Part 37
#617. [Ostensible motive, ground, or reason assigned.] Pretext.—N. pretext, pretense, pretension, plea|; allegation, advocation; ostensible motive, ostensible ground, ostensible reason, phony reason; excuse &c. (vindication) 937; subterfuge; color; gloss, guise, cover. loop hole, starting hole; how to creep out of, salvo, come off; way of escape. handle, peg to hang on, room locus standi[Lat]; stalking-horse, cheval de bataille[Fr], cue. pretense &c. (untruth) 546; put off, dust thrown in the eyes; blind; moonshine; mere pretext, shallow pretext; lame excuse, lame apology; tub to a whale; false plea, sour grapes; makeshift, shift, white lie; special pleading &c. (sophistry) 477; soft sawder &c. (flattery) 933[obs3]. V. pretend, plead, allege; shelter oneself under the plea of; excuse &c. (vindicate) 937; lend a color to; furnish a handle &c. n.; make a pretext of, make a handle of; use as a plea &c. n.; take one's stand upon, make capital out of, pretend &c. (lie) 544. Adj. ostensibly &c. (manifest) 525; alleged, apologetic; pretended &c. 545. Adv. ostensibly; under color; under the plea, under the pretense of, under the guise of.
3. Objects of Volition
#618. Good.—N. good, benefit, advantage; improvement &c. 658; greatest good, supreme good; interest, service, behoof, behalf; weal; main chance, summum bonum[Lat], common weal; "consummation devoutly to be wished"; gain, boot; profit, harvest. boon &c. (gift) 784; good turn; blessing; world of good; piece of good luck[Fr], piece of good fortune[Fr]; nuts, prize, windfall, godsend, waif, treasure-trove. good fortune &c. (prosperity) 734; happiness &c. 827. [Source of good] goodness &c. 648; utility &c. 644; remedy &c. 662; pleasure giving &c. 829. Adj. commendable &c. 931; useful &c. 644; good &c., beneficial &c. 648. Adv. well, aright, satisfactorily, favorably, not amis[Fr]; all for the best; to one's advantage &c. n.; in one's favor, in one's interest &c. n. Phr. so far so good; magnum bonum[Lat].
#619. Evil.—N. evil, ill, harm, hurt., mischief, nuisance; # machinations of the devil, Pandora's box, ills that flesh is heir to. blow, buffet, stroke, scratch, bruise, wound, gash, mutilation; mortal blow, wound; immedicabile vulnus[Lat]; damage, loss &c. (deterioration) 659. disadvantage, prejudice, drawback. disaster, accident, casualty; mishap &c. (misfortune) 735; bad job, devil to pay; calamity, bale, catastrophe, tragedy; ruin &c. (destruction) 162; adversity &c. 735. mental suffering &c. 828. * demon &v[Evil spirit]. 980. bane &c. 663[Cause of evil]. badness &c. 649[Production of evil]; painfulness &c. 830; evil doer &c. 913. outrage, wrong, injury, foul play; bad turn, ill turn; disservice, spoliation &c. 791; grievance, crying evil. V. be in trouble &c. (adversity) 735. Adj. disastrous, bad &c. 649; awry, out of joint; disadvantageous. Adv. amis[Fr], wrong, ill, to one's cost Phr. "moving accidents by flood and field" [Othello].
SECTION II. PROSPECTIVE VOLITION[1]
[1] That is, volition having reference to a future object.
