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It is not only important, but, in a degree necessary, that the people of this country, should have an American Dictionary of the English language; for, although the body of the language is the same as in England, and it is desirable to perpetuate that sameness, yet some differences must exist. Language is the expression of ideas; and if the people of one country cannot preserve an identity of ideas, they cannot retain an identity of language. |
FORLORN', a.
Forlorn hope, properly, a desperate case; hence in military affairs, a detachment of men appointed to lead in an assault, to storm a counterscarp, enter a breach, or perform other service attended with uncommon peril.
FORLORN', n. A lost, forsaken, solitary person.
Deserted; abandoned; lost.
Of fortune and of hope at once forlorn. Spenser. Some say that ravens foster forlorn children. Shak. Destitute; helpless; in pitiful plight;
wretched; miserable; almost hopeless; desperate.
For here forlorn and lost I tread. Goldsmith. The condition of the besieged in the mean time was forlorn in the extreme. Prescott. She cherished the forlorn hope that he was still living. Thomson. A forlorn hope [D. verloren hoop, prop., a lost band or troop; verloren, p. p. of verliezen to lose + hoop band; akin to E. heap. See For-, and Heap.] (Mil.), a body of men (called in F. enfants perdus, in G. verlornen posten) selected, usually from volunteers, to attempt a breach, scale the wall of a fortress, or perform other extraordinarily perilous service; also, a desperate case or enterprise. Syn. -- Destitute, lost; abandoned; forsaken; solitary; helpless; friendless; hopeless; abject; wretched; miserable; pitiable. A
lost, forsaken, or solitary person.
Forced to live in Scotland a forlorn. Shak. A forlorn hope; a vanguard.
[Obs.]
Our forlorn of horse marched within a mile of the enemy. Oliver Cromvell. | ||||||||