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Bewitch   Listen
verb
Bewitch  v. t.  (past & past part. bewitched; pres. part. bewitching)  
1.
To gain an ascendency over by charms or incantations; to affect (esp. to injure) by witchcraft or sorcery. "See how I am bewitched; behold, mine arm Is like a blasted sapling withered up."
2.
To charm; to fascinate; to please to such a degree as to take away the power of resistance; to enchant. "The charms of poetry our souls bewitch."
Synonyms: To enchant; captivate; charm; entrance.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Bewitch" Quotes from Famous Books



... "dissemble" so as to make it cover so violent a process as kicking downstairs has the true zest, the tang, of contradiction and surprise. Hood, not content with such a play upon ideas, would bewitch the whole sentence with plays upon words also. His fancy has the enchantment of Huon's horn, and sets the gravest conceptions a-capering in a way that makes us laugh in spite ...
— The Function Of The Poet And Other Essays • James Russell Lowell

... And heir apparent to the English crown. Had Henry got an empire by his marriage, And all the wealthy kingdoms of the west, There's reason he should be displeas'd at it. Look to it, lords. Let not his smoothing words Bewitch your hearts; be wise and circumspect. What though the common people favour him, Calling him 'Humphrey, the good Duke of Gloster,' Clapping their hands, and crying with loud voice, 'Jesu maintain your royal excellence!' With 'God preserve the good Duke Humphrey!' I fear me, lords, ...
— King Henry VI, Second Part • William Shakespeare [Rolfe edition]

... must again undergo. The base wretch swore to shut the door after him, but did not, and the devil came in and has turned my brain with this wicked dream of being commander of the faithful, and other phantoms which bewitch my eyes. God confound thee, Satan? and crush thee under some mountain ...
— The Arabian Nights Entertainments Complete • Anonymous

... away,' she cried, 'let no vain words bewitch you! What have you to do with despair, after all the brave deeds you have done? Arise, Sir knight, arise and leave this cursed place. Have you forgotten ...
— The Red Romance Book • Various

... Duke, This man hath bewitch'd the bosome of my childe: Thou, thou Lysander, thou hast giuen her rimes, And interchang'd loue-tokens with my childe: Thou hast by Moone-light at her window sung, With faining voice, verses of faining loue, And stolne the impression of her fantasie, With bracelets of ...
— The First Folio [35 Plays] • William Shakespeare

... to be sure; but he says he only called 'em a pack of fortune-tellers."—"And are all the children in this neighbourhood as much frightened at them as you?"—"O yes, sir; but some of the boys throw stones over the hedge at them, but we girls are afraid they'll bewitch us. Did you see the old hag, sir?" The poor girl asked this question with such simplicity, and with a faith so confirmed, that I had reason once more to feel astonishment at the superstition which infests and disgraces the ...
— A Morning's Walk from London to Kew • Richard Phillips

... interruptions from the Angekoks, who tried more than once to bewitch him, but finally gave it up, convinced that he was a great medicine-man himself, and therefore invulnerable. But before that they tried to foment a regular mutiny, the colony being by that time well under way, ...
— Hero Tales of the Far North • Jacob A. Riis

... serving-men at table watch her eye? Was not he the best fellow who could recommend the hottest omelet and bring the freshest cakes to her hand? The young heiress, the young mistress of fabulous acres, and 'such a beautiful old place;' the new beauty, who bid fair to bewitch all the world with hand and foot and gypsy eyes,—nay, the current all set one way. Even old dowagers looked to praise, and even their daughters to admire; while of the men, all were at her feet. Attentions, civil, kind, and recommendatory, showered ...
— Wych Hazel • Susan and Anna Warner

... (for one would have thought that the essential element of faith was lacking in this case), it is undoubtedly the true view as concerns the ceremonial magic of the past. As this author well says: "Witchcraft, properly so-called, that is ceremonial operation with intent to bewitch, acts only on the operator, and serves to fix and confirm his will, by formulating it with persistence and labour, the two conditions which make ...
— Bygone Beliefs • H. Stanley Redgrove

... this woman was that of the most splendid character, nor are we to suppose the contrary because she was such an infamous prostitute. She may have been, and according to the description was, all that, but still her appearance was such as to bewitch her admirers and votaries. Robes of purple and scarlet, with the most costly profusion of gold and diamonds, were superb adorning, even regal splendor. All that skill and wealth could do in magnificence of attire was bestowed upon her to set forth ...
— The Revelation Explained • F. Smith

... you afraid that I may bewitch you? You milk the cow with fleshy hand. Bite me! Pour out (the milk) for me! My lioness! Daughter of ...
— Primitive Love and Love-Stories • Henry Theophilus Finck

