Shak.
3. In an extreme degree; to the point of dying or causing death;
desperately; as, mortally jealous.
Adrian mortally envied poets, painters, and artificers, in works
wherein he had a vein to excel.
Bacon.
Mor"tal*ness, n. Quality of being mortal; mortality.
Mor"tar (?), n. [OE. morter, AS. mortre, L. mortarium: cf. F. mortier
mortar. Cf. sense 2 (below), also 2d Mortar, Martel, Morter.] 1. A
strong vessel, commonly in form of an inverted bell, in which
substances are pounded or rubbed with a pestle.
2. [F. mortier, fr. L. mortarium mortar (for trituarating).] (Mil.) A
short piece of ordnance, used for throwing bombs, carcasses, shells,
etc., at high angles of elevation, as 45°, and even higher; -- so named
from its resemblance in shape to the utensil above described.
Mortar bed (Mil.), a framework of wood and iron, suitably hollowed out
to receive the breech and trunnions of a mortar. -- Mortar boat or
vessel (Naut.), a boat strongly built and adapted to carrying a mortar
or mortars for bombarding; a bomb ketch. -- Mortar piece, a mortar.
[Obs.] Shak.
Mor"tar, n. [OE. mortier, F. mortier, L. mortarium mortar, a large
basin or trough in which mortar is made, a mortar (in sense 1, above).
See 1st Mortar.] (Arch.) A building material made by mixing lime,
cement, or plaster of Paris, with sand, water, and sometimes other
materials; -- used in masonry for joining stones, bricks, etc., also
for plastering, and in other ways.
Mortar bed, a shallow box or receptacle in which mortar is mixed. --
Mortar board. (a) A small square board with a handle beneath, for
holding mortar; a hawk. (b) A cap with a broad, projecting, square top;
-- worn by students in some colleges. [Slang]
Mor"tar, v. t. To plaster or make fast with mortar.
Mor"tar (?), n. [F. mortier. See Mortar a vessel.] A chamber lamp or
light. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Mort"gage (môr"gj; 48), n. [F. mort-gage; mort dead (L. mortuus) + gage
pledge. See Mortal, and Gage.] 1. (Law) A conveyance of property, upon
condition, as security for the payment of a debt or the preformance of
a duty, and to become void upon payment or performance according to the
stipulated terms; also, the written instrument by which the conveyance
is made.
It was called a mortgage (or dead pledge) because, whatever profit it
might yield, it did not thereby redeem itself, but became lost or dead
to the mortgager upon breach of the condition. But in equity a right of
redemption is an inseparable incident of a mortgage until the mortgager
is debarred by his own laches, or by judicial decree. Cowell. Kent.