n. (Bot.) The plant privet. [ Obs. ] Tusser. [ 1913 Webster ]
v. i. To pry. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]
imp. & p. p. of Pry. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. [ F., literally, pray God. ] A kneeling desk for prayers. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. Proof. [ Obs. ] Spenser. Lydgate. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. [ From Pry. ] One who pries; one who inquires narrowly and searches, or is inquisitive. [ 1913 Webster ]
So pragmatical a prier he is into divine secrets. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]
v. t. To ordain as priest. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. [ OE. prest, preost, AS. preóst, fr. L. presbyter, Gr. &unr_; elder, older, n., an elder, compar. of &unr_; an old man, the first syllable of which is probably akin to L. pristinus. Cf. Pristine, Presbyter. ] [ 1913 Webster ]
Then the priest of Jupiter . . . brought oxen and garlands . . . and would have done sacrifice with the people. Acts xiv. 13. [ 1913 Webster ]
Every priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. Heb. v. 1. [ 1913 Webster ]
☞ In the New Testament presbyters are not called priests; but Christ is designated as a priest, and as a high priest, and all Christians are designated priests. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. (Fort.) A form of redan, so named from its shape; -- called also
n. Priestly policy; the policy of a priesthood; esp., in an ill sense, fraud or imposition in religious concerns; management by priests to gain wealth and power by working upon the religious motives or credulity of others. [ 1913 Webster ]
It is better that men should be governed by priestcraft than by violence. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]