... this point. It was the same feeling which restrains any except fools or braggarts from wishing to sleep in "haunted" rooms, or to live in houses polluted with the memory of a revolting crime. No sane mind believes in foolish apparitions, but fancy may at times bewitch the best of us. So the Stradivarius was burnt. It was, after all, perhaps not so serious a matter, for, as I have said, the bass-bar had given way. There had always been a question whether it was strong enough to resist the strain of modern stringing. Experience ...
— The Lost Stradivarius • John Meade Falkner

... in with more trouble to tell of Goody Walford. Her husband would not let her feed his cattle for fear she would bewitch them. ...
— Some Three Hundred Years Ago • Edith Gilman Brewster

... help it," Dan stammered. "You bewitch me." He bent lower to kiss her cheek, when he suddenly thrilled to the realization that his lips ...
— The Inn at the Red Oak • Latta Griswold

... really aware only for the first time. Justin was not looking well—that was what Dosia had said. Oh, he was not looking well! But she would make him forget his cares, his anxieties, with this new-found power of hers; she would bewitch him, take him off his feet, so that he would be able to think of nothing, of no one, but her—he had not always thought of her. She would not pity herself. She would learn to laugh, even if it took heroic effort; men liked you to laugh. She ...
— McClure's Magazine, Vol 31, No 2, June 1908 • Various

... preached at North Barricke kirke to a number of notorious witches; with the true examinations of the said Doctor and witches as they uttered them in the presence of the Scottish king: Discouering how they pretended to bewitch and drowne his Majestie in the sea, comming from Denmarke, with such other wonderfull matters, as the like hath not bin ...
— Elizabethan Demonology • Thomas Alfred Spalding

... look at him closely you will find that the Lord Igeza missed him also" (strange as it may seem, this proved to be the case), "and when you managed to hit the tip of his tusk with the last ball the magic was wearing off him, that's all. But, Baas, those Black Kendah wizards forgot to bewitch him against the little yellow man, of whom they took no account. So I hit him sure enough every time I fired at him, and I hope he liked the taste of my bullets in that great mouth of his. He knew who had sent them there very well. That's why he left you alone and made ...
— The Ivory Child • H. Rider Haggard

... plenty In seclusion to bewitch, Lived a dolce far niente Kind of life within a ditch; Rivers had no charm for him, As he told his wife and daughter, "Though my friends are in the swim, Mud is thicker far ...
— Fables for the Frivolous • Guy Whitmore Carryl

... seems, were accused of employing practices of this nature; their predictions of her majesty's death had given uneasiness to government by encouraging plots against her government; and it was feared, "by many good and sober men," that these dealers in the black art might even bewitch the queen herself. That it was the learned bishop Jewel who had led the way in inspiring these superstitious terrors, to which religious animosities lent additional violence, may fairly be inferred from the following passage of a discourse which was delivered by him ...
— Memoirs of the Court of Queen Elizabeth • Lucy Aikin

... Muse her wing maun core, Sic flights are far beyond her power; To sing how Nannie lap and flang (A souple jade she was, and strang), And how Tam stood, like ane bewitch'd, And thought, his very een enriched. Even Satan glower'd, and fidged fu' fain, And hotch'd and blew wi' might and main; Till first ae caper, syne anither, Tam tint his reason a' thegither, And roars out, "Weel done, Cutty-sark!" And in an instant a' was dark: And scarcely had he Maggie rallied, ...
— The Book of Humorous Verse • Various

... girl had fled, had been her purity. Why should it matter so much about virtue? she had asked herself. Why should it weigh so immeasurably more than the noble gifts of wit and beauty and strength and charm? Behold, she was wise enough to educate a barbarous nation, beautiful enough to bewitch potentates—for a time—strong enough to take a city; yet Hesper, who best of all could appreciate the value of these things, had turned from her to ...
— The City of Delight - A Love Drama of the Siege and Fall of Jerusalem • Elizabeth Miller

... stood telling tales To a sedate grey circle of old smokers, Of secret treasures found in hidden vales, Of wonderful replies from Arab jokers, Of charms to make good gold and cure bad ails, Of rocks bewitch'd that open to the knockers, Of magic ladies who, by one sole act, Transform'd their lords to beasts ...
— Don Juan • Lord Byron

... break the dove's spell, if the rightful bride had really been drowned in the sea; if not, then it would be useless. The mother assured her that she had seen her stepdaughter sink, and that there was no fear that she would ever come up again; but, to make all quite safe, the old woman might bewitch the girl; and so she did. After that the wicked stepmother travelled all through the night to get to the palace as soon as possible, and made her way straight ...
— The Orange Fairy Book • Andrew Lang

