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Durability   /dərəbˈɪlɪti/   Listen
Durability

noun
1.
Permanence by virtue of the power to resist stress or force.  Synonyms: enduringness, lastingness, strength.






WordNet 3.0 © 2010 Princeton University








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"Durability" Quotes from Famous Books



... said to consist of its territory, its people, and its laws. The territory is the only part which is of certain durability. "One generation passeth away and another generation cometh, but the earth abideth forever." It is of the first importance to duly consider and estimate this ever-enduring part. That portion of the earth's surface which is owned and inhabited ...
— A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents: Lincoln - Section 1 (of 2) of Volume 6: Abraham Lincoln • Compiled by James D. Richardson

... harvest was over, I cut my seed timothy with the same neatness and ease that I did my grain. As respects the durability of the machine, I can say this much for my machine, that not the least thing has given out yet; it appears as strong as a cart, and but little liable to get out of order, if well used. I was advised by Mr. Hussey of the necessity of keeping some of the parts well greased; this ...
— Obed Hussey - Who, of All Inventors, Made Bread Cheap • Various

... things provided by nature as at the very beginning of their course. [Footnote: Microcosmus, Bk. vii. 5 ad fin. (Eng. trans. p. 300). The first German edition (three vols.) appeared in 1856-64, the third, from which the English translation was made, in 1876. Lotze was optimistic as to the durability of modern civilisation: "No one will profess to foreknow the future, but as far as men may judge it seems that in our days there arc greater safeguards than there were in antiquity against unjustifiable excesses and against ...
— The Idea of Progress - An Inquiry Into Its Origin And Growth • J. B. Bury

... power in quite a different way. Longing for improvements, he did not understand how to let himself be dragged on like a cork upon a stream, by the wave of daily events. He was determined to put his ideas into force, to give life and durability to his ministry. There was no use in being a minister if he must continue the habitual go-as-you-please of current politics. In that case, the first chief of bureau one might meet would make as good a ...
— His Excellency the Minister • Jules Claretie

... per year may understate losses in some places. I have seen old row crop soils in California's central valley that look like white-colored blowing dust. Nor does a 10 percent per year estimate quite allow for the surprising durability I observe in the still black and rich-looking old vegetable seed fields of western Washington State's Skaget Valley. These cool-climate fields have suffered chemical farming for decades without having been ...
— Organic Gardener's Composting • Steve Solomon

... teaspoonsful of the best clear poppy oil, and it will be fit for use. This polish may be applied with great advantage after any of those mentioned in the foregoing receipts have been used. It removes the defects existing in them, increasing their lustre and durability, and gives the ...
— Young's Demonstrative Translation of Scientific Secrets • Daniel Young

... contractors and decorators in this city, says he has used nearly fifty thousand gallons of H. W. Johns' Asbestos Liquid Paints, and after an experience of twenty years with white lead and other paints, he considers them not only superior in richness of color and durability, but owing to their wonderful covering properties, they are fully 20 per cent more ...
— Scientific American, Volume 40, No. 13, March 29, 1879 • Various

... "My idea exactly—durability. If anything breaks down there that can't he repaired on the place it means laying off the crew from a month to six weeks while the parts are going in and ...
— The Man from the Bitter Roots • Caroline Lockhart

... at the house, it was plain that it was built with Old-World notions of strength and durability, and, so far as might be, with Old-World materials. The hinges of the doors stretched out like arms, instead of like hands, as we make them. The bolts were massive enough for a donjon-keep. The small window-panes ...
— The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table • Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (The Physician and Poet not the Jurist)

... sulphate of zinc, and carbonate of magnesia. When a sufficient thickness of this composition has been applied, it is vulcanized under pressure at a temperature of 250 deg. F., or a little higher. The material produced in this manner is said to have the strength and durability of the best leather belts. Attempts have recently been made to obtain a glue suitable for joining the ends of driving belts, without the use of metal fastenings or sewing, and Messrs. David Kirkaldy & Son have reported favorably on such a belt glue, which ...
— Scientific American Supplement, No. 598, June 18, 1887 • Various

... Lostwithiel, where they were unfortunately destroyed. There were many ancient and disused tin workings in the parish of Luxulyan, but a particularly fine kind of granite was quarried there, for use in buildings where durability was necessary—the lighthouse and beacon on Plymouth Breakwater having both been built with granite obtained from these quarries. There was also a very hard variety of granite much used by sculptors called porphyry, a very hard and variegated rock of a mixed purple-and-white ...
— From John O'Groats to Land's End • Robert Naylor and John Naylor

... suppose that the passions are strongest in youth! The passions are not stronger, but the control over them is weaker. They are more easily excited, they are more violent and more apparent; but they have less energy, less durability, less intense and concentrated power, than in maturer life. In youth, passion succeeds to passion, and one breaks upon the other, as waves upon a rock, till the heart frets itself to repose. In manhood, the great deep flows on, more calm, but more profound; its serenity is the ...
— Alice, or The Mysteries, Complete • Edward Bulwer-Lytton

... normal fluctuation margins provided for by the Exchange Rate Mechanism of the European Monetary System, for at least two years, without devaluing against the currency of any other Member State; - the durability of convergence achieved by the Member State and of its participation in the Exchange Rate Mechanism of the European Monetary System being reflected in the long-term interest rate levels. The four criteria mentioned in this paragraph and the relevant periods over which they are to be ...
— The Treaty of the European Union, Maastricht Treaty, 7th February, 1992 • European Union

... the 'Vicar of Wakefield,' Miss Challoner," observed Archie, rather amused at this temperate praise. "Did not that excellent man choose his wife for the same reason that she choose her wedding-dress, with a view to durability?" ...
— Not Like Other Girls • Rosa N. Carey

... hive are durability, simplicity, ease of construction and of working, and pleasing to the eye. We think the Langstroth embodies these. It was invented by the father of modern bee-culture. He gave to the world the movable frame; without its use, we might as well keep our bees in hollow ...
— Prairie Farmer, Vol. 56: No. 3, January 19, 1884. - A Weekly Journal for the Farm, Orchard and Fireside • Various