1. Conceptional Volition
#620. Intention.—N. intent, intention, intentionality; purpose; quo animo[Lat]; project &c. 626; undertaking &c. 676; predetermination &c. 611; design, ambition. contemplation, mind, animus, view, purview, proposal; study; look out. final cause; raison d'etre[Fr]; cui bono[Lat]; object, aim, end; "the be all and the end all"; drift &c. (meaning) 516; tendency &c. 176; destination, mark, point, butt, goal, target, bull's-eye, quintain[obs3][medeival]; prey, quarry, game. decision, determination, resolve; fixed set purpose, settled purpose; ultimatum; resolution &c. 604; wish &c. 865; arriere pensee[Fr]; motive &c. 615. [Study of final causes] teleology. V. intend, purpose, design, mean; have to; propose to oneself; harbor a design; have in view, have in contemplation, have in one's eye, have in- petto; have an eye to. bid for, labor for; be after, aspire after, endeavor after; be at, aim at, drive at, point at, level at, aspire at; take aim; set before oneself; study to. take upon oneself &c. (undertake) 676; take into one's head; meditate, contemplate of, think of, dream of, talk of; premeditate &c. 611; compass, calculate; destine, destinate[obs3]; propose. project &c. (plan) 626; have a mind to &c. (be willing) 602; desire &c. 865; pursue &c. 622. Adj. intended &c. v.; intentional, advised, express, determinate; prepense &c. 611[obs3]; bound for; intending &c. v.; minded; bent upon &c. (earnest) 604; at stake; on the anvil, on the tapis[obs3]; in view, in prospect, in the breast of; in petto; teleological Adv. intentionally &c. adj.; advisedly, wittingly, knowingly, designedly, purposely, on purpose, by design, studiously, pointedly; with intent &c. n.; deliberately &c. (with premeditation) 611; with one's eyes open, in cold blood. for; with a view, with an eye to; in order to, in order that; to the end that, with the intent that; for the purpose of, with the view of, in contemplation of, on account of. in pursuance of, pursuant to; quo animo[Lat]; to all intents and purposes. Phr. "The road to hell is paved with good intentions" [Johnson]; sublimi feriam sidera vertice [Lat][Horace].
#621. [Absence of purpose in the succession of events] Chance. 2—N. chance &c. 156; lot, fate &c. (necessity) 601; luck; good luck &c. (good) 618; mascot. speculation, venture, stake, game of chance; mere shot, random shot; blind bargain, leap in the dark; pig in a poke &c. (uncertainty) 475; fluke, potluck; faro bank; flyer*; limit. uncertainty; uncertainty principle, Heisenberg's uncertainty principle. drawing lots; sortilegy[obs3], sortition|; sortes[obs3], sortes Virgilianae[obs3]; rouge et noir[Fr], hazard, ante, chuck-a-luck, crack-loo [obs3][U.S.], craps, faro, roulette, pitch and toss, chuck, farthing, cup tossing, heads or tails cross and pile, poker-dice; wager; bet, betting; gambling; the turf. gaming house, gambling house, betting house; bucket shop; gambling joint; totalizator, totalizer; hell; betting ring; dice, dice box. [person who takes chances] gambler, gamester; man of the turf; adventurer; dicer|!. V. chance &c. (hap) 156; stand a chance &c. (be possible) 470. toss up; cast lots, draw lots; leave to chance, trust to chance, leave to the chapter of accidents, trust to the chapter of accidents; tempt fortune; chance it, take one's chance, take a shot at it (attempt) 675; run the risk, run the chance, incur the risk, incur the chance, encounter the risk, encounter the chance; stand the hazard of the die. speculate, try one's luck, set on a cast, raffle, put into a lottery, buy a pig in a poke, shuffle the cards. risk, venture, hazard, stake; ante; lay, lay a wager; make a bet, wager, bet, gamble, game, play for; play at chuck farthing. Adj. fortuitous &c. 156; unintentional, unintended; accidental; not meant; undesigned, purposed; unpremeditated &c. 612; unforeseen, uncontemplated, never thought of. random, indiscriminate, promiscuous; undirected; aimless, driftless[obs3], designless[obs3], purposeless, causeless; without purpose. possible &c. 470. unforeseeable, unpredictable, chancy, risky, speculative, dicey. Adv. randomly, by chance, fortuitously; unpredictably, unforeseeably; casually &c. 156; unintentionally &c. adj.; unwittingly. en passant[Fr], by the way, incidentally; as it may happen; at random, at a venture, at haphazard. Phr. acierta errando[Lat]; dextro tempore[Lat]; "fearful concatenation of circumstances" [D. Webster]; "fortuitous combination of circumstances" [Dickens]; le jeu est le fils d'avarice et le pere du desespoir[Fr]; "the happy combination of fortuitous circumstances" [Scott]; "the fortuitous or casual concourse of atoms" [Bentley]; "God does not play dice with the universe" [A. Einstein].
