2. Situation; condition; particular state with regard to something else; as, the posture of public affairs before or after a war. The Lord Hopton left Arundel Castle before he aad put it in the good posture he intended. Clarendon. 3. Disposition; frame; state: said of the mind or soul. The several postures of his devout soul, in all conditions of life, are displayed with great simplicity Bp. Atterbury. Posture, Attitude. Posture is generally natural; attitude is studied either for the general purpose of looking graceful, or as illustrative of a subject or of words. A placement of the body for the purpose of ridicule would be an absurd posture as having not the dignity which belongs to attitude. An unintentional display of grace in a figure, as when casually thrown upon the ground, would be expressed by pos ture,... the contrary would be an ungraceful pos ture.... But the term attitude is more honourable than posture. Positions of the body which are forced, odd, ungainly, are called postures. Those which are noble, agreeable, and expressive, in which the expression of the countenance aids the pose of the limbs and body, are called attitudes. . The term posture commonly embraces the whole body; attitude is applicable to parts of it, as a head in a reclining attitude." Smith's Synonyms. Posture (pos'tür), v.t. pret. & pp. postured; ppr. posturing. To place in a particular posture; to dispose, as the parts of a body for a particular purpose. Brook. Keats. These two were postured motionless, Like natural sculpture in cathedral cavern. Posture (pos'tūr), v.i. To dispose the body in particular postures or attitudes; to contort the body into artificial attitudes, as is done by tumblers or acrobats. Mayhew. Posture-maker (pos'tür-māk-ér), n. One who makes postures or contortions. Posture-making (pos'tūr-māk-ing), n. The art or practice of posturing, or of making contortions of the body, as an acrobat. Your comedy and mine will have been played then, and we shall be removed, O how far, from the trumpets, and the shouting, and the posture-making. Thackeray. Posture-master (pos'tür-mas-tér), n. Öne that teaches or practises artificial postures of the body. 'Delivered into the hands of a kind of posture-master.' Spectator. Posturer, Posturist (pos'tur-ér, pos'türist), n. One who postures; an acrobat. Postvene + (post-vēn'), v.t. [L. post, after, and venio, to come.] To come after. Posy (po'zi), n. [Corrupted from poesy, being originally a piece of poetry.] 1. A poetical quotation or motto attached to or inscribed on something, as on a ring; a legend or inscription in general. Scarcely wider than the posy of a ring.' De Quincey. Is this a prologue, or the posy of a ring? Shak. There was also a superscription or posy written on the top of the cross. . . . This is the King of the Jews." F. Udall. 2. Often a motto or verse sent with a nosegay; hence the usual meaning of a bouquet; a bunch of flowers; a nosegay; sometimes a single flower, as for a button-hole. A thousand fragrant posics.' Marlowe. We make a difference between suffering thistles to grow among us and wearing them for posies. Swift. I know the way she went Home with her maiden posy, For her feet have touch'd the meadows And left the daisies rosy. Tennyson. Pot (pot), n. [A widely spread word, the origin of which is not clear, though it may be from L. potus, drink, poto, potare, to drink: Fr. pot, Sp. and Pg. pote, D. pot, Dan. potte, Icel. pottr, W. pot, Ir. pota, Gael. poit, Armor. pód.] 1. A hollow vessel more deep than broad, made of earth or iron, or other metal, used for various domestic and other purposes; as, an iron pot for boiling meat or vegetables; an earthen pot for plants, called a flower-pot, &c.-2. A mug; a jug containing a specified quantity of liquor.3. The quantity contained in a pot; definitely, a quart; as, a pot of porter. He carries her into a public-house to give her a pot and a cake. De Foe. 4. In sugar manufacture, an earthen mould used in refining; also, a perforated cask in which sugar is placed for drainage of the molasses.-5. In founding, a crucible.-6. A size of paper, 12 inches by 15 inches the sheet: said to have had originally a pot as water-mark. Written also Pott.-7. A trade term for stoneware. Mayhew.-8. The metal or earthenware top of a chimney.-9. In betting slang, a large sum of money. "The 500 horse you have backed with a heavy pot.' Lever.-10. A kind of head-piece or helmet made of thick iron.-To go to pot, to be destroyed, ruined, wasted, or expendedthe pot being here probably that in which old metal is melted down. Sir R. L'Estrange; Arbuthnot. [Colloq.] Pot (pot), n. A pit; a dungeon; a pond full of water; a pool or deep place in a river. [Scotch.]-Pot and gallows. See Pit and gallows, under PIT. Pot (pot), v. t. pret. & pp. potted; ppr. potting. 1. To put into pots.-2. To preserve seasoned in pots; as, potted fowl and fish.3. To plant or cover in pots of earth. Pot them in natural not forced earth. Evelyn. 4. To put in casks for draining; as, to pot sugar by taking it from the cooler and placing it in hogsheads with perforated heads, from which the molasses percolates through the spongy stalk of a plantain leaf. 5. To shoot. Potting pandies, and polishing off niggers.' W. H. Russell. [Slang.] Pot (pot), v.i. 1. To tipple; to drink. I like a cup, to brisk the spirits; but continuance dulls them. It is less labour to plow than to pot it; and urged healths do infinitely add to the trouble. Feltham. 2. To perform the act of shooting at an enemy, at game, &c., steadily or uninterruptedly. [Slang.] The jovial knot of fellows near the stove had been potting all night from the rifle-pit. Lever. Potable (pō'ta-bl), a. [Fr.; L.L. potabilis, from L. poto, to drink.] Drinkable; suitable for drinking; capable of being drunk. 'Water fresh and potable.' Bacon. 'And rivers run potable gold.' Milton. Potable (po'ta-bl), n. Something that may be drunk. The damask'd meads Potableness (po'ta-bl-nes), n. The quality of being drinkable. Potage (pot'āj), n. See POTTAGE. Potager (pot'a-jèr), n. [Fr., from potage, soup.] A porringer. Potale (pot'al), n. A name given to the refuse from a grain distillery, used to fatten swine. Potameæ (po-tam'ē-ē), n. pl. [From Potamogeton, the typical genus.] Same as Naiad aceæ. Potamogeton (po-ta-mo'je-ton), n. [Gr. potamos, a river, and geiton, a neighbour. The species grow in rivers and ponds.] A genus of aquatic perennials, nat. order Naiadaceæ, with submerged translucent or floating opaque leaves and small flowers in long spikes. There are about fifty species, mostly natives of temperate regions, but are of no importance. Several species are indigenous to Britain, where they are known by the name of pond-weed. Potamography (po-ta-mog'ra-fi), n. [Gr. potamos, a river, and graphō, to describe.] A description of rivers. Potamology (po-ta-mol'o-ji), n. [Gr. potamos, a river, and logos, discourse.] The science or scientific treatment