... den?" she said, throwing her bird-like glance over the bright interior, before she gave the commander a look which was designed to bewitch him instantly. "Surely you don't sleep ...
— The Captain of the Kansas • Louis Tracy

... in a pet; but, after the first canter, she set herself to bewitch Mr. Talboys, just to keep her hand in; she flattered him up hill and down dale. Lucy was ...
— Love Me Little, Love Me Long • Charles Reade

... elsewhere compared to various animals, have power even to bewitch the gods. The eclipse of the moon was attributed to their baneful influence. The number seven is probably not to be taken literally. As among so many nations,[354] seven had a sacred significance for the Babylonians; but largely, if not solely, for the reason, as I venture to ...
— The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria • Morris Jastrow

... lad, will ye? There must be one down the street a bit; and if ye'll loan me some of that half-crown the good man paid for your tinkering, I'd like to be having a New York News—if they have one—along with the fixings for a letter I have to be writing. While ye are gone I'll bewitch the childther." ...
— Seven Miles to Arden • Ruth Sawyer

... this special cheer? We celebrate the feast of Ides, Which April's month, to Venus dear, In twain divides. O, 'tis a day for reverence, E'en my own birthday scarce so dear, For my Maecenas counts from thence Each added year. 'Tis Telephus that you'd bewitch: But he is of a high degree; Bound to a lady fair and rich, He is not free. O think of Phaethon half burn'd, And moderate your passion's greed: Think how Bellerophon was spurn'd By his wing'd steed. So learn to look for partners meet, ...
— Odes and Carmen Saeculare of Horace • Horace

... to 'fascinate' or 'bewitch' a man," I cried, "I should not choose one old enough to be my father, nor one who was as uninteresting, awkward and stiff as Dr. Elliott. Besides, how should I know he was not married? If I thought anything about it at all, I certainly thought of him as a middle-aged ...
— Stepping Heavenward • Mrs. E. Prentiss

... to be big, right away. Bella Saltonstall was there and she's going into company next winter, she says. And she showed us some of the dancing steps and they just bewitch you. It's like this"—and Polly picked up her frock in a dainty manner and whirled about the vacant spaces ...
— A Little Girl in Old Salem • Amanda Minnie Douglas

... had called her a witch before; how could she bewitch them? It was a strange story ...
— Sidonia The Sorceress V1 • William Mienhold

... forms: on their departure he made them kiss him behind, and asked them when they would come again: he exhorted them always to be true to him: and to do evil deeds, and to this end he gave them certain black powders, wrapped in a cloth, for them to throw upon those whom they wished to bewitch: on leaving the Sabbath, the Devil went away in one direction and they in the other: after he had taken them all by the hand: At the instigation of the Devil she threw some of the powder over several persons and ...
— Witchcraft and Devil Lore in the Channel Islands • John Linwood Pitts

... a good proverb, especially the last part of it: I think that it must have come down from the ancients. Nevertheless I like this Baboon, and I wonder where they taught him his tricks, and I trust that She will not bewitch him. Poor Baboon! he must be wearied after that fight. I will go lest ...
— She • H. Rider Haggard

... read about the eel in an old English book, and about the making drunk in a Spanish novel, and, singularly enough, I was told the same things by a wild blacksmith in Ireland. Now tell me, do you bewitch horses in ...
— The Romany Rye - A Sequel to 'Lavengro' • George Borrow

... unfortunate; an utterly inexcusable laughter seemed to bewitch them, hovering always close to his ...
— The Fighting Chance • Robert W. Chambers

... of Shakespeare's lark-like interludes. The brevity of the poems and their uniform smoothness sometimes produce the effect of monotony. The crowded richness of the line advises a desultory reading. But one must go back to them again and again. They bewitch the memory, having once caught it, and insist on saying themselves over and over. Among the poets of England the author of the "Hesperides" remains, and is likely to remain, unique. As Shakespeare stands alone in his vast domain, ...
— Ponkapog Papers • Thomas Bailey Aldrich

... the rite, to the country people it is the chasing away of "forest demons, sprites, and fairies, once the gods the peasants worshipped, but now dethroned from their high estate," who in the long dark winter nights bewitch and vex the sons of men. A vivid and imaginative account of the ceremony and its meaning to the peasants is given by Mr. F. H. E. Palmer in his "Russian Life in Town and Country." The district in which he witnessed it was one of forests and of lakes frozen in winter. On one of these ...
— Christmas in Ritual and Tradition, Christian and Pagan • Clement A. Miles

... by a misapprehension, nor did they, for the most part, know what they had come out for to see. There are some words that draw a public as unfailingly as the clash of cymbals, the trumpet, or the mountebank's big drum; "beauty," "glory," "poetry," are words that bewitch the ...
— Two Poets - Lost Illusions Part I • Honore de Balzac

