Chapter 42

All experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.

Jefferson.

To right a vessel (Naut.), to restore her to an upright position after careening. -- To right the helm (Naut.), to place it in line with the keel.

Right, v. i. 1. To recover the proper or natural condition or position; to become upright.

2. (Naut.) Hence, to regain an upright position, as a ship or boat, after careening.

Right"-a*bout` (?), n. [Right, adv. + about, adv.] A turning directly about by the right, so as to face in the opposite direction; also, the quarter directly opposite; as, to turn to the right-about.

To send to the right-about, to cause to turn toward the opposite point or quarter; -- hence, of troops, to cause to turn and retreat. [Colloq.] Sir W. Scott.

Right"-an`gled (?), a. Containing a right angle or right angles; as, a right-angled triangle.

Right"en (?), v. t. To do justice to. [Obs.]

Relieve [marginal reading, righten] the opressed.

Isa. i. 17.

Right"eous (?), a. [OE. rightways, rightwise, AS. rightws; riht right + ws wise, having wisdom, prudent. See Right, a., Wise, a.] Doing, or according with, that which is right; yielding to all their due; just; equitable; especially, free from wrong, guilt, or sin; holy; as, a righteous man or act; a righteous retribution.

Fearless in his righteous cause.

Milton.

Syn. -- Upright; just; godly; holy; uncorrupt; virtuous; honest; equitable; rightful.

Right"eoused (?), a. Made righteous. [Obs.]

Right"eous*ly (?), adv. [AS. rightwslce.] In a righteous manner; as, to judge righteously.

Right"eous*ness, n. [AS. rihtwsnes.] 1. The quality or state of being righteous; holiness; purity; uprightness; rectitude.

Righteousness, as used in Scripture and theology, in which it chiefly occurs, is nearly equivalent to holiness, comprehending holy principles and affections of heart, and conformity of life to the divine law.

2. A righteous act, or righteous quality.

All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.

Isa. lxiv. 6.

3. The act or conduct of one who is righteous.

Blessed are they that keep judgment, and he that doeth righteousness at all times.

Ps. cvi. 3.

4. (Theol.) The state of being right with God; justification; the work of Christ, which is the ground of justification.

There are two kinds of Christian righteousness: the one without us, which we have by imputation; the other in us, which consisteth of faith, hope, and charity, and other Christian virtues.

Hooker.

Only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone.

Westminster Catechism.

Syn. -- Uprightness; holiness; godliness; equity; justice; rightfulness; integrity; honesty; faithfulness.

Right"er (?), n. One who sets right; one who does justice or redresses wrong. Shelton.

Right"ful (?), a. 1. Righteous; upright; just; good; -- said of persons. [Obs.] Chaucer.

2. Consonant to justice; just; as, a rightful cause.

3. Having the right or just claim according to established laws; being or holding by right; as, the rightful heir to a throne or an estate; a rightful king.

4. Belonging, held, or possessed by right, or by just claim; as, a rightful inheritance; rightful authority.

Syn. -- Just; lawful; true; honest; equitable; proper.

Right"ful*ly, adv. According to right or justice.

Right"ful*ness, n. 1. The quality or state of being rightful; accordance with right and justice.

2. Moral rectitude; righteousness. [Obs.] Wyclif.

We fail of perfect rightfulness.

Sir P. Sidney.

Right"-hand` (?), a. 1. Situated or being on the right; nearer the right hand than the left; as, the right-hand side, room, or road.

2. Chiefly relied on; almost indispensable.

Mr. Alexander Truncheon, who is their right-hand man in the troop.

Addison.

Right-hand rope, a rope which is laid up and twisted with the sun, that is, in the same direction as plain-laid rope. See Illust. of Cordage.

Right"-hand`ed, a. 1. Using the right hand habitually, or more easily than the left.

2. Having the same direction or course as the movement of the hands of a watch seen in front; -- said of the motion of a revolving object looked at from a given direction.

3. (Zoöl.) Having the whorls rising from left to right; dextral; -- said of spiral shells. See Illust. of Scalaria.

Right-handed screw, a screw, the threads of which, like those of a common wood screw, wind spirally in such a direction that the screw advances away from the observer when turned with a right-handed movement in a fixed nut.

