double 
warded ends. Cross double-crossed, in her., a cross 
crossed, the smaller arms of which are crossed again. 
Also called cross crosslet crossly. Cross double-parted. 
See cross'. Cross double-parted flory, in her., a cross 
flory of which each part is cut in two and separated : it 
therefore resembles four flat crescents forming a cross. 
Cross double portant, in her., same as cross double 
(which see, under cross 1). Double action, in mech. : (a) 
Action or power applied in two directions or according 
to two methods, or by the agency of two parts or mem- 
bers where a single part might be made to perform the 
work ; or the property of exerting such action or power. 
(i>) Specifically, in a steam-engine, the production of both 
motions of the piston by the agency of live steam, applied 
to each face alternately, as distinguished from single ac- 
tion, in which the return motion of the piston is induced 
by atmospheric pressure or by the weight of the parts. 
See double-acting. Double algebra. () Ordinary alge- 
bra with imaginaries. () A multiple algebra in which the 
number of independent units is two. Double angle of a 
quadrilateral, the sum of two opposite angles. Double 
bassoon, a musical instrument, the largest and deepest of 
the oboe family, having a compass of 3 octaves upward 
from the third C below middle C that is, an octave low- 
er than the ordinary bassoon. Its tube is conical, and 
more than 16 feet long, but so bent upon itself as to be 
compact and convenient. Double bottle, a vessel made 
of two bottles combined at one or more points, so as to 
make a group : usually for fantastic effect, but sometimes 
for a useful purpose. Double bourdon, the lowest stop 
in an organ, of 32-f eet pitch. Double class (of feet), in 
anc. pros., same as diplasic class. See diplasic. Double 
Consonant, a character representing two consonant-signs, 
as x = ks, Greek J< = pi. Double contact, contact at 
two points. Double crown, an English printing-paper 
of ithe size 20 x 80 inches. Double-current working, 
In teleg., a method of signaling in which a current first in 
one direction and then in the other is used for each signal. 
In some cases the line is kept closed, and to transmit a 
signal the current is reversed. In other cases, as in the 
Wheatstone fast-speed automatic system, a current in one 
direction is used to put the recorder in action, and a cur- 
rent in the opposite direction to put it out of action and 
discharge the line. Double demisemiquaver, in mitsi- 
cal notation, a sixty-fourth note. Double generator of 
a ruled surface, a line in the surface, the intersection of 
two tangent planes. Double gloster, a rich kind of cheese 
made in Gloucestershire, England, from new milk. Dou- 
ble horizontal dial, a sun-dial having two gnomons and 
so arranged that the meridian can be found, as well as the 
time. Many problems can be solved by means of the in- 
strument. Double Image, the appearance of two objects 
in binocular vision. Double Joe, a Portuguese coin, the 
double Joannes, about equal in value to a Spanish doub- 
loon. 
The fair Rose-Noble, the bright Moidore, 
And the broad Double-Joe from ayont the sea. 
Barhain, Ingoldsby Legends, I. 64. 
Double medium, an American printing-paper of the size 
24 x 38 inches. Double negative, a sign of negation 
repeated. Double pistole, a former gold coin in Ger- 
many, Switzerland, and Italy, generally worth about $8 : 
but several kinds of Swiss double pistoles were worth 
about 39.20. Double point (NL. punctum duplex), a 
point upon a curve or surface which counts for two in re- 
gard to the intersections ; on a curve, a point having two" 
tangents, a node ; ou a surface, a point where a curve of the 
second order is tangent to the surface, a conical point. 
Double pot, an English printing-paper of the size 17 x 25J 
inches. Double Question, one that offers two alterna- 
tives between which the determination is to be made. 
A double question standeth not in one woorde, but in 
two several sentences, as thus : Is the studie of Philoso- 
phic praise worthie, or is it not ? 
Sir T. Wilson, Rule of Reason (1551). 
Double rose. See rose. Double royal, an American 
printing-paper of the size 26 x 40 inches. Double secant 
of a skew cubic, a right line cutting the cubic three times. 
Double sense of Scripture. See sense. Double 
shuffle. See shuffle. Double Sixes, (a) Two sixes thrown 
at once with two dice. (6) A certain system of lines on a 
cubic surface. Double slider. See slider. Double 
spiral, in math., the isogonal trajectory of a sheaf of cir- 
cles ; a rhumb-line as it appears on a stereographic pro- 
jection. Double tangent, a line which is tangent to a 
curve at two points. Double-tangent plane, a plane 
which is tangent to a surface at two points. Order of 
the Double Crescent. See crescent. (For other phrases, 
as doultle bar, consciousness, function, relation, refraction, 
etc., see the nouns.) [Double is much used in composition 
with participles to denote twice the regular number or 
quantity: as, <2oWe-headed, douiifc-jointed.] 
II. . 1. A twofold quantity or size; a num- 
ber, sum, value, or measure twice as great as 
the one taken as a standard. 
