|
In my view, the Christian religion is the most important and one of the first things in which all children, under a free government ought to be instructed... No truth is more evident to my mind than that the Christian religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people. Preface to 1828 Dictionary
|
CAPER, v.i. To leap; to skip or jump; to prance; to spring.
CAPER, n. A leap; a skip; a spring; as in dancing or mirth, or in the frolick of a goat or lamb.
CAPER, n. The bud of the caper-bush, which is much used for pickling. The buds are collected before the flowers expand, and preserved in vinegar. The bush is a low shrub, generally growing from the joints of old walls, from fissures in rocks and amongst rubbish, in the southern parts of Europe.
To leap or jump
about in a sprightly manner; to cut capers; to skip; to spring;
to prance; to dance.
He capers, he dances, he has eyes of
youth. A frolicsome leap
or spring; a skip; a jump, as in mirth or dancing; a
prank.
To cut a caper, to frolic; to make a sportive spring; to play a prank. Shak. A vessel formerly used by the Dutch, privateer.
Wright. The pungent grayish green flower bud of
the European and Oriental caper (Capparis spinosa), much
used for pickles.
A plant of the genus
Capparis] -- called also caper bush, caper
tree.
* The Capparis spinosa is a low prickly shrub of the Mediterranean coasts, with trailing branches and brilliant flowers; -- cultivated in the south of Europe for its buds. The C. sodada is an almost leafless spiny shrub of central Africa (Soudan), Arabia, and southern India, with edible berries. Bean caper. See Bran caper, in the Vocabulary. -- Caper sauce, a kind of sauce or catchup made of capers. | ||||||||