A constant habit, rather than a casual gesture.
Hawthorne.
Syn. -- Accidental; fortutious; incidental; occasional; contingent; unforeseen. See Accidental.
Cas"u*al, n. One who receives relief for a night in a parish to which he does not belong; a vagrant.
Cas"u*al*ism (?), n. The doctrine that all things exist or are controlled by chance.
Cas"u*al*ist, n. One who believes in casualism.
Cas"u*al*ly, adv. Without design; accidentally; fortuitously; by chance; occasionally.
Cas"u*al*ness, n. The quality of being casual.
Cas"u*al*ty (?), n.; pl. Casualties (#). [F. casualitÚ, LL. casualitas.] 1. That which comes without design or without being foreseen; contingency.
Losses that befall them by mere casualty.
Sir W. Raleigh.
2. Any injury of the body from accident; hence, death, or other misfortune, occasioned by an accident; as, an unhappy casualty.
3. pl. (Mil. & Naval) Numerical loss caused by death, wounds, discharge, or desertion.
Casualty ward, A ward in a hospital devoted to the treatment of injuries received by accident.
Syn. -- Accident; contingency; fortuity; misfortune.
||Cas`u*a*ri"na (?), n. [NL., supposed to be named from the resemblance of the twigs to the feathers of the cassowary, of the genus Casuarius.] (Bot.) A genus of leafless trees or shrubs, with drooping branchlets of a rushlike appearance, mostly natives of Australia. Some of them are large, producing hard and heavy timber of excellent quality, called beefwood from its color.
Cas"u*ist (?), n. [L. casus fall, case; cf. F. casuiste. See Casual.] One who is skilled in, or given to, casuistry.
The judment of any casuist or learned divine concerning the state of a man's soul, is not sufficient to give him confidence.
South.
Cas"u*ist, v. i. To play the casuist. Milton.
{ Cas`u*is"tic (?), Cas`u*is"tic*al (?), } a. Of or pertaining to casuists or casuistry.
Cas"u*ist*ry (?), a. 1. The science or doctrine of dealing with cases of conscience, of resolving questions of right or wrong in conduct, or determining the lawfulness or unlawfulness of what a man may do by rules and principles drawn from the Scriptures, from the laws of society or the church, or from equity and natural reason; the application of general moral rules to particular cases.
The consideration of these nice and puzzling question in the science of ethics has given rise, in modern times, to a particular department of it, distinguished by the title of casuistry.
Stewart.
Casuistry in the science of cases (i.e., oblique deflections from the general rule).
De Quincey.
2. Sophistical, equivocal, or false reasoning or teaching in regard to duties, obligations, and morals.
||Ca"sus (?), n. [L.] An event; an occurrence; an occasion; a combination of circumstances; a case; an act of God. See the Note under Accident.
Casus belli, an event or combination of events which is a cause war, or may be alleged as a justification of war. -- Casus fortuitus, an accident against which due prudence could not have provided. See Act of God, under Act. -- Casus omissus, a case not provided for by the statute.
Cat (kăt), n. [AS. cat; akin to D. & Dan. kat, Sw. katt, Icel. k÷ttr, G. katze, kater, Ir. cat, W. cath, Armor. kaz, LL. catus, Bisc. catua, NGr. ga`ta, ga`tos, Russ. & Pol. kot, Turk. kedi, Ar. qitt; of unknown origin. Cf. Kitten.] 1. (Zo÷l.) An animal of various species of the genera Felis and Lynx. The domestic cat is Felis domestica. The European wild cat (Felis catus) is much larger than the domestic cat. In the United States the name wild cat is commonly applied to the bay lynx (Lynx rufus) See Wild cat, and Tiger cat.
&fist; The domestic cat includes many varieties named from their place of origin or from some peculiarity; as, the Angora cat; the Maltese cat; the Manx cat.
The word cat is also used to designate other animals, from some fancied resemblance; as, civet cat, fisher cat, catbird, catfish shark, sea cat.
2. (Naut.) (a) A strong vessel with a narrow stern, projecting quarters, and deep waist. It is employed in the coal and timber trade. (b) A strong tackle used to draw an anchor up to the cathead of a ship. Totten.
3. A double tripod (for holding a plate, etc.), having six feet, of which three rest on the ground, in whatever position it is placed.
4. An old game; (a) The game of tipcat and the implement with which it is played. See Tipcat. (c) A game of ball, called, according to the number of batters, one old cat, two old cat, etc.