fear 
3. To reverence; have a reverential awe of; 
venerate. 
This do, and live ; for I fear f iod. Gen. xlii. 18. 
I fear God, yet am not afraid of him. 
Sir T. Browne, Keligio Medici, I. 52. 
4f. To have fear for; have anxiety about; be 
solicitous for. 
War. Doth he keep his bed? 
Megs. He did, my lord, four days ere I set forth ; 
And at the time of my departure thence, 
He was much/ear'd by his physicians. 
Shak., 1 Hen. IV., iv. 1. 
Only I crave the shelter of your closet 
A little, and then fear me not. 
Beau, and Fl,, Knight of Burning Pestle, iv. 4. 
To fear no colorst. See color. = Syn. 2. To apprehend, 
dread. 
II. intrans. 1. To be frightened ; be afraid; 
be in apprehension of evil ; feel anxiety on ac- 
count of some expected evil. 
Fear not, Abram ; I am thy shield and thy exceeding 
great reward. Gen. xv. 1. 
[In this sense the verb is often used reflexively with the 
personal pronouns me, thee, him, her. 
A flash, 
I fear me, that will strike my blossom dead. 
Tennyson, Lancelot and Elaine. 
Surely I fear me, midst the ancient gold 
Base metal ye will light on here and there. 
William Morris, Earthly Paradise, 1. 141.) 
2. To be in anxious uncertainty ; doubt. 
If you shall see Cordelia 
(As fear not but you shall). Shalt., Lear, lii. 1. 
Ne're/rre, for men must love thee 
When they behold thy glorie. Old tony. 
fear 2 t, . See/eeri. 
fear 3 , feer 3 (fer), a. [ME. fere, feore = OFries. 
fere = OHO. gafuori, MHO. geviiere = leel. 
foerr, able, capable, fit, serviceable, = Sw. Dan. 
for, stout; prob. ult.< AS./oron (= OHG./oran, 
etc.), go: see/arei and/ere*.] Able: capable; 
stout; strong; sound: as, hale and Tear (whole 
and entire, well and sound). [Obsolete or 
Scotch.] 
Now alle that es fere and unfaye alive of thes fyve hun- 
dreth 
ffalles on syr fflorent, a flfyve score knyghttes. 
Morte Arthure (E. E. T. S.), 1. 2797. 
fear-babet (fer'bab), . [</eari, v. t., I, + obj. 
ftafte.] A bugbear, such as frightens children. 
As for their shewes and words, they are \mtfeare-lnbet, 
nor worthy once to move a worthy man's conceit. 
Sir P. Sidney, Arcadia, p. 299. 
feard, feared (ferd), i>. a. [Pp. of/earl, v. ; or 
abbr. of a/earrf.] Afeard; afraid. [Now only 
prov. Eng. and Scotch.] 
The beggar was ttiefeardest man 
Of one that ever might be. 
Rabin Hood and the Beggar (Child's Ballads, V. 197). 
fearer (fer'er), n. One who fears. 
Fellowship and Friendships best 
With thy fearers all I hold. 
Such as hold thy biddings best. 
Sir P. Sidney, Ps. 119, H. 
fearful (fer'ful), a. [< ME. fearful, ferful, 
frightful, causing fear, also frightened, feeling 
fear, < feer, fer, fear, + -ful.] 1. Feeling fear, 
dread, apprehension, or solicitude ; afraid. 
This put the King [Edward II. ] into a great Strait ; loth 
he was to leave Gaveston, anil fearful he was to provoke 
the Lords. Baker, Chronicles, p. 106. 
I see you all are mute, and stand amaz'd, 
Fear/til to answer me. 
Beau, and Ft., King and No King, ill. 1. 
This dress and that by turns you tried, 
Too fearful that you should not please. 
Tennyson, Miller's Daughter. 
2. Timid; timorous; wanting courage. 
Durste she not hym diffende, (for a woman a-loone is 
feerfull. Merlin (E. E. T. 8.), iii. 428. 
He ... trembled underneath his mighty hand, 
And like nfearefull dog him followed through the land. 
Spenser, F. Q., VI. xii. 36. 
What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? 
Deut. xx. 8. 
But it is likely, the Chubs will sink down towards the 
bottom of the water, at the first shadow of your rod (for 
Chub is thefearfullest of flshes). 
/. Walton, Complete Angler, p. 68. 
3. Causing or such as to cause fear ; impressing 
fear; frightful; dreadful; terrible; awful. 
He was aferfull freke, in fas to beholde ; 
And mony ledes with his loke laithet full euyll ! 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 7726. 
That thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, 
THE LORD THY GOD. Deut. xxviii. 68. 
Oh, mother, these ore fearful hours ! speak gently 
To these fierce men ; they will afford you pity. 
Fletcher, Bonduca, iv. 4. 
4. Showing fear; produced by fear; indica- 
tive of fear. [Rare.] 
2162 
Cold fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh. 
Shale., Rich. III., v. 3. 
= 8yn. 2. Pusillanimous, cowardly, faint-hearted. 3. 
