n. 1. a class mail comprising letters, postcards, and other mail sealed against inspection, having a higher priority than second, third, or fourth-class mail; -- it is the highest class of mail not handled in a special manner, as is registered or priority mail.
Syn. -- first-class, first-class mail, 1st-class mail [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ Bonny + lass. ] A “bonny lass”; a beautiful girl. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. classe, fr. L. classis class, collection, fleet; akin to Gr. klh^sis a calling, kalei^n to call, E. claim, haul. ] 1. A group of individuals ranked together as possessing common characteristics; as, the different classes of society; the educated class; the lower classes. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A number of students in a school or college, of the same standing, or pursuing the same studies. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A comprehensive division of animate or inanimate objects, grouped together on account of their common characteristics, in any classification in natural science, and subdivided into orders, families, tribes, genera, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A set; a kind or description, species or variety. [ 1913 Webster ]

She had lost one class energies. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Methodist Church) One of the sections into which a church or congregation is divided, and which is under the supervision of a class leader. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. One session of formal instruction in which one or more teachers instruct a group on some subject. The class may be one of a course of classes, or a single special session. [ PJC ]

7. A high degree of elegance, in dress or behavior; the quality of bearing oneself with dignity, grace, and social adeptness. [ PJC ]

Class of a curve (Math.), the kind of a curve as expressed by the number of tangents that can be drawn from any point to the curve. A circle is of the second class. --
Class meeting (Methodist Church), a meeting of a class under the charge of a class leader, for counsel and relegious instruction. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Classed p. pr. & vb. n. Classing. ] [ Cf. F. classer. See Class, n. ] 1. To arrange in classes; to classify or refer to some class; as, to class words or passages. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ In scientific arrangement, to classify is used instead of to class. Dana. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To divide into classes, as students; to form into, or place in, a class or classes. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To be grouped or classed. [ 1913 Webster ]

The genus or family under which it classes. Tatham. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. exhibiting refinement and high character; as, a class act. Opposite of low-class [ informal ]
Syn. -- high-class. [ PJC ]

. In American colleges and universities, a day of the commencement season on which the senior class celebrates the completion of its course by exercises conducted by the members, such as the reading of the class histories and poem, the delivery of the class oration, the planting of the class ivy, etc. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. Capable of being classed. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A work of acknowledged excellence and authority, or its author; -- originally used of Greek and Latin works or authors, but now applied to authors and works of a like character in any language. [ 1913 Webster ]

In is once raised him to the rank of a legitimate English classic. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One learned in the literature of Greece and Rome, or a student of classical literature. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. [ L. classicus relating to the classes of the Roman people, and especially to the frist class; hence, of the first rank, superior, from classis class: cf. F. classique. See Class, n. ] 1. Of or relating to the first class or rank, especially in literature or art. [ 1913 Webster ]

Give, as thy last memorial to the age,
One classic drama, and reform the stage. Byron. [ 1913 Webster ]

Mr. Greaves may justly be reckoned a classical author on this subject [ Roman weights and coins ]. Arbuthnot. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Of or pertaining to the ancient Greeks and Romans, esp. to Greek or Roman authors of the highest rank, or of the period when their best literature was produced; of or pertaining to places inhabited by the ancient Greeks and Romans, or rendered famous by their deeds. [ 1913 Webster ]

Though throned midst Latium's classic plains. Mrs. Hemans. [ 1913 Webster ]

The epithet classical, as applied to ancient authors, is determined less by the purity of their style than by the period at which they wrote. Brande & C. [ 1913 Webster ]

He [ Atterbury ] directed the classical studies of the undergraduates of his college. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Conforming to the best authority in literature and art; chaste; pure; refined; as, a classical style. [ 1913 Webster ]

Classical, provincial, and national synods. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

Classicals orders. (Arch.) See under Order. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A classical idiom, style, or expression; a classicism. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Adherence to what are supposed or assumed to be the classical canons of art. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who adheres to what he thinks the classical canons of art. Ruskin. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. 1. In a classical manner; according to the manner of classical authors. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. In the manner of classes; according to a regular order of classes or sets. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. The quality of being classical. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A classic idiom or expression; a classicalism. C. Kingsley. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One learned in the classics; an advocate for the classics. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. of or pertaining to classicism; as, classicistic tradition. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. to make classic or classical. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. pl. the branch of learning concerned with study of the literary works of ancient Greece and Rome. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Capable of being classified. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Characterizing a class or classes; relating to classification. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. classification. ] The act of forming into a class or classes; a distribution into groups, as classes, orders, families, etc., according to some common relations or affinities. [ 1913 Webster ]

Artificial classification. (Science) See under Artifitial. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Pertaining to classification; admitting of classification. “A classificatory system.” Earle. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. arranged into classes or categories; as, unclassified.
Syn. -- categorized. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

2. assigned to a class of documents withheld from general circulation; -- of information or documents. Opposite of unclassified. [ Narrower terms: eyes-only; confidential; restricted; secret; sensitive; top-secret ] [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. One who classifies. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Classified p. pr. & vb. n. Classifying. ] [ L. classis class + -fy. ] To distribute into classes; to arrange according to a system; to arrange in sets according to some method founded on common properties or characters.

