customs union (kustumzu"nyon)

A union of independent states or nations for the purpose of effecting common or similar arrangements for the collection of duties on imports, etc.; specifically, the Zollverein (which see). Austria perceived that, after all, it would be impo ible for her to create a Customs - Union that did not include Pru ia. Lowe , Bismarck, I. 195. custos (kus'tos), n.; pl. custodes (kus-to'dez). [L., a keeper: see custody, custode.] 1. A keeper; a custodian. On the 21st [of April] Gloucester was appointed lieutenant and custos of the kingdom. Stubbs , Const. Hist., § 336. 2. In music , the signor, at the end of a line or page, to show the position of the first note of the next. - Custos brevium, formerly, the principal clerk of the English Common Pleas. - Custos Me ium, a constellation proposed by Lalande in 1775. It embraced parts of Cepheus, Ca iopeia, and Camelopard a lis, and had a star of the fourth magnitude stolen from each of the last two constellations. Custos Rotulorum, in England, the keeper of the rolls or records (of the se ion); the chief civil officer of a county. Abbreviated C. R. Custos Sigilli, the keeper of the seal. Abbreviated C. S. custrellt (kus'trel), n. [OF. coustillier , a soldier armed with a poniard, coustille , a poniard, ult. cultellus , a knife: see custil and coistril.] A buckler-bearer or servant to a man-atarms. See cultellarius . Every one had an archer, a dem i-lance, and a custrel,... or servant pertaining to him. Lord Herbert , Hist. Hen. VIII., p. 9. custrel2t, custrilt, n. Same as costrel. custumt, n. An obsolete form of custom . custumalt, custumaryt. See customal, custom ary . cut (kut), v.; pret, and pp. cut, formerly sometimes cutted, ppr. cutting. [Early mod. E. also cutte (Sc. kit ); I think there is no nation under heaven That cut their enemies' throats with compliment, And such fine tricks, as we do. Beau, and Fl., Little French Lawyer, i. 2. 2. To penetrate or cleave, as a sharp or edged instrument does. The pleasantest angling is to see the fish Cut with her golden oars the silver stream. Shak., Much Ado, iii. 1. Far on its rocky knoll descried, Saint Michael's chapel cuts the sky. M. Arnold, Stanzas composed at Carnac. No bird is safe that cuts the air From their rifle or their snare. Emerson, Monadnoc. 3. To wound the sensibilities of; affect deeply. The man was cut to the heart with these consolations. Add is on. 4. To make incision in for the purpose of dividing or separating into two or more parts; sever or divide with a sharp instrument: used with into (sometimes in ) before the parts or divisions, and sometimes with an intensive up: as, to cut a rope in two (that is, into two pieces or parts); to cut bread into slices; to cut up an ox into portions suitable for the market. Thoghe zee kutte hem in never so many Gobettes or parties, overthwart or end longes, everemore zee schulle fynden in the myddes the figure of the Holy Cros of oure Lord Jesu. Mandeville , Travels, p. 49. Hence-5. In card- playing, to divide or separate (a pack of cards) at random into two or more parts for the purpose of determining the deal, trumps, etc., or for the prevention of cheating in dealing, etc. We sure in vain the Cards condemn: Ourselves both cut and shuffled them. Prior , Alma, ii. 6. To sever by the application of a sharp or edged instrument, such as an ax, a saw, a sickle, etc., in order to facilitate removal. Specifically (a) To hew or saw down; fell: as, to cut timber. IMG:content-1874.png:[blocks in formation] (6) To reap; mow; harvest: as, to cut grain or hay. The first wheat that I saw cut this yeare was at that Coryat, Crudities, I. 141. postehouse. Hence-7. To remove or separate entirely and effectually by or as by a cutting instrument; sever completely. (a) To take away. Cut from a man his hope in Christ for hereafter, and then the epicure's counsel will seem good, Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die. Bp . Atterbury , Sermons, I., Pref. to xi. (6) With away: to sever, detach, or clear away, for the purpose of disencumbering or relieving: as, to cut away wreckage on a ship. (c) With off: (1) To separate from the other parts; remove by amputation or excision: as, to cut off a man's head, or one's finger. An Australian cuts off the right thumb of a slain enemy, that the ghost may be unable to throw a spear. H. Spencer, Prin. of Sociol., § 108. Hence (2) To extirpate or destroy; make an end of. Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord. 1 Ki. xviii. 4. Th' incurable cut off, the rest reform. B. Jonson, Cynthia's Revels, v. 3. (3) To interrupt; stop; bring to an end: as, to cut off all communication. This aqueduct could be of no service to Jerusalem in time of war, as the enemy would always cut off the communication. Pococke , Description of the East, II. i. 43. The junction of the Han over i ans cut off , and that of the Saxons put off. Walpole , Letters, II. 22. (4) To bring to an end suddenly or by untimely means: as, cut off by pestilence. Gallant men, who are cut off by the sword, move rather our veneration than our pity. Steele, Tatler, No. 181. (5) To debar from acce or intercourse, as by the interposition of distance or insurmountable obstacles: as, cut off from one's country or friends; cut off from all succor. The Aby in i ans were cut off from the rest of the world by seas and deserts almost inacce ible. Bruce, Source of the Nile, II. 3. (6) To intercept; deprive of means of return, as by the removal of a bridge, or by the intervention of a barrier or an opposing force: as, the troops were cut off from the ships, 8. To intersect; cro : as, one line cuts another at right angles; the ecliptic cuts the equator. The Fo e cut the Watling Street at a place called High Cro in Leicestershire, the site of the Roman Venonæ. C. Elton , Origins of Eng. Hist., p. 340. 9. To castrate: as, to cut a horse.-10. Το trim by clipping, shearing, paring, or pruning: as, to cut the hair or the nails. To kytte a vyne is thinges iij to attende. Palladius , Husbondrie (E. E. T. S.), p. 6. The Walls were well covered with Fruit Trees; he had not cut his Peaches; when I askt him the reason, he told me it was his way not to cut them till after flow ring, which he found by Experience to improve the Fruit. Lister, Journey to Paris, p. 187. Religion in their garments, and their hair Cut shorter than their eyebrows! B. Jonson, Every Man out of his Humour, Ind. 11. To make or fashion by cutting. (a) To excavate; dig: as, to cut a drain or trench. A canal having been cut acro it [a neck of land] by the British troops. The Century, XXIV. 587. (b) To form the parts of by cutting into shape: as, to cut a garment; to cut one's coat according to one's cloth. A blue jacket cut and trimmed in what is known as "man-o'-war" style. The Century, XXIV. 587. (c) To shape or model by superficial cutting; sculpture or carve. Why should a man whose blood is warm within Sit like his grandsire cut in alabaster? Shak ., M. of V., i. 1. There are four very stately pillers of white free-stone, most curiously cut with sundry faire workes. Coryat , Crudities, I. 33. I, tired out With cutting eights that day upon the pond. Tennyson, The Epic. (d) To polish by grinding, etc.; finish or ornament by cutting facets on: as, to cut gla or precious stones. 12. To abridge or shorten by omitting a part: as, to cut a speech or a play. -13. To lower; reduce; diminish: as, to cut rates. It certainly cannot be that those who make these faster times are as a body physically stronger than the first exponents of the art, for it is only during the present generation that the bicycle has been brought into use, and yet we find that "records" are week by week being cut . Nineteenth Century, XXI. 518. 14. To reduce the tone or intensity of (a color). It [nitric acid] is used for a few colors in calico printing, and sometimes to cut madder pinks, that is, to reduce the red to a softer shade. O'Neill , Dyeing and Calico Printing, p. 359. 15. To di olve or make miscible: as, to cut shellac with alcohol, or lampblack lampblack with vinegar.