Right"-hand`ed*ness, n. The state or quality of being right-handed; hence, skill; dexterity.

Right"-heart`ed (?), a. Having a right heart or disposition. -- Right"-heart`ed*ness, n.

Right"less, a. Destitute of right. Sylvester.

Right"-lined` (?), a. Formed by right lines; rectilineal; as, a right-lined angle.

Right"ly, adv. [AS. richtlice.] 1. Straightly; directly; in front. [Obs.] Shak.

2. According to justice; according to the divine will or moral rectitude; uprightly; as, duty rightly performed.

3. Properly; fitly; suitably; appropriately.

Eve rightly called, Mother of all mankind.

Milton.

4. According to truth or fact; correctly; not erroneously; exactly. "I can not rightly say." Shak.

Thou didst not rightly see.

Dryden.

Right"-mind`ed (?), a. Having a right or honest mind. -- Right"-mind`ed*ness, n.

Right"ness, n. [AS. rihtnes.] Straightness; as, the rightness of a line. Bacon.

2. The quality or state of being right; right relation.

The craving for rightness with God.

J. C. Shairp.

Right"-run`ning (?), a. Straight; direct.

Right"ward (?), adv. Toward the right.

Rightward and leftward rise the rocks.

Southey.

Right" whale` (?). (Zoöl.) (a) The bowhead, Arctic, or Greenland whale (Balæna mysticetus), from whose mouth the best whalebone is obtained. (b) Any other whale that produces valuable whalebone, as the Atlantic, or Biscay, right whale (Balæna cisarctica), and the Pacific right whale (B. Sieboldii); a bone whale.

Pygmy right whale (Zoöl.), a small New Zealand whale (Neobalæna marginata) which is only about sixteen feet long. It produces short, but very elastic and tough, whalebone.

Right"wise` (?), a. Righteous. [Obs.] Wyclif.

Right"wise`, v. t. To make righteous. [Obs.]

Right"wise`ly, adv. Righteously. [Obs.]

Right"wise`ness, n. Righteousness. [Obs.]

In doom and eke in rightwisnesse.

Chaucer.

Rig"id (?), a. [L. rigidus, fr. rigere to be stiff or numb: cf. F. rigide. Cf. Rigor. ] 1. Firm; stiff; unyielding; not pliant; not flexible.

Upright beams innumerable Of rigid spears.

Milton.

2. Hence, not lax or indulgent; severe; inflexible; strict; as, a rigid father or master; rigid discipline; rigid criticism; a rigid sentence.

The more rigid order of principles in religion and government.

Hawthorne.

Syn. -- Stiff; unpliant; inflexible; unyielding; strict; exact; severe; austere; stern; rigorous; unmitigated.

Ri*gid"i*ty (?), n. [L. rigiditas: cf. F. rigidité. See Rigid.] 1. The quality or state of being rigid; want of pliability; the quality of resisting change of form; the amount of resistance with which a body opposes change of form; -- opposed to flexibility, ductility, malleability, and softness.

2. Stiffness of appearance or manner; want of ease or elegance. Sir H. Wotton.

3. Severity; rigor. [Obs. orR.] Bp. Burnet.

Syn. -- Stiffness; rigidness; inflexibility.

Rig"id*ly (?), v. In a rigid manner; stiffly.

Rig"id*ness, n. The quality or state of being rigid.

Ri*gid"u*lous (?), a. [Dim. from rigid.] (Bot.) Somewhat rigid or stiff; as, a rigidulous bristle.

Rig"let (?), n. (Print.) See Reglet.

Rig"ma*role (?), n. [For ragman roll. See Ragman's roll.] A succession of confused or nonsensical statements; foolish talk; nonsense. [Colloq.]

Often one's dear friend talks something which one scruples to call rigmarole.

De Quincey.

Rig"ma*role, a. Consisting of rigmarole; frovolous; nonsensical; foolish.

Rig"ol (?), n. [OE. also ringol. Cf. Ring.] A circle; hence, a diadem. [Obs.] Shak.

Rig"oll (?), n. [Corrupted fr. regal.] A musical instrument formerly in use, consisting of several sticks bound together, but separated by beads, and played with a stick with a ball at its end. Moore (Encyc. of Music.).

||Ri"gor (?), n. [L. See Rigor., below.] 1. Rigidity; stiffness.

