n. [ Cf. F. assistance. ] 1. The act of assisting; help; aid; furtherance; succor; support. [ 1913 Webster ]

Without the assistance of a mortal hand. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An assistant or helper; a body of helpers. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Wat Tyler [ was ] killed by valiant Walworth, the lord mayor of London, and his assistance, . . . John Cavendish. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Persons present. [ Obs. or a Gallicism ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Boasting. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To place in a particular situation; to supply relative incidents. [ 1913 Webster ]

The poet took the matters of fact as they came down to him and circumstanced them, after his own manner. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. circumstantia, fr. circumstans, -antis, p. pr. of circumstare to stand around; circum + stare to stand. See Stand. ] 1. That which attends, or relates to, or in some way affects, a fact or event; an attendant thing or state of things. [ 1913 Webster ]

The circumstances are well known in the country where they happened. W. Irving. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An event; a fact; a particular incident. [ 1913 Webster ]

The sculptor had in his thoughts the conqueror weeping for new worlds, or the like circumstances in history. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Circumlocution; detail. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

So without more circumstance at all
I hold it fit that we shake hands and part. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. pl. Condition in regard to worldly estate; state of property; situation; surroundings. [ 1913 Webster ]

When men are easy in their circumstances, they are naturally enemies to innovations. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

Not a circumstance, of no account. [ Colloq. ] --
Under the circumstances, taking all things into consideration.

Syn. -- Event; occurrence; incident; situation; condition; position; fact; detail; item. See Event. [ 1913 Webster ]

p. a. 1. Placed in a particular position or condition; situated. [ 1913 Webster ]

The proposition is, that two bodies so circumstanced will balance each other. Whewell. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Governed by events or circumstances. [ Poetic & R. ] “I must be circumstanced.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. desistance. ] The act or state of desisting; cessation. [ R. ] Boyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

If fatigue of body or brain were in every case followed by desistance . . . then would the system be but seldom out of working order. H. Spencer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. distance, L. distantia. ] 1. The space between two objects; the length of a line, especially the shortest line joining two points or things that are separate; measure of separation in place. [ 1913 Webster ]

Every particle attracts every other with a force . . . inversely proportioned to the square of the distance. Sir I. Newton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Remoteness of place; a remote place. [ 1913 Webster ]

Easily managed from a distance. W. Irving. [ 1913 Webster ]

'T is distance lends enchantment to the view. T. Campbell. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ He ] waits at distance till he hears from Cato. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Racing) A space marked out in the last part of a race course. [ 1913 Webster ]

The horse that ran the whole field out of distance. L'Estrange. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ In trotting matches under the rules of the American Association, the distance varies with the conditions of the race, being 80 yards in races of mile heats, best two in three, and 150 yards in races of two-mile heats. At that distance from the winning post is placed the distance post. If any horse has not reached this distance post before the first horse in that heat has reached the winning post, such horse is distanced, and disqualified for running again during that race. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Mil.) Relative space, between troops in ranks, measured from front to rear; -- contrasted with interval, which is measured from right to left. “Distance between companies in close column is twelve yards.” Farrow. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Space between two antagonists in fencing. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Painting) The part of a picture which contains the representation of those objects which are the farthest away, esp. in a landscape. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ In a picture, the
Middle distance is the central portion between the foreground and the distance or the extreme distance. In a perspective drawing, the
Point of distance is the point where the visual rays meet. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. Ideal disjunction; discrepancy; contrariety. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. Length or interval of time; period, past or future, between two eras or events. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ten years' distance between one and the other. Prior. [ 1913 Webster ]

The writings of Euclid at the distance of two thousand years. Playfair. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. The remoteness or reserve which respect requires; hence, respect; ceremoniousness. [ 1913 Webster ]

I hope your modesty
Will know what distance to the crown is due. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

'T is by respect and distance that authority is upheld. Atterbury. [ 1913 Webster ]

10. A withholding of intimacy; alienation; coldness; disagreement; variance; restraint; reserve. [ 1913 Webster ]

Setting them [ factions ] at distance, or at least distrust amongst themselves. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

On the part of Heaven,
Now alienated, distance and distaste. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

11. Remoteness in succession or relation; as, the distance between a descendant and his ancestor. [ 1913 Webster ]

12. (Mus.) The interval between two notes; as, the distance of a fourth or seventh. [ 1913 Webster ]

Angular distance, the distance made at the eye by lines drawn from the eye to two objects. --
Lunar distance. See under Lunar. --
North polar distance (Astron.), the distance on the heavens of a heavenly body from the north pole. It is the complement of the declination. --
Zenith distance (Astron.), the arc on the heavens from a heavenly body to the zenith of the observer. It is the complement of the altitude. --
To keep one's distance, to stand aloof; to refrain from familiarity. [ 1913 Webster ]

If a man makes me keep my distance, the comfort is he keeps his at the same time. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Distanced p. pr. & vb. n. Distancing ] 1. To place at a distance or remotely. [ 1913 Webster ]

I heard nothing thereof at Oxford, being then miles distanced thence. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To cause to appear as if at a distance; to make seem remote. [ 1913 Webster ]

