Then avarice 'gan through his veins to inspire His greedy flames, and kindle life devouring tire. Spenser. Their complot is to have my life: And, if my death might make this island happy, And prove the period of their tyranny, I would expend it with all willingness. Shaksp. Nor love thy life, nor hate; but what thou liv'st Live well, how long or short permit to Heav'n. Milton. He entreated me not to take kis life, but exact a sum of money. Broome on the Odyssey. 4. Blood, the supposed vehicle of life. wound. His gushing entrails smoak'd upon the ground, And the warm life came issuing through the Pope. 5. Conduct; manner of living with respect to virtue or vice. His faith perhaps in some nice tenets might Be wrong; his life I'm sure was in the right. Cowley. Henry and Edward, brightest sons of fame, And virtuous Alfred, a more sacred name; After a life of glorious toils endur'd, Clos'd their long glories with a sigh. Pope. Mrs. Barker. I'll teach my family to lead good lives. 6. Condition; manner of living with respect to happiness and misery. Such was the life the frugal Sabines led; So Remus and his brother god were bred. Dryden. 7. Continuance of our present state: as, half his life was spent in study. Some have not any clear ideas all their lives. The administration of this bank is for life, and partly in the hands of the chief citizens. Addison. 8. The living form: opposed to copies. That is the best part of beauty which a picture cannot express, no, nor the first sight of the life. Bacon's Essays. Let him visit eminent persons of great name abroad, that he may tell how the life agreeth with the fame. Bacon. He that would be a master, must draw by the life as well as copy from originals, and join theory and experience together. Collier. 9. Exact resemblance: with to before it. I believe no character of any person was ever better drawn to the life than this. Denbam. Rich carvings, portraiture, and imag'ry, Where ev'ry figure to the life express'd The godhead's pow'r. Dryden's Knight's Tale. He saw in order painted on the wall The wars that fame around the world had blown, All to the life, and every leader known. Dryden. 30. General state of man. 12. Living person. Why should I play the Roman fool, and die On my own sword? whilst I see lives the gashes Do better upon them. Shakspeare's Macbeth. 13. Narrative of a life past. Plutarch, that writes his life, Tells us, that Cato dearly lov'd his wife. Pope. 14. Spirit; briskness; vivacity; resolution. The Helots bent thitherward with a new life of resolution, as if their captain had been a root out of which their courage had sprung. Sidney. They have no notion of life and fire in fancy and in words; and any thing that is just in grammar and in measure, is as good oratory and poetry to them as the best. Felton. Not with half the fire and life, With which he kiss'd Amphytrion's wife. Prior. 15. Animal; animated existence; animal being. Full nature swarms with life. 16. System of animal nature. Thomsen. Popes Lives through all life. 17. Life is also used of vegetables, and whatever grows and decays. LIFEBLOOD. n. s. [life and blood.] The blood necessary to life; the vital blood. This sickness doth infect The very lifeblood of our enterprize. Shaksp. How couldst thou drain the lifeblood of the child? Shakspeare. His forehead struck the ground, Lifeblood and life rush'd mingled through the Dryden. They loved with that calm and noble value which dwells in the heart, with a warmth like that of lifeblood. Spectator. wound. Money, the lifeblood of the nation, Swift. Kindled at first from heav'ns lifegiving fire. He sat devising death Spenser. To them who liv'd; nor on the virtue thought Of that lifegiving plant. Milton's Paradise Lost. LIFEGUARD. n. s. [life and guard.] The guard of a king's person. LIFELESS. adj. [from life.] 1. Dead; deprived of life. I who make the triumph of to-day, 2. Unanimated; void of life. Prior. Was I to have never parted from thy side? As good have grown there still a lifeless rib! Thus began Milton. Milten. Outrage from lifeless things. The power which produces their motions, springs from something without themselves: if this power were suspended, they would become a lifeless unactive heap of matter. Cheyne. And empty words she gave, and sounding strain, But senseless, lifeless! idol void and vain. Pope. 3. Wanting power, force, or spirit. Hopeless and helpless doth Ægeon wend, But to procrastinate his lifeless end. Shakspeare. Unknowing to command, proud to obey A lifeless king, a royal shade I lay. Prior A dram of poison, such soon speeding geer, As will disperse itself through all the veins, That the life-weary taker may fall dead. Shak. To LIFT. v. a. [lyffta, Swedish; loffter, Danish. I lifted, or lift; I have lifted, or lift.] 1. To raise from the ground; to heave; to elevate; to hold on high. Filial ingratitude; Is it not as this mouth should tear this hand Your guests are coming; So down he fell, that th' earth him underneath Did groan, as feeble so great load to lift. Fairy Queen. 