falltrank 
falltrank (fal'trangk), . [Also written fal- 
trank; G. falltrank, lit. a drink against falls, < 
fall, = E. fain, + trunk = E. drench*, a drink.] 
A medicine composed of a mixture of several 
aromatic and slightly astringent plants, which 
grow chiefly in the Swiss Alps, supposed to 
be useful in cases of wounds and bodily acci- 
dents. 
fall-trap (fal'trap), . A trap which operates 
by falling, as a deadfall. See deadfall. 
We walk in a world of plots, strings universally spread 
of deadly gins and fall-traps baited by the gold of Pitt. 
Carlyle, French Rev., III. vi. 1. 
fall-under (fal'un'der), n. The distance which 
the bottom of the body of a railway-carriage 
curves in from a vertical line let fall from 
the sides or ends. Also called turn-tinder. Car- 
Builder's Diet. [Eng.] 
falst, a. An obsolete form of false. 
falsarium (fal-sa'ri-um), n. Same a,sfauchard. 
falsaryt (fal'sa-ri), n. [< L. falsarius, a forger 
of written documents, < falsus, false : see falser.} 
A falsifier. 
If I translate nonnulli sacerdotes sundrie priestes, yee 
crie oute, a corrupter, a falsarie. I shoula have saide 
certaine priestes, or somme priestes : but I should not in 
any wise have saide sundrie. 
Bp. Jewell, To Harding, Oct., 1567. 
Alike you calumniate, when you make Mr. Mason a/oi- 
sary, as though he had cited some unauthentic records. 
Sheldon, Miracles, p. 133. 
false (fals), a. and n. [I. a. < ME. fals, false (AS. 
fals, only as a noun), untrue, ungenuine, deceit- 
ful, treacherous, = MHG. valsch = Icel./ats, esp. 
in comp. ; inTeut. otherwise with aceom. term., 
as if an adj. in OHG., AS., etc., -isc, E. -ish*: 
D. valsch = OFries. falsk, falsch = OHG. 'false 
(in deriv. gi-falswn, gi-falscen, qi-felscen, G.fal- 
schen, falsify), MHG. valsch, G. falsch = Sw. 
Dan. falsk = late Icel. falskr, false ; < OF. fals, 
faus, mod. F. faux = Pr. fals = Sp. Pg. It. fal- 
so, < L. falsus, deceptive, pretended, feigned, 
counterfeit, false, pp. of fallere, deceive : see 
fain. II. n. ME./a&, fraud, < AS./ab, fraud, 
counterfeit, = Icel./ofe (= ODan./aJs), a fraud, 
cheat, illusion (cf . OFries. falsch, MHG. valsch, 
G. falsch = Dan. falsk, forgery), < L. falsum, 
falsehood, fraud, neut. of falsus, false : see/obe, 
a., falsehood.} I. a. 1. Not in conformity with 
report; a false accusation; a false opinion. 
Such an act ... makes marriage vows 
As false as dicers' oaths. Shak., Hamlet, iii. 4. 
Of good and evil much they argued then, . . 
Vain wisdom all, and/abe philosophy. 
Milton, P. L., ii. 565. 
It is evident there is ta false a Notion of Physick in this 
Country as with us ; and that it is here also thought a 
Knack more than a Science or Method. 
Litter, Journey to Paris, p. 242. 
2. Giving utterance to what is not true ; un- 
truthful; mendacious: as, a false witness. 
What shall be done unto thee, tt\on false tongue? 
Ps. cxx. 3. 
3. Perfidious; treacherous ; unfaithful; incon- 
stant; disloyal; dishonest; unjust: said of per- 
sons. 
Zif that sche love more to lyve with here Children than 
for to dye with hire Husbonde, men holden hire tor fait 
and cursed. Matideville, Travels, p. 171. 
To thine ownself be true ; 
And it must follow, as the night the day, 
Thou canst not then )>e false to any man. 
Shak., Hamlet, i. 3. 
But, in so doing, we should, in my opinion, have been 
false to our own characters, false to our duty, and false 
to our country. D. Webster, Speech at Buffalo, July, 1833. 
4. Containing or conveying deception, false- 
hood, or treachery; adapted or intended to 
mislead : said of things. 
This man had not onely a daring but a villainous uiimer- 
cifull looke, & false countenance, but very well spoken and 
dangerously insinuating. Evelyn, Diary, May 10, 1671. 
Thus heavenly hope is all serene, 
But earthly hope, how bright so e'er, 
Still fluctuates o'er this changing scene, 
As false and fleeting as 'tis fair. 
Bp. Heber, Heavenly Hope and Earthly Hope. 
2130 
6. Not genuine ; being other than it appears 
to be; not real; made in imitation, or to serve 
the purpose of the genuine article (o) with in- 
tent to defraud or deceive ; spurious : as, false 
coin; (6) for the sake of mere appearance or 
for use or convenience ; artificial : as, a false 
buttonhole ; false teeth. 
Take a vessel, and make a false bottom of coarse can- 
vass : fill it with earth above the canvass. 
