The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Judge \Judge\ (j[u^]j), n. [OE. juge, OF. & F. juge, fr. OF.
jugier, F. juger, to judge. See Judge, v. i.]
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1. (Law) A public officer who is invested with authority to
hear and determine litigated causes, and to administer
justice between parties in courts held for that purpose.
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The parts of a judge in hearing are four: to direct
the evidence; to moderate length, repetition, or
impertinency of speech; to recapitulate, select, and
collate the material points of that which hath been
said; and to give the rule or sentence. --Bacon.
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2. One who has skill, knowledge, or experience, sufficient to
decide on the merits of a question, or on the quality or
value of anything; one who discerns properties or
relations with skill and readiness; a connoisseur; an
expert; a critic.
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A man who is no judge of law may be a good judge of
poetry, or eloquence, or of the merits of a
painting. --Dryden.
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3. A person appointed to decide in a trial of skill, speed,
etc., between two or more parties; an umpire; as, a judge
in a horse race.
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4. (Jewish Hist.) One of the supreme magistrates, with both
civil and military powers, who governed Israel for more
than four hundred years.
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5. pl. The title of the seventh book of the Old Testament;
the Book of Judges.
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Judge Advocate (Mil. & Nav.), a person appointed to act as
prosecutor at a court-martial; he acts as the
representative of the government, as the responsible
adviser of the court, and also, to a certain extent, as
counsel for the accused, when he has no other counsel.
Judge-Advocate General, in the United States, the title of
two officers, one attached to the War Department and
having the rank of brigadier general, the other attached
to the Navy Department and having the rank of colonel of
marines or captain in the navy. The first is chief of the
Bureau of Military Justice of the army, the other performs
a similar duty for the navy. In England, the designation
of a member of the ministry who is the legal adviser of
the secretary of state for war, and supreme judge of the
proceedings of courts-martial.
Syn: Judge, Umpire, Arbitrator, Referee.
Usage: A judge, in the legal sense, is a magistrate appointed
to determine questions of law. An umpire is a person
selected to decide between two or more who contend for
a prize. An arbitrator is one chosen to allot to two
contestants their portion of a claim, usually on
grounds of equity and common sense. A referee is one
to whom a case is referred for final adjustment.
Arbitrations and references are sometimes voluntary,
sometimes appointed by a court.
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