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C O N 
CON 
c are not fubjeft to ftrifture of fibres. Arbutknot. — 
Vaiper of body, with- rcfipeft -to health or difeafe. — 
Beauty is nothing eife but a juft accord and harmony of 
the members, animated.by a healthful confitution. Dry den. 
— Temper 6f mind. — He defended himfelf-with undaunt¬ 
ed courage, and lefs paftion than was expefted from his 
confiit'ition. Clarendon. — .Eftabliflied form of government; 
fyitem of laws and cuftoms : 
The Norman conquering all by might, 
Mi-xing. our cuftoms, and the form of right, 
With foreign conJHtutions he had brought. Daniel. 
Particular law; eftabliflied-ufage eftablifhment ; infti- 
tution. — Conjlitution, properly fpeaking in the fenfe of the 
civil law, is that law which is made and ordained by fome 
king or emperor; yet the canonifts, by adding the word 
J'acred to it, make it to fignify the fame as an ecclefiaftical 
canon. AyiJJe. 
CONST 1 TUTION,. f. in matters of policy, is the 
form of.government eftablifhed for the regulation of any 
civilized nation or country. For the excellencies Of the 
BritI ill Conftitution, fee the articles England,- and 
Magna Charta. 
Apostolical Constitutions, a colleftion of re¬ 
gulations attributed to the apoftks, and fuppofed to have 
been collefted by St. Clement, whofe name they bear. 
CONSTITUTIONAL, adj. Bred in the conftitution ; 
radical. — It fe not probable any conjlitutional illnefs will 
be communicated with the fmall-pox by inoculation. 
Sharp. — Confident with the civil conftitution ; legal. 
CONSTITUTIVE, adj. That which conftitutes any 
thing what it is: elemental; effential ; produftive. — The 
elements and confitutive parts of a fchifmatic, being the 
efteem of hlmfeif, and the contempt of others. Decay of 
Piety. —Having the power to enaft or eftablifh. 
To CONSTRA'IN, v. a. [ cenfraindre , Fr. confiringo , 
Lat. ] To compel ; to force to fome aftion : 
Namur fubdu’d, is England’s palm alone ; 
The reft befieg’d, but we conf rain'd the town. Dryden. 
To hinder by force ; to reftrain : 
My fire in caves confrains the winds, 
Can with a breath their clam’rous rage appeafe ; 
They fear his whiftle, and forfake the feas. Dryden. 
To'neceflitate : 
When to his laft VEgyfthus gave the rein, 
Did fate or we th’ adult'rous abt conf rain? Pope. 
To violate ; to ravifli : 
Her fpotlefs chaftity, 
Inhuman traitors ! you conjlrain'd and forc’d. Shakefpeare. 
To confine ; to prefs. — How the ftrait ftays the (lender 
waift corf rain. - Gay . —To conftringe : 
When winter frofts conf ra in the field with cold, 
The fcanty root can take no fteady'liold. Dryden. 
To tie ; to bind : 
Scarce the weary god had clos’d his eyes, 
When rufhing on with (bouts, he binds, in chains 
The dpowfy prophet, and his limbs confrains. Dryden. 
To impfifon : 
'Conjlrain'd: him in a bird, and made him fly 
With party-colour’d plumes, a chattering pye. Dryden. 
To force ; to produce in oppoiition to nature : 
In this northern tract our hoarier throats 
Utter unripe and ill conf rained notes. Waller. 
To reftrain ; to withhold.—The. (oft weapons of pater¬ 
nal perfuafions, after mankind began to forget the origi¬ 
nal gi-ver of life, became over weak to refift the firft in¬ 
clination'of evil : or after, when it became habitual, to 
conf'rain it. Raleigh. 
CONSTRAIN'ABLE, adj. Liable to conftraint; ob¬ 
noxious to compulfton.—Whereas men before ftood bound 
4 
in confidence to do as reafon teaclieth, they are now, by 
virtue of human law, conjlrainable ; and, if they outward¬ 
ly tranfgrefs, puniftiable. Hooker. 