of rivers; a treatise on rivers. Potamophyllite (pot'a-mo-fil'īt), n. [Gr. potamos, a river, and phyllon, a leaf.] In geol. a term applied to a genus of fossil monocotyledonous leaves occurring in freshwater tertiaries. Potance (po'tans), n. [Fr. potence, a gibbet.] In watchmaking, the stud in which the lower pivot of the verge is placed. Potargo (po-tär'gō), n. Same as Botargo. Sir T. Herbert. Potash (pot'ash), n. [Pot and ash, from being prepared for commercial purposes by evaporating the lixivium of wood-ashes in iron pots.] The popular name of vegetable fixed alkali in an impure state, procured from the ashes of plants by lixiviation and evaporation. The matter remaining after evaporation is refined in a crucible or furnace, and the extractive substance burned off or dissipated. Refined potash is called pearlash, and is in that state an impure carbonate of potash. The production of potash is carried on upon a large scale in Russia and America, where wood is abundant and of little value. With the acids potash forms a variety of useful salts. It is largely employed in the manufacture of flintglass and soap, the rectification of spirits, bleaching, making alum, scouring wool, &c. It is also extensively used in medicine. Pure potash is the protoxide of potassium, or potassa, but in its impure state it is Potassium (pō-tasʼsi-um), n. 【A latinized term from potash.] Sym. K.; at. wt. 39 1. A name given to the metallic basis of potash, discovered by Davy in 1807, and one of the first-fruits of his electro-chemical researches. Next to lithium it is the lightest metallic substance known, its specific gravity being 0 865 at the temperature of 60°. At 32° it is hard and brittle, with a crystalline texture; at 50° it becomes malleable, and in lustre resembles polished silver; at 150° it is perfectly liquid. At ordinary temperatures potassium may be cut with a knife. Potassium has a very powerful affinity for oxygen, which it takes from many other compounds. A freshly exposed surface of potassium instantly becomes covered with a film of oxide. The metal must therefore be preserved under a liquid free from oxygen, rock-oil or naphtha being generally employed. Pota Potation (po-tä'shon), n. [L. potatio. See POTABLE.] 1. The act of drinking. 'Oral manducation and potation.' Jer. Taylor.2. A drinking bout.-3. A draught. tions pottle deep.' Shak.-4. A drink; a beverage. 'Forswear thin potations.' Shak. Potato (pō-tā'tō), n. pl. Potatoes (po-tā'tōz). [Sp. patata, batata, the name originally applied to the batatas or sweet-potato, and said to be a native Haytian word.] 1. The sweet-potato. See BATATAS. [This was the original application of the name, and it is in this sense that the word is generally to be understood when used by English writers down to the middle of the seventeenth century.]-2. The plant, or one of its esculent tubers, botanically known as Solanum tuberosum, a native of South America. The tubers of this plant constitute one of the cheapest and most nourishing species of vegetable food; it is the principal food of the poor in some countries, and has often contributed to prevent famine. It is supposed to have been introduced into the British dominions by Sir Walter Raleigh in the sixteenth century; but it came slowly into use, and even yet is not much cultivated in some countries of Europe. There are a great many varieties of the potato, arising from soil, culture, and other circumstances; these differ in the time of ripening, in their form, size, colour. and quality; and in general every district has its peculiar or favourite varieties, the names being quite arbitrary or local. Some degenerate and others improve by removal to another district. New varieties may be readily procured by sowing the seeds, which with care will produce tubers the third year, and a full crop the fourth-Potato apple, the seed of the potato.-Potato beetle, potato bug. See COLORADO BEETLE.- Potato disease, potato blight, potato murrain, a disease affecting potatoes, first noticed in this country in 1845. The cause is a fungus or white mould (Peronospora infestans), whose spores first attach themselves to the leaves of the plants, betraying their presence by brown specks, each surrounded by a paler ring consisting of a white mould or fungus. The mould spreads with great rapidity, especially in moist warm weather, converting the green cells into brown, and destroying all before it. The spots soon become confluent, the evil extends to the stems, so that in a few days the whole becomes putrid. At last the tubers become affected with brown spots both on their substance and within their tissue, and decay sets in with less or more rapidity. It has been stated that the immediate cause of the disease is the death of the fungal threads, which on decomposition act as a putrescent ferment on tissues. Some assert that a more remote cause is an insect (Eupterix), which punctures the leaves, and so renders them a more ready prey to the fungus; while others hold that the plant has degenerated through being too long cultivated. Powdering the sets with flowers of sulphur, early planting, and the removal of the haulms as soon as POTATO-DISEASE See the disease appears, have been recommended as preventive or remedial measures. The starch in the tubers is not affected by it, so that as good potato starch is made from unsound as from sound potatoes; and this manufacture, in years when the disease was severe, has been carefully developed.-Potato mildew, Peronospora infestans. Potato disease, above. -Potato oat, a variety of the oat (Avena sativa).- Potato scab, a fungous plant, the Tuburcinia scabies, found beneath the skin of the tuber of the potato, producing superficial cavities and pits.-Potato starch, a fecula obtained from the potato, and called English Arrow-root. Potato sugar, a species of sugar manufactured from potato flour.-Oil of potatoes, a colourless substance obtained from spirits made from potatoes. It is somewhat oily in appearance, has a strong smell, at first pleasant, but afterwards nauseous; taste very acrid.-Sweet potato, the Batatas edulis. See BATATAS. Potato-disease, Potato-blight (pō-tā"tōdiz-ēz', pō-tá'tō-blit), n. See under POTATO. Potatory (po'ta-to-ri), a. Relating to drink or drinking. Lord Lytton. Pot-bellied (pot'bel-lid), a. Having a prominent belly. A little pot-bellied and thick shouldered.' Gray. Pot-belly (pot'bel-li), n. A protuberant belly. Pot-boiler (pot'boil-ér), n. A work of art or literature produced merely for the sake of providing the necessaries of life: most frequently applied to a painting executed not for the sake of art, but simply for money. Potboy (pot'boi), n. A boy or man who carries pots of ale or beer for sale; a menial in a public-house. Potch (poch), v. t. [Same as poach, to push or stamp. See POACH.] To thrust; to push. 