... thy father's hand." She smiled and answered, "O my master, I have no greed for the goods nor will I take them save on two conditions; the first that thou marry me to thy son and the second that I may bewitch her who bewitched him and imprison her, otherwise I cannot be safe from her malice and malpractices." Now when I heard, O Jinni, these, the words of the herdsman's daughter, I replied, "Beside what ...
— The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 1 • Richard F. Burton

... had promptly been attributed to witchcraft, and the witch doctor had been sent for to discover the criminal. The village was consequently in a lively state of apprehension, since the end of those who bewitch chiefs to death is not easy. The Fans, however, politely invited Walker to inspect the corpse. It lay in a dark hut, packed with the corpse's relations, who were shouting to it at the top of their voices on the on-chance that its spirit might think better of its ...
— Ensign Knightley and Other Stories • A. E. W. Mason

... going to get,' pursued Annie, referring to an advertisement on the cover. 'It tells you no end of things—see here!' 'How to bewitch your enemies,' 'How to render yourself invisible,' 'How to grow young again,' 'How to read sealed letters,' 'How to see at long distances,' and heaps more. 'Price one and sixpence, or, ...
— Thyrza • George Gissing

... thee, in some sensuous air, Bewitch the broad wheat-acres everywhere To imitated gold of thy deep hair: The peach, by thy red lips' delicious trouble, Blown into gradual dyes Of crimson; and beheld thy magic double— Dark-blue with fervid influence of thine eyes— The grapes' ...
— Poems • Madison Cawein

... Northland, There as bard to vie in battle, With the famous Wainamoinen. "Nay," replies the anxious father, "Do not go to Kalevala." "Nay," replies the fearful mother, "Go not hence to Wainamoinen, There with him to offer battle; He will charm thee with his singing Will bewitch thee in his anger, He will drive thee back dishonored, Sink thee in the fatal snow-drift, Turn to ice thy pliant fingers, Turn to ice thy feet and ankles." These the words of Youkahainen: Good the judgement of a father, Better still, a mother's counsel, Best of all one's own decision. I will go ...
— The Kalevala (complete) • John Martin Crawford, trans.

... me to be hers. Just imagine it. Some dainty little damsel of a soulful nature, with deep blue eyes, and golden curls, and pearly teeth, and cherry lips, a cheek like the soft and ripening peach and a smile that would bewitch even a Saint Anthony, getting down on her knees and saying, 'O Idiot—dearest Idiot—be mine—I love you, devotedly, tenderly, all through the Roget's Thesaurusly, and have from the moment I first saw you. With you to share it my lot in life will be heaven itself. Without ...
— The Wit and Humor of America, Volume X (of X) • Various

... bewitch the Princess Pansy?" cried the little Prince. "If you will promise not to bewitch her any more, I will take you ...
— All the Way to Fairyland - Fairy Stories • Evelyn Sharp

... Nahuatl language by the verbs tonalcaualtia, to check, stop or suspend the tonal, hence, to shock or frighten one; and tonalitlacoa, to hurt or injure the tonal, hence, to cast a spell on one, to bewitch him. ...
— Nagualism - A Study in Native American Folk-lore and History • Daniel G. Brinton

... is the curious characteristic of the ill-fated House of Stuart that, through all their misfortunes, through all their degradations, they have contrived to captivate the imagination and bewitch the hearts of many generations. The Stuart influence upon literature has been astonishing. No cause in the world has rallied to its side so many poets, named or nameless, has so profoundly attracted ...
— A History of the Four Georges, Volume II (of 4) • Justin McCarthy

... o'clock, though I had no idea that the time had gone so fast, it is almost noon; I must hurry or I shall have Catalina very hot waiting with a cold supper. By the way Madre, she sent her best respects to you and hopes that you will not bewitch any more of her poultry, for if you do, they will be a headless ...
— The Beautiful Eyes of Ysidria • Charles A. Gunnison

... was troubled, for she feared that the stranger was trying to bewitch her daughter, ...
— Old Indian Days • [AKA Ohiyesa], Charles A. Eastman

... same climate, had their foot-soles turned out backwards, and in Albany were people born with gray hairs. The ancient Sanromates ate only on every third day and fasted the other two; in Africa were certain families who could bewitch others by their talk; and it is a well known fact, that there were certain persons in Illyria, with two eye-balls to each eye, who killed people by merely looking at them: this, however, they could do, only when they were angry; then their fierce and scintillating stare was fatal to whomever ...
— Niels Klim's journey under the ground • Baron Ludvig Holberg

