The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
General \Gen"er*al\, a. [F. g['e]n['e]ral, fr. L. generalis. See
Genus.]
1. Relating to a genus or kind; pertaining to a whole class
or order; as, a general law of animal or vegetable
economy.
[1913 Webster]
2. Comprehending many species or individuals; not special or
particular; including all particulars; as, a general
inference or conclusion.
[1913 Webster]
3. Not restrained or limited to a precise import; not
specific; vague; indefinite; lax in signification; as, a
loose and general expression.
[1913 Webster]
4. Common to many, or the greatest number; widely spread;
prevalent; extensive, though not universal; as, a general
opinion; a general custom.
[1913 Webster]
This general applause and cheerful shout
Argue your wisdom and your love to Richard. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
5. Having a relation to all; common to the whole; as, Adam,
our general sire. --Milton.
[1913 Webster]
6. As a whole; in gross; for the most part.
[1913 Webster]
His general behavior vain, ridiculous. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
7. Usual; common, on most occasions; as, his general habit or
method.
[1913 Webster]
Note: The word general, annexed to a name of office, usually
denotes chief or superior; as, attorney-general;
adjutant general; commissary general; quartermaster
general; vicar-general, etc.
[1913 Webster]
General agent (Law), an agent whom a principal employs to
transact all his business of a particular kind, or to act
in his affairs generally.
General assembly. See the Note under Assembly.
General average, General Court. See under Average,
Court.
General court-martial (Mil.), the highest military and
naval judicial tribunal.
General dealer (Com.), a shopkeeper who deals in all
articles in common use.
General demurrer (Law), a demurrer which objects to a
pleading in general terms, as insufficient, without
specifying the defects. --Abbott.
General epistle, a canonical epistle.
General guides (Mil.), two sergeants (called the right, and
the left, general guide) posted opposite the right and
left flanks of an infantry battalion, to preserve accuracy
in marching. --Farrow.
General hospitals (Mil.), hospitals established to receive
sick and wounded sent from the field hospitals. --Farrow.
General issue (Law), an issue made by a general plea, which
traverses the whole declaration or indictment at once,
without offering any special matter to evade it.
--Bouvier. --Burrill.
General lien (Law), a right to detain a chattel, etc.,
until payment is made of any balance due on a general
account.
General officer (Mil.), any officer having a rank above
that of colonel.
General orders (Mil.), orders from headquarters published
to the whole command.
General practitioner, in the United States, one who
practices medicine in all its branches without confining
himself to any specialty; in England, one who practices
both as physician and as surgeon.
General ship, a ship not chartered or let to particular
parties.
General term (Logic), a term which is the sign of a general
conception or notion.
General verdict (Law), the ordinary comprehensive verdict
in civil actions, "for the plaintiff" or "for the
defendant". --Burrill.
General warrant (Law), a warrant, now illegal, to apprehend
suspected persons, without naming individuals.
Syn: Syn. General, Common, Universal.
Usage: Common denotes primarily that in which many share; and
hence, that which is often met with. General is
stronger, denoting that which pertains to a majority
of the individuals which compose a genus, or whole.
Universal, that which pertains to all without
exception. To be able to read and write is so common
an attainment in the United States, that we may
pronounce it general, though by no means universal.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Gross \Gross\, a. [Compar. Grosser; superl. Grossest.] [F.
gros, L. grossus, perh. fr. L. crassus thick, dense, fat, E.
crass, cf. Skr. grathita tied together, wound up, hardened.
Cf. Engross, Grocer, Grogram.]
1. Great; large; bulky; fat; of huge size; excessively large.
"A gross fat man." --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
A gross body of horse under the Duke. --Milton.
[1913 Webster]
2. Coarse; rough; not fine or delicate.
[1913 Webster]
3. Not easily aroused or excited; not sensitive in perception
or feeling; dull; witless.
[1913 Webster]
Tell her of things that no gross ear can hear.
--Milton.