... this latter harbour is placed beyond all doubt, as there is still remaining a great part of it built on frames: the materials are composed of mortar and small pebbles, so strongly and closely cemented, that they have the appearance, as well as durability, of solid rock. It is singular, that in the dominions of Carthage, extending, as we have seen, upwards of 1400 miles along the shores of the Mediterranean, there should be no river of any magnitude or importance for commerce: the Bagrada and the ...
— Robert Kerr's General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Volume 18 • William Stevenson

... aluminum, this metal is used extensively for cooking utensils. It is more costly than most of the materials employed for this purpose, but while the first cost of aluminum pans and kettles may seem large, the extra expense is justified by the durability of the utensils. They last much longer than utensils made of many other materials, for when aluminum is hammered and rolled it becomes extremely hard. Some aluminum utensils are very thin, and since they melt and dent very easily they ...
— Woman's Institute Library of Cookery, Vol. 1 - Volume 1: Essentials of Cookery; Cereals; Bread; Hot Breads • Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences

... flexuosa cannot be expressed[B]. In proportion as man rises in civilization, the importance of timber becomes greater, being a material for which no adequate substitute can be found. It combines lightness with strength, elasticity with firmness, and possesses in many instances a durability rivalling, or even surpassing, that of the rocks yielded to us by the solid substance of the globe. The adaptation of timber to the numerous wants of civil life is too familiar to require exposition; but in addition to all the ends it serves in these points, we have an interesting ...
— The Church of England Magazine - Volume 10, No. 263, January 9, 1841 • Various

... the trestle-board, or tracing-board, or book of plans of the architect. By these he hewed and squared his materials; by these he raised his walls; by these he constructed his arches; and by these strength and durability, combined with grace and beauty, were bestowed upon the edifice which ...
— The Symbolism of Freemasonry • Albert G. Mackey

... more ability than Matthieu. "Of all your admirers," writes Madame de Stael, in a letter given in Chateaubriand's Memoirs, "you know that I prefer Adrien de Montmorency. I have just received one of his letters, which is remarkable for wit and grace, and I believe in the durability of his affections, notwithstanding the charm of his manners. Besides, this word durability is becoming in me, who have but a secondary place in his heart. But you are the heroine of all those sentiments out of which grow tragedies ...
— Atlantic Monthly, Volume 14, No. 84, October, 1864 - A Magazine Of Literature, Art, And Politics • Various

... in having iron about it, because we seldom require to use the needle. My reason for wanting this improvement is, that the legs get loose so quickly from the wearing away of brass, and that the many small surfaces in contact are too disproportionate to their length. Strength and durability are of far more consequence than lightness, as we have not the facilities for getting things repaired here that you have in England. The figures I have placed opposite to the instruments described are not supposed to be the exact prices, but merely suggested as guides. I hope you ...
— Successful Exploration Through the Interior of Australia • William John Wills

... funny story, and three of the audience were able to smile. It had pleased him to order an elaborate supper, and he experienced the keenest enjoyment over the novelty of the situation. The Wiggses ate as he had never seen people eat before. "For speed and durability they break the record," was his mental comment. He sat by and, with consummate tact, made them forget everything but the good time they ...
— Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch • Alice Caldwell Hegan

... as a commodity, has a peculiar effect upon the heart. There is no property between it and the mind;—no medium to mellow its light. The mind is diverted and refreshed by no thoughts upon the quality of soils; the durability of structures; the advantages of sites; the beauty of fabrics; it is not invigorated by the necessity of labor and ingenuity which the mechanic feels; by the invention of the artisan, or the taste of the artist. The whole attention ...
— Twelve Causes of Dishonesty • Henry Ward Beecher

... (“Old Lincolnshire,” vol. i., p. 23.) The well-known Colly-Weston slates are the lowest stratum of this rock. The fine old Roman “Newport Arch,” which for some 700 years has “braved the battle and the breeze,” a pretty good test of its durability, is built ...
— Records of Woodhall Spa and Neighbourhood - Historical, Anecdotal, Physiographical, and Archaeological, with Other Matter • J. Conway Walter

... for incandescent lighting Illuminating power of incandescent burners Durability of mantles Typical incandescent burners Acetylene for heating and cooking Acetylene motors Blowpipes Autogenous ...
— Acetylene, The Principles Of Its Generation And Use • F. H. Leeds and W. J. Atkinson Butterfield

... and interest to the child. For instance, when a napkin ring has been made of reed let the child next construct one of raffia, and then compare the finished article as to the material vised, the beauty, the flexibility, the durability, ...
— Construction Work for Rural and Elementary Schools • Virginia McGaw

... possession of all. The common life of Europe flowed also in the veins of England: an indestructible foundation for culture and progressive civilisation was laid. But we saw to what point matters had come notwithstanding, as regards the durability of its internal system and its power. The Plantagenets had extended the rule of England over Scotland and Ireland: in the latter it still subsisted, but only within the narrow limits of the Border Pale; in the former it was altogether overthrown. The best result ...
— A History of England Principally in the Seventeenth Century, Volume I (of 6) • Leopold von Ranke

... shape—in miniatures, in porcelain, in enormous life-size oil-paintings—were perpetually about her. John Brown stood upon her writing-table in solid gold. Her favourite horses and dogs, endowed with a new durability, crowded round her footsteps. Sharp, in silver gilt, dominated the dinner table; Boy and Boz lay together among unfading flowers, in bronze. And it was not enough that each particle of the past should be given the stability of metal or of marble: the whole collection, in its arrangement, ...
— Queen Victoria • Lytton Strachey

... stronger. Stories have been told of black walnut logs which, after lying unused for fifty years, have been sawed into lumber and found to be still in excellent condition. It is quite likely that the same could be said of butternut for these woods are very much alike in the degree of their durability and resistance ...
— Growing Nuts in the North • Carl Weschcke