... trouble me about it" was Rychie's secret motto. And yet how witty she was, how tastefully she dressed, how charmingly she sang; how much feeling she displayed (for pet kittens and rabbits), and how completely she could bewitch sensible, honest-minded lads like Lambert van Mounen ...
— Hans Brinker - or The Silver Skates • Mary Mapes Dodge

... Our Paenish forces we advance, and press Upon Rome's self; break down her gates and wall, And plant our colours in Suburra's vale. O the rare sight! if this great soldier we Arm'd on his Getick elephant might see! But what's the event? O glory, how the itch Of thy short wonders doth mankind bewitch! He that but now all Italy and Spain Had conquer'd o'er, is beaten out again; And in the heart of Afric, and the sight Of his own Carthage, forc'd to open flight. Banish'd from thence, a fugitive he posts To Syria first, ...
— Poems of Henry Vaughan, Silurist, Volume II • Henry Vaughan

... her very well, for she carried peppermints in a black bag on her arm; but I was afraid the stories were true, and she might bewitch my mother." ...
— Dotty Dimple at Play • Sophie May

... will, said she—Did you not bewitch my grandfather? Could any thing be pleasing to him, that you did not say or do? How did he use to hang, till he slabbered again, poor doting old man! on your silver tongue! Yet what did you say, that we could not have said? What did you do, that ...
— Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9) • Samuel Richardson

... people at home believed in witches who sailed through the air to take part in diabolic ceremonies, and brought about the death of anyone by sticking pins into a little waxen image, and that even now the peasantry in out-of-the-way parts of the country still hold that some old women bewitch cows, and prevent milk turning into butter however long they may continue churning. Fairy superstitions have not quite disappeared, and the belief in ghosts is ...
— The Treasure of the Incas • G. A. Henty

... valley! I feel, in every vein, Thy soft touch on my fingers; oh, press them not again! Bewitch me not, ye garlands, to tread that upward track, And thou, my cheerless ...
— Poems • William Cullen Bryant

... sank in a heap upon the veld. "Kill," she murmured faintly, "I will not go back. I did not bewitch him to make him dream of me, and I will be Death's wife, not his; a ghost in his kraal, ...
— The Ghost Kings • H. Rider Haggard

... disappeared they said that the witch had got into the plantation and changed itself into a person and had gone about on the place talking with the people like others until those whom it wanted to bewitch went to bed, then it would change itself to a witch again. They claimed that the witches rode human beings like horses, and that the spittle that ran on the side of the cheek when one slept, was the bridle that the witch rode with. Sometimes a baby would be smothered by its mother, and they would ...
— My Life In The South • Jacob Stroyer

... Brahmin's name, than I ordered my buggy, and quickly drove down to the tank. On reaching it, I inquired for the magician; and on his arrival, I leaped down, seized him by the arm, and horsewhipped him within an inch of his life, now and then roaring out: "I'll teach you to bewitch my kulashee, you villain!" "How dare you injure my servant, you rascal?" and so forth. In a very few minutes, the liver-eating Brahmin declared that he would instantly release the kulashee from the spell; ...
— Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 457 - Volume 18, New Series, October 2, 1852 • Various

... of Light could see the symbolism quick as a wink. Still the Children of Darkness who never saw any symbolism at all and who were the ones to yawn and go home to bed, helped pay for tickets and keep the thing running. We must bewitch them also. Jeff inquired humbly if she would advise taking up Shakespeare with the Mill Enders and found she still wouldn't venture on it at once. She'd do some fairy plays, quite easy to write on ...
— The Prisoner • Alice Brown

... when you saw her. Beautiful Coralies are rare, I fancy, at her present age, and very fortunately, too, in my opinion," continued Captain Smith; "for what, I should like to know, would become of the peace and comfort of society, if a woman of sixty could bewitch a man as easily as ...
— Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Volume 2, No. 12, May, 1851. • Various

... her wing maun cour; [stoop] Sic flights are far beyond her pow'r— To sing how Nannie lap and flang, [leapt, kicked] (A souple jade she was, and strang); And how Tam stood, like ane bewitch'd, And thought his very een enrich'd; Even Satan glowr'd, and fidg'd fu' fain, [fidgeted with fondness] And hotch'd and blew wi' might and main: [jerked] Till first ae caper, syne anither, [then] Tam tint his reason a' thegither, [lost] And roars out 'Weel done, Cutty-sark!' [Short-shift] ...
— Robert Burns - How To Know Him • William Allan Neilson

... and knit unto him; yea, I thought, for the love I did bear unto them (supposing them the ministers of God), I could have laid down at their feet, and have been trampled upon by them; their name, their garb, and work did so intoxicate and bewitch me. ...
— Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners • John Bunyan

