MOLLIS, Soft. (L.) Hence, Mollify, 1. To soften. 2. To soften with poultices, etc., for the purpose of allaying pain or irritation; as, to mollify a wound with oil. 3. To appease; as to mollify a person who is in a sullen or angry mood.

Emollient, possessing the property of softening. A poultice is an emollient application.

7. Of Tenacity. TENACITY is the force with which the parts of a solid body cohere. (L. teneo, to hold.)

NOTE. The measure of tenacity is the force required to pull a bar of a given breadth and thickness asunder. Steel possesses a greater degree of tenacity than any other substance.

Tenacious, 1. Cohering with great force. 2. Sticky. Tar is a tena

cious substance.

9. Of Elasticity.

Flexile, very easily bent. A slender twig is flexile.

PLIANT OF PLIABLE.-1. Easily bent, as a slender twig. 2. Easily folded,

ELASTIC bodies are such as have as soft leather or cloth. 3. Easily an inherent power of recovering

molded, as wax. Fig. Readily yield

Pliancy or Pliability is easiness to

their former figure after any external ing to the will of others. pressure which has changed that figure has been removed. Whale- be bent. Fig. Readiness to yield to the will of others. bone, Indian rubber, and air, are reLIMBER, 1. Easily bent; as, a limber markable for their elastic properties. Elasticity is the property which rod. 2. Perfectly pliant; as, a limcauses a body to resume its natural ber rag. 3. Moving freely; as, a limber joint. 4. Relaxed. In faintshape after having been pressed, ing, the muscles become limber. stretched, or twisted.

SPRINGY, elastic. (From spring, to rebound, or fly back. Springiness is elasticity.

10. Of Malleability. MALLEABLE substances are such as are susceptible of extension under the hammer. (L. malleus, a hammer.)

LITHE, that may be easily bent; as a lithe twig; the lithe proboscis of an elephant.

SUPPLE, easily bent; as, a supple rod; a supple joint. Fig. Bending to the humor of others.

FLABBY, being soft and of a loose texture; as, flabby flesh.

Flaccid, yielding to pressure for

24

STIFFNESS-TOUGHNESS-FLUIDITY-TO BREAK.

want of firmness and stiffness; as, a easily torn asunder. Hickory is a flaccid muscle. tough wood. The gristly portions of meat are tough.

13. Of Stiffness.

TENDER, free from toughness; as,

15. Of Fluidity.

STIFF bodies are such as are not tender meat. easily bent. Fig. Wanting in those graces which depend upon a perfect flexibility of the various joints of the body; as, stiff manners.

RIGEO, to be stiff. (L.) Hence, Rigid, stiff. Fig. Not bending (or yielding) in the way of kindness or indulgence; as, a rigid master; a rigid rule; rigid justice.

Rigor, stiffness. (Not used by

recent writers in the literal sense. Fig. The unbending strictness of fixed rules. Courts of Equity relax the rigor of the common law.

14. Of Toughness.

A FLUID is a substance whose particles move freely among themselves. (L. fuo, to flow.)

NOTE.-Fluids are of two classes, namely:

liquids, such as water, oil, etc.; and gases,

which resemble air in their form.

LIQUIDS are fluids which possess are but but little elasticity, and slightly compressible.

NOTE. In liquids a slight degree of cohesion exists between the particles.

Gases are fluids, air-like in form, compressible, and permanently elas

tic.

NOTE. The gases are entirely destitute of TOUGH bodies are such as are not cohesive attraction.

OF THE VARIOUS MODES OF OVERCOMING THE FORCE OF COHESION.

1. To Break.

To BREAK is to separate the parts of a solid body by pressure, or by a sudden blow.

To CRACK is slightly and partially A Breach is, 1. A broken place; to separate the parts of a solid body. as, a breach in a wall. 2. An act A Crack is a slight and partial of breaking; as, a breach of the peace; separation of the parts of a solid a breach of good manners. (From body.

break.)

A CREVICE is an opening formed

FRANGO [fractum], to break. (L.) by the separation of the parts of a solid body; as, a crevice in a wall.

