n. [ From an old form of F. biseau sloping edge, prob. fr. L. bis double. See Bi-. ] The rim which encompasses and fastens a jewel or other object, as the crystal of a watch, in the cavity in which it is set. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. brise; akin to It. brezza breeze, Sp. briza, brisa, a breeze from northeast, Pg. briza northeast wind; of uncertain origin; cf. F. bise, Pr. bisa, OHG. bisa, north wind, Arm. biz northeast wind. ] 1. A light, gentle wind; a fresh, soft-blowing wind. [ 1913 Webster ]

Into a gradual calm the breezes sink. Wordsworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An excited or ruffed state of feeling; a flurry of excitement; a disturbance; a quarrel; as, the discovery produced a breeze. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Land breeze, a wind blowing from the land, generally at night. --
Sea breeze, a breeze or wind blowing, generally in the daytime, from the sea. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. braise cinders, live coals. See Brasier. ] 1. Refuse left in the process of making coke or burning charcoal. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Brickmaking) Refuse coal, coal ashes, and cinders, used in the burning of bricks. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To blow gently. [ R. ] J. Barlow. [ 1913 Webster ]

To breeze up (Naut.), to blow with increasing freshness. [ 1913 Webster ]

/mhw>, n. [ OE. brese, AS. briósa; perh. akin to OHG. brimissa, G. breme, bremse, D. brems, which are akin to G. brummen to growl, buzz, grumble, L. fremere to murmur; cf. G. brausen, Sw. brusa, Dan. bruse, to roar, rush. ] (Zool.) A fly of various species, of the family Tabanidæ, noted for buzzing about animals, and tormenting them by sucking their blood; -- called also horsefly, and gadfly. They are among the largest of two-winged or dipterous insects. The name is also given to different species of botflies. [ Written also breese and brize. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Motionless; destitute of breezes. [ 1913 Webster ]

A stagnant, breezeless air becalms my soul. Shenstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To freeze; to congeal. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Thou hast enfrozened her disdainful breast. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Fretful excitement. [ Obs. ] See Feaze. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ For sense 1, cf. F. visser to screw, vis screw, or 1st E. feaze, v.t.: for sense 2, see Feese. ] 1. To turn, as a screw. [ Scot ] Jamieson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To beat; to chastise; to humble; to worry. [ Obs. ] [ Written also feaze, feize, pheese. ] Beau. & Fl. [ 1913 Webster ]

To feeze up, to work into a passion. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Arch.) A frieze. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. Froze p. p. Frozen p. pr. & vb. n. Freezing. ] [ OE. fresen, freosen, AS. freósan; akin to D. vriezen, OHG. iosan, G. frieren, Icel. frjsa, Sw. frysa, Dan. fryse, Goth. frius cold, frost, and prob. to L. prurire to itch, E. prurient, cf. L. prna a burning coal, pruina hoarfrost, Skr. prushvā ice, prush to spirt. &unr_; 18. Cf. Frost. ] 1. To become congealed by cold; to be changed from a liquid to a solid state by the abstraction of heat; to be hardened into ice or a like solid body. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Water freezes at 32° above zero by Fahrenheit's thermometer; mercury freezes at 40° below zero. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To become chilled with cold, or as with cold; to suffer loss of animation or life by lack of heat; as, the blood freezes in the veins. [ 1913 Webster ]

To freeze up (Fig.), to become formal and cold in demeanor. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To congeal; to harden into ice; to convert from a fluid to a solid form by cold, or abstraction of heat. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To cause loss of animation or life in, from lack of heat; to give the sensation of cold to; to chill. [ 1913 Webster ]

A faint, cold fear runs through my veins,
That almost freezes up the heat of life. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

--
To freeze out, to drive out or exclude by cold or by cold treatment; to force to withdraw; as, to be frozen out of one's room in winter; to freeze out a competitor. [ Colloq. ] A railroad which had a London connection must not be allowed to freeze out one that had no such connection. A. T. Hadley. It is sometimes a long time before a player who is frozen out can get into a game again. R. F. Foster. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. The act of congealing, or the state of being congealed. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. dried by freezing and applying a vacuum; -- used of tissue or blood or serum or other biological substances. This technique is gentler than other drying techniques and caused less damage or deterioration to sensitive substances. It is used primarily as a method to preserve foods or substances, and permit storage without deterioration.
Syn. -- lyophilized, lyophilised. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Freeze-dried; p. pr. & vb. n. Freeze-drying. ] to remove the moisture from (e.g. food) by first freezing and then subjecting to a high vacuum; -- used as a mild method for drying foods or chemicals while causing little decomposition, in contrast to heat-drying. This is a relatively gently drying process used to preserve food or sensitive biological materials. For biochemical materials, the term lyophilize is often used. [ PJC ]

n. One who, or that which, cools or freezes, as a refrigerator, or the tub and can used in the process of freezing ice cream. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Perh. the same word as frieze a, kind of cloth. Cf. Friz. ] (Arch.) (a) That part of the entablature of an order which is between the architrave and cornice. It is a flat member or face, either uniform or broken by triglyphs, and often enriched with figures and other ornaments of sculpture. (b) Any sculptured or richly ornamented band in a building or, by extension, in rich pieces of furniture. See Illust. of Column. [ 1913 Webster ]

Cornice or frieze with bossy sculptures graven. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. frise, perh. originally a woolen cloth or stuff from Friesland (F. Frise); cf. LL. frisii panni and frissatus pannus, a shaggy woolen cloth, F. friser to friz, curl. Cf. Friz. ] A kind of coarse woolen cloth or stuff with a shaggy or tufted (friezed) nap on one side. “Robes of frieze.” Goldsmith. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To make a nap on (cloth); to friz. See Friz, v. t., 2. [ 1913 Webster ]