'I'll potch at him some way.' Shak. Potch (poch), v. t. To poach; to boil slightly. A potched egg.' Wiseman. Pot-companion (pot'kom-pan-yon), n. An associate or companion in drinking; a booncompanion: applied generally to habitual hard drinkers. For fuddling they shall make the best pot-companion in Switzerland knock under the table. Sir R. L'Estrange. Potecary (pot'e-ka-ri), n. An apothecary. Chaucer. Poteen, Potteen (po-tēn'), n. [Ir. pota, a pot, a vessel; potaim, to drink.] Whisky illicitly distilled by the Irish peasantry; whisky generally. [Irish.] Potelot (po'te-lot), n. [Fr. potelot, D. potlood, G. pottloth, black-lead.] The sulphuret of molybdenum. Potence (pō'tens), n. [In meaning 1, Fr. potence, a crutch, a gibbet, from L. potentia, power, a crutch giving one a power not otherwise possessed; in meaning 2, from potent.] 1. In her. a cross whose ends resemble the head of a crutch. 2. Potency. 'This analogy may be supposed in two potences.' Sir W. Hamilton. Potency (pō'ten-si), n. [L. potentia, from potens, powerful. See POTENT.] The state of being potent; power; physical or mental power, energy, or efficacy; strength. 'Hobbes, the next to him (Bacon) in range of inquiry and potency of intellect.' Landor. Use can almost change the stamp of nature, Potent (pō'tent), a. [L. potens, powerful, pres. part. of posse, to be able, from potis, able, and esse, to be.] 1. Powerful, in the sense of producing great physical effects; forcible; efficacious; as, a potent medicine. Moses once more his potent rod extends. Milton. 2. Powerful, in a moral sense; having great influence; as, potent interest; a potent argument. 'Induced by potent circumstances.' Shak. South. The magistrate cannot urge obedience upon such potent grounds as the minister can urge disobedience. 3. Having great authority, control, or dominion; as, a potent prince. Most potent, grave, and reverend seigniors.' Shak. Potent (pō'tent), n. [See POTENT, a. As to the heraldic meaning, see POTENCE.] 1.† A prince; a potentate. Cry havock, kings; back to the stained field, You equal potents, fiery-kindled spirits! Shak. 2. A walking staff or crutch: now only a 501 heraldic term. In her. the potent resembles the head of a crutch. Fotent counterpotent, potency counterpotency, or potency in point, one of the furs used in heraldry. Cross potent. See POTENCE. Potentacy (pō'ten-ta-si), n. Sovereignty. Barrow. Potentate (pō'ten-tāt), n. [Fr. potentat, one who is potent or powerful.] A person who possesses great power or sway; a prince; a sovereign; an emperor, king, or monarch. Potent counterpotent. Kings and mightiest potentates must die. Shak. Potented. Potented, Potentée (pō'tent-ed, pō'ten-tē). In her. an epithet applied to an ordinary when the outer edges are formed into potents, differing from what is termed potent counter-potent, which is the forming of the whole surface of the ordinary into potents and counter-potents like the fur. Potential (pō-ten'shal), a. [Fr. potentiel, from L. potentia, power, potency.] 1.† Having potency; efficacious; powerful. Shak. 2. Producing a certain effect without appearing to have the necessary properties; latent. "The potential calidity of many waters.' Sir T. Browne.-3. Being in possisibility, not in actuality; that may be or be manifested. is. hero? Potential existence means merely that the thing may be at some time; actual existence, that it now Sir W. Hamilton. Is not every man, God be thanked, a potential Carlyle. -Potential cautery, in surg. the destruction of vitality, and the production of an eschar in any part of the body by an alkaline or metallic salt, &c., instead of a red hot iron, the use of which is called actual cautery. Potential force or energy. See under FORCE. -Potential mood, in gram. that form of the verb which is used to express the power, possibility, liberty, or necessity of an action or of being; as, I may go; he can write. Potential (po-ten'shal), n. 1. Anything that may be possible; a possibility.-2. In physics, if a body attract, according to the law of universal gravitation, a point whether external or of its own mass, the sum of the quotients of its elementary masses, each divided by its distance from the attracted point, is called the potential. The potential at any point near or within an electrified body is the quantity of work necessary to bring a unit of positive electricity from an infinite distance to that point, the given distribution of electricity remaining unaltered. Potentiality (po-ten'shi-al"i-ti), n. 1. State of being potential; possibility, but not actuality. 2. Inherent power or quality not actually exhibited; capability. Manna represented to every man the taste himself did like, but it had in its own potentiality all those tastes and dispositions eminently. Fer. Taylor. Neither of these philosophers (Swift and J. S. Mill) appears to have perceived that however degraded man may be by circumstances or by nature, there is in him the potentiality of the highest known order of infinite beings-gifts which it does not share with perishable brutes, and faculties which require but to be awakened to reflect truths and ideas infinitely beyond his own present condition. Edin. Rev. 1. In a Potentially (po-ten'shal-li), adv. potential manner; in possibility; not in act; not positively. Anaximander's infinite was nothing else but an infinite chaos of matter, in which were either actually or potentially contained all manner of qualities. Cudworth. The grain of wheat has in it, potentially, the ear that is to wave in the next summer's sun, and the acorn, in its little circumference, incloses the oak that is to bear the blast of ages; in the same manner does the mind; at birth contain, potentially, all the elements of the future man, neither more nor less. But as the seed must come in contact with the soil to call its hidden powers into development, so must the mind come in contact with the world of experience in order that its energies may unfold themselves, and produce their own proper fruits. F. D. Morell. 2. In efficacy, not in actuality. Boyle. Potentiate (pō-ten'shi-at), v.t. To give power to. Substantiated and successively potentiated by an especial divine grace.' Coleridge. [Rare.] Potentilla (po-ten-til 'la), n. [L. potens, powerful, from the supposed medical qualities of some of the species.] An extensive POT-HOOK genus of herbaceous perennials, nat. order Rosacea, found chiefly in the temperate and cold regions of the northern hemisphere, containing about 120 species. They are tall or procumbent herbs, rarely undershrubs, with digitate or unequally pinnate leaves, and for the most part yellow or white flowers. Several species are British, and are known by the common name of cinquefoil; P. anserina is also called silver-weed, goose Large Yellow Potentilla (Potentilla anserina). grass, or wild tansy; and P. fragariastrum, barren strawberry. The roots of P. anserina are eaten in the Hebrides, either raw or boiled. P. tormentilla is used in Lapland and the Orkney Islands both to tan and to dye leather, and also to dye worsted yarn. It is also employed in medicine as a gargle in enlarged tonsils and other diseases of the throat, and for alleviating gripes in cases of diarrhoea. It is likewise valuable as an agricultural plant, the rot in sheep being unknown where it abounds. Potently (pō'tent-li), adv. In a potent manner; powerfully; with great force or energy. 