... ring the lover should first think of its durability and then of its sweet symbolism. It should be the best he can afford, and the small detail of fit is not to be ignored. The choice of stones and style will depend upon taste and the money available, but, personally, I like an engagement ring to ...
— The Etiquette of Engagement and Marriage • G. R. M. Devereux

... of those conquests disappointed private interests. Powerful rivals advanced their claims, but the procurator ought not to have abandoned his own affairs. He trusted too much to his prompt and favorable commissions, in whose durability the quickest despatch is not enough; for the agents on the opposing side, availing themselves of his voluntary absence, began to depreciate the mission that had been conceded. They declared that ...
— The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume XXI, 1624 • Various

... consolation which Fanny received for the evils of home, the first which her judgment could entirely approve, and which gave any promise of durability, was in a better knowledge of Susan, and a hope of being of service to her. Susan had always behaved pleasantly to herself, but the determined character of her general manners had astonished and alarmed her, ...
— Persuasion • Jane Austen

... possibly catch the glow of inward satisfaction which warmed my heart. It was a brown cassimere, coat, trousers and vest all alike,—and the trousers fitted me! Furthermore as I bought it without my father's help, my selection was made for esthetic reasons without regard to durability or warmth. It was mine—in the fullest sense—and when I next entered chapel I felt not merely draped, but defended. I walked to my seat with confident security, a well-dressed person. I had a "boughten" shirt also, two boxes of paper cuffs, ...
— A Son of the Middle Border • Hamlin Garland

... carpets or matting. This has enormously increased the demand for rugs; and the selection of them affords a much wider range for the exercise of personal taste and discrimination in securing an article not only of greater artistic merit, but of greater durability. ...
— Rugs: Oriental and Occidental, Antique & Modern - A Handbook for Ready Reference • Rosa Belle Holt

... preventive precaution, there will always be dust enough, and too much for comfort, or for the health of the books. Only a thorough dusting, carried on if possible daily, can prevent an accumulation of dust, at once deleterious to the durability of the books, and to the comfort both of librarians and readers. Dust is an insidious foe, stealing on its march silently and unobserved, yet, however impalpable in the atmosphere of a library, it will settle upon the tops of ...
— A Book for All Readers • Ainsworth Rand Spofford

... The durability is very great, owing to the couching thread being upon the reverse side, where it is protected from wear and tear, and being out of sight can be made strong and durable. If a thread is accidentally broken it does ...
— Embroidery and Tapestry Weaving • Grace Christie

... possesses a character of insignificance from its transitoriness, while every heavenly object becomes inviting on account of its durability. A single hour may precipitate us from the highest worldly elevation—the proudest laurel that ever decked the brow of the proudest hero quickly fades; and he who sits out upon a journey of discovery to find the extent of human enjoyments, ...
— Female Scripture Biographies, Vol. I • Francis Augustus Cox

... anywhere, regardless of price. We think that this statement will mean something to you, for in furnishing a home, although appearance may not be everything, it is certainly a good deal. Between two articles of the same durability the better-looking one is ...
— How to Write Letters (Formerly The Book of Letters) - A Complete Guide to Correct Business and Personal Correspondence • Mary Owens Crowther

... cheerfully and according to the decisions of the tribunal to which their exposition belongs. Such have been, and are, my convictions, and upon them I shall act. I fervently hope that the question is at rest, and that no sectional or ambitious or fanatical excitement may again threaten the durability of our institutions or obscure the ...
— United States Presidents' Inaugural Speeches - From Washington to George W. Bush • Various

... wheel to the right, and besides would interfere with each other. They must therefore be replaced by a somewhat more complicated arrangement, which has been done in various ways not necessary to describe more fully. On the way in which this is done, however, depends to a great extent the durability and trustworthiness of any arithmometer; in fact, it is often its weakest point. If to the series of figure disks arrangements are added for turning each disk through a required number of steps, [v.04 p.0973] we have an addition machine, essentially ...
— Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 4 - "Bulgaria" to "Calgary" • Various

... reference to either its deeply-channelled, almost keeled leaves, which have the appearance of three corners, or in allusion to the triangular way in which they are disposed. It is a desirable flower for several reasons—its earliness, durability, ...
— Hardy Perennials and Old Fashioned Flowers - Describing the Most Desirable Plants, for Borders, - Rockeries, and Shrubberies. • John Wood

... panelled walls. There was about the room a settled peacefulness. The old furniture had a stately air of permanence. The polished panels, and, above, the orderly ranks of ancient books suggested durability; they remained—while generations of men came and passed, transient figures reflected in the shining oak, handling for a few brief years the printed treasures that would still be read centuries after they had ...
— The Shadow of the East • E. M. Hull

... of the boring tool the sharp edges of the diamonds cut their way through rocks of all degrees of hardness, leaving a core of the rock cut through, in the centre of the cylindrical drill. It is found that the durability of the natural edge of the diamond is far greater than that of the edge caused by artificial cutting and trimming. The cutting of a pane of glass by means of a ring set with an artificially-cut diamond, cannot therefore be done without injuring ...
— The Story of a Piece of Coal - What It Is, Whence It Comes, and Whither It Goes • Edward A. Martin

... century and thence penetrated across the Pyrenees into France and gradually all over western and central Europe. Parchment, however, for a long time kept its preeminence over silk, cotton, or linen paper, because of its greater firmness and durability, and notaries were long forbidden to use any other substance in their official writings. Not until the second half of the fifteenth century was assured the triumph of modern paper, [Footnote: The word "paper" is derived from the ancient "papyrus."] as distinct from papyrus ...
— A Political and Social History of Modern Europe V.1. • Carlton J. H. Hayes

... himself with the privy seal. The celebrated Edmund Burke was engaged as private secretary by Lord Rockingham, and now, for the first time, had a seat in parliament. There seemed a reasonable hope that this ministry would obtain strength and durability, but it wanted Pitt for its supporter; and it was weakened in October by the death of the Duke of Cumberland. This blow was more severely felt, because there was a want of union in the members of this cabinet from the first, ...
— The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.III. - From George III. to Victoria • E. Farr and E. H. Nolan

