DICT.TW Dictionary Taiwan

 Com·mon a. [Compar. Commoner superl. Commonest.]
 1. Belonging or relating equally, or similarly, to more than one; as, you and I have a common interest in the property.
    Though life and sense be common to men and brutes.   --Sir M. Hale.
 2. Belonging to or shared by, affecting or serving, all the members of a class, considered together; general; public; as, properties common to all plants; the common schools; the Book of Common Prayer.
    Such actions as the common good requireth.   --Hooker.
    The common enemy of man.   --Shak.
 3. Often met with; usual; frequent; customary.
    Grief more than common grief.   --Shak.
 4. Not distinguished or exceptional; inconspicuous; ordinary; plebeian; -- often in a depreciatory sense.
    The honest, heart-felt enjoyment of common life.   --W. Irving.
 This fact was infamous
 And ill beseeming any common man,
 Much more a knight, a captain and a leader.   --Shak.
    Above the vulgar flight of common souls.   --A. Murphy.
 5. Profane; polluted. [Obs.]
    What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.   --Acts x. 15.
 6. Given to habits of lewdness; prostitute.
    A dame who herself was common.   --L'Estrange.
 Common bar Law Same as Blank bar, under Blank.
 Common barrator Law, one who makes a business of instigating litigation.
 Common Bench, a name sometimes given to the English Court of Common Pleas.
 Common brawler Law, one addicted to public brawling and quarreling. See Brawler.
 Common carrier Law, one who undertakes the office of carrying (goods or persons) for hire. Such a carrier is bound to carry in all cases when he has accommodation, and when his fixed price is tendered, and he is liable for all losses and injuries to the goods, except those which happen in consequence of the act of God, or of the enemies of the country, or of the owner of the property himself.
 Common chord Mus., a chord consisting of the fundamental tone, with its third and fifth.
 Common council, the representative (legislative) body, or the lower branch of the representative body, of a city or other municipal corporation.
 Common crier, the crier of a town or city.
 Common divisor Math., a number or quantity that divides two or more numbers or quantities without a remainder; a common measure.
 Common gender Gram., the gender comprising words that may be of either the masculine or the feminine gender.
 Common law, a system of jurisprudence developing under the guidance of the courts so as to apply a consistent and reasonable rule to each litigated case. It may be superseded by statute, but unless superseded it controls. --Wharton.
 Note: It is by others defined as the unwritten law (especially of England), the law that receives its binding force from immemorial usage and universal reception, as ascertained and expressed in the judgments of the courts. This term is often used in contradistinction from statute law. Many use it to designate a law common to the whole country. It is also used to designate the whole body of English (or other) law, as distinguished from its subdivisions, local, civil, admiralty, equity, etc. See Law.
 Common lawyer, one versed in common law.
 Common lewdness Law, the habitual performance of lewd acts in public.
 Common multiple Arith. See under Multiple.
 Common noun Gram., the name of any one of a class of objects, as distinguished from a proper noun (the name of a particular person or thing).
 Common nuisance Law, that which is deleterious to the health or comfort or sense of decency of the community at large.
 Common pleas, one of the three superior courts of common law at Westminster, presided over by a chief justice and four puisne judges. Its jurisdiction is confined to civil matters. Courts bearing this title exist in several of the United States, having, however, in some cases, both civil and criminal jurisdiction extending over the whole State. In other States the jurisdiction of the common pleas is limited to a county, and it is sometimes called a county court. Its powers are generally defined by statute.
 Common prayer, the liturgy of the Church of England, or of the Protestant Episcopal church of the United States, which all its clergy are enjoined to use. It is contained in the Book of Common Prayer.
 Common school, a school maintained at the public expense, and open to all.
 Common scold Law, a woman addicted to scolding indiscriminately, in public.
 Common seal, a seal adopted and used by a corporation.
 Common sense. (a) A supposed sense which was held to be the common bond of all the others. [Obs.] --Trench. (b) Sound judgment. See under Sense.
 Common time Mus., that variety of time in which the measure consists of two or of four equal portions.
 In common, equally with another, or with others; owned, shared, or used, in community with others; affecting or affected equally.
 Out of the common, uncommon; extraordinary.
 Tenant in common, one holding real or personal property in common with others, having distinct but undivided interests. See Joint tenant, under Joint.
 To make common cause with, to join or ally one's self with.
