Chapter 93

2. (Zoöl.) Any one of several species of spiny-rayed marine fishes belonging to Uranoscopus, Astroscopus, and allied genera, of the family Uranoscopidæ. The common species of the Eastern United States are Astroscopus anoplus, and A. guttatus. So called from the position of the eyes, which look directly upward.

Star"gas`ing, n. 1. The act or practice of observing the stars with attention; contemplation of the stars as connected with astrology or astronomy. Swift.

2. Hence, absent-mindedness; abstraction.

Star"ing*ly (?), adv. With a staring look.

Stark (?), a. [Compar. Starker (?); superl. Starkest.] [OE. stark stiff, strong, AS. stearc; akin to OS. starc strong, D. sterk, OHG. starc, starah, G. & Sw. stark, Dan. stærk, Icel. sterkr, Goth. gastaúrknan to become dried up, Lith. strëgti to stiffen, to freeze. Cf. Starch, a. & n.] 1. Stiff; rigid. Chaucer.

Whose senses all were straight benumbed and stark.

Spenser.

His heart gan wax as stark as marble stone.

Spenser.

Many a nobleman lies stark and stiff Under the hoofs of vaunting enemies.

Shak.

The north is not so stark and cold.

B. Jonson.

2. Complete; absolute; full; perfect; entire. [Obs.]

Consider the stark security The common wealth is in now.

B. Jonson.

3. Strong; vigorous; powerful.

A stark, moss-trooping Scot.

Sir W. Scott.

Stark beer, boy, stout and strong beer.

Beau. & Fl.

4. Severe; violent; fierce. [Obs.] "In starke stours." [i. e., in fierce combats]. Chaucer.

5. Mere; sheer; gross; entire; downright.

He pronounces the citation stark nonsense.

Collier.

Rhetoric is very good or stark naught; there's no medium in rhetoric.

Selden.

Stark (?), adv. Wholly; entirely; absolutely; quite; as, stark mind. Shak.

Held him strangled in his arms till he was stark dead.

Fuller.

Stark naked, wholly naked; quite bare.

Strip your sword stark naked.

Shak.

According to Professor Skeat, "stark-naked" is derived from steort-naked, or start-naked, literally tail-naked, and hence wholly naked. If this etymology be true the preferable form is stark-naked.

Stark, v. t. To stiffen. [R.]

If horror have not starked your limbs.

H. Taylor.

Stark"ly, adv. In a stark manner; stiffly; strongly.

Its onward force too starky pent In figure, bone, and lineament.

Emerson.

Stark"ness, n. The quality or state of being stark.

Star"less (?), a. Being without stars; having no stars visible; as, a starless night. Milton.

Star"light` (?), n. The light given by the stars.

Nor walk by moon, Or glittering starlight, without thee is sweet.

Milton.

Star"light`, a. Lighted by the stars, or by the stars only; as, a starlight night.

A starlight evening and a morning fair.

Dryden.

Star"like` (?), a. 1. Resembling a star; stellated; radiated like a star; as, starlike flowers.

2. Shining; bright; illustrious. Dryden.

The having turned many to righteousness shall confer a starlike and immortal brightness.

Boyle.

Star"ling (?), n. [OE. sterlyng, a dim. of OE. stare, AS. stær; akin to AS. stearn, G. star, staar, OHG. stara, Icel. starri, stari, Sw. stare, Dan. stær, L. sturnus. Cf. Stare a starling.] 1. (Zoöl.) Any passerine bird belonging to Sturnus and allied genera. The European starling (Sturnus vulgaris) is dark brown or greenish black, with a metallic gloss, and spotted with yellowish white. It is a sociable bird, and builds about houses, old towers, etc. Called also stare, and starred. The pied starling of India is Sternopastor contra.

2. (Zoöl.) A California fish; the rock trout.

3. A structure of piles driven round the piers of a bridge for protection and support; -- called also sterling.

Rose-colored starling. (Zoöl.) See Pastor.