... of a hobby? We cannot ensure, even for the British Empire, an eternity of durability: nations decay and fashions change. Some day even stamp collecting may be superseded by a more engrossing hobby. The indications, however, are all in favour of its growing hold upon its universal public. The wealth invested in it is immense, its trading interests are prosperous and international, ...
— Stamp Collecting as a Pastime • Edward J. Nankivell

... asked what particular advantage a species that makes a wide-mouthed burrow possesses over those that excavate in the usual way. On a declivity, or at the base of rocks or trees, there would be none; but on the perfectly level and shelterless pampas, the durability of the burrow, a circumstance favourable to the animal's preservation, is owing altogether to its being made in this way, and to several barrows being made together. The two outer trenches diverge so widely from the mouth that half the earth brought ...
— The Naturalist in La Plata • W. H. Hudson

... out of sight and out of mind, but it is tenacious of life, and is one of the estates of the realm.[408] I am the more struck with this tenacity, when I see its work. It respects the administration of such unimportant matters, that we should not look for any durability in its rule. We sometimes meet men under some strong moral influence, as a patriotic, a literary, a religious movement, and feel that the moral sentiment rules man and nature. We think all other distinctions and ties will be slight and fugitive, this ...
— Essays • Ralph Waldo Emerson

... which grow near the ground are the best. Too long poles, therefore, are not good, and care should be taken that the vines do not run beyond the poles, twisting off their tops will prevent it. The best kinds of wood for poles are alder, ash, birch, elm, chestnut, and cedar, their durability is directly the reverse of the order in which they stand; charring, or burning the end put into the ground, will preserve them. Hops should not be poled till the spring of the second year, and then not till they have been dressed. All that is necessary for the ...
— The American Practical Brewer and Tanner • Joseph Coppinger

... adapt all sorts of knowledge to real conditions. In bringing up her children she must understand physical and mental orders and disorders. She must judge of foods and cooking, of clothing, as to taste, comfort, and durability; of the exercises and employments of children, etc. Whether she is conscious of it or not, she must mingle a knowledge of chemistry, psychology, physiology, medicine, sanitation, the physics of light and air, with the traditional household virtues in a sort of universal solvent ...
— The Elements of General Method - Based on the Principles of Herbart • Charles A. McMurry

... the astral sojourn depends primarily upon the durability of the astral body and that, in turn, depends upon the kind of a life he has lived here. Let us suppose that he has lived a very gross and sensual life. All of the emotions of that type that he indulged built more gross matter ...
— Elementary Theosophy • L. W. Rogers

... who ruled over Pontus, was an extraordinary man. He spoke many languages, was the idol, of his subjects, and had boundless ambition. He doubted the durability of the Roman Empire, and began to enlarge his own territory, with no ...
— History of Rome from the Earliest times down to 476 AD • Robert F. Pennell

... Genoa appears to be a city of palaces, and although many of the largest are now converted to humbler uses, and many fallen to decay, there are ample remains to show the former grandeur of the princely merchants who were once the lords of the ocean. Everything bespeaks solidity, durability, and magnificence. There are stupendous works which were done at the expense of individuals. In every part of the town are paintings and frescoes, which, in spite of constant exposure to the atmosphere, have retained much of their brilliancy and freshness. The palaces of Doria are the most ...
— The Greville Memoirs - A Journal of the Reigns of King George IV and King William - IV, Volume 1 (of 3) • Charles C. F. Greville

... needed for textile materials may be thus enumerated: Pliability, toughness (i.e. tensile strength), and intrinsic durability. ...
— Needlework As Art • Marian Alford

... size; for although dresses and properties are often made of the coarsest materials, and will not stand a close inspection—the problem to be solved being the combination of stage effect with economy—yet, on the other hand, their want of durability, and the constant production of new pieces, necessarily creates a large amount of waste; and for this accommodation must of ...
— Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 443 - Volume 17, New Series, June 26, 1852 • Various

... of the European differ widely from those of the Philippine native, and each, for his own durability, requires his own special environment. The half-breed partakes of both organisms, but has the natural environment of the one. Sometimes artificial means—the mode of life into which he is forced by his European parent—will counteract ...
— The Philippine Islands • John Foreman

... want marble floors. We are not building a palace or a showplace, but a house to live in. We are not seeking magnificence, but comfort and durability (which are almost always allied), as well as sightliness (which is not always ...
— The Complete Home • Various

... first method of ornamenting textile fabrics was to stain them with the juices of fruits, or the flowers, leaves, stems, and roots of plants bruised with water, and we may reasonably assume that the primitive colors thus obtained would lack durability. ...
— Scientific American Supplement, No. 810, July 11, 1891 • Various

... Becan, and several other sagacious writers lug in a supposed prophecy of the fourth book of Esdras, which being inserted in the mighty hypothesis, like the keystone of an arch, gives it, in their opinion, perpetual durability. ...
— Knickerbocker's History of New York, Complete • Washington Irving

... excessive hardness and durability of this kind of basalt, this monumental fortress will endure long after the corroding tooth of time shall have crumbled to dust the royal pyramids and their very memory shall ...
— Wealth of the World's Waste Places and Oceania • Jewett Castello Gilson

... manufacturing of the articles mentioned above. Its freedom from warping, checking, or splitting when subjected to alternate wetting and drying is an unusual quality. It works easily with all kinds of tools, has remarkable durability in the presence of wood-decaying fungi and insects. Moreover, it is hard, durable, heavy, stiff and strong. The dark color of the wood does not allow soiling stains to show and the grain of the wood and its texture make it easy ...
— Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the 41st Annual Meeting • Various

... large and fat, had few cares in life beyond an anxious apprehension concerning the durability of his own digestion. However, he was still able to make a midnight mouthful of a Welsh rarebit on a hot mince-pie, and wash it down with a quart of champagne, and so the world went very well with him, even if it wabbled a trifle for his ...
— A Young Man in a Hurry - and Other Short Stories • Robert W. Chambers

