Part 547

2. Mean labor; toil.[Obs.]

Droit (?), n. [F. See Direct.] A right; law in its aspect of the foundation of rights; also, in old law, the writ of right. Abbott.

||Droit d'aubaine. See under Aubaine. -- Droits of the Admiralty (Eng. Law), rights or perquisites of the Admiralty, arising from seizure of an enemy's ships in port on the breaking out of war, or those coming into port in ignorance of hostilities existing, or from such ships as are taken by noncommissioned captors; also, the proceeds of wrecks, and derelict property at sea. The droits of admiralty are now paid into the Exchequer for the public benefit.

Droi"tu*ral (?), a. (O. Eng. Law) relating to the mere right of property, as distinguished from the right of possession; as, droitural actions. [Obs.] Burrill.

||Droitzsch"ka (?), n. See Drosky.

Droll (?), a. [Compar. Droller (?); superl. Drollest (?).] [F. drôle; cf. G. & D. drollig, LG. drullig, D. drol a thick and short person, a droll, Sw. troll a magical appearance, demon, trolla to use magic arts, enchant, Dan. trold elf, imp, Icel. tröll giant, magician, evil spirit, monster. If this is the origin, cf. Trull.] Queer, and fitted to provoke laughter; ludicrous from oddity; amusing and strange.

Syn. -- Comic; comical; farcical; diverting; humorous; ridiculous; queer; odd; waggish; facetious; merry; laughable; ludicrous. -- Droll, Laughable, Comical. Laughable is the generic term, denoting anything exciting laughter or worthy of laughter; comical denotes something of the kind exhibited in comedies, something humorous of the kind exhibited in comedies, something, as it were, dramatically humorous; droll stands lower on the scale, having reference to persons or things which excite laughter by their buffoonery or oddity. A laughable incident; a comical adventure; a droll story.

Droll, n. 1. One whose practice it is to raise mirth by odd tricks; a jester; a buffoon; a merry-andrew. Prior.

2. Something exhibited to raise mirth or sport, as a puppet, a farce, and the like.

Droll, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Drolled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Drolling.] To jest; to play the buffoon. [R.]

Droll, v. t. 1. To lead or influence by jest or trick; to banter or jest; to cajole.

Men that will not be reasoned into their senses, may yet be laughed or drolled into them.

L'Estrange.

2. To make a jest of; to set in a comical light. [R.]

This drolling everything is rather fatiguing.

W. D. Howells.

Droll"er, n. A jester; a droll. [Obs.] Glanvill.

Droll"er*y (?), n.; pl. Drolleries (#). [F. drôlerie. See Droll.] 1. The quality of being droll; sportive tricks; buffoonery; droll stories; comical gestures or manners.

The rich drollery of "She Stoops to Conquer."

Macaulay.

2. Something which serves to raise mirth; as: (a) A puppet show; also, a puppet. [Obs.] Shak. (b) A lively or comic picture. [Obs.]

I bought an excellent drollery, which I afterward parted with to my brother George of Wotton.

Evelyn.

Droll"ing*ly, adv. In a jesting manner.

Droll"ish, a. Somewhat droll. Sterne.

Droll"ist, n. A droll. [R.] Glanvill.

Dro`mæ*og"na*thous (?), a. [NL. dromaius emu + Gr. &?; jaw.] (Zoöl.) Having the structure of the palate like that of the ostrich and emu.

||Drom`a*the"ri*um (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. droma`s running + qhri`on beast. See Dromedary.] (Paleon.) A small extinct triassic mammal from North Carolina, the earliest yet found in America.