2. (ed.) A sense of chilliness, with contraction of the skin; a convulsive shuddering or tremor, as in the chill preceding a fever.

||Rigor caloris (&?;) [L., rigor of heat] (Physiol.), a form of rigor ||mortis induced by heat, as when the muscle of a mammal is heated to ||about 50°C. -- ||Rigor mortis (&?;) [L. , rigor of death], death ||stiffening; the rigidity of the muscles that occurs at death and ||lasts till decomposition sets in. It is due to the formation of ||myosin by the coagulation of the contents of the individual muscle ||fibers.

Rig"or (?), n. [OE. rigour, OF. rigour, F. rigueur, from L. rigor, fr. rigere to be stiff. See Rigid.] [Written also rigour.] 1. The becoming stiff or rigid; the state of being rigid; rigidity; stiffness; hardness.

The rest his look Bound with Gorgonian rigor not to move.

Milton.

2. (Med.) See 1st Rigor, 2.

3. Severity of climate or season; inclemency; as, the rigor of the storm; the rigors of winter.

4. Stiffness of opinion or temper; rugged sternness; hardness; relentless severity; hard-heartedness; cruelty.

All his rigor is turned to grief and pity.

Denham.

If I shall be condemn'd Upon surmises, . . . I tell you 'T is rigor and not law.

Shak.

5. Exactness without allowance, deviation, or indulgence; strictness; as, the rigor of criticism; to execute a law with rigor; to enforce moral duties with rigor; -- opposed to lenity.

6. Severity of life; austerity; voluntary submission to pain, abstinence, or mortification.

The prince lived in this convent with all the rigor and austerity of a capuchin.

Addison.

7. Violence; force; fury. [Obs.]

Whose raging rigor neither steel nor brass could stay.

Spenser.

Syn. -- Stiffness; rigidness; inflexibility; severity; austerity; sternness; harshness; strictness; exactness.

Rig"or*ism (?), n. 1. Rigidity in principle or practice; strictness; -- opposed to laxity.

2. Severity, as of style, or the like. Jefferson.

Rig"or*ist, n. [Cf. F. rigoriste.] One who is rigorous; -- sometimes applied to an extreme Jansenist.

Rig"or*ous (?), a. [F. rigoureux, LL. rigorosus. See Rigor.] 1. Manifesting, exercising, or favoring rigor; allowing no abatement or mitigation; scrupulously accurate; exact; strict; severe; relentless; as, a rigorous officer of justice; a rigorous execution of law; a rigorous definition or demonstration.

He shall be thrown down the Tarpeian Rock With rigorous hands.

Shak.

We do not connect the scattered phenomena into their rigorous unity.

De Quincey.

2. Severe; intense; inclement; as, a rigorous winter.

3. Violent. [Obs.] "Rigorous uproar." Spenser.

Syn. -- Rigid; inflexible; unyielding; stiff; severe; austere; stern; harsh; strict; exact.

-- Rig"or*ous*ly, adv. -- Rig"or*ous*ness, n.

||Rigs"da`ler (?), n. [Dan. See Rix- dollar.] A Danish coin worth about ||fifty-four cents. It was the former unit of value in Denmark.

||Rig`-Ve"da (?). See Veda.

||Riks"da`ler (?), n. [Sw. See Rix- dollar.] A Swedish coin worth about ||twenty-seven cents. It was formerly the unit of value in Sweden.

Rile (rl), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Riled (rld); p. pr. & vb. n. Riling.] [See Roil.] 1. To render turbid or muddy; to stir up; to roil.

2. To stir up in feelings; to make angry; to vex.

In both senses provincial in England and colloquial in the United States.

||Ri*lie"vo (?), n.[It. See Relief.] (Sculp. & Arch.) Same as Relief, ||n., 5.

Rill (rl), n. [Cf. LG. rille a small channel or brook, a furrow, a chamfer, OE. rigol a small brook, F. rigole a trench or furrow for water, W. rhill a row, rhigol a little ditch. √11.] 1. A very small brook; a streamlet.

2. (Astron.) See Rille.

Rill, v. i. To run a small stream. [R.] Prior.

Rille (rl), n. [G. rille a furrow.] (Astron.) One of certain narrow, crooked valleys seen, by aid of the telescope, on the surface of the moon.