Friezing machine, a machine for friezing cloth; a friezing machine. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Gathered, or having the map gathered, into little tufts, knots, or protuberances. Cf. Frieze, v. t., and Friz, v. t., 2. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who, or that which, friezes or frizzes. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Dial. corrupt. of Guiser a mummer. ] A queer old fellow; an old chap; sometimes, an old woman. [ Contemptuous, Slang. ]
Syn. -- bloke. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. A step. See Gree, a step. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The top of the ladder, or first greeze, is this. Latimer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From Jezebel, Heb. Izebel, the wife of Ahab king of Israel. ] A bold, vicious woman; a termagant. Spectator. [ 1913 Webster ]

pos>n. [ F. lese-majesté, fr. L. laesus, fem. laesa, injured (see Lesion) + majestas majesty; that is, crimen laesae majestatis. ] [ Written also lèse majesty. ] 1. (Law) Any crime committed against the sovereign power, or against a ruler. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Any affront to the dignity of an eminent or respected person. [ PJC ]

3. An attack against an institution or custom revered by the majority in a society. [ PJC ]

n. [ F. mézéréon, Per. māzriyūn. ] (Bot.) A small European shrub (Daphne Mezereum), whose acrid bark is used in medicine. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To cover with a frieze, or as with a frieze. E. Hall. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To freeze rapidly so as to preserve the natural juices and flavors; -- usually used of food or other biologicql matter.
Syn. -- flash-freeze. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Grown rank; rancid; rusty. [ Obs. ] “Reezed bacon.” Marston. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Sneezed p. pr. & vb. n. Sneezing. ] [ OE. snesen; of uncertain origin; cf. D. snuse to sniff, E. neese, and AS. fneósan. ] To emit air, chiefly through the nose, audibly and violently, by a kind of involuntary convulsive force, occasioned by irritation of the inner membrane of the nose. [ 1913 Webster ]

Not to be sneezed at, not to be despised or contemned; not to be treated lightly. [ Colloq. ] “He had to do with old women who were not to be sneezed at.” Prof. Wilson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A sudden and violent ejection of air with an audible sound, chiefly through the nose. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) A yellow-flowered composite plant (Helenium autumnale) the odor of which is said to cause sneezing. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) The wood of a South African tree. See Neishout. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) A European herbaceous plant (Achillea Ptarmica) allied to the yarrow, having a strong, pungent smell. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Naut.), a strong breeze. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Squeezed p. pr. & vb. n. Squeezing. ] [ OE. queisen, AS. cwēsan, cw&ymacr_;san, cwīsan, of uncertain origin. The s- was probably prefixed through the influence of squash, v.t. ] 1. To press between two bodies; to press together closely; to compress; often, to compress so as to expel juice, moisture, etc.; as, to squeeze an orange with the fingers; to squeeze the hand in friendship. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Fig.: To oppress with hardships, burdens, or taxes; to harass; to crush. [ 1913 Webster ]

In a civil war, people must expect to be crushed and squeezed toward the burden. L'Estrange. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To force, or cause to pass, by compression; often with out, through, etc.; as, to squeeze water through felt. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To compress; hug; pinch; gripe; crowd. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To press; to urge one's way, or to pass, by pressing; to crowd; -- often with through, into, etc.; as, to squeeze hard to get through a crowd. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The act of one who squeezes; compression between bodies; pressure. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A facsimile impression taken in some soft substance, as pulp, from an inscription on stone. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Mining) The gradual closing of workings by the weight of the overlying strata. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

4. Pressure or constraint used to force the making of a gift, concession, or the like; exaction; extortion; as, to put the squeeze on someone. [ Colloq. ]

One of the many “squeezes” imposed by the mandarins. A. R. Colquhoun. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. 1. One who, or that which, squeezes; as, a lemon squeezer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Forging) (a) A machine like a large pair of pliers, for shingling, or squeezing, the balls of metal when puddled; -- used only in the plural. (b) A machine of several forms for the same purpose; -- used in the singular. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. trapèze. ] 1. (Geom.) A trapezium. See Trapezium, 1. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A swinging horizontal bar, suspended at each end by a rope; -- used by gymnasts. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ OE. tweeze, tweese, fr. F. étuis, pl. of étui a case, sheath, box; probably of Teutonic origin; cf. MNG. stuche a wide sleeve in which articles could be carried, OHG. stūhha, G. stauche a short and narrow muff. Cf Etui, Tweezers. ] A surgeon's case of instruments. Howell. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. pl. [ See Tweese. ] Small pinchers used to pluck out hairs, and for other purposes. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ 1st pref. un- + freeze. ] To thaw. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) See Weasel. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A piping or whistling sound caused by difficult respiration. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Phon.) An ordinary whisper exaggerated so as to produce the hoarse sound known as the “stage whisper.” It is a forcible whisper with some admixture of tone. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Wheezed p. pr. & vb. n. Wheezing. ] [ OE. whesen, AS. hwēsan (cf. Icel. hvæsa to hiss, Sw. hväsa, Dan. hvæse); akin to AS. hwōsta a cough, D. hoest, G. husten, OHG. huosto, Icel. hōsti, Lith. kosti to cough, Skr. kās. √43. Cf. Husky hoarse. ] To breathe hard, and with an audible piping or whistling sound, as persons affected with asthma. “Wheezing lungs.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]