‖ n. [ L. ] (Rom. & Civil Law) Delay; esp., culpable delay; postponement. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ It. ] A game of guessing the number of fingers extended in a quick movement of the hand, -- much played by Italians of the lower classes. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) A leguminous tree of Guiana and Trinidad (Dimorphandra excelsa); also, its timber, used in shipbuilding and making furniture. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. Cf. Prov. G. mur stones broken off, It. mora a heap of stones, hillock, G. mürbe soft, broken up, OHG. muruwi, AS. mearu tender, Gr. &unr_; to cause to wither, Skr. mlā to relax. ] (Geol.) An accumulation of earth and stones carried forward and deposited by a glacier. Lyell. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ If the moraine is at the extremity of the glacier it is a terminal moraine; if at the side, a lateral moraine; if parallel to the side on the central portion of the glacier, a medial moraine. See Illust. of Glacier. In the last case it is formed by the union of the lateral moraines of the branches of the glacier. A ground moraine is one beneath the mass of ice. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to a moranie. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To moralize. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The doctrine or practice of the duties of life; manner of living as regards right and wrong; conduct; behavior; -- usually in the plural. [ 1913 Webster ]

Corrupt in their morals as vice could make them. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The inner meaning or significance of a fable, a narrative, an occurrence, an experience, etc.; the practical lesson which anything is designed or fitted to teach; the doctrine meant to be inculcated by a fiction; a maxim. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thus may we gather honey from the weed,
And make a moral of the devil himself. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

To point a moral, or adorn a tale. Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

We protest against the principle that the world of pure comedy is one into which no moral enters. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A morality play. See Morality, 5. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ F., fr. It. moralis, fr. mos, moris, manner, custom, habit, way of life, conduct. ] 1. Relating to duty or obligation; pertaining to those intentions and actions of which right and wrong, virtue and vice, are predicated, or to the rules by which such intentions and actions ought to be directed; relating to the practice, manners, or conduct of men as social beings in relation to each other, as respects right and wrong, so far as they are properly subject to rules. [ 1913 Webster ]

Keep at the least within the compass of moral actions, which have in them vice or virtue. Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]

Mankind is broken loose from moral bands. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

She had wandered without rule or guidance in a moral wilderness. Hawthorne. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Conformed to accepted rules of right; acting in conformity with such rules; virtuous; just; as, a moral man. Used sometimes in distinction from religious; as, a moral rather than a religious life. [ 1913 Webster ]

The wiser and more moral part of mankind. Sir M. Hale. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Capable of right and wrong action or of being governed by a sense of right; subject to the law of duty. [ 1913 Webster ]

A moral agent is a being capable of those actions that have a moral quality, and which can properly be denominated good or evil in a moral sense. J. Edwards. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Acting upon or through one's moral nature or sense of right, or suited to act in such a manner; as, a moral arguments; moral considerations. Sometimes opposed to material and physical; as, moral pressure or support. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Supported by reason or probability; practically sufficient; -- opposed to legal or demonstrable; as, a moral evidence; a moral certainty. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Serving to teach or convey a moral; as, a moral lesson; moral tales. [ 1913 Webster ]

Moral agent, a being who is capable of acting with reference to right and wrong. --
Moral certainty, a very high degree or probability, although not demonstrable as a certainty; a probability of so high a degree that it can be confidently acted upon in the affairs of life; as, there is a moral certainty of his guilt. --
Moral insanity, insanity, so called, of the moral system; badness alleged to be irresponsible. --
Moral philosophy, the science of duty; the science which treats of the nature and condition of man as a moral being, of the duties which result from his moral relations, and the reasons on which they are founded. --
Moral play, an allegorical play; a morality. [ Obs. ] --
Moral sense, the power of moral judgment and feeling; the capacity to perceive what is right or wrong in moral conduct, and to approve or disapprove, independently of education or the knowledge of any positive rule or law. --
Moral theology, theology applied to morals; practical theology; casuistry. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ F. See Moral, a. ] The moral condition, or the condition in other respects, so far as it is affected by, or dependent upon, moral considerations, such as zeal, spirit, hope, and confidence; mental state, as of a body of men, an army, and the like. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A moralizer. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]