'You are potently opposed.' Shak. Potentness (po'tent-nes), n. The state or quality of being potent; powerfulness; strength; potency. Poterium (po-tē'ri-um), n. [Gr. poterion, a cup, P. Sanguisorba being used in cooling drinks.] A genus of plants, nat. order Rosaceæ and sub-order Sanguisorbeæ. There is one British species, P. Sanguisorba, or salad-burnet, which grows on dry, and most frequently chalky pastures. It is valuable for fodder; the leaves taste and smell like cucumbers, and are used in salad. It has pinnate leaves, and tall stems surmounted by dense heads of small flowers. Potestat, Potestate,in. A potentate; a principal magistrate. Chaucer. Potestative (pō'tes-tā-tiv), a. [L. potestas, power, ability.] Authoritative. Bp. Pearson-Potestative or potential condition, in civil law. See under CONDITIONAL. Pot-gunt (pot'gun), n. 1. A pop-gun. The pot-guns of boys.' Bp. Hall.-2. A short wide cannon for firing salutes; a mortar: so called from resembling a pot in shape. Hackluyt. Same as Pot-hanger (pot'hang-ér), n. A pot-hook. Pothecary (poth'e-ka-ri), n. Apothecary. Pope. So modern pothecaries taught the art By doctor's bills to play the doctor's part. Potheen (po-then'), n. Same as Poteen. Macmillan's Mag. Pother (pоTH'èr), n. [Written also pudder, and perhaps a different form of bother or of potter. In meaning 2 it seems rather a form of powder, Sc. poother.] 1. Bustle; confusion; tumult; flutter. Cease your pother.' Grainger. [Colloq.1-2. A suffocating cloud. He suddenly unties the poke, Which from it sent out such a smoke, As ready was them all to choke, So grievous was the pether. Pother (pоTH'er), v.i. To make a pother or bustle; to make a stir. Drayton. Pother (poTH'èr), v.t. To harass and perplex; to bother; to puzzle; to teaze. Locke. Pot-herb (pot'èrb), n. An herb for the pot or for cookery; a culinary plant. Leaves, if eaten raw, are termed salad; if boiled, Watts. they become pot-herbs. Pot-hole (pot'hōl), n. 1. A circular cavity in the rocky beds of rivers formed by the action of stones whirled round in original depressions by the action of the current.2. A peculiar cavity in chalk. Pot-hook (pot'huk), n. 1. A hook on which pots and kettles are hung over the fire. POTHOS 2. A letter or character like a pot-hook, especially an elementary character written by children in learning to write. I have often wished for some person as well skilled as you in these old pot-hooks to tell me their meaning. Sir W. Scott. A pennyworth of sugar-plums would have made our eyes sparkle when we were scrawling pot-hooks Lord Lytton. at a preparatory school. Pothos (poth'os), n. [Pothos, the name of a species in Ceylon.] A genus of climbing plants, nat. order Araceae. In the West Indies and South America they grow on trees, as the ivy does in England. The blade of the leaf varies in shape in the different species; there is a persistent spathe which contains a spadix of small flowers resembling those of an arum. The leaves of Pothos palmata are 3 feet and the footstalks 4 feet long. Pot-house (pot'hous), n. An ale-house. To pot-house I repair, the sacred haunt, Pot-hunter (pot'hunt-ér), n. A sportsman who shoots anything he comes across, having more regard to filling his bag than to the rules which regulate the sport. [Slang.] Potichomania, Potichomanie (po'ti-shoma"ni-a, po'ti-shō-mā”ni), n. [Fr. potiche, a porcelain vase, and manie, Gr. mania, mania.] The art or process of coating the inside of glass vessels with paper or linen flowers or devices varnished, so as to give to the vessels the appearance of painted ware. Potion (po'shon), n. [L. potio, a drinking, a draught, from poto, to drink. Poison is the same word under a different form.] A draught; usually, a liquid medicine; a dose. Soon as the potion works their human countenances, The express resemblance of the gods, is changed Into some brutish form of wolf or bear. Milton. Pot-leecht (pot'lech), n. A sot; a drunkard. This valiant pot-leech that upon his knees has drunk a thousand pottles.' John Taylor. Potlid (pot'lid), n. The lid or cover of a pot. Derham.-Potlid valve, in steam-engines, a kind of bucket valve which forms the cover of the air-pump. Pot-luck (pot'luk), n. What may chance to be in the pot or provided for dinner.-To take pot-luck, is for an unexpected visitor to partake of the family dinner, whatever it may chance to be. [Colloq.] Pot-man (pot'man), n. 1. A pot-companion. 2. A servant at a public-house. Pot-metal (pot'met-al), n. 1. An inferior kind of brass (copper 10 parts, lead 6 to 8 parts) used for making faucets, and various large vessels used in the arts.-2. A species of stained glass, the colours of which are incorporated within the glass when in the melting-pot in a state of fusion.-3. A kind of cast-iron suitable for making hollow ware. Potoo (po-to), n. [From its cry.] The Nyctibius jamaicensis, a bird of Jamaica, belonging to the family Caprimulgidæ, or goatsuckers. From its nocturnal habits the common people suppose it to be some species of owl. Potoroo (pot'or-ö), n. The native name of the kangaroo-rat. See BETTONG. Pot-pie (pot'pi), n. A pie made by covering the inner surface of a pot with paste and filling up with meat, as beef, mutton, fowl, &c. Bartlett. Pot-piecet (pot'pēs), n. Same as Pot-gun. Pot-plant (pot'plant), n. A plant of the genus Lecythis: so called from its large, woody fruit, which opens with a lid like that of a jar. Simmonds. Pot-pourri (pō-po-rē), n. [Fr. pot, pot, and pourrir, to putrefy, to boil very much; L. puteo, to rot.] 1. A dish of different kinds of meat and vegetables cooked together. Hence 2. A miscellaneous collection; a medley; as, (a) a vase or bouquet of flowers to perfume a room; (b) a musical composition made up of a number of airs strung together; (c) a literary composition made up of parts put together without unity or bond of connection. Potshard, Potsharet (pot'shärd, pot'shär), A potsherd. n. Potsherd (pot'shérd), n. [Pot, and sherd= shard, shred, A. Sax. sceard, a fragment, from scearan, to shear.] A piece or fragment of an earthenware pot. Job ii. 8. Pot-shop (pot'shop), n. A small drinking shop where pots of ale are got. Mr. Ben Allen and Mr. Bob Sawyer betook themselves to a sequestered pot-shop on the remotest confines of the Borough. Dickens. 502 Pot-shot (pot'shot), n. 1. A shot taken for the sake of filling the pot, little heed being paid to preserving the appearance of the animal.-2. A shot fired without very deliberate aim.