Comether \Co*meth"er\, n. [Prob. dial. pron. of come hither, used in calling cows, etc.]

[Dial. or Colloq., Brit.]

1. Matter; affair.

2. Friendly communication or association.

To put the, or one's, comether on, to exercise persuasion upon; to get under one's influence; to beguile; to wheedle.

How does ut come about, sorr, that whin a man has put the comether on wan woman he's sure bound to put ut on another? --Kipling.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Spout \Spout\, n. [Cf. Sw. spruta a squirt, a syringe. See Spout, v. t.]

1. That through which anything spouts; a discharging lip, pipe, or orifice; a tube, pipe, or conductor of any kind through which a liquid is poured, or by which it is conveyed in a stream from one place to another; as, the spout of a teapot; a spout for conducting water from the roof of a building. --Addison. ``A conduit with three issuing spouts.'' --Shak.

In whales . . . an ejection thereof [water] is contrived by a fistula, or spout, at the head. --Sir T. Browne.

From silver spouts the grateful liquors glide. --Pope.

2. A trough for conducting grain, flour, etc., into a receptacle.

3. A discharge or jet of water or other liquid, esp. when rising in a column; also, a waterspout.

To put, shove, or pop, up the spout, to pawn or pledge at a pawnbroker's; -- in allusion to the spout up which the pawnbroker sent the ticketed articles. [Cant]

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Staff \Staff\, n.; pl. Staves (? or ?; 277) or Staffsin

1. [AS. st[ae]f a staff; akin to LG. & D. staf, OFries stef, G. stab, Icel. stafr, Sw. staf, Dan. stav, Goth. stabs element, rudiment, Skr. sth[=a]pay to cause to stand, to place. See Stand, and cf. Stab, Stave, n.]

1. A long piece of wood; a stick; the long handle of an instrument or weapon; a pole or srick, used for many purposes; as, a surveyor's staff; the staff of a spear or pike.

And he put the staves into the rings on the sides of the altar to bear it withal. --Ex. xxxviii. 7.

With forks and staves the felon to pursue. --Dryden.

2. A stick carried in the hand for support or defense by a person walking; hence, a support; that which props or upholds. ``Hooked staves.'' --Piers Plowman.

The boy was the very staff of my age. --Shak.

He spoke of it [beer] in ``The Earnest Cry,'' and likewise in the ``Scotch Drink,'' as one of the staffs of life which had been struck from the poor man's hand. --Prof. Wilson.

3. A pole, stick, or wand borne as an ensign of authority; a badge of office; as, a constable's staff.

Methought this staff, mine office badge in court, Was broke in twain. --Shak.

All his officers brake their staves; but at their return new staves were delivered unto them. --Hayward.

4. A pole upon which a flag is supported and displayed.

5. The round of a ladder. [R.]

I ascend at one [ladder] of six hundred and thirty-nine staves. --Dr. J. Campbell (E. Brown's Travels).

6. A series of verses so disposed that, when it is concluded, the same order begins again; a stanza; a stave.

Cowley found out that no kind of staff is proper for an heroic poem, as being all too lyrical. --Dryden.

7. (Mus.) The five lines and the spaces on which music is written; -- formerly called stave.

8. (Mech.) An arbor, as of a wheel or a pinion of a watch.

9. (Surg.) The grooved director for the gorget, or knife, used in cutting for stone in the bladder.

10. [From Staff, 3, a badge of office.]

(Mil.) An establishment of officers in various departments attached to an army, to a section of an army, or to the commander of an army. The general's staff consists of those officers about his person who are employed in carrying his commands into execution. See ['E]tat Major.

Jacob's staff (Surv.), a single straight rod or staff, pointed and iron-shod at the bottom, for penetrating the ground, and having a socket joint at the top, used, instead of a tripod, for supporting a compass.

Staff angle (Arch.), a square rod of wood standing flush with the wall on each of its sides, at the external angles of plastering, to prevent their being damaged.

The staff of life, bread. ``Bread is the staff of life.'' --Swift.

Staff tree (Bot.), any plant of the genus Celastrus, mostly climbing shrubs of the northern hemisphere. The American species (C. scandens) is commonly called bittersweet. See 2d Bittersweet, 3
   (b) .

To set, or To put, up, or down, one's staff, to take up one's residence; to lodge. [Obs.]

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Back \Back\, n. [As b[ae]c, bac; akin to Icel., Sw., & LG. bak, Dan. bag; cf. OHG. bahho ham, Skr. bhaj to turn, OSlav. b?g? flight. Cf. Bacon.]

1. In human beings, the hinder part of the body, extending from the neck to the end of the spine; in other animals, that part of the body which corresponds most nearly to such part of a human being; as, the back of a horse, fish, or lobster.

2. An extended upper part, as of a mountain or ridge.

[The mountains] their broad bare backs upheave Into the clouds. --Milton.

3. The outward or upper part of a thing, as opposed to the inner or lower part; as, the back of the hand, the back of the foot, the back of a hand rail.

Methought Love pitying me, when he saw this, Gave me your hands, the backs and palms to kiss. --Donne.

4. The part opposed to the front; the hinder or rear part of a thing; as, the back of a book; the back of an army; the back of a chimney.

5. The part opposite to, or most remote from, that which fronts the speaker or actor; or the part out of sight, or not generally seen; as, the back of an island, of a hill, or of a village.

6. The part of a cutting tool on the opposite side from its edge; as, the back of a knife, or of a saw.

7. A support or resource in reserve.

This project Should have a back or second, that might hold, If this should blast in proof. --Shak.

8. (Naut.) The keel and keelson of a ship.

9. (Mining) The upper part of a lode, or the roof of a horizontal underground passage.

10. A garment for the back; hence, clothing.

A bak to walken inne by daylight. --Chaucer.

Behind one's back, when one is absent; without one's knowledge; as, to ridicule a person behind his back.

Full back, Half back, Quarter back (Football), players stationed behind those in the front line.

To be or lie on one's back, to be helpless.

To put, or get, one's back up, to assume an attitude of obstinate resistance (from the action of a cat when attacked.). [Colloq.]

To see the back of, to get rid of.

To turn the back, to go away; to flee.

To turn the back on one, to forsake or neglect him.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

the formal act of taking command of a vessel for service, hoisting the flag, reading the orders, etc.

To put a vessel out of commission (Naut.), to detach the officers and crew and retire it from active service, temporarily or permanently.

To put the great seal, or the Treasury, into commission, to place it in the hands of a commissioner or commissioners during the abeyance of the ordinary administration, as between the going out of one lord keeper and the accession of another. [Eng.]

The United States Christian Commission, an organization among the people of the North, during the Civil War, which afforded material comforts to the Union soldiers, and performed services of a religious character in the field and in hospitals.

The United States Sanitary Commission, an organization formed by the people of the North to co["o]perate with and supplement the medical department of the Union armies during the Civil War.

Syn: Charge; warrant; authority; mandate; office; trust; employment.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)