Syn. -- To arrange; distribute; rank. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. Classes [ L. See Class, n. ] 1. A class or order; sort; kind. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

His opinion of that classis of men. Clarendon. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Eccl.) An ecclesiastical body or judicatory in certain churches, as the Reformed Dutch. It is intermediate between the consistory and the synod, and corresponds to the presbytery in the Presbyterian church. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Classmen 1. A member of a class; a classmate. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A candidate for graduation in arts who is placed in an honor class, as opposed to a passman, who is not classified. [ Oxford, Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who is in the same class with another, as at school or college. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. having elegance or taste or refinement in manners or dress. Opposite of styleless. [ informal ]
Syn. -- posh, swish, stylish. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. exhibiting refinement and high character. Opposite of low-class [ informal ]
Syn. -- high-class. [ PJC ]

[ Its name is supposed to be derived from the similarity of the effects it gives to those of a picture by Claude Lorrain (often written Lorraine). ] A slightly convex mirror, commonly of black glass, used as a toy for viewing the reflected landscape. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ F., fr. cul back. ] The lower faceted portion of a brilliant-cut diamond. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ . A corruption of Cutlass. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Cutlasses [ F. coutelas (cf. It. coltellaccio), augm. fr. L. cuttellus a small knife, dim. of culter knife. See Colter, and cf. Curtal ax. ] A short, heavy, curving sword, used in the navy. See Curtal ax. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. (Zool.) a peculiar, long, thin, marine fish (Trichiurus lepturus) of the southern United States and West Indies, having a long whiplike scaleless body and sharp daggerlike teeth; -- called also frostfish, saber fish, silver eel, and, improperly, swordfish; also, several related members of the genus Trichiurus. It is closely related to snake mackerel.
Syn. -- frost fish, frostfish, hairtail. [ 1913 Webster + WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Declassed p. pr. & vb. n. Declassing. ] [ Cf. F. déclasser. ] To remove from a class; to separate or degrade from one's class. North Am. Rev. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

‖pos>adj. [ F. Cf. F. déclasser. ] 1. Reduced or fallen in status, social position, class or rank; fallen from a high status or rank to a lower one. [ PJC ]

2. Of inferior grade, rank, status, or prestige. [ PJC ]

n. Reduction by the government of restrictions on a classified document or weapon. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. having a security classification removed so as to be open to public inspection; -- of documents or information. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. to lift the restriction on publication [ of documents ] by reducing or eliminating the secrecy classification of; -- usually applied to government documents classified as secret.
Syn. -- make available again. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

‖n. [ F. ] Also, sometimes, Anglicized (Ordnance) An accidental blowing off of, or other serious damage to, the breechblock of a gun; also, a removal of the breechblock for the purpose of disabling the gun. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ L. delassare, delassatum, to tire out; de- + lassare to tire. ] Fatigue. [ 1913 Webster ]

Able to continue without delassation. Ray. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A small sandglass, running about three minutes, for marking time in boiling eggs; also, a small glass for holding an egg, at table. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A lens of glass worn in front of the eye to assist vision; -- usually used in the plural, referring to a pair of lenses fixed together in a frame, and worn resting on the bridge of the nose, to improve the vision. A single eyeglass in a frame is called a monocle. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

2. Eyepiece of a telescope, microscope, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The retina. [ Poetic ] [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A glass eyecup. See Eyecup. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. pl. a pair of lenses fixed together in a frame, used for correcting defective vision. Also called a pair of eyeglasses. See also eyeglass{ 1 }.
Syn. -- spectacles, specs, glasses. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

n. a material made of fine glass fibers woven into a fabric-like form, and used in applications requiring heat resistance; it is also embedded in resins to make a pliable but strong composite material used as the main component of fishing rods and boat hulls, and replacing the sheet metal in some automobile bodies. [ Also spelled fibreglass, mostly British in usage. ] [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. Same as fiberglass. [ mostly British usage ] [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ F., fr. fil thread, L. filum. ] Vegetable fiber, as jute or ramie, prepared for manufacture. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. Of the best class; of the highest rank; in the first division; of the best quality; first-rate; as, a first-class telescope. [ 1913 Webster ]

First-class car or
First-class railway carriage, any passenger car of the highest regular class, and intended for passengers who pay the highest regular rate; -- distinguished from a second-class car. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Chem.) A soft, heavy, brilliant glass, consisting essentially of a silicate of lead and potassium. It is used for tableware, and for optical instruments, as prisms, its density giving a high degree of dispersive power; -- so called, because formerly the silica was obtained from pulverized flints. Called also crystal glass. Cf. Glass. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The concave or diverging half on an achromatic lens is usually made of flint glass. [ 1913 Webster ]