<B>cittern, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an old instrument somewhat like the guitar, with a flat soundbox, strung with wire strings, and played with a plectrum or quill, much used in the 1500's and 1600's. </DL>
<A NAME="city">
<B>city, </B>noun, pl. <B>cities,</B> adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a large and important town. <BR> <I>Ex. The farmers near the city take most of the produce there to sell it.</I> (SYN) metropolis. <DD><B> 2. </B>a division of local government in the United States, having a charter from the state that fixes its boundaries and powers. A city is usually governed by a mayor and a board of aldermen, a group of commissioners, or a city manager and a board of councilmen. (SYN) municipality. <DD><B> 3. </B>a division of local government in Canada of the highest class. (SYN) municipality. <DD><B> 4. </B>a borough in Great Britain, usually the seat of a bishop, which has been given the rank of "city" by royal authority. <DD><B> 5. </B>the people living in a city. <BR> <I>Ex. The city was alarmed by the great fire.</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>a city-state, such as in ancient Greece and Renaissance Italy. <DD><B> 7. </B>(U.S. Slang.) state, condition, situation, etc., as in <BR> <I>Ex. weird city, serious city, fat city. "I get on a talk show, I get talking and whoa! Trouble city!" (Richard Dreyfuss).</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>of a city. <BR> <I>Ex. City government is more complicated than that of a small town.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>in a city. <BR> <I>Ex. Many country people find it hard to adjust to city life.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>the City,</B> </I>the business, financial, and judicial district of London. <BR> <I>Ex. While the City represents the British way of life, it is not responsible for it, and certainly not in charge of it. Even Whitehall has to tread delicately in this matter (Punch).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="cityarticle">
<B>city article,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (British.) an article in a newspaper on commercial or financial matters. </DL>
<A NAME="citybilly">
<B>citybilly, </B>noun, pl. <B>-lies.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S. Slang.) <DD><B> 1. </B>a musician who performs country music mostly in large towns or cities. <DD><B> 2. </B>a city-dweller who is a devotee of country music. </DL>
<A NAME="citycouncil">
<B>city council,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the governing body of a city. </DL>
<A NAME="citydesk">
<B>city desk,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the desk or authority of a city editor. </DL>
<A NAME="cityedition">
<B>city edition,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the local edition of a metropolitan newspaper, as distinguished from editions designed for the suburbs or other cities. </DL>
<A NAME="cityeditor">
<B>city editor,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>(U.S.) the newspaper editor in charge of collecting and editing local news. <DD><B> 2. </B>(British.) the newspaper editor of City news (that is, news of the financial and commercial activities, especially of London). </DL>
<A NAME="cityfathers">
<B>city fathers,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> councilmen, aldermen, magistrates, or other leading citizens of a city. </DL>
<B>city hall,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the headquarters of the officials, bureaus, and other departments of a city government. <BR> <I>Ex. The mayor's office is in city hall.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>the officials of a municipal government collectively. <BR> <I>Ex. You can't fight city hall and win.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="cityman">
<B>city man</B> or <B>City man,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (British.) <DD><B> 1. </B>a businessman; financier. <DD><B> 2. </B>a person engaged in business in the City. </DL>
<A NAME="citymanager">
<B>city manager,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a person hired by a city council to manage the government of a city. </DL>
<A NAME="cityofbrotherlylove">
<B>City of Brotherly Love,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> Philadelphia. </DL>
<A NAME="cityofdavid">
<B>City of David,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>Jerusalem. <DD><B> 2. </B>Bethlehem. </DL>
<A NAME="cityofgod">
<B>City of God,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> heaven. </DL>
<A NAME="cityofrefuge">
<B>city of refuge,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (in Mosaic law) any one of six cities to which a person who had accidentally slain a human being might flee for refuge. </DL>
<A NAME="cityofsevenhills">
<B>City of Seven Hills,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> Rome. </DL>
<A NAME="cityplanner">
<B>city planner,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a person who is in charge of directing the work of city planning; urbanist. </DL>
<A NAME="cityplanning">
<B>city planning,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the planning of the development of a city by proposing the location of buildings, parks, streets, and services, and the type of occupancy to be permitted in various areas. </DL>
<A NAME="cityroom">
<B>city room,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the room or office of a newspaper assigned to a city editor and his staff. </DL>
<A NAME="cityscape">
<B>cityscape, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a view of the scenery of a city. <BR> <I>Ex. a stirring cityscape, the asphalt cityscape.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a picture showing a city or a city scene. <BR> <I>Ex. The earlier group is made up of near-abstract, transcendental cityscapes, canvases on whose rough surfaces cobwebs of paint cross and recross each other (New York Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="cityslicker">