And whereas he saith the emperour had but for his part 
a dabble, as far as I can see, knowing what the wares cost 
in those partes, he had trible. Haktuyt's Voyages, I. 35a 
If the thief be found, let him pay double. Ex. xxii. 7. 
In all the four great years of mortality ... I do not 
find that any week the plague increased to the double of 
the precedent week above five times. 
Graunt, Bills of Mortality. 
It is a dangerous way of reasoning in physics, as well 
as morals, to conclude, because a given proportion of any- 
thing is advantageous, that the double will be quite as 
good, or that it will be good at all. 
Contemporary Rev., I. 38 
2. A backward turn in running to escape pur- 
suers. 
When each double and disguise 
To baffle the pursuit he tries. 
Scott, Rokeby, Hi. 2. 
Hence 3. A turn ; a place where a doubling 
or turning is made, as by game in hunting. 
1742 
Often Lord Rothschild's hounds run a deer for a couple 
of hours over the wide pastures, the doubles, and the 
brooks of the Vale of Aylesbury. 
Edinburgh Rev., CLXVI. 389. 
4. A trick ; a shift ; an artifice to deceive. 
I would now rip up ... 
All their arch-villanies and all their doubles, 
Which are more than a hunted hare ere thought on. 
Fletcher, Tamer Tamed, iii. 1. 
5. Something precisely like another thing ; a 
counterpart; a duplicate; an exact copy. 
No gloom that stately shape can hide, 
No change uncrown its brow ; behold ! 
Dark, calm, large-fronted, lightning-eyed, 
Earth has no double from its mould I 
0. W. Holmes, Birthday of Daniel Webster, Jan. 18, 1866. 
My charming friend . . . has, I am almost sure, a dou- 
ble, who preaches his afternoon sermons for him. 
E. E. Hale, My Double. 
It seemed as if her double had suddenly glided forward 
and peered at me through her evasive eyes. 
T. Winthrop, Cecil Dreeme, xv. 
The host of hay -cocks seemed to float 
With doubles in the water. 
H. P. Spoford, Poems, p. 10. 
Hence 6. A person's apparition or spirit, ap- 
pearing to himself or to another, as to admonish 
him of his approaching death; a wraith. 7. 
A fold or plait ; a doubling. 
Rolled up in sevenfold double. 
Marston. 
8. Milit., a contraction of double-quick (which 
see). 9. In music: (a) A variation. (6) A 
repetition of words in a song, (c) [F.] A 
turn. (<j) In the opera, a singer fitted to sup- 
ply the place of a principal in an emergency. 
(e) An instrument, or especially an organ-stop, 
sounding the octave below the usual pitch : as, 
to play an organ-piece with the doubles drawn 
(that is, with the 16-feet stops). (/) pi. In 
change-ringing, changes on five bells : so called 
because two pairs of bells change places. Also 
called grandsire. 10. A size of Tavistock roof- 
slates, 13 X 16 inches. 11. Eccles., a feast on 
which the antiphon is doubled ; a double feast. 
See feast, and to double an antiphon, under dou- 
ble, v. t. 12. In short wMst, a game by which 
the winners score two points, their adversaries 
having scored only one or two to their five. 13. 
pi. In lawn-tennis, games played by two on a 
side: opposed to singles, played by one on a 
side. 14. Inprinting, same as doublet. 15.pl. 
Thick narrow ribbons for shoestrings and the 
like, usually made of silk or cotton. To make 
a double, in shooting, to kill two birds or beasts in suc- 
cession, one with each barrel of a double-barreled gun. 
double (dub'l), adv. [(double, a.] Twice; dou- 
bly. 
To do a wilful ill, and glory in it, 
Is to do it double, double to he damn'd too. 
Fletcher, Wife for a Month, Iv. 2. 
None Double see like Men in Love. Cowley, Ode, St. 5. 
Arched double, beveled double, cottised double, 
etc. See the adjectives. To carry double, to carry two 
riders at once, as a horse. 
His father, without any trouble, 
Set her up behind him, and bad her not fear, 
For his gelding had oft carried double. 
Robin Hood's Birth (Child's Ballads, V. 345). 
To See double, to see, by illusion, two images of the same 
object : an experience common in drunkenness. 
double (dub'l), v. ; pret. and pp. doubled, ppr. 
doubling. [Early mod. E. also dubble; < ME. 
doublen, doblen, dublen, dubblen, < OF. doubter, 
dobler, F. doubler = Pr. Sp. dollar = Pg. dobrar 
= It. doppiare (cf. D. dubbelen, ver-dubbelen = 
Q. doppeln, ver-doppeln = Dan. for-doble = Sw. 
for-dubbla, double, = MLG. dobbelen, dubbelen 
= Dan. doble = Sw. dobbla, gamble, play, with 
dice), < ML. duplare, double, < L. duplus, dou- 
ble: see double, a.] I. trans. 1. To make dou- 
ble ; increase, enlarge, or extend by adding an 
equal portion, measure, or value to : as, to dou- 
ble a sum of money; to double the quantity or 
size of a thing ; to double a task. 
As if equitie pretended were not iniquitie doubled. 
Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 26. 