... uniform and stable material. It is suitable for all classes of concrete work and is the only variety of hydraulic cement allowable for reinforced concrete or for plain concrete having to endure hard wear or to be used where strength, density and durability of high degree ...
— Concrete Construction - Methods and Costs • Halbert P. Gillette

... Henry," she said, "even when you seemed to have forgotten about her. You ... you were very fond of Lady Cecily Jayne, weren't you, Henry?" He nodded his head. He wanted to explain that that was over now, that it had been a passing thing that had no durability, but he could not make the explanation, and so he did not say anything. "I thought her a very beautiful woman," Mrs. Graham went on. "If I'd been a boy I think I should have loved her, too. Boys are ...
— Changing Winds - A Novel • St. John G. Ervine

... sides alike; 11 the delicacy of the texture was such as to give it the lustre of silk; and the brilliancy of the dyes excited the admiration and the envy of the European artisan.12 The Peruvians produced also an article of great strength and durability by mixing the hair of animals with wool; and they were expert in the beautiful feather-work, which they held of less account than the Mexicans from the superior quality of the materials for other fabrics, which they had at ...
— History Of The Conquest Of Peru • William Hickling Prescott

... to stand as I have written it, simply because I have not had time as yet to make thorough tests of the durability of "Margot" joints on the finest threads; but I have practically no doubt as to its perfect applicability, provided always that the solder can be got clean enough when melted on the bit. Very fine ...
— On Laboratory Arts • Richard Threlfall

... see that the essence of Christianity and its durability do not lie in any kind of theology: it lies within the Spiritual Substance which has abode within it throughout the centuries. Here will the world find its peace and power; here will all social complexities be solved; here will the meanings and ...
— An Interpretation of Rudolf Eucken's Philosophy • W. Tudor Jones

... Parliament for increase of forcible hindrance of antipharmacopoeal drenches, pills, and powders. Who ever heard of my asking the legislature to fine blundering circle-squarers? Remember that the D in dogma is the D in decay; but the D in demonstration is the D in durability. ...
— A Budget of Paradoxes, Volume I (of II) • Augustus De Morgan

... part at least it was) upon inexperience and conscious inability to face the dangers of the world, to have suggested reasons for not leaving her to her own protection? And does it not argue, on my part, an arrogant or too blind a confidence in the durability of my happiness, as though charmed against assaults, and liable to no shocks of sudden revolution? I reply that, from the very constitution of society, and the tone of manners in the city which we inhabited, there seemed to be a moral ...
— Narrative And Miscellaneous Papers • Thomas De Quincey

... self-administered discipline, which followed the access to office of the first Free Government.[1] That period may be regarded as the crucible in which British Christianity was tested and proven; in which the steel of the new patriotism was tempered and hardened to invincible durability. The Canadian preachers awakened the people; The Citizens set them their task; the period of waiting schooled them in the spirit of the twentieth century, the key-note of which is discipline, the meaning ...
— The Message • Alec John Dawson

... unique machine is an invention of the author's, and possesses great advantages, both on account of its durability and of the speedy death which ...
— Camp Life in the Woods and the Tricks of Trapping and Trap Making • William Hamilton Gibson

... even the slips made with the knife were discernible. This must have been done by some of captain Furneaux's people in March 1773, fifteen years before. The marks of the knife remaining so unaltered, I imagine the tree must have been dead when it was cut; but it serves to show the durability of the wood for it was perfectly sound at this time. I shot two gannets: these birds were of the same size as those in England; their colour is a beautiful white, with the wings and tail tipped with jet black and the top and back of the head of a very fine yellow. Their ...
— A Voyage to the South Sea • William Bligh

... rearing their brood, and that the hive should be so constructed as to allow of every part of the combs to be inspected at any moment, and capable of removal when requisite: and while attention is paid to economy, it should be made of materials that will secure its durability. ...
— A Description of the Bar-and-Frame-Hive • W. Augustus Munn

... and spirit. All the citizens are taught the fundamental art, that of agriculture, and in addition each has a particular trade or profession of his own. There is no surfeit, excess, or ostentation. Clothing is made for durability, and every one's garments are precisely like those of every one else, except that there is a difference between those of men and women and those of married and unmarried persons. The sick are carefully tended, but the victims of ...
— A History of English Literature • Robert Huntington Fletcher

... to our work—and preserve it from falling to ruin! If Thou art content with me, let me further serve and be useful to my native country! I am but a weak instrument in Thy hand, my God, but Thou hast used it, and I pray Thee not to cast it aside now, but impart to it strength and durability, that it may last until the enemy has been driven from the country, and the whole Tyrol is free again for evermore! I kiss the dear soil where our princes walked in former times, and where they swore to their Tyrolese that they should be freemen, ...
— Andreas Hofer • Lousia Muhlbach

... of progress and civilization. Macaulay and Bushnell on the value of public highways. The first sponsors of art, science, and government were the builders of roads. The ancient highway between Babylon and Memphis. The Carthaginians as road-makers. Roman roads: their construction, extent, and durability; their instrumentality in giving Rome her pre-eminence in the ancient world; their mode of construction described. Ponderous roads in China. Magnificent highways in the ancient empires of Mexico and Peru. Prescott's description of the great roads ...
— The Road and the Roadside • Burton Willis Potter

... laying of the new stairs and silently estimating the quality and probable durability of the thin pine boards, he suddenly felt himself pushed to one side. As he turned in the direction of the street, he saw a workman with a large step-ladder which with great care and many props he was attempting to set up on the sloping surface of the street. Huerlin betook himself to the opposite ...
— The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries - Masterpieces of German Literature Vol. 19 • Various

... subject. Few of the slate slabs which answer the purpose in Wales and some of the bordering counties can maintain their inscriptions in legible condition for a very long period, and they are in all respects inferior to stone in durability. This thought would have given no anxiety to the writer of some Chapters on Churchyards which appeared in "Blackwood's Magazine" about 1820. ...
— In Search Of Gravestones Old And Curious • W.T. (William Thomas) Vincent

