foreskin

[Pref. fore-, and Eng. skin (q. v.).] *före-speak' (2), v. t. [FORSPEAK.] 1. To bring bad luck upon by the use of evil words; to damn. "She threatens me wi' mischiefs and forespeaks me."Scott: Bride of Lammer moor, ch. xxxiv. 2. To forbid; to gainsay. *före-speak-er, s. [Eng. forespeak (1); -er.] 1. Ord. Lang.: One who speaks on behalf of an other; an introducer. "Be, as it were, fore speakers for his entertainment."Breton: Grimello's Fortunes, p. 10. 2. Scots Law: The foreman of a jury. före-speak-ing, s. [Pref. fore-, and English speaking (q. v.).] 1. A prediction; a prophecy; a prognostication. 2. A preface. *fö're-speech, *vore-spec he, s. [Pref. fore- , and Eng. speech (q. v.).] A preface. *före-speed', v . t . [Pref. fore , and Eng. speed (q. v.).] To surpa in speed; to outrun. countries comparatively barren. 3. Geol.: The influence of forests in the economy of nature is conservative. A covering of herbage and shrubs tends to protect a loose soil from being carried away by rain or even by the ordinary action of a river, and to prevent hills of looses and from being blown away by the wind. When trees, in a cold climate, on their fall obstruct the drainage of a forest. peat is in many cases generated, and peatbogs now mark the site of some old forests. Sometimes a depre ion of the land, a landslip, or some other cause, places a forest under the water. It is then said to be Submerged (q. v.). If the waters are those of the ocean, it is said to be Submarine (q. v.). In certain cases insects can destroy a forest by killing the trees of which it is composed. At certain spots a fo il or buried forest exists. Fo il forests are occasionally found in the coal measures. B. As adj .: Of or pertaining to a forest, as, forest trees; sylvan, rustic. "Like crowded forest trees we stand, And some are marked to fall." Cowper: Bill of Mortality. (1787.) Crabb thus discriminates between forest , chase , and park : "Forest, chase , and park are all habitations for animals of venery; but the forest is of the first magnitude and importance, it being a franchise and the property of the king; the chase and park may be either public or private property. The forest is so formed of wood, and covers such an extent of ground, that it may be the haunt of wild beasts; of this description are the forests in Germany; the chase is an indefinite and open space that is allotted expre ly for the chase of particular animals, such as deer; the park is an inclosed space that serves for the preservation of domestic animals." (Crabb: Eng. Synon.) Obvious compounds: Forest - bower ( Scott ), forest cave, forest-crowned and forest - walk ( Thomson ), forest - path , ( Cowper ). forest-bed, Cromer forest-bed, s. Geol.: A bed at Cromer, in Norfolk, England, intervening between certain glacial strata and the subjacent chalk. ( Lyell .) *forest-born, a. Born in a forest or wild. "This boy is forest -born, And hath been tutored in the rudiments Of desperate studies." forest-bug, 8. Shakesp.: As You Like It, v. 4. Entom.: A name given to more than one species of Pent atom a. forest-court, s. Old Eng. Law: A court instituted for the government of the royal forests, and for the punishment all injuries done to the royal deer or venison, spend (q. v.).] To *före-spend, v . t. [Pref. fore-for, and Eng. the vert or greensward, and to the covert in which weary out; to exhaust. "After him came spurring hard, A gentleman, almost forespent with speed." *före-spent', a. (q. v.).] 1. Bestowed before. Shakesp.: Henry IV ., Pt . II ., i. 1. [Pref. fore- , and Eng. spent 2. Past, foregone, previous. and Eng. spoken (q. v.).] Previously spoken, uttered *före-spok-en (or as spōk'n), a. [Pref. fore, or said. *före-spür-rer, s. [Pref. fore , and Eng. spur rer (q. v.).] One who rides before; a me enger; a harbinger. for-ěst, s . & a. [O. Fr., from Low Lat. forest a a forest; forest is an open space of ground over which the rights of chase were reserved, from Lat. for is out of doors; Fr. forêt ; Ital. forest a ; O. H. Ger.forst.] A. As substantive: The skin which covers the glans penis ; the prepuce. wooded country; a wild, uncultivated tract of An hundred of the faithle foe shall slay And for a dower their hundred foreskins pay." Cowley: Davideis , iii. före-skirt, s. [Pref. fore- , and English skirt (q. v.).] The loose hanging portion of a coat in front. "Honor's train Is longer than his foreskirt." Shakesp.: Henry VIII ., ii. 3. I. Ord. Lang.: An extensive wood, or tract of ground interspersed with wood. "Hys forest and hys wodes, and mest the nywe forest, That ys in Southhamte yre." Robert of Gloucester, p. 375. II. Technically : 1. Botanical Geog. Of the acreage of Great Britain about 4 per cent, are in woods; of Ireland, 14 per cent.; of France, 16 per cent.; of Pru ia, 23 per cent.; of Austria, 31 per cent.; and of Ru ia, such deer are lodged. These are the courts of Attachments, of Regard, of Swainmote, and of Justice-seat. ( Black stone : Comment., bk. iii., ch. 3.) [FOREST, II. 4; VERDERER.] forest-fly, s. Entom. (pl.): A popular name for the insects belonging to the family Hippo bos cide (q. v.). The name is given because one species, Hippobosca abundanturore. equina , parasitic upon the horse, is exceedingly