Fasces Fas"ces noun plural [ Latin , plural of fascis bundle; confer fascia a band, and Greek fa`kelos a bundle.], (Rom. Antiq.) A bundle of rods, having among them an ax with the blade projecting, borne before the Roman magistrates as a badge of their authority.

Fascet Fas"cet noun (Glass Making) A wire basket on the end of a rod to carry glass bottles, etc., to the annealing furnace; also, an iron rod to be thrust into the mouths of bottles, and used for the same purpose; -- called also pontee and punty .

Fascia Fas"ci·a noun ; plural Fasciæ . [ Latin , a band: confer Italian fascia . See Fasces , and confer Fess .] 1. A band, sash, or fillet; especially, in surgery, a bandage or roller.

2. (Architecture) A flat member of an order or building, like a flat band or broad fillet; especially, one of the three bands which make up the architrave, in the Ionic order. See Illust. of Column .

3. (Anat.) The layer of loose tissue, often containing fat, immediately beneath the skin; the stronger layer of connective tissue covering and investing all muscles; an aponeurosis.

4. (Zoology) A broad well-defined band of color.

Fascial Fas"ci·al adjective 1. Pertaining to the fasces.

2. (Anat.) Relating to a fascia.

Fasciate, Fasciated Fas"ci·ate, Fas"ci·a`ted adjective [ Latin fasciatus , past participle of fasciare to envelop with bands, from fascia band. See Fasces .] 1. Bound with a fillet, sash, or bandage.

2. (Botany) (a) Banded or compacted together. (b) Flattened and laterally widened, as are often the stems of the garden cockscomb.

3. (Zoology) Broadly banded with color.

Fasciation Fas`ci·a"tion noun The act or manner of binding up; bandage; also, the condition of being fasciated.

Fascicle Fas"ci·cle noun [ Latin fasciculus , dim. of fascis . See Fasces .] A small bundle or collection; a compact cluster; as, a fascicle of fibers; a fascicle of flowers or roots.

Fascicle Fas"ci·cle noun One of the divisions of a book published in parts; fasciculus.

Fascicled Fas"ci·cled adjective Growing in a bundle, tuft, or close cluster; as, the fascicled leaves of the pine or larch; the fascicled roots of the dahlia; fascicled muscle fibers; fascicled tufts of hair.

Fascicular Fas·cic"u·lar adjective Pertaining to a fascicle; fascicled; as, a fascicular root.

Fascicularly Fas·cic"u·lar·ly adverb In a fascicled manner. Kirwan.

Fasciculate, Fasciculated Fas·cic"u·late, Fas·cic"u·la`ted adjective Grouped in a fascicle; fascicled.

Fascicule Fas"ci·cule noun [ See Fascicle .] A small bunch or bundle; a fascicle; as, a fascicule of fibers, hairs, or spines.

Fasciculus Fas·cic"u·lus noun ; plural Fasciculi . [ Latin See Fascicle .] 1. A little bundle; a fascicle.

2. A division of a book.

Fascinate Fas"ci·nate transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Fascinated , present participle & verbal noun . Fascinating ] [ Latin fascinare ; confer Greek .............................. to slander, bewitch.] 1. To influence in an uncontrollable manner; to operate on by some powerful or irresistible charm; to bewitch; to enchant.

It has been almost universally believed that . . . serpents can stupefy and fascinate the prey which they are desirous to obtain.

Griffith (Cuvier).

2. To excite and allure irresistibly or powerfully; to charm; to captivate, as by physical or mental charms.

There be none of the passions that have been noted to fascinate or bewitch but love and envy.

Bacon.

Syn. -- To charm; enrapture; captivate; enchant; bewitch; attract.

Fascination Fas`ci·na"tion noun [ Latin fascinatio ; confer French fascination .] 1. The act of fascinating, bewitching, or enchanting; enchantment; witchcraft; the exercise of a powerful or irresistible influence on the affections or passions; unseen, inexplicable influence.

The Turks hang old rags . . . upon their fairest horses, and other goodly creatures, to secure them against fascination .

Waller.

2. The state or condition of being fascinated.

3. That which fascinates; a charm; a spell.

There is a certain bewitchery or fascination in words.