-16. To sever connection or relation with; have nothing to do with; give up; abandon; stay away from when one should attend: as, to cut acquaintance with a person; to cut a connection; to cut a recitation. He swore that he would cut the service. Marryat. The weather was bad, and I could not go over to Brooklyn without too great fatigue, and so I cut that and some other calls I had intended to make. S. Bowles, in Merriam, I. 340. 17. To meet or pa deliberately without recognition; avoid or turn away from intentionally; affect not to be acquainted with: as, to cut an acquaintance. That he had cut me ever since my marriage, I had seen without surprise or resentment. Jane Austen , Sense and Sensibility, xliv. 18. In cricket , to strike and send off (a ball) in front of the batsman, and parallel to the wicket. -19. To carry forward (a heavy object) without rolling, by moving the ends alternately in the required direction: used by laborers, mechanics, etc., in relation to moving beams or the like. To cut a caper or capers, to leap or dance in a frolicsome manner; frisk about. In his ordinary gesture he discovers he can dance, though he does not cut capers . Steele , Spectator, No. 4. My bosom underwent a glorious glow, And my internal spirit cut a caper. To cut a dash, to make a display. Byron, Don Juan, x. 3. I knew that he thought he was cutting a dash, As his steed went thundering by. O. W. Holmes, Reflections of a Proud Pedestrian. Lived on his means, cut no great dash , And paid his debts in honest cash. Lowell, Int. to Biglow Papers, 1st ser. To cut a feather ( naut.), to move so fast as to make the water foam under the bow: said of a ship. - To cut a figure, to make a striking appearance, or be conspicuous in any way, as in dre or manners, public position, influence, etc. A tall gaunt creature... cutting a most ridiculous figure . Marryat , Snarleyyow, III. viii. To cut a joke, to make a joke; crack a jest. The King [George IV.] was in good looks and good spirits, and after dinner cut his jokes with all the coarse merriment which is his characteristic. Greville, Memoirs, Dec. 18, 1821. And jokes will be cut in the House of Lords, And throats in the County Kerry. Praed, Twenty-Eight and Twenty-Nine. To cut and carve, to hack at indiscriminately; change or modify. Take away the Act which secures the use of the Liturgy as it is, and you set the clergy free to cut and carve it as they please. Contemporary Rev. , L. 23. To cut down. (a) To fell; cause to fall by lopping or hewing. Ye shall. cut down their groves. Ex. xxxiv. 13. (6) To slay; kill; disable, as by the sword. Some of the soldiery were killed while sleeping, others were cut down almost without resistance. Irving, Granada, p. 31. (c) To surpa ; put to shame. So great is his natural eloquence that he cuts down the finest orator. Add is on, Count Tariff. (d) To retrench; curtail: as, to cut down expenses. The Chancellor of Exchequer, who selected the moment for cutting down the estimates for our naval and military defences when all Europe is bristling with arms. Edinburgh Rev. , CLXV. 270. (e) Naut., to razee; reduce by cutting away a deck from, as a line-of-battle ship to convert it into a frigate, etc. (f) In racing slang: (1) To strike into the legs of a competing horse so as to injure him. (2) To take the lead decisively from an inferior animal that has previously been indulged with it. Krik's Guide. To cut in, in whale - fishing, to cut up in pieces suitable for trying. From the time a whale is discovered until the capture is made, and the animal cut in , the scene is one of laborious excitement. C. M. Scammon , Marine Mammals, p. 230. To cut it too fat, to overdo a thing. [Low or vulgar, U. S.] It's bad enough to be uncomfortable in your own house without knowing why; but to have a philosopher of the Sennaar school show you why you are so, is cutting it rather too fat . G. W. Curtis, Potiphar Papers, p. 131. To cut off with a shilling, to disinherit by bequeathing a shilling: a practice adopted by a testator di atisfied with his heir, as a proof that the disinheritance was designed and not the result of neglect, and also from the notion that it was nece ary to leave the heir at least a shilling to make a will valid. To cut one's eye-teeth, or to have one's eye-teeth cut, to be, old enough to understand things; be cunning or shrewd, and not easily imposed upon: because the eye-teeth are usually the last of the exposed teeth to appear. [Slang.] To cut one's stick, to move off; be off at once. [Slang.] Cut your stick , sir-come, mizzle! - be off with you!