Playing)

Defn: In the game of casino, a pairing or combining of all the cards on the board, and so removing them all; in whist, the winning of all the tricks (thirteen) in a hand; a slam.

14. pl.

Defn: The sweeping of workshops where precious metals are worked, containing filings, etc. Sweep net, a net for drawing over a large compass. — Sweep of the tiller (Naut.), a circular frame on which the tiller traverses.

SWEEPAGE Sweep"age, n.

Defn: The crop of hay got in a meadow. [Prov. Eng.]

SWEEPER Sweep"er, n.

Defn: One who, or that which, sweeps, or cleans by sweeping; a sweep; as, a carpet sweeper. It is oxygen which is the great sweeper of the economy. Huxley.

SWEEPING Sweep"ing, a.

Defn: Cleaning off surfaces, or cleaning away dust, dirt, or litter, as a broom does; moving with swiftness and force; carrying everything before it; including in its scope many persons or things; as, a sweeping flood; a sweeping majority; a sweeping accusation. — Sweep"ing*ly, adv. -Sweep"ing*ness, n.

SWEEPINGS Sweep"ings, n. pl.

Defn: Things collected by sweeping; rubbish; as, the sweepings of a street.

SWEEP-SAW Sweep"-saw`, n.

Defn: A bow-saw.

SWEEPSTAKE Sweep"stake`, n.

1. A winning of all the stakes or prizes. Heylin.

2. A complete removal or carrying away; a clean sweep. [Obs.] Bp. Hacket.

SWEEPSTAKES Sweep"stakes`, n.

1. A winning of all the stakes or prizes; a sweepstake.

2. sing. or pl.

Defn: The whole money or other things staked at a horse race, a given sum being put up for each horse, all of which goes to the winner, or is divided among several, as may be previously agreed.

3. A race for all the sums staked or prizes offered.

SWEEPWASHER Sweep"wash`er, n.

Defn: One who extracts the residuum of precious metals from the sweepings, potsherds, etc., of refineries of gold and silver, or places where these metals are used.

SWEEPY Sweep"y, a.

Defn: Moving with a sweeping motion. The branches bend before their sweepy away. Dryden.

SWEET Sweet, a. [Compar. Sweeter; superl. Sweetest.] Etym: [OE. swete, swote, sote, AS. swete; akin to OFries. swete, OS. swoti, D. zoet, G. süss, OHG. suozi, Icel. sætr, soetr, Sw. söt, Dan. söd, Goth. suts, L. suavis, for suadvis, Gr. svadu sweet, svad, svad, to sweeten. *175. Cf. Assuage, Suave, Suasion.]

1. Having an agreeable taste or flavor such as that of sugar; saccharine; — opposed to sour and bitter; as, a sweet beverage; sweet fruits; sweet oranges.

2. Pleasing to the smell; fragrant; redolent; balmy; as, a sweet rose; sweet odor; sweet incense. The breath of these flowers is sweet to me. Longfellow.

3. Pleasing to the ear; soft; melodious; harmonious; as, the sweet notes of a flute or an organ; sweet music; a sweet voice; a sweet singer. To make his English sweet upon his tongue. Chaucer. A voice sweet, tremulous, but powerful. Hawthorne.

4. Pleasing to the eye; beautiful; mild and attractive; fair; as, a sweet face; a sweet color or complexion. Sweet interchange Of hill and valley, rivers, woods, and plains. Milton.

5. Fresh; not salt or brackish; as, sweet water. Bacon.

6. Not changed from a sound or wholesome state. Specifically: (a) Not sour; as, sweet milk or bread. (b) Not state; not putrescent or putrid; not rancid; as, sweet butter; sweet meat or fish.

7. Plaesing to the mind; mild; gentle; calm; amiable; winning; presuasive; as, sweet manners. Canst thou bind the sweet influence of Pleiades Job xxxviii. 31. Mildness and sweet reasonableness is the one established rule of Christian working. M. Arnold.

Note: Sweet is often used in the formation of self-explaining compounds; as, sweet-blossomed, sweet-featured, sweet-smelling, sweet-tempered, sweet-toned, etc. Sweet alyssum. (Bot.) See Alyssum. — Sweet apple. (Bot.) (a) Any apple of sweet flavor. (b) See Sweet- top. — Sweet bay. (Bot.) (a) The laurel (laurus nobilis). (b) Swamp sassafras. — Sweet calabash (Bot.), a plant of the genus Passiflora (P. maliformis) growing in the West Indies, and producing a roundish, edible fruit, the size of an apple. — Sweet cicely. (Bot.) (a) Either of the North American plants of the umbelliferous genus Osmorrhiza having aromatic roots and seeds, and white flowers. Gray. (b) A plant of the genus Myrrhis (M. odorata) growing in England. — Sweet calamus, or Sweet cane. (Bot.) Same as Sweet flag, below. — Sweet Cistus (Bot.), an evergreen shrub (Cistus Ladanum) from which the gum ladanum is obtained. — Sweet clover. (Bot.) See Melilot. — Sweet coltsfoot (Bot.), a kind of butterbur (Petasites sagittata) found in Western North America. — Sweet corn (Bot.), a variety of the maize of a sweet taste. See the Note under Corn. — Sweet fern (Bot.), a small North American shrub (Comptonia, or Myrica, asplenifolia) having sweet-scented or aromatic leaves resembling fern leaves. — Sweet flag (Bot.), an endogenous plant (Acorus Calamus) having long flaglike leaves and a rootstock of a pungent aromatic taste. It is found in wet places in Europe and America. See Calamus, 2. — Sweet gale (Bot.), a shrub (Myrica Gale) having bitter fragrant leaves; — also called sweet willow, and Dutch myrtle. See 5th Gale. Sweet grass (Bot.), holy, or Seneca, grass. — Sweet gum (Bot.), an American tree (Liquidambar styraciflua). See Liquidambar. — Sweet herbs, fragrant herbs cultivated for culinary purposes. — Sweet John (Bot.), a variety of the sweet William. — Sweet leaf (Bot.), horse sugar. See under Horse. — Sweet marjoram. (Bot.) See Marjoram. — Sweet marten (Zoöl.), the pine marten. — Sweet maudlin (Bot.), a composite plant (Achillea Ageratum) allied to milfoil. — Sweet oil, olive oil. — Sweet pea. (Bot.) See under Pea. — Sweet potato. (Bot.) See under Potato. — Sweet rush (Bot.), sweet flag. — Sweet spirits of niter (Med. Chem.) See Spirit of nitrous ether, under Spirit. — Sweet sultan (Bot.), an annual composite plant (Centaurea moschata), also, the yellow-flowered (C. odorata); — called also sultan flower. — Sweet tooth, an especial fondness for sweet things or for sweetmeats. [Colloq.] — Sweet William. (a) (Bot.) A species of pink (Dianthus barbatus) of many varieties. (b) (Zoöl.) The willow warbler. (c) (Zoöl.) The European goldfinch; — called also sweet Billy. [Prov. Eng.] — Sweet willow (Bot.), sweet gale. — Sweet wine. See Dry wine, under Dry. — To be sweet on, to have a particular fondness for, or special interest in, as a young man for a young woman. [Colloq.] Thackeray.

Syn. — Sugary; saccharine; dulcet; luscious.

SWEET Sweet, n.

1. That which is sweet to the taste; — used chiefly in the plural. Specifically: (a) Confectionery, sweetmeats, preserves, etc. (b) Home-made wines, cordials, metheglin, etc.

2. That which is sweet or pleasant in odor; a perfume. "A wilderness of sweets." Milton.

3. That which is pleasing or grateful to the mind; as, the sweets of domestic life. A little bitter mingled in our cup leaves no relish of the sweet. Locke.

4. One who is dear to another; a darling; — a term of endearment. "Wherefore frowns my sweet" B. Jonson.

SWEET Sweet, adv.

Defn: Sweetly. Shak.

SWEET Sweet, v. t.

Defn: To sweeten. [Obs.] Udall.

SWEETBREAD Sweet"bread`, n.

1. Either the thymus gland or the pancreas, the former being called neck, or throat, sweetbread, the latter belly sweetbread. The sweetbreads of ruminants, esp. of the calf, are highly esteemed as food. See Pancreas, and Thymus.

2. (Anat.)

Defn: The pancreas.

SWEET-BREASTED Sweet"-breast`ed, a.

Defn: Having a sweet, musical voice, as the nightingale. Cf. Breast, n., 6. [Obs.]

SWEETBRIER Sweet"bri`er, n. (Bot.)

Defn: A kind of rose (Rosa rubiginosa) with minutely glandular and fragrant foliage. The small-flowered sweetbrier is Rosa micrantha.

SWEETEN Sweet"en, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Sweetened; p. pr. & vb. n. Sweetening.] Etym: [See Sweet, a.]

1. To make sweet to the taste; as, to sweeten tea.

2. To make pleasing or grateful to the mind or feelings; as, to sweeten life; to sweeten friendship.

3. To make mild or kind; to soften; as, to sweeten the temper.

4. To make less painful or laborious; to relieve; as, to sweeten the cares of life. Dryden. And sweeten every secret tear. Keble.

5. To soften to the eye; to make delicate. Correggio has made his memory immortal by the strength he has given to his figures, and by sweetening his lights and shadows, and melting them into each other. Dryden.

6. To make pure and salubrious by destroying noxious matter; as, to sweeten rooms or apartments that have been infected; to sweeten the air.

7. To make warm and fertile; — opposed to sour; as, to dry and sweeten soils.

8. To restore to purity; to free from taint; as, to sweeten water, butter, or meat.

SWEETEN Sweet"en, v. i.

Defn: To become sweet. Bacon.

SWEETENER Sweet"en*er, n.

Defn: One who, or that which, sweetens; one who palliates; that which moderates acrimony.

SWEETENING Sweet"en*ing, n.

1. The act of making sweet.

2. That which sweetens.

SWEETHEART Sweet"heart`, n.

Defn: A lover of mistress.

SWEETHEARTING Sweet"heart`ing, n.

Defn: Making love. "To play at sweethearting." W. Black.

SWEETING Sweet"ing, n.

1. A sweet apple. Ascham.

2. A darling; — a word of endearment. Shak.

SWEETISH Sweet"ish, a.

Defn: Somewhat sweet. — Sweet"ish*ness, n.

SWEETLY Sweet"ly, adv. Etym: [AS. swetlice.]

Defn: In a sweet manner.

SWEETMEAT Sweet"meat`, n.

1. Fruit preserved with sugar, as peaches, pears, melons, nuts, orange peel, etc.; — usually in the plural; a confect; a confection.

2. The paint used in making patent leather.

3. (Zoöl.)

Defn: A boat shell (Crepidula fornicata) of the American coast. [Local, U.S.]

SWEETNESS Sweet"ness, n. Etym: [AS. swetness.]

Defn: The quality or state of being sweet (in any sense of the adjective); gratefulness to the taste or to the smell; agreeableness.

SWEETROOT Sweet"root`, n. (Bot.)

Defn: Licorice.

SWEET-SCENTED Sweet"-scent`ed, a.

