Part 296

Dryden.

For*leave" (?), v. t. [OE. forleven; pref. for- + leven to leave.] To leave off wholly. [Obs.] Chaucer.

For*lend" (?), v. t. To give up wholly. [Obs.]

For*lese" (?), v. t. [p. p. Forlore (?), Forlorn (&?;).] [OE. forlesen. See Forlorn.] To lose utterly. [Obs.] haucer.

For*let", v. t. [OE. forleten, AS. forltan; pref. for- + ltan to allow; akin to G. verlassen to leave. See Let to allow.] To give up; to leave; to abandon. [Obs.] "To forlet sin." Chaucer.

For*lie" (?), v. i. See Forelie.

For*lore" (?), imp. pl. & p. p. of Forlese. [Obs.]

The beasts their caves, the birds their nests forlore.

Fairfax.

For*lorn" (?), a. [OE., p. p. of forlesen to lose utterly, AS. forleÛsan (p. p. forloren); pref. for- + leÛsan (in comp.) to lose; cf. D. verliezen to lose, G. verlieren, Sw. fˆrlora, Dan. forloren, Goth. fraliusan to lose. See For-, and Lorn, a., Lose, v. t.] 1. Deserted; abandoned; lost.

Of fortune and of hope at once forlorn.

Spenser.

Some say that ravens foster forlorn children.

Shak.

2. Destitute; helpless; in pitiful plight; wretched; miserable; almost hopeless; desperate.

For here forlorn and lost I tread.

Goldsmith.

The condition of the besieged in the mean time was forlorn in the extreme.

Prescott.

She cherished the forlorn hope that he was still living.

Thomson.

A forlorn hope [D. verloren hoop, prop., a lost band or troop; verloren, p. p. of verliezen to lose + hoop band; akin to E. heap. See For-, and Heap.] (Mil.), a body of men (called in F. enfants perdus, in G. verlornen posten) selected, usually from volunteers, to attempt a breach, scale the wall of a fortress, or perform other extraordinarily perilous service; also, a desperate case or enterprise.

Syn. -- Destitute, lost; abandoned; forsaken; solitary; helpless; friendless; hopeless; abject; wretched; miserable; pitiable.

For*lorn", n. 1. A lost, forsaken, or solitary person.

Forced to live in Scotland a forlorn.

Shak.

2. A forlorn hope; a vanguard. [Obs.]

Our forlorn of horse marched within a mile of the enemy.