conduct 
II. iittraiiH. 1. In /ilii/nif.a, to carry, convoy, 
trun.smit, or propagate motion Orenetjrr; cspe- 
ciiilly, to transmit electricity, heat, UK''', or 
sound. 
Of all substances in the body the blood conduct* brat 
A'. /'. Thomiisnn. Klec't. ;<li't Mat;., p. 1S7. 
2. To act as musical conductor. 3. To be- 
have : used without the reflexive pronoun. 
[Hare.] 
I In ic HIT.- lime* when he; was nbllKi'il to exert all hl 
fortitude, prudence, anil rjiiiiluur, to t-n<tiirt no us ant to 
give oltelire. Kliut'i.\rli' Kii'i. /;,.,.). Ilirt., ],. -."p. 
I called on the kiirj but he made m. >iit in his hall 
and OPmducted liki- a maip in. aparilal. ,1 far |p,,,piliillt). 
Tlnn;illi, \\aldi-li 
conduct (kon'dukt), .i [In older form (ME.) 
minliiit, t'linilit (sec i-niidiiit 1 ); = F. condiiiti- = 
Sp. |v. cnii/lni-t/i = It. ciniitnllii, conduct, guid- 
ance, management, etc. (Pg. also 'conduit'), 
I'cni. t'oi'ins(<MI J .asif <-/niilin'lii), distinguished 
from OF. i-nmlnit, comhit, I'omlil, ciniiliiii-l, c<ni- 
duct, etc., conduct, guidance, escort, conductor, 
safe-conduct, etc., also way, channel, conduit, 
F. conduit = Sp. Pg. cnnducto = It. condotto, 
masc., a conduit, channel, etc.,< ML. conduct us, 
defense, protection, guard, escort, company, 
herd, also a canal, conduit, < L. conductus, pp. 
of conduwre, bring together, collect, lead to: 
see conduce and conduct, v., and cf. conduift, n., 
and ciiHiinclnx.] 1. The act of guiding or lead- 
ing; guidance; escort. 
I'l.llnw in,-, thiit will to some provision 
Olve tin -i (|iiirk rnnduct. Shale., Lear, III. a. 
The clouds Ml down In streams, and the pitchy night 
had liercft us of the conduct of our eyes, had not the light- 
ning afforded a terrible light. Satidys, Trnvailes, p. 168. 
After dinner my wife and I, by Mr. Rawlinson's conduct, 
to the Jewish Synagogue. P'py, Diary, II. 40. 
2. The act of directing or controlling; man- 
agement; administration. 
If the Jews under his cow/wet should endeavour to re- 
cover their liberties and fail in it, they knew that the na- 
tion would be severely puni>lir<! liv the Romans. 
/arm, Christian Religion. 
Christianity has humanized the conduct of war. Paley. 
The conduct of the state, the administration of Its affairs, 
its j>olfcy, and its laws are far more uncertain. BroNytaMi 
3. A drawing out or development, as of the 
action of a poem or the plot of a drama or a 
novel. 
Here we have the conduct of the drama laid open. 
Qoldtmith, Criticisms. 
The book of Job, Indeed, In conduct and diction, bears 
a considerable resemblance to some of his l/EschylussI 
dramas. Macaulay, Milton. 
Though the story ends in this vulgar manner, it Is, in 
its conduct, extremely sweet and touching. 
Mary. Fuller, Woman in 19th Cent., p. 250. 
4. Skilful management or administration; good 
generalship ; tact and dexterity in affairs ; ad- 
dress. 
Mr. 1 1. IP lie. it seems, is unable to comprehend how an 
extreme want of conduct and discretion can consist with 
the abilities I have allowed him. Junius, Letters, liv. 
The Rais hud told him our adventure with the saint, at 
which he laughed very heartily, saying I was a wise man, 
and a man of conduct. Bruce, Source of the Nile, I. 116. 
5. Personal behavior or practice; way of act- 
ing generally or on a particular occasion ; course 
of action; deportment: as, laudable conduct; 
evil conduct. 
Here lies honest William, whose heart was a mint, 
While the owner ne'er knew half the good that was iu't ; 
The pupil of impulse, it forced him along, 
His conduct still right, with his argument wrong. 