- go ! Barham, In golds by Legends, II. 199. To cut out. (a) To remove as by cutting or carving. You know, sir, you gave them leave to cut out or omit whatever they found heavy or unnece ary to the plot. Sheridan, The Critic, ii. 1. (b) To shape or form by or as by cutting; fashion; adapt: as, to cut out a garment; to cut out a pattern; he is not cut out for an author. As if she [Nature] haply had sat down, And cut out Cloaths for all the Town. IMG:content-1875.png:[blocks in formation] I was in some grottos cut out of the rock, in long narrow galleries running parallel to one another, and some also cro ing them at right angles. Pococke , Description of the East, I. 9. Hence (c) To contrive; prepare: as, to cut out work for another day. Sufficient work was cut out for the armies of England. Goldsmith, Seven Years' War, ii. (dt) To debar. I am cut out from anything but common acknowledgments, or common discourse. Pope. (e) To take the preference or precedence of: as, to cut out a rival in love. Doing his best To perform the polite, and to cut out the rest. Barham , In golds by Legends, II. 53. (f) Naut., to capture and carry off, as a ve el from a harbor or from under the guns of the enemy. (g) To separate, as a beast from the herd; drive apart from the drove: a term used on western ranches. [U. S.] The headlong dash with which one [of the cowboys] will cut out a cow marked with his own brand from a herd of several hundred others. T. Roosevelt , Hunting Trips, p. 9. To cut short. (a) To interrupt; bring to an abrupt or sudden pause. IMG:content-1876.png:[blocks in formation] cannot be untied. Decision by a majority is a mode of cutting a knot that Sir G. C. Lewis, Authority in Matters of Opinion. To cut the mark, in archery, to fly straight toward the mark, but fall below it said of an arrow. To cut the sailt, to unfurl it and let it fall down. - To cut the teeth, to have the teeth grow through the gums, as an infant. - To cut the volt, or the round. See the nouns. To cut to pieces, to cut, hew, or hack into fragments; disintegrate by cutting or slashing; specifically, in war, to destroy, or scatter with much slaughter, as a body of troops, by any mode of attack. IMG:content-1877.png:[blocks in formation] (c) To eradicate: as, to cut up shrubs. This doctrine cuts up all government by the roots. Locke. (d) To criticize severely or incisively; censure: as, the work was terribly cut up by the reviewer. A poem which was cut up by Mr. Rigby, with his usual urbanity. Thackeray , Mrs. Perkins's Ball. (e) To wound the feelings acutely; affect deeply: as, his wife's death cut him up terribly. Poor fellow, he seems dreadfully cut up . T. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, xxxii. II. in trans. 1. To make an incision: as, he cuts too deep. - 2. To po e the incising, severing, or gashing properties of an edged tool or instrument, or perform its functions: as, the knife cuts well.-3. To admit of being incised, sliced, severed, or divided with a cutting instrument: as, stale bread cuts better than fresh. -4. To turn out (well or ill) in course of being fashioned by cutting: as, the cloth is too narrow to cut well (that is, with advantage, or without waste).-5. To grow or appear through the gums: said of the teeth. When the teeth are ready to cut, the upper part is rubbed with hard substances. Arbuthnot. 6. To strike the inner and lower part of the fetlock with the other foot; interfere: said of a horse.