to wing-net 
va.s, and used in the collection of specimens of 
natural history; a tow-net. See imrnii/ 1 . -. 
towing-path (to 'ing-path), . A tow-path. 
(;<,,,, Eliot, Felix Hull. xi. 
tOWing-pOSt (lo'ilig-post). n. Same as liiirini/- 
towing-rope (to'ing-rop), . Same as <<- 
Hue, 1. 
towing-timber (to'ing-tim'berl. n. V(/.. a 
Btrong piece of timber lixed in a lioat, to which 
a tow-rope maybe made fa-l when required. 
tOW-iron (to'i ern), . A toggle-iron used in 
whaling; the harpoon attached to the tow-line. 
tpw-line (to'lin), H. 1. A hawser used for tow- 
ing vessels. Also /<n'(/-'"/"'. 2. In tchiilini/, 
tho long line which is attached to the toggle- 
iron or harpoon, and by means of which the 
whale is made fast to the boat, ami may tow it. 
Also loic-rii/ir. 
town (toun). n. and a. [< ME. town, toun, tun, 
< AS. tun, hedge, fence, inclostire, farm-house, 
= OS. tun = D. tuin, hedge, garden, = MLG. tun 
= OHG. MHG. I fin. <. ~iiiin, an inclosure, hedge, 
= Icel. tun, the inclosed infield, homestead, 
dwelling-house ; cf. Old Celtic 'dun, appearing 
as -dunum in Latinized names of places, like 
Angiisto-duniim, Lug-dun um, and in Olr. dun, cas- 
tle, city, W. din, a hill-fort, dinas, town. Hence 
tine 1 , .] I. . 1. An inclosure; a collection 
of houses inclosed by a hedge, palisade, or wall 
for safety; a walled or fortified place. 
And the kynge Rion com with all his peple, and be- 
seged town all a-boutc. Merlin (E. E. T. 8.), III. 010. 
When necessity, by reason of warrcs and troubles, caused 
whole thorpes to bee with such tunes Ihedges) enuironed 
about, those enclosed places did thereby take the name 
of tunes, afterward pronounced townes. 
Vertteyan, Rest, of Decayed Intelligence (ed. 182S), p. 295. 
2. Any collection of houses larger than a vil- 
lage; in a general sense, a city or borough : as, 
London town; within a mile of Edinburgh town : 
often opposed to country, in which use it is usu- 
ally preceded by the definite article, it is fre- 
quently applied absolutely, and without the proper name 
of the place, to a metropolis or county town, or to the 
particular city In which or in the vicinity of which the 
speaker or writer is: as, to go to town; to be in town 
London being in many cases implied by English writers. 
Byt not on thy brede and lay hit douu 
That is no curteyse to vse in town. 
Babees Book (E. E. T. S.), p. 800. 
Ten. I know not when he will come to town. 
Moll. He's in town; this nyght he sups at the Lion in 
Shoreditch. Dekker and Webster, Westward Ho, ill. 1. 
The first of our society is a gentleman of Worcester- 
shire, of ancient descent, a Baronet, his name Sir Roger 
de Coverley. . . . When he is in toum, he lives in Soho 
Square. Addison, Spectator, No. 2. 
As some fond virgin whom her mother's care 
Drags from the town to wholesome country air. 
Pope, To Miss Blount, II. 
God made the country, and man made tin' town. 
Cowper, Task, i. 749. 
3. A large assemblage of adjoining or nearly 
adjoining houses, to which a market is usually 
incident, and which is not a city or bishop's 
see. [Eng.] 4. A tithing; a vill; a subdi- 
vision of a county, as a parish is a subdivision 
of a diocese. [Eng.] 
From the returns of the reign of Edward II. it is clear 
that the sheriff communicated the royal writ to the towns 
of his county. Stubbs, Const. Hist, $ 422. 
5. The body of persons resident in a town or 
city; the townspeople: with the. 