-3. A shot fired at the enemy from a hole or an ambush. W. H. Russell. Pot-shot (pot'shot), a. Intoxicated; drunk. Being mad, perhaps, and hot pot-shot.' John Taylor. Potstone (pot'stōn), n. A coarsely granular variety of steatite or soapstone, of a greenishgray colour, the lapis ollaris of Pliny. It has a curved and undulatingly lamellar structure, passing into slaty. On account of its tenacity, infusibility, and the ease with which it may be turned in the lathe, it is sometimes manufactured into culinary vessels (hence the name). Potsuret (pot'shör), a. Full of confidence through drinking; thoroughly sure; cock sure. Pott (pot), n. A size of paper. See POT, 6. Pottage (pot'āj), n. [Fr. potage, lit. what one puts in the pot.] 1. A species of food made of meat boiled to softness in water, usually with some vegetables. Jacob sod pottage; and Esau came from the field, and he was faint. Gen. xxv. 29. 2. Oatmeal or other porridge. Pottain (pot'an), n. Old pot-metal. Holland. Potteen (po-tēn), n. Same as Poteen. Potter (pot'èr), n. [From pot.] 1. One whose occupation is to make earthenware vessels or crockery of any kind.-2. One who hawks crockery. De Quincey. [Provincial.] 3. One who pots viands.-Potters' clay, a variety of clay of a reddish or gray colour, which becomes red when heated. That used in our potteries for making coarse red ware comes chiefly from Devonshire.- Potters' wheel, an apparatus consisting of a vertical iron axis, on which is a horizontal disk made to revolve by treadles moved by the foot of the potter, by a large fly-wheel driven by an assistant, or by steam-power. A lump of the plastic mass is placed upon the wheel, the thumb being placed in the centre of the lump and pressed downwards. A hollow is thus formed which is widened, or the walls continued vertically, according to the shape of the vessel to be made. Potter (pot'er), v.i. [Comp. Sc. pouter, powter, to poke, to rummage in the dark, to fumble, to trifle; Sw. pota, D. poteren, peuteren, to poke or search with the finger or a stick; W. pwtio, to poke or thrust.] To busy or perplex one's self about trifles; to work with little energy or effect; to trifle. [Colloq.] The good-natured Sultan began pottering about, showing us to our apartments with the alacrity of an old landlady. Fukes. Potter (pot'ér), v. t. To poke; to push; to disturb. [Colloq.] Pottern-ore (pot'èrn-or), n. A species of ore, so called by the miners from its aptness to vitrify like the glazing of potters' ware. Pottery (pot'èr-i), n. [Fr. poterie, from pot, a pot.] 1. The ware or vessels made by potters; earthenware, glazed and baked.-Pottery ware, vessels made of clay and flint-earth intimately blended together, moulded into the required form, and then baked and glazed. Cream-coloured pottery was invented by Wedgwood, about 1766.-2. The place where earthen vessels are manufactured.-3. The business of a potter. Pottinger (potʼin-jėr), n. A porringer. Sir W. Scott. Potting-house (pot'ing-hous), n. A house in which plants are potted. Pottle (pot'l), n. [Fr. potel, a dim. of pot.] 1. Originally, a liquid measure of two quarts; hence, any large tankard. 'Potations pottle deep.' Shak. He drinks you with facility your Dane dead drunk, ere the next pottle can be filled. Shak. POULTRY over drink; heated to valour by strong drink. Perhaps we had better retire,' whispered Mr. Pickwick. 'Never, sir,' rejoined Pott,-pot-valiant in a double sense-'never." Dickens. Pot-walloper, Pot-waller (pot-wol'lop-ér, pot'wol-ler), n. [Pot, and wallop, to boil.} A name given to a parliamentary voter in some English boroughs before the passing of the reform bill of 1832. It included, theoretically, all inhabitants procuring their own diet. In practice, every male inhabitant, whether housekeeper or lodger, who had resided six months in the borough, and had not been chargeable to any township as a pauper for twelve months, was entitled to vote. Shak. Pot-walloping (pot-wollop-ing), a. A term applied to certain boroughs in England, where, before the passing of the reform bill of 1832, all who boiled a pot were entitled to vote. See POT-WALLOPER. Pouch (pouch), n. [A softened form of poke, a bag, a pouch.] 1. A small bag; a pocket. Tester I'll have in pouch, when thou shalt lack. 2. A protuberant belly. [Humorous.]—3. A bag or sac belonging to or forming an appendage of certain animals, as that of the pelican, or of a marsupial animal.-4. A little sac or bag at the base of some petals and sepals of flowers.-5. A cartridge-box. 6. A small bulk-head or partition in a ship's hold to prevent grain or other loose cargo from shifting. 1. To put into a pouch Pouch (pouch), v.t. or pocket. The common heron hath. a wide extensive throat to pouch it (prey).' Derham.-2. To pocket or put up with quietly. I will pouch up no such affront.' Sir W. Scott. Pouched (poucht), a. Having a pouch; specifically, furnished with a pouch for carrying the young, as the marsupials. Pouch-mouth (pouch'mouth), n. A mouth with blubbered lips. Ash. Pouch-mouthed (pouch'mouтнd),a. Blubber-lipped. Ainsworth. Pouchong (po-shong), n. A black tea; a superior kind of souchong. Simmonds. Poudre-marchant, n. Powder. Poudre,t n. Supposed to sigPoudrette (po-dret), n. [Fr.] A very powernify pulverized spices. Chaucer. ful manure prepared from night-soil, dried and mixed with charcoal, gypsum, &c. Pouk (pök), v.t. To pluck; to pull with nimbleness or force; to poke. [Scotch.] Chaucer. The weans haud out their fingers laughin' Pouke, n. [See PUCK.] The fairy Robin Poult (polt), n. [Fr. poulet, a dim. of poule, a hen. See POULTRY.] A young chicken, partridge, grouse, &c. Poultert (pol'tėr), n. A poulterer. 'Hang [See POULTRY.] 1. One who makes it his business to sell fowls for the table.-2. Formerly, in England, an officer of the king's household, who had the charge of the poultry. Poultice (pol'tis), n. [From L. puls, pultis, pottage, gruel, pap.] A soft composition of meal, bread, or the like mollifying substance, to be applied to sores, inflamed parts of the body, &c.; a cataplasm. Poultice (pol'tis), v. t. To cover with a poultice; to apply a poultice to. Poultivet (pol'tiv), n. A poultice. Poultives allayed pains but drew down the humours. Sir W. Temple. Poultry (pōl'tri), n. [A collective from poult, pullet; Fr. poulet, a chicken, a young hen; from L. pullus, a young animal, a chicken; akin to Gr. polos, E. foal.] Domestic fowls which are reared for their flesh as an article POULTRY-HOUSE of food, for their eggs, feathers, &c., such as cocks and hens, turkeys, ducks, and geese. The cock was of a larger breed Than modern poultry drop. Tennyson. Poultry-house (pōl'tri-hous), n. A building for the shelter and rearing of poultry. Poultry-yard (põl'tri-yärd), n. A yard or place where fowls are reared. Poulverain (pöl'vér-ān), n. [Fr. poulverin, from L. pulvis, pulveris, dust, powder.] A powder flask which hung below the bandoleers, used by musketeers in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Pounce (pouns), n. [Fr. ponce, It. pomice; from L. pumex, pumicis, a pumice-stone.] 