... be witches when somebody got mad with somebody they would bewitch the cows. You couldn't get the butter to come no matter how long you churned and sometimes a bewitched cow would come up and give bloody milk. If you keep plenty salt around in the troughs the witches ...
— Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves - Arkansas Narratives Part 3 • Works Projects Administration

... wherein (in "Die Hexen am Rhein") She dives (in an elegant wrap-lin- Sey-woolsey, I guess) seems bewitch'd into wine, When ...
— Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 1, Complete • Various

... matter, rendered such a supposition impossible. Then he himself was deceived—and yet how improbable! Gerard could remember nothing in what he knew or had heard of the Prince that could lead him to suppose his brain was of the kind charlatans and pseudo-magicians can successfully bewitch. On the contrary, although of a country in which the grossest superstitions are rife, he himself had led such an active, healthy life, partly in Russia and partly in England, that his brain could hardly be suspected of derangement. ...
— The Galaxy, Volume 23, No. 2, February, 1877 • Various

... Patience!" cried the boy, clasping his hands; "do not curse me; do not bewitch me; do not give me any illness; it wasn't I! May God strike ...
— Mauprat • George Sand

... all the passions and emotions in ordinary, innocent love-making that other peoples can have only on the worst conditions; and yet the story-writers won't avail themselves of the beauty that lies next to their hands. They go abroad for impossible circumstances, or they want to bewitch ours with the chemistry of all sorts of eccentric characters, exaggerated incentives, morbid propensities, pathological conditions, or diseased psychology. As I said before, I know I'm only a creature of the ...
— Imaginary Interviews • W. D. Howells

... not be much of the yeasty ferment: but it should not be forgotten that Welsh, Irish, Scot, are now largely of their numbers; and the taste for elegance, and for spiritual utterance, for Song, nay, for Ideas, is there among them, though it does not everywhere cover a rocky surface to bewitch the eyes of aliens;—like Louise de Seilles and Dr. Schlesien, for example; aliens having no hostile disposition toward the people they were compelled to criticize; honourably granting, that this people has a great history. Even such has the Lion, with Homer for the ...
— The Shaving of Shagpat • George Meredith

... country far and near, Bewitch'd the children of the peasants, Dried up the cows, and lamed the deer, And suck'd the eggs, and kill'd ...
— Poetical Works of Johnson, Parnell, Gray, and Smollett - With Memoirs, Critical Dissertations, and Explanatory Notes • Samuel Johnson, Thomas Parnell, Thomas Gray, and Tobias Smollett

... belief in its reality, is not yet exploded in many of the rural districts. The writer is acquainted with parties who place full credence in persons possessing the power to bewitch cows, sheep, horses, and even those persons to whom the witch has an antipathy. One respectable farmer assured me that his horse was {56} bewitched into the stable through a loophole twelve inches by three; the fact he said was beyond doubt, for he had locked the ...
— Notes and Queries, Number 65, January 25, 1851 • Various

... the Chymists have been able upon some or other of the mention'd Acounts, not only to Delight but Amaze, and almost to bewitch even Learned Men; yet such as You and I, who are not unpractis'd in the Trade, must not suffer our Selves to be impos'd upon by hard Names, or bold Assertions; nor to be dazl'd by that Light which should but assist us to discern things the more clearly. It is one ...
— The Sceptical Chymist • Robert Boyle

... me? do you stand me out, mistress? Answer. Don't look at me with those eyes as if you would bewitch me again! Sooner than that I die. You refuse ...
— The Return of the Native • Thomas Hardy

... delicate but commanding features, she had a singular fascination of look and gesture, and a winning, almost childlike, simplicity of manner. Without feminine artifice or commonplace coquetry, she seemed to bewitch and subdue at a glance men of all ranks, ages, and pursuits; kings and cardinals, great generals, ambassadors and statesmen, as well as humbler mortals whether Spanish, Italian, French, or Flemish. The Constable, an ignorant ...
— The Rise of the Dutch Republic, 1555-1566 • John Lothrop Motley

... pretended to bewitch and drowne his Maiestie in the Sea comming from Denmark with such other wonderfull matters as the like hath not been heard of ...
— Daemonologie. • King James I

... his Ruin. But whatever they trusted him with, she had the Art to wind herself about his Heart, and make him unravel all his Secrets; and then knew as well, by feign'd Sighs and Tears, to make him disbelieve all; so that he had no Faith but for her; and was wholly inchanted and bewitch'd by her. At last, in spite of all that would have opposed it, he marry'd this famous Woman, possess'd by so many great Men and Strangers before, while all the World was pitying his ...
— The Works of Aphra Behn - Volume V • Aphra Behn