Defn: Having a sweet scent or smell; fragrant. Sweet-scented shrub (Bot.), a shrub of the genus Calycanthus, the flowers of which, when crushed, have a fragrance resembling that of strawberries.

SWEET-SOP Sweet"-sop`, n. (Bot.)

Defn: A kind of custard apple (Anona squamosa). See under Custard.

SWEETWATER Sweet"wa`ter, n. (Bot.)

Defn: A variety of white grape, having a sweet watery juice; — also called white sweetwater, and white muscadine.

SWEETWEED Sweet"weed`, n. (Bot.)

Defn: A name for two tropical American weeds (Capraria biflora, and Scoparia dulcis) of the Figwort family.

SWEETWOOD Sweet"wood`, n. (Bot.) (a) The true laurel (Laurus nobilis.) (b) The timber of the tree Oreodaphne Leucoxylon, growing in Jamaica. The name is also applied to the timber of several other related trees.

SWEETWORT Sweet"wort`, n.

Defn: Any plant of a sweet taste.

SWEIGH Sweigh, n.

Defn: Sway; movement. [Obs.] Chaucer.

SWEINMOTE Swein"mote`, n.

Defn: See Swainmote. [Obs.]

SWELL Swell, v. i. [imp. Swelled; p. p. Swelled or Swollen (; p. pr. & vb. n. Swelling.] Etym: [AS. swellan; akin to D. zwellen, OS. & OHG. swellan, G. schwellen, Icel. svella, Sw. svälla.]

1. To grow larger; to dilate or extend the exterior surface or dimensions, by matter added within, or by expansion of the inclosed substance; as, the legs swell in dropsy; a bruised part swells; a bladder swells by inflation.

2. To increase in size or extent by any addition; to increase in volume or force; as, a river swells, and overflows its banks; sounds swell or diminish.

3. To rise or be driven into waves or billows; to heave; as, in tempest, the ocean swells into waves.

4. To be puffed up or bloated; as, to swell with pride. You swell at the tartan, as the bull is said to do at scarlet. Sir W. Scott.

5. To be inflated; to belly; as, the sails swell.

6. To be turgid, bombastic, or extravagant; as, swelling words; a swelling style.

7. To protuberate; to bulge out; as, a cask swells in the middle.

8. To be elated; to rise arrogantly. Your equal mind yet swells not into state. Dryden.

9. To grow upon the view; to become larger; to expand. "Monarchs to behold the swelling scene!" Shak.

10. To become larger in amount; as, many little debts added, swell to a great amount.

11. To act in a pompous, ostentatious, or arrogant manner; to strut; to look big. Here he comes, swelling like a turkey cock. Shak.

SWELL Swell, v. t.

1. To increase the size, bulk, or dimensions of; to cause to rise, dilate, or increase; as, rains and dissolving snow swell the rivers in spring; immigration swells the population. [The Church] swells her high, heart-cheering tone. Keble.

2. To aggravate; to heighten. It is low ebb with his accuser when such peccadilloes are put to swell the charge. Atterbury.

3. To raise to arrogance; to puff up; to inflate; as, to be swelled with pride or haughtiness.

4. (Mus.)

Defn: To augment gradually in force or loudness, as the sound of a note.

SWELL Swell, n.

1. The act of swelling.

2. Gradual increase. Specifically: (a) Increase or augmentation in bulk; protuberance. (b) Increase in height; elevation; rise. Little River affords navigation during a swell to within three miles of the Miami. Jefferson.

(c) Increase of force, intensity, or volume of sound. Music arose with its voluptuous swell. Byron.

(d) Increase of power in style, or of rhetorical force. The swell and subsidence of his periods. Landor.

3. A gradual ascent, or rounded elevation, of land; as, an extensive plain abounding with little swells.

4. A wave, or billow; especially, a succession of large waves; the roll of the sea after a storm; as, a heavy swell sets into the harbor. The swell Of the long waves that roll in yonder bay. Tennyson. The gigantic swells and billows of the snow. Hawthorne.

5. (Mus.)

Defn: A gradual increase and decrease of the volume of sound; the crescendo and diminuendo combined; — generally indicated by the sign.

6. A showy, dashing person; a dandy. [Slang] Ground swell. See under Ground. — Organ swell (Mus.), a certain number of pipes inclosed in a box, the uncovering of which by means of a pedal produces increased sound. — Swell shark (Zoöl.), a small shark (Scyllium ventricosum) of the west coast of North America, which takes in air when caught, and swells up like a swellfish.

SWELL Swell, a.

Defn: Having the characteristics of a person of rank and importance; showy; dandified; distinguished; as, a swell person; a swell neighborhood. [Slang] Swell mob. See under Mob. [Slang]

SWELLDOM Swell"dom, n.

Defn: People of rank and fashion; the class of swells, collectively. [Jocose]

SWELLFISH Swell"fish`, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: Any plectognath fish that dilates itself, as the bur fish, puffer, or diodon.

SWELLING Swell"ing, n.

1. The act of that which swells; as, the swelling of rivers in spring; the swelling of the breast with pride. Rise to the swelling of the voiceless sea. Coleridge.

2. A protuberance; a prominence; especially (Med.),

Defn: an unnatural prominence or protuberance; as, a scrofulous swelling. The superficies of such plates are not even, but have many cavities and swellings. Sir I. Newton.

SWELLISH Swell"ish, a.

Defn: Dandified; stylish. [Slang]

SWELLTOAD Swell"toad`, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: A swellfish.

SWELT Swelt, obs.

Defn: imp. of Swell.

SWELT Swelt, v. i. Etym: [OE. swelten to die, to swoon or faint, AS. sweltan to die; akin to OD. swelten to hunger, to fail, OS. sweltan to die, Icel. svelta to die, to hunger, Sw. svälta to hunger, Dan. sulte, Goth. sviltan to die. Cf. Swelter, Sweltry.]

1. To die; to perish. [Obs.]

2. To faint; to swoon. [Obs.] Chaucer. Night she swelt for passing joy. Spenser.

SWELT Swelt, v. t.

Defn: To overpower, as with heat; to cause to faint; to swelter. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.] Bp. Hall.

SWELTER Swel"ter, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Sweltered; p. pr. & vb. n. Sweltering.] Etym: [From Swelt, v. i.]

1. To be overcome and faint with heat; to be ready to perish with heat. "Sweltered cattle." Coleridge.

2. To welter; to soak. [Obs.] Drayton.

SWELTER Swel"ter, v. t.

1. To oppress with heat. Bentley.

2. To exude, like sweat. [R.] Shak.

SWELTRY Swel"try, a. Etym: [See Swelter, Swelt, v. i., and cf. Sultry.]

Defn: Suffocating with heat; oppressively hot; sultry. [R.] Evelyn.

SWELVE Swel"ve, v. t.

Defn: To swallow. [Obs.] Chaucer.

SWEPT Swept,

Defn: imp. & p. p. of Sweep.

SWERD Swerd, n. & v.

Defn: See Sward, n. & v. [Obs.]

SWERD Swerd, n.

Defn: Sword. [Obs.] Chaucer.

SWERVE Swerve, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Swerved; p. pr. & vb. n. Swerving.] Etym: [OE. swerven, AS. sweorfan to wipe off, to file, to polish; akin to OFries. swerva to creep, D. zwerven to swerve, to rope, OS. swerban to wipe off, MHG. swerben to be whirled, OHG. swerban to wipe off, Icel. sverfa to file, Goth. swaírban (in comp.) to wipe, and perhaps to E. swarm. Cf. Swarm.]

1. To stray; to wander; to rope. [Obs.] A maid thitherward did run, To catch her sparrow which from her did swerve. Sir P. Sidney.

2. To go out of a straight line; to deflect. "The point [of the sword] swerved." Sir P. Sidney.

3. To wander from any line prescribed, or from a rule or duty; to depart from what is established by law, duty, custom, or the like; to deviate. I swerve not from thy commandments. Bk. of Com. Prayer. They swerve from the strict letter of the law. Clarendon. Many who, through the contagion of evil example, swerve exceedingly from the rules of their holy religion. Atterbury.

4. To bend; to incline. "The battle swerved." Milton.

5. To climb or move upward by winding or turning. The tree was high; Yet nimbly up from bough to bough I swerved. Dryden.

SWERVE Swerve, v. t.

Defn: To turn aside. Gauden.

SWEVEN Swe"ven, n. Etym: [AS. swefen sleep, dream; akin to swebban, swefian, to put to sleep, to kill. *176. See Somnolent.]

Defn: A vision seen in sleep; a dream. [Obs.] Wycliff (Acts ii. 17). I defy both sweven and dream. Chaucer.

SWICH Swich, a. Etym: [See Such.]

Defn: Such. [Obs.] Swich things as that I know I will declare. Chaucer.

SWIETENIA Swie*te"ni*a, n. Etym: [NL. Named after Gerard Van Sweiten, physician to Maria Theresa of Austria.] (Bot.)

Defn: A genus of meliaceous trees consisting of one species (Sweitenia Mahogoni), the mahogany tree.

SWIFT Swift, a. [Compar. Swifter; superl. Swiftest.] Etym: [AS. swift; akin to swapan to sweep, swipu a whip; cf. swifan to move quickly, to revolve. See Swoop, v. i., and cf. Swivel, Squib.]

1. Moving a great distance in a short time; moving with celerity or velocity; fleet; rapid; quick; speedy; prompt. My beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. James i. 19. Swift of dispatch and easy of access. Dryden. And bring upon themselves swift destruction. 2 Pet. ii. 1.

2. Of short continuance; passing away quickly. Shak.

Note: Swift is often used in the formation of compounds which are generally self-explaining; as, swift-darting, swift-footed, swift- winged, etc.

Syn. — Quick; fleet; speedy; rapid; expeditious.

SWIFT Swift, adv.

Defn: Swiftly. [Obs. or Poetic] Shak. Ply swift and strong the oar. Southey.

SWIFT Swift, n.

1. The current of a stream. [R.] Walton.

2. (Zoöl.)

Defn: Any one of numerous species of small, long-winged, insectivorous birds of the family Micropodidæ. In form and habits the swifts resemble swallows, but they are destitute of complex vocal muscles and are not singing birds, but belong to a widely different group allied to the humming birds.

Note: The common European swift (Cypselus, or Micropus, apus) nests in church steeples and under the tiles of roofs, and is noted for its rapid flight and shrill screams. It is called also black martin, black swift, hawk swallow, devil bird, swingdevil, screech martin, and shreik owl. The common American, or chimney, swift (Chætura pelagica) has sharp rigid tips to the tail feathers. It attaches its nest to the inner walls of chimneys, and is called also chimney swallow. The Australian swift (Chætura caudacuta) also has sharp naked tips to the tail quills. The European Alpine swift (Cypselus melba) is whitish beneath, with a white band across the breast. The common Indian swift is Cypselus affinis. See also Palm swift, under Palm, and Tree swift, under Tree.

3. (Zoöl.)

Defn: Any one of several species of lizards, as the pine lizard.

4. (Zoöl.)

Defn: The ghost moth. See under Ghost.

