defiance (defians)

[ Major Holmes, who I perceive would fain get to be free and friends with my wife, but I shall prevent it, and she herself hath also a defyance against him. Pepys , Diary, I. 245. 2. The act of one who defies; a challenge to fight; an invitation to combat; a call to an adversary to fight if he dare. As two contentious Kings, that, on each little jar, Defiances send forth, proclaiming open war. Drayton, Polyolbion, iii. 100. He then commanded his trumpeter to sound a defiance to his challengers. Scott . 3. A challenge to meet in any contest; a call upon one to make good any a ertion or charge; an invitation to maintain any cause or point.4. Contempt of opposition or danger; a daring or resistance that implies contempt of an adversary, or disregard of any opposing force: as, he pre ed forward in defiance of the storm. Pride in their port, defiance in their eye, I see the lords of human kind pa by. Goldsmith, Traveller, 1. 327. Their towers that looked defiance at the sky, Fallen by their own vast weight, in fragments lie. Bryant , Ruins of Italic a. It is one thing to like defiance , and another thing to like its consequences. George Eliot , Middle march, II. 41. To bid defiance to, or to set at defiance, to defy; brave: as, to bid defiance to ridicule or criticism; to set public opinion at defiance. Granville. He bids defiance to the gaping crowd. specifically, pertaining to the vas deferens, or defiant (de-fi'ant), a. [OF. defiant, deffiant, deferent duct of the testes. The deferential end of the testicular tube opens into a sac close to the anus. Huxley , Anat. Invert., p. 548. deferentially (def-e-ren's hal-i), adv . In a deferential manner; with deference. And did Sir Aylmer ( deferentially With nearing chair and lower'd accent) think - For people talk'd - that it was wholly wise? Tennyson, Aylmer's Field. deferment (dē-fer'ment), n. [ defer2 +-ment.] A putting off; postponement. But, sir, my grief, joined with the instant busine , Begs a deferment . Sint Jusuckling , deferrer (de-fer'er), n . [ deferrer , long in hope, grown numb With sloth, yet greedy still of what's to come. B. Jonson, tr. of Horace's Art of Poetry. F. défiant = Pr. desfiant = OSp. desfiante = It. diffidente, disfidante, OF. defier, F. défier, defy: see defy, diffide, and cf. diffident, ult. a doublet of defiant.] Characterized by defiance, or bold opposition or antagonism; challenging. He spoke first to Mary Stuart, who, half frightened, half defiant, found herself on the edge of a conflict to which her own resources were manifestly inadequate. Froude, Hist. Eng., Reign of Elizabeth, ix. defiantly (de-fi'ant-li), adv. In a defiant manner; with defiance. defiantne (de-fi'ant-nes), n. The state or quality of being defiant. quick defiantne . He answered, not raising his voice, but speaking with George Eliot, Middle march, Ixi. defiatoryt (de-fi'a-to-ri), a. [Improp. defy + boil thoroughly, de, down, + fervere, boil: -ut-ory.] Bidding or bearing defiance. see fervent.] To boil down. Defrut, carene, and sape in oon manere Of must is made. Defrut of deferryng Til thicke. Palladius , Husbondrie (E. E. T. S.), p. 204. defervescence, defervescency (de-fer-ves'ens, -en-si), n. [ defervescen (t-)s, ppr. of defer vescere, cease boiling, cool down, abate, de , off, + fervescere , inceptive of fervere , boil: see fervent .] 1. Abatement of heat; the state Letters defiatory . Shelford , Learned Discourses (1632), p. 276. defibrinate (dē-fi'bri-nāt), v. t.; pret. and pp. defibrinated , ppr. defibrinating . [ fibrin + -ate .] To defibrinize.