stichometrical

[English stichometr(y); -ical. ] Of or pertaining to stichometry; characterized by stichs or lines. stich-om-ě-try, s. [ Gr.stichos =arow, a line, a verse, and metron =a measure.] 1. Measurement or length of books as ascertained by the number of verses contained in each book. [STICH, II.] 2. A division of the text of books into lines accommodated to the sense; a practice followed before punctuation was adopted. [GNOMOMETRY.] stich-o-myth, s. [ Gr.stichomythia .] Greek Plays: A conversation in alternate lines. stich-ot-rich-a, s. [Pref.sticho-, and Gr. thrix (gen it. trichos )=hair.] Zoology : A genus of Oxytrichide, with five species from salt and fresh-water. Animalcules elongate, elastic and changeable in form, often excreting and inhabiting a mucilaginous or granular sheath, the anterior half of the body when protruded from this sheath usually twisted like a screw. stick, *steke, *sticke, *stike, *styke (pa. t. * stak , * sticked , stuck , pa. par. * steken , * stiken , * stoke , *stoken, stuck), v. t. & i. [ A.S.stecan , a strong verb (pa. t. stæc , pa. par. stecen , stocen ); cogn. with Low Ger. steken to pierce, stick (pa. t. stak , pa. par. steken ); Ger. stechen =to sting, to pierce, stick, stab ( pa.t.stach , pa. par. gestochen). Also A. S. stician , a weak verb (pa. t. sticode ); cogn, with Dut. steken to stick; Icel. stika to drive piles; Dan. stikke to stab; Sw.stikka =to stab, to sting, to prick; Ger. stecken to stick, to set, to plant. Sting is a nasal ized, and stitch a softened form of stick .] A. Transitive: I. Ordinary Language: IMG:content-0293.png:[blocks in formation] *10. To scruple, to hesitate. "Aristotle sticked not to affirm that the world neither began, nor yet shall end."- Swan : Speculum Mundi, ch. i., § 1. *11. To cause difficulty, trouble, or embarra ment. "This is the difficulty that sticks with the most reasonable of those who, from conscience, refuse to join with the revolution."- Swift . (1) To stick expre es more than to cleave; things are made to stick either by incision into the substance, or through the intervention of some glutinous matter; they are made to cleave by the intervention of some foreign body; what sticks , therefore, becomes so fast joined as to render the bodies inseparable; what cleaves is le tightly bound, and more easily separable. Two pieces of clay will stick together by the incorporation of the substance in the two parts; paper is made to stick to paper by means of glue; the tongue in a certain state will cleave to the roof. Stick is seldom employed in the moral sense, except in familiar and inelegant style; cleave is peculiarly proper in the moral acceptation. (2) For the difference between to stick and to fix , see Fix. IMG:content-0294.png:[blocks in formation] IMG:content-0295.png:[blocks in formation] "A codpiece to stick pins on." Shakesp.: Two Gentlemen, ii. 7. 4. To fasten or attach by causing to adhere to the surface; as, to stick a stamp on a letter. 5. To fasten or attach in any manner. " Stick your rosemary on this fair corse." Shakesp.: Romeo and Juliet, iv. 5. 6. To fasten, to fix, to place, to settle, to set. "I stuck my choice upon her." Shakesp.: All's Well that Ends Well, v. 3. 7. To set; to fix in; hence, to set with something stuck in or pointed; to furnish by inserting in the surface; as, to stick a cushion full of pins. 8. To fix on a pointed instrument; as, to stick an apple on a fork. 9. To take advantage of one's ignorance or innocence; as, to stick one in a trade. II. Technically : 1. Print .: To compose or arrange in a composing. stick; as, to stick type. 2. Wood-work.: To plane, as the moldings on sashbars and rails. "We are your only friends; stick by us, and we will stick by you." -Davenant . *(2) To be troublesome by adhering. "I am satisfied to trifle away my time, rather than let it stick by me." -Pope : Letters. IMG:content-0296.png:[blocks in formation] (1) To adhere closely; to be constant to; to stick by. (2) To be persevering in holding to, or in continuing at; to abide or continue firmly and steadily at. "Two gentlemen, fishing at Alder mast on, stuck to it all day."- Field , Oct. 3, 1865. 4. To stick up: (1) To stand on end; to a ume an erect position; to stand up; as, His hair sticks up . (2) To run into debt for; to run credit for; as, to stick up a suit of clothes. (Slang.) (3) To put a stop to; to cause to fail; as, to stick up a game. (4) To attack and plunder. ( Australian slang.) "Having attacked, or in Australian phrase, stuck up the station, and made prisoners of all the inmates," Leisure Hour , March, 1885, р. 192. 