Chapter Economy of Nature to Edyrn of E by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Edge (Anglo-Saxon, ecg.)
   Not to put too fine an edge upon it. Not to mince the matter; to speak plainly.

"He is, not to put too fine an edge upon it, a thorough scoundrel." - Lowell.

   To be on edge. To be very eager or impatient.
   To set one's teeth on edge. To give one the horrors; to induce a tingling or grating sensation in one's teeth, as from acids or harsh noises.

"I had rather hear a brazen canstick turned,
Or a dry wheel grate on the axle-tree;
And that would set my teeth nothing on edge,
Nothing so much as mincing poetry."
Shakespeare: 1 Henry IV., iii. 1.

Edge Away (To). To move away very gradually, as a ship moves from the edge of the shore. Often called egg. (Anglo-Saxon, ecg, an edge; ecg-clif, is a sea cliff.)

Edge-bone (See Aitch-Bone .)

Edge on (See Egg on .)

Edge of the Sword    To fall by the edge of the sword. By a cut from the sword; in battle.

Edgewise One cannot get in a word edgewise. The [conversation is so engrossed by others] that there is no getting in a word.

Edged Tools It is dangerous to play with edged tools. It is dangerous to tamper with mischief or anything that may bring you into trouble.

Edhilingi The aristocratic class among the Anglo-Saxons; the second rank were termed the Frilingi; and the third the Lazzi, (Anglo-Saxon, ædele or edele, noble; free-ling, free-born. Ricardo says of the third class, they were the "unwilling to work, the dull" - quos hodie lazie dicimus.)

Edict of Milan Proclaimed by Constantine, after the conquest of Italy (313), to secure to Christians the restitution of their civil and religious rights.

Edict of Nantes An edict published by Henri IV. of France, granting toleration to his Protestant subjects. It was published from Nantes in 1598, but repealed in 1685 by Louis XIV.

Edie Ochiltree In Scott's Antiquary.

"Charles II. would be as sceptical as Edie Ochiltree about the existence of circles and avenues, altar- stones and cromlechs." - Knight: Old England.

Edify is to build a house (Latin, ædes-facio); morally, to build instruction in the mind methodically, like an architect. The Scripture word edification means the building-up of "believers" in grace and holiness. St. Paul says, "Ye are God's building," and elsewhere he carries out the figure more fully, saying -

"All the building [or body of Christians], fitly framed together, groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord." - Eph. ii. 21.

Ediles (2 syl.). Roman officers who had charge of the streets, bridges, aqueducts, temples, and city buildings generally. We call our surveyors city ediles sometimes. (Latin, ædes, a house.)

Edith called the Maid of Lorn (Argyleshire), was about to be married to Lord Ronald, when Robert, Edward, and Isabel Bruce, tempest-tossed, sought shelter at the castle. Edith's brother recognised the Bruce, and being in the English interest, a quarrel ensued, in the course of which the abbot arrived, but refused to marry the bridal pair amidst such discord. Edith fled, and, assuming the character of a page, passed through divers adventures. At length Robert Bruce won the battle of Bannockburn, and when peace was restored Ronald married the "Maid of Lorn." (Scott: Lord of the Isles.)

Ednam in Roxburghshire, near the Tweed, where Thomson, the author of The Seasons, was born.

"The Tweed, pure parent-stream,
Whose pastoral banks first heard my Doric reed."
Autumn (888-9).

Edobe (2 syl.). Edobe cottages are those made of sun-dried bricks, like the buildings of ancient Egypt.