Bacon, Nat. Hist, 
A noble spirit . . . ever casts 
Such doubts, us false coin, from it. 
Shak., Hen. VIII., iii. i. 
7. Technically, in bot. and zool., having some 
superficial resemblance to some other plant or 
animal: used like the Latin quasi-, or Greek 
pseudo-, in composition. See quasi-, pseudo-. 
8. In music, not in tune ; inaccurate in pitch ; 
singing or playing out of tune. 9. In her., 
open or voided: said of some bearings: as, a 
false cross; a false roundel (an annulet); a 
false escutcheon (a bordure, or sometimes an 
orle) False amnion, asphodel, balance, etc. See 
the nouns. False bedding, iii-jeol., an irregular lamina- 
tion or bedding not infrequently exhibited by strata, espe- 
cially of sandstone, in which the different beds are made 
up of parts inclining in various directions not coincident 
with the general stratification of the mass. This indi- 
cates that the material was deposited under the influence 
of currents shifting in position and varying in force. Also 
called cross-beddinff, current-bedding, &ndftow-and-plunge 
structure. False beech-drops, 'bottom, braziletto, 
etc. See the nouns. False bray. [From Welsh bre, or 
Scotch brae.] (at) Raised ground; a slope. (6) In fort.. 
an artificial mound or bank of earth forming part of a 
fortification. 
And made those strange approaches by false-brays, 
Reduits, half-moons, horn-works, and such close ways. 
B. .///"/,, Underwoods, p. 446. 
False chord, harmony, triad, in music, a chord, eta, 
incorrectly constructed or performed. False concep- 
tion, core, croup, dandelion, etc. See the nouns. 
False edge, in a flat sword-blade, that edge of the blade, 
whether sharpened or not, which is toward the arm and 
person of a holder when the sword is held as on guard. 
Compare right-edge. False egg, a pseudovum. False 
escutcheon. See escutcheon. Tralse feet. See/oo(. 
False fifth, fire, front, etc. See the nouns. False 
galena. Same as blende. False heraldry, anything in 
a delineation or blazon contrary to the established rules of 
heraldry, especially the charging of color upon color or met- 
al upon metal. This, however, occurs in a very few ancient 
examples, as in the escutcheon of the crusader kings of 
Jerusalem, which bear five golden crosses on a silver field. 
False hermit, a hermit-crab of the 
sharping or flatting. False membrane, molar, pelvis, 
etc. Seethenouns. False note or tone, in music, an in- 
correct note or tone, either in composition or in perform- 
ance. False relation, in music, the occurrence in suc- 
cessive chords, but in different voices, of any tone and one 
of its chromatic derivatives, as in fig. 1 : it is usually very 
In spite of false lights on the shore, 
Sail on, nor fear to breast the sea. 
Longfellow, Building of the Ship. 
5. Irregular ; not according to rule or usage : 
as, false syntax or quantity. 
Sie false vsurped powr & money falselyer exacted. 
Joye, Expos, of Daniel, xii. 
0, 1 smell false Latin. Shak., L. L. L, v. 1. 
The heralds tell us that certain scutcheons and bear- 
ings denote certain conditions, and that to put colours on 
colours, or metals on metals, is false blazonry. 
Macaulay, Moore's Byron. 
objectionable. The false relation disappears when the 
chromatic change is located in a single voice, as in fig. 2. 
False return, in law, an untrue return made to a pro- 
cess by the officer to whom it was delivered for execu- 
tion. False rib, roof, etc. See the nouns. False sta- 
tion, in sun., any station which is necessary in the sur- 
vey, but does not appear in the plan. False stem (naut .), 
same as cutwater, 1. False string, vertebra, etc. See 
the nouns. False window, door, etc., in arch., an imi- 
tation window, door, etc., introduced to secure symmetry 
in design, or a true window, etc., which has been blocked 
up so as no longer to serve its original purpose. False 
wing. See alula. False work, in enyin., a temporary 
structure by the aid of which a permanent one is erected 
Figure of the rule of false. See rule. =Syn, 1. Un- 
truthful, disingenuous, perfidious, dishonorable. 4. De- 
ceptive, misleading, fallacious. 
H.t n. A falsehood; that which is false. 
I conde almost 
A thousand olde stories the alegge 
Of wommen lost thorgh/ois and fooles host. 
Chaucer, Troilus, iii. 298. 
But set the truth and set the right aside, 
For they with wrong or falsehood will not fare, 
And put two wrongs together to be tride, 
Or else twofalses, of each equall share. 
Spetiser, F. Q., V. ii. 48. 
false (fals), adv. [< false, a.] Falsely.-To play 
false, to play one false, to act falsely or treacherous- 
ly in regard to something, or toward a person ; use de- 
ceptive or perfidious methods or practices ; be untrue to 
one. 
falset (fals), v. [< ME. falsien, falsen, make 
false, deceive, also make or become weak, fail 
(cf. OFries. falschia = D. ver-valschen=OHQ.gi- 
falscon, MHG. velschen, G.falschen = Dan./or- 
falske = Sw./6V-/afcfca,make false), < OF. fal- 
ser, fanser, mod. F. fausser = Pr. falsar = OSp. 
falsar, Sp.falsear = Pg. falsar = It.falsare, < L. 
falsare, make false, falsify (writings, weights, 
measures, etc.), < falsus, false: see false, a.} 
falsehood 
1. trans. 1. To mislead by falsehood ; deceive; 
betray. 