... sandpaper that is strong enough to file an inscription off iron—the seductions of worldly delights, the pressure of our daily cares—all these are as a ring of sorcerers that stand round about us, before whom we are as powerless as a bird in the presence of a serpent, and they bewitch us and draw ...
— Expositions Of Holy Scripture - Volume I: St. Luke, Chaps. I to XII • Alexander Maclaren

... Rommany churl And the Rommany girl, To-morrow shall hie To poison the sty, And bewitch on the ...
— Lavengro - The Scholar, The Gypsy, The Priest • George Borrow

... seely, fleshly wight, Ne let vaine words bewitch thy manly hart, 470 Ne divelish thoughts dismay thy constant spright. In heavenly mercies hast thou not a part? Why shouldst thou then despeire, that chosen art?[*] Where justice growes, there grows eke greater grace, The which doth quench the brond of hellish smart, ...
— Spenser's The Faerie Queene, Book I • Edmund Spenser

... bravely upon your reverse, stand you close, stand you firm, stand you fair, save your retricato with his left leg, come to the assaulto with the right, thrust with brave steel, defy your base wood. But wherefore do I awake this remembrance? I was bewitch'd, by Jesu: but I ...
— Every Man In His Humour • Ben Jonson

... passionate bosoms aflaming with fire Drink deep of the hush of the hyacinth heavens that glimmer around them in fountains of light; O wild and entrancing the strain of keen music that cleaveth the stars like a wail of desire, And beautiful dancers with houri-like faces bewitch the ...
— The Golden Threshold • Sarojini Naidu

... called upon not to be wanting to himself, but to push his good fortune. Accordingly, he kept constantly about the person of the princess: let her move in what direction she would, there was Mr. Jeremiah Schnackenberger at hand ready to bewitch her with his conversation; and, having discovered that she was an amateur of botany, and purposed visiting a botanical garden on the following day, he besieged her with offers of his services in the capacity ...
— The Uncollected Writings of Thomas de Quincey, Vol. 2 - With a Preface and Annotations by James Hogg • Thomas de Quincey

... faculty as he attributed to Lilian would, if the faculty were developed, be an invaluable adviser.' He would have said more, but I begged him to desist. Still I fancy at times—do not be angry—that he does somehow or other bewitch her, unconsciously to herself; for she always knows when he is coming. Indeed, I am not sure that he does not bewitch myself, for I by no means justify my conduct in admitting him to an intimacy so familiar, and in spite ...
— A Strange Story, Complete • Edward Bulwer-Lytton

... be romancin' man," said the widow, remonstrantly. "What in the name of the nation 'ud bewitch any people to go rovin' out of their house in the middle of the black night, wid the frost ...
— Strangers at Lisconnel • Barlow Jane

... said, "I don't wonder you bewitched the sheriff. I must take care or you will bewitch the ...
— The Little Minister • J.M. Barrie

... Francis spake—"Why then didst thou blow upon the children of Prechln of Buslar, if it were not to bewitch them to death?" ...
— Sidonia The Sorceress V2 • William Mienhold

... evening," but opening sensibly at half past nine and going leisurely forward until after midnight. The music is very good. Sometimes Arban comes down from Paris to recover from his winter fatigues and bewitch the Spains ...
— Castilian Days • John Hay

... it's those girls,' continued Jacinth, working herself up to rare irritation, for as a rule she was gentle to her sister. 'They really seem to bewitch you. Are you crying because you're not a boarder at school, so that you could be always beside them?' she ...
— Robin Redbreast - A Story for Girls • Mary Louisa Molesworth

... Mrs. Vane's name. The fact is, Mr. Vane—I can hardly look you in the face—I had a little wager with Sir Charles here; his diamond ring—which you may see has become my diamond ring"—a horrible wry face from Sir Charles—"against my left glove that I could bewitch a country gentleman's imagination, and make him think me an angel. Unfortunately the owner of his heart appeared, and, like poor Mr. Vane, took our play for earnest. It became necessary to disabuse her and to open your ...
— Peg Woffington • Charles Reade

... beseech), My first scene tragic is, therefore tragic speech And accents filling woful action, I strive to get. I pray thee, sweet, Go in, and with thy sight appease The many doubts that may arise. That done, Be thou their usher, bring them to this place, And thou shalt see me with a lofty verse Bewitch the hearers' ears, and tempt their eyes To gaze upon the action that ...
— A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Vol. VIII (4th edition) • Various

... have stopped where they did. Every new acquaintance with the etymology or primary use of words would have entangled them in some new embarrassment, would have required a new purging of their vocabulary. 'To charm,' 'to bewitch,' 'to fascinate,' 'to enchant,' would have been no longer lawful words for those who had outlived the belief in magic, and in the power of the evil eye; nor 'lunacy,' nor 'lunatic,' for such as did not count the moon ...
— On the Study of Words • Richard C Trench

