Part 428

-- A*tro"cious*ly, adv. -- A*tro"cious*ness, n.

A*troc"i*ty (&?;), n.; pl. Atrocities (&?;). [F. atrocité, L. atrocitas, fr. atrox, atrocis, cruel.] 1. Enormous wickedness; extreme heinousness or cruelty.

2. An atrocious or extremely cruel deed.

The atrocities which attend a victory. Macaulay.

A*troph"ic, a. Relating to atrophy.

At"ro*phied (&?;), p. a. Affected with atrophy, as a tissue or organ; arrested in development at a very early stage; rudimentary.

At"ro*phy (&?;), n. [L. atrophia, Gr. &?;; 'a priv. + &?; to nourish: cf. F. atrophie.] A wasting away from want of nourishment; diminution in bulk or slow emaciation of the body or of any part. Milton.

At"ro*phy, v. t. [p. p. Atrophied (&?;).] To cause to waste away or become abortive; to starve or weaken.

At"ro*phy, v. i. To waste away; to dwindle.

A*tro"pi*a (&?;), n. Same as Atropine.

At"ro*pine (&?;), n. [Gr. &?; inflexible; hence &?; &?;, one of the three Parcæ; 'a priv. + &?; to turn.] (Chem.) A poisonous, white, crystallizable alkaloid, extracted from the Atropa belladonna, or deadly nightshade, and the Datura Stramonium, or thorn apple. It is remarkable for its power in dilating the pupil of the eye. Called also daturine.

At"ro*pism (&?;), n. (Med.) A condition of the system produced by long use of belladonna.

At"ro*pous (&?;), a. [Gr. &?;; 'a priv. + &?; to turn.] (Bot.) Not inverted; orthotropous.

A"trous (&?;), a. [L. ater.] Coal-black; very black.

||A*try"pa (&?;), n. [NL., fr. Gr. 'a priv. + &?; a hole.] (Paleon.) A extinct genus of Branchiopoda, very common in Silurian limestones.

At"ta*bal (&?;), n. See Atabal.

||At*tac"ca (&?;). [It., fr. attaccare to tie, bind. See Attach.] (Mus.) Attack at once; -- a direction at the end of a movement to show that the next is to follow immediately, without any pause.

At*tach" (&?;), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Attached (&?;); p. pr. & vb. n. Attaching.] [OF. atachier, F. attacher, to tie or fasten: cf. Celt. tac, tach, nail, E. tack a small nail, tack to fasten. Cf. Attack, and see Tack.] 1. To bind, fasten, tie, or connect; to make fast or join; as, to attach one thing to another by a string, by glue, or the like.

The shoulder blade is . . . attached only to the muscles. Paley.

A huge stone to which the cable was attached. Macaulay.

2. To connect; to place so as to belong; to assign by authority; to appoint; as, an officer is attached to a certain regiment, company, or ship.

3. To win the heart of; to connect by ties of love or self-interest; to attract; to fasten or bind by moral influence; -- with to; as, attached to a friend; attaching others to us by wealth or flattery.

Incapable of attaching a sensible man. Miss Austen.

God . . . by various ties attaches man to man. Cowper.

4. To connect, in a figurative sense; to ascribe or attribute; to affix; -- with to; as, to attach great importance to a particular circumstance.

Top this treasure a curse is attached. Bayard Taylor.

5. To take, seize, or lay hold of. [Obs.] Shak.

6. To take by legal authority: (a) To arrest by writ, and bring before a court, as to answer for a debt, or a contempt; -- applied to a taking of the person by a civil process; being now rarely used for the arrest of a criminal. (b) To seize or take (goods or real estate) by virtue of a writ or precept to hold the same to satisfy a judgment which may be rendered in the suit. See Attachment, 4.