(iuldtmith, Retaliation, 1. 46. 
Conduct, in Its full acceptation, must lie taken as com- 
prehending all adjustments of acts to ends, from the sim- 
plest to the most complex, whatever their special natures 
and whether considered separately or In their totality. 
//. Sutnctr, Data of Ethics, 2. 
Our conduct is capable, irrespective of what we capp our- 
selves certainly answer for, of almost infinitely dittVrent 
decrees of force and energy in the performance of it, of 
lucidity and vividness in the perception of It, of fulness 
in the satisfaction from it; and these degrees may vary 
from day to day, and quite Incalculably. 
.17. Arnold, Literature and Dogma, i. 
6t. A conductor, guard, or convoy; au escort. 
His majesty, 
Tendering my person'! safety, hath appointed 
This conduct to convey me to the Tower. 
Shak., Rich. III., 1. 1. 
Come, gentlemen, I will be your conduct. 
11. Jonson, Every Man out of his Humour, ii. 1. 
7f. A passport. See safe-conduct. 
Good angels and this t-ii<lnct be your guide t [Giving a 
paper.] Middteton, Changeling, II. 1. 
8f. That which conveys or carries ; a channel ; 
a conduit. 
By the iyil cisteme there Is drinke conueyed thorow 
certeine pipes and conduct!. llakluyfi Voyages, II. 61. 
1 177 
9. A tax levied liv ( 'harlcs I. of Knglund f.pr the 
purpose of pitying the travcliiijj-cxpcn-c* 
soldiers. Also comlm-i-mom //. Si > <-iw;/-i//<//. 
He who take* i>p upm.- 
four nobles of Diinegelt. 
f,, r . -nri an-1 his 
Milton, Arcupaglllca, p. SO. 
Coat or cote and conduct, xcu cwita. Safe conduct. 
" '"' 8yn. 8. Carriage, Deportment, et 
'" /Ml I ,,,! _ 
conduct (kon'dukt), a. and n.2 [ME. conduct, < 
I,. i-iiHiliictii.i, hired, pp. of i-iindni-i i-i-. lead toge- 
ther, hire: see conduct, v., and cf. eomtiirtus.] 
I.t a. Hired; employed: as, "cinitlm i pr- 
ll'.'flif, Apol. for Lollards (Camden 8oc.), IP. r,-2. 
U. n. The title of two clergymen appointed 
to read prayers at Eton College, England : a 
fOllduetus. 
conduct-book (kon'dukt-buk), n. A book kept 
on board of United States men-of-war, in v> hieli 
the conduct and ability of each man of the 
rrc\v is noted. 
COnductibility (kon-duk-ti-bil'i-ti), w. [= F. 
i-iiniiiii'/iiiiiiti; etc.; as cnniliii-tilili- + -ity (see 
-liility).] 1. Capability of being conducted or 
transmitted: as, the conduetibility of electricity 
or of heat. 2. Improperly, capacity for con- 
ducting or transmitting; conductivity. 
conductible (kon-duk'ti-bl), a. [= F. eomlur. 
tih/r = Sp. <-<>n<tiii-li/>/i ; as riiiitluct + -ible.] Ca- 
pable of being conducted or conveyed. Wheat- 
al'iin . 
conduction (kpn-duk'shon), n. [= F. conduc- 
tion Sp. OOMcWaiMI = f'g. conduce^) = It. con- 
du;i<>ni; < L. niducti(n-), < conducere, pp. /- 
iliictun, lead, conduce, conduct : see conduce and 
conduct, r.] If. The act of guiding, directing, 
or leading ; guidance. 
For the better conduction and preservation of the fleete, 
and atchieuing of the voyage. Uatluyt * Voyaya, L 2ai. 
From thence I went with the Turkes power, and vnder 
his conduction to the lande of Jewry. 
Webbe, Travels (ed. Arber), p. 22. 
2t- The act of training up. 
Every man has his beginning and conduction. 
