Emily Dickinson Lexicon

RE-SIST'ANCE, n.

1. The act of resisting; opposition. Resistance is passive, as that of a fixed body which interrupts the passage of a moving body; or active, as in the exertion of force to stop, repel or defeat progress or designs.
2. The quality of not yielding to force or external impression; that power of a body which acts in opposition to the impulse or pressure of another, or which prevents the effect of another power; as, the resistance of a ball which receives the force of another; the resistance of wood to a cutting instrument; the resistance of air to the motion of a cannon-ball, or of water to the motion of a ship.

RE-SIST'ANT, n.

He or that which resists. – Pearson.

RE-SIST'ED, pp.

Opposed; counteracted; withstood.

RE-SIST'ER, n.

One that opposes or withstands.

RE-SIST-I-BIL'I-TY, or RE-SIST'I-BLE-NESS, n.

1. The quality of resisting. The name body, being the complex idea of extension and responsibility together in the same subject. – Locke.
2. Quality of being resistible; as, the resistibility of grace. – Hammond.

RE-SIST'I-BLE, a.

That may be resisted; as, a resistible force; resistible grace. – Hale.

RE-SIST'I-BLY, adv.

In a resistible manner.

RE-SIST'ING, ppr.

Withstanding; opposing. Resisting medium, a substance which opposes the passage of a body through it.

RE-SIST'IVE, a.

Having the power to resist. – B. Jonson.

RE-SIST'LESS, a.

1. That can not be effectually opposed or withstood; irresistible. Resistless in her love as is her hate. – Dryden.
2. That can not resist; helpless. – Spenser.

RE-SIST'LESS-LY, adv.

So as not to be opposed or denied. – Blackwall.

RE-SIST'LESS-NESS, n.

State of being irresistible.

RE-SOLD', pp. [of Resell.]

Sold a second time, or sold after being bought.

RES'O-LU-BLE, a. [s as z. re and L. solubilis. See Resolve.]

That may be melted or dissolved; as, bodies resoluble by fire. – Boyle.

RES'O-LUTE, a. [Fr. resolu; It. resoluto. The Latin resolutus has a different signification. See Resolve.]

Having a fixed purpose; determined; hence, bold; firm; steady; constant in pursuing a purpose. Edward is at hand, / Ready to fight; therefore be resolute. – Shak.

RES'O-LUTE-LY, adv.

1. With fixed purpose; firmly; steadily; with steady perseverance. Persist resolutely in a course of virtue.
2. Boldly; firmly. Some of these facts he examines, some he resolutely denies. – Swift.

RES'O-LUTE-NESS, n.

Fixed purpose; firm determination; unshaken firmness.

RES-O-LU'TION, n. [Fr. from L. resolutio. See Resolve.]

1. The act, operation or process of separating the parts which compose a complex idea or a mixed body; the act of reducing any compound or combination to its component parts; analysis; as, the resolution of complex ideas; the resolution of any material substance by chimical operations.
2. The act or process of unraveling or disentangling perplexities, or of dissipating obscurity in moral subjects; as, the resolution of difficult questions in moral subjects.
3. Dissolution; the natural process of separating the component parts of bodies. – Digby.
4. In music, the resolution of dissonance, is the carrying of it, according to rule, into a consonance in the subsequent chord. – Encyc.
5. In medicine, the disappearing of any tumor without coming to suppuration; the dispersing of inflammation; the breaking up and disappearance of a fever. – Encyc. Coxe.
6. Fixed purpose or determination of mind; as, a resolution to reform our lives; a resolution to undertake an expedition. – Locke.
7. The effect of fixed purpose; firmness, steadiness or constancy in execution, implying courage. They who governed the parliament, had the resolution to act those monstrous things. – Clarendon.
8. Determination of a cause in a court of justice; as, a judicial resolution. – Hale. [But this word is now seldom used to express the decision of a judicial tribunal. We use judgment, decision or decree.]
9. The determination or decision of a legislative body, or a formal proposition offered for legislative determination. We call that a resolution, which is reduced to form and offered to a legislative house for consideration, and we call it a resolution when adopted. We say, a member moved certain resolutions; the house proceeded to consider the resolutions offered; they adopted or rejected the resolutions.
10. The formal determination of any corporate body, or of any association of individuals; as, the resolutions of a town or other meeting.
11. In algebra, the resolution of an equation, is the same as reduction; the bringing of the unknown quantity by itself on one side, and all the known quantities on the other, without destroying the equation, by which is found the value of the unknown quantity. – Day's Algebra.
12. Relaxation; a weakening. [Obs.] – Brown.

RES-O-LU'TION-ER, n.

One who joins in the declaration of others. [Not in use.] – Burnet.

RES'O-LU-TIVE, a.

Having the power to dissolve or relax. [Not much used.] – Johnson.

RE-SOLV'A-BLE, a.

That may be resolved or reduced to first principles.

RE-SOLV'A-BLE-NESS, n.

State of being resolvable.

RE-SOLVE', n. [rezolv'.]

1. Fixed purpose of mind; settled determination; resolution. He strait revokes his bold resolve. – Denham.
2. Legal or official determination; legislative act concerning a private person or corporation, or concerning some private business. Public acts of a legislature respect the state, and to give them validity, the bills for such acts must pass through all the legislative forms. Resolves are usually private acts, and are often passed with less formality. Resolves may also be the acts of a single branch of the legislature; whereas public acts must be passed by a majority of both branches. – American Legislatures.
3. The determination of any corporation or association; resolution.

RE-SOLVE', v.i. [resolv'.]

1. To fix in opinion or purpose; to determine in mind. He resolved to abandon his vicious course of life.
2. To determine by vote. The legislature resolved to receive no petitions after a certain day.
3. To melt; to dissolve; to become fluid. When the blood stagnates in any part, it first coagulates, then resolves and turns alkaline. – Arbuthnot.
4. To separate into its component parts, or into distinct principles; as, water resolves into vapor; a substance resolves into gas.
5. To be settled in opinion. Let men resolve of that as they please. [Unusual.] – Locke.

RE-SOLVE', v.t. [rezolv'; L. resolvo; re and solvo, to loose; Fr. resoudre; It. risolvere; Sp. resolver.]

1. To separate the component parts of a compound substance; to reduce to first principles; as, to resolve a body into its component or constituent parts; to resolve a body into its elements.
2. To separate the parts of a complex idea; to reduce to simple parts; to analyze.
3. To separate the parts of a complicated question; to unravel; to disentangle of perplexities; to remove obscurity by analysis; to clear of difficulties; to explain; as, to resolve questions in moral science; to resolve doubts; to resolve a riddle.
4. To inform; to free from doubt or perplexity; as, to resolve the conscience. Resolve me, strangers, whence and what you are? – Dryden.
5. To settle in an opinion; to make certain. Long since we were resolved of your truth, / Your faithful service and your toil in war. – Shak.
6. To confirm; to fix in constancy. Quit presently the chapel, or resolve you / For more amazement. [Unusual.] – Shak.
7. To melt; to dissolve. – Arbuthnot.
8. To form or constitute by resolution, vote or determination; as, the house resolved itself into a committee of the whole.
9. In music, to resolve a discord or dissonance, is to carry it, according to rule, into a consonance in the subsequent chord. – Rousseau. Encyc.
10. In medicine, to disperse or scatter; to discuss; as an inflammation or a tumor.
11. To relax; to lay at ease. – Spenser.
12. In algebra, to resolve an equation, is to bring all the known quantities to one side of the equation, and the unknown quantity to the other.