5. Etym: [Cf. Swivel.]

Defn: A reel, or turning instrument, for winding yarn, thread, etc.; — used chiefly in the plural.

6. The main card cylinder of a flax-carding machine.

SWIFTER Swift"er, n. Etym: [Cf. Swivel.] (Naut.) (a) A rope used to retain the bars of the capstan in their sockets while men are turning it. (b) A rope used to encircle a boat longitudinally, to strengthen and defend her sides. (c) The forward shroud of a lower mast.

SWIFTER Swift"er, v. t. (Naut.)

Defn: To tighten, as slack standing rigging, by bringing the opposite shrouds nearer.

SWIFTFOOT Swift"foot`, a.

Defn: Nimble; fleet. Mir. for Mag.

SWIFTFOOT Swift"foot`, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: The courser.

SWIFTLET Swift"let, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: Any one of numerous species of small East Indian and Asiatic swifts of the genus Collocalia. Some of the species are noted for furnishing the edible bird's nest. See Illust. under Edible.

SWIFTLY Swift"ly, adv.

Defn: In a swift manner; with quick motion or velocity; fleetly. Wyclif.

SWIFTNESS Swift"ness, n.

Defn: The quality or state of being swift; speed; quickness; celerity; velocity; rapidity; as, the swiftness of a bird; the swiftness of a stream; swiftness of descent in a falling body; swiftness of thought, etc.

SWIG Swig, v. t. Etym: [Cf. D. zwelgen to swallow, E. swallow, v.t.]

1. To drink in long draughts; to gulp; as, to swig cider. [Colloq.]

2. To suck. [Obs. or Archaic] The lambkins swig the teat. Creech.

SWIG Swig, n.

1. A long draught. [Colloq.] Marryat.

2. (Naut.)

Defn: A tackle with ropes which are not parallel.

3. A beverage consisting of warm beer flavored with spices, lemon, etc. [Prov. Eng.]

SWIG Swig, v. t. Etym: [Cf. Prov. E. swig to leak out, AS. swijian to be silent, swican to evade, escape.]

1. To castrate, as a ram, by binding the testicles tightly with a string, so that they mortify and slough off. [Prov. Eng.]

2. (Naut.)

Defn: To pull upon (a tackle) by throwing the weight of the body upon the fall between the block and a cleat.

SWILL Swill, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Swilled; p. pr. & vb. n. Swilling.] Etym: [OE. swilen to wash, AS. swilian.]

1. To wash; to drench. [Obs.] As fearfully as doth a galled rock O'erhang and jutty his confounded base, Swilled with the wild and wasteful ocean. Shak.

2. Etym: [Properly, to drink like a pig. See Swill, n.]

Defn: To drink in great draughts; to swallow greedily. Well-dressed people, of both sexes, . . . devouring sliced beef, and swilling pork, and punch, and cider. Smollett.

3. To inebriate; to fill with drink. I should be loth To meet the rudeness and swilled insolence Of such late wassailers. Milton.

SWILL Swill, v. i.

Defn: To drink greedily or swinishly; to drink to excess. South.

SWILL Swill, n.

1. The wash, or mixture of liquid substances, given to swine; hogwash; — called also swillings.

2. Large draughts of liquor; drink taken in excessive quantities.

SWILLER Swill"er, n.

Defn: One who swills.

SWILLINGS Swill"ings, n. pl.

Defn: See Swill, n., 1.

SWIM Swim, v. i. [imp. Swam or Swum (; p. p. Swum; p. pr. & vb. n. Swimming.] Etym: [AS. swimman; akin to D. zwemmen, OHG. swimman, G. schwimmen, Icel. svimma, Dan. swömme, Sw. simma. Cf. Sound an air bladder, a strait.]

1. To be supported by water or other fluid; not to sink; to float; as, any substance will swim, whose specific gravity is less than that of the fluid in which it is immersed.

2. To move progressively in water by means of strokes with the hands and feet, or the fins or the tail. Leap in with me into this angry flood, And swim to yonder point. Shak.

3. To be overflowed or drenched. Ps. vi. 6. Sudden the ditches swell, the meadows swim. Thomson.

4. Fig.: To be as if borne or floating in a fluid. [They] now swim in joy. Milton.

5. To be filled with swimming animals. [Obs.] [Streams] that swim full of small fishes. Chaucer.

SWIM Swim, v. t.

1. To pass or move over or on by swimming; as, to swim a stream. Sometimes he thought to swim the stormy main. Dryden.

2. To cause or compel to swim; to make to float; as, to swim a horse across a river.

3. To immerse in water that the lighter parts may float; as, to swim wheat in order to select seed.

SWIM Swim, n.

1. The act of swimming; a gliding motion, like that of one swimming. B. Jonson.

2. The sound, or air bladder, of a fish.

3. A part of a stream much frequented by fish. [Eng.] Swim bladder, an air bladder of a fish. — To be in the swim, to be in a favored position; to be associated with others in active affairs. [Colloq.]

SWIM Swim, v. i. Etym: [OE. swime dizziness, vertigo, AS. swima; akin to D. zwijm, Icel. svimi dizziness, svina to subside, svia to abate, G. schwindel dizziness, schwinden to disappear, to dwindle, OHG. swinan to dwindle. Cf. Squemish, Swindler.]

Defn: To be dizzy; to have an unsteady or reeling sensation; as, the head swims.

SWIMBEL Swim"bel, n. Etym: [Etymol. uncertain.]

Defn: A moaning or sighing sound or noise; a sough. [Obs.] Chaucer.

SWIMMER Swim"mer, n.

1. One who swims.

2. (Far.)

Defn: A protuberance on the leg of a horse.

3. (Zoöl.)

Defn: A swimming bird; one of the natatores. Little swimmer (Zoöl.), a phalarope.

SWIMMERET Swim"mer*et, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: One of a series of flat, fringed, and usually bilobed, appendages, of which several pairs occur on the abdominal somites of many crustaceans. They are used as fins in swimming.

SWIMMING Swim"ming, a.

1. That swims; capable of swimming; adapted to, or used in, swimming; as, a swimming bird; a swimming motion.

2. Suffused with moisture; as, swimming eyes. Swimming bell (Zoöl.), a nectocalyx. See Illust. under Siphonophora. — Swimming crab (Zoöl.), any one of numerous species of marine crabs, as those of the family Protunidæ, which have some of the joints of one or more pairs of legs flattened so as to serve as fins.

SWIMMING Swim"ming, n.

Defn: The act of one who swims.

SWIMMING Swim"ming, a. Etym: [From Swim to be dizzy.]

Defn: Being in a state of vertigo or dizziness; as, a swimming brain.

SWIMMING Swim"ming, n.

Defn: Vertigo; dizziness; as, a swimming in the head. Dryden.

SWIMMINGLY Swim"ming*ly, adv.

Defn: In an easy, gliding manner, as if swimming; smoothly; successfully; prosperously.

SWIMMINGNESS Swim"ming*ness, n.

Defn: Act or state of swimming; suffusion. "A swimmingness in the eye." Congreve.

SWINCK Swinck, v. & n.

Defn: See Swink.

SWINDLE Swin"dle, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Swindled; p. pr. & vb. n. Swindling.] Etym: [See Swindler.]

Defn: To cheat defraud grossly, or with deliberate artifice; as, to swindle a man out of his property. Lammote . . . has swindled one of them out of three hundred livres. Carlyle.

SWINDLE Swin"dle, n.

Defn: The act or process of swindling; a cheat.

SWINDLER Swin"dler, n. Etym: [G. schwindler, fr. schwindlen to be dizzy, to act thoughtlessly, to cheat, fr. schwindel dizziness, fr. schwinden to vanish, to disappear, to dwindle. See Swim to be dizzy.]

Defn: One who swindles, or defrauds grossly; one who makes a practice of defrauding others by imposition or deliberate artifice; a cheat.

Syn. — Sharper; rogue. — Swindler, Sharper. These words agree in describing persons who take unfair advantages. A swindler is one who obtains money or goods under false pretenses. A sharper is one who cheats by sharp practice, as in playing at cards or staking what he can not pay. Fraud and injustice soon follow, and the dignity of the British merchant is sunk in the scandalous appellation of a swindler. V. Knox. Perhaps you 'll think I act the same As a sly sharper plays his game. Cotton.

SWINDLERY Swin"dler*y, n.

Defn: Swindling; rougery. [R.] "Swindlery and blackguardism." Carlyle.

SWINE Swine, n.sing. & pl. Etym: [OE. swin, AS. swin; akin to OFries. & OS. swin, D. zwijn, G. schwein, OHG. swin, Icel. svin, Sw. svin, Dan. sviin, Goth. swein; originally a diminutive corresponding to E. sow. See Sow, n.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: Any animal of the hog kind, especially one of the domestical species. Swine secrete a large amount of subcutaneous fat, which, when extracted, is known as lard. The male is specifically called boar, the female, sow, and the young, pig. See Hog. "A great herd of swine." Mark v. 11. Swine grass (Bot.), knotgrass (Polygonum aviculare); — so called because eaten by swine. — Swine oat (Bot.), a kind of oat sometimes grown for swine. — Swine's cress (Bot.), a species of cress of the genus Senebiera (S. Coronopus). — Swine's head, a dolt; a blockhead. [Obs.] Chaucer. — Swine thistle (Bot.), the sow thistle.

SWINEBREAD Swine"bread`, n. (Bot.)

Defn: The truffle.

SWINECASE Swine"case`, n.

Defn: A hogsty. [Prov. Eng.]

SWINECOTE Swine"cote`, n.

Defn: A hogsty. [Prov. Eng.]

SWINECRUE Swine"crue`, n. Etym: [Swine + Prov. E. crue a coop.]

Defn: A hogsty. [Prov. Eng.]

SWINEFISH Swine"fish`, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: The wolf fish.

SWINEHERD Swine"herd`, n.

Defn: A keeper of swine.

SWINEPIPE Swine"pipe`, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: The European redwing. [Prov. Eng.]

SWINE-POX Swine"-pox`, n. (Med.)

Defn: A variety of the chicken pox, with acuminated vesicles containing a watery fluid; the water pox. Pepys.

SWINERY Swin"er*y, n.

Defn: Same as Piggery. [R.]

SWINESTONE Swine"stone`, n. (Min.)

Defn: See Stinkstone.

SWINESTY Swine"sty`, n.

Defn: A sty, or pen, for swine.

SWING Swing, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Swung; Archaic imp. Swang; p. pr. & vb. n. Swinging.] Etym: [OE. swingen, AS. swingan to scourge, to fly, to flutter; akin to G. schwingen to winnow, to swingle, oscillate, sich schwingen to leap, to soar, OHG. swingan to throw, to scourge, to soar, Sw. svinga to swing, to whirl, Dan. svinge. Cf. Swagger, Sway, Swinge, Swink.]

1. To move to and fro, as a body suspended in the air; to wave; to vibrate; to oscillate. I tried if a pendulum would swing faster, or continue swinging longer, in case of exsuction of the air. Boyle.