Dreadful. Fri : ilitful, etc. (see awful) ; dire, direful, hor- 
rible, distressing, shocking. 
fearfully (fer' ful -i), a*-. 1. With or from 
fear ; in a timorous or cowardly manner. 
He h&ih fearfully and basely 
Betray 'd his own cause. 
Beau, and Fl., Knight of Malta, iii. 2. 
In such a night, 
Did Thieve fearfully o'ertrip the dew. 
Shot., M. of V., v. 1. 
2. In a manner to cause fear or awe. 
I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Ps. cxxxix. 14. 
There is a cliff whose high and bending head 
Looks fearfully in the confined deep. 
Shak., Lear, iv. 1. 
I am borne darkly, fearfully afar ! 
Shelley, Adouais, Iv. 
Tearfulness (fer'ful-nes), n. I. The quality 
of being fearful or timorous; timidity; awe; 
alarm; dread. 
A third thing that makes a government despised is/ear- 
fulness of, ana mean compliances with, bold popular of- 
fenders. South, Sermons. 
2. The quality of causing fear or alarm; dread- 
fulness. 
fearless (fer'les), a. [</ear* + -less.'] With- 
out fear; bold; courageous; intrepid; un- 
daunted. 
And/earfctt minds climb soonest unto crowns. 
Shak., S Hen. VI., Iv. 7. 
Fearless will I enter here 
And meet my fate, whatso it be. 
William Morrit, Earthly Paradise, I. 285. 
= Syn. Brave, dauntless, daring, valiant, valorous, gallant, 
fearlessly (fer'les-li), adv. In a fearless or cou- 
rageous manner ; without fear ; intrepidly. 
Men who so fearlessly expose themselves to this most 
formidable of perils. Decay of Christian Piety. 
fearlessness (fer'les-nes), n. The state or char- 
acter of being fearless; freedom from fear; 
courage; boldness; intrepidity. 
He gave instances of an invincible courage and fearless- 
ness in danger. Clarendon, Great Rebellion. 
fear lot (fer'lot), n. A dialectal variant of firlot. 
fearnaught, fearnought (fer'nat), n. [< /earl, 
v. t., + obj. naught, nought.] Same as dread- 
naught, 3. 
fearsome (fer'sum), a. [< /ear 1 + -some. ] 1. 
Causing fear ; fearful ; frightful ; dreadful. 
Eh ! it wad be fearsome to be burnt alive for naething, 
like as if ane had been a warlock ! 
Scott, Guy Mannering, xlviil. 
Who else would have come to see ye in such & fearsome 
hole as this? Mercy on me, it'sllke the bottomless pit ! 
W. Black, In Far Lochaber, xii. 
2. Timid; apprehensive; frightened: as, "a 
silly, fearsome thing," B. Taylor. 
Which would then play, in a fearsome fashion, with 
horrors of sin and the dread beliefs of Calvinism. 
The Century, XXVII. 382. 
fearsomely (fer'sum-li), adv. In a fearsome or 
fear-inspiring manner; fearfully; timidly. 
feart (fert), p. a. A variant of feard. 
feasablet, a. See feasible. 
fease 1 , v. See feeze 1 . 
fease 2 t, v.i. Seefeezet. 
fease-strawt, n. An obsolete perverted form 
of fest ue. 
feasibility (fe-zi-bil'i-ti), n. [< feasible: see 
-bility.'] The quality of being feasible or ca- 
pable of execution ; practicability. 
feasible (fe'zi-bl), a. and n. [Formerly also 
feasable, feazable, faisible; < OF. (and F.)/oi- 
sable, that may be done, < faire (ppr. faisant), 
do: see fact.] I. a. Capable of being done, 
performed, or effected; that may be accom- 
plished or carried out ; practically possible : as, 
the project is attractive, but not feasible. 
To require tasks not faisible is tyranicall, and doth onely 
picke a quarrell to punish ; they could neither make straw 
nor find it, yet they must have it. 
Bp. Hall, Afflictions of Israel. 
I thought now was my time to make my Escape, by get- 
ting leave, if possible, to stay here : for It seemed not very 
feazable to do it by stealth. Dampur, Voyages, I. 481. 
Fair although and feasible it seem, 
Depend not much upon your golden dream. 
Cowper, Tirocinium, 1. 428. 
We are bound to suggest to these unfortunates, who look 
to us lor advice, some feasible plan. 
W. Phillips, Speeches, p. 81. 
H.t n. That which is practicable. 
Hence it is that we conclude many things within the list 
of impossibilities which yet are easie feasibles. 
Glanville, Vanity of Dogmatizing, xii. 
feasibleness (fe'zi-bl-nes), re. Feasibility; 
practicability. 
feast 
Some discourse there was about the feasibleness of it, 
and several times by accident ... I have heard it men- 
tioned as a thing might easily be done, but never con- 
sented to as fit to be done. 
