n. [ LL. affidavit he has made oath, perfect tense of affidare. See Affiance, Affy. ] (Law) A sworn statement in writing; a declaration in writing, signed and made upon oath before an authorized magistrate. Bouvier. Burrill. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ It is always made ex parte, and without cross-examination, and in this differs from a deposition. It is also applied to written statements made on affirmation. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Deposition. See Deposition. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. bifidus; bis twice + root of findere to cleave or split: cf. F. bifide. ] Cleft to the middle or slightly beyond the middle; opening with a cleft; divided by a linear sinus, with straight margins. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. bifidatus. ] See Bifid. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Pref. bi- + pinnatifid. ] (Bot.) Doubly pinnatifid. [ 1913 Webster ]

A bipinnatifid leaf is a pinnatifid leaf having its segments or divisions also pinnatifid. The primary divisions are pinnæ and the secondary pinnules. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖ [ L. ] In or with good faith; without fraud or deceit; real or really; actual or actually; genuine or genuinely; as, you must proceed bona fide; a bona fide purchaser or transaction. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖ [ L. ] Good faith; honesty; freedom from fraud or deception. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

‖ A sofa having a seat at each end at right angles to the main seats. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. [ L. centifidus; centum + findere to split. ] Divided into a hundred parts. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ 277), n. masc., n. fem. } [ F. confident, confidente, formerly also spelt confidant, confidante. See Confide, and cf. Confident. ] One to whom secrets, especially those relating to affairs of love, are confided or intrusted; a confidential or bosom friend. [ 1913 Webster ]

You love me for no other end
Than to become my confidant and friend;
As such I keep no secret from your sight. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Confided; p. pr. & vb. n. Confiding. ] [ L. confidere; con- + fidere to trust. See Faith, and cf. Affiance. ] To put faith (in); to repose confidence; to trust; -- usually followed by in; as, the prince confides in his ministers. [ 1913 Webster ]

By thy command I rise or fall,
In thy protection I confide. Byron. [ 1913 Webster ]

Judge before friendships, then confide till death. Young. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To intrust; to give in charge; to commit to one's keeping; -- followed by to. [ 1913 Webster ]

Congress may . . . confide to the Circuit jurisdiction of all offenses against the United States. Story. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. confidentia firm trust in, self-confidence: cf. F. confidence. ] 1. The act of confiding, trusting, or putting faith in; trust; reliance; belief; -- formerly followed by of, now commonly by in. [ 1913 Webster ]

Society is built upon trust, and trust upon confidence of one another's integrity. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

A cheerful confidence in the mercy of God. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That in which faith is put or reliance had. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Lord shall be thy confidence. Prov. iii. 26. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The state of mind characterized by one's reliance on himself, or his circumstances; a feeling of self-sufficiency; such assurance as leads to a feeling of security; self-reliance; -- often with self prefixed. [ 1913 Webster ]

Your wisdom is consumed in confidence;
Do not go forth to-day. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

But confidence then bore thee on secure
Either to meet no danger, or to find
Matter of glorious trial. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Private conversation; (pl.) secrets shared; as, there were confidences between them. [ 1913 Webster ]

Sir, I desire some confidence with you. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Confidence game, any swindling operation in which advantage is taken of the confidence reposed by the victim in the swindler; several swindlers often work together to create the illusion of truth; -- also called con game. --
Confidence man, a swindler. --
To take into one's confidence, to admit to a knowledge of one's feelings, purposes, or affairs.

Syn. -- Trust; assurance; expectation; hope. [ 1913 Webster ]

I am confident that very much be done. Boyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Trustful; without fear or suspicion; frank; unreserved. [ 1913 Webster ]

Be confident to speak, Northumberland;
We three are but thyself. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Having self-reliance; bold; undaunted. [ 1913 Webster ]

As confident as is the falcon's flight
Against a bird, do I with Mowbray fight. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Having an excess of assurance; bold to a fault; dogmatical; impudent; presumptuous. [ 1913 Webster ]

The fool rageth and is confident. Prov. xiv. 16. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Giving occasion for confidence. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The cause was more confident than the event was prosperous. Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Confidant. South. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. confidentiel. ] 1. Enjoying, or treated with, confidence; trusted in; trustworthy; as, a confidential servant or clerk. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Communicated in confidence; secret. “Confidential messages.” Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