#622. [Purpose in action.] Pursuit—N. pursuit; pursuing &c. v.; prosecution; pursuance; enterprise &c. (undertaking) 676; business &c. 625; adventure &c. (essay) 675; quest &c. (search) 461; scramble, hue and cry, game; hobby; still-hunt. chase, hunt, battue[obs3], race, steeple chase, hunting, coursing; venation, venery; fox chase; sport, sporting; shooting, angling, fishing, hawking; shikar[Geogloc:India]. pursuer; hunter, huntsman; shikari[Geogloc:India], sportsman, Nimrod; hound &c. 366. V. pursue, prosecute, follow; run after, make after, be after, hunt after, prowl after; shadow; carry on &c. (do) 680; engage in &c. (undertake) 676; set about &c. (begin) 66; endeavor &c. 675; court &c. (request) 765 seek &c. (search) 461; aim at &c. (intention) 620; follow the trail &c. (trace) 461; fish for &c. (experiment) 463; press on &c. (haste) 684; run a race &c. (velocity) 274. chase, give chase, course, dog, hunt, hound; tread on the heels, follow on the heels of, &c. (sequence) 281. rush upon; rush headlong &c. (violence) 173 ride full tilt at, run full tilt at; make a leap at, jump at, snatch at run down; start game. tread a path; take a course, hold- a course; shape one's steps, direct one's steps, bend one's steps, course; play a game; fight one's way, elbow one's way; follow up; take to, take up; go in for; ride one's hobby. Adj. pursuing &c. v.; in quest of &c. (inquiry) 461 in pursuit, in full cry, in hot pursuit; on the scent. Adv. in pursuance of &c. (intention) 620; after. Int. tallyho! yoicks! soho[obs3]!
#623. [Absence of pursuit.] Avoidance.—N. abstention, abstinence; for bearance[obs3]; refraining &c. v.; inaction &c. 681; neutrality. avoidance, evasion, elusion; seclusion &c. 893. avolation|, flight; escape &c. 671; retreat &c. 287; recoil &c. 277; departure &c. 293; rejection &c. 610. shirker &c. v.; truant; fugitive, refugee; runaway, runagate; maroon. V. abstain, refrain, spare, not attempt; not do &c. 681; maintain the even tenor of one's way. eschew, keep from, let alone, have nothing to do with; keep aloof keep off, stand aloof, stand off, hold aloof, hold off; take no part in, have no hand in. avoid, shun; steer clear of, keep clear of; fight shy of; keep one's distance, keep at a respectful distance; keep out of the way, get out of the way; evade, elude, turn away from; set one's face against &c. (oppose) 708; deny oneself. shrink back; hang back, hold back, draw back; recoil &c. 277; retire &c. (recede) 287; flinch, blink, blench, shy, shirk, dodge, parry, make way for, give place to. beat a retreat; turn tail, turn one's back; take to one's heels; runaway, run for one's life; cut and run; be off like a shot; fly, flee; fly away, flee away, run away from; take flight, take to flight; desert, elope; make off, scamper off, sneak off, shuffle off, sheer off; break away, tear oneself away, slip away, slink away, steel away, make away from, scamper away from, sneak away from, shuffle away from, sheer away from; slip cable, part company, turn one's heel; sneak out of, play truant, give one the go by, give leg bail, take French leave, slope, decamp, flit, bolt, abscond, levant, skedaddle, absquatulate [obs3][U.S.], cut one's stick, walk one's chalks, show a light pair of heels, make oneself scarce; escape &c. 671; go away &c. (depart) 293; abandon &c. 624; reject &c. 610. lead one a dance, lead one a pretty dance; throw off the scent, play at hide and seek. Adj. unsought, unattempted; avoiding &c. v.; neutral, shy of &c. (unwilling) 603; elusive, evasive; fugitive, runaway; shy, wild. Adj. lest, in order to avoid. Int. forbear! keep off, hands off! sauve qui peut[Fr]! [French: every man for himself]; devil take the hindmost! Phr. "things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme" [Paradise Lost].
