poltroonery, baseness; dastardness[obs3], dastardy[obs3]; abject fear, funk; Dutch courage; fear &c. 860; white feather, faint heart; cold feet *
[U. S.], yellow streak*.
coward, poltroon, dastard, sneak, recreant; shy cock, dunghill cock; coistril[obs3], milksop, white liver, lily liver, nidget[obs3], one that cannot say "bo" to a goose; slink; Bob Acres, Jerry Sneak.
alarmist, terrorist !, pessimist; runagate &c. (fugitive) 623.
V. quail &c. (fear) 860; be cowardly &c. adj., be a coward &c. n.; funk; cower,skulk, sneak; flinch, shy, fight shy, slink, turn tail; run away &c. (avoid) 623; show, the white feather.
Adj. coward, cowardly; fearful, shy; timid, timorous; skittish; poor- spirited, spiritless, soft, effeminate.
weak-minded; infirm of purpose &c. 605; weak-hearted, fainthearted, chickenhearted, henhearted[obs3], lilyhearted, pigeon-hearted; white- livered[obs3], lily-livered, milk-livered[obs3]; milksop, smock-faced; unable to say "bo" to a goose.
dastard, dastardly; base, craven, sneaking, dunghill, recreant; unwarlike, unsoldier-like.
"in face a lion but in heart a deer".
unmanned; frightened &c. 860.
Int. sauve qui peut[Fr]! [French: every man for himself]; devil take the hindmost!
Phr. ante tubam trepidat[Lat], one's courage oozing out; degeneres animos timor arguit [Lat][Vergil].
#863. Rashness. -- N. rashness &c. adj.; temerity, want of caution, imprudence, indiscretion; overconfidence, presumption, audacity.
precipitancy, precipitation; impetuosity; levity; foolhardihood[obs3], foolhardiness; heedlessness, thoughtlessness &c.
(inattention) 458; carelessness &c. (neglect) 460; desperation; Quixotism, knight-errantry; fire eating.
gaming, gambling; blind bargain, leap in the dark, leap of faith, fool's paradise; too many eggs in one basket.
desperado, rashling[obs3], madcap, daredevil, Hotspur, fire eater, bully, bravo, Hector, scapegrace, enfant perdu[Fr]; Don Quixote, knight- errant, Icarus; adventurer; gambler, gamester; dynamitard[obs3]; boomer [obs3][U. S.].
V. be rash &c. adj.; stick at nothing, play a desperate game; run into danger &c. 665; play with fire, play with edge tools.
carry too much sail, sail too near the wind, ride at single anchor, go out of one's depth.
take a leap in the dark, buy a pig in a poke.
donner tete baissee [Fr]; knock, one's bead against a wall &c. (be unskillful) 699; rush on destruction; kick against the pricks, tempt Providence, go on a forlorn hope, go on a fool's errand.
reckon one's chickens before they are hatched, count one's chickens before they are hatched, reckon without one's host; catch at straws; trust to a broken reed, lean on a broken reed.
Adj. rash, incautious, indiscreet; imprudent, improvident, temerarious; uncalculating[obs3]; heedless; careless &c. (neglectful) 460; without ballast, heels over head, head over heels; giddy &c. (inattentive) 458; wanton, reckless, wild, madcap; desperate, devil-may-care.
hot-blooded, hotheaded, hotbrained[obs3]; headlong, headstrong; breakneck; foolhardy; harebrained; precipitate, impulsive. overconfident, overweening; venturesome, venturous; adventurous, Quixotic, fire eating, cavalier; janty[obs3], jaunty, free and easy.
off one's guard &c. (inexpectant) 508[obs3].
Adv. post haste, a corps perdu[Fr], hand over head, tete baissee[Fr], headforemost[obs3]; happen what may, come what may.
Phr. neck or nothing, the devil being in one; non semper temeritas est felix [Lat][Livy]; paucis temeritas est bono multis malo [Lat][Phaedrus].
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#864. Caution. -- N. caution; cautiousness &c. adj.; discretion, prudence, cautel , heed, circumspection, calculation, deliberation.
foresight &c. 510; vigilance &c. 459; warning &c. 668.
coolness &c. adj.; self-possession, self-command; presence of mind, sang froid[Fr]; well-regulated mind; worldly wisdom, Fabian policy.
