Part 594

Be*lie" (&?;), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Belied (&?;); p. pr. & vb. n. Belying (&?;).] [OE. bilien, bili&?;en, AS. beleógan; pref. be- + leógan to lie. See Lie, n.] 1. To show to be false; to convict of, or charge with, falsehood.

Their trembling hearts belie their boastful tongues. Dryden.

2. To give a false representation or account of.

Should I do so, I should belie my thoughts. Shak.

3. To tell lie about; to calumniate; to slander.

Thou dost belie him, Percy, thou dost belie him. Shak.

4. To mimic; to counterfeit. [Obs.] Dryden.

5. To fill with lies. [Obs.] "The breath of slander doth belie all corners of the world." Shak.

Be*lief" (&?;), n. [OE. bileafe, bileve; cf. AS. geleáfa. See Believe.] 1. Assent to a proposition or affirmation, or the acceptance of a fact, opinion, or assertion as real or true, without immediate personal knowledge; reliance upon word or testimony; partial or full assurance without positive knowledge or absolute certainty; persuasion; conviction; confidence; as, belief of a witness; the belief of our senses.

Belief admits of all degrees, from the slightest suspicion to the fullest assurance. Reid.

2. (Theol.) A persuasion of the truths of religion; faith.

No man can attain belief by the bare contemplation of heaven and earth. Hooker.

3. The thing believed; the object of belief.

Superstitious prophecies are not only the belief of fools, but the talk sometimes of wise men. Bacon.

4. A tenet, or the body of tenets, held by the advocates of any class of views; doctrine; creed.

In the heat of persecution to which Christian belief was subject upon its first promulgation. Hooker.

Ultimate belief, a first principle incapable of proof; an intuitive truth; an intuition. Sir W. Hamilton.

Syn. -- Credence; trust; reliance; assurance; opinion.

Be*lief"ful (&?;), a. Having belief or faith.

Be*liev"a*ble (&?;), a. Capable of being believed; credible. -- Be*liev"a*ble*ness, n. -- Be*liev`a*bil"i*ty (&?;), n.

Be*lieve" (&?;), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Believed (&?;); p. pr. & vb. n. Believing.] [OE. bileven (with pref. be- for AS. ge-), fr. AS. gel&?;fan, gel&?;fan; akin to D. gelooven, OHG. gilouban, G. glauben, OS. gil&?;bian, Goth. galaubjan, and Goth. liubs dear. See Lief, a., Leave, n.] To exercise belief in; to credit upon the authority or testimony of another; to be persuaded of the truth of, upon evidence furnished by reasons, arguments, and deductions of the mind, or by circumstances other than personal knowledge; to regard or accept as true; to place confidence in; to think; to consider; as, to believe a person, a statement, or a doctrine.

Our conqueror (whom I now Of force believe almighty). Milton.

King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets ? Acts xxvi. 27.

Often followed by a dependent clause. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Acts viii. 37.

Syn. -- See Expect.

Be*lieve", v. i. 1. To have a firm persuasion, esp. of the truths of religion; to have a persuasion approaching to certainty; to exercise belief or faith.

Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. Mark ix. 24.

With the heart man believeth unto righteousness. Rom. x. 10.