Av·er·age n.
 1. OLd Eng. Law That service which a tenant owed his lord, to be done by the work beasts of the tenant, as the carriage of wheat, turf, etc.
 2.  Com. (a) A tariff or duty on goods, etc. [Obs.] (b) Any charge in addition to the regular charge for freight of goods shipped. (c) A contribution to a loss or charge which has been imposed upon one of several for the general benefit; damage done by sea perils. (d) The equitable and proportionate distribution of loss or expense among all interested.
 General average, a contribution made, by all parties concerned in a sea adventure, toward a loss occasioned by the voluntary sacrifice of the property of some of the parties in interest for the benefit of all. It is called general average, because it falls upon the gross amount of ship, cargo, and freight at risk and saved by the sacrifice. --Kent.
 Particular average signifies the damage or partial loss happening to the ship, or cargo, or freight, in consequence of some fortuitous or unavoidable accident; and it is borne by the individual owners of the articles damaged, or by their insurers.
 Petty averages are sundry small charges, which occur regularly, and are necessarily defrayed by the master in the usual course of a voyage; such as port charges, common pilotage, and the like, which formerly were, and in some cases still are, borne partly by the ship and partly by the cargo. In the clause commonly found in bills of lading, “primage and average accustomed,” average means a kind of composition established by usage for such charges, which were formerly assessed by way of average. --Arnould.  --Abbott. --Phillips.
 3. A mean proportion, medial sum or quantity, made out of unequal sums or quantities; an arithmetical mean. Thus, if A loses 5 dollars, B 9, and C 16, the sum is 30, and the average 10.
 4. Any medial estimate or general statement derived from a comparison of diverse specific cases; a medium or usual size, quantity, quality, rate, etc. “The average of sensations.”
 5. pl. In the English corn trade, the medial price of the several kinds of grain in the principal corn markets.
 On an average, taking the mean of unequal numbers or quantities.
 Gen·er·al a.
 1. Relating to a genus or kind; pertaining to a whole class or order; as, a general law of animal or vegetable economy.
 2. Comprehending many species or individuals; not special or particular; including all particulars; as, a general inference or conclusion.
 3. Not restrained or limited to a precise import; not specific; vague; indefinite; lax in signification; as, a loose and general expression.
 4. Common to many, or the greatest number; widely spread; prevalent; extensive, though not universal; as, a general opinion; a general custom.
 This general applause and cheerful shout
 Argue your wisdom and your love to Richard.   --Shak.
 5. Having a relation to all; common to the whole; as, Adam, our general sire.
 6. As a whole; in gross; for the most part.
    His general behavior vain, ridiculous.   --Shak.
 7. Usual; common, on most occasions; as, his general habit or method.
 Note: ☞ The word general, annexed to a name of office, usually denotes chief or superior; as, attorney-general; adjutant general; commissary general; quartermaster general; vicar-general, etc.
 General agent Law, an agent whom a principal employs to transact all his business of a particular kind, or to act in his affairs generally.
 General assembly. See the Note under Assembly.
 General average, General Court. See under Average, Court.
 General court-martial Mil., the highest military and naval judicial tribunal.
 General dealer Com., a shopkeeper who deals in all articles in common use.
 General demurrer Law, a demurrer which objects to a pleading in general terms, as insufficient, without specifying the defects. --Abbott.
 General epistle, a canonical epistle.
 General guides Mil., two sergeants (called the right, and the left, general guide) posted opposite the right and left flanks of an infantry battalion, to preserve accuracy in marching. --Farrow.
 General hospitals Mil., hospitals established to receive sick and wounded sent from the field hospitals. --Farrow.  General issue Law, an issue made by a general plea, which traverses the whole declaration or indictment at once, without offering any special matter to evade it. --Bouvier. --Burrill.
 General lien Law, a right to detain a chattel, etc., until payment is made of any balance due on a general account.
 General officer Mil., any officer having a rank above that of colonel.
 General orders Mil., orders from headquarters published to the whole command.
 General practitioner, in the United States, one who practices medicine in all its branches without confining himself to any specialty; in England, one who practices both as physician and as surgeon.
 General ship, a ship not chartered or let to particular parties.
 General term Logic, a term which is the sign of a general conception or notion.
 General verdict Law, the ordinary comprehensive verdict in civil actions, “for the plaintiff” or “for the defendant”. --Burrill.
 General warrant Law, a warrant, now illegal, to apprehend suspected persons, without naming individuals.
 Syn: General, Common, Universal.
 Usage: Common denotes primarily that in which many share; and hence, that which is often met with. General is stronger, denoting that which pertains to a majority of the individuals which compose a genus, or whole. Universal, that which pertains to all without exception. To be able to read and write is so common an attainment in the United States, that we may pronounce it general, though by no means universal.
 Gross a. [Compar. Grosser superl. Grossest.]
 1. Great; large; bulky; fat; of huge size; excessively large. “A gross fat man.”
    A gross body of horse under the Duke.   --Milton.
 2. Coarse; rough; not fine or delicate.
 3. Not easily aroused or excited; not sensitive in perception or feeling; dull; witless.
    Tell her of things that no gross ear can hear.   --Milton.
 4. Expressing, or originating in, animal or sensual appetites; hence, coarse, vulgar, low, obscene, or impure.
    The terms which are delicate in one age become gross in the next.   --Macaulay.
 6. Thick; dense; not attenuated; as, a gross medium.
 7. Great; palpable; serious; vagrant; shameful; as, a gross mistake; gross injustice; gross negligence.
 8. Whole; entire; total; without deduction; as, the gross sum, or gross amount, the gross weight; -- opposed to net.
 Gross adventure Law the loan of money upon bottomry, i. e., on a mortgage of a ship.
 Gross average Law, that kind of average which falls upon the gross or entire amount of ship, cargo, and freight; -- commonly called general average. --Bouvier. --Burrill.
 Gross receipts, the total of the receipts, before they are diminished by any deduction, as for expenses; -- distinguished from net profits. --Abbott.
 Gross weight the total weight of merchandise or goods, without deduction for tare, tret, or waste; -- distinguished from neat weight,  or net weight.