V. be cautious &c. adj.; take care, take heed, take good care; have a care mind, what one is about; be on one's guard &c. (keep watch) 459; "make assurance doubly sure" [Macbeth].
bespeak &c. (be early) 132.
think twice, look before one leaps, count the cost, look to the main chance, cut one's coat according to one's cloth; feel one's ground, feel one's way; see how the land lies &c. (foresight) 510; wait to see how the cat jumps; bridle one's tongue; reculer pour mieux sauter &c. (prepare) 673[Fr]; let well alone, let well enough alone; let sleeping dogs lie, ne pas reveiller le chat qui dort [French: don't wake a sleeping cat].
keep out of harm's way, keep out of troubled waters; keep at a respectful distance, stand aloof; keep on the safe side, be on the safe side.
husband one's resources &c. 636.
caution &c. (warn) 668.
Adj. cautious, wary, guarded; on one's guard &c. (watchful) 459; cavendo tutus[Lat]; in medio tutissimus[Lat]; vigilant.
careful, heedful; cautelous , stealthy, chary, shy of, circumspect, prudent, discreet, politic; sure-footed &c. (skillful) 698.
unenterprising, unadventurous, cool, steady, self-possessed; overcautious.
Adv. cautiously &c. adj.
Int. have a care!
Phr. timeo Danaos [Lat][Vergil]; festina lente[Lat].
ante victoriam ne canas triumphum [Lat: don't sing out victory before the triumph]; "give, every man thine ear but few thy voice" [Hamlet]; he who laughs last laughs best, il rit bien qui rit le dernier[Fr]; ni firmes carta que no leas ni bebas agua que no veas [Sp]; nescit vox missa reverti [Lat][Horace]; "love all, trust a few" [All's Well]; noli irritare leones [obs3][Lat]; safe bind safe find; "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" [Bert Lance].
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#865. Desire. -- N. desire, wish, fancy, fantasy; want, need, exigency.
mind, inclination, leaning, bent, animus, partiality, penchant, predilection; propensity &c. 820; willingness &c. 602; liking, love, fondness, relish.
longing, hankering, inkling; solicitude, anxiety; yearning, coveting; aspiration, ambition, vaulting ambition; eagerness, zeal, ardor, empressement[Fr], breathless impatience, overanxiety; impetuosity, &c. 825.
appetite, appetition[obs3], appetence[obs3], appetency[obs3]; sharp appetite, keenness, hunger, stomach, twist; thirst, thirstiness; drouth, mouthwatering; itch, itching; prurience, cacoethes[Lat], cupidity, lust, concupiscence.
edge of appetite, edge of hunger; torment of Tantalus; sweet tooth, lickerish tooth[obs3]; itching palm; longing eye, wistful eye, sheep's eye.
[excessive desire for money] greed &c. 817a.
voracity &c. (gluttony) 957.
passion, rage, furore[obs3], mania, manie ; inextinguishable desire; dipsomania, kleptomania.
[Person who desires] lover, amateur, votary, devotee, aspirant, solicitant, candidate, applicant, supplicant; cormorant &c. 957.
[Object of desire] desideratum; want &c. (requirement) 630; "a consummation devoutly to be wished"; attraction, magnet, allurement, fancy, temptation, seduction, fascination, prestige, height of one's ambition, idol; whim, whimsy, whimsey[obs3]; maggot; hobby, hobby-horse.
Fortunatus's cap; wishing cap, wishing stone, wishing well.