1. A fine powder, such as pulverized sandarach or cuttle-fish bone, used to prevent ink from spreading on paper, but now almost entirely superseded by blotting-paper. 2. Charcoal dust inclosed in some open stuff, as muslin, &c., to be passed over holes pricked in the work, to mark the lines or designs on a paper underneath. This kind of pounce is used by embroiderers to transfer their patterns upon their stuffs; also by fresco painters, and sometimes by engravers. It is also used in varnishing.-3. A powder used as a medicine or cosmetic. Of the flesh thereof is made pounces for sicke men to refresh and restore them. Passenger of Benvenuto. Pounce (pouns), v. t. pret. & pp. pounced; ppr. pouncing. To sprinkle or rub with pounce. Pounce (pouns), v.t. pret. & pp. pounced; ppr. pouncing. [Ultimately, no doubt, from L. pungo, punctum, to prick or pierce; comp. Fr. poinçon, a bodkin; O.E. pounsoned, worked in eyelet-holes; Sp. punchar, punzar, to prick, to pierce-all from L. pungo, punctum, to prick, to pierce (whence point): punch is the same word in a different form.] 1. To make holes in; to work in eyelet-holes. 'A shorte coate garded and pounced after the galliarde fashion.' Sir T. Elyot.-2. To seize or strike suddenly with the claws or talons: said of birds of prey. As if an eagle flew aloft and then Stooped from its highest pitch to pounce a wren. Cowper. Pounce (pouns), v. i. To fall on and seize with the claws or talons; to dart or dash on: with on or upon; as, a rapacious bird pounces on a chicken. Derision is never so agonizing as when it pounces on the wanderings of misguided sensibility. Jeffrey. Pounce (pouns), n. 1. A punch or stamp. 'A pounce to print the money with.' Withals. 2. The claw or talon of a bird of prey. 'Winged ministers of vengeance who carry your bolts in their pounces to the remotest verge of the sea.' Burke. Although rather a small bird... (the brown owl) is possessed of a powerful pounce and audacious spirit. Rev. F. G. Wood. 3. Cloth worked in eyelet-holes. Pounce-box, Pouncet-box (pouns' boks, poun'set-boks), n. A small box with a perforated lid, used for sprinkling pounce on paper, or to hold perfume for smelling. He was perfumed like a milliner, And, 'twixt his finger and his thumb, he held Shak. Pounced (pounst), a. 1. Furnished with claws or talons. The From a craggy cliff, The royal eagle draws his vigorous young Strong pounced. Thomson. 2.† Ornamented with a continuous series of dots over the entire surface. 'Gilt bowls pounced and pierced.' Holinshed. Pound (pound), n. [A. Sax. Dan. Sw. Icel. and Goth. pund; G. pfund; from L. pondo, a pound, akin to L. pondus, a weight used in a scale, from pendo, to cause to hang down. See PENDANT.] 1. A standard weight consisting of 12 ounces troy, or 16 ounces avoirdupois. The troy and the avoirdupois pound are not, however, the same. pound avoirdupois weighs 7000 grains troy, and the pound troy, 5760 grains.-2. A money of account consisting of 20 shillings, or 240 pence, originally equivalent to a pound weight of silver; hence the origin of the term. It is usually discriminated from the pound weight by the epithet sterling. The pound Scots was only equal to a twelfth of the pound sterling, that is 18. 8d.; it also was divided into 20 shillings, but the shilling was only worth an English penny. Pound (pound), n. [A. Sax. pund, an inclosure; whence pyndan, to shut in; a different form of pen, an inclosure, and also of pond.] 503 An inclosure erected by authority, in which cattle or other beasts are confined when taken in trespassing, or going at large in violation of law; a penfold or pinfold. Common pounds are termed pounds overt, that is, open pounds; covered pounds are called pounds covert, that is, close pounds. Pound (pound), v.t. To shut up as in a pound; to confine in a public penfold. The exploit of that gallant man who thought to pound up the crows by shutting his park gate.' Milton. See IMPOUND. Pound (pound), v.t. [A. Sax. punian, to beat, bray; the d has become attached, as in sound, compound.] 1. To beat; to strike with some heavy instrument, and with repeated blows, so as to make an impression. With cruel blows she pounds her blubber'd cheeks. Dryden. 2. To comminute and pulverize by beating; to bruise or break into fine parts by a heavy instrument; as, to pound spice or salt. 'Would crush and pound to dust the crowd below.' Dryden. In the early ages people converted their corn into flour by pounding it between two stones. F. S. Mill. Poundage (pound'āj), n. 1. A sum deducted from a pound, or a certain sum or rate per pound; specifically, in the truck system, a deduction of about 5 per cent made upon workers' wages in consideration of money having been advanced to them before the pay. There were considerable additions made to it last year; the ruins of a priory, which, however, make a tenant's house, that pays me tolerable poundage. Shenstone. 2. Payment rated by the weight of a commodity; an impost once collected on merchandise imported into or exported from England, conjoined with a levy on wine, of so much per tun: hence the term 'tonnage (or rather tunnage) and poundage,' the former ultimately fixed at 38., the latter at 5 per cent. 3. In law, (a) an allowance formerly made to the sheriff upon the amount levied under a writ of capias ad satisfaciendum; now abolished by 5 and 6 Vict. xcviii. (b) The allowance made to the sheriff upon the amount levied under a writ of fieri facias. When the amount does not exceed £100 the poundage is 18. per pound, above that sum 6d. Poundage (pound'āj), n. 1. Confinement of cattle in a pound. 2. A mulct levied upon the owners of cattle impounded, sometimes for their care and keep, but more usually as a fine for trespass. Poundage (pound'aj), v.t. To assess or rate by poundage; to collect, as poundage. The custom-house of certain publicans that have the tonnaging and poundaging of all freespoken truth." Milton. Poundal (pound'al), n. The name proposed by Prof. James Thomson for the British kinetic unit of force-the force necessary, when applied for one second, to give to a weight of one pound a velocity of one foot per second. Pound-breach (pound'brech), n. The breaking of a public pound for releasing beasts confined in it. Blackstone. Pound-cake (pound'kāk), n. A rich sweet cake, so named from a pound or an equal quantity of different ingredients being used in the making of it, so that it was pound for pound. Simmonds. Pound-covert (pound-kov'èrt), n. See POUND. Pounder (pound’èr), n. 1. A pestle; the instrument of pounding.-2. A person or thing denominated from a certain number of pounds. The term is often applied to pieces of ordnance along with a number to express the weight of the shot they fire; thus a 64pounder is a cannon firing balls weighing each 64 lbs. Before the passing of the reform bill of 1867 the term ten-pounder was applied to the lowest grade of parliamentary electors in cities and boroughs, or those who paid £10 of yearly rent.