South.

Fascine Fas·cine" noun [ French, from Latin fascina a bundle of sticks, from fascis . See Fasces .] (Fort. & Engin.) A cylindrical bundle of small sticks of wood, bound together, used in raising batteries, filling ditches, strengthening ramparts, and making parapets; also in revetments for river banks, and in mats for dams, jetties, etc.

Fascinous Fas"ci·nous adjective [ Latin fascinum witchcraft, akin to fascinare . See Fascinate .] Caused or acting by witchcraft. [ Obsolete] " Fascinous diseases." Harvey.

Fasciola Fas·ci"o·la noun ; plural Fasciolæ . [ See Fasciole .] (Anat.) A band of gray matter bordering the fimbria in the brain; the dentate convolution. Wilder.

Fasciole Fas"ci·ole noun [ Latin fasciola a little bandage. See Fascia .] (Zoology) A band of minute tubercles, bearing modified spines, on the shells of spatangoid sea urchins. See Spatangoidea .

Fash Fash transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Fashed ; present participle & verbal noun Fashing .] [ Old French faschier , French f...cher , to anger, vex; confer Pr. fasticar , fastigar , from Latin fastidium dilike. See Fastidious .] To vex; to tease; to trouble. [ Scot.]

Fash Fash noun Vexation; anxiety; care. [ Scot.]

Without further fash on my part.

De Quincey.

Fashion Fash"ion noun [ Middle English fasoun , facioun , shape, manner, French facon , orig., a making, from Latin factio a making, from facere to make. See Fact , Feat , and confer Faction .]

1. The make or form of anything; the style, shape, appearance, or mode of structure; pattern, model; as, the fashion of the ark, of a coat, of a house, of an altar, etc.; workmanship; execution.

The fashion of his countenance was altered.

Luke ix. 29.

I do not like the fashion of your garments.

Shak.

2. The prevailing mode or style, especially of dress; custom or conventional usage in respect of dress, behavior, etiquette, etc.; particularly, the mode or style usual among persons of good breeding; as, to dress, dance, sing, ride, etc., in the fashion .

The innocent diversions in fashion .

Locke.

As now existing, fashion is a form of social regulation analogous to constitutional government as a form of political regulation.

H. Spencer.

3. Polite, fashionable, or genteel life; social position; good breeding; as, men of fashion .

4. Mode of action; method of conduct; manner; custom; sort; way. "After his sour fashion ." Shak.

After a fashion , to a certain extent; in a sort. -- Fashion piece (Nautical) , one of the timbers which terminate the transom, and define the shape of the stern. -- Fashion plate , a pictorial design showing the prevailing style or a new style of dress.

Fashion Fash"ion transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Fashioned ; present participle & verbal noun Fashioning .] [ Confer French faconner .] 1. To form; to give shape or figure to; to mold.

Here the loud hammer fashions female toys.

Gay.

Ingenious art . . .
Steps forth to fashion and refine the age.

Cowper.

2. To fit; to adapt; to accommodate; -- with to .

Laws ought to be fashioned to the manners and conditions of the people.

Spenser.

3. To make according to the rule prescribed by custom.

Fashioned plate sells for more than its weight.

Locke.

4. To forge or counterfeit. [ Obsolete] Shak.

Fashioning needle (Knitting Machine) , a needle used for widening or narrowing the work and thus shaping it.

Fashion-monger Fash"ion-mon`ger noun One who studies the fashions; a fop; a dandy. Marston.

Fashion-mongering Fash"ion-mon`ger·ing adjective Behaving like a fashion-monger. [ R.] Shak.

Fashionable Fash"ion·a·ble adjective 1. Conforming to the fashion or established mode; according with the prevailing form or style; as, a fashionable dress.

2. Established or favored by custom or use; current; prevailing at a particular time; as, the fashionable philosophy; fashionable opinions.

3. Observant of the fashion or customary mode; dressing or behaving according to the prevailing fashion; as, a fashionable man.

4. Genteel; well-bred; as, fashionable society.

Time is like a fashionable host
That slightly shakes his parting guest by the hand.

Shak.

