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10 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Letter \Let"ter\, n. [OE. lettre, F. lettre, OF letre, fr L. littera, litera, a letter; pl., an epistle, a writing, literature, fr linere, litum, to besmear, to spread or rub over because one of the earliest modes of writing was by graving the characters upon tablets smeared over or covered with wax. --Pliny, xiii. 11. See {Liniment}, and cf {Literal}.] 1. A mark or character used as the representative of a sound, or of an articulation of the human organs of speech; a first element of written language. And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew. --Luke xxiii. 38. 2. A written or printed communication; a message expressed in intelligible characters on something adapted to conveyance, as paper, parchment, etc.; an epistle. The style of letters ought to be free easy, and natural. --Walsh. 3. A writing; an inscription. [Obs.] None could expound what this letter meant --Chaucer. 4. Verbal expression; literal statement or meaning; exact signification or requirement. We must observe the letter of the law, without doing violence to the reason of the law and the intention of the lawgiver. --Jer. Taylor. I broke the letter of it to keep the sense --Tennyson. 5. (Print.) A single type type collectively; a style of type Under these buildings . . . was the king's printing house, and that famous letter so much esteemed. --Evelyn. 6. pl Learning; erudition; as a man of letters. 7. pl A letter; an epistle. [Obs.] --Chaucer. {Dead letter}, {Drop letter}, etc See under {Dead}, {Drop}, etc {Letter book}, a book in which copies of letters are kept. {Letter box}, a box for the reception of letters to be mailed or delivered. {Letter carrier}, a person who carries letters; a postman; specif., an officer of the post office who carries letters to the persons to whom they are addressed, and collects letters to be mailed. {Letter cutter}, one who engraves letters or letter punches. {Letter lock}, a lock that can not be opened when fastened, unless certain movable lettered rings or disks forming a part of it are in such a position (indicated by a particular combination of the letters) as to permit the bolt to be withdrawn. A strange lock that opens with AMEN. --Beau. & Fl {Letter paper}, paper for writing letters on especially, a size of paper intermediate between note paper and foolscap. See {Paper}. {Letter punch}, a steel punch with a letter engraved on the end used in making the matrices for type {Letters of administration} (Law), the instrument by which an administrator or administratrix is authorized to administer the goods and estate of a deceased person. {Letter of attorney}, {Letter of credit}, etc See under {Attorney}, {Credit}, etc {Letter of license}, a paper by which creditors extend a debtor's time for paying his debts. {Letters close or clause} (Eng. Law.), letters or writs directed to particular persons for particular purposes, and hence closed or sealed on the outside; -- distinguished from letters patent. --Burrill. {Letters of orders} (Eccl.), a document duly signed and sealed, by which a bishop makes it known that he has regularly ordained a certain person as priest, deacon, etc {Letters patent}, {overt}, or {open} (Eng. Law), a writing executed and sealed, by which power and authority are granted to a person to do some act or enjoy some right as letters patent under the seal of England. {Letter-sheet envelope}, a stamped sheet of letter paper issued by the government, prepared to be folded and sealed for transmission by mail without an envelope. {Letters testamentary} (Law), an instrument granted by the proper officer to an executor after probate of a will authorizing him to act as executor. {Letter writer}. a One who writes letters. b A machine for copying letters. c A book giving directions and forms for the writing of letters. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Open \O"pen\, a. [AS. open akin to D. open OS opan, G. offan, Icel. opinn, Sw ["o]ppen, Dan. aaben, and perh. to E. up Cf {Up}, and {Ope}.] 1. Free of access not shut up not closed; affording unobstructed ingress or egress; not impeding or preventing passage; not locked up or covered over -- applied to passageways; as an open door, window, road, etc.; also to inclosed structures or objects; as open houses, boxes, baskets, bottles, etc.; also to means of communication or approach by water or land; as an open harbor or roadstead. Through the gate, Wide open and unquarded, Satan passed. --Milton Note: Also figuratively, used of the ways of communication of the mind, as by the senses ready to hear, see etc.; as to keep one's eyes and ears open His ears are open unto their cry. --Ps. xxxiv 15. 