Confidential communication (Law) See Privileged communication, under Privileged. --
Confidential creditors, those whose claims are of such a character that they are entitled to be paid before other creditors. --
Confidential debts, debts incurred for borrowed money, and regarded as having a claim to be paid before other debts. McElrath. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. the state or attribute of being secret; privacy; as, you must respect the confidentiality of your client's communications. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

2. discretion in keeping secret information. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adv. In confidence; in reliance on secrecy. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. With confidence; with strong assurance; positively. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being confident. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who confides. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. That confides; trustful; unsuspicious. -- Con*fid"ing*ly, adv. -- Con*fid"ing*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. decem ten + root of findere to cleave. ] (Bot.) Cleft into ten parts. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ L. diffidere. See Diffident. ] To be distrustful. [ Obs. ] Dr. H. More. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. diffidentia. ] 1. The state of being diffident; distrust; want of confidence; doubt of the power, ability, or disposition of others. [ Archaic ] [ 1913 Webster ]

That affliction grew heavy upon me, and weighed me down even to a diffidence of God's mercy. Donne. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Distrust of one's self or one's own powers; lack of self-reliance; modesty; modest reserve; bashfulness. [ 1913 Webster ]

It is good to speak on such questions with diffidence. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

An Englishman's habitual diffidence and awkwardness of address. W. Irving.

Syn. -- Humility; bashfulness; distrust; suspicion; doubt; fear; timidity; apprehension; hesitation. See Humility, and Bashfulness. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Diffidence. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. diffidens, -entis, p. pr. of diffidere; dif- = dis + fidere to trust; akin to fides faith. See Faith, and cf. Defy. ] 1. Wanting confidence in others; distrustful. [ Archaic ] [ 1913 Webster ]

You were always extremely diffident of their success. Melmoth. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Wanting confidence in one's self; distrustful of one's own powers; not self-reliant; timid; modest; bashful; characterized by modest reserve. [ 1913 Webster ]

The diffident maidens,
Folding their hands in prayer. Longfellow.

Syn. -- Distrustful; suspicious; hesitating; doubtful; modest; bashful; lowly; reserved. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a diffident manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

To stand diffidently against each other with their thoughts in battle array. Hobbes. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. duodecim twelve + findere to cleave. ] Divided into twelve parts. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Prov. E. fid a small, thick lump. ] 1. (Naut.) A square bar of wood or iron, used to support the topmast, being passed through a hole or mortise at its heel, and resting on the trestle trees. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A wooden or metal bar or pin, used to support or steady anything. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A pin of hard wood, tapering to a point, used to open the strands of a rope in splicing. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ There are hand fids and standing fids (which are larger than the others, and stand upon a flat base). An iron implement for this purpose is called a marline spike. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Mil.) A block of wood used in mounting and dismounting heavy guns. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Pg. See Hidalgo. ] The lowest title of nobility in Portugal, corresponding to that of Hidalgo in Spain. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. fidele, fithele, AS. fiðele; akin to D. vedel, OHG. fidula, G. fiedel, Icel. fiðla, and perh. to E. viol. Cf. Viol. ] 1. (Mus.) A stringed instrument of music played with a bow; a violin; a kit. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) A kind of dock (Rumex pulcher) with fiddle-shaped leaves; -- called also fiddle dock. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Naut.) A rack or frame of bars connected by strings, to keep table furniture in place on the cabin table in bad weather. Ham. Nav. Encyc. [ 1913 Webster ]

Fiddle beetle (Zool.), a Japanese carabid beetle (Damaster blaptoides); -- so called from the form of the body. --
Fiddle block (Naut.), a long tackle block having two sheaves of different diameters in the same plane, instead of side by side as in a common double block. Knight. --
Fiddle bow, fiddlestick. --
Fiddle fish (Zool.), the angel fish. --
Fiddle head, See fiddle head in the vocabulary. --
Fiddle pattern, a form of the handles of spoons, forks, etc., somewhat like a violin. --
Scotch fiddle, the itch. (Low) --
To play first fiddle, or
To play second fiddle, to take a leading or a subordinate part. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Fiddled p. pr. & vb. n. Fiddling ] 1. To play on a fiddle. [ 1913 Webster ]