Hence,

Fracture, a breaking; as, the fracture of a bone.

Fraction, a broken number; as,
Fragment, a piece broken from a

mass.

Fragile, easily broken. Thin glass is fragile.

Frail, not adapted to withstand violence; as, a frail bark; a frail human body. (Contraction of fragile.)

Infringe, to break; as, to infringe a contract or law. We should not infringe upon the rights of others.

Frangible, that may be broken.
Infrangible, that can not be broken.

A CREVASSE is a breach formed by the breaking of the water through the levees on the banks of the Mississippi. (Fr., crêver, to split.)

A CHINK is a long, narrow opening in a wall, either existing in the original construction, or formed by the shrinking of the parts.

To SHATTER is, by sudden violence, partially to separate the parts of a brittle solid by crevices running in various directions.

TO SHIVER is to separate into small fragments or splinters. Lightning sometimes shivers a large tree.

TO CRUSH is to break into small

X

TO SPLIT-TO TEAR-TO WEAR.

25

fragments, either by pressure or by departure, the continuance of the person's stay is suddenly and unexpectedly broken off.

beating.

A CRUMB is a small portion of a

friable solid.

2. To Split.

To SPLIT is, 1. To separate a

To Crumble is, 1. To break into crumbs. 2. To separate spontaneous- solid body lengthwise; as, to split a ly into crumbs or small pieces. bar of iron. 2. To separate a fibrous CONTERO [contritum], to crush. body in the direction of the fibres; (L.) Hence, as, to split a log of wood. 3. To separate, as a crystal, in the direction of the natural cleavage. 4. To separate a mass, as a rock, in any direction.

Contrite, broken or crushed in a moral sense; as, a contrite heart; that is, a heart broken by sorrow for sin.

Contrition, a state of brokenheartedness on account of sins committed.

TO PULVERIZE is to reduce to powder. (L., pulvis, dust.)

To GRIND is to reduce to small particles by friction.

To TRITURATE is to reduce to a fine powder by continued friction.

NOTE. The apothecary triturates substances in a mortar.

TO LEVIGATE is to reduce by grind-| ing or trituration to an impalpable or smooth powder. (L., lævis, smooth.)

To BURST is to break by a force acting from within in an outward direction, as by the force of gunpowder or steam.

RUMPO [ruptum], to break or burst. (L.) Hence,

Rupture, a breaking or bursting; as, the rupture of a string; the rupture of a blood vessel; a rupture of the skin. Fig. A breach of peace or concord between individuals or nations.

Disruption, 1. The act of breaking asunder. 2. A breach. (dis, asunder.)

To CLEAVE is to split.

A Cleft is a vacant space formed by the splitting apart of a solid mass; as, a cleft in a rock.

Cleavage is the capability observed in crystals to undergo mechanical division in certain fixed directions.

To RIVE is to split; as, to rive shingles. The oak was riven by the lightning.

FINDO [fissum], to split. (L.)
Hence,

Fissile, that may be split.
Fissility, capability of being split.
Fissure, a cleft; as, a fissure in a

rock.

3. To Tear.

To TEAR is to separate the parts of a tenacious body by pulling or other violence.

TATTERS are parts of a garment partially separated by tearing.

TO LACERATE is to tear, as the skin or flesh. In a fig. sense we speak of the laceration of the heart.

To Rend is to separate the parts of a body either by tearing or bursting. A garment may be rent. A blast of gunpowder rends a rock.

4. To Wear.

Abrupt, lit., broken short off.
Hence, 1. Steep; as, an abrupt pre- To WEAR is to diminish the bulk
cipice. 2. Broken by sudden transi- of a body by removing small par-
tions; as, an abrupt style. 3. Sud- ticles by friction.

den, or without notice to prepare To ABRADE is to remove particles
the mind for the event; as, an from the surface of a body by fric
abrupt entrance; an abrupt depart- tion. (L., ab, from; and rado, [ra-
ure. (ab, off.)
sum], to scrape.)

NOTE. The expression, an abrupt precipice,
conveys the idea that the rocks had once ex-

tended further, but had been broken off by some
convulsion of nature. In the case of an abrupt

Abrasion, the act of removing particles from the surface of a body by friction.

