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Inspire

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary · 1828 1 of 2

Part of speech: verb (v.)

1. To breathe into; to fill with the breath; to animate. When Zephirus eek, with his sweete breath, Inspirèd hath in every holt and health The tender crops. Chaucer. Descend, ye Nine, descend and sing, The breathing instruments inspire. Pope.

2. To infuse by breathing, or as if by breathing. He knew not his Maker, and him that inspired into him an active soul. Wisdom xv. 11.

3. To draw in by the operation of breathing; to inhale; -- opposed to expire. Forced to inspire and expire the air with difficulty. Harvey.

4. To infuse into the mind; to communicate to the spirit; to convey, as by a divine or supernatural influence; to disclose preternaturally; to produce in, as by inspiration. And generous stout courage did inspire. Spenser. But dawning day new comfort hath inspired. Shak.

5. To infuse into; to affect, as with a superior or supernatural influence; to fill with what animates, enlivens, or exalts; to communicate inspiration to; as, to inspire a child with sentiments of virtue. Erato, thy poet's mind inspire, And fill his soul with thy celestial fire. Dryden.

Webster's 1828 Dictionary · 1828 2 of 2

Part of speech: verb (v.)

1. To draw in breath; to inhale air into the lungs; -- opposed to expire.

2. To breathe; to blow gently. [Obs.] And when the wind amongst them did inspire, They wavèd like a penon wide dispread. Spenser.

Noah Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Structured JSON vendored from sktzofrenic/webster1828 at commit 5a58d9e0191eefaa51affbc1bb1b8bc5782ba6c0. The upstream README identifies the dictionary text as public domain and the project license as MIT.

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