Themistocles . . . said he could not fiddle, but he could make a small town a great city. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To keep the hands and fingers actively moving as a fiddler does; to move the hands and fingers restlessy or in busy idleness; to trifle. [ 1913 Webster ]

Talking, and fiddling with their hats and feathers. Pepys. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To play (a tune) on a fiddle. [ 1913 Webster ]

interj. An exclamatory word or phrase, equivalent to nonsense! [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A trifle; trifling talk; nonsense. [ Colloq. ] Spectator. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To talk nonsense. [ Colloq. ] Ford. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. any of several tall ferns of northern temperate regions having graceful arched fronds and sporophylls resembling ostrich plumes.
Syn. -- ostrich fern, shuttlecock fern, Matteuccia struthiopteris, Pteretis struthiopteris, Onoclea struthiopteris. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. New World fern (Osmunda cinnamonea) having woolly cinnamon-colored spore-bearing fronds in early spring later surrounded by green fronds, called also fiddlehead fern; the early uncurling fronds are edible, and sometimes considered as a vegetable delicacy.
Syn. -- cinnamon fern, fiddlehead fern, Osmunda cinnamonea. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

3. (Naut.) an ornament on a ship's bow, curved like the volute or scroll at the head of a violin. Sometimes it serves the function of a billhead. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

n. hairy annual plant (Phacelia tanacetifolia) of California to Mexico with crowded cymes of small blue to lilac or mauve flowers.
Syn. -- Phacelia tanacetifolia. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ AS. fiðelere. ] 1. One who plays on a fiddle or violin. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) A burrowing crab of the genus Gelasimus, of many species. The male has one claw very much enlarged, and often holds it in a position similar to that in which a musician holds a fiddle, hence the name; -- called also fiddler crab, calling crab, soldier crab, and fighting crab. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Zool.) The common European sandpiper (Tringoides hypoleucus); -- so called because it continually oscillates its body. [ 1913 Webster ]

Fiddler crab. (Zool.) See Fiddler, n., 2. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Bot.) Inversely ovate, with a deep hollow on each side. Gray. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. shaped like a fiddle; -- of a leaf shape.
Syn. -- pandurate, panduriform. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. The bow, strung with horsehair, used in playing the fiddle; a fiddle bow. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One of the catgut strings of a fiddle. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Corrupted fr. F. bois-fidèle, lit., faithful wood; -- so called from its durability. ] The wood of several West Indian trees, mostly of the genus Citharexylum. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. fidejussio, from fidejubere to be surety or bail; fides faith + jubere to order: cf. F. fidéjussion. ] (Civil Law) The act or state of being bound as surety for another; suretyship. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L.: cf. F. fidéjusseur. ] (Civil Law) A surety; one bound for another, conjointly with him; a guarantor. Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. fidelitas: cf. F. fidélité. See Fealty. ] Faithfulness; adherence to right; careful and exact observance of duty, or discharge of obligations. Especially: (a) Adherence to a person or party to which one is bound; loyalty. [ 1913 Webster ]

Whose courageous fidelity was proof to all danger. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

The best security for the fidelity of men is to make interest coincide with duty. A. Hamilton.

(b) Adherence to the marriage contract. (c) Adherence to truth; veracity; honesty. [ 1913 Webster ]

The principal thing required in a witness is fidelity. Hooker.

Syn. -- Faithfulness; honesty; integrity; faith; loyalty; fealty. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ L., faith. ] (Roman Muth.) Faith personified as a goddess; the goddess of faith. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. & v. i. See Fidget. [ R. ] Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Uneasiness; restlessness. Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. pl. A general nervous restlessness, manifested by incessant changes of position; dysphoria. Dunglison. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Fidgeted; p. pr. & vb. n. Fodgeting. ] [ From Fidge; cf. OE. fiken to fidget, to flatter, Icel. fika to hasten, Sw. fika to hunt after, AS. befician to deceive. Cf. Fickle. ] To move uneasily one way and the other; to move irregularly, or by fits and starts. Moore. [ 1913 Webster ]