... accustomed to the sight of an almost universal forest of dark-green trees. I took much delight in examining the structure of these mountains. The complicated and lofty ranges bore a noble aspect of durability—equally profitless, however, to man and to all other animals. Granite to the geologist is classic ground: from its widespread limits, and its beautiful and compact texture, few rocks have been more anciently recognised. Granite has given rise, perhaps, to more discussion ...
— A Naturalist's Voyage Round the World - The Voyage Of The Beagle • Charles Darwin

... window-mullions and subordinate members.[5] It is probable that the vault was used for roofing many of the halls; the arch was certainly employed for doors and the barrel-vault for the drainage-tunnels under the terraces, made necessary by the heavy rainfall. What these structures lacked in durability and height was made up in decorative magnificence. The interior walls were wainscoted to a height of eight or nine feet with alabaster slabs covered with those low-relief pictures of hunting scenes, battles, and gods, which now enrich the museums of London, Paris, and other modern cities. Elsewhere ...
— A Text-Book of the History of Architecture - Seventh Edition, revised • Alfred D. F. Hamlin

... such a large proportion of household furniture throughout Canada is manufactured, but regretted to find that it is much wasted in being split up into rails for fences by the farmers, on account of its durability. They are, however, beginning to be sensible of its value, for it is now largely exported to England and elsewhere. The size of the black walnut and of the cotton wood is inconceivable: of the latter curbs for the mouths of ...
— Canada and the Canadians, Vol. 2 • Richard Henry Bonnycastle

... then proceeded to carry out his plan of burning down London. During the five days' rioting that ensued, property to the amount of L180,000 was destroyed. After this "the scion of the ducal house of Gordon proved the durability of his love for Protestantism by professing the Hebrew faith," and was received with the highest honours into the Synagogue. The same Jewish writer, who has described him earlier as half-witted, quotes this panegyric on his orthodoxy: "He was very regular ...
— Secret Societies And Subversive Movements • Nesta H. Webster

... the sensibilities of his hearers as the trees of the forest are rocked by the tempest, or some other influence has violently swept the chords of the heart; yet it is a source of too little depth and durability to give vitality to the persevering work of beneficence, in a world cankered to its center with corruption. Selfishness soon leads off the mind to other subjects; so that contributions can be drawn from the natural ...
— The Faithful Steward - Or, Systematic Beneficence an Essential of Christian Character • Sereno D. Clark

... open vacantly. It was not a critical glance. It had no intention. And if Mr Verloc thought for a moment that his wife's brother looked uncommonly useless, it was only a dull and fleeting thought, devoid of that force and durability which enables sometimes a thought to move the world. Leaning back, Mr Verloc uncovered his head. Before his extended arm could put down the hat Stevie pounced upon it, and bore it off reverently into the kitchen. And again ...
— The Secret Agent - A Simple Tale • Joseph Conrad

... heavy rails of seventy pounds to the yard, and over, of ordinary iron, go to pieces in three or four years, sixty-pound rails of well-worked and good iron will last more than double that time. The extraordinary durability of the forty-five pound rails made for the Reading Railway Company by the Ebbw Vale Company in 1837 is well known ...
— Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 5, No. 32, June, 1860 • Various

... are among the surest monuments of history, as well as muniments of individual distinction, there should be given to them, besides intrinsic value and durability of material, the utmost grace of design, with the highest finish in mechanical execution. All this is necessary to give the greater or adventitious value; as in the present instance, the medal is to be, at once, an historical record and a reward of distinguished merit. The credit of the ...
— The Medallic History of the United States of America 1776-1876 • J. F. Loubat

... exclaimed Keyork. "If you had the management of this unstable world you would make it a very convulsive and nervous place. We should all turn into flaming ephemerides, fluttering about the crater of a perpetually active volcano. I prefer the system of the brick liver. There is more durability ...
— The Witch of Prague • F. Marion Crawford

... only carry yourselves back to the spirit and the purpose and the wisdom and the courage of the framers of the government, how safe would it be in your hands? How safe is it now in your hands, for you who have entered into their labors will see to it that the structure of your work comports in durability and excellence with theirs. Indeed, so familiar has the course of the argument made us with the names of the men of the convention and of the first Congress that I could sometimes seem to think that the presence even of the ...
— Public Speaking • Irvah Lester Winter

... for roofs. Those made after the method used by sailors are much superior to others in softness and durability. The plan is as follows:—As soon as the canvas has been sewn together, it is thoroughly wetted with sea-water; and, while still wet, it is smeared over on one of its sides with tar and grease, boiled together—about two parts tar and one of grease. After ...
— The Art of Travel - Shifts and Contrivances Available in Wild Countries • Francis Galton

... solid measures. As deputy to his infant son he nominated one who, though but a knight, was perhaps the ablest man among his privy council. It was in this capacity that Sir Edward Poynings[38] crossed to Ireland about the close of 1494, and called the Parliament of Drogheda. Judged by the durability of its legislation, it was one of the most memorable of parliaments; and for nearly three hundred years Poynings' laws remained the foundation upon which rested the constitutional relations between the sister kingdoms. Even more ...
— Henry VIII. • A. F. Pollard

... perfunctory inhibitions and safe morals. That, however, had been speedily lost in his rocketing passion, flaring out of a quiet continence into giddy spaces of unrestraint. Essie, after a momentary surrender, had attempted retreat, expressing a doubt of the durability of their feeling; she had, in fact, made it painfully clear that she wished to escape from the uncomfortable volume of his fervour; but he had overborne her caution—her wisdom, he ...
— The Three Black Pennys - A Novel • Joseph Hergesheimer

... listening contentedly to selections from "Faust" and "Ernani," and the "Chanson des Alpes." Mrs. Saunders would have been far happier as a member of the fairly well-to-do middle class. She would have loved to shop with married daughters, sharply interrogating clerks as to the durability of shoes, and the weight of little underflannels; she would have been a good angel in the nurseries, as an unfailing authority when the new baby came, or hushing the less recent babies to sleep in tender old arms. She would have been a judge ...
— Saturday's Child • Kathleen Norris