2. Free to be used enjoyed, visited, or the like not private; public; unrestricted in use as an open library, museum, court, or other assembly; liable to the approach, trespass, or attack of any one unprotected; exposed. If Demetrius . . . have a matter against any man, the law is open and there are deputies. --Acts xix. 33. The service that I truly did his life, Hath left me open to all injuries. --Shak. 3. Free or cleared of obstruction to progress or to view; accessible; as an open tract; the open sea. 4. Not drawn together, closed, or contracted; extended; expanded; as an open hand; open arms; an open flower; an open prospect. Each with open arms, embraced her chosen knight. --Dryden. 5. Hence: a Without reserve or false pretense; sincere; characterized by sincerity; unfeigned; frank; also generous; liberal; bounteous; -- applied to personal appearance, or character, and to the expression of thought and feeling, etc With aspect open shall erect his head. --Pope. The Moor is of a free and open nature. --Shak. The French are always open familiar, and talkative. --Addison. b Not concealed or secret; not hidden or disguised; exposed to view or to knowledge; revealed; apparent; as open schemes or plans; open shame or guilt. His thefts are too open --Shak. That I may find him and with secret gaze Or open admiration him behold. --Milton. 6. Not of a quality to prevent communication, as by closing water ways, blocking roads, etc.; hence not frosty or inclement; mild; -- used of the weather or the climate; as an open season; an open winter. --Bacon. 7. Not settled or adjusted; not decided or determined; not closed or withdrawn from consideration; as an open account; an open question; to keep an offer or opportunity open 8. Free disengaged; unappropriated; as to keep a day open for any purpose; to be open for an engagement. 9. (Phon.) a Uttered with a relatively wide opening of the articulating organs; -- said of vowels; as the ["a]n f["a]r is open as compared with the [=a] in s[=a]y. b Uttered, as a consonant, with the oral passage simply narrowed without closure, as in uttering s. 10. (Mus.) a Not closed or stopped with the finger; -- said of the string of an instrument, as of a violin, when it is allowed to vibrate throughout its whole length. b Produced by an open string; as an open tone. {The open air}, the air out of doors. {Open chain}. (Chem.) See {Closed chain}, under {Chain}. {Open circuit} (Elec.), a conducting circuit which is incomplete, or interrupted at some point; -- opposed to an uninterrupted, or {closed circuit}. {Open communion}, communion in the Lord's supper not restricted to persons who have been baptized by immersion. Cf {Close communion}, under {Close}, a. {Open diapason} (Mus.), a certain stop in an organ, in which the pipes or tubes are formed like the mouthpiece of a flageolet at the end where the wind enters, and are open at the other end {Open flank} (Fort.), the part of the flank covered by the orillon. {Open-front furnace} (Metal.), a blast furnace having a forehearth. {Open harmony} (Mus.), harmony the tones of which are widely dispersed, or separated by wide intervals. {Open hawse} (Naut.), a hawse in which the cables are parallel or slightly divergent. Cf {Foul hawse}, under {Hawse}. {Open hearth} (Metal.), the shallow hearth of a reverberatory furnace. {Open-hearth furnace}, a reverberatory furnace; esp., a kind of reverberatory furnace in which the fuel is gas, used in manufacturing steel. {Open-hearth process} (Steel Manuf.), a process by which melted cast iron is converted into steel by the addition of wrought iron, or iron ore and manganese, and by exposure to heat in an open-hearth furnace; -- also called the {Siemens-Martin process}, from the inventors. {Open-hearth steel}, steel made by an open-hearth process; -- also called {Siemens-Martin steel}. {Open newel}. (Arch.) See {Hollow newel}, under {Hollow}. {Open pipe} (Mus.), a pipe open at the top It has a pitch about an octave higher than a closed pipe of the same length. {Open-timber roof} (Arch.), a roof of which the constructional parts together with the under side of the covering, or its lining, are treated ornamentally, and left to form the ceiling of an apartment below, as in a church, a public hall, and the like {Open vowel} or {consonant}. See {Open}, a., 9. Note: Open is used in many compounds, most of which are self-explaining; as open-breasted, open-minded. Syn: Unclosed; uncovered; unprotected; exposed; plain; apparent; obvious; evident; public; unreserved; frank; sincere; undissembling artless. See {Candid}, and {Ingenuous}. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Open \O"pen\, n. Open or unobstructed space; clear land, without trees or obstructions; open ocean; open water. ``To sail into the open.'' --Jowett (Thucyd. ). Then we got into the open --W. Black. {In open}, in full view; without concealment; openly. [Obs.] From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Open \O"pen\ v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Opened}; p. pr & vb n. {Opening}.] [AS. openian See {Open},a.] 1. To make or set open to render free of access to unclose; to unbar; to unlock; to remove any fastening or covering from as to open a door; to open a box; to open a room to open a letter. And all the windows of my heart I open to the day --Whittier. 2. To spread; to expand; as to open the hand. 3. To disclose; to reveal; to interpret; to explain. The king opened himself to some of his council, that he was sorry for the earl's death. --Bacon. Unto thee have I opened my cause --Jer. xx 12. While he opened to us the Scriptures. --Luke xxiv. 32. 4. To make known to discover; also to render available or accessible for settlements, trade etc The English did adventure far for to open the North parts of America. --Abp. Abbot. 5. To enter upon to begin; as to open a discussion; to open fire upon an enemy; to open trade or correspondence; to open a case in court, or a meeting. 6. To loosen or make less compact; as to open matted cotton by separating the fibers. {To open one's mouth}, {to speak}. {To open up}, to lay open to discover; to disclose. Poetry that had opened up so many delightful views into the character and condition of our ``bold peasantry, their country's pride.'' --Prof. Wilson. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Open \O"pen\, v. i. 1. To unclose; to form a hole, breach, or gap; to be unclosed; to be parted. The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram. --Ps. cvi. 17. 2. To expand; to spread out to be disclosed; as the harbor opened to our view. 3. To begin; to commence; as the stock opened at par; the battery opened upon the enemy. 4. (Sporting) To bark on scent or view of the game. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Audience \Au"di*ence\, n. [F. audience, L. audientia fr audire to hear. See {Audible}, a.] 1. The act of hearing; attention to sounds. Thou, therefore, give due audience, and attend. --Milton. 2. Admittance to a hearing; a formal interview, esp. with a sovereign or the head of a government, for conference or the transaction of business. According to the fair play of the world, Let me have audience: I am sent to speak. --Shak. 3. An auditory; an assembly of hearers. Also applied by authors to their readers. Fit audience find though few --Milton. He drew his audience upward to the sky. --Dryden. {Court of audience}, or {Audience court} (Eng.), a court long since disused, belonging to the Archbishop of Canterbury; also one belonging to the Archbishop of York. --Mozley & W. {In general} (or {open}) {audience}, publicly. {To give audience}, to listen; to admit to an interview. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: open adj 1: affording unobstructed entrance and exit not shut or closed; "an open door"; "they left the door open" [syn: {unfastened}] [ant: {shut}] 2: affording free passage or access "open drains"; "the road is open to traffic"; "open ranks" [ant: {closed}] 3: with no protection or shield; "the exposed northeast frontier"; "open to the weather"; "an open wound" [syn: {exposed}] 4: open to or in view of all "an open protest"; "an open letter to the editor" 5: used of mouth or eyes; "keep your eyes open"; "his mouth slightly opened" [syn: {opened}] [ant: {closed}] 6: not having been filled; "the job is still open" 7: accessible to all "open season"; "an open economy" 8: not defended or capable of being defended; "an open city"; "open to attack" [syn: {assailable}, {undefendable}, {undefended}] 9: (of textures) full of small openings or gaps; "an open texture"; "a loose weave" [syn: {loose}] 10: having no protecting cover or enclosure; "an open boat"; "an open fire"; "open sports cars" 11: opened out "an open newspaper" 12: (mathematics) of a set containing points whose neighborhood consists of other points of the same set or being the complement of an open set of an interval; containing neither of its end points [ant: {closed}] 