2. To sway or move from one side or direction to another; as, the door swung open.

3. To use a swing; as, a boy swings for exercise or pleasure. See Swing, n., 3.

4. (Naut.)

Defn: To turn round by action of wind or tide when at anchor; as, a ship swings with the tide.

5. To be hanged. [Colloq.] D. Webster. To swing round the circle, to make a complete circuit. [Colloq.] He had swung round the circle of theories and systems in which his age abounded, without finding relief. A. V. G. Allen.

SWING Swing, v. t.

1. To cause to swing or vibrate; to cause to move backward and forward, or from one side to the other. He swings his tail, and swiftly turns his round. Dryden. They get on ropes, as you must have seen the children, and are swung by their men visitants. Spectator.

2. To give a circular movement to; to whirl; to brandish; as, to swing a sword; to swing a club; hence, colloquially, to manage; as, to swing a business.

3. (Mach.)

Defn: To admit or turn (anything) for the purpose of shaping it; — said of a lathe; as, the lathe can swing a pulley of 12 inches diameter. To swing a door, gate, etc. (Carp.), to put it on hinges so that it can swing or turn.

SWING Swing, n.

1. The act of swinging; a waving, oscillating, or vibratory motion of a hanging or pivoted object; oscillation; as, the swing of a pendulum.

2. Swaying motion from one side or direction to the other; as, some men walk with a swing.

3. A line, cord, or other thing suspended and hanging loose, upon which anything may swing; especially, an apparatus for recreation by swinging, commonly consisting of a rope, the two ends of which are attached overhead, as to the bough of a tree, a seat being placed in the loop at the bottom; also, any contrivance by which a similar motion is produced for amusement or exercise.

4. Influence of power of a body put in swaying motion. The ram that batters down the wall, For the great swing and rudeness of his poise, They place before his hand that made the engine. Shak.

5. Capacity of a turning lathe, as determined by the diameter of the largest object that can be turned in it.

6. Free course; unrestrained liberty or license; tendency. "Take thy swing." Dryden. To prevent anything which may prove an obstacle to the full swing of his genius. Burke. Full swing. See under Full. — Swing beam (Railway Mach.), a crosspiece sustaining the car body, and so suspended from the framing of a truck that it may have an independent lateral motion. — Swing bridge, a form of drawbridge which swings horizontally, as on a vertical pivot. — Swing plow, or Swing plough. (a) A plow without a fore wheel under the beam. (b) A reversible or sidehill plow. — Swing wheel. (a) The scape-wheel in a clock, which drives the pendulum. (b) The balance of a watch.

SWINGDEVIL Swing"dev`il, n. (Zoöl.) Etym: [So named from its swift flight and dark color, which give it an uncanny appearance.]

Defn: The European swift. [Prov. Eng.]

SWINGE Swinge (swînj), v. & n.

Defn: See Singe. [Obs.] Spenser.

SWINGE Swinge, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Swinged (swînjd); p. pr. & vb. n. Swingeing (swînj"îng).] Etym: [OE. swengen, AS. swengan to shake, causative of swingan. See Swing.]

1. To beat soundly; to whip; to chastise; to punish. I had swinged him soundly. Shak. And swinges his own vices in his son. C. Dryden.

2. To move as a lash; to lash. [Obs.] Swinges the scaly horror of his folded tail. Milton.

SWINGE Swinge, n.

1. The sweep of anything in motion; a swinging blow; a swing. [Obs.] Waller.

2. Power; sway; influence. [Obs.]

SWINGEBUCKLER Swinge"buc`kler, n.

Defn: A swashbuckler; a bully; a roiserer. [Obs.] Shak.

SWINGEING Swinge"ing, a.

Defn: Huge; very large. [Colloq.] Arbuthnot. Byron. — Swinge"ing*ly, adv. Dryden.

SWINGEL Swin"gel, n. Etym: [AS. swingele whip, scourge. See Swing.]

Defn: The swinging part of a flail which falls on the grain in thrashing; the swiple.

SWINGER Swing"er, n.

Defn: One who swings or whirls.

SWINGER Swin"ger, n.

1. One who swinges.

2. Anything very large, forcible; or astonishing. [Obs. or Colloq.] Herrick.

Defn: A person who engages frequently in lively and fashionable pursuits, such as attending night clubs or discos. 4. A person who engages freely in sexual intercourse.

SWINGLE Swin"gle, v. i. Etym: [Freq. of swing.]

1. To dangle; to wave hanging. [Obs.] Johnson.

2. To swing for pleasure. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.]

SWINGLE Swin"gle, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Swingled; p. pr. & vb. n. Swingling.] Etym: [See Swingel.]

1. To clean, as flax, by beating it with a swingle, so as to separate the coarse parts and the woody substance from it; to scutch.

2. To beat off the tops of without pulling up the roots; — said of weeds. [Prov. Eng.] Forby.

SWINGLE Swin"gle, n.

Defn: A wooden instrument like a large knife, about two feet long, with one thin edge, used for beating and cleaning flax; a scutcher; - - called also swingling knife, swingling staff, and swingling wand.

SWINGLEBAR Swin"gle*bar`, n.

Defn: A swingletree. De Quincey.

SWINGLETAIL Swin"gle*tail`, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: The thrasher, or fox shark. See Thrasher.

SWINGLETREE Swin"gle*tree`, n. Etym: [So named in allusion to its swinging. See Swingle, v. i., and cf. Swingtree.]

Defn: A whiffletree, or whippletree. See Singletree.

SWINGLING Swin"gling, a. & n.

Defn: from Swingle, v. t. Swingling tow, the coarse part of flax, separated from the finer by swingling and hatcheling.

SWINGTREE Swing"tree`, n.

Defn: The bar of a carriage to which the traces are fastened; the whiffletree.

SWINISH Swin"ish, a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to swine; befitting swine; like swine; hoggish; gross; beasty; as, a swinish drunkard or sot. "Swinish gluttony." Milton. — Swin"ish*ly, adv. — Swin"ish*ness, n.

SWINK Swink, v. i. [imp. Swank, Swonk (; p. p. Swonken; p. pr. & vb. n. Swinking.] Etym: [AS. swincan, akin to swingan. See Swing.]

Defn: To labor; to toil; to salve. [Obs. or Archaic] Or swink with his hands and labor. Chaucer. For which men swink and sweat incessantly. Spenser. The swinking crowd at every stroke pant "Ho." Sir Samuel Freguson.

SWINK Swink, v. t.

1. To cause to toil or drudge; to tire or exhaust with labor. [Obs.] And the swinked hedger at his supper sat. Milton.

2. To acquire by labor. [Obs.] Piers Plowman. To devour all that others swink. Chaucer.

SWINK Swink, n. Etym: [As. swinc, geswinc.]

Defn: Labor; toil; drudgery. [Obs.] Chaucer. Spenser.

SWINKER Swink"er, n.

Defn: A laborer. [Obs.] Chaucer.

SWINNEY Swin"ney, n. (Far.)

Defn: See Sweeny.

SWIPE Swipe, n. Etym: [Cf. Sweep, Swiple.]

1. A swape or sweep. See Sweep.

2. A strong blow given with a sweeping motion, as with a bat or club. Swipes [in cricket] over the blower's head, and over either of the long fields. R. A. Proctor.

3. pl.

Defn: Poor, weak beer; small beer. [Slang, Eng.] [Written also swypes.] Craig.

SWIPE Swipe, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Swiped; p. pr. & vb. n. Swiping.]

1. To give a swipe to; to strike forcibly with a sweeping motion, as a ball. Loose balls may be swiped almost ad libitum. R. A. Proctor.

2. To pluck; to snatch; to steal. [Slang, U.S.]

SWIPLE Swi"ple, n. Etym: [See Swipe.]

Defn: That part of a flail which strikes the grain in thrashing; a swingel. [Written also swipel, and swipple.]

SWIPPER Swip"per, a. Etym: [From AS. swipian to whip, shake, whirl; akin to swapan to sweep. See Swoop.]

Defn: Nimble; quick. [Obs. or Prov. Eng. & Slang]

SWIRL Swirl, v. t. & i. [imp. & p. p. Swirled; p. pr. & vb. n. Swirling.] Etym: [Akin to Norw. svirla to whirl, freq. of sverra to whirl, Dan. svirre, G. schwirren to whiz, to buzz. *177. See Swarm, n.]

Defn: To whirl, or cause to whirl, as in an eddy. "The river swirled along." C. Kingsley.

SWIRL Swirl, n.

Defn: A whirling motion; an eddy, as of water; a whirl. "The silent swirl of bats." Mrs. Browning.

SWISH Swish, v. t. Etym: [From the sound. Cf. Swash.]

1. To flourish, so as to make the sound swish. Coleridge.

2. To flog; to lash. [Slang] Thackeray.

SWISH Swish, v. i.

Defn: To dash; to swash.

SWISH Swish, n.

1. A sound of quick movement, as of something whirled through the air. [Colloq.]

2. (Naut.)

Defn: Light driven spray. [Eng.]

SWISS Swiss, n.sing. & pl. Etym: [F. Suisse, of German origin. Cf. Switzer.]

Defn: A native or inhabitant of Switzerland; a Switzer; the people of Switzerland.

SWISS Swiss, a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to Switzerland, or the people of Switzerland.

SWITCH Switch, n. Etym: [Cf. OD. swick a scourage, a whip. Cf. Swink, Swing.]

1. A small, flexible twig or rod. Mauritania, on the fifth medal, leads a horse with something like a thread; in her other hand she holds a switch. Addison.

2. (Railways)

Defn: A movable part of a rail; or of opposite rails, for transferring cars from one track to another.

3. A separate mass or trees of hair, or of some substance (at jute) made to resemble hair, worn on the head by women.

4. (Eccl.)

Defn: A mechanical device for shifting an electric current to another circuit. Safety switch (Railways), a form of switch contrived to prevent or lessen the danger of derailment of trains. — Switch back (Railways), an arrangement of tracks whereby elevations otherwise insurmountable are passed. The track ascends by a series of zigzags, the engine running alternately forward and back, until the summit is reached. — Switch board (Elec.), a collection of switches in one piece of apparatus, so arranged that a number of circuits may be connected or combined in any desired manner. — Switch grass. (Bot.) See under Grass.

SWITCH Switch, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Switched; p. pr. & vb. n. Switching.]

1. To strike with a switch or small flexible rod; to whip. Chapman.

2. To swing or whisk; as, to switch a cane.

3. To trim, as, a hedge. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.

4. To turn from one railway track to another; to transfer by a switch; — generally with off, from, etc.; as, to switch off a train; to switch a car from one track to another.

5. (Eccl.)

Defn: To shift to another circuit.

SWITCH Switch, v. i.

Defn: To walk with a jerk. [Prov. Eng.]

SWITCHEL Switch"el, n. Etym: [See Sweet.]

Defn: A beverage of molasses and water, seasoned with vinegar and ginger. [U. S.]

SWITCHING Switch"ing, a. & n.

Defn: from Switch, v. Switching engine, a locomotive for switching cars from one track to another, and making up trains; — called also switch engine. [U.S.]