CONSTRAIN'EDLY, adv. By conftraint ; by com- 
pulfion.—What occafion it had given them to think, to 
their greater obduration in evil, that through a froward 
and wanton defire of innovation, we did confrainedly thofe 
things, for which confcience was pretended. Hooker . 
CONS'! RAIN'ER, f. Fie that conftrains. 
CONSTRAI'NT, J. \_contrainte, Fr.] • Compulfion ; 
compelling force ; violence; act of over-ruling the de¬ 
fire ; confinement. — The conftant defire of happinefs, and 
the confraini it puts upon us to aft for it, no body, I 
think, accounts an abridgment of liberty. Locke,— Con¬ 
finement. Out of ife ; 
His limbs were waxen weak and raw, 
Thro’ long imprifonment, and hard confraint. Spenfcr. 
To CONSTRUCT, v. a. [ confiringo,. conf riMtm , Lat.} 
To bind ; to cramp ; to confine into a narrow compafs. 
To contraft ; to caufe to (brink.—Such things as confribl 
the fibres, and (Lengthen the folid part's. Arbutknot. 
CONSTRICTION, f Contraction ; compreflion; for. 
cible contraction. CompreJJion is from an outward force, 
confridlion from fome quality ; as, the throat is comprefled 
by a bandage, and conf ringed by a cold. — The air, which 
tliefe receive into the lungs, may ferve to render their 
bodies equiponderant to the water ; and the confriPlion or 
dilatation of it, may probably aflift them to afcend or de- 
feend in the water. Ray. 
CONSTRICTOR, f. \_conf riPlor, Lat.] That which 
comprefles or contracts.—He fuppofed the confriPlors of 
the eye-lids mult be ‘(Lengthened in the fupercilious. 
Arbutknot. 
To CONSTRIN'GE, v. a. [covfriiigo, Lat.] To'eom- 
prefs ; to contraft ; to bind ; to force to contraft itfelf. 
•—-Strong liquors, efpecially inflammatory fpirits, intoxi¬ 
cate, confringc, harden the fibres, and coagulate tilt fluids. 
Arbutknot. 
CONSTRIN'GENT, adj. [ conf nngens , Lat.] Having 
the quality of binding or comprefling : 
Winter binds 
Our (Lengthen'd bodies in a cold embrace 
Confringcnt. Thomfon. 
To CONSTRU'CT, v. a. \_confruPlus, Lat.] To build; 
to form ; to compile ; to conftitute. — Let there be an 
admiration of thofe divine attributes and prerogatives, 
for whofe manifefting he was pleafed to confruEl this vaft 
fabric. Boyle .—To form by the mind ; as, he conf rubied 
a new fyftem. 
CONSTRUCTION, f. [ confruPlio , Lat.] The aft of 
building, or piling up in a regular methodf The form 
of building ; ftrufture ; conformation : 
There’s no art 
To (hew the mind’s confruclion in the face. Shakefpeare. 
[In grammar.] The putting of words, duly chofen, to¬ 
gether in fuch a manner as is proper to convey a com¬ 
plete fenfe. Clarke .—Some particles conftuntly, and others 
’ in certain confrubtions, have the fenfe of a whole fentence 
contained in them. Locke .—The aft of arranging terms 
in the proper order, by difentangling tranfpofitions; the 
aft of interpreting ; explanation : 
This label, whofe containing 
Is fo from fenfe and hardn.efs, that I can 
Make no colleftion of it; let him drew 
Flis (kill in th e confruRion. Shakefpeare. 
The fenfe ; the meaning ; interpretation.—He that would 
live at eafe, (hould always put the beft confruclion on 
•bufinefs and converfation. Collier.- —Religion, in its own 
nature, produces good will towards men, and puts the 
mildeft confruHion upon every accident that befals them. 
Spectator. —Judgment; mental reprefentation.—It cannot, 
therefore, unto reafonable conf ruEhons feem ftrange, or 
favour 
