n. Rehearsal. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Report; rumor; fame; common talk; something heard from another. [ 1913 Webster ]

Much of the obloquy that has so long rested on the memory of our great national poet originated in frivolous hearsays of his life and conversation. Prof. Wilson. [ 1913 Webster ]

Hearsay evidence (Law), that species of testimony which consists in a narration by one person of matters told him by another. It is, with a few exceptions, inadmissible as testimony. Abbott. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To inclose in a hearse; to entomb. [ Obs. ] “Would she were hearsed at my foot.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Etymol. uncertain. ] A hind in the second year of its age. [ Eng. ] Wright. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Herse. ] 1. A framework of wood or metal placed over the coffin or tomb of a deceased person, and covered with a pall; also, a temporary canopy bearing wax lights and set up in a church, under which the coffin was placed during the funeral ceremonies. [ Obs. ] Oxf. Gloss. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A grave, coffin, tomb, or sepulchral monument. [ Archaic ] “Underneath this marble hearse.” B. Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

Beside the hearse a fruitful palm tree grows. Fairfax [ 1913 Webster ]

Who lies beneath this sculptured hearse. Longfellow. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A bier or handbarrow for conveying the dead to the grave. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Set down, set down your honorable load,
It honor may be shrouded in a hearse. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A carriage or motor vehicle specially adapted or used for conveying the dead to the grave in a coffin. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

n. A cloth for covering a coffin when on a bier; a pall. Bp. Sanderson. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Suitable to a funeral. [ 1913 Webster ]

If you listen to David's harp, you shall hear as many hearselike airs as carols. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Inhearsed p. pr. & vb. n. Inhearsing. ] To put in, or as in, a hearse or coffin. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To rehearse or quote incorrectly. Sir T. More. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of rehearsing; recital; narration; repetition; specifically, a private recital, performance, or season of practice, in preparation for a public exhibition or exercise. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

In rehearsal of our Lord's Prayer. Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]

Here's marvelous convenient place for our rehearsal. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Dress rehearsal (Theater), a private preparatory performance of a drama, opera, etc., in costume. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Rehearsed p. pr. & vb. n. Rehearsing. ] [ OE. rehercen, rehersen, OF. reherser, rehercier, to harrow over again; pref. re- re- + hercier to harrow, fr. herce a harrow, F. herse. See Hearse. ] 1. To repeat, as what has been already said; to tell over again; to recite. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

When the words were heard which David spake, they rehearsed them before Saul. 1 Sam. xvii. 31. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To narrate; to relate; to tell. [ 1913 Webster ]

Rehearse the righteous acts of the Lord. Judg. . v. 11. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To recite or repeat in private for experiment and improvement, before a public representation; as, to rehearse a tragedy. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To cause to rehearse; to instruct by rehearsal. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

He has been rehearsed by Madame Defarge as to his having seen her. Dickens. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To recite; recapitulate; recount; detail; describe; tell; relate; narrate. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To recite or repeat something for practice. “There will we rehearse.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who rehearses. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. pl. [ Formerly used also in the singular. See Shear, n., 1. ] 1. A cutting instrument. Specifically: (a) An instrument consisting of two blades, commonly with bevel edges, connected by a pivot, and working on both sides of the material to be cut, -- used for cutting cloth and other substances. [ 1913 Webster ]

Fate urged the shears, and cut the sylph in twain. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

(b) A similar instrument the blades of which are extensions of a curved spring, -- used for shearing sheep or skins. (c) A shearing machine; a blade, or a set of blades, working against a resisting edge. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Anything in the form of shears. Specifically: (a) A pair of wings. [ Obs. ] Spenser. (b) An apparatus for raising heavy weights, and especially for stepping and unstepping the lower masts of ships. It consists of two or more spars or pieces of timber, fastened together near the top, steadied by a guy or guys, and furnished with the necessary tackle. [ Written also sheers. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Mach.) The bedpiece of a machine tool, upon which a table or slide rest is secured; as, the shears of a lathe or planer. See Illust. under Lathe. [ 1913 Webster ]

Rotary shears. See under Rotary. [ 1913 Webster ]