His peculiar art of distancing an object to aggrandize his space. H. Miller. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To outstrip by as much as a distance (see Distance, n., 3); to leave far behind; to surpass greatly. [ 1913 Webster ]

He distanced the most skillful of his contemporaries. Milner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Equal distance. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. See Inconstancy. ] Inconstancy. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Instanced p. pr. & vb. n. Instancing ] To mention as a case or example; to refer to; to cite; as, to instance a fact. H. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

I shall not instance an abstruse author. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. instance, L. instantia, fr. instans. See Instant. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. The act or quality of being instant or pressing; urgency; solicitation; application; suggestion; motion. [ 1913 Webster ]

Undertook at her instance to restore them. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That which is instant or urgent; motive. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The instances that second marriage move
Are base respects of thrift, but none of love. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Occasion; order of occurrence. [ 1913 Webster ]

These seem as if, in the time of Edward I., they were drawn up into the form of a law, in the first instance. Sir M. Hale. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. That which offers itself or is offered as an illustrative case; something cited in proof or exemplification; a case occurring; an example; as, we could find no instance of poisoning in the town within the past year. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

Most remarkable instances of suffering. Atterbury. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A token; a sign; a symptom or indication. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Causes of instance, those which proceed at the solicitation of some party. Hallifax. --
Court of first instance, the court by which a case is first tried. --
For instance, by way of example or illustration; for example. --
Instance Court (Law), the Court of Admiralty acting within its ordinary jurisdiction, as distinguished from its action as a prize court.

Syn. -- Example; case. See Example. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To give an example. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

This story doth not only instance in kingdoms, but in families too. Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Nonresistance; passive submission. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. covering long distances; as, a long-distance runner; a long-distance telephone call. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. The principles or practice of a nonresistant; passive obedience; submission to authority, power, oppression, or violence without opposition. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. résistance, LL. resistentia, fr. resistens, -entis, p. pr. See Resist. ] 1. The act of resisting; opposition, passive or active. [ 1913 Webster ]

When King Demetrius saw that . . . no resistance was made against him, he sent away all his forces. 1. Macc. xi. 38. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Physics) The quality of not yielding to force or external pressure; that power of a body which acts in opposition to the impulse or pressure of another, or which prevents the effect of another power; as, the resistance of the air to a body passing through it; the resistance of a target to projectiles. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A means or method of resisting; that which resists. [ 1913 Webster ]

Unfold to us some warlike resistance. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Elec.) A certain hindrance or opposition to the passage of an electrical current or discharge offered by conducting bodies. It bears an inverse relation to the conductivity, -- good conductors having a small resistance, while poor conductors or insulators have a very high resistance. The unit of resistance is the ohm. [ 1913 Webster ]

Resistance box (Elec.), a rheostat consisting of a box or case containing a number of resistance coils of standard values so arranged that they can be combined in various ways to afford more or less resistance. --
Resistance coil (Elec.), a coil of wire introduced into an electric circuit to increase the resistance. --
Solid of least resistance (Mech.), a solid of such a form as to experience, in moving in a fluid, less resistance than any other solid having the same base, height, and volume. [ 1913 Webster ]

. (Elec.) A rheostat consisting of an open frame on which are stretched spirals of wire. Being freely exposed to the air, they radiate heat rapidly. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

(Anat.) The substance of the medullary sheath. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. estance. See Stanza. ] 1. A stanza. [ Obs. ] Chapman. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A station; a position; a site. [ Scot. ] Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Golf, Baseball) The position of a player's feet, relative to each other and to the ball, when he is making a stroke or at bat. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC ]

4. the mental attitude, position, or approach a person adopts in respect to something. [ PJC ]

n. [ F., fr. L. substantia, fr. substare to be under or present, to stand firm; sub under + stare to stand. See Stand. ] 1. That which underlies all outward manifestations; substratum; the permanent subject or cause of phenomena, whether material or spiritual; that in which properties inhere; that which is real, in distinction from that which is apparent; the abiding part of any existence, in distinction from any accident; that which constitutes anything what it is; real or existing essence. [ 1913 Webster ]

These cooks, how they stamp, and strain, and grind,
And turn substance into accident! Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

Heroic virtue did his actions guide,
And he the substance, not the appearance, chose. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The most important element in any existence; the characteristic and essential components of anything; the main part; essential import; purport. [ 1913 Webster ]

This edition is the same in substance with the Latin. Bp. Burnet. [ 1913 Webster ]

It is insolent in words, in manner; but in substance it is not only insulting, but alarming. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Body; matter; material of which a thing is made; hence, substantiality; solidity; firmness; as, the substance of which a garment is made; some textile fabrics have little substance. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Material possessions; estate; property; resources. [ 1913 Webster ]

And there wasted his substance with riotous living. Luke xv. 13. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thy substance, valued at the highest rate,
Can not amount unto a hundred marks. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

We are destroying many thousand lives, and exhausting our substance, but not for our own interest. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Theol.) Same as Hypostasis, 2. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To furnish or endow with substance; to supply property to; to make rich. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having no substance; unsubstantial. [ R. ] Coleridge. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Nonresistance; passive submission; irresistance. Bp. Hall. [ 1913 Webster ]