-7. To divide a pack of cards, for determining the deal, or for any other purpose.8. To move off with directne and rapidity; make off: sometimes with an impersonal it. [Colloq. or slang.] A ship appeared in sight with a flag aloft; which we cut after, and by eleven at night came up with her, and took her. Retaking of the Island of Sainta Helena (Arber's Eng. [Garner, I. 62). Cut and come again, take as much as you please and come back for more: used generally to denote abundance, profusion, or no lack. Cut and come again was the order of the evening, and I had no time to ask questions, but help meat and ladle gravy. R. D. Black more , Lorna Doone, xxix. To cut acro , to pa over or through in the most direct way: as, he cut acro the common. To cut and run (naut.), to cut the cable and set sail immediately, as in a IMG:content-1878.png:[blocks in formation] By moving against Jackson, I uncovered my own communication. So I finally decided to have none - to cut loose altogether from my base and move my whole force eastward. U. S. Grant, Personal Memoirs, I. 499. (c) In shooting, to discharge a firearm. To cut on, to make haste forward; move on with speed and directne . -To cut up. (a) To turn out (well or ill) when divided into pieces or parts, as a carca in the shambles: a butch ers' phrase, figuratively used of the division or segregation of the parts of anything, and colloquially of a person as representing his estate: as, the sheep cuts up to advantage; how does the old gentleman cut up? The only question of their Legendre, or some other of their legislative butchers, will be, how he cuts up . Burke . (b) To be jolly, noisy, or riotous; behave badly. [Slang.] Now, say, what's the use Of all this abuse, Of cutting up , and thus behaving rioty, And acting with such awful impropriety? C. G. Leland, Meister Karl's Sketch-Book, p. 265. To cut up rough, to become quarrelsome or obstreperous; become dangerous. [Slang.] cut (kut), p. a. [Pp. of cut, v.] 1. Gashed or wounded as with a sharp instrument: as, a cut finger.-2. In bot., incised; cleft.-3. Hewn; chiseled; squared and dre ed: as, cut stone. -4. Manufactured by being cut by machinery from a rolled plate; not wrought or made by hand: as, cut nails.-5. Having the surface shaped or ornamented by grinding or polishing; polished or faceted: as, cut gla ; gems cut and uncut.-6. Severed or separated from the root or plant: as, cut flowers: said ( a ) distinctively of flowers severed from the plant, as opposed to flowering plants growing in the ground or in pots; (b) of flowers not made up into bouquets or ornamental pieces-more properly, loose flowers, as distinguished from made-up flowers.-7. Castrated; gelded.-8. Tipsy; intoxicated; drunk. [Slang.] - Cut and dryt, cut and dried, prepared for use by cutting and seasoning, as hewn timber; hence, fixed or settled in advance; ready for use or operation at a moment's notice: as, their plans were all cut and dried for the occasion. Can ready compliments supply, On all occasions cut and dry. Swift. The uniformity and simplicity of the cut - and - dried Intermediate examination was too tempting a trap for him The Athenœum, Jan. 14, 1888, p. 52. to avoid. Cut and long tailt, people of all kinds or ranks; literally, dogs with cut tails and dogs with long tails. Shallow. He will maintain you like a gentlewoman. Slender. Ay, that I will, come cut and long - tail , under the degree of a 'squire. Shak ., M. W. of W., iii. 4. Cut and mitered string. See string. - Cut cavendish. See cavendish.- Cut gla . See gla . - Cut-in notes, in printing, side-notes to a page coming within the lines of the space usually occupied by the text.- Cut splice. Same as cont -splice. - Cut-under buggy. See buggy2. cut (kut), n. [ 11. A part cut off from the rest; a slice or division: as, a good cut; a cut of timber. They wanted only the best cuts . He did not know what to do with the lower qualities of meat. The Century, XXXV. 577. 12. Two hanks of yarn.-13. The block or stamp on which a picture is engraved or cut, and by which it is impre ed; an engraving, especially an engraving upon wood; also, the impre ion from such a block. See woodcut. - 14. A tally; one of several lots made by cutting sticks, pieces of paper or straw, etc., to different lengths: as, to draw cuts. Wherfore I rede that cut among vs alle Be drawe, and lat see wher the cut wol falle. Chaucer, Pardoner's Tale, 1. 331. IMG:content-1879.png:[blocks in formation] 16. A reduction: as, a cut in prices; a great cut in railroad-rates: often used as an adjective: as, cut rates; a cut -rate office.