#624. Relinquishment.—N. relinquishment, abandonment; desertion, defection, secession, withdrawal; cave of Adullam[obs3]; nolle prosequi[Lat]. discontinuance &c. (cessation) 142; renunciation &c. (recantation) 607; abrogation &c. 756; resignation &c. (retirement) 757; desuetude &c. 614; cession &c. (of property) 782. V. relinquish, give up, abandon, desert, forsake, leave in the lurch; go back on; depart from, secede from, withdraw from; back out of; leave, quit, take leave of, bid a long farewell; vacate &c. (resign) 757. renounce &c (abjure) 607; forego, have done with, drop; disuse &c. 678; discard &c. 782; wash one's hands of; drop all idea of. break off, leave off; desist; stop &c. (cease) 142; hold one's hand, stay one's hand; quit one's hold; give over, shut up shop. throw up the game, throw up the cards; give up the point, give up the argument; pass to the order of the day, move to the previous question. Adj. unpursued[obs3]; relinquished &c. v.; relinquishing &c. v. Int. avast! &c. (stop) 142. Phr. aufgeschoben ist nicht aufgehoben[Ger]; entbehre gern was du nicht hast[Ger].
#625. Business.—N. business, occupation, employment; pursuit &c. 622; what one is doing, what one is about; affair, concern, matter, case. matter in hand, irons in the fire; thing to do, agendum, task, work, job, chore [U.S.], errand, commission, mission, charge, care; duty &c. 926. part, role, cue; province, function, lookout, department, capacity, sphere, orb, field, line; walk, walk of life; beat, round, routine; race, career. office, place, post, chargeship[obs3], incumbency, living; situation, berth, employ; service &c. (servitude) 749; engagement; undertaking &c. 676. vocation, calling, profession, cloth, faculty; industry, art; industrial arts; craft, mystery, handicraft; trade &c. (commerce) 794. exercise; work &c. (action) 680; avocation; press of business &c. (activity) 682. V. pass one's time in, employ one's time in, spend one's time in; employ oneself in, employ oneself upon; occupy oneself with, concern oneself with; make it one's business &c. n.; undertake &c. 676; enter a profession; betake oneself to, turn one's hand to; have to do with &c. (do) 680. office, place, post, chargeship[obs3], incumbency, living; situation, berth, employ; service &c. (servitude) 749; engagement; undertaking &c. 676. drive a trade; carry on a trade, do a trade, transact a trade, carry on business, do business, transact business &c. n.; keep a shop; ply one's task, ply one's trade; labor in one's vocation; pursue the even tenor of one's way; attend to business, attend to one's work. officiate, serve, act; act one's part, play one's part; do duty; serve the office of, discharge the office of, perform the office of, perform the duties of, perform the functions of; hold an office, fill an office, fill a place, fill a situation; hold a portfolio, hold a place, hold a situation. be about, be doing, be engaged in, be employed in, be occupied with, be at work on; have one's hands in, have in hand; have on one's hands, have on one's shoulders; bear the burden; have one's hands full &c. (activity) 682. be in the hands of, be on the stocks, be on the anvil; pass through one's hands. Adj. businesslike; workaday; professional; official, functional; busy &c. (actively employed) 682; on hand, in hand, in one's hands; afoot; on foot, on the anvil; going on; acting. Adv. in the course of business, all in one's day's work; professionally &c. Adj. Phr. "a business with an income at its heels" [Cowper]; amoto quaeramus seria ludo [Lat][Horace]; par negotiis neque supra [Lat][Tacitus].
