Emily Dickinson Lexicon

FRAME, n.

1. The timbers of an edifice fitted and joined in the form proposed, for the purpose of supporting the covering; as, the frame of a house, barn, bridge or ship.
2. Any fabric or structure composed of parts united; as, the frame of an ox or horse. So we say, the frame of the heavenly arch; the frame of the world. Hooker. Tillotson.
3. Any kind of case or structure made for admitting, inclosing or supporting things; as, the frame of a window, door picture, or looking glass.
4. Among printers, a stand to support the cases in which the types are distributed.
5. Among founders; a kind of ledge, inclosing a board, which being filled with wet sand, serves as a mold for castings. Encyc.
6. A sort of loom on which linen, silk, &c., is stretched for quilting or embroidering. Encyc.
7. Order; regularity; adjusted series or composition of parts. We say, a person is out of frame; the mind is not in a good frame. Your steady soul preserves her frame. Swift.
8. Form; scheme; structure; constitution; system; as, a frame of government.
9. Contrivance; projection. John the bastard, / Whose spirits toil in frame of villainies. Shak.
10. Particular state, as of the mind.
11. Shape; form; proportion. Hudibras. Lace-frame, a frame or machine for making lace. Stocking-frame, a loom or machine for making stockings, with silk, woolen, or cotton thread.