General

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  General \Gen"er*al\, a. [F. g['e]n['e]ral, fr. L. generalis. See
     {Genus}.]
     1. Relating to a genus or kind; pertaining to a whole class
        or order; as, a general law of animal or vegetable
        economy.
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     2. Comprehending many species or individuals; not special or
        particular; including all particulars; as, a general
        inference or conclusion.
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     3. Not restrained or limited to a precise import; not
        specific; vague; indefinite; lax in signification; as, a
        loose and general expression.
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     4. Common to many, or the greatest number; widely spread;
        prevalent; extensive, though not universal; as, a general
        opinion; a general custom.
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              This general applause and cheerful shout
              Argue your wisdom and your love to Richard. --Shak.
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     5. Having a relation to all; common to the whole; as, Adam,
        our general sire. --Milton.
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     6. As a whole; in gross; for the most part.
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              His general behavior vain, ridiculous. --Shak.
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     7. Usual; common, on most occasions; as, his general habit or
        method.
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     Note: The word general, annexed to a name of office, usually
           denotes chief or superior; as, attorney-general;
           adjutant general; commissary general; quartermaster
           general; vicar-general, etc.
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     {General agent} (Law), an agent whom a principal employs to
        transact all his business of a particular kind, or to act
        in his affairs generally.
  
     {General assembly}. See the Note under {Assembly}.
  
     {General average}, {General Court}. See under {Average},
        {Court}.
  
     {General court-martial} (Mil.), the highest military and
        naval judicial tribunal.
  
     {General dealer} (Com.), a shopkeeper who deals in all
        articles in common use.
  
     {General demurrer} (Law), a demurrer which objects to a
        pleading in general terms, as insufficient, without
        specifying the defects. --Abbott.
  
     {General epistle}, a canonical epistle.
  
     {General guides} (Mil.), two sergeants (called the right, and
        the left, general guide) posted opposite the right and
        left flanks of an infantry battalion, to preserve accuracy
        in marching. --Farrow.
  
     {General hospitals} (Mil.), hospitals established to receive
        sick and wounded sent from the field hospitals. --Farrow.
  
     {General issue} (Law), an issue made by a general plea, which
        traverses the whole declaration or indictment at once,
        without offering any special matter to evade it.
        --Bouvier. --Burrill.
  
     {General lien} (Law), a right to detain a chattel, etc.,
        until payment is made of any balance due on a general
        account.
  
     {General officer} (Mil.), any officer having a rank above
        that of colonel.
  
     {General orders} (Mil.), orders from headquarters published
        to the whole command.
  
     {General practitioner}, in the United States, one who
        practices medicine in all its branches without confining
        himself to any specialty; in England, one who practices
        both as physician and as surgeon.
  
     {General ship}, a ship not chartered or let to particular
        parties.
  
     {General term} (Logic), a term which is the sign of a general
        conception or notion.
  
     {General verdict} (Law), the ordinary comprehensive verdict
        in civil actions, "for the plaintiff" or "for the
        defendant". --Burrill.
  
     {General warrant} (Law), a warrant, now illegal, to apprehend
        suspected persons, without naming individuals.
  
     Syn: Syn. {General}, {Common}, {Universal}.
  
     Usage: Common denotes primarily that in which many share; and
            hence, that which is often met with. General is
            stronger, denoting that which pertains to a majority
            of the individuals which compose a genus, or whole.
            Universal, that which pertains to all without
            exception. To be able to read and write is so common
            an attainment in the United States, that we may
            pronounce it general, though by no means universal.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  General \Gen"er*al\, n. [F. g['e]n['e]ral. See {General}., a.]
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     1. The whole; the total; that which comprehends or relates to
        all, or the chief part; -- opposed to particular.
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              In particulars our knowledge begins, and so spreads
              itself by degrees to generals.        --Locke.
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     2. (Mil.) One of the chief military officers of a government
        or country; the commander of an army, of a body of men not
        less than a brigade. In European armies, the highest
        military rank next below field marshal.
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     Note: In the United States the office of General of the Army
           has been created by temporary laws, and has been held
           only by Generals U. S. Grant, W. T. Sherman, and P. H.
           Sheridan. Popularly, the title General is given to
           various general officers, as General, Lieutenant
           general, Major general, Brigadier general, Commissary
           general, etc. See {Brigadier general}, {Lieutenant
           general}, {Major general}, in the Vocabulary.
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     3. (Mil.) The roll of the drum which calls the troops
        together; as, to beat the general.
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     4. (Eccl.) The chief of an order of monks, or of all the
        houses or congregations under the same rule.
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     5. The public; the people; the vulgar. [Obs.] --Shak.
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     {In general}, in the main; for the most part.
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From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  general
       adj 1: applying to all or most members of a category or group; "the
              general public"; "general assistance"; "a general
              rule"; "in general terms"; "comprehensible to the
              general reader" [ant: {specific}]
       2: not specialized or limited to one class of things; "general
          studies"; "general knowledge"
       3: of national scope; "a general election"
       4: prevailing among and common to the general public; "the
          general discontent"
       5: affecting the entire body; "a general anesthetic"; "general
          symptoms" [ant: {local}]
       6: somewhat indefinite; "bearing a general resemblance to the
          original"; "a general description of the merchandise"
       7: of worldwide scope or applicability; "an issue of
          cosmopolitan import"; "the shrewdest political and
          ecumenical comment of our time"- Christopher Morley;
          "universal experience" [syn: {cosmopolitan}, {ecumenical},
           {oecumenical}, {universal}, {worldwide}]
       n 1: a general officer of the highest rank [syn: {full general}]
       2: the head of a religious order or congregation [syn: {superior
          general}]
       3: a fact about the whole (as opposed to particular); "he
          discussed the general but neglected the particular" [ant:
          {particular}, {particular}]
       v : command as a general; "We are generaled by an incompetent!"