Fashionable Fash"ion·a·ble noun A person who conforms to the fashions; -- used chiefly in the plural.

Fashionableness Fash"ion·a·ble·ness noun State of being fashionable.

Fashionably Fash"ion·a·bly adverb In a fashionable manner.

Fashioned Fash"ioned adjective Having a certain style or fashion; as old- fashioned ; new- fashioned .

Fashioner Fash"ion·er noun One who fashions, forms, ar gives shape to anything. [ R.]

The fashioner had accomplished his task, and the dresses were brought home.

Sir W. Scott.

Fashionist Fash"ion·ist noun An obsequious follower of the modes and fashions. [ R.] Fuller.

Fashionless Fash"ion·less adjective Having no fashion.

Fassaite Fas"sa·ite noun (Min.) A variety of pyroxene, from the valley of Fassa , in the Tyrol.

Fast Fast intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Fasted ; present participle & verbal noun Fasting .] [ Anglo-Saxon fæstan ; akin to D . vasten , Old High German fastēn , German fasten , Icelandic & Swedish fasta , Danish faste , Goth. fastan to keep, observe, fast, and probably to English fast firm.] 1. To abstain from food; to omit to take nourishment in whole or in part; to go hungry.

Fasting he went to sleep, and fasting waked.

Milton.

2. To practice abstinence as a religious exercise or duty; to abstain from food voluntarily for a time, for the mortification of the body or appetites, or as a token of grief, or humiliation and penitence.

Thou didst fast and weep for the child.

2 Sam. xii. 21.

Fasting day , a fast day; a day of fasting.

Fast Fast noun [ Middle English faste , fast ; confer Anglo-Saxon fæsten , Old High German fasta , German faste . See Fast , intransitive verb ] 1. Abstinence from food; omission to take nourishment.

Surfeit is the father of much fast .

Shak.

2. Voluntary abstinence from food, for a space of time, as a spiritual discipline, or as a token of religious humiliation.

3. A time of fasting, whether a day, week, or longer time; a period of abstinence from food or certain kinds of food; as, an annual fast .

Fast day , a day appointed for fasting, humiliation, and religious offices as a means of invoking the favor of God. -- To break one's fast , to put an end to a period of abstinence by taking food; especially, to take one's morning meal; to breakfast. Shak.

Fast Fast adjective [ Compar. Faster ; superl. Fastest .] [ Middle English , firm, strong, not loose, Anglo-Saxon f...st ; akin to Old Saxon fast , Dutch vast , Old High German fasti , festi , German fest , Icelandic fastr , Swedish & Danish fast , and perhaps to English fetter . The sense swift comes from the idea of keeping close to what is pursued; a Scandinavian use. Confer Fast , adverb , Fast , v. , Avast .] 1. Firmly fixed; closely adhering; made firm; not loose, unstable, or easily moved; immovable; as, to make fast the door.

There is an order that keeps things fast .

Burke.

2. Firm against attack; fortified by nature or art; impregnable; strong.

Outlaws . . . lurking in woods and fast places.

Spenser.

3. Firm in adherence; steadfast; not easily separated or alienated; faithful; as, a fast friend.

4. Permanent; not liable to fade by exposure to air or by washing; durable; lasting; as, fast colors.

5. Tenacious; retentive. [ Obsolete]

Roses, damask and red, are fast flowers of their smells.

Bacon.

6. Not easily disturbed or broken; deep; sound.

All this while in a most fast sleep.

Shak.

7. Moving rapidly; quick in mition; rapid; swift; as, a fast horse.

8. Given to pleasure seeking; disregardful of restraint; reckless; wild; dissipated; dissolute; as, a fast man; a fast liver. Thackeray.

Fast and loose , now cohering, now disjoined; inconstant, esp. in the phrases to play at fast and loose , to play fast and loose , to act with giddy or reckless inconstancy or in a tricky manner; to say one thing and do another. " Play fast and loose with faith." Shak. - - Fast and loose pulleys (Machinery) , two pulleys placed side by side on a revolving shaft, which is driven from another shaft by a band, and arranged to disengage and reëngage the machinery driven thereby. When the machinery is to be stopped, the band is transferred from the pulley fixed to the shaft to the pulley which revolves freely upon it, and vice versa . -- Hard and fast (Nautical) , so completely aground as to be immovable. -- To make fast (Nautical) , to make secure; to fasten firmly, as a vessel, a rope, or a door.