V. desire; wish, wish for; be desirous &c. adj. have a longing &c. n.; hope &c. 858.
care for, affect, like, list; take to, cling to, take a fancy to; fancy; prefer &c. (choose) 609.
have an eye, have a mind to; find it in one's heart &c. (be willing) 602; have a fancy for, set one's eyes upon; cast a sheep's eye upon, look sweet upon; take into one's head, have at heart, be bent upon; set one's cap at, set one's heart upon, set one's mind upon; covet.
want, miss, need, feel the want of, would fain have, would fain do; would be glad of.
be hungry &c. adj.; have a good appetite, play a good knife and fork; hunger after, thirst after, crave after, lust after, itch after, hanker after, run mad after; raven for, die for; burn to.
desiderate[obs3]; sigh for, cry for, gape for, gasp for, pine for, pant for, languish for, yearn for, long, be on thorns for, hope for; aspire after; catch at, grasp at, jump at.
woo, court, solicit; fish for, spell for, whistle for, put up for; ogle.
cause desire, create desire, raise desire, excite desire, provoke desire; whet the appetite; appetize[obs3], titillate, allure, attract, take one's fancy, tempt; hold out temptation, hold out allurement; tantalize, make one's mouth water, faire venir l'eau a la bouche [Fr].
gratify desire &c. (give pleasure) 829.
Adj. desirous; desiring &c. v.; inclined &c. (willing) 602; partial to; fain, wishful, optative[obs3]; anxious, wistful, curious; at a loss for, sedulous, solicitous. craving, hungry, sharp-set, peckish[obs3], ravening, with an empty stomach, esurient[obs3], lickerish[obs3], thirsty, athirst, parched with thirst, pinched with hunger, famished, dry, drouthy[obs3]; hungry as a hunter, hungry as a hawk, hungry as a horse, hungry as a church mouse, hungry as a bear.
[excessively desirous] greedy &c. 817a.
unsatisfied, unsated, unslaked; unsaturated.
eager, avid, keen; burning, fervent, ardent; agog; all agog; breathless; impatient &c. (impetuous) 825; bent on, intent on, set on, bent upon, intent upon, set upon; mad after, enrage, rabid, dying for, devoured by desire.
aspiring, ambitious, vaulting, skyaspiring, high-reaching.
desirable; desired &c. v.; in demand; pleasing &c. (giving pleasure) 829; appetizing, appetible[obs3]; tantalizing.
Adv. wistfully &c. adj.; fain.
Int. would that, would that it were! O for! esto perpetual Phr[Lat]. the wish being father to the thought; sua cuique voluptas[Lat]; hoc erat in votis[Lat], the mouth watering, the fingers itching; aut Caesar aut nullus[Lat].
"Cassius has a lean and hungry look" [Jul. Caesar]; "hungry as the grave" [Thomson]; "I was born to other things" [Tennyson]; "not what we wish but what we want" [Merrick]; "such joy ambition finds" [P. L.]; "the sea hath bounds but deep desire hath none" [Venus and Adonis]; ubi mel ibi apes[Lat].
#866. Indifference. -- N. indifference, neutrality; coldness &c. adj.; anaphrodisia[obs3]; unconcern, insouciance, nonchalance; want of interest, want of earnestness; anorexy[obs3], anorexia, inappetency[obs3]; apathy &c.
(insensibility) 823; supineness &c. (inactivity) 683; disdain &c. 930; recklessness &c. 863; inattention &c. 458.
anaphrodisiac[obs3], antaphrodisiac[obs3]; lust-quencher, passion- queller[obs3].
V. be indifferent &c. adj.; stand neuter; take no interest in &c.
(insensibility) 823; have no desire for &c. 865,have no taste for, have no relish for; not care for; care nothing for, care nothing about; not care a straw about, not care a fig for, not care a whit about &c. (unimportance) 643; not mind.
set at naught &c. (make light of) 483; spurn &c. (disdain) 930.
Adj. indifferent, cold, frigid, lukewarm; cool, cool as a cucumber; unconcerned, insouciant, phlegmatic, pococurante[obs3], easygoing, devil- may-care, careless, listless, lackadaisical; half-hearted; unambitious, unaspiring, undesirous[obs3], unsolicitous[obs3], unattracted.
[indifferent toward people] aloof, unapproachable, remote; uncaring.
unattractive, unalluring, undesired, undesirable, uncared for, unwished[obs3], unvalued, all one to.
insipid &c. 391; vain.
Adv. for aught one cares.
Int. never mind; Who cares? whatever you like, whatever.
Phr. I couldn't care less, I could care less; anything will do; es macht nichts [German].
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#867. Dislike. -- N. dislike, distaste, disrelish, disinclination, displacency[obs3].