All his ills are made 
Less by your bearing part ; his good is doubled 
By your communicating. 
Shirley, Maid's Revenge, ii. 4. 
2. To be the double of ; contain twice the num- 
ber, quantity, or measure of, or twice as much 
as : as, the enemy's force doubles our own. 
Doubling all his master's vice of pride. 
Tennygon, Geraiut. 
3. To bring or join together or side by side, 
as two parts of a thing, or two things of the 
same kind; lay or fold one part of upon ano- 
ther : as, to double a shawl or a curtain : often 
followed by an adverb of direction or manner: 
as, to double a blanket lengthwise or crosswise ; 
double-benched 
to double up a file or files of soldiers, or teams 
of horses ; to double over a leaf in a book ; to 
double down the corner of a page. 
Thou . . . shall double the sixth curtain in the fore- 
front of the tabernacle. Ex. xxvi. 9. 
He bought her Sermons, Psalms, and Graces ; 
And doubled down the useful places. 
Prior, Hans Carvel. 
There's a Page doubled down in Epictetus that is a 
Feast for an Emperor. Congrcve, Love for Love, i. 1. 
4. To clench, as the hand. 
Then the old man 
Was wroth, and doubled up his hands. 
Tennyson, Dora. 
6. To repeat ; duplicate : as, to double a stroke. 
The rebel king 
Doubled that sin in Bethel and in Dan, 
Likening his Maker to the grazed ox. 
Milton, P. L., i. 485. 
6. To pass round or by ; march or sail round, 
so as to proceed along both sides of: as, to 
double Cape Horn. 
Sailing along the coast, he doubled the promontory of 
Carthage. Knolles, Hist. Turks. 
John Gonsalez and Tristan Vaz, . . . having obtained a 
small ship from him [the prince], resolved to double Cape 
Bojador, and discover the coast beyond. 
Bruce, Source of the Nile, II. 97. 
7. In music, to add the upper or lower octave 
to the tones of (the melody or harmony). 
Doubled glass. See glass. to double an antiphon, 
to say an antiphon in full both before and after its psalm 
or canticle, as is done on double feasts. To double and 
twist, to add (one thread) to another and twist (them) 
together. 
II. intrans. 1. To increase to twice the sum, 
number, value, or measure; grow twice as 
great. 
'Tls observed in particular nations, that within the 
space of three hundred years, notwithstanding all casual- 
ties, the number of men doubles. 
T. Burnet, Theory of the Earth. 
2. To turn in the opposite direction, or wind, in 
running. 
Doubling and turning like a hunted hare. Dryden. 
But I began 
To thrid the musky-circled mazes, wind 
And double in and out the boles, and race 
By all the fountains. Tennyson, Princess, Iv. 
3. To put on more effort or speed. 
He doubled to his work in a moment, and left the Can- 
tab, who shortly afterwards gave up. 
Bury and Hillier, Cycling, p. 104. 
4. Milit., to march at the double-quick. 5. 
To play tricks; practise deception. 
Om. An 't please your honour 
Count F. Tut, tut, leave pleasing of my honour, dili- 
gence ; 
You double with me, come. 
B. Jonson, Case is Altered, i. 2. 
What penalty and danger you accrue, 
If you be found to double. Webster. 
To double upon, (a) Naval, to inclose between two 
fires, as an enemy's fleet. (6) To elude (pursuers) by turn- 
ing back in running. 
double-acting (dub '1-ak" ting), a. In mech., 
acting or applying power in two directions; 
producing a double result Double-acting cyl- 
inder, inclined plane, pump, steam-engine, etc. See 
the nouns. 
double-bank (dub'1-bank), v. t. To work or 
pull by means of men working in pairs, as an 
oar or a rope that is, with two men at one oar, 
or with men on both sides of the rope. 
double - banked, double - benched (dub ' 1 - 
bangkt, -bencht), a. 1. Naut., having two oppo- 
site oars pulled by rowers on the same thwart, 
or having two men to the same oar : said of a 
boat. 2. Having two tiers of oars and of row- 
ers, one over the other, as ships were worked 
in antiquity Double-banked frigate. See frigate. 
double-banker (dub'l-bang'ker), n. Same as 
double-banked frigate (which see, under frig- 
ate). 
double-barreled (dub'l-bar"eld), a. 1. Hav- 
ing two barrels, as a gun. 2. Figuratively, 
serving to effect a double purpose or to pro- 
duce a double result. 
This was a double-barrelled compliment. It implied 
that Mrs. Weller was a most agreeable female, and also 
that Mr. Stiggins had a clerical appearance. 
Dwkent, Pickwick, xxvii. 
double-bass (dub'1-bas'), A musical instru- 
ment, the largest and deepest of the viol fam- 
ily, having 3 or 4 strings, with a compass of 
over 3 octaves from the third E below middle 
C. It was invented in the sixteenth century, and intro- 
duced into the orchestra about 1700 ; and it is now one 
of the most useful of orchestral instruments. The strings 
are usually tuned a fourth apart. 
double-benched, a. See double-banked. 
