Default ———- When a value, parameter, attribute, or option is assigned by a communications program, modem, or online system unless something else is specified, it is called the default.
— from The Online World by Odd De Presno

This was so absurd a sight that the people ran out in crowds to laugh at it, and chaffed the Father and Son unmercifully, some even calling them lunatics.
— from Aesop's Fables; a new translation by Aesop

"Drams and cordial waters were to be had only at coffee houses newly set up," says Elford
— from All About Coffee by William H. (William Harrison) Ukers

M. de Roquelaure was notable for his lofty figure and his assiduity at the Academy; through the glass door of the neighboring hall of the library where the French Academy then held its meetings, the curious could, on every Tuesday, contemplate the Ex-Bishop of Senlis, usually standing erect, freshly powdered, in violet hose, with his back turned to the door, apparently for the purpose of allowing a better view of his little collar.
— from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

SYN: Try, endeavor, strive, undertake, seek, essay, attack, violate, force.
— from A Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and Antonyms or, Synonyms and Words of Opposite Meaning by Samuel Fallows

Sequemur [6] igitur hoc quidem tempore et hac in quaestione potissimum Stoicos non ut interpretes, sed, ut solemus, e fontibus eorum iudicio arbitrioque nostro, quantum quoque modo videbitur, hauriemus.
— from De Officiis by Marcus Tullius Cicero

There must be left over and above the propositions to be subscribed, ubique, semper, et ab omnibus , another realm into which the stifled soul may escape from pedantic scruples and indulge its own faith at its own risks; and all that can here be done will be to mark out distinctly the questions which fall within faith's sphere.
— from The Will to Believe, and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy by William James

A weaver cannot apply himself entirely to his peculiar business, unless there is before-hand stored up somewhere, either in his own possession, or in that of some other person, a stock sufficient to maintain him, and to supply him with the materials and tools of his work, till he has not only completed, but sold his web.
— from An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith

But such undercurrents still existed among the people and gathered new forces ready to manifest themselves just as strangely, unexpectedly, and at the same time simply, naturally, and forcibly.
— from War and Peace by Tolstoy, Leo, graf

Umbe , prep. about, around, WA, S; ummbenn , S; embe , S.—AS.
— from A Concise Dictionary of Middle English from A.D. 1150 to 1580 by A. L. (Anthony Lawson) Mayhew

As the Princesses grew up, their gifts likewise grew with them, so that everybody spoke about the beauty of the one and the cleverness of the other; but also their defects grew, so that it could not but be noticed that the younger was daily uglier, and the elder day by day became more stupid, until she either said nothing in reply to a question, or something quite silly, and so clumsy was she that she could not arrange four china ornaments on the chimney piece without breaking one, or drink a glass of water without spilling half of it on her frock.
— from My Book of Favourite Fairy Tales by Edric Vredenburg

Der Hinterrand ist von der Mitte an bis zum Aussenrand schwarz, und zwar wird diese dunkle Parthie auswärts breiter; ungefähr in der Flügelmitte geht vom Aussenrand ein viereckiger, dunkler Fleck aus, welcher dieselbe Grösse, Form und Stellung hat, wie der schwarze Fleck bei Pieris Daplidice; ein zweiter kleinerer, rundlicher Fleck liegt näher dem Hinter-und Nahtrande und entspricht dem, an derselben Stelle liegenden, Flecken der Unterseite von Pieris Daplidice.—Am Flügelgrunde bemerkt man den Schenkel und Schiene eines dünnen Beines, das wohl diesem Thiere angehört hat.
— from Fossil Butterflies Memoirs of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, I. by Samuel Hubbard Scudder

I have often heard men of twenty-five sending their slaves upon some errand “to the old woman,” who was not probably more than eighteen years old.
— from Travels and Adventures of Monsieur Violet by Frederick Marryat

"They'll see us soon enough.
— from In Search of the Okapi A Story of Adventure in Central Africa by Ernest Glanville

You knew her well—the soft one; the tender one, who was always so pliable, so unselfish, so easily led,—she would not yield!
— from The Fugitives: The Tyrant Queen of Madagascar by R. M. (Robert Michael) Ballantyne

You came here, sir, I suppose, upon some errand?
— from The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition, Vol. 15 by Robert Louis Stevenson

"Well, Gawd be praised dat ole Shanghai gib me warnin' of comp'ny comin' an' I done stirred my stumps an' straightened up some, efn my room's goin' ter git its Dager'type took," and Aunt Rosana's flesh quivered with delight.
— from At Boarding School with the Tucker Twins by Nell Speed

I'm only glad I got him sewed up soon enough, but my business ends there."
— from A Dream of the North Sea by James Runciman