SWITCHMAN Switch"man, n.; pl. Switchmen (.

Defn: One who tends a switch on a railway.

SWITCHY Switch"y, a.

Defn: Whisking. [Colloq.] Coombe.

SWITHE Swithe, adv. Etym: [AS. swi strongly, violently.]

Defn: Instantly; quickly; speedily; rapidly. [Obs.] That thou doest, do thou swithe. Wyclif (John xiii. 27).

SWITZER Switz"er, n. Etym: [Cf. G. schweizer. Cf. Swiss.]

Defn: A native or inhabitant of Switzerland; a Swiss.

SWIVE Swive, v. t. Etym: [OE. swiven, fr. AS. swifan. See Swivel.]

Defn: To copulate with (a woman). [Obs.] Chaucer.

SWIVEL Swiv"el, n. Etym: [AS. swifan to move quickly, to remove; akin to Icel. sveifla to whirl, shake, svifa to ramble, to turn. See Swoop, and cf. Swift a reel, Swift, a.]

1. (Mech.)

Defn: A piece, as a ring or hook, attached to another piece by a pin, in such a manner as to permit rotation about the pin as an axis.

2. (Mil.)

Defn: A small piece of ordnance, turning on a point or swivel; — called also swivel gun. Wilhelm. Swivel bridge, a kind of drawbridge that turns round on a vertical axis; a swing bridge. — Swivel hook, a hook connected with the iron strap of a pulley block by a swivel joint, for readily taking the turns out of a tackle. — Swivel joint, a joint, the two pieces composing which turn round, with respect to each other, on a longitudinal pin or axis, as in a chain, to prevent twisting.

SWIVEL Swiv"el, v. i.

Defn: To swing or turn, as on a pin or pivot.

SWIVEL-EYED Swiv"el-eyed`, a.

Defn: Squint-eyed. [Prov. Eng.]

SWIZZLE Swiz"zle, v. t.

Defn: To drink; to swill. Halliwell.

SWIZZLE Swiz"zle, n.

Defn: Ale and beer mixed; also, drink generally. [Prov. Eng.]

SWOB Swob, n. & v.

Defn: See Swab.

SWOBBER Swob"ber, n.

1. See Swabber.

2. pl.

Defn: Four privileged cards, formerly used in betting at the game of whist. [Written also swabber.] Swift.

SWOLLEN Swoll"en,

Defn: p. p. of Swell.

SWOLLEN Swoll"en, a.

Defn: Enlarged by swelling; immoderately increased; as, swollen eyes; swollen streams.

SWOLN Swoln.

Defn: Contraction of Swollen, p. p. Milton.

SWOM Swom, obs.

Defn: imp. of Swim. Shak.

SWOON Swoon, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Swooned; p. pr. & vb. n. Swooning.] Etym: [OE. swounen, swoghenen, for swo, fr. swo to sigh deeply, to droop, AS. swogan to sough, sigh; cf. geswogen senseless, swooned, geswowung a swooning. Cf. Sough.]

Defn: To sink into a fainting fit, in which there is an apparent suspension of the vital functions and mental powers; to faint; — often with away. The sucklings swoon in the streets of the city. Lam. ii. 11. The most in years . . . swooned first away for pain. Dryden. He seemed ready to swoon away in the surprise of joy. Tatler.

SWOON Swoon, n.

Defn: A fainting fit; syncope.

SWOONING Swoon"ing, a. & n.

Defn: from Swoon, v. — Swoon"ing*ly, adv.

SWOOP Swoop, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Swooped; p. pr. & vb. n. Swooping.] Etym: [OE. swopen, usually, to sweep, As. swapan to sweep, to rush; akin to G. schweifen to rove, to ramble, to curve, OHG. sweifan to whirl, Icel. sveipa to sweep; also to AS. swifan to move quickly. Cf. Sweep, Swift, a. & n., Swipe, Swivel.]

1. To fall on at once and seize; to catch while on the wing; as, a hawk swoops a chicken.

2. To seize; to catch up; to take with a sweep. And now at last you came to swoop it all. Dryden. The grazing ox which swoops it [the medicinal herb] in with the common grass. Glanvill.

SWOOP Swoop, v. i.

1. To descend with closed wings from a height upon prey, as a hawk; to swoop.

2. To pass with pomp; to sweep. [Obs.] Drayton.

SWOOP Swoop, n.

Defn: A falling on and seizing, as the prey of a rapacious bird; the act of swooping. The eagle fell, . . . and carried away a whole litter of cubs at a swoop. L'Estrange.

SWOOPSTAKE Swoop"stake`, n.

Defn: See Sweepstake. [Obs.]

SWOOPSTAKE Swoop"stake`, adv.

Defn: Altogether; indiscriminately. [R.] Shak.

SWOP Swop, v. & n.

Defn: Same as Swap. Dryden.

SWORD Sword, n. Etym: [OE. swerd, AS. sweord; akin to OFries. swerd, swird, D. zwaard, OS. swerd, OHG. swert, G. schwert, Icel. sver, Sw. svärd, Dan. sværd; of uncertain origin.]

1. An offensive weapon, having a long and usually sharp

2. Hence, the emblem of judicial vengeance or punishment, or of authority and power. He [the ruler] beareth not the sword in vain. Rom. xiii. 4. She quits the balance, and resigns the sword. Dryden.

3. Destruction by the sword, or in battle; war; dissension. I came not to send peace, but a sword. Matt. x. 34.

4. The military power of a country. He hath no more authority over the sword than over the law. Milton.

5. (Weaving)

Defn: One of the end bars by which the lay of a hand loom is suspended. Sword arm, the right arm. — Sword bayonet, a bayonet shaped somewhat like a sword, and which can be used as a sword. — Sword bearer, one who carries his master's sword; an officer in London who carries a sword before the lord mayor when he goes abroad. — Sword belt, a belt by which a sword is suspended, and borne at the side. — Sword blade, the blade, or cutting part, of a sword. — Sword cane, a cane which conceals the blade of a sword or dagger, as in a sheath. — Sword dance. (a) A dance in which swords are brandished and clashed together by the male dancers. Sir W. Scott. (b) A dance performed over swords laid on the ground, but without touching them. — Sword fight, fencing; a combat or trial of skill with swords; swordplay. — Sword grass. (Bot.) See Gladen. — Sword knot, a ribbon tied to the hilt of a sword. — Sword law, government by the sword, or by force; violence. Milton. — Sword lily. (Bot.) See Gladiolus. — Sword mat (Naut.), a mat closely woven of yarns; — so called from a wooden implement used in its manufacture. — Sword shrimp (Zoöl.), a European shrimp (Pasiphæa sivado) having a very thin, compressed body. — Sword stick, a sword cane. — To measure swords with one. See under Measure, v. t. — To put to the sword. See under Put.

SWORDBILL Sword"bill`, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: A humming bird (Docimastes ensiferus) having a very long, slender bill, exceeding the length of the body of the bird.

SWORDED Sword"ed, a. Etym: [Cf. AS. geswurdod.]

Defn: Girded with a sword. Milton.

SWORDER Sword"er, n.

Defn: One who uses, or fights with, a sword; a swordsman; a soldier; a cutthroat. [Obs.] Shak.

SWORDFISH Sword"fish`, n.

1. (Zoöl.) (a) A very large oceanic fish (Xiphias gladius), the only representative of the family Xiphiidæ. It is highly valued as a food fish. The bones of the upper jaw are consolidated, and form a long, rigid, swordlike beak; the dorsal fin is high and without distinct spines; the ventral fins are absent. The adult is destitute of teeth. It becomes sixteen feet or more long. (b) The ger pike. (c) The cutlass fish.

2. (Astron.)

Defn: A southern constellation. See Dorado, 1. Swordfish sucker (Zoöl.), a remora (Remora brachyptera) which attaches itself to the swordfish.

SWORDICK Sword"ick, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: The spotted gunnel (Murænoides gunnellus). [Prov. Eng.]

SWORDING Sword"ing, n.

Defn: Slashing with a sword. Tennyson.

SWORDLESS Sword"less, a.

Defn: Destitute of a sword.

SWORDMAN Sword"man, n.; pl. Swordmen (.

Defn: A swordsman. "Sinewy swordmen." Shak.

SWORDPLAY Sword"play`, n.

Defn: Fencing; a sword fight.

SWORDPLAYER Sword"play`er, n.

Defn: A fencer; a gladiator; one who exhibits his skill in the use of the sword.

SWORD-SHAPED Sword"-shaped`, a. (Bot.)

Defn: Shaped like a sword; ensiform, as the long, flat leaves of the Iris, cattail, and the like.

SWORDSMAN Swords"man, n.; pl. Swordsmen (.

1. A soldier; a fighting man.

2. One skilled of a use of the sword; a professor of the science of fencing; a fencer.

SWORDSMANSHIP Swords"man*ship, n.

Defn: The state of being a swordsman; skill in the use of the sword. Cowper.

SWORDTAIL Sword"tail`, n. (Zoöl.) (a) The limulus. (b) Any hemipterous insect of the genus Uroxiphus, found upon forest trees.

SWORE Swore,

Defn: imp. of Swear.

SWORN Sworn,

Defn: p. p. of Swear. Sworn brothers, originally, companions in arms who took an oath to share together good and bad fortune; hence, faithful friends. — Sworn enemies, determined or irreconcilable enemies. — Sworn friends, close friends.

SWOUGH Swough, n. Etym: [See Swoon.]

1. A sound; a groan; a moan; a sough. [Obs.] He sigheth with full many a sorry swough. Chaucer.

2. A swoon. [Obs.] Chaucer.

SWOUND Swound, v. & n.

Defn: See Swoon, v. & n. [Prov. Eng. or Archaic] Shak. Dryden. The landlord stirred As one awaking from a swound. Longfellow.

'SWOUNDS 'Swounds, interj. Etym: [Cf. Zounds.]

Defn: An exclamation contracted from God's wounds; — used as an oath. [Obs. or Archaic] Shak.

SWOWN Swown, v. & n.

Defn: Swoon. [Obs.] Chaucer.

SWUM Swum,

Defn: imp. & p. p. of Swim.

SWUNG Swung,

Defn: imp. & p. p. of Swing.

SWYTHE Swythe, adv.

Defn: Quickly. See Swithe. [Obs.]

SY Sy, obs. imp. of See.

Defn: Saw. Chaucer.

SYB Syb, a.

Defn: See Sib. [Obs. or Scot.]

SYBARITE Syb"a*rite, n. Etym: [L. Sybarita, Gr. Sybarite.]

Defn: A person devoted to luxury and pleasure; a voluptuary.

SYBARITIC; SYBARITICAL Syb`a*rit"ic, Syb`a*rit"ic*al, a. Etym: [L. Sybariticus, Gr.

Defn: Of or pertaining to the Sybarites; resembling the Sybarites; luxurious; wanton; effeminate. "Sybaritic dinners." Bp. Warburton. "Sybaritical cloistres." Bp. Hall.

SYBARITISM Syb"a*rit*ism, n.

Defn: Luxuriousness; effeminacy; wantonness; voluptuousness.