1. To rob; to plunder. Whence the term sboplifter. So weary bees in little cells repose, But if night robbers lift the well-stor'd hive, An humming through their waxen city grows. Dryden. 4. To exalt; to elevate mentally. My heart was lift up in the ways of the Lord. 2 Chronicles. Of Orpheus now no more let poets tell, To bright Cæcilia greater pow'r is given, His numbers rais'd a shade from hell, Hers lift the soul to heav'n. 5. To raise in fortune. Pope. The eye of the Lord lifted up his head from misery. 6. To raise in estimation. Ecclesiasticus. Neither can it be thought, because some lessons are chosen out of the Apocrypha, that we do offer disgrace to the word of God, or lift up the writings of men above it. 7. To exalt in dignity. See to what a godlike height The Roman virtues lift up mortal man! Hoeker. Addison. 8. To elevate; to swell, as with pride. Lifted up with pride. Timothy. Our successes have been great, and our hearts have been too much lifted up by them, so that we have reason to humble ourselves. Atterbury. 9. Up is sometimes emphatically added to lift. He lift up his spear against eight hundred, whom he slew at one time. 2 Samuel. Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand. Genesis. To LIFT. v. n. To strive to raise by strength. Pinch cattle of pasture while summer doth last, And lift at their tailes ere a winter be past. Tusser. The mind, by being engaged in a task beyond its strength, like the body strained by lifting at a weight too heavy, has often its force broken. LIFT. n. s. [from the verb.] 1. The manner of lifting. Mr. Doctor had puzzled his brains In making a ballad, but was at a stand. And you freely must own, you were at a dead Swift. 4. Lift, in Scotland, denotes a load or surcharge of any thing; as also, if one be disguised much with liquor, they say, He has got a great lift. 5. [In Scottish.] The sky: for in a starry night they say, How clear the lift is! 6. Lifts of a sail, are ropes to raise or lower them at pleasure. LIFTER. n. s. [from lift.] One that lifts. Thou, O Lord, art my glory, and the lifter up of mine head. Psalms. To LIG. v. n. [leggen, Dutch.] To lie. Thou kenst the great care I have of thy health and thy welfare, Which many wild beasts liggen in wait, For to entrap in thy tender state. Spenser. LIGAMENT. n. s. [ligamentum, from ligo, Latin; ligament, French.] 1. Ligament is a white and solid body, softer than a cartilage, but harder than a membrane; they have no conspicuous cavities, neither have they any sense, lest they should suffer upon the motion of the joint: their chief use is to fasten the bones, which are articulated together for motion, lest they should be dislocated with exercise. thing which connects the parts of the 3. Power of perceiving external objects body. break. of diseases. Broton. If you slit the artery, and thrust into it a pipe, and cast a strait ligature upon that part of the artery; notwithstanding the blood hath free passage through the pipe, yet will not the artery beat below the ligature; but do but take off the ligature, it will beat immediately. Ray on the Creation. The many ligatures of our English dress check the circulation of the blood. Spectator. I found my arms and legs very strongly fastened on each side to the ground; I likewise felt several slender ligatures across my body, from my arm-pits to my thighs. Gulliver's Travels. 2. The act of binding. The fatal noose performed its office, and with most strict ligature squeezed the blood into his Arbuthnot. face. Any stoppage of the circulation will produce a dropsy, as by strong ligature or compression. by the eye: opposed to blindness. My strength faileth me; as for the light of Psaims. mine eyes, it also is gone from me. If it be true that light is in the soul, She all in every part, what was the sight To such a slender ball as th' eye contin'd, So obvious and so easy to be quench'd, And not as feeling through all parts diffus'd, That she might look at will through ev'ry pore? Milton. The books of Varro concerning navigation are lost, which no doubt would have given us great light in those matters. Arbuthnot. Arbuthnot. 