constable, cones table

[ Dan.const a bel; O. Fr. & Prov. cones table; Sp. con des table; Port. cond est avel; Ital. cone stabile; Low. Lat. conestab ulus, from comes stabuli =(lit.) count of the stable.] [Ι. 1 (1).] I. Formerly: 1. On the Continent: hereditary commanders to the army as an indirect means of dismi ing the commanders themselves. When, in 1522, the then existing Duke of Bucking ham was attainted for high treason, the manors themselves were confiscated to the Crown. Modern Times: In this country there are in the different states various degrees of dignity attached to the office of constable, but in all he is an officer belonging to the police department, and in most of them is charged with the execution of the minor mandates of the judiciary, the sheriff being usually the chief police officer and performing the acts of greater importance commanded by the courts. In some places the functions of the constable are confined to civil causes, while in others he has both a criminal and a civil sphere. In England a constable is a conservator of the peace within his district, and serves warrants, summonses, . Special constables are respectable citizens sworn in to aid the regular police force to keep order on occasions of special danger. III. A large gla , the contents of which one is obliged to drink, if in company he did not drink fair ; that is, did not drink as much as the rest of the company. (Scotch.) To outrun the constable , to overrun the constable: To spend more than one can afford. ( Inelegant .) con-stăb-ler-ỹ, côn-sta-bler-le, *con-stabil-rie, s. [O. Ital.con est a bole ria .] [CONSTABLE.] 1. The office, position, or duties of a guardian or constable. "Ye will take the constabilrie of myn housholde and of all the lordship of my londe after me."- Merlin , I. ii. 373. 2. The body collectively of constables. 3. The jurisdiction or district of a constable. con'-sta-ble-ship, s. [Eng. constable; -ship.] The office or position of a constable. "This keepership is annexed to the constableship of the castle, and that granted out in lease." -Carew: Survey of Cornwall.