 Syn: -- General; public; popular; national; universal; frequent; ordinary; customary; usual; familiar; habitual; vulgar; mean; trite; stale; threadbare; commonplace. See Mutual, Ordinary, General.

 Court n.
 1. An inclosed space; a courtyard; an uncovered area shut in by the walls of a building, or by different building; also, a space opening from a street and nearly surrounded by houses; a blind alley.
    The courts of the house of our God.   --Ps. cxxxv. 2.
 And round the cool green courts there ran a row
 Of cloisters.   --Tennyson.
    Goldsmith took a garret in a miserable court.   --Macaulay.
 2. The residence of a sovereign, prince, nobleman, or other dignitary; a palace.
    Attends the emperor in his royal court.   --Shak.
 This our court, infected with their manners,
 Shows like a riotous inn.   --Shak.
 3. The collective body of persons composing the retinue of a sovereign or person high in authority; all the surroundings of a sovereign in his regal state.
    My lord, there is a nobleman of the court at door would speak with you.   --Shak.
    Love rules the court, the camp, the grove.   --Sir. W. Scott.
 4. Any formal assembling of the retinue of a sovereign; as, to hold a court.
    The princesses held their court within the fortress.   --Macaulay.
 5. Attention directed to a person in power; conduct or address designed to gain favor; courtliness of manners; civility; compliment; flattery.
 No solace could her paramour intreat
 Her once to show, ne court, nor dalliance.   --Spenser.
    I went to make my court to the Duke and Duchess of Newcastle.   --Evelyn.
 6. Law (a) The hall, chamber, or place, where justice is administered. (b) The persons officially assembled under authority of law, at the appropriate time and place, for the administration of justice; an official assembly, legally met together for the transaction of judicial business; a judge or judges sitting for the hearing or trial of causes. (c) A tribunal established for the administration of justice. (d) The judge or judges; as distinguished from the counsel or jury, or both.
 Most heartily I do beseech the court
 To give the judgment.   --Shak.
 7. The session of a judicial assembly.
 8. Any jurisdiction, civil, military, or ecclesiastical.
 9. A place arranged for playing the game of tennis; also, one of the divisions of a tennis court.
 Christian court, the English ecclesiastical courts in the aggregate, or any one of them.
 Court breeding, education acquired at court.
 Court card. Same as Coat card.
 Court circular, one or more paragraphs of news respecting the sovereign and the royal family, together with the proceedings or movements of the court generally, supplied to the newspapers by an officer specially charged with such duty. [Eng.] --Edwards.
 Court of claims Law, a court for settling claims against a state or government; specif., a court of the United States, created by act of Congress, and holding its sessions at Washington. It is given jurisdiction over claims on contracts against the government, and sometimes may advise the government as to its liabilities.
 Court day, a day on which a court sits to administer justice.
 Court dress, the dress prescribed for appearance at the court of a sovereign.
 Court fool, a buffoon or jester, formerly kept by princes and nobles for their amusement.
 Court guide, a directory of the names and adresses of the nobility and gentry in a town.
 Court hand, the hand or manner of writing used in records and judicial proceedings. --Shak.
 Court lands Eng. Law, lands kept in demesne, -- that is, for the use of the lord and his family.
 Court marshal, one who acts as marshal for a court.
 Court party, a party attached to the court.
 Court rolls, the records of a court. SeeRoll.
 Court in banc, or  Court in bank, The full court sitting at its regular terms for the hearing of arguments upon questions of law, as distinguished from a sitting at nisi prius.
 Court of Arches, audience, etc. See under Arches, Audience, etc.
 Court of Chancery. See Chancery, n.
 Court of Common pleas. Law See Common pleas, under Common.
 Court of Equity. See under Equity, and Chancery.
 Court of Inquiry Mil. , a court appointed to inquire into and report on some military matter, as the conduct of an officer.
 Court of St. James, the usual designation of the British Court; -- so called from the old palace of St. James, which is used for the royal receptions, levees, and drawing-rooms.
 The court of the Lord, the temple at Jerusalem; hence, a church, or Christian house of worship.
 General Court, the legislature of a State; -- so called from having had, in the colonial days, judicial power; as, the General Court of Massachusetts. [U.S.]
 To pay one's court, to seek to gain favor by attentions. “Alcibiades was assiduous in paying his court to Tissaphernes.” --Jowett.
 To put out of court, to refuse further judicial hearing.