%seng%

v. i. To release one's self; to become detached; to free one's self. [ 1913 Webster ]

From a friends's grave how soon we disengage! Young. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Not engaged; free from engagement; at leisure; free from occupation or care; vacant. -- Dis`en*ga"ged*ness n. [1913 Webster]

n. [ Pref. dis- + engagement: cf. F. désengagement. ] 1. The act of disengaging or setting free, or the state of being disengaged. [ 1913 Webster ]

It is easy to render this disengagement of caloric and light evident to the senses. Transl. of Lavoisier. [ 1913 Webster ]

A disengagement from earthly trammels. Sir W. Jones. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Freedom from engrossing occupation; leisure. [ 1913 Webster ]

Disengagement is absolutely necessary to enjoyment. Bp. Butler. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Loosing; setting free; detaching. [ 1913 Webster ]

Disengaging machinery. See under Engaging. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Chinese. ] (Bot.) A plant of the genus Aralia, the root of which is highly valued as a medicine among the Chinese. The Chinese plant (Aralia Schinseng) has become so rare that the American (A. quinquefolia) has largely taken its place, and its root is now an article of export from America to China. The root, when dry, is of a yellowish white color, with a sweetness in the taste somewhat resembling that of licorice, combined with a slight aromatic bitterness. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. losengier, losengeor, fr. losengier to deceive, flatter, losenge, flattery, Pr. lauzenga, fr. L. laus praise. Cf. Lozenge. ] A flatterer; a deceiver; a cozener. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

To a fair pair of gallows, there to end their lives with shame, as a number of such other losengers had done. Holinshed. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. ] Flattery; deceit; trickery. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. messager, OF. messagier, F. messager. See Message. ] 1. One who bears a message; the bearer of a verbal or written communication, notice, or invitation, from one person to another, or to a public body; specifically, an office servant who bears messages. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One who, or that which, foreshows, or foretells. [ 1913 Webster ]

Yon gray lines
That fret the clouds are messengers of day. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Naut.) A hawser passed round the capstan, and having its two ends lashed together to form an endless rope or chain; -- formerly used for heaving in the cable. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Law) A person appointed to perform certain ministerial duties under bankrupt and insolvent laws, such as to take charge of the estate of the bankrupt or insolvent. Bouvier. Tomlins. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Carrier; intelligencer; courier; harbinger; forerunner; precursor; herald. [ 1913 Webster ]

Messenger bird, the secretary bird, from its swiftness. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) The wild or bezoar goat. See Goat. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. & F. passager. See Passage, and cf. Messenger. ] 1. A passer or passer-by; a wayfarer. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A traveler by some established conveyance, as a coach, steamboat, railroad train, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

Passenger falcon (Zool.), a migratory hawk. Ainsworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

. (Railroads) A unit of measurement of the passenger transportation performed by a railroad during a given period, usually a year, the total of which consists of the sum of the miles traversed by all the passengers on the road in the period in question. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

. (Railroads) Passenger miles collectively; the total number of miles traveled by passengers on a railroad during a given period. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

(Zool.), A once common wild pigeon of North America (Ectopistes migratorius), now extinct. It was so called on account of its extensive migrations. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

☞ The passenger pigeon presents a striking example of how dramatic a negative influence man can have on other species. The population of the passenger pigeon is estimated to have been at one time as high as five billion in North America, but over a period of about one hundred years large scale hunting for use as food and killing for “sport” reduced the numbers below that necessary to sustain existence of the species. At one time over 200, 000 birds were shipped to the food markets in one day. The last wild pigeon is believed to have died in 1900, and the last bird in captivity died in 1914. It is a rare example of the date of a man-made extinction being recorded with certainty. [ PJC ]

v. t. To singe. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]