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  256 Moby Thesaurus words for "general":
     ADC, Babbittish, CO, OD, Philistine, abstract, accepted,
     accustomed, across the board, aide, aide-de-camp, aleatoric,
     aleatory, all-inclusive, amorphous, approximate, ascendant,
     associated, assorted, at the head, bland, blanket, blended, blobby,
     blurred, blurry, boss, bourgeois, brigadier, brigadier general,
     broad, campy, captain, casual, catholic, chance, chancy, chaotic,
     chicken colonel, chief, chief of staff, civic, civil, collective,
     collectivistic, colonel, combined, commandant, commander,
     commander in chief, commanding, commanding officer,
     commissioned officer, common, commonplace, communal, communistic,
     community, commutual, company officer, composite, comprehensive,
     confused, conjoint, controlling, cooperative, cosmopolitan,
     customary, disordered, diversified, dominant, encyclopedic,
     everyday, exec, executive officer, extended, extensive, familiar,
     featureless, field marshal, field officer, first lieutenant,
     five-star general, foggy, four-star general, fuzzy,
     general officer, generalissimo, generalized, generic, global,
     governing, habitual, hazy, head, hegemonic, hegemonistic,
     heterogeneous, high-camp, hit-or-miss, homely, homespun, humdrum,
     hybrid, ill-defined, imprecise, imprudent, in ascendancy,
     in charge, in chief, in common, in the ascendant, inaccurate,
     inchoate, inclusive, incoherent, indecisive, indefinable,
     indefinite, indeterminable, indeterminate, indiscreet,
     indiscriminate, indiscriminative, indistinct, inexact, insensitive,
     international, jemadar, joint, junior officer, kitschy, lax,
     leading, lieutenant, lieutenant colonel, lieutenant general, loose,
     low-camp, major, major general, marechal, marshal, master,
     miscellaneous, mixed, mongrel, mutual, national, natural,
     naturalistic, naturistic, nebulous, neutral, nonjudgmental,
     nonspecific, normal, obscure, officer, one-star general, orderless,
     orderly, orderly officer, ordinary, overall, panoramic, paramount,
     plebeian, pop, popular, predominant, predominate, prepollent,
     preponderant, preponderate, prepotent, prevailing, prevalent,
     promiscuous, public, random, realistic, reciprocal, regnant,
     regular, regulating, regulative, regulatory, reigning, risaldar,
     routine, ruling, run-of-the-mill, senior officer, shadowed forth,
     shadowy, shapeless, shared, shavetail, sirdar, social, socialistic,
     societal, sovereign, staff officer, state, stochastic, subahdar,
     subaltern, sublieutenant, supranational, supreme, sweeping,
     tactless, the Old Man, the brass, three-star general, top brass,
     two-star general, typical, uncharacterized, unclear, uncritical,
     uncriticizing, undefined, undemanding, undestined, undetermined,
     undifferentiated, undifferentiating, undiscreet, undiscriminating,
     undiscriminative, uneventful, unexacting, unexceptional,
     unfastidious, universal, unmeticulous, unparticular, unplain,
     unrestricted, unselective, unspecific, unspecified, unsubtle,
     untactful, usual, vague, veiled, vernacular, vulgar, wholesale,
     wide, widespread, worldwide
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  GENERAL. This word has several meanings, namely: 1. A principal officer, 
  particularly in the army. 2. Something opposed to special; as, a general 
  verdict, the general issue, which expressions are used in contradistinction 
  to special verdict, special issue. 3. Principal, as the general post office. 
  4. Not select, as a general ship. (q. v.) 5. Not particular, as a general 
  custom. 6. Not limited, as general jurisdiction. 7. This word is sometimes 
  annexed or prefixed to other words to express or limit the extent of their 
  signification; as Attorney General, Solicitor General, the General Assembly, 
  &c.