-17. The surface left by a cut: as, a smooth or clear cut. -18. The manner in which a thing is cut; form; shape; fashion: as, the cut of a garment. The justice. With eyes severe, and beard of formal cut. Shak., As you Like it, ii. 7. Marston, What you Will, ii. 1. There is the new cut of your doublet or slash, the fashion of your apparel, a quaint cut. Shirley, Witty Fair One, ii. 1. A sailor has a peculiar cut to his clothes, and a way of wearing them which a green hand can never get. R. H. Dana, Jr., Before the Mast, p. 2. 19. Specifically, in lapidary work, the number and arrangement of the facets on a precious stone which has been polished or cut: as, the double-brilliant cut; the Lisbon cut; dental cut.-20. The act of deliberately pa ing an acquaintance without appearing to recognize him, or of avoiding him so as not to be accosted by him. Pursew the cut , the fashion of the age. We met and gave each other the cut direct that night. Thackeray, Book of Snobs, ii. 21. Absence when one should be present; a staying away, or a refusal to attend: as, a cut from recitation. - Brilliant cut, half-brilliant cut, double-brilliant cut, Lisbon cut, Portuguese cut, single cut. See brilliant, n.- Cut over point, in fen cing, a pa ing of the point of the weapon over that of the adversary in thrusting upon him. Rolando (ed. Forsyth). Degree cut. Same as trap cut. Dental cut in gem-cutting, a style of ornamentation consisting of two rows of facets on the top of the stone. - Rose cut, in gem - cutting, a form of ornamentation in which the upper part of the stone has 24 triangular facets, and the back of the stone is flat. When the base is a duplicate of the upper side, the stone becomes a double rose. Rosecut diamonds are usually set with foil at the back. See This was the most unkindest cut of all. Shak ., J. C., iii. 2. The General gives his near horse a cut with his whip, and the wagon pa es them. W. M. Baker , New Timothy, p. 70. 3. Anything that wounds one's feelings deeply, as a sarcasm, criticism, or act of ingratitude or discourtesy.-4. A slashing movement; specifically, in saber- exercise, a slashing stroke of the weapon, more forcible than a thrust, but le decisive in result: distinguished as front cut, right cut, etc., according to the direction of the movement.-5. In cricket, a stroke given by the batsman to the ball, by which the ball is sent out in front of the striker and parallel to his wickets.-6. In lawn - tennis, such a blow with the racket that the ball is made to whirl rapidly, and on striking the ground to bound off at an irregular angle; a ball thus struck.-7. A step in fancy dancing.-8. A channel, trench, or groove made by cutting or digging, as a ditch, a canal, or an excavation through rising ground for a railroad-bed or a road; a cutting. brilliant-cutting in which the facets on the top and back are so arranged that they resemble a star. Step cut. Same as trap cut. - Table cut, in diamond - cutting, a form of ornamentation in which the stone is usually flat, and is cut with long (technically called table ) facets with beveled edges, or a border of small facets. - The cut of one's jib, the shape or general appearance of a person: as, I knew by cut of his jib. [Originally a sailors' phrenitieference to the characteristic form of a ships jib.] The young ladies liked to appear in nautical and lawn tennis toilet, carried so far that one might refer to the cut of their jib. C. D. Warner, Their Pilgrimage, p. 178. To draw cuts, to draw lots, as of little sticks, straws, papers, etc., cut of unequal lengths. I think it is best to draw cuts and avoid contention. I. Walton, Complete Angler, p. 86. Trap cut, in gem - cutting, a form of ornamentation in which one row or more of long step-like facets is arranged on the top or crown of the stone, around the table, and three, six, or more rows of similar steps or degree facets on the back or pavilion; or the top may be brilliant cut, and only the back trap cut, or vice vers a. This form of cut intensifies or darkens the color of a stone, and hence is used for the sapphire, emerald, ruby, etc. Also called step cut and degree cut.