SYCAMINE Syc"a*mine, n. Etym: [L. sycaminus, Gr.

Defn: See Sycamore.

SYCAMORE Syc"a*more, n. Etym: [L. sycomorus, Gr. sycomore. Cf. Mulberry.] (Bot.) (a) A large tree (Ficus Sycomorus) allied to the common fig. It is found in Egypt and Syria, and is the sycamore, or sycamine, of Scripture. (b) The American plane tree, or buttonwood. (c) A large European species of maple (Acer Pseudo-Platanus). [Written sometimes sycomore.]

SYCE Syce, n. Etym: [Ar. sa\'8bs.]

Defn: A groom. [India]

SYCEE Sy*cee", n. Etym: [Said to be from a Chinese word, se-tze or se-sze, meaning, fine silk, and to be so called because if pure it may be drawn out into fine threads.]

Defn: Silver, pounded into ingots of the shape of a shoe, and used as currency. The most common weight is about one pound troy. [China] McElrath.

SYCHNOCARPOUS Sych`no*car"pous, a. Etym: [Gr. (Bot.)

Defn: Having the capacity of bearing several successive crops of fruit without perishing; as, sychnocarpous plants.

SYCITE Sy"cite, n. Etym: [Gr. (Min.)

Defn: A nodule of flint, or a pebble, which resembles a fig. [Obs.]

SYCOCERIC Syc`o*cer"ic, a. (Chem.)

Defn: Of, pertaining to, or designating, an acid obtained by the oxidation of sycoceryl alcohol.

SYCOCERYL Syc`o*ce"ryl, n. Etym: [Gr. -yl.] (Chem.)

Defn: A radical, of the aromatic series, regarded as an essential ingredient of certain compounds found in the waxy resin of an Australian species of fig.

SYCOCK Sy"cock, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: The missel thrush. [Prov. Eng.]

SYCONES Sy*co"nes, n. pl. Etym: [NL., fr. Gr. (Zoöl.)

Defn: A division of calcareous sponges.

Note: They usually resemble a fig, being vase-shaped with a fringed opening at the summit. The feeding cells are in ampullæ connected with radial tubes in the thickened walls of the body.

SYCONIUM; SYCONUS Sy*co"ni*um, Sy*co"nus, n. Etym: [NL., fr. Gr. (Bot.)

Defn: A collective fleshy fruit, in which the ovaries are hidden within a hollow receptacle, as in the fig.

SYCOPHANCY Syc"o*phan*cy, n. Etym: [Cf. L. sycophantia deceit, Gr.

Defn: The character or characteristic of a sycophant. Hence: - (a) False accusation; calumniation; talebearing. [Obs.] Bp. Hall. (b) Obsequious flattery; servility. The sycophancy of A.Philips had prejudiced Mr. Addison against Pope. Bp. Warburton.

SYCOPHANT Syc"o*phant, n. Etym: [L. sycophanta a slanderer, deceiver, parasite, Gr. sycophante. The reason for the name is not certainly known. See Phenomenon.]

1. An informer; a talebearer. [Obs.] "Accusing sycophants, of all men, did best sort to his nature." Sir P. Sidney.

2. A base parasite; a mean or servile flatterer; especially, a flatterer of princes and great men. A sycophant will everything admire: Each verse, each sentence, sets his soul on fire. Dryden.

SYCOPHANT Syc"o*phant, v. t. Etym: [CF. L. sycophantari to deceive, to trick, Gr.

1. To inform against; hence, to calumniate. [Obs.] Sycophanting and misnaming the work of his adversary. Milton.

2. To play the sycophant toward; to flatter obsequiously.

SYCOPHANT Syc"o*phant, v. i.

Defn: To play the sycophant.

SYCOPHANTCY Syc"o*phant*cy, n.

Defn: Sycophancy. [Obs.]

SYCOPHANTIC; SYCOPHANTICAL Syc`o*phan"tic, Syc`o*phan"tic*al, a. Etym: [Cf. Gr.

Defn: Of or pertaining to a sycophant; characteristic of a sycophant; meanly or obsequiously flattering; courting favor by mean adulation; parasitic. To be cheated and ruined by a sycophantical parasite. South. Sycophantic servants to the King of Spain. De Quincey.

SYCOPHANTISH Syc"o*phant`ish, a.

Defn: Like a sycophant; obsequiously flattering. — Syc"o*phant`ish*ly, adv. Sycophantish satirists that forever humor the prevailing folly. De Quincey.

SYCOPHANTISM Syc"o*phant*ism, n.

Defn: Sycophancy.

SYCOPHANTIZE Syc"o*phant*ize, v. i.

Defn: To play the sycophant.

SYCOPHANTRY Syc"o*phant*ry, n.

Defn: Sycophancy. [Obs.]

SYCOSIS Sy*co"sis, n. Etym: [NL., fr. Gr. (Med.)

Defn: A pustular eruption upon the scalp, or the beared part of the face, whether due to ringworm, acne, or impetigo.

SYDEROLITE Syd"er*o*lite, n.

Defn: A kind of Bohemian earthenware resembling the Wedgwood ware.

SYE Sye, obs. imp. of See.

Defn: Saw. Chaucer.

SYENITE Sy"e*nite, n. Etym: [L. Syenites (sc. lapis), from Syene, Gr. (Min.) (a) Orig., a rock composed of quartz, hornblende, and feldspar, anciently quarried at Syene, in Upper Egypt, and now called granite. (b) A granular, crystalline, ingeous rock composed of orthoclase and hornblende, the latter often replaced or accompanied by pyroxene or mica. Syenite sometimes contains nephelite (elæolite) or leucite, and is then called nephelite (elæolite) syenite or leucite syenite.

SYENITIC Sy`e*nit"ic, a. Etym: [Written also sienitic.]

1. Relating to Syene; as, Syenitic inscriptions.

2. Relating to, or like, syenite; as, syenitic granite.

SYKE Syke, n. & v.

Defn: See Sike. [Obs.] Chaucer.

SYKER Syk"er, a. & adv.

Defn: See Sicker. [Obs.]

SYLE Syle, n. Etym: [See Sile a young herring.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: A young herring (Clupea harengus). [Also written sile.] But our folk call them syle, and nought but syle, And when they're grown, why then we call them herring. J. Ingelow.

SYLLABARIUM Syl`la*ba"ri*um, n.; pl. Syllabaria. Etym: [NL.]

Defn: A syllabary.

SYLLABARY Syl"la*ba*ry, n.

Defn: A table of syllables; more especially, a table of the indivisible syllabic symbols used in certain languages, as the Japanese and Cherokee, instead of letters. S. W. Williams.

SYLLABE Syl"labe, n. Etym: [F.]

Defn: Syllable. [R.] B. Jonson.

SYLLABIC; SYLLABICAL Syl*lab"ic, Syl*lab"ic*al, a. Etym: [Gr. syllabique.]

1. Of or pertaining to a syllable or syllables; as, syllabic accent.

2. Consisting of a syllable or syllables; as, a syllabic augment. "The syllabic stage of writing." Earle.

SYLLABICALLY Syl*lab"ic*al*ly, adv.

Defn: In a syllabic manner.

SYLLABICATE Syl*lab"i*cate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Syllabicated; p. pr. & vb. n. Syllabicating.]

Defn: To form or divide into syllables; to syllabify.

SYLLABICATION Syl*lab`i*ca"tion, n.

Defn: The act of forming syllables; the act or method of dividing words into syllables. See Guide to Pron., §275.

SYLLABIFICATION Syl*lab`i*fi*ca"tion, n. Etym: [See Syllabify.]

Defn: Same as Syllabication. Rush. Syllabification depends not on mere force, but on discontinuity of force. H. Sweet.

SYLLABIFY Syl*lab"i*fy, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Syllabified; p. pr. & vb. n. Syllabifying.] Etym: [L. syllaba syllable + -fy.]

Defn: To form or divide into syllables.

SYLLABISM Syl"la*bism, n.

Defn: The expressing of the sounds of a language by syllables, rather than by an alphabet or by signs for words. I. Taylor (The Alphabet).

SYLLABIST Syl"la*bist, n.

Defn: One who forms or divides words into syllables, or is skilled in doing this.

SYLLABIZE Syl"la*bize, v. t.

Defn: To syllabify. Howell.

SYLLABLE Syl"la*ble, n. Etym: [OE. sillable, OF. sillabe, F. syllabe, L. syllaba, Gr. labh, rabh. Cf. Lemma, Dilemma.]

1. An elementary sound, or a combination of elementary sounds, uttered together, or with a single effort or impulse of the voice, and constituting a word or a part of a word. In other terms, it is a vowel or a diphtong, either by itself or flanked by one or more consonants, the whole produced by a single impulse or utterance. One of the liquids, l, m, n, may fill the place of a vowel in a syllable. Adjoining syllables in a word or phrase need not to be marked off by a pause, but only by such an abatement and renewal, or reënforcement, of the stress as to give the feeling of separate impulses. See Guide to Pronunciation, §275.

2. In writing and printing, a part of a word, separated from the rest, and capable of being pronounced by a single impulse of the voice. It may or may not correspond to a syllable in the spoken language. Withouten vice [i. e. mistake] of syllable or letter. Chaucer.

3. A small part of a sentence or discourse; anything concise or short; a particle. Before any syllable of the law of God was written. Hooker. Who dare speak One syllable against him Shak.

SYLLABLE Syl"la*ble, v. t.

Defn: To pronounce the syllables of; to utter; to articulate. Milton.

SYLLABUB Syl"la*bub, n.

Defn: Same as Syllabub.

SYLLABUS Syl"la*bus, n.; pl. E. Syllabuses, L. Syllabi. Etym: [L., fr. the same source as E. syllable.]

Defn: A compendium containing the heads of a discourse, and the like; an abstract.

SYLLEPSIS Syl*lep"sis, n. Etym: [L., fr. Gr. sy`llhpsis a taking together, from syllable, n.]

1. (Rhet.)

Defn: A figure of speech by which a word is used in a literal and metaphorical sense at the same time.

2. (Gram.)

Defn: The agreement of a verb or adjective with one, rather than another, of two nouns, with either of which it might agree in gender, number, etc.; as, rex et regina beati.

SYLLEPTIC; SYLLEPTICAL Syl*lep"tic, Syl*lep"tic*al, a. Etym: [Gr.

Defn: Of or pertaining to a syllepsis; containing syllepsis. — Syl*lep"tic*al*ly, adv.

SYLLIDIAN Syl*lid"i*an, n. Etym: [From NL. Syllis, the typical genus.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: Any one of numerous species of marine annelids of the family Syllidæ.

Note: Many of the species are phosphorescent; others are remarkable for undergoing strobilation or fission and for their polymorphism. The egg, in such species, develops into an asexual individual. When mature, a number of its posterior segments gradually develop into one or more sexual individuals which finally break away and swim free in the sea. The males, females, and neuters usually differ greatly in form and structure.

