The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Humble \Hum"ble\ (h[u^]m"b'l; 277), a. [Compar. Humbler
(h[u^]m"bl[~e]r); superl. Humblest (h[u^]m"bl[e^]st).] [F.,
fr. L. humilis on the ground, low, fr. humus the earth,
ground. See Homage, and cf. Chameleon, Humiliate.]
1. Near the ground; not high or lofty.
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Thy humble nest built on the ground. --Cowley.
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2. Not pretentious or magnificent; unpretending; unassuming;
modest; as, a humble cottage. Used to describe objects.
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3. Thinking lowly of one's self; claiming little for one's
self; not proud, arrogant, or assuming; thinking one's
self ill-deserving or unworthy, when judged by the demands
of God; lowly; weak; modest. Used to describe people.
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God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the
humble. --Jas. iv. 6.
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She should be humble who would please. --Prior.
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Without a humble imitation of the divine Author of
our . . . religion we can never hope to be a happy
nation. --Washington.
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Humble plant (Bot.), a species of sensitive plant, of the
genus Mimosa (Mimosa sensitiva).
To eat humble pie, to endure mortification; to submit or
apologize abjectly; to yield passively to insult or
humiliation; -- a phrase derived from a pie made of the
entrails or humbles of a deer, which was formerly served
to servants and retainers at a hunting feast. See
Humbles. --Halliwell. --Thackeray.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Eat \Eat\ ([=e]t), v. t. [imp. Ate ([=a]t; 277), Obsolescent &
Colloq. Eat ([e^]t); p. p. Eaten ([=e]t"'n), Obs. or
Colloq. Eat ([e^]t); p. pr. & vb. n. Eating.] [OE. eten,
AS. etan; akin to OS. etan, OFries. eta, D. eten, OHG. ezzan,
G. essen, Icel. eta, Sw. [aum]ta, Dan. [ae]de, Goth. itan,
Ir. & Gael. ith, W. ysu, L. edere, Gr. 'e`dein, Skr. ad.
[root]6. Cf. Etch, Fret to rub, Edible.]
1. To chew and swallow as food; to devour; -- said especially
of food not liquid; as, to eat bread. "To eat grass as
oxen." --Dan. iv. 25.
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They . . . ate the sacrifices of the dead. --Ps.
cvi. 28.
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The lean . . . did eat up the first seven fat kine.
--Gen. xli.
20.
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The lion had not eaten the carcass. --1 Kings
xiii. 28.
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With stories told of many a feat,
How fairy Mab the junkets eat. --Milton.
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The island princes overbold
Have eat our substance. --Tennyson.
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His wretched estate is eaten up with mortgages.
--Thackeray.
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2. To corrode, as metal, by rust; to consume the flesh, as a
cancer; to waste or wear away; to destroy gradually; to
cause to disappear.
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To eat humble pie. See under Humble.
To eat of (partitive use). "Eat of the bread that can not
waste." --Keble.
To eat one's words, to retract what one has said. (See the
Citation under Blurt.)
To eat out, to consume completely. "Eat out the heart and
comfort of it." --Tillotson.
To eat the wind out of a vessel (Naut.), to gain slowly to
windward of her.
Syn: To consume; devour; gnaw; corrode.
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