13: not brought to a conclusion; subject to further thought; "an open question"; "our position on this bill is still undecided"; "our lawsuit is still undetermined" [syn: {undecided}, {undetermined}, {unresolved}] 14: not sealed or having been unsealed; "the letter was already open"; "the opened package lay on the table" [syn: {opened}] 15: without undue constriction as from e.g. tenseness or inhibition; "the clarity and resonance of an open tone"; "her natural and open response" 16: relatively empty of and unobstructed by fences or hedges or headlands or shoals; "in open country"; "the open countryside"; "open waters"; "on the open seas" 17: open and observable; not secret or hidden; "an overt lie"; "overt hostility"; "overt intelligence gathering" [syn: {overt}] [ant: {covert}] 18: (music) used of string or hole or pipe of instruments [syn: {unstopped}] [ant: {stopped}] 19: not requiring union membership; "an open shop employs nonunion workers" [syn: {open(a)}] 20: not secret; "open plans"; "an open ballot" 21: without any attempt at concealment; completely obvious; "open disregard of the law"; "open family strife"; "open hostility"; "a blatant appeal to vanity"; "a blazing indiscretion" [syn: {blatant}, {blazing}, {conspicuous}] 22: affording free passage or view; "a clear view"; "a clear path to victory"; "a free lane" [syn: {clear}, {free}] 23: lax in enforcing laws; "an open town" [syn: {wide-open}, {lawless}] 24: openly straightforward and direct without reserve or secretiveness; "his candid eyes"; "an open and trusting nature" [syn: {candid}] 25: sincere and free of reserve in expression; "Please be open with me" 26: receptive to new ideas; "an open mind"; "open to new ideas" 27: ready for business; "the stores are open" n 1: a clear or unobstructed space or expanse of land or water: "finally broke out of the forest into the open" [syn: {clear}] 2: where the air is unconfined; "he wanted to get out in the air a little"; "the concert was held in the open air"; "camping in the open" [syn: {outdoors}, {out-of-doors}, {air}, {open air}] 3: a tournament in which both professionals and amateurs may play 4: information that has become public; "all the reports were out in the open"; "the facts had been brought to the surface" [syn: {surface}] v 1: cause to open or to become open "Mary opened the car door" [syn: {open up}] [ant: {close}] 2: start to operate or function or cause to start operating or functioning; "open a business" [syn: {open up}] [ant: {close}] 3: become open "The door opened" [syn: {open up}] [ant: {close}] 4: begin or set in action of meetings, speeches, recitals, etc.; "He opened the meeting with a long speech" [ant: {close}] 5: spread out or open from a folded state; "open the map" [syn: {unfold}, {spread}, {spread out}] [ant: {fold}] 6: make available, as of an opportunity; "This opens up new possibilities" [syn: {open up}] 7: become available; "an opportunity opened up" [syn: {open up}] 8: have an opening or passage or outlet; "The bedrooms open into the hall" 9: make the opening move in chess; "Kasparov opened with a standard opening" 10: afford access to "the door opens to the patio"; "The French doors give onto a terrace" [syn: {afford}, {give}] 11: display the contents of a file or start an application [ant: {close}] From Jargon File (4.2.3, 23 NOV 2000) [jargon]: open n. Abbreviation for `open (or left) parenthesis' -- used when necessary to eliminate oral ambiguity. To read aloud the LISP form (DEFUN FOO X (PLUS X 1)) one might say: "Open defun foo, open eks close open plus eks one close close." From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (13 Mar 01) [foldoc]: open 1. To prepare to read or write a file. This usually involves checking whether the file already exists and that the user has the necessary authorisation to read or write it The result of a successful open is usually some kind of {capability} (e.g. a {Unix} {file descriptor}) - a token that the user passes back to the system in order to access the file without further checks and finally to close the file. 2. Abbreviation for "open (or left) parenthesis" - used when necessary to eliminate oral ambiguity. To read aloud the LISP form (DEFUN FOO X (PLUS X 1)) one might say: "Open defun foo, open eks close open plus eks one close close." 3. Non-proprietary. An open {standard} is one which can be used without payment. [{Jargon File}] (1995-01-31) From V.E.R.A. -- Virtual Entity of Relevant Acronyms 13 March 2001 [vera]: OPEN Open Protocol Enhanced Networks
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