5. To Cut.

To CUT is to sever the parts of a solid body by means of an edged instrument.

(From the obsolete noun whittle, a knife.)

SECO [sectum], to cut. (L.) Hence, Section, 1. A part separated from TO HACK is to cut slightly with the rest by a cutting either real or frequent blows. imaginary. The trunk of a tree may To Haggle is to cut irregularly be divided into several sections by and unskillfully. A boy haggles a cutting it with a saw. Geographical stick with a dull knife. A human lines may cut up the surface of a body may be haggled by repeated country into sections. 2. A division strokes of a sword. (Freq. of hack.) of a chapter, of a law, or of any inTo HEW is, 1. To separate external strument of writing.

portions by cutting; as to hew tim- Dissect, to cut apart. (Applied to ber with an ax, for the purpose of the use of the knife in anatomical forming a smooth surface. 2. To investigations.) (L. dis, apart.) shape with a chisel; as, to hew stone. Intersect, to cut each other mutwo lines which cross To Hew off is to separate by cut-tually, as ting; as, to hew off the branches of a

meat or straw.

To Chop off is to sever with an ax or other heavy cutting instrument. A CHIP is a small portion severed from a hard body by cutting. (From chop.)

To Chip is to cut a hard substance into small pieces.

TO MINCE is to cut into fine pieces; as, to mince meat. (Fr., mince, fine.) To SHAVE is to cut off any external growth close to the surface; as, to shave the beard; to shave the bark from a stick of wood. 2. To remove. thin and ribbon-like slices from the surface, as a joiner does in planing

a board.

To PARE is to remove the outside or the extremities by cutting; as, to pare an apple; to pare the nails.

To SHEAR is to separate wool or hair from the skin of an animal, or to shorten the nap of cloth by means of a two-bladed instrument called a pair of shears.

To CLIP is to cut with shears or scissors; as, to clip the hair; to clip the wings.

TO WHITTLE is to cut off small pieces from a hard body with a knife.

each other. (inter, mutually.)
Insect, any living creature resem-
bling the bee or the ant in form.

NOTE. The term insect refers to the circumstance of the body of the creature being appar

ently cut into, and almost divided into two parts. SCINDO [scissum], to cut. (L.) Hence,

Rescind, to cut off. (Not used in the literal sense.) Fig. To annul or reverse; as, to rescind a law, a resolution, a vote, a decree, etc.

NOTE. In rescinding a resolution, etc., the body which passed it cuts it off, as it were, from the record of their proceedings.

Rescission, the act of annulling or reversing. (re, off)

CEDO [caesum], to cut. (L.) Hence, Incision, 1. The act of cutting in. A cut. A surgeon makes an incision in the flesh.

2.

Precise, lit., cut off at the end. (Not used in the lit. sense.) Fig. Exact; as, precise rules; precise directions. (pra, at the end.)

NOTE.-Precise rules or directions are cut, as

it were, to correspond to some definite measure of length.

Precision, exactness. Eclipses are calculated with great precision.

Preciseness, a disposition to be exact, or the practice of being exact; as, preciseness in the distribution of time.

Concise, lit., closely trimmed by cutting. (Not used in the lit. sense.) Fig. Pruned of all superfluous words; as, a concise style.

TRANCHER, to cut. (Fr.) Hence, earth, has become penetrated with

Trench, a ditch, (from its being formed by cutting the earth.)

Intrench, to secure by cutting a trench around.

To Intrench on, lit., to cut into. Hence, fig. To encroach upon; as, to intrench upon the rights of others. (in, upon.)

Retrench, to cut away that which is excessive or superfluous; as, to retrench the luxuriance of a vine by To PIERCE is, 1. To enter, as a pruning; to retrench a composition of exuberant words or sentences; to pointed instrument, by separating retrench one's expenses, (re, away.) and pushing aside the substance of TO CARVE is, 1. To cut into small the body pierced. 2. To force a pieces, as meat at table. 2. To cut way through any thing. A bullet wood, stone, or other material into may pierce a board.