State Trials, William Lord Russell, p. 692. 
feasibly (fe'zi-bli), adv. In a feasible manner ; 
practicably. 
feast (fest), n. [< ME. feeste, feste, fest, < OF. 
feste, F. fete (see fete, n.) = Pr.festa = Sp. fiesta 
= Pg. It. festa =' D. feest = G.'Dan. Sw. fest, < 
li. festa, pi. otfestum, a holiday, festival, feast, 
neut. of festtts, joyous, festive, belonging to a 
holiday (dies festus, a holiday): cf. feriw (for 
"fesite), holidays (whence E./air2, q. v. ). Hence 
(from L. festum) festal, festival, etc.] 1. A 
festival in commemoration of some event, or 
in honor of some distinguished person ; a set 
time of festivity and rejoicing : opposed to fast. 
In this sense the word is almost eBtirely confined to ec- 
clesiastical feasts. In the Jewish church the most im- 
portant feasts, apart from the sabbath, were those of the 
Atonement, the Passover, Tabernacles, and Pentecost. 
To these were subsequently added the feasts of Purim and 
the Dedication. In the Christian church Christmas and 
Easter are feasts of almost universal recognition and ob- 
servance. To these many others have been added, cele- 
brating events in the life of Christ or in the lives of the 
apostles, saints, and martyrs. Feasts are divided into mov- 
able and immovable, according as they occur on a specific 
day of the week succeeding a certain day of the month 
or phase of the moon, or at a fixed date. Easter is a mov- 
able feast, upon which all other movable feasts depend ; 
Christmas is an immovable feast. In the Roman Catholic 
Church feasts are further divided into obligatory and non- 
obligatory, and again into doubles, semi-doubles, simples, 
etc., according to the religious offices required to be re- 
cited in the church service. 
For the love and in worschipe of that Ydole, and for 
the reverence of the Feste, thei slen hemself, a 200 or 300 
persones, with scharpe Knyfes. 
Mandeville, Travels, p. 176. 
The kynge lete it be knowen thourgh his reame that all 
\\\x\\festes, as Pasch and Pentecoste and yole and halow- 
messe, sholde be holden at Cardoel. 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.), I. 63. 
Bonfires in France forthwith I am to make, 
To keep our great Saint George's featt withal. 
Shak., 1 Hen. VI., i. 1. 
Theautumn/eo( lingered on unchallenged in the village 
harvest-home, with the sheaf, in old times a symbol of the 
god, nodding gay with flowers and ribbons, on the last 
wagon. J. R. Green, Conq. of Eng., p. 11. 
2. A sumptuous entertainment or repast of 
which a number of guests partake; particu- 
larly, a rich or splendid public entertainment. 
The governor of the feast called the bridegroom. 
John il. 9. 
Make not a city feast of it, to let the meat cool ere we 
can agree upon the first place. Shak., T. of A., ill. 6. 
Last Wednesday I gave & feast In form to the Hertford!. 
Walpole, Letters, II. 430. 
And Julian made a solemn feast ; I never 
Sat at a costlier. Tennyson, Lover's Tale, Iv. 
3. Any rich, delicious, or abundant repast or 
meal; hence, something delicious or highly 
agreeable, or in which some delectable quality 
abounds. 
He that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast. 
Prov. xv. 15. 
A perpetual featt of nectar'd sweets, 
Where no crude surfeit reigns. 
Milton, Comus, 1. 478. 
There St. John mingles with my friendly bowl, 
The/east of reason and the flow of soul. 
Pope, Imit. of Horace, II. i. 128. 
Rise from the/eo( of sorrow, lady, 
Where all day long you sit between 
Joy and woe, and whisper each. 
Tennyson, Margaret, v. 
Double feast, an ecclesiastical festival on which the an- 
tiphon is doubled. See semi-double and simple. Feast 
Of asses. See featt of fools. Feast Of Dolors. See 
dolor. Feast Of Eggs. See Egg Saturday, under eggl. 
Feast of fools and feast of asses, festivals, simulat- 
ing the Saturnalia, and perhaps a survival of them, cele- 
brated in many countries of Europe, especially in France, 
during the middle ages, from Christmas to Epiphany, but 
chiefly on the 1st of January in each year. In the feast 
of fools a bishop, archbishop, or pope of fools was chosen 
and placed on a throne in the principal church, and a 
burlesque high mass was said by his orders. The feast of 
asses, following the former or celebrated on a later day, 
was a pageant that owed its name to the important part 
which the ass played in it. In some places the allusion 
was to the ass of Balaam, in others to the ass which is said 
to have stood beside the manger in which the infant Sa- 
viour was laid, or to the ass on which Mary and the child 
fled into Egypt, or, in others still, to the ass on which 
Jesus made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Some of 
the features of these festivals still survive in the carnival. 
Feast of lanterns, a Chinese festival held annually 
at the first full moon of the year (the 15th day of the first 
month), when colored lanterns are hung at every door, and 
the graves are illuminated. Feast Of Maccabees, in 
the ancient Christian church, a festival celebrated annu- 
ally in honor of the seven Maccabees, who died in defense 
of Jewish law. It is uncertain on what day the festival 
was held, but the Roman Catholic martyrology places it on 
the 1st of August. Feast of orthodoxy, of the feder- 
ation, of the Sacred Heart, of the Presentation, etc. 
See orthodox*/, federation, heart, etc. To make feast*, 