#626. Plan.—N. plan, scheme, design, project; proposal, proposition, suggestion; resolution, motion; precaution &c. (provision) 673; deep-laid plan &c. (premeditated) 611; system &c. (order) 58; organization &c. (arrangement) 60; germ &c. (cause) 153. sketch, skeleton, outline, draught, draft, ebauche[Fr], brouillon[Fr]; rough cast, rough draft, draught copy; copy; proof, revise. drawing, scheme, schematic, graphic, chart, flow chart (representation) 554. forecast, program(me), prospectus; carte du pays[Fr]; card; bill, protocol; order of the day, list of agenda; bill of fare &c. (food) 298; base of operations; platform, plank, slate [U. S.], ticket [U. S.]. role; policy &c. (line of conduct) 692. contrivance, invention, expedient, receipt, nostrum, artifice, device; pipelaying [U. S.]; stratagem &c. (cunning) 702; trick &c. (deception) 545; alternative, loophole; shift &c. (substitute) 147; last shift &c. (necessity) 601. measure, step; stroke, stroke of policy; master stroke; trump card, court card; cheval de bataille[Fr], great gun; coup, coup d'etat[Fr]; clever stroke, bold stroke, good move, good hit, good stroke; bright thought, bright idea. intrigue, cabal, plot, conspiracy, complot[obs3], machination; subplot, underplot[obs3], counterplot. schemer, schemist[obs3], schematist|; strategist, machinator; projector, artist, promoter, designer &c. v.; conspirator; intrigant &c. (cunning) 702[obs3]. V. plan,,scheme, design, frame, contrive, project, forecast, sketch; devise, invent &c. (imagine) 515; set one's wits to work &c. 515; spring a project; fall upon, hit upon; strike out, chalk out, cut out, lay out, map out; lay down a plan; shape out a course, mark out a course; predetermine &c. 611; concert, preconcert, preestablish; prepare &c. 673; hatch, hatch a plot concoct; take steps, take measures. cast, recast, systematize, organize; arrange &c. 60; digest, mature. plot; counter-plot, counter-mine; dig a mine; lay a train; intrigue &c. (cunning) 702. Adj. planned &c. v.; strategic, strategical; planning &c. v.; prepared, in course of preparation &c. 673; under consideration; on the tapis[obs3], on the carpet, on the floor.
#627. Method. [Path.]—N. method, way, manner, wise, gait, form, mode, fashion, tone, guise; modus operandi, MO; procedure &c. (line of conduct) 692. path, road, route, course; line of way, line of road; trajectory, orbit, track, beat, tack. steps; stair, staircase; flight of stairs, ladder, stile; perron[obs3]. bridge, footbridge, viaduct, pontoon, steppingstone, plank, gangway; drawbridge; pass, ford, ferry, tunnel; pipe &c. 260. door; gateway &c. (opening) 260; channel, passage, avenue, means of access, approach, adit[obs3]; artery, lane, alley, aisle, lobby, corridor; back-door, back-stairs; secret passage; covert way; vennel[obs3]. roadway, pathway, stairway; express; thoroughfare; highway; turnpike, freeway, royal road, coach road; broad highway, King's highway, Queen's highway; beaten track, beaten path; horse road, bridle road, bridle track, bridle path; walk, trottoir[obs3], footpath, pavement, flags, sidewalk; crossroad, byroad, bypath, byway; cut; short cut &c. (mid-course) 628; carrefour[obs3]; private road, occupation road; highways and byways; railroad, railway, tram road, tramway; towpath; causeway; canal &c. (conduit) 350; street &c. (abode) 189; speedway. adv. how; in what way, in what manner; by what mode; so, in this way, after this fashion. one way or another, anyhow; somehow or other &c. (instrumentality) 631; by way of; via; in transitu &c. 270[Lat]; on the high road to. Phr. hae tibi erunt artes[Lat].
#628. Mid-course.—N. middle course, midcourse; mean &c. 29 middle # &c. 68; juste milieu[Fr], mezzo termine[It], golden mean, ἄριστον μέτρον[obs3][Grk], aurea mediocritas[Lat]. straight &c. (direct) 278 straight course, straight path; short cut, cross cut; great circle sailing. neutrality; half measure, half and half measures; compromise. V. keep in a middle course, preserve a middle course, preserve an even course, go straight &c. (direct) 278. go halfway, compromise, make a compromise. Adj. straight &c. (direct) 278. Phr. medium tenuere beati[Lat].