Star"lit` (?), a. Lighted by the stars; starlight.

Star"mon`ger (?), n. A fortune teller; an astrologer; -- used in contempt. B. Jonson.

Starn (?), n. (Zoöl.) The European starling. [Prov. Eng.]

Star"nose` (?), n. (Zoöl.) A curious American mole (Condylura cristata) having the nose expanded at the end into a stellate disk; -- called also star- nosed mole.

Star"ost (?), n. [Pol. starosta, from stary old.] A nobleman who possessed a starosty. [Poland]

Star"os*ty (?), n. A castle and domain conferred on a nobleman for life. [Poland] Brande & C.

Star"proof` (?), a. Impervious to the light of the stars; as, a starproof elm. [Poetic] Milton.

Star"-read` (?), n. Doctrine or knowledge of the stars; star lore; astrology; astronomy. [Obs.]

Which in star-read were wont have best insight.

Spenser.

Starred (?), a. [From Star.] 1. Adorned or studded with stars; bespangled.

2. Influenced in fortune by the stars. [Obs.]

My third comfort, Starred most unluckily.

Shak.

Star"ri*ness (?), n. The quality or state of being starry; as, the starriness of the heavens.

Star"ry (?), a. 1. Abounding with stars; adorned with stars. "Above the starry sky." Pope.

2. Consisting of, or proceeding from, the stars; stellar; stellary; as, starry light; starry flame.

Do not Christians and Heathens, Jews and Gentiles, poets and philosophers, unite in allowing the starry influence?

Sir W. Scott.

3. Shining like stars; sparkling; as, starry eyes.

4. Arranged in rays like those of a star; stellate.

Starry ray (Zoöl.), a European skate (Raita radiata); -- so called from the stellate bases of the dorsal spines.

Star"shine` (?), n. The light of the stars. [R.]

The starshine lights upon our heads.

R. L. Stevenson.

Star"shoot` (?), n. See Nostoc.

Star"-span`gled (?), a. Spangled or studded with stars.

Star-spangled banner, the popular name for the national ensign of the United States. F. S. Key.

Star"stone` (?), n. (Min.) Asteriated sapphire.

Start (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. started; p. pr. & vb. n. starting.] [OE. sterten; akin to D. storten 8hurl, rush, fall, G. stürzen, OHG. sturzen to turn over, to fall, Sw. störa to cast down, to fall, Dan. styrte, and probably also to E. start a tail; the original sense being, perhaps, to show the tail, to tumble over suddenly. √166. Cf. Start a tail.] 1. To leap; to jump. [Obs.]

2. To move suddenly, as with a spring or leap, from surprise, pain, or other sudden feeling or emotion, or by a voluntary act.

And maketh him out of his sleep to start.

Chaucer.

I start as from some dreadful dream.

Dryden.

Keep your soul to the work when ready to start aside.

I. Watts.

But if he start, It is the flesh of a corrupted heart.

Shak.

3. To set out; to commence a course, as a race or journey; to begin; as, to start business.

At once they start, advancing in a line.

Dryden.

At intervals some bird from out the brakes Starts into voice a moment, then is still.

Byron.

4. To become somewhat displaced or loosened; as, a rivet or a seam may start under strain or pressure.

To start after, to set out after; to follow; to pursue. -- To start against, to act as a rival candidate against. -- To start for, to be a candidate for, as an office. -- To start up, to rise suddenly, as from a seat or couch; to come suddenly into notice or importance.

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Start (?), v. t. 1. To cause to move suddenly; to disturb suddenly; to startle; to alarm; to rouse; to cause to flee or fly; as, the hounds started a fox.

Upon malicious bravery dost thou come To start my quiet?

Shak.

Brutus will start a spirit as soon as Cæsar.

Shak.

2. To bring onto being or into view; to originate; to invent.

Sensual men agree in the pursuit of every pleasure they can start.