-3. A large pear. 'Bergamot and pounder pears.' Dryden.-4. One that keeps a pound for cattle. Pound-foolish (pound-föl'ish), a. Neglecting the care of large sums in attending to little ones. Used only in the phrase 'Penny wise and pound-foolish.' Pound-keeper (pound'kep-ér), n. One who has the care of a pound. Pound-overt (pound-o'věrt), n. See POUND. Pound-rate (pound'rāt), n. A rate or payment at a certain proportion for each pound. POUT Pounsoned, pp. [See POUNCE, PUNCH.] Poupeton (po'pē-ton), n. [Fr. poupée, a London doth pour out her citizens. Shak. 3. To give vent to, as under the influence of strong feeling. Pour out your heart before him.' Ps. Ixii. 8.-4. To throw in profusion or with overwhelming force. Now will I shortly pour out my fury upon thee. Ezek. vii. 8. Pour (pōr), v.i. 1. To flow; to issue forth in a stream, or continued succession of parts; to move or rush, as a current; as, the rain poured; the stream poured.-2. To rush in a crowd or continued procession. A ghastly band of giants, All pouring down the mountain, crowd the shore. Pope. Pourchace, tv.t. To purchase; to buy; to provide. Chaucer. Pourchas, tn. Chaucer. Poure,+ a. Poor. Acquisition; purchase. Chaucer. Poure,t v.i. To pore; to look earnestly. Chaucer. Pourer (pōr'ėr), n. One who or that which pours. Pourie (pö'ri), n. [Scotch. ] 1. A small quantity of any liquid.-2. A vessel for holding beer or other liquids, with a spout for pouring; a decanter, as distinguished from a mug; a cream-pot; a small ewer. Galt. Pourlieu. See PURLIEU. Pourparty (pör-pär'ti), n. [Fr. pour, for, and parti, part, party.] In law, a division among partners of lands which were before held in common. Pour-point (pör point), n. [Fr., from pour, for, and poindre, L. pungere, to prick.] A stuffed and quilted close-fitting body garment, formerly worn both by civil and military men; so named from the needlework employed in its construction or ornamentation. It is said to have been invented during the Crusades as a substitute for heavy armour; and it continued in use as late as the time of Charles II. Pourpresture (pör-pres'tür), n. [0. Fr. pourprendre, to seize, surround, pourprisure, an inclosure.] In law, anything done to the nuisance or hurt of the sovereign demesnes, or the highways, &c., by inclosure or buildings, endeavouring to make that private which ought to be public; a wrongful inclosure of or encroachment on the property of another. Poursuivant. See PURSUIVANT. Pourtraie, tv.t. To portray; to draw a picture. Chaucer. Pourtraiour, n. A portrayer; a drawer A picture or drawing. Pourtray (pōr-trā'), v.t. See PORTRAY. Ezek. iv. 1. Pourveyance. See PURVEYANCE. Poussette (pö-set'), v.i. To swing round in couples, as in a country-dance. 'Poussetting with a sloe-tree.' Tennyson. Poussette (pö-set'), n. [Fr.] A figure, or part of a figure, in a country-dance. Away went Mr. Pickwick down the middle to the very end of the room, back again to the door-poussette everywhere-loud stamp on the ground-ready for the next couple-off again-all the figure over Dickens. once more. Poussie, Pousie (pö'sē), n. 1. A cat.-2. A hare. Burns. Pout (pout or pöt), n. [A corruption of poult.] A young partridge or moorfowl; the chicken of any domesticated fowl; hence, a young child. [Scotch.] Pout (pout or pot), v.i. To shoot at young grouse or partridges. [Scotch.] Pout (pout), v.i. [Perhaps from W. pwtiaw, to push, to thrust, or from dial. Fr. pot, POUT pout, potte, Pr. pot, the lip; probably unconnected with Fr. bouder, to be sulky.] 1. To thrust out the lips, as in sullenness, contempt, or displeasure; hence, to look sullen. Thou poutest upon thy fortune and thy love. Shak. 2. To swell out; to be prominent. ing lips.' Dryden. 'Pout Pout (pout), n. A protrusion of the lips as in sullenness; a fit of sullenness. Pout (pout), n. [Comp. eel-pout, A. Sax. æle-puta.] A sea fish of the cod kind (Morrhua lusca), called also Whiting-cod, Whiting-pout, and Bib. It is about 1 foot long, and can inflate at pleasure a membrane which covers the eyes and adjoining parts. Pouter (pout'èr), n. 1. One who pouts. Pouter Pigeon (Columba var. Gutturosa subrubicunda). 2. A variety of pigeon, so called from its inflated breast. Pouter (pöt'ér), n. One who shoots at young grouse (pouts) or partridges. [Scotch.] Pouther (puтн'éг), n. Powder. [Scotch.] Poutingly (pout'ing-li), adv. In a pouting or sullen manner. Poverty (pov'èr-ti), n. [Fr. pauvreté, L. paupertas, from pauper, poor. See POOR.] 1. The state of being poor or indigent; indigence; want or scarcity of means of subsist ence. The drunkard and the glutton shall come to pov erty. Prov. xxiii. 21. It is astonishing how little one feels poverty when one loves. Ld. Lytton. 2. A deficiency of necessary or desirable elements or constituents; as, (a) want of fertility; barrenness; poorness; as, poverty of soil. (b) Barrenness of sentiment or ornament; want of ideas or information; as, the poverty of a composition. (c) Want or defect of words or means of expression; as, the poverty of language.-SYN. Indigence, penury, beggary, necessity, neediness, need, lack, want, scantiness, sparingness, meagreness, jejuneness. Poverty-struck (pov'èr-ti-struk), a. Reduced to a state of poverty; indigent. Pow (pou), interj. An exclamation of contempt; as, pow, wow. Shak. Pow (pou), n. The head; the poll. [Scotch.] Powan (pou'an), n. [A form of pollan.] A rare fresh-water fish peculiar to Loch Lomond, of the genus Corregonus (C. Cepedii), much resembling a herring, and often called the fresh-water herring. Its flesh is delicate. Powder (pou'dèr), n. [Fr. poudre, O. Fr. pouldre, It. polvere, from L. pulvis, pulveris, dust, powder.] 1. Any dry substance composed of minute particles, whether natural or artificial; more generally, a substance comminuted or triturated to fine particles. 2. A composition of saltpetre, sulphur, and charcoal,mixed and granulated; gunpowder. See GUNPOWDER.-3. Hair-powder (which see).-4. Violence; tumult. Hudibras. Powder (pou'dėr), v.t. 1. To reduce to fine particles; to comminute; to pulverize; to triturate; to pound, grind, or rub into fine particles.-2. To sprinkle with powder, or as with powder; as, to powder the hair. They were of spotless white, as the reporter is careful to inform us, satin and cloth of gold, thickly powdered with pearls and precious stones. Prescott. 3. To sprinkle with salt; to corn, as meat. Powder (pou'dér), v.i. 1. To come with violence and tumult; to act violently. 'Down comes a kite powdering upon them.' Sir R. L'Estrange. He had done wonders before, but now he began to powder away like a raving giant. Dickens. 