Part 744

2. (Zoöl.) Having the surface covered with irregular, impressed lines.

En*grave"ment (?), n. 1. Engraving.

2. Engraved work. [R.] Barrow.

En*grav"er (?), n. One who engraves; a person whose business it is to produce engraved work, especially on metal or wood.

En*grav"er*y (?), n. The trade or work of an engraver. [R.] Sir T. Browne.

En*grav"ing, n. 1. The act or art of producing upon hard material incised or raised patterns, characters, lines, and the like; especially, the art of producing such lines, etc., in the surface of metal plates or blocks of wood. Engraving is used for the decoration of the surface itself; also, for producing an original, from which a pattern or design may be printed on paper.

2. That which is engraved; an engraved plate.

3. An impression from an engraved plate, block of wood, or other material; a print.

Engraving on wood is called xylography; on copper, chalcography; on stone lithography. Engravings or prints take from wood blocks are usually called wood cuts, those from stone, lithographs.

En*greg"ge (?), v. t. [OF. engregier, from (assumed) LL. ingreviare; in + (assumed) grevis heavy, for L. gravis. Cf. Aggravate.] To aggravate; to make worse; to lie heavy on. [Obs.] Chaucer.

En*grieve" (?), v. t. To grieve. [Obs.] Spenser.

En*gross" (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Engrossed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Engrossing.] [F., fr. pref. en- (L. in) + gros gross, grosse, n., an engrossed document: cf. OF. engrossir, engroissier, to make thick, large, or gross. See Gross.] 1. To make gross, thick, or large; to thicken; to increase in bulk or quantity. [Obs.]

Waves . . . engrossed with mud.

Spenser.

Not sleeping, to engross his idle body.

Shak.

2. To amass. [Obs.]

To engross up glorious deeds on my behalf.

Shak.

3. To copy or write in a large hand (en gross, i. e., in large); to write a fair copy of in distinct and legible characters; as, to engross a deed or like instrument on parchment.

Some period long past, when clerks engrossed their stiff and formal chirography on more substantial materials.

Hawthorne.

Laws that may be engrossed on a finger nail.

De Quincey.

4. To seize in the gross; to take the whole of; to occupy wholly; to absorb; as, the subject engrossed all his thoughts.

5. To purchase either the whole or large quantities of, for the purpose of enhancing the price and making a profit; hence, to take or assume in undue quantity, proportion, or degree; as, to engross commodities in market; to engross power.

Engrossed bill (Legislation), one which has been plainly engrossed on parchment, with all its amendments, preparatory to final action on its passage. -- Engrossing hand (Penmanship), a fair, round style of writing suitable for engrossing legal documents, legislative bills, etc.

Syn. -- To absorb; swallow up; imbibe; consume; exhaust; occupy; forestall; monopolize. See Absorb.