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riot |
5 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Riot \Ri"ot\, n. [OF. riote, of uncertain origin; cf OD revot, ravot.] 1. Wanton or unrestrained behavior; uproar; tumult. His headstrong riot hath no curb. --Shak. 2. Excessive and exxpensive feasting; wild and loose festivity; revelry. Venus loveth riot and dispense. --Chaucer. The lamb thy riot dooms to bleed to-day. --Pope. 3. (Law) The tumultuous disturbance of the public peace by an unlawful assembly of three or more persons in the execution of some private object. {To run riot}, to act wantonly or without restraint. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Riot \Ri"ot\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Rioted}; p. pr & vb n. {Rioting}.] [OF. rioter; cf OD ravotten.] 1. To engage in riot; to act in an unrestrained or wanton manner; to indulge in excess of luxury, feasting, or the like to revel; to run riot; to go to excess. Now he exact of all wastes in delight, Riots in pleasure, and neglects the law. --Daniel. No pulse that riots, and no blood that glows. --Pope. 2. (Law) To disturb the peace; to raise an uproar or sedition. See {Riot}, n., 3. --Johnson. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Riot \Ri"ot\, v. t. To spend or pass in riot. [He] had rioted his life out --Tennyson. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: riot n 1: a public act of violence by an unruly mob [syn: {public violence}] 2: a state of disorder involving group violence [syn: {rioting}] 3: a joke that seems extremely funny [syn: {belly laugh}, {sidesplitter}, {howler}, {thigh-slapper}, {scream}, {wow}] 4: a wild gathering involving excessive drinking and promiscuity [syn: {orgy}, {debauch}, {debauchery}, {saturnalia}, {bacchanal}, {bacchanalia}, {drunken revelry}] v 1: take part in a riot; disturb the public peace by engaging in a riot; "Students were rioting everywhere in 1968" 2: engage in boisterous, drunken merry-making; "They were out carousing last night" [syn: {carouse}, {roister}] From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]: RIOT, n. A popular entertainment given to the military by innocent bystanders. R.I.P. A careless abbreviation of _requiescat in pace_, attesting to indolent goodwill to the dead. According to the learned Dr Drigge, however, the letters originally meant nothing more than _reductus in pulvis_.
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