Rill"et (?), n. A little rill. Burton.

Ri"ly (?), a. Roily. [Prov. Eng. & Colloq. U.S.]

<! p. 1243 !>

Rim (?), n. [As. rima, reoma, edge; cf. W. rhim, rhimp, a rim, edge, boundary, termination, Armor, rim. Cf. Rind.] 1. The border, edge, or margin of a thing, usually of something circular or curving; as, the rim of a kettle or basin.

2. The lower part of the abdomen. [Obs.] Shak.

Arch rim (Phonetics), the line between the gums and the palate. -- Rim-fire cartridge. (Mil.) See under Cartridge. -- Rim lock. See under Lock.

Rim, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Rimmed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Rimming.] To furnish with a rim; to border.

||Ri"ma (?), n.; pl. Rimæ (#). [L.] (Anat.) A narrow and elongated ||aperture; a cleft; a fissure.

||Ri"mau da"han (?). [From the native Oriental name.] (Zoöl.) The ||clouded tiger cat (Felis marmorata) of Southern Asia and the East ||Indies.

Rim"base` (?), n. (Mil.) A short cylinder connecting a trunnion with the body of a cannon. See Illust. of Cannon.

Rime (?), n. [L. rima.] A rent or long aperture; a chink; a fissure; a crack. Sir T. Browne.

Rime, n. [AS. hrm; akin to D. rijm, Icel. hrm, Dan. rim, Sw. rim; cf. D. rijp, G. reif, OHG. rfo, hrfo.] White frost; hoarfrost; congealed dew or vapor.

The trees were now covered with rime.

De Quincey.

Rime, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Rimed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Riming.] To freeze or congeal into hoarfrost.

Rime, n. [Etymol. uncertain.] A step or round of a ladder; a rung.

Rime, n. Rhyme. See Rhyme. Coleridge. Landor.

This spelling, which is etymologically preferable, is coming into use again.

Rime, v. i. & t. To rhyme. See Rhyme.

Rim"er (?), n. A rhymer; a versifier.

Rim"er, n. A tool for shaping the rimes of a ladder.

Rim"ey (?), v. t. [Cf. OF. rimoier. See Ryime.] To compose in rhyme; to versify. [Obs.]

[Lays] rimeyed in their first Breton tongue.

Chaucer.

Rim"mer (?), n. An implement for cutting, trimming, or ornamenting the rim of anything, as the edges of pies, etc.; also, a reamer. Knight.

Ri*mose" (?), a. [L. rimosus, fr. rima a chink: cf. F. rimeux.] 1. Full of rimes, fissures, or chinks.

2. (Nat. Hist.) Having long and nearly parallel clefts or chinks, like those in the bark of trees.

Ri*mose"ly, adv. In a rimose manner.

Ri*mos"i*ty (?), n. State of being rimose.

Rim"ous (?), a. Rimose.

Rim"ple (?), n. [AS. hrimpele, or rimpel. See Rumple.] A fold or wrinkle. See Rumple.

Rim"ple, v. t. & i. [imp. & p. p. Rimpled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Rimpling (?).] To rumple; to wrinkle.

Rim"y (?), a. Abounding with rime; frosty.

Rind (rnd), n. [AS. rind bark, crust of bread; akin to OHG. rinta, G. rinde, and probably to E. rand, rim; cf. Skr. ram to end, rest.] The external covering or coat, as of flesh, fruit, trees, etc.; skin; hide; bark; peel; shell.

Thou canst not touch the freedom of my mind With all thy charms, although this corporal rind Thou hast immanacled.

Milton.

Sweetest nut hath sourest rind.

Shak.

Rind, v. t. To remove the rind of; to bark. [R.]

Rin"der*pest (rn"dr*pst), n. [G., fr. rind, pl. rinder, cattle + pest pest, plague.] A highly contagious distemper or murrain, affecting neat cattle, and less commonly sheep and goats; -- called also cattle plague, Russian cattle plague, and steppe murrain.

Rin"dle (rn"d'l), n. [AS. rynele. &radic;11. See Run.] A small water course or gutter. Ash.

Rind"less (rnd"ls), a. Destitute of a rind.

Rind"y (-), a. Having a rind or skin. Ash.

Rine (rn), n. See Rind. [Obs.] Spenser.