Sir W. Temple.

3. To cause to move or act; to set going, running, or flowing; as, to start a railway train; to start a mill; to start a stream of water; to start a rumor; to start a business.

I was engaged in conversation upon a subject which the people love to start in discourse.

Addison.

4. To move suddenly from its place or position; to displace or loosen; to dislocate; as, to start a bone; the storm started the bolts in the vessel.

One, by a fall in wrestling, started the end of the clavicle from the sternum.

Wiseman.

5. [Perh. from D. storten, which has this meaning also.] (Naut.) To pour out; to empty; to tap and begin drawing from; as, to start a water cask.

Start, n. 1. The act of starting; a sudden spring, leap, or motion, caused by surprise, fear, pain, or the like; any sudden motion, or beginning of motion.

The fright awakened Arcite with a start.

Dryden.

2. A convulsive motion, twitch, or spasm; a spasmodic effort.

For she did speak in starts distractedly.

Shak.

Nature does nothing by starts and leaps, or in a hurry.

L'Estrange.

3. A sudden, unexpected movement; a sudden and capricious impulse; a sally; as, starts of fancy.

To check the starts and sallies of the soul.

Addison.

4. The beginning, as of a journey or a course of action; first motion from a place; act of setting out; the outset; -- opposed to finish.

The start of first performance is all.

Bacon.

I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips, Straining upon the start.

Shak.

At a start, at once; in an instant. [Obs.]

At a start he was betwixt them two.

Chaucer.

To get, or have, the start, to before another; to gain or have the advantage in a similar undertaking; -- usually with of. "Get the start of the majestic world." Shak. "She might have forsaken him if he had not got the start of her." Dryden.

Start, n. [OE. stert a tail, AS. steort; akin to LG. stert, steert, D. staart, G. sterz, Icel. stertr, Dan. stiert, Sw. stjert. &radic;166. Cf. Stark naked, under Stark, Start, v. i.] 1. A tail, or anything projecting like a tail.

2. The handle, or tail, of a plow; also, any long handle. [Prov. Eng.]

3. The curved or inclined front and bottom of a water-wheel bucket.

4. (Mining) The arm, or level, of a gin, drawn around by a horse.

Start"er, n. 1. One who, or that which, starts; as, a starter on a journey; the starter of a race.

2. A dog that rouses game.

Start"ful (?), a. Apt to start; skittish. [R.]

Start"ful*ness, n. Aptness to start. [R.]

Star"throat` (?), n. (Zoöl.) Any humming bird of the genus Heliomaster. The feathers of the throat have a brilliant metallic luster.

Start"ing (?), a. & n. from Start, v.

Starting bar (Steam Eng.), a hand lever for working the values in starting an engine. -- Starting hole, a loophole; evasion. [Obs.] -- Starting point, the point from which motion begins, or from which anything starts. -- Starting post, a post, stake, barrier, or place from which competitors in a race start, or begin the race.

Start"ing*ly, adv. By sudden fits or starts; spasmodically. Shak.

Start"ish, a. Apt to start; skittish; shy; -- said especially of a horse. [Colloq.]

Star"tle (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Startled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Startling (?).] [Freq. of start.] To move suddenly, or be excited, on feeling alarm; to start.

Why shrinks the soul Back on herself, and startles at destruction?

Addison.

Star"tle (?), v. t. 1. To excite by sudden alarm, surprise, or apprehension; to frighten suddenly and not seriously; to alarm; to surprise.

The supposition, at least, that angels do sometimes assume bodies need not startle us.

Locke.

2. To deter; to cause to deviate. [R.] Clarendon.

Syn. -- To start; shock; fright; frighten; alarm.

Star"tle, n. A sudden motion or shock caused by an unexpected alarm, surprise, or apprehension of danger.

After having recovered from my first startle, I was very well pleased with the accident.

Spectator.