SYLLOGISM Syl"lo*gism, n. Etym: [OE. silogisme, OF. silogime, sillogisme, F. syllogisme, L. syllogismus, Gr. syllogismo`s a reckoning all together, a reasoning, syllogism, fr. syllogi`zesqai to reckon all together, to bring at once before the mind, to infer, conclude; sy`n with, together + logi`zesqai to reckon, to conclude by reasoning. See Syn-, and Logistic, Logic.] (Logic)

Defn: The regular logical form of every argument, consisting of three propositions, of which the first two are called the premises, and the last, the conclusion. The conclusion necessarily follows from the premises; so that, if these are true, the conclusion must be true, and the argument amounts to demonstration;

Note: as in the following example: Every virtue is laudable; Kindness is a virtue; Therefore kindness is laudable. These propositions are denominated respectively the major premise, the minor premise, and the conclusion.

Note: If the premises are not true and the syllogism is regular, the reasoning is valid, and the conclusion, whether true or false, is correctly derived.

SYLLOGISTIC; SYLLOGISTICAL Syl`lo*gis"tic, Syl`lo*gis"tic*al, a. Etym: [L. syllogisticus, Gr. syllogistique.]

Defn: Of or pertaining to a syllogism; consisting of a syllogism, or of the form of reasoning by syllogisms; as, syllogistic arguments or reasoning.

SYLLOGISTICALLY Syl`lo*gis"tic*al*ly, adv.

Defn: In a syllogistic manner.

SYLLOGIZATION Syl`lo*gi*za"tion, n.

Defn: A reasoning by syllogisms. [Obs. or R.] Harris.

SYLLOGIZE Syl"lo*gize, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Syllogized; p. pr. & vb. n. Syllogizing.] Etym: [Gr. syllogiser.]

Defn: To reason by means of syllogisms. Men have endeavored . . . to teach boys to syllogize, or frame arguments and refute them, without any real inward knowledge of the question. I. Watts.

SYLLOGIZER Syl"lo*gi`zer, n.

Defn: One who syllogizes.

SYLPH Sylph, n. Etym: [F. sylphe, m., fr. Gr.

1. An imaginary being inhabiting the air; a fairy.

2. Fig.: A slender, graceful woman.

3. (Zoöl.)

Defn: Any one of several species of very brilliant South American humming birds, having a very long and deeply-forked tail; as, the blue-tailed sylph (Cynanthus cyanurus).

SYLPHID Sylph"id, n. Etym: [F. sylphide, fem. See Sylph.]

Defn: A little sylph; a young or diminutive sylph. "The place of the sylphid queen." J. R. Drake. Ye sylphs and sylphids, to your chief give ear, Fays, fairies, genii, elves, and demons, hear. Pope.

SYLPHINE Sylph"ine, a.

Defn: Like a sylph.

SYLPHISH Sylph"ish, a.

Defn: Sylphlike. Carlyle.

SYLPHLIKE Sylph"like`, a.

Defn: Like a sylph; airy; graceful. Sometimes a dance . . . Displayed some sylphlike figures in its maze. Byron.

SYLVA Syl"va, n.; pl. Sylvæ. Etym: [L. sylva, better silva, a wood. See Silva.] (Bot.)

Defn: Same as Silva.

SYLVAN Syl"van, a. Etym: [See Silvan, a.]

1. Of or pertaining to a sylva; forestlike; hence, rural; rustic. The traditional memory of a rural and a sylvan region . . . is usually exact as well as tenacious. De Quincey.

2. Abounding in forests or in trees; woody.

SYLVAN Syl"van, n. Etym: [L. Sylvanus, better Silvanus. See Silvan, a.]

Defn: A fabled deity of the wood; a satyr; a faun; sometimes, a rustic. Her private orchards, walled on every side, To lawless sylvans all access denied. Pope.

SYLVAN Syl"van, n. Etym: [Sylva + furfuran.] (Chem.)

Defn: A liquid hydrocarbon obtained together with furfuran (tetrol) by the distillation of pine wood; — called also methyl tetrol, or methyl furfuran.

SYLVANITE Syl"van*ite, n. Etym: [So called from Transylvania, where it was first found.] (Min.)

Defn: A mineral, a telluride of gold and silver, of a steel-gray, silver-white, or brass-yellow color. It often occurs in implanted crystals resembling written characters, and hence is called graphic tellurium. [Written also silvanite.]

SYLVANIUM Syl*va"ni*um, n. Etym: [NL., so called from Transylvania, where it was first found.] (Chem.)

Defn: An old name for tellurium. [Written also silvanium.]

SYLVATE Syl"vate, n. (Chem.)

Defn: A salt of sylvic acid.

SYLVATIC Syl*vat"ic, a. Etym: [L. sylvaticus, better silvaticus. See Silvan, a.]

Defn: Sylvan. [R.]

SYLVESTRIAN Syl*ves"tri*an, a. Etym: [L. sylvestris, better silvestris.]

Defn: Sylvan. [R.]

SYLVIC Syl"vic, a. (Chem.)

Defn: Of, pertaining to, or resembling, pine or its products; specifically, designating an acid called also abeitic acid, which is the chief ingredient of common resin (obtained from Pinus sylvestris, and other species).

SYLVICOLINE Syl*vic"o*line, a. Etym: [L. sylva, silva, forest + colere to inhabit.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: Of or pertaining to the family of warblers (Sylvicolidæ). See Warbler.

SYLVICULTURE Syl"vi*cul`ture, n. Etym: [L. sylva, silva, forest + E. culture.]

Defn: The cultivation of forest trees for timber or other purposes; forestry; arboriculture.

SYLVICULTURIST Syl`vi*cul"tur*ist, n.

Defn: One who cultivates forest trees, especially as a business.

SYLVINE; SYLVITE Syl"vine, Syl"vite, n. Etym: [So called from NL. sal digestivus sylvii potassium chloride.] (Min.)

Defn: Native potassium chloride.

SYM- Sym-.

Defn: See Syn-.

SYMAR; SYMARR Sy*mar", Sy"marr, n.

Defn: See Simar.

SYMBAL Sym"bal, n.

Defn: See Cimbal. [Obs.]

SYMBIOSIS Sym`bi*o"sis, n. [NL., fr. Gr. a living together, to live together; with + to live.] (Biol.)

Defn: The living together in more or less imitative association or even close union of two dissimilar organisms. In a broad sense the term includes parasitism, or antagonistic, or antipathetic, symbiosis, in which the association is disadvantageous or destructive to one of the organisms, but ordinarily it is used of cases where the association is advantageous, or often necessary, to one or both, and not harmful to either. When there is bodily union (in extreme cases so close that the two form practically a single body, as in the union of algæ and fungi to form lichens, and in the inclusion of algæ in radiolarians) it is called conjunctive symbiosis; if there is no actual union of the organisms (as in the association of ants with myrmecophytes), disjunctive symbiosis.

SYMBIOTIC Sym`bi*ot"ic, a. [Gr. .] (Biol.)

Defn: Pertaining to, or characterized by, or living in, a state of symbiosis. — Sym`bi*ot"ic*al (#), a. — Sym`bi*ot"ic*al*ly (#), adv.

SYMBOL Sym"bol, n. Etym: [L. symbolus, symbolum, Gr. symbole. Cf. Emblem, Parable.]

1. A visible sign or representation of an idea; anything which suggests an idea or quality, or another thing, as by resemblance or by convention; an emblem; a representation; a type; a figure; as, the lion is the symbol of courage; the lamb is the symbol of meekness or patience. A symbol is a sign included in the idea which it represents, e.g., an actual part chosen to represent the whole, or a lower form or species used as the representative of a higher in the same kind. Coleridge.

2. (Math.)

Defn: Any character used to represent a quantity, an operation, a relation, or an abbreviation.

Note: In crystallography, the symbol of a plane is the numerical expression which defines its position relatively to the assumed axes.

3. (Theol.)

Defn: An abstract or compendium of faith or doctrine; a creed, or a summary of the articles of religion.

4. Etym: [Gr.

Defn: That which is thrown into a common fund; hence, an appointed or accustomed duty. [Obs.] They do their work in the days of peace . . . and come to pay their symbol in a war or in a plague. Jer. Taylor.

5. Share; allotment. [Obs.] The persons who are to be judged . . . shall all appear to receive their symbol. Jer. Taylor.

6. (Chem.)

Defn: An abbreviation standing for the name of an element and consisting of the initial letter of the Latin or New Latin name, or sometimes of the initial letter with a following one; as, C for carbon, Na for sodium (Natrium), Fe for iron (Ferrum), Sn for tin (Stannum), Sb for antimony (Stibium), etc. See the list of names and symbols under Element.

Note: In pure and organic chemistry there are symbols not only for the elements, but also for their grouping in formulas, radicals, or residues, as evidenced by their composition, reactions, synthesis, etc. See the diagram of Benzene nucleus, under Benzene.

Syn. — Emblem; figure; type. See Emblem.

SYMBOL Sym"bol, v. t.

Defn: To symbolize. [R.] Tennyson.

SYMBOLIC Sym*bol"ic, n. Etym: [Cf. F. symbolique. See Symbolic, a.] (Theol.)

Defn: See Symbolics.

SYMBOLIC; SYMBOLICAL Sym*bol"ic, Sym*bol"ic*al, a. Etym: [L. symbolicus, Gr. symbolique.]

Defn: Of or pertaining to a symbol or symbols; of the nature of a symbol; exhibiting or expressing by resemblance or signs; representative; as, the figure of an eye is symbolic of sight and knowledge. — Sym*bol"ic*al*ly, adv. — Sym*bol"ic*al*ness, n. The sacrament is a representation of Christ's death by such symbolical actions as he himself appointed. Jer. Taylor. Symbolical delivery (Law), the delivery of property sold by delivering something else as a symbol, token, or representative of it. Bouvier. Chitty. — Symbolical philosophy, the philosophy expressed by hieroglyphics.

SYMBOLICS Sym*bol"ics, n.

Defn: The study of ancient symbols; esp. (Theol.),

Defn: that branch of historic theology which treats of creeds and confessions of faith; symbolism; — called also symbolic.

SYMBOLISM Sym"bol*ism, n.

1. The act of symbolizing, or the state of being symbolized; as, symbolism in Christian art is the representation of truth, virtues, vices, etc., by emblematic colors, signs, and forms.

2. A system of symbols or representations.

3. (Chem.) (a) The practice of using symbols, or the system of notation developed thereby. (b) A combining together of parts or ingredients. [Obs.]

4. (Theol.)

Defn: The science of creeds; symbolics.

SYMBOLIST Sym"bol*ist, n.

Defn: One who employs symbols.

SYMBOLISTIC; SYMBOLISTICAL Sym`bol*is"tic, Sym`bol*is"tic*al, a.

Defn: Characterized by the use of symbols; as, symbolistic poetry.

SYMBOLIZATION Sym`bol*i*za"tion, n. Etym: [Cf. F. symbolisation.]

Defn: The act of symbolizing; symbolical representation. Sir T. Browne.

SYMBOLIZE Sym"bol*ize, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Symbolized; p. pr. & vb. n. Symbolizing.] Etym: [Cf. F. symboliser.]