Ther made nevere womman more wo 
Than she, whan that she falnede Troylus. 
Chaucer, Troilus, v. 1053. 
For paramours they do but faine, 
To lotie truely they disdaine, 
They/ofaen ladies traitorously. 
Horn, of the Rose, 1. 4834. 
And in \\iafalsed fancy he her takes 
To be the fairest wight that lived yit. 
Spenser, F. Q., I. ii. 30. 
2. To defeat ; balk ; evade. 
Yef any other hadde it done a-noon he wolde the luge- 
ment haue/a(8d. Merlin (E. E. T. S.), iii. 470. 
3. To violate by want of veracity; falsify. 
I mot reherce 
Hir tales alle, be they bettre or werse, 
Or elles/ateew som of my mateere. 
Chaucer, Prol. to Miller's Tale, 1. 67. 
I highly prize thy powrs ; and, by my sword, 
For thousand kingdoms will not false my word. 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, ii., The Vocation. 
4. To render false, treacherous, or dishonest. 
Tis gold 
Which buys admittance; oft it doth ; yea, and makes 
Diana's rangers false themselves. 
Shak., Cymbeline, 11. 3. 
5. To feign, as a blow ; aim by way of a feint. 
Sometimes athwart, sometimes he strook him strayt, 
And/ahed oft his blowes t illude him with such bayt. 
Spenser, F. Q., II. v. 9. 
To false a doom. See doom. 
II. intrans. To be false; deceive; practise 
deceit. 
Accused though I be without desart, 
Sith none can proue, beleeue it not for true ; 
Kor neuer yet, since first ye had my hart, 
Entended I to false or be vntrue. 
Puttenham, Arte of Eng. Poesie, p. 191. 
falsedomt, . [ME.falsdom; < false + -dom.] 
Falsehood, 
false-faced (fals'fast), a. [< false + face + 
-ed 2 .] Wearing a false aspect ; hypocritical. 
Let courts and cities be 
Made all of false-fac'd soothing ! Shak., Cor., I. 9. 
falseheadt, An obsolete variant of falsehood. 
Whan the emperour it herde seine (heard say] 
And knewe the falsehead of the vice, 
He said, he wolde do justice. Gower, Conf. Amant., i. 
false-heartt (fals'hart), a. False-hearted. 
I am thy king, and thou a false-heart traitor. 
Shak., 2 Hen. VI., v. 1. 
false-hearted (fals'har"ted), a. Having a false 
or treacherous heart ; deceitful ; perfidious. 
The traiterous or treacherous, who have misled others, 
are severely punished ; and the neutrals and falsehearted 
friends and followers, who have started aside like a broken 
bow, he noted. Bacon. 
false-heartedness (fals'har"ted-nes), n. Per- 
fidiousness; treachery. 
There was no hypocrisy or false-heartedness in all this. 
Stillingjleet. 
falsehedt, n. An obsolete variant of falsehood. 
falsehood (fals'hud), n. [< ME. fahliod, also 
falshed, -hede (= OFries. .falskhede, falschhede 
= D. valschheid = MHG. valschheit, G.falschheit 
= Dan. falskhed = Sw. falskhet), falseness ; < 
false + -hood.'} 1. The fact or quality of be- 
ing false ; falseness ; dishonest purpose or in- 
tention; treachery; deceitfulness ; perfidy: op- 
posed to truthfulness. 
And whan the worthi men of the Contree hadden per- 
ceyved this sotylle falihod of this Gatholonabes, thel i as- 
sembled hem with force, and assayleden his Castelle. 
Maiidemlle, Travels, p. 280. 
One of the evils of cowardice is that it tends to falsehood. 
Fear is the mother of lies. 
J. F. Clarke, Self-Culture, p. 331. 
2. That which is false ; a false representation 
in word or deed ; an untruth ; a lie : as, the tale 
is a series of falsehoods ; to act a, falsehood. 
Whether the historians of the last two centuries tell more 
truth than those of antiquity may perhaps be doubted. 
But it is quite certain that they tell lever falsehoods. 
ilacaulay, History. 
3. False manifestation or procedure; deceit- 
ful speech, action, or appearance ; counterfeit ; 
imposture ; specifically, in law, a fraudulent 
imitation or suppression of truth to the preju- 
dice of another. 
[He] was the first 
That practised falsehood under saintly show. 
Hilton, P. L., iv. 122. 
Falsehood is the joining of names otherwise than their 
ideas agree. Locke, Human Understanding, IV. v. 9. 
You that have dared to break our bound, and gull'd 
Ourservants, wrong'd and lied and thwarted us . . . 
Your/o(<e/iood and yourself are hateful to us. 
Tennyson, Princess, iv. 