Star"tling*ly (?), adv. In a startling manner.

Star"tlish (?), a. Easily startled; apt to start; startish; skittish; -- said especially of a hourse. [Colloq.]

Start"-up` (?), n. 1. One who comes suddenly into notice; an upstart. [Obs.] Shak.

2. A kind of high rustic shoe. [Obs.] Drayton.

A startuppe, or clownish shoe.

Spenser.

Start"-up`, a. Upstart. [R.] Walpole.

Star*va"tion (?), n. The act of starving, or the state of being starved.

This word was first used, according to Horace Walpole, by Henry Dundas, the first Lord Melville, in a speech on American affairs in 1775, which obtained for him the nickname of Starvation Dundas. "Starvation, we are also told, belongs to the class of 'vile compounds' from being a mongrel; as if English were not full of mongrels, and if it would not be in distressing straits without them." Fitzed. Hall.

Starve (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Starved (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Starving.] [OE. sterven to die, AS. steorfan; akin to D. sterven, G. sterben, OHG. sterban, Icel. starf labor, toil.] 1. To die; to perish. [Obs., except in the sense of perishing with cold or hunger.] Lydgate.

In hot coals he hath himself raked . . . Thus starved this worthy mighty Hercules.

Chaucer.

2. To perish with hunger; to suffer extreme hunger or want; to be very indigent.

Sometimes virtue starves, while vice is fed.

Pope.

3. To perish or die with cold. Spenser.

Have I seen the naked starve for cold?

Sandys.

Starving with cold as well as hunger.

W. Irving.

In this sense, still common in England, but rarely used of the United States.

Starve, v. t. 1. To destroy with cold. [Eng.]

From beds of raging fire, to starve in ice Their soft ethereal warmth.

Milton.

2. To kill with hunger; as, maliciously to starve a man is, in law, murder.

3. To distress or subdue by famine; as, to starvea garrison into a surrender.

Attalus endeavored to starve Italy by stopping their convoy of provisions from Africa.

Arbuthnot.

4. To destroy by want of any kind; as, to starve plans by depriving them of proper light and air.

5. To deprive of force or vigor; to disable.

The pens of historians, writing thereof, seemed starved for matter in an age so fruitful of memorable actions.

Fuller.

The powers of their minds are starved by disuse.

Locke.

Starv"ed*ly (?), adv. In the condition of one starved or starving; parsimoniously.

Some boasting housekeeper which keepth open doors for one day, . . . and lives starvedly all the year after.

Bp. Hall.

Starve"ling (?), n. [Starve + -ling.] One who, or that which, pines from lack or food, or nutriment.

Old Sir John hangs with me, and thou knowest he is no starveling.

Shak.

Starve"ling, a. Hungry; lean; pining with want.

Star"wort` (?), n. (Bot.) (a) Any plant of the genus Aster. See Aster. (b) A small plant of the genus Stellaria, having star-shaped flowers; star flower; chickweed. Gray.

Water starwort, an aquatic plant (Callitriche verna) having some resemblance to chickweed. -- Yellow starwort, a plant of the genus Inula; elecampane.

||Stas"i*mon (?), n.; pl. Stasmia (#). [NL., from Gr. sta`simon, neut. ||of sta`simos stationary, steadfast.] In the Greek tragedy, a song of ||the chorus, continued without the interruption of dialogue or ||anapæstics. Liddell & Scott.

||Sta"sis (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. &?; a standing still.] (Physiol.) A ||slackening or arrest of the blood current in the vessels, due not to ||a lessening of the heart's beat, but presumably to some abnormal ||resistance of the capillary walls. It is one of the phenomena ||observed in the capillaries in inflammation.

Stat"a*ble (?), a. That can be stated; as, a statablegrievance; the question at issue is statable.

Sta"tal (?), a. Of, pertaining to, or existing with reference to, a State of the American Union, as distinguished from the general government. [R.]

