PASTIME, n. A device for promoting dejection. Gentle exercise for intellectual debility.

Belladonna, n.: In Italian a beautiful lady; in English a deadly poison. A striking example of the essential identity of the two tongues.

Miss, n. A title which we brand unmarried women to indicate that they are in the market.

MAGIC, n. An art of converting superstition into coin. There are other arts serving the same high purpose, but the discreet lexicographer does not name them.

Brain: an apparatus with which we think that we think. Mind, n. A mysterious form of matter secreted by the brain.

AFFLICTION, n. An acclimatizing process preparing the soul for another and bitter world.

NOISE, n. A stench in the ear. Undomesticated music. The chief product and authenticating sign of civilization.