Rined (?), a. Having a rind [Obs.] Milton.

||Rin`for*zan"do (?), a. [It., fr. rinforzare to reënforce, ||strengthen.] (Mus.) Increasing; strengthening; -- a direction ||indicating a sudden increase of force (abbreviated rf., rfz.) Cf. ||Forzando, and Sforzando.

Ring (rng), v. t. [imp. Rang (rng) or Rung (rng); p. p. Rung; p. pr. & vb. n. Ringing.] [AS. hringan; akin to Icel. hringja, Sw. ringa, Dan. ringe, OD. ringhen, ringkelen. &radic;19.] 1. To cause to sound, especially by striking, as a metallic body; as, to ring a bell.

2. To make (a sound), as by ringing a bell; to sound.

The shard-borne beetle, with his drowsy hums, Hath rung night's yawning peal.

Shak.

3. To repeat often, loudly, or earnestly.

To ring a peal, to ring a set of changes on a chime of bells. -- To ring the changes upon. See under Change. -- To ring in or out, to usher, attend on, or celebrate, by the ringing of bells; as, to ring out the old year and ring in the new. Tennyson. -- To ring the bells backward, to sound the chimes, reversing the common order; -- formerly done as a signal of alarm or danger. Sir W. Scott.

Ring, v. i. 1. To sound, as a bell or other sonorous body, particularly a metallic one.

Now ringen trompes loud and clarion.

Chaucer.

Why ring not out the bells?

Shak.

2. To practice making music with bells. Holder.

3. To sound loud; to resound; to be filled with a ringing or reverberating sound.

With sweeter notes each rising temple rung.

Pope.

The hall with harp and carol rang.

Tennyson.

My ears still ring with noise.

Dryden.

4. To continue to sound or vibrate; to resound.

The assertion is still ringing in our ears.

Burke.

5. To be filled with report or talk; as, the whole town rings with his fame.

Ring, n. 1. A sound; especially, the sound of vibrating metals; as, the ring of a bell.

2. Any loud sound; the sound of numerous voices; a sound continued, repeated, or reverberated.

The ring of acclamations fresh in his ears.

Bacon

3. A chime, or set of bells harmonically tuned.

As great and tunable a ring of bells as any in the world.

Fuller.

Ring (?), n. [AS. hring, hrinc; akin to Fries. hring, D. & G. ring, OHG. ring, hring, Icel. hringr, DAn. & SW. ring; cf. Russ. krug'. Cf. Harangue, Rank a row,Rink.] A circle, or a circular line, or anything in the form of a circular line or hoop.

2. Specifically, a circular ornament of gold or other precious material worn on the finger, or attached to the ear, the nose, or some other part of the person; as, a wedding ring.

Upon his thumb he had of gold a ring.

Chaucer.

The dearest ring in Venice will I give you.

Shak.

3. A circular area in which races are or run or other sports are performed; an arena.

Place me, O, place me in the dusty ring, Where youthful charioteers contend for glory.

E. Smith.

4. An inclosed space in which pugilists fight; hence, figuratively, prize fighting. "The road was an institution, the ring was an institution." Thackeray.

5. A circular group of persons.

And hears the Muses in a ring Aye round about Jove's alter sing.

Milton.

6. (Geom.) (a) The plane figure included between the circumferences of two concentric circles. (b) The solid generated by the revolution of a circle, or other figure, about an exterior straight line (as an axis) lying in the same plane as the circle or other figure.

7. (Astron. & Navigation) An instrument, formerly used for taking the sun's altitude, consisting of a brass ring suspended by a swivel, with a hole at one side through which a solar ray entering indicated the altitude on the graduated inner surface opposite.

8. (Bot.) An elastic band partly or wholly encircling the spore cases of ferns. See Illust. of Sporangium.

9. A clique; an exclusive combination of persons for a selfish purpose, as to control the market, distribute offices, obtain contracts, etc.

The ruling ring at Constantinople.