I have no knowledge of any other kind of political citizenship, higher or lower, statal or national.

Edward Bates.

Sta"tant (?), a. [L. stare to stand.] (Her.) In a standing position; as, a lion statant.

Sta*ta"ri*an (?), a. Fixed; settled; steady; statary. [Obs.]

Sta*ta"ri*an*ly, adv. Fixedly; steadly. [Obs.]

Sta"ta*ry (?), a. [L. statarius standing fast, fr. stare to stand.] Fixed; settled. [Obs.] "The set and statary times of paring of nails and cutting hair." Sir T. Browne.

State (?), n. [OE. stat, OF. estat, F. état, fr. L. status a standing, position, fr. stare, statum, to stand. See Stand, and cf. Estate, Status.] 1. The circumstances or condition of a being or thing at any given time.

State is a term nearly synonymous with "mode," but of a meaning more extensive, and is not exclusively limited to the mutable and contingent.

Sir W. Hamilton.

Declare the past and present state of things.

Dryden.

Keep the state of the question in your eye.

Boyle.

2. Rank; condition; quality; as, the state of honor.

Thy honor, state, and seat is due to me.

Shak.

3. Condition of prosperity or grandeur; wealthy or prosperous circumstances; social importance.

She instructed him how he should keep state, and yet with a modest sense of his misfortunes.

Bacon.

Can this imperious lord forget to reign, Quit all his state, descend, and serve again?

Pope.

4. Appearance of grandeur or dignity; pomp.

Where least og state there most of love is shown.

Dryden.

5. A chair with a canopy above it, often standing on a dais; a seat of dignity; also, the canopy itself. [Obs.]

His high throne, . . . under state Of richest texture spread.

Milton.

When he went to court, he used to kick away the state, and sit down by his prince cheek by jowl.

Swift.

6. Estate, possession. [Obs.] Daniel.

Your state, my lord, again in yours.

Massinger.

7. A person of high rank. [Obs.] Latimer.

8. Any body of men united by profession, or constituting a community of a particular character; as, the civil and ecclesiastical states, or the lords spiritual and temporal and the commons, in Great Britain. Cf. Estate, n., 6.

9. The principal persons in a government.

The bold design Pleased highly those infernal states.

Milton.

10. The bodies that constitute the legislature of a country; as, the States-general of Holland.

11. A form of government which is not monarchial, as a republic. [Obs.]

Well monarchies may own religion's name, But states are atheists in their very fame.

Dryden.

12. A political body, or body politic; the whole body of people who are united one government, whatever may be the form of the government; a nation.

Municipal law is a rule of conduct prescribed by the supreme power in a state.

Blackstone.

The Puritans in the reign of Mary, driven from their homes, sought an asylum in Geneva, where they found a state without a king, and a church without a bishop.

R. Choate.

13. In the United States, one of the commonwealth, or bodies politic, the people of which make up the body of the nation, and which, under the national constitution, stands in certain specified relations with the national government, and are invested, as commonwealth, with full power in their several spheres over all matters not expressly inhibited.

The term State, in its technical sense, is used in distinction from the federal system, i. e., the government of the United States.

14. Highest and stationary condition, as that of maturity between growth and decline, or as that of crisis between the increase and the abating of a disease; height; acme. [Obs.]

When state is joined with another word, or used adjectively, it denotes public, or what belongs to the community or body politic, or to the government; also, what belongs to the States severally in the American Union; as, state affairs; state policy; State laws of Iowa.

