Faint, adj. 1) weak, feeble: what strength I have's mine own, which is most f. Tp. Epil. Tim. IV, 3, 506 “my f. means,” Merch. I, 1, 125. “such a man, so f., so spiritless,” H4B I, 1, 70. “f. souls past corporal toil,” H5 I, 1, 16. “too f. a number,” III, 6, 139. “f. Henry,” H6C II, 1, 153. “the f. defects of age,” Troil. I, 3, 172. “fear hath made thee f.” Tit. II, 3, 234. “a f. cold fear,” Rom. IV, 3, 15. Peculiar expressions: “upon f. primrose-beds,” Mids. I, 1, 215 (so called because flowers are the emblems of weakness? or for having a faint smell?).* “in thy f. slumbers,” H4A II, 3, 50 (== disturbed, broken slumbers).
2) languid, exhausted: “f. with dearth,” Ven. 545. “grew I not f.?” Ven. 545 “agues pale and f.” Ven. 545 “this pale f. swan,” John V, 7, 21. V, 3, 17. V, 5, 4. H4A I, 3, 32. H4B I, 1, 108. H6A I, 1, 158. H6C I, 4, 23. Caes. II, 4, 43. Cymb. IV, 2, 63. V, 4, 163.
3) spiritless, weak-hearted: “who is so f. that dare not be so bold to touch the fire, the weather being cold?” Ven. 401. “faint not, f. heart,” Lucr. 1209. “women and children of so high a courage, and warriors f.” H6C V, 4, 51.
4) cold, without zeal, not forward to do one's duty: “chanting f. hymns to the cold fruitless moon,” Mids. I, 1, 73. “to set a gloss on f. deeds,” Tim. I, 2, 16. “has friendship such a f. and milky heart?” III, 1, 57. “their f. reply,” III, 3, 25. “a most f. neglect,” Lr. I, 4, 73. “longest, but in a --er kind,” Cymb. III, 2, 57.
Shakespeare Lexicon. Alexander Schmidt. Berlin. Georg Reimer. 1902.
This text was converted to electronic form by professional data entry and has been proofread to a high level of accuracy.
hide
Dictionary Entry Lookup
Use this tool to search for dictionary entries in all lexica.