<B>city slicker,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) a man who lives in the city, especially one who is regarded as sly and trickyin a polished, urbane way, especially by a person living in the country. <BR> <I>Ex. He went to bed convinced that ... he had made himself a bundle and had demonstrated how a poor Southern boy could teach the city slickers a lesson (New Yorker).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="citystate">
<B>city-state, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an independent state consisting of a city and the territories depending on it. Athens was a city-state in ancient Greece. Florence was a city-state in Renaissance Italy. <BR> <I>Ex. At one time, it [Thebes] was the most powerful city-state in all Greece (Donald W. Bradeen).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="cityward">
<B>cityward, </B>adverb, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> toward the city. <BR> <I>Ex. We drove cityward in the morning (adv.). We drove in cityward traffic in the morning (adj.).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="citywards">
<B>citywards, </B>adverb. <B>=cityward.</B></DL>
<A NAME="citywide">
<B>citywide, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> covering an entire city; over all of a city. <BR> <I>Ex. a citywide vote.</I> </DL>
<B>civet, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a yellowish substance produced by certain glands near the tail of the civet cat. It has a musky odor and is used in making perfume. <DD><B> 2a. </B><B>=civet cat.</B> <DD><B> b. </B>the fur of the civet cat. </DL>
<A NAME="civetcat">
<B>civet cat,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a small, spotted mammal of Africa and Asia, having glands that produce civet. Civet cats are carnivorous. <DD><B> 2. </B>any one of certain similar or related animals. </DL>
<A NAME="civetone">
<B>civetone, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the ketone that is responsible for the characteristic odor of civet, used in making perfume. </DL>
<A NAME="civic">
<B>civic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>of a city. <BR> <I>Ex. My father is interested in civic affairs and will be a candidate for mayor.</I> <DD><B> 2a. </B>of citizenship. <BR> <I>Ex. Every person has some civic duties, such as obeying laws, voting, and paying taxes.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>civil; civilian. <DD><B> 3. </B>of citizens. adv. <B>civically.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="civiccenter">
<B>civic center,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a government-owned auditorium or theater, for use by various groups or organizations in a community. <DD><B> 2. </B>a building or group of buildings, including the city hall, courts, and other government departments, usually located near the center of the city. <DD><B> 3. </B>the headquarters of various departments of city government. </DL>
<A NAME="civicism">
<B>civicism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>civic spirit or condition. <DD><B> 2. </B>the principles of civic rights and duties. </DL>
<A NAME="civicminded">
<B>civic-minded, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having the interest of the community in mind; concerned with civic matters. noun <B>civic-mindedness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="civics">
<B>civics, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the study of the duties, rights, and privileges of citizens. </DL>
<A NAME="civies">
<B>civies, </B>noun pl.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) civilian clothes (as opposed to military uniform). Also, <B>civvies.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="civil">
<B>civil, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1a. </B>of a citizen or citizens; having to do with citizens. <BR> <I>Ex. The government must protect the civil rights of its citizens. Serving as a juror is one of the civil duties of everybody.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>of the nature of a citizen. <BR> <I>Ex. a civil man, a civil creature.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>of or having to do with the government, state, or nation. <BR> <I>Ex. Police departments are civil institutions to help and protect local citizens.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>occurring among citizens of one community, state, or nation. <BR> <I>Ex. High taxes and corruption in government have been the cause of civil strife in much of man's history.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>not military, naval, or connected with the church. <BR> <I>Ex. The accused soldier was tried in a civil rather than a military court.</I> <DD> See also <B>civil marriage.</B> <DD><B> 5. </B>polite; courteous; behaving in a civilized way (as a citizen should). <BR> <I>Ex. The boy pointed out our road in a civil way. His cool manner this morning was barely civil.</I> (SYN) respectful, gracious, affable, urbane. <DD><B> 6. </B>having to do with the private rights of individuals and with the laws protecting these rights. Civil lawsuits deal with such things as contracts, ownership of property, and payment for personal injury. <DD><B> 7. </B>of citizens in their private capacity; personal; individual. <BR> <I>Ex. Slaves have no civil liberty (Edward W. Lane).</I> <DD><B> 8. </B>befitting or becoming a citizen; reasonable. <BR> <I>Ex. It was civil, in the Roman sense, to mingle in the amusements of the citizens (Charles Merivale).</I> <DD><B> 9. </B>marked by or having the organizations that characterize civilized life; enjoying the benefits of civilization; civilized. <BR> <I>Ex. as in civil, so in barbarous states (Robert Southey).</I> <DD><B> 10. </B>(of divisions of time) legally recognized for ordinary purposes. <BR> <I>Ex. the civil day of 24 hours, the civil year of 365 days.</I> <DD><B> 11. </B>of or in accordance with Roman civil law, or civil law derived from it. </DL>