... syllable of truth, carried on her practices with the least possible disguise. She assembled persons of the lowest order, stamped with an infamous celebrity as witches; and, besides making pictures or models in clay, by which they hoped to bewitch Robert Munro and Lady Balnagowan, they brewed, upon one occasion, poison so strong that a page tasting of it immediately took sickness. Another earthen jar (Scottice pig) of the same deleterious liquor was prepared by the Lady Fowlis, and sent with her own nurse for the purpose ...
— Letters On Demonology And Witchcraft • Sir Walter Scott

... go in to the king and unite our efforts to overcome him, ere he appear without guilt and come forth and get the better of us." So they all went in to the king and prostrating themselves before him, said to him, "O king, have a care lest this youth beguile thee with his sorcery and bewitch thee with his craft. If thou heardest what we hear, thou wouldst not suffer him live, no, not one day. So pay thou no heed to his speech, for we are thy viziers, [who endeavour for] thy continuance, and if thou hearken not to our word, to whose ...
— Tales from the Arabic Volumes 1-3 • John Payne

... spacious square called the Plaza de Armas. Here are the governor's house, the residences of Cuban Belgravia, the cafes, and the cathedral. Myriads of masqueraders, in every variety of motley and domino, congregate in the plaza after their day's perambulations, and dance, sing, or bewitch each other with their disguises. There is a party of masqued and dominoed ladies: genuine whites all—you can tell it by the shape of their gloveless hands and the transparent pink of their finger-nails—endeavouring to hoax a couple of swains in false noses ...
— The Pearl of the Antilles, or An Artist in Cuba • Walter Goodman

... remake her in your image? (Laughing.) I've been told that country wizards carve images of their victims, and give them the names of those they'd bewitch. That was your plan: by means of this Eve, that you yourself had made, you intended ...
— The Road to Damascus - A Trilogy • August Strindberg

... known you do a thing you hadn't ought to. And Mr. Clerron thinks so too, and there's the trouble, You see, dear, he's a man, and men go on their ways and like women, and talk to them, and sort of bewitch them, not meaning to do them any hurt,—and enjoy their company of an evening, and go about their own business in the morning, and never think of it again; but women stay at home, and brood over it, and think there's something in it, and build a fine air-castle,—and when they find it's ...
— Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 5, No. 30, April, 1860 • Various

... badgers are regarded with superstitious awe by the Japanese, who attribute to them the power of assuming the human shape in order to bewitch mankind. Like the fairies of our Western tales, however, they work for good as well as for evil ends. To do them a good turn is to secure powerful allies; but woe betide him who injures them!—he and his will assuredly ...
— Tales of Old Japan • Algernon Bertram Freeman-Mitford

... with, prevail upon; overcome, carry; bring round to one's senses, bring to one's senses; draw over, win over, gain over, come over, talk over; procure, enlist, engage; invite, court. tempt, seduce, overpersuade^, entice, allure, captivate, fascinate, bewitch, carry away, charm, conciliate, wheedle, coax, lure; inveigle; tantalize; cajole &c (deceive) 545. tamper with, bribe, suborn, grease the palm, bait with a silver hook, gild the pill, make things pleasant, put a sop into the pan, throw a sop to, bait the hook. enforce, force; ...
— Roget's Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases: Body • Roget

... narratives, striking as they would be in a divinely inspired book. Of course it will be said again, that this is a shallow, rationalistic explanation, as if the word "rationalist" contained within itself something condemnatory. At all events, no one can now demonstrate that Jesus did not bewitch the unclean spirits out of the two demoniacs into the two thousand swine; but I confess that the shallow rationalistic explanation seems to me far better calculated to bring clearly to light the influence which Jesus could exercise ...
— The Silesian Horseherd - Questions of the Hour • Friedrich Max Mueller

... now, when there was much talk of the outward and visible doings of Satan in this place; whereas, the enemy was most to be feared who did work privily in the heart; it being a small thing for him to bewitch a dwelling made of wood and stone, who did so easily possess and enchant the precious ...
— The Complete Works of Whittier - The Standard Library Edition with a linked Index • John Greenleaf Whittier

... at her. She was like a little wild fawn with her fresh young body and sparkling eyes, always so ready to bewitch. His own weary eyes involuntarily saddened for a moment; then he said cheerily, in a louder ...
— Tales of the Wilderness • Boris Pilniak



Words linked to "Bewitch" :   influence, voodoo, capture, hex, mesmerize, attract, enchant, bewitchery, appeal, witch, fascinate, beguile, jinx, spell, enamor, bewitchment, spellbind, magnetise, hold, mesmerise, captivate, becharm



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