Part 498

Wharton.

2. Uncertainty of condition.

Thy life shall hang in doubt before thee.

Deut. xxviii. 66.

3. Suspicion; fear; apprehension; dread. [Obs.]

I stand in doubt of you.

Gal. iv. 20.

Nor slack her threatful hand for danger's doubt.

Spenser.

4. Difficulty expressed or urged for solution; point unsettled; objection.

To every doubt your answer is the same.

Blackmore.

No doubt, undoubtedly; without doubt. - - Out of doubt, beyond doubt. [Obs.] Spenser.

Syn. -- Uncertainty; hesitation; suspense; indecision; irresolution; distrust; suspicion; scruple; perplexity; ambiguity; skepticism.

Doubt"a*ble (?), a. [OF. doutable, L. dubitabilis, from dubitare. Cf. Dubitable.] 1. Capable of being doubted; questionable.

2. Worthy of being feared; redoubtable. [Obs.]

Doubt"ance (?), n. [OF. doutance. Cf. Dubitancy.] State of being in doubt; uncertainty; doubt. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Doubt"er (?), n. One who doubts; one whose opinion is unsettled; one who scruples.

Doubt"ful (?), a. 1. Not settled in opinion; undetermined; wavering; hesitating in belief; also used, metaphorically, of the body when its action is affected by such a state of mind; as, we are doubtful of a fact, or of the propriety of a measure.

Methinks I should know you, and know this man; Yet I am doubtful.

Shak.

With doubtful feet and wavering resolution.

Milton.

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2. Admitting of doubt; not obvious, clear, or certain; questionable; not decided; not easy to be defined, classed, or named; as, a doubtful case, hue, claim, title, species, and the like.

Beauty is but a vain and doubtful good.

Shak.

Is it a great cruelty to expel from our abode the enemy of our peace, or even the doubtful friend [i. e., one as to whose sincerity there may be doubts]?