n. [ OF. error, errur, F. erreur, L. error, fr. errare to err. See Err. ] 1. A wandering; a roving or irregular course. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The rest of his journey, his error by sea. B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A wandering or deviation from the right course or standard; irregularity; mistake; inaccuracy; something made wrong or left wrong; as, an error in writing or in printing; a clerical error. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A departing or deviation from the truth; falsity; false notion; wrong opinion; mistake; misapprehension. [ 1913 Webster ]

His judgment was often in error, though his candor remained unimpaired. Bancroft. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A moral offense; violation of duty; a sin or transgression; iniquity; fault. Ps. xix. 12. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Math.) The difference between the approximate result and the true result; -- used particularly in the rule of double position. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Mensuration) (a) The difference between an observed value and the true value of a quantity. (b) The difference between the observed value of a quantity and that which is taken or computed to be the true value; -- sometimes called residual error. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. (Law.) A mistake in the proceedings of a court of record in matters of law or of fact. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. (Baseball) A fault of a player of the side in the field which results in failure to put out a player on the other side, or gives him an unearned base. [ 1913 Webster ]

Law of error, or
Law of frequency of error (Mensuration), the law which expresses the relation between the magnitude of an error and the frequency with which that error will be committed in making a large number of careful measurements of a quantity. --
Probable error. (Mensuration) See under Probable. --
Writ of error (Law), an original writ, which lies after judgment in an action at law, in a court of record, to correct some alleged error in the proceedings, or in the judgment of the court. Bouvier. Burrill.

Syn. -- Mistake; fault; blunder; failure; fallacy; delusion; hallucination; sin. See Blunder. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Full of error; wrong. Foxe. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who encourages and propagates error; one who holds to error. [ 1913 Webster ]

. (Med.) A sudden awakening associated with a sensation of terror, occurring in children, esp. those of unstable nervous constitution. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ L. terror, akin to terrere to frighten, for tersere; akin to Gr. &unr_; to flee away, dread, Skr. tras to tremble, to be afraid, Russ. triasti to shake: cf. F. terreur. Cf. Deter. ] 1. Extreme fear; fear that agitates body and mind; violent dread; fright. [ 1913 Webster ]

Terror seized the rebel host. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That which excites dread; a cause of extreme fear. [ 1913 Webster ]

Those enormous terrors of the Nile. Prior. [ 1913 Webster ]

Rulers are not a terror to good works. Rom. xiii. 3. [ 1913 Webster ]

There is no terror, Cassius, in your threats. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Terror is used in the formation of compounds which are generally self-explaining: as, terror-fraught, terror-giving, terror-smitten, terror-stricken, terror-struck, and the like. [ 1913 Webster ]

King of terrors, death. Job xviii. 14. --
Reign of Terror. (French Hist.) See in Dictionary of Noted Names in Fiction. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Alarm; fright; consternation; dread; dismay. See Alarm. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. terrorisme. ] 1. The act of terrorizing, or state of being terrorized; a mode of government by terror or intimidation. Jefferson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The practise of coercing governments to accede to political demands by committing violence on civilian targets; any similar use of violence to achieve goals. [ PJC ]

n. [ F. terroriste. ] 1. One who governs by terrorism or intimidation; specifically, an agent or partisan of the revolutionary tribunal during the Reign of Terror in France. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One who commits terrorism{ 2 }. [ PJC ]

v. t. [ Cf. F. terroriser. ] To impress with terror; to coerce by intimidation. [ 1913 Webster ]

Humiliated by the tyranny of foreign despotism, and terrorized by ecclesiastical authority. J. A. Symonds. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Free from terror. Poe. [ 1913 Webster ]

The method of discovering something desirable by trying many different things until one works; as, the traditional method of finding new drugs is by trial and error. [ PJC ]

And millions miss for one that hits. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]