8. The part of a picture which is drawn with bright colours, or in which the light is supposed to fall. 3. The state of being bound. Not very proper. Sand and gravel grounds easily admit of heat and moisture, for which they are not much the better, because they let it pass too soon, and contract no ligaturs. Mortimer's Husbandry. LIGHT. n. s. [leoht, Saxon.] 1. That material medium of sight; that body by which we see; luminous mat Never admit two equal lights in the same picture; but the greater light must strike forcibly on those places of the picture where the principal figures are; diminishing as it comes nearer the borders. Dryden. 9. Reach of knowledge; mental view. Light, and understanding, and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him. Danie. We saw as it were thick clouds, which did put us in some hope of land, knowing how that part of the South Sea was utterly unknown, and might have islands or continents that hitherto were not come to light. Bacon. They have brought to light not a few profitable experiments. Bacon. 10. Point of view; situation; direction in which the light falls. Frequent consideration of a thing wears off the strangeness of it; and shews it in its several lights, and various ways of appearance, to the 3. Not afflictive; easy to be endured. view of the mind. South. It is impossible for a man of the greatest parts to consider any thing in its whole extent, and in all its variety of fights. Spectator. An author who has not learned the art of ranging his thoughts, and setting them in proper lights, will lose himself in his confusion. Every light and common thing incident into any part of man's life. Hooker. Light suff'rings give us leisure to complain, We groan, but cannot speak, in greater pain. Dryden. 4. Easy to be performed; not difficult. Well pleas'd were all his friends, the task was light, The father, mother, daughter, they invite. 8. Unencumbered; unembarrassed; clear of impediments. Unmarried men are best masters, but not best subjects; for they are light to run away. Bacon. 9. Slight; not great. A light error in the manier of making the following trials was enough to render some of them unsuccessful. 10. Not dense; not gross. Boyle. In the wilderness there is no bread, nor water, and our soul loatheth this light bread. Numbers. Light fumes are merry, grosser fumes are sad, Both are the reasonable soul run mad. Dryden. 11. Easy to admit any influence; unsteady; unsettled; loose. False of heart, light of ear, bloody of hand. Prior. These light vain persons still are drunk and Shakspeare. and mad 1. Not tending to the centre with great force; not heavy. Hot and cold were in one body fixt, And soft with hard, and light with heavy mixt. Dryden. These weights did not exert their natural gravity till they were laid in the golden balance, insomuch that I could not guess which was light or heavy whilst I held them in my hand. Spectators e. Not burdensome; easy to be worn, or and wain, The lighter and stronger the greater thy gaine. news. Horvel. There is no greater argument of a light and inconsiderate person, than profanely to scoff at religion. Tillotson. 12. Gay; airy; wanting dignity or soli- Seneca cannot be too heavy, nor Plautus-too Tasser. 13. Not chaste; not regular in conduct. It will be light, that you may bear it heavy, must wear it every day; but if he think VOL. III. For a light wife doth make a heavy husband. Shakspeare. 14. [from light, n. s.] Bright; clear. As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away. F Genesis, The horses ran up and down with their tails and manes on a light fire. Knolles. 15. Not dark; tending to whiteness. In painting, the light and a white colour are but one and the same thing: no colour more resembles the air than white, and by consequence no colour which is lighter. Dryden. Two cylindrick bodies with annular sulci, found with sharks teeth, and other shells, in a light coloured clay. Woodward. LIGHT. adv. [for lightly, by colloquial corruption.] Lightly; cheaply. Shall we set light by that custom of reading, from whence so precious a benefit hath grown? Hooker. To LIGHT. v. a. [from the noun.] 1. To kindle; to enflame; to set on fire; to make flame. Swinging coals about in the wire, thoroughly lighted them. Boyle. This truth shines so clear, that to go about to prove it, were to light a candle to seek the sun. Glanville. The maids, who waited her commands, Ran in with lighted tapers in their hands. Dryd. Be witness, gods, and strike Jocasta dead, If an immodest thought, or low desire, Inflam'd my breast since first our loves were lighted. Dryden. Absence might cure it, or a second mistress Light up another flame, and put out this. Addison. 