#629. Circuit.—N. circuit, roundabout way, digression, detour, # circumbendibus, ambages[obs3], loop; winding &c. (circuition) 311[obs3]; zigzag &c. (deviation) 279. V. perform a circuit; go round about, go out of one's way; make a detour; meander &c. (deviate) 279. lead a pretty dance; beat about the bush; make two bites of a cherry. Adj. circuitous, indirect, roundabout; zigzag &c. (deviating) 279; backhanded. Adv. by a side wind, by an indirect course; in a roundabout way; from pillar to post.
#630. Requirement.—N. requirement, need, wants, necessities; # necessaries, necessaries of life; stress, exigency, pinch, sine qua non, matter of necessity; case of need, case of life or death. needfulness, essentiality, necessity, indispensability, urgency. requisition &c. (request) 765, (exaction) 741; run upon; demand, call for. charge, claim, command, injunction, mandate, order, precept. desideratum &c. (desire) 865; want &c. (deficiency) 640. V. require, need, want, have occasion for; not be able to do without, not be able to dispense with; prerequire[obs3]. render necessary, necessitate, create a, necessity for, call for, put in requisition; make a requisition &c. (ask for) 765, (demand) 741. stand in need of; lack &c. 640; desiderate[obs3]; desire &c. 865; be necessary &c. Adj. Adj. required &c. v.; requisite, needful, necessary, imperative, essential, indispensable, prerequisite; called for; in demand, in request. urgent, exigent, pressing, instant, crying, absorbing. in want of; destitute of &c. 640. Adv. ex necessitate rei &c. (necessarily) 601[Lat]; of necessity. Phr. there is no time to lose; it cannot be spared, it cannot be dispensed with; mendacem memorem esse oportet [Lat][Quintilian]; necessitas non habet legem[Lat]; nec tecum possum trivere nec sine te [Lat][Martial].
2. Subservience to Ends
_1. Actual Subservience_
#631. Instrumentality.—N. instrumentality; aid &c. 707; subservience, subserviency; mediation, intervention, medium, intermedium[obs3], vehicle, hand; agency &c. 170. minister, handmaid; midwife, accoucheur[Fr], accoucheuse[Fr], obstetrician; gobetween; cat's-paw; stepping-stone. opener &c. 260; key; master key, passkey, latchkey; "open sesame"; passport, passe-partout, safe-conduct, password. instrument &c. 633; expedient &c. (plan) 626; means &c. 632. V. subserve, minister, mediate, intervene; be instrumental &c. adj.; pander to; officiate; tend. Adj. instrumental; useful &c. 644; ministerial, subservient, mediatorial[obs3]; intermediate, intervening; conducive. Adv. through, by, per; whereby, thereby, hereby; by the agency of &c. 170; by dint of; by virtue of, in virtue of; through the medium of &c. n.; along with; on the shoulders of; by means of &c. 632; by the aid of, with the aid of &c. (assistance) 707.
per fas et nefas[Lat], by fair means or foul; somehow, somehow or other; by hook or by crook.
#632. Means.—N. means, resources, wherewithal, ways and means; capital &c. (money) 800; revenue; stock in trade &c. 636; provision &c. 637; a shot in the locker; appliances &c. (machinery) 633; means and appliances; conveniences; cards to play; expedients &c. (measures) 626; two strings to one's bow; sheet anchor &c. (safety) 666; aid &c. 707; medium &c. 631. V. find means, have means, possess means &c. n. Adj. instrumental &c. 631; mechanical &c. 633. Adv. by means of, with; by what means, by all means, by any means, by some means; wherewith, herewith, therewith; wherewithal. how &c. (in what manner) 627; through &c. (by the instrumentality of) 631; with the aid of, by the aid of &c. (assistance) 707; by the agency of &c. 170