... which I intend goatskin): there are no alternatives if durability be our aim; calf, of course, we have learnt long ago to eschew. No leather, except Russia, perishes more quickly or more easily. Rather have a book bound in cloth than in calf any day. Buckram is good and stands fairly ...
— The Book-Hunter at Home • P. B. M. Allan

... outside may be planed and painted; but it is doubtful whether strict economy would demand it. Yet a painted hive appears so much better, that it ought to be done, especially as the paint adds almost enough to its durability to pay the expense. The color may be whatever fancy dictates; the moth will not probably be attracted by one color more than another. White is affected the least by the sun in hot weather. Lime is put on as white-wash, annually, by many, ...
— Mysteries of Bee-keeping Explained • M. Quinby

... Head, an eminence of about 150 feet, is the little port of Pentewan, noted for its elvan building stone, which is shipped, together with some china-clay, from its excellent small harbour. Pentewan stone has a good name for hardness and durability; its qualities are well shown in the tower of St. Austell Church. In the tin works here, carried on at some depth below sea-level, were found horns of the Irish elk, not petrified, but completely metallised by the tin ore; also definite traces of buried forest. It ...
— The Cornwall Coast • Arthur L. Salmon

... duration.] Diuturnity. — N. diuturnity[obs3]; a long time, a length of time; an age, a century, an eternity; slowness &c. 275; perpetuity &c. 112; blue moon, coon's age [U.S.], dog's age. durableness, durability; persistence, endlessness, lastingness &c. adj[obs3].; continuance, standing; permanence &c. (stability) 150 survival, survivance[obs3]; longevity &c. (age) 128; distance of time. protraction of time, prolongation of time, extension of time; delay &c. (lateness) ...
— Roget's Thesaurus

... platinum-iridium lamps, he had been working all the time toward the proposition of high resistance and small radiating surface, until he had made a lamp having thirty feet of fine platinum wire wound upon a small bobbin of infusible material; but the desired economy, simplicity, and durability were not obtained in this manner, although at all times the burner was maintained at a critically high temperature. After attaining a high degree of perfection with these lamps, he recognized their impracticable character, and his ...
— Edison, His Life and Inventions • Frank Lewis Dyer and Thomas Commerford Martin

... honor to the most attenuated intellect? Now just stop and think of it. Just think of one thousand able-bodied men (1,000 is a good many men) quietly standing around waiting for Sampson to knock them on the head with a bone! And how does the durability of ...
— Men, Women, and Gods - And Other Lectures • Helen H. Gardener

... rapid-growing tree nearly always produces cheap effects. This is well illustrated in the common planting of willows and poplars about summer places or lake shores. Their effect is almost wholly one of thinness and temporariness. There is little that suggests strength or durability in willows and poplars, and for this reason they should usually be employed as minor or secondary features in ornamental or home grounds. When quick results are desired, nothing is better to plant than these trees; but better trees, as maples, oaks, or elms, should be planted ...
— Manual of Gardening (Second Edition) • L. H. Bailey

... native shore and conceived the idea of building around his palace a water village. All foundations were made of strong aluminum-like substance mixed with molten granite which, upon hardening, formed a compound of marvelous lightness and durability. With painstaking care and unceasing energy the water village was transformed from a fanciful dream into a tangible reality, and in process of time one section after another was added until a veritable city floated on ...
— Life in a Thousand Worlds • William Shuler Harris

... to resist the effects of the heavy rains, and the splashy cultivation of the rice than the bullock. The female is also infinitely more valuable than the cow, from the very much greater quantity of milk she yields." The hide is also much valued for its strength and durability. ...
— Delineations of the Ox Tribe • George Vasey

... valuable trees are the white oak, and its close kin, the red oak, which produce a brown-colored, hard wood of remarkable durability. The white oak is the monarch of the forest, as it lives very long and is larger and stronger than the majority of its associates. The timber is used for railroad ties, furniture, and in general construction ...
— The School Book of Forestry • Charles Lathrop Pack

... not choose to awaken themselves from within, all that is left for us is to hope that they may be awakened from without, or by some radical revulsion in public taste be shown their own real value and durability, and compelled to be true and manly under pain of being laughed at and forgotten. A general war might, amid all its inevitable horrors, sweep away at once the dyspeptic unbelief, the insincere bigotry, the effeminate frivolity ...
— Literary and General Lectures and Essays • Charles Kingsley

... wood usually for lintels, a wood remarkable for its solidity and durability. It may safely be said that the lintel of wood was the rule in Yucatan, and not the exception. While they understood the use of the stone lintel, which alone was capable of affording a durable structure, ...
— Houses and House-Life of the American Aborigines • Lewis H. Morgan

... this has also resulted in vastly increased wear and tear and the rapid deterioration and destruction of the wire rope. The flexible girder system so reduces the "sag" that the maximum economy and durability are obtained, and the gradients over which the load has to travel can be made as easy and regular as those upon an ordinary railway. This advantage will be the more readily appreciated when it is considered that with a given load on a gradient of 1 in 30 the resistance due ...
— Scientific American Supplement, No. 595, May 28, 1887 • Various

... is one of our important points, as we gain strength and durability, and a perfect ...
— The Bay State Monthly, Volume 3, No. 6 • Various

... Carraway's parlor vases were turned into receptacles for matches, or papers, according to their size. The huge Satsuma vase became a more or less satisfactory bill-file; and the cloisonne jar, by virtue of its great durability, Mr. Carraway used as a receptacle for the family golf-balls, much to the trepidation of his good wife, who considered that the vase, like some women, had in its beauty a sufficient cause for existence, and who would have preferred going without ...
— The Booming of Acre Hill - And Other Reminiscences of Urban and Suburban Life • John Kendrick Bangs