Fast Fast adverb [ Middle English faste firmly, strongly, quickly, Anglo-Saxon fæste . See Fast , adjective ] 1. In a fast, fixed, or firmly established manner; fixedly; firmly; immovably.

We will bind thee fast .

Judg. xv. 13.

2. In a fast or rapid manner; quickly; swiftly; extravagantly; wildly; as, to run fast ; to live fast .

Fast by , or Fast beside , close or near to; near at hand.

He, after Eve seduced, unminded slunk
Into the wood fast by .

Milton.

Fast by the throne obsequious Fame resides.

Pope.

Fast Fast noun That which fastens or holds; especially, (Nautical) a mooring rope, hawser, or chain; - - called, according to its position, a bow , head , quarter , breast , or stern fast ; also, a post on a pier around which hawsers are passed in mooring.

Fast Fast adjective In such a condition, as to resilience, etc., as to make possible unusual rapidity of play or action; as, a fast racket, or tennis court; a fast track; a fast billiard table, etc.

Fast-handed Fast"-hand`ed adjective Close- handed; close-fisted; covetous; avaricious. [ Obsolete] Bacon.

Fasten Fas"ten transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Fastened ; present participle & verbal noun Fastening .] [ Anglo-Saxon fæstnian ; akin to Old High German festinōn . See Fast , adjective ] 1. To fix firmly; to make fast; to secure, as by a knot, lock, bolt, etc.; as, to fasten a chain to the feet; to fasten a door or window.

2. To cause to hold together or to something else; to attach or unite firmly; to cause to cleave to something , or to cleave together, by any means; as, to fasten boards together with nails or cords; to fasten anything in our thoughts.

The words Whig and Tory have been pressed to the service of many successions of parties, with very different ideas fastened to them.

Swift.

3. To cause to take close effect; to make to tell; to lay on; as, to fasten a blow. [ Obsolete] Dryden.

If I can fasten but one cup upon him.

Shak.

To fasten a charge, or a crime , upon , to make his guilt certain, or so probable as to be generally believed. -- To fasten one's eyes upon , to look upon steadily without cessation. Acts iii. 4.

Syn. -- To fix; cement; stick; link; affix; annex.

Fasten Fas"ten intransitive verb To fix one's self; to take firm hold; to clinch; to cling.

A horse leech will hardly fasten on a fish.

Sir T. Browne.

Fastener Fas"ten·er noun One who, or that which, makes fast or firm.

Fastening Fas"ten·ing noun Anything that binds and makes fast, as a lock, catch, bolt, bar, buckle, etc.

Faster Fast"er noun One who abstains from food.

Fasti Fas"ti noun plural [ Latin ] 1. The Roman calendar, which gave the days for festivals, courts, etc., corresponding to a modern almanac.

2. Records or registers of important events.

Fastidiosity Fas·tid`i·os"i·ty noun Fastidiousness; squeamishness. [ Obsolete] Swift.

Fastidious Fas·tid"i·ous adjective [ Latin fastidiosus disdainful, from fastidium loathing, aversion, perhaps from fastus arrogance (of uncertain origin) + taedium loathing. Confer Tedious , Fash .] Difficult to please; delicate to a fault; suited with difficulty; squeamish; as, a fastidious mind or ear; a fastidious appetite.

Proud youth ! fastidious of the lower world.

Young.

Syn. -- Squeamish; critical; overnice; difficult; punctilious. -- Fastidious , Squeamish . We call a person fastidious when his taste or feelings are offended by trifling defects or errors; we call him squeamish when he is excessively nice or critical on minor points, and also when he is overscrupulous as to questions of duty. "Whoever examines his own imperfections will cease to be fastidious ; whoever restrains his caprice and scrupulosity will cease to be squeamish ." Crabb.

-- Fas*tid"i*ous*ly , adverb -- Fas*tid"i*ous*ness , noun

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