Mrs. Candour. The toum talks of nothing else. 
Maria. 1 am very sorry, ma'am, the town has so little 
to do. Sheridan, School for Scandal, 1. 1. 
6. In legal usage in the United States : (a) In 
many of the States, one of the several subdivi- 
sions into which each county is divided, more ac- 
curately called, in the New England States and 
some others, toirnship. (b) In most of the States, 
the corporation, or quasi corporation, composed 
of the inhabitants of one of such subdivisions, 
in some States designated by law as a /'nni.i/ii/i 
or incorporated township or township organiza- 
tion, (c) In a few of the States, a municipal 
corporation (not formed of one of the subdivi- 
sions of a county, but having its own boundaries 
like a city) with less elaborate organization and 
powers than a city. The word toirn is popularly used 
both in those senses, and also in the sense of a collection 
of dwellings,' which is characteristic of most towns. Thus, 
the name of a town, such as Farmington, serves to indi- 
cate, according to the context, either the geographical 
area, as in the phrase "the boundaries of the town' (indi- 
cated on maps by a light or dotted line), or the body poli- 
tic, as in speaking tit tile town and county highways re* 
spectively, or the central settlement from which distances 
are usually measured, as on the slgn-lwards. When used in 
the general sense of a densely populated community, the 
boundaries are usually not identical with those of any 
pi Imary division of the county, but include only the space 
iirrilpiril liy iiKk'li'IlK ! ;it> <1 IlimseS. 
7. A farm or farmstead : a farm-house with its 
connected buildings. [Scotland. Ireland, and 
the North of England.] Cautionary town. see 
niirii. County town. Hee county i. Free town. 
Hoe/rer rita, under ri'r.i/. Laws of the Hanse towns. 
Man about town. Sei ?)<. Prairie- 
dog towns ; To come upon the town. 
s. i ei .!.- TO paint the town red. ><, /,,/,,,r Town 
and gown. See gown. - Town-bonding acts >r laws. 
Hee bondi. Town's husband, (a) One who holds the 
office of it steward In looking after the nil an of a town. 
t'nmjiarc ithip'g huttbaiut, under hutband. 
The following advertisement appears In the Hull Ad- 
vertiser, Aug. 8, 1796. "Guild-hall, Kingston upon Hull, 
August 7, 17."i. Wanted by the Corporation of this Town, 
a proper person for the office of Tvwn't Htaband, or Com- 
n ii >n officer. He must be well acquainted with Accomptk. 
capable of drawing Dans and Estimates for Building!, and 
accustomed to Inspect the workmanship of Mechanic*." 
\ nnd Q., 7th Ser., VIII. 496. 
(6) An officer of a parish who collects moneys from the 
parents of illrintiumte ehildren for the maintenance of 
the latter. ItaUiu-M [Prov. Eng.| = 8yn. 2 and 3. Ham- 
let, Village, Town, City. A hauilrt is a group of houses 
smaller than a village. The use of the other words In the 
United Kinpliini la generally more precise than It Is In 
the lulled states, but all are used more or leu loosely. 
A villaije may have a church, but has generally no mar- 
ket ; a town has both, and is frequently incorporated ; a 
city Is a corporate town, and is or has formerly been the 
see of a bishop, with a cathedral. In the United States a 
village is smaller than a town, and a town usually smaller 
than a city; there are Incorporated villagei as well as 
cities, some places incorporated as citiet are smaller than 
many that have only a tmrn organization. 
II. a. Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of 
a town; urban: as. totrxlife; town manners. 
Town cards, a size of cards 2 by 3 Inches. [Eng.] Town 
cause. See caute. Town clerk. See clerk. Town 
council, the governing body in a municipality, elected by 
the ratepayers. [Great Britain.] Town crier, a public 
crier ; one who makes proclamation. 
I had as lief the totrn-crier spoke my lines. 
Shalt., Hamlet, iii. 2. 4. 
