Part 596

Hawthorne.

Conceit and grief an eager combat fight.

Shak.

4. Brittle; inflexible; not ductile. [Obs.]

Gold will be sometimes so eager, as artists call it, that it will as little endure the hammer as glass itself.

Locke.

Syn. -- Earnest; ardent; vehement; hot; impetuous; fervent; intense; impassioned; zealous; forward. See Earnest. -- Eager, Earnest. Eager marks an excited state of desire or passion; thus, a child is eager for a plaything, a hungry man is eager for food, a covetous man is eager for gain. Eagerness is liable to frequent abuses, and is good or bad, as the case may be. It relates to what is praiseworthy or the contrary. Earnest denotes a permanent state of mind, feeling, or sentiment. It is always taken in a good sense; as, a preacher is earnest in his appeals to the conscience; an agent is earnest in his solicitations.

Ea"ger, n. Same as Eagre.

Ea"ger*ly, adv. In an eager manner.

Ea"ger*ness, n. 1. The state or quality of being eager; ardent desire. "The eagerness of love." Addison.

2. Tartness; sourness. [Obs.]

Syn. -- Ardor; vehemence; earnestness; impetuosity; heartiness; fervor; fervency; avidity; zeal; craving; heat; passion; greediness.

Ea"gle (?), n. [OE. egle, F. aigle, fr. L. aquila; prob. named from its color, fr. aquilus dark-colored, brown; cf. Lith. aklas blind. Cf. Aquiline.] 1. (Zoöl.) Any large, rapacious bird of the Falcon family, esp. of the genera Aquila and Haliæetus. The eagle is remarkable for strength, size, graceful figure, keenness of vision, and extraordinary flight. The most noted species are the golden eagle (Aquila chrysaëtus); the imperial eagle of Europe (A. mogilnik or imperialis); the American bald eagle (Haliæetus leucocephalus); the European sea eagle (H. albicilla); and the great harpy eagle (Thrasaetus harpyia). The figure of the eagle, as the king of birds, is commonly used as an heraldic emblem, and also for standards and emblematic devices. See Bald eagle, Harpy, and Golden eagle.

2. A gold coin of the United States, of the value of ten dollars.

3. (Astron.) A northern constellation, containing Altair, a star of the first magnitude. See Aquila.

4. The figure of an eagle borne as an emblem on the standard of the ancient Romans, or so used upon the seal or standard of any people.

Though the Roman eagle shadow thee.

Tennyson.

Some modern nations, as the United States, and France under the Bonapartes, have adopted the eagle as their national emblem. Russia, Austria, and Prussia have for an emblem a double-headed eagle.

Bald eagle. See Bald eagle. -- Bold eagle. See under Bold. -- Double eagle, a gold coin of the United States worth twenty dollars. -- Eagle hawk (Zoöl.), a large, crested, South American hawk of the genus Morphnus. -- Eagle owl (Zoöl.), any large owl of the genus Bubo, and allied genera; as the American great horned owl (Bubo Virginianus), and the allied European species (B. maximus). See Horned owl. -- Eagle ray (Zoöl.), any large species of ray of the genus Myliobatis (esp. M. aquila). -- Eagle vulture (Zoöl.), a large West African bid (Gypohierax Angolensis), intermediate, in several respects, between the eagles and vultures.

Ea"gle-eyed` (?), a. Sharp-sighted as an eagle. "Inwardly eagle-eyed." Howell.

Ea"gle-sight`ed (?), a. Farsighted and strong-sighted; sharp-sighted. Shak.

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Ea"gless (?), n. [Cf. OF. aiglesse.] (Zoöl.) A female or hen eagle. [R.] Sherwood.

Ea"gle*stone (?), n. (Min.) A concretionary nodule of clay ironstone, of the size of a walnut or larger, so called by the ancients, who believed that the eagle transported these stones to her nest to facilitate the laying of her eggs; aëtites.

Ea"glet (?), n. [Cf. OF. aiglet.] (Zoöl.) A young eagle, or a diminutive eagle.

Ea"gle-winged` (?), a. Having the wings of an eagle; swift, or soaring high, like an eagle. Shak.

Ea"gle*wood` (?), n. [From Skr. aguru, through Pg. aguila; cf. F. bois d'aigle.] A kind of fragrant wood. See Agallochum.