Nascent state. (Chem.) See under Nascent. -- Secretary of state. See Secretary, n., 3. -- State bargea royal barge, or a barge belonging to a government. -- State bed, an elaborately carved or decorated bed. -- State carriage, a highly decorated carriage for officials going in state, or taking part in public processions. -- State paper, an official paper relating to the interests or government of a state. Jay. -- State prison, a public prison or penitentiary; -- called also State's prison. -- State prisoner, one is confinement, or under arrest, for a political offense. -- State rights, or States' rights, the rights of the several independent States, as distinguished from the rights of the Federal government. It has been a question as to what rights have been vested in the general government. [U.S.] -- State's evidence. See Probator, 2, and under Evidence. -- State sword, a sword used on state occasions, being borne before a sovereign by an attendant of high rank. -- State trial, a trial of a person for a political offense. -- States of the Church. See under Ecclesiastical.

Syn. -- State, Situation, Condition. State is the generic term, and denotes in general the mode in which a thing stands or exists. The situation of a thing is its state in reference to external objects and influences; its condition is its internal state, or what it is in itself considered. Our situation is good or bad as outward things bear favorably or unfavorably upon us; our condition is good or bad according to the state we are actually in as respects our persons, families, property, and other things which comprise our sources of enjoyment.

I do not, brother, Infer as if I thought my sister's state Secure without all doubt or controversy.

Milton.

We hoped to enjoy with ease what, in our situation, might be called the luxuries of life.

Cock.

And, O, what man's condition can be worse Than his whom plenty starves and blessings curse?

Cowley.

State (?), a. 1. Stately. [Obs.] Spenser.

2. Belonging to the state, or body politic; public.

State, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Stated; p. pr. & vb. n. Stating.] 1. To set; to settle; to establish. [R.]

I myself, though meanest stated, And in court now almost hated.

Wither.

Who calls the council, states the certain day.

Pope.

2. To express the particulars of; to set down in detail or in gross; to represent fully in words; to narrate; to recite; as, to state the facts of a case, one's opinion, etc.

To state it. To assume state or dignity. [Obs.] "Rarely dressed up, and taught to state it." Beau. & Fl.

State, n. A statement; also, a document containing a statement. [R.] Sir W. Scott.

State"craft` (?), n. The art of conducting state affairs; state management; statesmanship.

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Stat"ed (?), a. 1. Settled; established; fixed.

He is capable of corruption who receives more than what is the stated and unquestionable fee of his office.

Addison.

2. Recurring at regular time; not occasional; as, stated preaching; stated business hours.

Stat"ed*ly, adv. At stated times; regularly.

State"ful (?), a. Full of state; stately. [Obs.] "A stateful silence." Marston.

State"hood (?), n. The condition of being a State; as, a territory seeking Statehood.

State"house` (?), n. The building in which a State legislature holds its sessions; a State capitol. [U. S.]

State"less, a. Without state or pomp.

State"li*ly (?), adv. In a stately manner.

State"li*ness, n. The quality or state of being stately.

For stateliness and majesty, what is comparable to a horse?

Dr. H. More.

State"ly, a. [Compar. Statelier (?); superl. Stateliest.] Evincing state or dignity; lofty; majestic; grand; as, statelymanners; a stately gait. "The stately homes of England!" Mrs. Hemans. "Filled with stately temples." Prescott.

Here is a stately style indeed!

Shak.

Syn. -- Lofty; dignified; majestic; grand; august; magnificent.

State"ly, adv. Majestically; loftily. Milton.

State"ment (?), n. 1. The act of stating, reciting, or presenting, orally or in paper; as, to interrupt a speaker in the statement of his case.

2. That which is stated; a formal embodiment in language of facts or opinions; a narrative; a recital. "Admirable perspicuity of statement!" Brougham.

State"mon`ger (?), n. One versed in politics, or one who dabbles in state affairs.

State`pris"on (?). See under State, n.

Stat"er (?), n. One who states.

||Sta"ter (?), n. [L. stater, Gr. &?;.] (Gr. Antiq.) The principal gold ||coin of ancient Grece. It varied much in value, the stater best known ||at Athens being worth about £1 2s., or about $5.35. The Attic silver ||tetradrachm was in later times called stater.

State"room` (?), n. 1. A magnificent room in a place or great house.