Town gate, the highroad through a town or village. Hal- 
liieiil. [Eng.] Town hall, a large hall or building be- 
longing to a town or borough, in which the town's business 
is transacted, and which is frequently used as a place of 
public assembly; a town house. Town house, (a) A 
building containing offices, halls, etc., for the transaction 
of municipal business, the holding of public meetings, 
etc. ; a town hall. (6) The town prison ; a bridewell, (c) A 
poorhouse. (-It A house or mansion In town, as distin- 
guished from a country residence. Town rake, a man 
living loosely about town ; a roving, dissipated fellow. 
Lewdness and Intemperance are not of so bad conse- 
quences in a town-rake as in a divine. 
>'"/'. Examiner, No. 29. 
Town top, a large top, formerly common in English vil- 
lages, for public sport, and whipped by several boys at the 
same time. 
town-adjutant (toun'aj'$-tant), n. Milit., an 
officer on the staff of a garrison who is charged 
with maintaining discipline, etc. He ranks as 
a lieutenant. [Eng.] 
townamct, n. An erroneous spelling of to-name. 
town-boxt (toun'boks), . The money-chest or 
common fund of a town or municipal corpora- 
tion. 
i jn in the confiscation of them to their Town-box or Ex- 
chequer, they might well have allowed Mr. Calvin ... a 
salary beyond an hundred pounds. 
lip. Oauden, Tears of the Church, p. 11. (Darie.) 
town-councilor (toun'koun'sil-or), n. A mem- 
ber of a town council, specifically a member 
who is not the mayor or provost or who is not 
a magistrate. [Great Britain.] 
town-cress (toun'kres), n. [< ME. "tounkers, 
< AS. tun-cterse, < tun, inclosure (garden), + 
ceerse, cress: see town and cress.'] The garden 
peppergrass, Lepidium satirum. 
towned (tound), a. Furnished with towns. 
[Rare.] 
The continent is ... very well peopled and towned. 
HaKvyft Voyayet, III. 254. 
tow-net (to'net), n. A towing-net. \ature, 
XXXVII. 438. 
townfolk (toun'fok), H. [< ME. tunfolk ; < town 
-I- folk.'] People who live in towns, 
town-husband (touu'huz'band), n. Same as 
town's hutband (b) (which see, under toirn). 
townish (tou'nish), a. [< town + -wA 1 .] 1. 
Of, pertaining to, or living in town. 
Presently ther had a thousand of centre, 
Without tho townishe peple, vnto Be. 
Rom. o/Partenay (E. E. T. S.X 1. 2443. 
Would needs go see her touiiwA sisters house. 
Wyatt, Satires, Mean and Sure EsUte, I. 4. 
2. Characteristic of the town as distinguished 
from the country : as, townish manners, 
townland (toun'land), . In Ireland, a division 
of a parish ; a township. 
The modern townland may be looked upon as the repre- 
sentative of all the parcels of land, of whatever denomina- 
tion from the Baile Biatach down, which had separate des- 
ignations. 
W. K. Sullivan, Introd. to O'Curry's Anc. Irish, p. xcviil. 
tow-rope 
townless(toun'les). . Lacking towns. Unwell, 
Forreine Travel!, p. 40. 
tOWnlet (toun'let), n. [< tun-,, + -li t. | A petty 
town. Simtlii i/. The I), ictor. cxviii. 
Townley marbles. A collection of <;re,-k and 
K'.man sculpture which forms n part of the 
gallery of antiquities belonging to the Hritish 
Museum, and is named Ir- -Townley, 
of Lancashire, England, who made the collec- 
tion. 
town-major (tonn'nm'jor).H. .\/ilit.,n garrison 
officer ranking with a captain. His dnti. 
much I lie same a those of the town-adjutant. 
town-meeting (toun'me'ting), . In N-w 
land, New York, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minne- 
sota, and Illinois, a primary meeting of the vot- 
ers of a town or township, legally summoned 
for t he consideration of matters of local admin- 
istration. The functions of the town-meeting 
are most extensive in New England. 