B. J omon, Case is Altered. 
3. Transmission; conveyance; specifically, in 
/ilii/nicn, transmission of heat from points of 
high temperature to points of low temperature, 
or of electricity from points of high potential 
to points of low potential, from particle to par- 
ticle, and to a distance, by the raising of the 
temperature or potential of intermediate par- 
ticles, without any sensible motion of them. 
It Is distinguished from convection, by which heat and 
electricity are carried by moving particles ; from the ra- 
diation of heat, which does not raise the temperature of 
the intermediate points (except so far as the radiation is 
hindered); and from the discharge and the electrolytic 
transfer of electricity. 
Conduction [of heat] is the How of heat through an un- 
equally heated body from places of higher to places of 
lower temperature. Clerk Maxwell, Heat, p. 10. 
conductitioust (kon-duk-tish'us), a. [< L. 
conductions, prop, -icius, pertaining to hire, < 
conductus, pp. of conducere, hire : see conduce.] 
Hired; employed for wages. 
The persons were neither titularies nor perpetual cu- 
rates, but entirely cunduttitiout and removable at pleasure. 
Aylifc, Parergou. 
conductive (kon-duk'tiv), a. [= Sp. Pg. conduc- 
tivo; &s conduct + -ive.] 1. Having the power 
or property of conducting : as, conductive bodies. 
See conductivity. 2. Resulting from conduc- 
tion : as, the conductive discharge of electricity. 
conductivity (kon-duk-tiv'j-ti), . [< conduc- 
tive + -ity.] Inphuficx, the power of conduct- 
ing heat, electricity, or sound ; the property of 
being conductive. In the case of heat (thermal con- 
ductivity) solids have in general a much higher degree of 
conductivity than liquids, and liquids than gases, the last 
being practically destitute of conductive power ; both 
liquids and gases become heated by convection (which see), 
not by conduction. Furthermore, among solids the con- 
ductivity of metals for heat is greater than that of stony 
bodies, that of animal and vegetable substances being the 
least of all. Metals have al*o a relatively high degree of 
conductivity for electricity, a charge of electricity distrib- 
uting itijelf freely over a metallic surface, and an electrical 
current passing more or less readily through a metallic 
wire. Those metals which are the best conductors of heat, 
as silver, copper, and gold, are also the best electrical 
conductors. The conductivity of many solids (glass, sul- 
phur. resin) is nearly zero for electricity ; the same is true 
to a less degree of most liquids and also of gases. With 
any substance the conductivity for electricity is the recip- 
rocal of the resistance. See resistance. 
Conductivity varies not only with varying temperature, 
but also with varying tension, torsion, or pressure. 
A. DanieU, Prin. of Physics, p. 504. 
Peelet . . . employs as the unit of conductivity the 
transmission, in one second, through a plate a metre square 
and a millimetre thick, of as much heat as will raise a cubic 
decimetre (strictly a kilogramme) of water one degree. 
J. D. Ettrett, Inits and Phys. Constanta, p. 1O1. 
conductus 
f.jltlf i . . . let kll'.wn .,1 II 
lie mutter ill the nerve.. , Ilic-i . r than 
muscular tUaue, eartila. 
I Ma.:;., p. Is;. 
conduct-money (kon'dukt-niiin i)./,. Sameas 
fnnilurt, II. 
conductometer (kon-duk-toni'c-teri. . \\. 
< L. i-niiiliii-i /v . |,p. <-ii,iilii<'tiin, eonillli-t. - 
! All apj. : tain 
in;; (lie relative conductivity of different ma- 
terials, especially as regards heat. 
conductor (kon^Juk'tor), n. [= F. ,-,,,,,1. 
(> I), l.imilulji in- = ( ',. i ,, l nliirli iir = Dun. S\v. 
l,iniillil.-li,i-\.( IK. C.JHI I n i In i. etc. I / MK. r,. ml Hour: 
see coniiitiiiii-}, = Sp. ['_'. <-,,, iii, -I,,, it. ,- 
dntti>r<-,<. Ml,, i-iiiii/iii-liir, a leader, innkeeper, 
agent, L. only in sense of 1 - t.n-, 
farmer, < rniiiluct n , pp. rondHi'lun, lead, bring 
together, hire, etc.: see tumlm-i ;md rn,i,lin-(.\ 
1. One WllO eOlllllle!- Ill- . seiil-ls; O1|C will. 
liefore or accompanies and shows the wn 
leader ; a guide. 