E. A. Freeman.

Ring armor, armor composed of rings of metal. See Ring mail, below, and Chain mail, under Chain. -- Ring blackbird (Zoöl.), the ring ousel. -- Ring canal (Zoöl.), the circular water tube which surrounds the esophagus of echinoderms. -- Ring dotterel, or Ringed dotterel. (Zoöl.) See Dotterel, and Illust. of Pressiroster. -- Ring dropper, a sharper who pretends to have found a ring (dropped by himself), and tries to induce another to buy it as valuable, it being worthless. -- Ring fence. See under Fence. -- Ring finger, the third finger of the left hand, or the next the little finger, on which the ring is placed in marriage. -- Ring formula (Chem.), a graphic formula in the shape of a closed ring, as in the case of benzene, pyridine, etc. See Illust. under Benzene. -- Ring mail, a kind of mail made of small steel rings sewed upon a garment of leather or of cloth. -- Ring micrometer. (Astron.) See Circular micrometer, under Micrometer. -- Saturn's rings. See Saturn. -- Ring ousel. (Zoöl.) See Ousel. -- Ring parrot (Zoöl.), any one of several species of Old World parrakeets having a red ring around the neck, especially Palæornis torquatus, common in India, and P. Alexandri of Java. -- Ring plover. (Zoöl.) (a) The ringed dotterel. (b) Any one of several small American plovers having a dark ring around the neck, as the semipalmated plover (Ægialitis semipalmata). -- Ring snake (Zoöl.), a small harmless American snake (Diadophis punctatus) having a white ring around the neck. The back is ash-colored, or sage green, the belly of an orange red. -- Ring stopper. (Naut.) See under Stopper. -- Ring thrush (Zoöl.), the ring ousel. -- The prize ring, the ring in which prize fighters contend; prize fighters, collectively. -- The ring. (a) The body of sporting men who bet on horse races. [Eng.] (b) The prize ring.

Ring, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ringed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Ringing.] 1. To surround with a ring, or as with a ring; to encircle. "Ring these fingers." Shak.

2. (Hort.) To make a ring around by cutting away the bark; to girdle; as, to ring branches or roots.

3. To fit with a ring or with rings, as the fingers, or a swine's snout.

Ring, v. i. (Falconry) To rise in the air spirally.

Ring"bill` (?), n. (Zoöl.) The ring-necked scaup duck; -- called also ring-billed blackhead. See Scaup.

Ring"bird` (?), n. (Zoöl.) The reed bunting. It has a collar of white feathers. Called also ring bunting.

Ring"bolt` (?), n. An eyebolt having a ring through the eye.

Ring"bone` (?), n. (Far.) A morbid growth or deposit of bony matter between or on the small pastern and the great pastern bones. J. H. Walsh.

Ring"dove` (?), n. (Zoöl.) A European wild pigeon (Columba palumbus) having a white crescent on each side of the neck, whence the name. Called also wood pigeon, and cushat.

Ringed (?), a. 1. Encircled or marked with, or as with, a ring or rings.

2. Wearning a wedding ring; hence, lawfully wedded. "A ringed wife." Tennyson.

Ringed seal (Zoöl.), a North Pacific seal (Phoca fœtida) having ringlike spots on the body. -- Ringed snake (Zoöl.), a harmless European snake (Tropidonotus natrix) common in England. -- Ringed worm (Zoöl.), an annelid.

Rin"gent (?), a. [L. ringens, -entis, p. pr. of ringi to open wide the mouth: cf. F. ringent.] (Bot.) Having the lips widely separated and gaping like an open mouth; as a ringent bilabiate corolla.

Ring"er (?), n. 1. One who, or that which, rings; especially, one who rings chimes on bells.

2. (Mining) A crowbar. Simmonds.

Ring"er (?), n. (Horse Racing) A horse that is not entitled to take part in a race, but is fraudulently got into it.

Ring"head` (?), n. (Cloth Manuf.) An instrument used for stretching woolen cloth.

Ring"ing, a & n. from Ring, v.

Ringing engine, a simple form of pile driver in which the monkey is lifted by men pulling on ropes.

Ring"ing*ly, adv. In a ringing manner.

Ring"lead`er (?), n. 1. The leader of a circle of dancers; hence, the leader of a number of persons acting together; the leader of a herd of animals.

A primacy of order, such an one as the ringleader hath in a dance.

Barrow.

2. Opprobriously, a leader of a body of men engaged in the violation of law or in an illegal enterprise, as rioters, mutineers, or the like.

The ringleaders were apprehended, tried, fined, and imprisoned.

Macaulay.