In * town-meeting the great secret of political science 
was uncovered, anil tip im-Mrm solved how to give every 
imliviiluul tils fair weight In the government without any 
disorder from numbers. 
Baurton, Hist. Discourse at Concord. 
townseliket, - [Appar. for "townslike, or more 
prob. for "townlike, equiv. to "totcnly, < toioi 1 + 
/(/.(-, -ty 1 .] Bourgeois; plebeian. 
The riche merchaunt, the poore Sqnier, the wise plough 
man, and the good towiuelilce craftsman, needes no daugh- 
ter in lawe that can frll and paint her selfe, but such as 
be skilful) very well to iplnne. 
Uuerara, Letters (tr. by Hello wes, 1&77), p. 290. 
townsfolk (tounz'fok), n.pl. [< toirn's, poss. of 
town, + folk. Cf. townfolk.'] People of a town 
or city; people who live in towns. 
townsnip(toun'ship),. [< ME. "tounschi}>e,<. 
AS. tunscipe. < tan, inclosure, town, + -scipe, E. 
-../(//>.] 1. In Anglo-Saxon times, the area of 
land occupied by a community inhabiting a 
fenced homestead, a farm, or a village surround- 
ed by an inclosure. S. Dowell, Taxes in Eng- 
land. I. 8. 2. In law: (a) In England, a town 
or vill where there are more than one in a 
parish; a division of a parish in which there 
is a separate constable, and for which there 
may be separate overseers of the poor, (b) In 
the United States, a territorial district, subor- 
dinate to a county, into which counties in many 
of the States are divided, the inhabitants of 
which are invested witli political and adminis- 
trative powers for regulating their own minor 
local affairs, such as repairing roads, maintain- 
ing schools, and providing for the poor; also, 
the inhabitants of such a district in their or- 
ganized capacity. In the newer States, In which the 
divisions were laid off by government survey, a tomuthip 
contains thirty-six square miles, 'the subdivisions of Cali- 
fornia counties are called judicittl towiuthips. The town- 
ships of Wisconsin are more often called towns ; those of 
Maine and New Hampshire are corporations. Compare 
town, 0. 
3. In Australia, a village or small town. 
townsmann ouii/.'imi n >, .; pLftWMMM (-men). 
[< town's, poss. of town, + man."] 1. An in- 
habitant of a town. 
These rivers doe runne Into tbetowne to the great com- 
modity of the tiiwiutmeit. Coryat, Crudities, I. 124. 
2. A fellow-inhabitant of a town; a fellow- 
citizen. 
The subject of debate, a toicnnnan slain. 
Pope, Iliad, xvlll. 578. 
3f. A town officer now called a selectman. 
[New Eng.] 
townspeople (tounz'pe'pl), n. [< totrn'*, poss. 
of toirn, + people.} The inhabitants, collec- 
tively, of a town or city; townsfolk, especially 
in distinction from country folk or the rural 
population. 
town-talk (toun'tak'), n. The common talk of 
a town ; a subject of common conversation or 
gossip. 
In twelve hours It shall be town-talk. Sir R. L Estrange. 
News, politics, censure, family management, or town- 
talk, she always diverted to something else. 
Swift, Death of Stella. 
town- wall (toun'wal'), H. A wall inclosing a 
town. 
townward, townwards (toun'wSrd, -wardz), 
adr. [< tmrn + -ward, -wards.'] Toward the 
town ; in the direction of a town, 
towny (tou'ni), n. ; pi. townies (-niz). [< toww + 
dim. -y 2 .] A townsman ; specifically, a citizen 
of a town as distinguished from a member of a 
college situated within its limits. [Slang.] 
tow-path (to'path). n. The path on the bank 
of a canal or river along which draft-animals 
travel when towing boats, 
tow-rope (to'rop), . Same as toK-tine. 