... still to prove good for the usual date of a new house. They put such an immense and stalwart ponderosity into their frameworks, that I suppose a house of Elizabeth's time, if renewed, has at least an equal chance of durability with one that is new in every part. All the hotels in Coventry, so far as I noticed them, are old, with new fronts; and they have an archway for the admission of vehicles into the court-yard, and doors opening into the rooms of ...
— Passages From the English Notebooks, Complete • Nathaniel Hawthorne

... of the store dwelt on the merits of the suit, its style, its durability, the perfect fit. He covered his subject with artistic thoroughness. Then, reluctantly, he confided in a whisper the price at which he was going to ...
— The Big-Town Round-Up • William MacLeod Raine

... destined to exercise on the course resources, that it is of history a great and lasting obviously destined to make a influence. The slowness of her great and lasting impression on progress only renders her human affairs. Its (50) progress durability more probable. The has been slow, but (5) it[37] is Russian Empire has not, like the only on that account the more empires of Alexander the Great and likely to be durable. (5) It has Napoleon, been ...
— How to Write Clearly - Rules and Exercises on English Composition • Edwin A. Abbott

... words regarding papers and documents, intended for preservation, will not be amiss. Improved processes of manufacture have certainly had no beneficial influence on the durability of the products, and while inks and papers have become greatly reduced in price and apparently improved in quality, it is very doubtful if much of our book learning and many of our written instruments will go down to future generations. Even fifty years will suffice to decompose many an attractive ...
— Disputed Handwriting • Jerome B. Lavay

... lost in the vast circuit of the columns of Luxor and Karnak. As one passes them by moonlight on the smooth stream, they seem, it is said, the palaces of giants. One temple was a mile and a half in circumference. The Pyramids exceed all other buildings in strength, height, and durability. Some of them are four or five ...
— Harper's Young People, October 5, 1880 - An Illustrated Weekly • Various

... have mercy and deal justly with four millions of people but lately translated from the old oligarchy of slavery to the new commonwealth of freedom; and upon the right solution of this question depends in a large measure the future strength, progress, and durability of our nation. The most important question before us colored people is not simply what the Democratic party may do against us or the Republican party do for us; but what are we going to do for ourselves? What shall we do towards ...
— Masterpieces of Negro Eloquence - The Best Speeches Delivered by the Negro from the days of - Slavery to the Present Time • Various

... by the pyramids in the Lodge? A. Pyramids were used by our Egyptian brethren, for Masonic purposes. Being built on rocks, they shadow forth the durability of Masonry. Their bases were four-cornered, their external surfaces equilateral triangles, pointing to the four cardinal points. The pyramidical form is also intended to remind us of our mortality. Its broad base represents the commencement, and its termination in a ...
— The Mysteries of Free Masonry - Containing All the Degrees of the Order Conferred in a Master's Lodge • William Morgan

... little or no value, instead of being destroyed, as they often are, for their bones, may be boiled down and mixed with the flour which all such countries produce, and so converted into a substance of such durability that it may be preserved with the greatest ease, and sent to distant countries; it seems as if a new means of subsistence was actually offered to us. Take the Argentine Republic, take Australia, and consider what they do with their ...
— Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 460 - Volume 18, New Series, October 23, 1852 • Various

... may be said to consist of its territory, its people, and its laws. The territory is the only part which is of certain durability. 'One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh, but the Earth abideth forever.' It is of the first importance to duly consider and estimate this ...
— The Great Conspiracy, Complete • John Alexander Logan

... things alone move, but moves itself; its value is changeable,—fluctuating from time to time according to the relation of supply and demand, and from place to place according to the perturbations of the trade of the world. Moreover, its very preeminence of function—the universality and the durability of its worth—renders it peculiarly sensitive to accidental influences, or to influences outside of the usual workings of trade. A great war or revolution occurring anywhere, the loss by tempests or frosts of an important ...
— Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 1, No. 4, February, 1858 • Various

... therefore necessarily of a dependent nature; its durability arises from its perfect correspondence with its environment. Whatever can affect that ...
— History of the Intellectual Development of Europe, Volume I (of 2) - Revised Edition • John William Draper

... corrupting his readers, attempting to corrupt them, or relying for his effect upon corruptions already effected, in the purity of their affections, is a hideous object; and that must be a precarious influence indeed which depends for its durability upon the licentiousness of men. Wieland, therefore, except in parts, will not last as a national idol; but such he was nevertheless for ...
— Biographical Essays • Thomas de Quincey

... arisen for soap of free lathering qualities, which has become very popular for general household use. This soap is usually made from a mixture of cotton-seed oil, tallow, and cocoa-nut oil, with a varying amount of rosin. The tallow yields firmness and durability whilst the other constituents all assist in the more ready production of a ...
— The Handbook of Soap Manufacture • W. H. Simmons

... disadvantage of greater weight would be more than compensated by the greater endurance of his Arabs. Speaking generally, the carriage-makers of Rome built for the games almost solely, sacrificing safety to beauty, and durability to grace; while the chariots of Achilles and "the king of men," designed for war and all its extreme tests, still ruled the tastes of those who met and struggled for ...
— Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ • Lew Wallace

... the coast and is a fine large tree, clothed like the arbor-vitae in a glorious wealth of flat, feathery branches. The other is found here and there well up toward the edge of the timberline. This is the fine Alaska cedar (C. Nootkatensis), the lumber from which is noted for its durability, fineness of grain, and beautiful yellow color, and for its fragrance, which resembles that of sandalwood. The Alaska Indians make their canoe paddles of it and weave matting and coarse cloth from ...
— Steep Trails • John Muir

... Constitution inherited from our fathers. It follows, therefore, that in admitting to the ballot box a new class of voters not qualified for the exercise of the elective franchise we weaken our system of government instead of adding to its strength and durability. ...
— A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents - Section 2 (of 2) of Volume 6: Andrew Johnson • James D. Richardson



Words linked to "Durability" :   everlastingness, lastingness, continuity, durable, enduringness, indestructibility, tensile strength, persistence, permanence, permanency, changelessness



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