1. To have a resemblance of qualities or properties; to correspond; to harmonize. The pleasing of color symbolizeth with the pleasing of any single tone to the ear; but the pleasing of order doth symbolize with harmony. Bacon. They both symbolize in this, that they love to look upon themselves through multiplying glasses. Howell.

2. To hold the same faith; to agree. [R.] The believers in pretended miracles have always previously symbolized with the performers of them. G. S. Faber.

3. To use symbols; to represent ideas symbolically.

SYMBOLIZE Sym"bol*ize, v. t.

1. To make to agree in properties or qualities.

2. To make representative of something; to regard or treat as symbolic. "Some symbolize the same from the mystery of its colors." Sir T. Browne.

3. To represent by a symbol or symbols.

SYMBOLIZER Sym"bol*i`zer, n.

Defn: One who symbolizes.

SYMBOLOGICAL Sym`bo*log"i*cal, a.

Defn: Pertaining to a symbology; versed in, or characterized by, symbology.

SYMBOLOGIST Sym*bol"o*gist, n.

Defn: One who practices, or who is versed in, symbology.

SYMBOLOGY Sym*bol"o*gy, n. Etym: [Symbol + -logy.]

Defn: The art of expressing by symbols.

SYMBRANCHII Sym*bran"chi*i, n. pl. Etym: [NL., fr. Gr. (Zoöl.)

Defn: An order of slender eel-like fishes having the gill openings confluent beneath the neck. The pectoral arch is generally attached to the skull, and the entire margin of the upper jaw is formed by the premaxillary. Called also Symbranchia.

SYMMETRAL Sym"me*tral, a.

Defn: Commensurable; symmetrical. [Obs.] Dr. H. More.

SYMMETRIAN Sym*me"tri*an, n.

Defn: One eminently studious of symmetry of parts. [R.] Sir P. Sidney.

SYMMETRIC Sym*met"ric, a.

Defn: Symmetrical.

SYMMETRICAL Sym*met"ric*al, a. Etym: [Cf. F. symétrique. See Symmetry.]

1. Involving or exhibiting symmetry; proportional in parts; having its parts in due proportion as to dimensions; as, a symmetrical body or building.

2. (Biol.)

Defn: Having the organs or parts of one side correspponding with those of the other; having the parts in two or more series of organs the same in number; exhibiting a symmetry.See Symmetry, 2.

3. (Bot.) (a) Having an equal number of parts in the successive circles of floral organs; — said of flowers. (b) Having a likeness in the form and size of floral organs of the same kind; regular.

4. (Math.)

Defn: Having a common measure; commensurable. (b) Having corresponding parts or relations.

Note: A curve or a plane figure is symmetrical with respect to a given line, and a line, surface, or solid with respect to a plane, when for each point on one side of the line or plane there is a corresponding point on the other side, so situated that the line joining the two corresponding points is perpendicular to the line or plane and is bisectad by it. Two solids are symmetrical when they are so situate dwith the respect to an intervening plane that the several points of their surfaces thus correspond to each other in position and distance. In analysis, an expression is symmetrical with respect to several letters when any two of them may change places without affecting the expression; as, the expression a2b + ab2 + a2c + ac2 + b2c + bc2, is symmetrical with respect to the letters a, b, c. — Sym*met"ric*al*ly, adv. — Sym*met"ric*al*ness, n.

SYMMETRICIAN Sym`me*tri"cian, n.

Defn: Same as Symmetrian. [R.] Holinshed.

SYMMETRIST Sym"me*trist, n.

Defn: One eminently studious of symmetry of parts. Sir H. Wotton.

SYMMETRIZE Sym"me*trize, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Symmetrized; p. pr. & vb. n. Symmetrizing.] Etym: [Cf. F. symétriser.]

Defn: To make proportional in its parts; to reduce to symmetry. Burke.

SYMMETRY Sym"me*try, n. Etym: [L. symmetria, Gr. symétrie. See Syn-, and Meter rhythm.]

1. A due proportion of the several parts of a body to each other; adaptation of the form or dimensions of the several parts of a thing to each other; the union and conformity of the members of a work to the whole.

2. (Biol.)

Defn: The law of likeness; similarity of structure; regularity in form and arrangement; orderly and similar distribution of parts, such that an animal may be divided into parts which are structurally symmetrical.

Note: Bilateral symmetry, or two-sidedness, in vertebrates, etc., is that in which the body can be divided into symmetrical halves by a vertical plane passing through the middle; radial symmetry, as in echinoderms, is that in which the individual parts are arranged symmetrically around a central axis; serial symmetry, or zonal symmetry, as in earthworms, is that in which the segments or metameres of the body are disposed in a zonal manner one after the other in a longitudinal axis. This last is sometimes called metamerism.

3. (Bot.) (a) Equality in the number of parts of the successive circles in a flower. (b) Likeness in the form and size of floral organs of the same kind; regularity. Axis of symmetry. (Geom.) See under Axis. — Respective symmetry, that disposition of parts in which only the opposite sides are equal to each other.

SYMPATHETIC Sym`pa*thet"ic, a. Etym: [See Sympathy, and cf. Pathetic.]

1. Inclined to sympathy; sympathizing. Far wiser he, whose sympathetic mind Exults in all the good of all mankind. Goldsmith.

2. Produced by, or expressive of, sympathy. Ope the sacred source of sympathetic tears. Gray.

3. (Physiol.) (a) Produced by sympathy; — applied particularly to symptoms or affections. See Sympathy. (b) Of or relating to the sympathetic nervous system or some of its branches; produced by stimulation on the sympathetic nervious system or some part of it; as, the sympathetic saliva, a modified form of saliva, produced from some of the salivary glands by stimulation of a sympathetic nerve fiber. Sympathetic ink. (Chem.) See under Ink. — Sympathetic nerve (Anat.), any nerve of the sympathetic system; especially, the axial chain of ganglions and nerves belonging to the sympathetic system. — Sympathetic powder (Alchemy), a kind of powder long supposed to be able to cure a wound if applied to the weapon that inflicted it, or even to a portion of the bloody clothes. Dunglison. — Sympathetic sounds (Physics), sounds produced from solid bodies by means of vibrations which have been communicated to them from some other sounding body, by means of the air or an intervening solid. — Sympathetic system (Anat.), a system of nerves and nerve ganglions connected with the alimentary canal, the vascular system, and the glandular organs of most vertebrates, and controlling more or less their actions. The axial part of the system and its principal ganglions and nerves are situated in the body cavity and form a chain of ganglions on each side of the vertebral column connected with numerous other ganglions and nerve plexuses.

SYMPATHETICAL Sym`pa*thet"ic*al, a.

Defn: Sympathetic.

SYMPATHETICALLY Sym`pa*thet"ic*al*ly, adv.

Defn: In a sympathetic manner.

SYMPATHIST Sym"pa*thist, n.

Defn: One who sympathizes; a sympathizer. [R.] Coleridge.

SYMPATHIZE Sym"pa*thize, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Sympathized; p. pr. & vb. n. Sympathizing.] Etym: [F. sympathiser. See Sympathy.]

1. To have a common feeling, as of bodily pleasure or pain. The mind will sympathize so much with the anguish and debility of the body, that it will be too distracted to fix itself in meditation. Buckminster.

2. To feel in consequence of what another feels; to be affected by feelings similar to those of another, in consequence of knowing the person to be thus affected. Their countrymen . . . sympathized with their heroes in all their adventures. Addison.

3. To agree; to be in accord; to harmonize. Dryden.

SYMPATHIZE Sym"pa*thize, v. t.

1. To experience together. [Obs.] "This sympathized . . . error." Shak.

2. To ansew to; to correspond to. [Obs.] Shak.

SYMPATHIZER Sym"pa*thi`zer, n.

Defn: One who sympathizes.

SYMPATHY Sym"pa*thy, n.; pl. Sympathies. Etym: [F. sympathie, L. sympathia, Gr. Syn-, and Pathos.]

1. Feeling corresponding to that which another feels; the quality of being affected by the affection of another, with feelings correspondent in kind, if not in degree; fellow-feeling. They saw, but other sight instead — a crowd Of ugly serpents! Horror on them fell, And horrid sympathy. Milton.

2. An agreement of affections or inclinations, or a conformity of natural temperament, which causes persons to be pleased, or in accord, with one another; as, there is perfect sympathy between them.

3. Kindness of feeling toward one who suffers; pity; commiseration; compassion. I value myself upon sympathy, I hate and despise myself for envy. Kames.

4. (Physiol.) (a) The reciprocal influence exercised by the various organs or parts of the body on one another, as manifested in the transmission of a disease by unknown means from one organ to another quite remote, or in the influence exerted by a diseased condition of one part on another part or organ, as in the vomiting produced by a tumor of the brain. (b) That relation which exists between different persons by which one of them produces in the others a state or condition like that of himself. This is shown in the tendency to yawn which a person often feels on seeing another yawn, or the strong inclination to become hysteric experienced by many women on seeing another person suffering with hysteria.

5. A tendency of inanimate things to unite, or to act on each other; as, the sympathy between the loadstone and iron. [R.]

6. Similarity of function, use office, or the like. The adverb has most sympathy with the verb. Earle.

Syn. — Pity; fellow-feeling; compassion; commiseration; tenderness; condolence; agreement. — Sympathy, Commiseration. Sympathy is literally a fellow-feeling with others in their varied conditions of joy or of grief. This term, however, is now more commonly applied to a fellow-feeling with others under affliction, and then coincides very nearly with commiseration. In this case it is commonly followed by for; as, to feel sympathy for a friend when we see him distressed. The verb sympathize is followed by with; as, to sympathize with a friend in his distresses or enjoyments. "Every man would be a distinct species to himself, were there no sympathy among individuals." South. See Pity. Fault, Acknowledged and deplored, in Adam wrought Commiseration. Milton.

SYMPETALOUS Sym*pet"al*ous, a. Etym: [Pref. sym- + petal.] (Bot.)

Defn: Having the petals united; gamopetalous.

SYMPHONIC Sym*phon"ic, a.

1. Symphonious.

2. (Mus.)

Defn: Relating to, or in the manner of, symphony; as, the symphonic form or style of composition.

SYMPHONIOUS Sym*pho"ni*ous, a. Etym: [From Symphony.]

1. Agreeing in sound; accordant; harmonious. Followed with acclamation and the sound Symphonious of ten thousand harps. Milton.

2. (Mus.)

Defn: Symphonic.

SYMPHONIST Sym"pho*nist, n. Etym: [Cf. F. symphoniste.]

Defn: A composer of symphonies.

SYMPHONIZE Sym"pho*nize, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Symphonized; p. pr. & vb. n. Symphonizing.]

Defn: To agree; to be in harmony. [R.] Boyle.

SYMPHONY Sym"pho*ny, n.; pl. Symphonies. Etym: [F. symphonie (cf. It. sinfonia), L. symphonia, Gr. Phonetic.]

1. A consonance or harmony of sounds, agreeable to the ear, whether the sounds are vocal or instrumental, or both. The trumpets sound, And warlike symphony in heard around. Dryden.