a. [ From L. clausula. See Clause, n. ] Consisting of, or having, clauses. Smart. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. [ L. clausura. See Closure. ] The act of shutting up or confining; confinement. [ R. ] Geddes. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. [ L. fusura, fr. fundere, fusum. See Fuse, v. t. ] Act of fusing; fusion. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]
n. [ L. insusurratio, fr. insusurrare to whisper into. ] The act of whispering into something. [ Obs. ] Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]
‖pos>n. [ L., fr. lusus sport + naturae, gen. of natura nature. ] Sport or freak of nature; a deformed or unnatural production. [ 1913 Webster ]
‖ [ L. ] (Internat. Law) Lit., closed sea; hence, a body of water within the separate jurisdiction of the nation; -- opposed to
n. (Zool.) See Soosoo. [ 1913 Webster ]
a. [ L. susurrans, p. pr. from susurrare to whisper. ] Whispering. [ R. ] “The soft susurrant sigh.” Poetry of Anti-Jacobin. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. [ L. susurratio, fr. susurrare to whisper: cf. F. susurration. ] A whispering; a soft murmur. “Soft susurrations of the trees.” Howell. [ 1913 Webster ]
adv. In the manner of a whisper. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]
a. [ L. susurrus. ] Whispering; rustling; full of whispering sounds. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]
‖n. [ L. ] The act of whispering; a whisper; a murmur. De Quincey. [ 1913 Webster ]
The soft susurrus and sighs of the branches. Longfellow. [ 1913 Webster ]
a. Not usual; uncommon; rare;
n. Unusualness. Poe. [ 1913 Webster ]
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a. [ L. usualis, from usus use: cf. F. usuel. See Use, n. ] Such as is in common use; such as occurs in ordinary practice, or in the ordinary course of events; customary; ordinary; habitual; common. [ 1913 Webster ]
Consultation with oracles was a thing very usual and frequent in their times. Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]
We can make friends of these usual enemies. Baxter. [ 1913 Webster ]
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n. [ L. usucapere, usucaptum, to acquire by long use; usu (ablative of usus use) + capere to take: cf. usucapio usucaption. ] (Roman Law) The acquisition of the title or right to property by the uninterrupted possession of it for a certain term prescribed by law; -- the same as
n. [ L. usufructus, ususfructus, usus et fructus; usus use + fructus fruit. ] (Law) The right of using and enjoying the profits of an estate or other thing belonging to another, without impairing the substance. Burrill. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. [ L. usufructuarius. ] (Law) A person who has the use of property and reaps the profits of it. Wharton. [ 1913 Webster ]
a. (Law) Of or pertaining to a usufruct; having the nature of a usufruct. [ 1913 Webster ]
The ordinary graces bequeathed by Christ to his church, as the usufructuary property of all its members. Coleridge. [ 1913 Webster ]
v. i.
I usured not ne to me usured any man. Wyclif (Jer. xv. 10). [ 1913 Webster ]
n. [ F. ] Usury. [ Obs. ] Wyclif. [ 1913 Webster ]
Foul usure and lucre of villainy. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. [ F. usurier, LL. usurarius. See Usury, and cf. Usurarious. ] [ 1913 Webster ]
If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as a usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury. Ex. xxii. 25. [ 1913 Webster ]
He was wont to call me usurer. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]
a. [ From Usury. ] [ 1913 Webster ]
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v. t.
Alack, thou dost usurp authority. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]
Another revolution, to get rid of this illegitimate and usurped government, would of course be perfectly justifiable. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]
☞ Usurp is applied to seizure and use of office, functions, powers, rights, etc.; it is not applied to common dispossession of private property. [ 1913 Webster ]
v. i. To commit forcible seizure of place, power, functions, or the like, without right; to commit unjust encroachments; to be, or act as, a usurper. [ 1913 Webster ]
The parish churches on which the Presbyterians and fanatics had usurped. Evelyn. [ 1913 Webster ]
And now the Spirits of the Mind
Are busy with poor Peter Bell;
Upon the rights of visual sense
Usurping, with a prevalence
More terrible than magic spell. Wordsworth. [ 1913 Webster ]
a. [ L. usurpans, p. pr. ] Usurping; encroaching. [ Obs. ] Gauden. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. [ L. usurpatio &unr_; making use, usurpation: cf. F. usurpation. ] [ 1913 Webster ]
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He contrived their destruction, with the usurpation of the regal dignity upon him. Sir T. More. [ 1913 Webster ]
A law [ of a State ] which is a usurpation upon the general government. O. Ellsworth. [ 1913 Webster ]
Manifest usurpation on the rights of other States. D. Webster. [ 1913 Webster ]
☞ Usurpation, in a peculiar sense, formerly denoted the absolute ouster and dispossession of the patron of a church, by a stranger presenting a clerk to a vacant benefice, who us thereupon admitted and instituted. [ 1913 Webster ]
a. [ L. usurpatorius. ] Marked by usurpation; usurping. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]
n. Usurpation. [ R. ] “Beneath man's usurpature.” R. Browning. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. One who usurps; especially, one who seizes illegally on sovereign power;
A crown will not want pretenders to claim it, not usurpers, if their power serves them, to possess it. South. [ 1913 Webster ]
adv. In a usurping manner. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. [ OE. usurie, usure, F. usure, L. usura use, usury, interest, fr. uti, p. p. usus, to use. See Use, v. t. ] [ 1913 Webster ]
Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother; usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of anything that is lent upon usury. Deut. xxiii. 19. [ 1913 Webster ]
Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchanges, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. Matt. xxv. 27. [ 1913 Webster ]
What he borrows from the ancients, he repays with usury of &unr_;&unr_;is own. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]
Usury . . . bringeth the treasure of a realm or state into a few &unr_;&unr_;nds. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]
☞ The practice of requiring in repayment of money lent anything more than the amount lent, was formerly thought to be a great moral wrong, and the greater, the more was taken. Now it is not deemed more wrong to take pay for the use of money than for the use of a house, or a horse, or any other property. But the lingering influence of the former opinion, together with the fact that the nature of money makes it easier for the lender to oppress the borrower, has caused nearly all Christian nations to fix by law the rate of compensation for the use of money. Of late years, however, the opinion that money should be borrowed and repaid, or bought and sold, upon whatever terms the parties should agree to, like any other property, has gained ground everywhere. Am. Cyc. [ 1913 Webster ]