2. To give light to; to guide by light. A beam that falls Fresh from the pure glance of thine eye, Lighting to eternity. Crashaw. Ah hopeless, lasting flames! like those that burn To light the dead, and warm the unfruitful urn. Pope. 3. To illuminate; to fill with light. The sun was set, and vesper, to supply His absent beams, had lighted up the sky. sky. Dryd. 4. Up is emphatically joined to light. No sun was lighted up the world to view. Dryden. 5. [from the adjective.] To lighten, to ease of a burden. Land some of our passengers, And light this weary vessel of her load. Fairy Q. TO LIGHT. v. n. [lickt, chance, Dutch; preter. lighted, or light, or lit.] 1. To happen to find; to fall upon by chance: it has on before the thing found. No more settled in valour than disposed to justice, if either they had lighted on a better friend, or could have learned to make friendship a child, and not the father of virtue. Sidney. The prince, by chance, did on a lady light, That was right fair, and fresh as morning rose. Spenser. Haply your eye shall light upon some toy You have desire to purchase. Sbakspeare. As in the tides of people once up, there want not stirring winds to make them more rough; so this people did light upon two ringleaders. Bacon. Of late years, the royal oak did light upon count Rhodophil. Howel. The way of producing such a change on colours may be easily enough lighted on, by those conversant in the solutions of mercury. Boyle. He sought by arguments to sooth her pain; Nor those avail'd: at length he lights on one, Before two moons their orb with light adorn, If heav'n allow me life, I will return. Dryden. Truth, light upon this way, is of no more avail to us than error; for what is so taken up by us, may be false as well as true and he has not done his duty, who has thus stumbled upon truth in his way to preferment. Locke. Whosoever first lit on a parcel of that substance we call gold, could not rationally take the bulk and figure to depend on its real essence. Locke. As wily reynard walk'd the streets at night, On a tragedian's mask he chanc'd to light; Turning it o'er, he mutter'd with disdain, How vast a head is here without a brain! Addis. A weaker man may sometimes light on notions which had escaped a wiser. Watts on the Mind. 2. To fall in any particular direction : with on. The wounded steed curvets; and rais'd upright, Lights on his feet before; his hoofs behind Spring up in air aloft, and lash the wind. Dryd. 3. To fall; to strike on: with on. He at his foe with furious rigour smites, That strongest oak might seem to overthrow; The stroke upon his shield so heavy lights, That to the ground it doubleth him full low. Spenser. At an uncertain lot none can find themselves grieved on whomsoever it lighteth. Hooker. They shall hunger no more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. Revelations. On me, me only, as the source and spring Of all corruption, all the blame lights due. Milton. A curse lights upon him presently after: his great arm is utterly ruined, he himself slain in it, and his head and right hand cut off, and hung up before Jerusalem. South. 4. [alighran, Sax.] To descend from a horse or carriage. When Naaman saw him running after him, he lighted down from the chariot to meet him. 2 Kings. I saw 'em salute on horseback, Beheld them when they lighted, how they clung In their embracement. Shaksp. Henry VIII. Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel. Genesis. The god laid down his feeble rays, Then lighted from his glittering coach. Swift. 5. To settle; to rest; to stoop from flight. I plac'd a quire of such enticing birds, That she will light to listen to their lays. Shak. Then as a bee which among weeds doth fall, Which seem sweet flow'rs, with lustre fresh and gay, She lights on that, and this, and tasteth all, Plant trees and shrubs near home, for bees to pitch on at their swarming, that they may not be in danger of being lost for want of a lighting place. Mortimer's Husbandry. TO LIGHTEN. v. n. [lir, ligt, Saxon.] 1. To flash, with thunder. This dreadful night, That thunders, lightens, opens graves, and roars I have no joy of this contract to-night; The lightning that lightensth out of the one part under heaven, sheweth unto the other part. Luke. 2. To shine like lightning. |