2. To fall to dust; to become like powder.3. To apply powder to the hair. At this early hour it was his (Buffon's) custom to dress, powder, and dictate letters. Rees. 504 Powder-box (pou'dèr-boks), n. A box in which hair-powder is kept. Powder-cart (pou'der-kärt), n. A cart that carries powder and shot for artillery. Powder-chest (pou'dèr-chest), n. A small box or case charged with powder, old nails, &c., fastened to the side of a ship to be discharged at an enemy attempting to board. Powdered (pou'dėrd), p. and a. 1. Reduced to powder; sprinkled with powder. 2. Sprinkled or mixed with salt; salted; as, powdered butter. 3. In her. same as Semé (which see). Powder-flask (pou'dér-flask), n. A flask in which gunpowder is carried. A horn in Powder-horn (pou'der-horn), n. which gunpowder used to be carried by sportsmen before the introduction of cartridges. Powdering (pou'dér-ing), n. A name given to any device used in filling up vacant spaces in carved works. Powdering-tub (pou'dėr-ing-tub), n. 1. A tub or vessel in which meat is corned or salted.-2. A heated tub where an infected lecher was cured by sweating. From the powdering-tub of infamy Shak. Powder-magazine (pou'dêr-mag-a-zën), n. A place where powder is stored; generally a bomp-proof building in fortified places, &c. Powder-mill (pou'dèr-mil), n. A mill in which gunpowder is made. Powder-mine (pou'dèr-min), n. An excavation filled with gunpowder for the purpose of blasting rocks, or for blowing up an enemy's works in war. Powder-monkey (pou'dêr-mung-ki), n. A boy in former times employed on ships for bringing powder from the magazine to the gun. Powder-puff (pou'dèr-puf), n. A kind of pad of loose texture used for powdering the hair or skin. Powder-room (pou'dér-röm), n. The apartment in a ship where gunpowder is kept. Powdery (pou'dèr-i), a. 1. Sprinkled or covered with powder; abounding in powder; specifically, in bot. having a surface coated with fine powder, as the bloom on plums.-2. Resembling powder; consisting of powder. The powdery snow.' worth. Powdike (pou'dik), n. A marsh or fen dike. [Local.] Words Power (pou'ér), n. [O.Fr. pooir (Mod. Fr. pouvoir), from an old infinitive podir, from L.L. potere (It. potére), to be able, used for L. possum, potui, posse, to be able, from potis, able, and sum, esse, to be, potis being akin to Skr. pati, a lord, a master, and pat, to rule, to govern. From posse come also possible, potent, &c.] 1. Ability to act, regarded as latent or inherent; the faculty of doing or performing something; that in virtue of which one can; capability of producing an effect; as, the power of voluntary motion; the power of heat to melt wax.-2. Ability regarded as put forth or exerted; strength, force, or energy manifested in action; as, the power of steam in moving machinery; the power exerted by a hydraulic press.-3. Capacity; susceptibility; fitness to be acted on; called also Passive Power. The employment of the word in a passive sense is not strictly correct, but it has received general accept POWERABLE 7. Ability, natural or moral; capability. The excellence of that style (Milton's). which displays in the highest perfection the idiomatic powers of the English language. Macaulay. 8. The employment of strength or influence among men; the exercise of control; command; the right of governing or actual government; dominion; rule; sway; authority. 'Nor palter'd with Eternal God for power.' Tennyson. Power is no blessing in itself, but when it is employed to protect the innocent. Swift. -In power, a phrase applied to a political section or party who hold office in a government.-9. One who or that which exercises authority or control; a sovereign, whether emperor, king, or governing prince, or the legislature of a state; as, the great powers; the smaller powers. In this sense the state or nation governed is often included in the word power; as, Great Britain is a great naval power; the great powers of Europe.10. A spirit or superhuman agent supposed to have dominion over some part of creation; a divinity; as, celestial powers; the powers of darkness. The powers, delaying, not forgetting, have 11. That which has physical power; an army; a navy; a host; a military force. Never such a power. Was levied in the body of a land. Shak 12. Legal authority; warrant; as, an agent invested with ample power; the envoy has full powers to negotiate a treaty.-13. In mech. (a) that which produces motion or force, or which may be applied to produce it; a mechanical agent; as, one of the mechanical powers. See under MECHANICAL. (b) The moving force applied to overcome some resistance, raise some weight, or produce the required effect. Thus the pressure of a weight, the elastic force of a spring, the muscular force of men and animals, wind, water, steam, are employed as powers in machinery. Power may be exerted for the purpose of producing or preventing motion; in the former case it is called a moving power or force, and in the latter a sustaining power or force. (c) Mechanical advantage or effect; as, the power or mechanical advantage of the lever increases as the distance of the moving force (also termed the power) from the fulcrum increases, and diminishes as the distance of the weight or resistance from the same point increases. (d) Force or effect considered as resulting from the action of a machine.-14. In arith. and alg. the product arising from the multiplication of a number or quantity into itself. The first power of any number or quantity is the number or quantity itself. This when multiplied into itself becomes the square or second power of the quantity; this again multiplied by the original quantity becomes the cube or third power; this again multiplied by the original quantity becomes the fourth power; and so on. In like manner the successive powers of the quantity a are, a1, a2, a3, a*, &c. The numbers which indicate the powers of quantities are called the indices or exponents. Powers are considered as negative or fractional, according as they have negative or fractional exponents; as, a-1, a−2, a-3, or a, a, at-15. In optics, the degree to which an optical instrument, as a telescope or microscope, magnifies the apparent linear or superficial dimensions of an object. 16. A large quantity; a great number; as, a power of good things. [Colloq.-17. In law, (a) a term commonly employed to designate a reservation made in a conveyance either for the party conveying, or for some other party, to enable him to do certain acts regarding the property conveyed. (b) An authority which one gives to another to act for him, or to do some certain acts, as to make leases, raise portions, or the like.Power of attorney, authority given to a person to act for another. See under ATTORNEY.-Power of sale, in Scots law, a clause inserted in heritable securities for debt, conferring on the creditor a power to sell the heritable subject of the security in the event of the debt not being paid within a certain time, after a formal demand of payment. Great powers of Europe, a term in modern diplomacy by which is usually meant Great Britain, France, Austria, Germany, Russia, and Italy. Powerablet (pou'èr-a-bl), a. 1. Endowed with power; powerful. 'How powerable time |