The muse* . . . ought to be the leaden and conductor 
of human life. Bacon, Kuhle of IMnnyilui. 
You come (I know) to be my Lord Fernanda's 
Conductor to old Caisllane. 
Rrnu. and Ft., Laws of Candy. 
Specifically 2f. A chief; a commander ; one 
who leads an army. 
Utnt. Who ll conductor of his [people? 
Kent. As 'tis said, the bastard son of Qlmter. 
Skat., Lew. IT. 7. 
I myself (though I say It), by my mother's side niece to 
a worshipful gentleman and a conductor; he has been 
three times in bin majesty's service at Chester, and U now 
the fourth time, liod hltifts him and his charge, upon hi* 
journey. Krau. and Ft., Knight "f Hurtling IVntle, 111. 5. 
3. A director or manager in general; a regu- 
lator. 
If he did nipt entirely project the union and regency, 
none will deny him to have been the chief conductor. 
AdditOH. 
4. The pdirector of a chorus or an orchestra ; one 
who indicates to the performers the rhythm and 
the expression of a piece of concerted music by 
means of motions of the hands or of a baton. 
The office of conductor In the modem sense was not clearly 
distinguished from that ol Inulrr until almut 1800; former- 
ly the leader played an Instrument, usiiull) theharpslchont. 
5. The chief official on a railroad-train, who 
directs, and is responsible for the execution of 
orders concerning, the movements of the train, 
and usually collects tickets or fares ; hence, one 
who performs similar duties on a street-car, etc. 
The duties of the guard on European railways 
are similar, but less comprehensive. [U. S.] 
6. That which conducts or transmits in any 
manner; specifically, in physicx, a body that 
conducts or transmits through its substance 
energy in any of its forms : as, metals are con- 
ductors of electricity and of heat ; water is a 
good conductor of sound. See conductivity. 
If several conductors terminate at the same point, the 
sum of the currents, counted from this point, is zero. 
AHcinunn, tr. of Mascart and Joubert, I. 194. 
Hence 7. A lightning-rod. 8. In nnrg., an 
instrument formerly used in the high operation 
for stone in the bladder Capacity of a conduc- 
tor. See capacity. Conductor's part, in nituic, a con- 
densed score written on two staffs only, for the use of the 
conductor. Pneumatic conductor, a fan-blower and 
tube for carrying off foul air, fire-damp, smoke, etc. Such 
conductors are used in connection with the dry grindstones 
employed in some departments of cutlery. Prime con- 
ductor, that part of an electric machine which collects 
and retains the electricity. 
conductor-head (kon-duk'tor-hed), u. A com- 
bined funnel, spout, and pipe for liquids, used 
in creameries. 
condupctory (kon-duk'to-ri), a. [< conduct + 
-ory.] Having the property of conducting. 
conductress (kqn-duk'tres), n. [= F. conduc- 
trice, OF. conducteresse, conduttressc, etc.; as 
conductor + -ess.] A female who leads, guides, 
or directs; a directress. 
A prudent and diligent conductr/j* of her family. 
Johnton, To Mri. Thrale, 177S. 
Obedient to what he understood to be the meaning of 
his conduetrei*, Halbert bared his arm to the shoulder. 
Scoff, Mouutery, I. 161. 
All the apartments In the castle that we cared to see, or 
OPUT eonductrtiu cared to show us. The Atlantic, l.IX. 688. 
conductus (kon-duk'tus), n. [ML., lit., in def. 
1 a ' l.ed' or 'conducted' song, in def. 2 a 'hired ' 
priest: see conduct, a. and n., and conduit-.] 
1 . An old form of vocal composition in which 
the tenor, instead of being confined to canto 
fermo, was, like the other parts, invented or 
freely treated bv the composer, it was called 
rititiictu# m'midrjr, tlufilfX (also iVi/iYi-c-f/f ), etc., hilt the na- 
ture of these distinctions is matter of controversy. 
