size

n. [ OIt. sisa glue used by painters, shortened fr. assisa, fr. assidere, p. p. assiso, to make to sit, to seat, to place, L. assidere to sit down; ad + sidere to sit down, akin to sedere to sit. See Sit, v. i., and cf. Assize, Size bulk. ] 1. A thin, weak glue used in various trades, as in painting, bookbinding, paper making, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Any viscous substance, as gilder's varnish. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Sice, and Sise. ] Six. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Sized p. pr. & vb. n. Sizing. ] To cover with size; to prepare with size. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Abbrev. from assize. See Assize, and cf. Size glue. ] 1. A settled quantity or allowance. See Assize. [ Obs. ] “To scant my sizes.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Univ. of Cambridge, Eng.) An allowance of food and drink from the buttery, aside from the regular dinner at commons; -- corresponding to battel at Oxford. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Extent of superficies or volume; bulk; bigness; magnitude; as, the size of a tree or of a mast; the size of a ship or of a rock. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Figurative bulk; condition as to rank, ability, character, etc.; as, the office demands a man of larger size. [ 1913 Webster ]

Men of a less size and quality. L'Estrange. [ 1913 Webster ]

The middling or lower size of people. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A conventional relative measure of dimension, as for shoes, gloves, and other articles made up for sale. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. An instrument consisting of a number of perforated gauges fastened together at one end by a rivet, -- used for ascertaining the size of pearls. Knight. [ 1913 Webster ]

Size roll, a small piese of parchment added to a roll. --
Size stick, a measuring stick used by shoemakers for ascertaining the size of the foot. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Dimension; bigness; largeness; greatness; magnitude. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To fix the standard of. “To size weights and measures.” [ R. ] Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To adjust or arrange according to size or bulk. Specifically: (a) (Mil.) To take the height of men, in order to place them in the ranks according to their stature. (b) (Mining) To sift, as pieces of ore or metal, in order to separate the finer from the coarser parts. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To swell; to increase the bulk of. Beau. & Fl. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Mech.) To bring or adjust anything exactly to a required dimension, as by cutting. [ 1913 Webster ]

To size up, to estimate or ascertain the character and ability of. See 4th Size, 4. [ Slang, U.S. ] [ 1913 Webster ] We had to size up our fellow legislators. The Century. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To take greater size; to increase in size. [ 1913 Webster ]

Our desires give them fashion, and so,
As they wax lesser, fall, as they size, grow. Donne. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Univ. of Cambridge, Eng.) To order food or drink from the buttery; hence, to enter a score, as upon the buttery book. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Adjusted according to size. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Having a particular size or magnitude; -- chiefly used in compounds; as, large-sized; common-sized. [ 1913 Webster ]