5. To stick up for : To maintain the cause of; to fight or contend for; as, to stick up for one's rights. pine, pit, sire, sir, marine; gō, pot, IMG:content-0297.png:[blocks in formation] IMG:content-0298.png:[blocks in formation] IMG:content-0299.png:[blocks in formation] 1. ( Pl .): The same as STICKING-PIECE (q. v.). 2. Carp .: The act of running or striking a mold- ing with a molding-plane. stickit-minister, s. A clerical student or pro- bationer disqualified for the ministerial office from imbecility or immoral conduct; spec., one who breaks down on endeavoring to deliver his first ser- mon, and never has the courage to attempt a sec- ond. ( Scotch .) "But, alas! partly from his own bashfulne , partly owing to a strong and obvious disposition to risibility which pervaded the congregation upon his first attempt, he became totally incapable of proceeding in his intended discourse-gasped, grinned, hideously rolled his eyes till the congregation thought them flying out of his head IMG:content-0300.png:[blocks in formation] ling upon the old women who generally take their station there and was ever after designated a stickit -minister." -Scott: Guy Manner ing, ch. ii. *stic-kle, v . i. & t. [O. Eng. stightle =to rule.] A. Intransitive : 1. Orig .: To interfere, as seconds were accustomed to do, in a duel, when the principals were imagined to have satisfied the laws of honor. It is supposed they bore sticks, wands, or scepters, as symbols of their authority. Sometimes also, quarreling with "The same angel (in Ta o], when half of the Chris- tians are already killed, and all the rest are in a fair way of being routed, stickles betwixt the remainders of God's hosts and the race of fiends, pulls the devils backward by the tails, and drives them from their quarry."-Dryden: Juvenal. (Dedic.) 2. To take part with one side or the other. 3. To contend, contest, or altercate pertinaciously or obstinately on insufficient grounds; to stick up pertinaciously or obstinately for some trifle. "The presbyter and independent, IMG:content-0301.png:[blocks in formation] "Where stif the hand, and still the tongue, Of those who fought, and spoke, and sung." Scott : Marmion , i. (Introd.) 2. Not liquid or fluid; not easily yielding to the touch; thick and tenacious; not soft nor hard. "Mingling with that oily liquor, they were wholly in- corporate, and so grew more stiff and firm, making but one 7. Rigidly ceremonious, formal, precise, constrained, affected, starched. "The French are open, familiar, and talkative; the Italians stiff , ceremonious, and reserved."- Add is on : On Italy . *8. Not easily subdued; firm or resolute in resistance or perseverance; obstinate, stubborn, pertinacious. "A war ensues, the Cretans own their cause, Stiff to defend their hospitable laws." Dryden: Cymon and Iphigenia , 634. 9. Impetuous in motion, strong, violent. "The stiffer gales Rise on the poop und fully stretch the sails." Pope: Homer's Ody ey, iv. 483. 10. Strong; as, a stiff tumbler of punch. 11. Heavy, costly; as, He paid a stiff price for it. (Slang.) 12. Dear, high-priced. ( Comm . Slang .) "Yarns were very stiff ."-London Daily Chronicle. *13. Harsh, grating, disagreeable. "This is stif news." Shakesp.: Antony and Cleopatra , i. 2. 14. Severe, hard, strict; as, a stiff examination. ( Colloq .) II. Naut .: Bearing a pre of canvas without careening; as, a stiff ve el. (Opposed to crank .) B. As substantive: IMG:content-0302.png:[blocks in formation] Ornith.: The genus Erismatura, with six species from America, the south-east of Europe, and Africa. The tail-feathers are narrow, pointed, and extremely rigid, and not covered at the base by the upper tail-coverts. *stiff, v . i . [STIFF, a.] To be stiff; to persevere. "Dido affrighted stift also in her obstinate onset." Stanyhurst: Virgil's Æneid, iv. 690. stiff-en, *stifne, v. t. & i. [Sw. stifna; Danish stivne; Dut. stijven; Ger. steifen.] [STIFLE.] A. Transitive: 3858 *2. To become more thick or le soft; to become inspi ated; to approach to hardne . *3. To become more obstinate or stubborn; to grow le susceptive of impre ion; to become le tender or yielding. "Some souls we see Grow hard and stiffen with adversity." Dryden. ( Todd .) 4. To become violent, strong, or impetuous; to increase in strength or violence; as, A breeze stiffens . 5. To become higher, to rise; as, Prices stiffen . stiff-en-er, s. [Eng. stiffen ; -er. One who or that which stiffens; spec if., a piece of stiff material inside a neckcloth. stiff-en-ing, pr. par., a. & 8. [STIFFEN.] A. & B. As pr. par. & particip . adj .: (See the verb.) C. As substantive: 1. The act of making stiff; the state of becoming stiff or stiffer. 2. Something used to make a substance stiff or more stiff. stiffening-girder, s . A tru girder which distributes the weight of the platform and load upon the suspension-chain and prevents undulations.