PROOF.

And with thy blessings steel my lance's point.
Richard 2, i. 3.
Till that Bellona's bridegroom, lapp'd in proof,
Confronted him with self-comparisons. Macbeth, i. 2.
And in strong proof of chastity well arm'd,
From love's weak childish bow she lives unharm'd.
Romeo and Juliet, i. 1.
But 'tis a common proof

That lowliness is young ambition's ladder.

Julius Cæsar, ii. 1. And that I see, in passages of proof, Time qualifies the spark and fire of it. Hamlet, iv. 7. Out of your proof you speak; we, poor unfledg'd, Have never wing'd from view o' the nest, nor know not

Troilus and Cressida, ii. 2.

All sorts of hearts.

PROPENSION. Propensity; inclination.

But I attest the gods, your full consent
Gave wings to my propension.

Troilus and Cressida, ii. 2.

PROPER. Handsome ; personable; good

looking; pure;
; pure; unmixed.

Ay, by my beard, will we;

His voice was propertied

As all the tuned spheres, and that to friends; But when he meant to quail and shake the orb, He was as rattling thunder.

Antony and Cleopatra, v. 2.

PROPHESYING. Prophetic; prescient.

She had a prophesying fear

Of what hath come to pass.

Two Gentlemen of Verona, iv. 1

Antony and Cleopatra, iv. 14.

For he's a proper man.

And bid her steal into the pleached bower,
Where honeysuckles, ripen'd by the sun,
Forbid the sun to enter: there will she hide her,
To listen our propose.

Much Ado about Nothing, iii. 1.

TO PROPOSE. To suppose; to
to imagine; to
converse; to talk.

Be now the father, and propose a son;
Hear your own dignity so much profan'd,
See your most dreadful laws so loosely slighted,
Behold yourself so by a son disdain'd;
And then imagine me taking your part,
And, in your power, so silencing your son:
After this cold considerance, sentence me.

Henry 4, P. 2, v. 2.

There shalt thou find my cousin Beatrice
Proposing with the prince and Claudio.
Much Ado about Nothing, iii. 1.
Unless the bookish theoric,
Wherein the togèd consuls can propose
As masterly as he.

Thou art sworn, Eros,

Othello, i. 1.

All's well that ends well, ii. 1.

Protestation.

Troilus and Cressida, i. 3.

To waver; to lose

confidence; to be dismayed.

I pull in resolution; and begin
To doubt the equivocation of the fiend
That lies like truth.

Macbeth, v. 5.

O most gentle pulpiter !—what tedious homily of love have you wearied your parishioners withal, and never cried, "Have patience, good people!" you like it, iii. 2.

ready.

Lest it should ravel and be good to none, You must provide to bottom it on me.

PROVINCIAL.

The pulse.

As

Your pulsidge beats as extraordinarily as heart would desire. Henry 4, P. 2, ii. 4.

Two Gentlemen of Verona, iii. 2.

TO PUN.

Accountable.

To pound; to beat.

He would pun thee into shivers with his fist, as a sailor breaks a biscuit. Troilus and Cressida, ii. 1.

PURCHASE. Booty; plunder.

Where is the provost ?-Here, if it like your honour. Measure for Measure, ii. 1.

To PRUNE. To dress; to trim; to sleek; to smooth.

When shall you see me write a thing in rhyme ?
Or groan for love? or spend a minute's time
In pruning me?

Love's Labour's lost, iv. 3.
Which makes him prune himself, and bristle up
The crest of youth against your dignity.

TO PURCHASE. To acquire by other means
than inheritance; to obtain; to come by.
For what in me was purchas'd,
Falls upon thee in a more fairer sort.

Henry 4, P. 1, i. 1. His royal bird

Henry 4, P. 2, iv. 4. His faults, in him, seem as the spots of heaven More fiery by night's blackness; hereditary Rather than purchas'd.

Antony and Cleopatra, i. 4. Your accent is something finer than you could purchase in so removed a dwelling.

As you like it, iii. 2. With die and drab I purchased this caparison. Winter's Tale, iv. 2. PURGATION. Exculpation; proof; trial. Proceed in justice; which shall have due course, Even to the guilt or the purgation.

Winter's Tale, iii. 2. If any man doubt that, let him put me to my purgation. As you like it, v. 4. For, for me to put him to his purgation would perhaps plunge him into far more choler.

Winter's Tale, iv. 2.

Hamlet, iii. 2.

That with such vehemency he should pursue Faults proper to himself. Measure for Measure, v. 1. PURSUIVANT. A state messenger.

Take this fellow in, and send for his master with a pursuivant presently. Henry 6, P. 2, i. 3. PUSH. Proof; trial; emergency.

We'll put the matter to the present push.

Hamlet, v. 1.
There's time enough for that;
Lest they desire upon this push to trouble
Your joys with like relation.

PUSH. Pshaw; pish.

PYRENEAN.

PUTTER-ON. An instigator; an inciter.
You are abus'd, and by some putter-on,
That will be damn'd for't.

Wherein,

Winter's Tale, ii. 1.

PUTTING-ON. Suggestion; intimation; notice.

Winter's Tale, v. 3.

Push! did you see my cap?

TO PUT A GIRDLE ROUND. circle.

Your hearts I'll stamp out with my horse's heels. Henry 6, P. 1, i. 4.