[1913 Webster]
4. Expressing, or originating in, animal or sensual
appetites; hence, coarse, vulgar, low, obscene, or impure.
[1913 Webster]
The terms which are delicate in one age become gross
in the next. --Macaulay.
[1913 Webster]
5. Hence: Disgusting; repulsive; highly offensive; as, a
gross remark.
[PJC]
6. Thick; dense; not attenuated; as, a gross medium.
[1913 Webster]
7. Great; palpable; serious; vagrant; shameful; as, a gross
mistake; gross injustice; gross negligence.
[1913 Webster]
8. Whole; entire; total; without deduction; as, the gross
sum, or gross amount, the gross weight; -- opposed to
net.
[1913 Webster]
Gross adventure (Law) the loan of money upon bottomry, i.
e., on a mortgage of a ship.
Gross average (Law), that kind of average which falls upon
the gross or entire amount of ship, cargo, and freight; --
commonly called general average. --Bouvier. --Burrill.
Gross receipts, the total of the receipts, before they are
diminished by any deduction, as for expenses; --
distinguished from net profits. --Abbott.
Gross weight the total weight of merchandise or goods,
without deduction for tare, tret, or waste; --
distinguished from neat weight, or net weight.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Average \Av"er*age\, n. [OF. average, LL. averagium, prob. fr.
OF. aver, F. avoir, property, horses, cattle, etc.; prop.
infin., to have, from L. habere to have. Cf. F. av['e]rage
small cattle, and avarie (perh. of different origin) damage
to ship or cargo, port dues. The first meaning was perhaps
the service of carting a feudal lord's wheat, then charge for
carriage, the contribution towards loss of things carried, in
proportion to the amount of each person's property. Cf.
Aver, n., Avercorn, Averpenny.]
1. (OLd Eng. Law) That service which a tenant owed his lord,
to be done by the work beasts of the tenant, as the
carriage of wheat, turf, etc.
[1913 Webster]
2. [Cf. F. avarie damage to ship or cargo.] (Com.)
(a) A tariff or duty on goods, etc. [Obs.]
(b) Any charge in addition to the regular charge for
freight of goods shipped.
(c) A contribution to a loss or charge which has been
imposed upon one of several for the general benefit;
damage done by sea perils.
(d) The equitable and proportionate distribution of loss
or expense among all interested.
[1913 Webster]
General average, a contribution made, by all parties
concerned in a sea adventure, toward a loss occasioned by
the voluntary sacrifice of the property of some of the
parties in interest for the benefit of all. It is called
general average, because it falls upon the gross amount of
ship, cargo, and freight at risk and saved by the
sacrifice. --Kent.
Particular average signifies the damage or partial loss
happening to the ship, or cargo, or freight, in
consequence of some fortuitous or unavoidable accident;
and it is borne by the individual owners of the articles
damaged, or by their insurers.
Petty averages are sundry small charges, which occur
regularly, and are necessarily defrayed by the master in
the usual course of a voyage; such as port charges, common
pilotage, and the like, which formerly were, and in some
cases still are, borne partly by the ship and partly by
the cargo. In the clause commonly found in bills of
lading, "primage and average accustomed," average means a
kind of composition established by usage for such charges,
which were formerly assessed by way of average. --Arnould.
--Abbott. --Phillips.
[1913 Webster]
3. A mean proportion, medial sum or quantity, made out of
unequal sums or quantities; an arithmetical mean. Thus, if
A loses 5 dollars, B 9, and C 16, the sum is 30, and the
average 10.
[1913 Webster]
4. Any medial estimate or general statement derived from a
comparison of diverse specific cases; a medium or usual
size, quantity, quality, rate, etc. "The average of
sensations." --Paley.
[1913 Webster]
5. pl. In the English corn trade, the medial price of the
several kinds of grain in the principal corn markets.
[1913 Webster]
On an average, taking the mean of unequal numbers or
quantities.
[1913 Webster]