federaladj.n.
/ˈfɛd(ə)rəl/, /ˈfɛd(ə)rl̩/, U.S. /ˈfɛd(ə)rəl/ A. adj.† 6. United in a league; allied, confederated. Obsolete. rare.
1. † b. gen. Of or relating to, or having the nature of, any covenant, compact, or treaty. Obsolete except as implied in the spec. senses A. 1a and A. 2a.
a. Theology. Relating to or based upon the Covenant of Works, or the Covenant of Grace. Also: constituting or expressing a covenant entered into by an individual with God. See covenant n. 8.
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society > faith > worship > vow > covenant > [adjective]
federal1614
federate1645
covenantal1842
1614 T. Wilson Comm. Epist. S. Paul to Romanes i. 27 We are by Nature vncleane and vnpure, destitute of personall holinesse: though not without fœderall holinesse, being the seed of faithfull parents, men are not therefore called of God, because they are holy, but therefore they be Holy: because they are called of his Grace.
1645 J. Ussher Body of Divin. (1647) 418 There is a fœderall sanctity, or externall and visible holinesse at least in children of believing parents.
1649 Bp. J. Taylor Great Exemplar ii. viii. 71 Our restitution and accesse to the first fœderall condition.
1673 True Notion Worship of God 30 The Sacrament of Christs Body and Blood..being a Fæderal Banquet.
1737 D. Waterland Rev. Doctr. Eucharist 424 The Service of the Holy Communion carries in it something of a federal Nature, is a kind of covenanting or stipulating Act.
1846 J. W. Nevin Mystical Presence iii. §ii. 211 Paul in particular is very clear and very strong, in the representation of this federal or generic character on the part of Christ.
1870 Biblical Repertory & Princeton Rev. Apr. 248 The federal or representative school have almost universally found the reason of God's constituting a federal headship, in a prior natural headship.
1912 Amer. Jrnl. Sociol. 18 306 The federal headship of Adam is not to be found in the theologies of countries where the monarchical and feudal conceptions remained in force.
1989 P. Enns Moody Handbk. Theol. (rev. ed.) xxiii. 324 This view is called the federal view because Adam is seen as the federal head or representative of the entire human race.
1991 C. S. McCoy Fountainhead of Federalism i. 23 The third way was Bullinger's federal pattern, with the notion of a bilateral covenant as the vehicle through which God worked with the human race in history.
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society > authority > rule or government > politics > international politics or relations > international agreements > [adjective] > relating to alliance
federal1624
federatory1654
federative1690
1624 W. Ingpen Secrets of Numbers vi. 30 There is in euery element two distinct qualities, God hath so distributed to euery one of two, one of these, that hee hath made a federall knot or coniugation betwixt them.
1660 E. Stillingfleet Irenicum i. iv. 91 The sprinkling of the blood which was the main thing intended here as a fœderal rite.
1701 N. Grew Cosmol. Sacra iii. iv. §27 The Romans..compell'd them, contrary to all Fœderal Right and Justice..to part with Sardinia.
1706 A. Seton Speech in Sc. Parl. 2 Nov. in Cobbett's Parl. Hist. (1810) VI. App. p. cxli Sweden and Denmark were united by a fœderal compact under one monarch.
a1793 G. White Rainbow in Nat. Hist. Selborne (1813) 568 Not so the sage, inspir'd with pious awe; He hails the federal arch.
1825 T. Jefferson Autobiogr. in Wks. (1859) I. 15 Our connection had been federal only, and was now dissolved by the commencement of hostilities.
2. Also with capital initial.
a. Of, relating to, or characterized by that form of government in which a number of states constitute a political unit while remaining more or less independent with regard to their internal affairs.This sense arises from the contextual meaning of phrases like federal union, in which the adjective was originally used in the general sense A. 1b.
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society > authority > rule or government > a or the system of government > systems based on specific principle > [adjective] > relating to federal system
federal1703
1703 J. Hodges Rights & Interests Two Brit. Monarchies: Treat. I 3 A Confederate or Federal Union is that, whereby Distinct, Free, and Independent Kingdoms, Dominions or States, do unite their seperate Interests into one common Interest, for the mutual benefit of both, so far as relates to certain Conditions and Articles agreed upon betwixt them, retaining in the mean time their several Independencies, National Distinctions, and the different Laws, Customs, and Government of each.
1777 W. Robertson Hist. Amer. I. iv. 404 The celebrated league, that united the Five Nations in Canada into a federal republic.
1787 J. Barlow Oration July 4th 8 The establishment of a permanent fœderal system.
1832 G. C. Lewis Remarks Use & Abuse Polit. Terms x. 88 A federal government is when an union is formed between several States.
1837 J. C. Calhoun Wks. III. 166 The party who believed that this was a Federal Republic.
1850 H. Martineau Hist. Eng. during 30 Years' Peace II. v. xii. 384 The scheme of constituting a Federal Union of the British North American provinces.
1920 Amer. Polit. Sci. Rev. 14 407 The all important fact, so consistently overlooked by the pluralist, that the truly federal state is a unitary state.
1976 Ld. Home Way Wind Blows viii. 128 Lennox-Boyd and I strove..to find ways forward which would give to the three territories a Federal structure from which each and all races would derive benefit.
1998 Daily Tel. 3 Nov. 25/2 This structural problem was not confronted at Maastricht, because to do so would have exposed the fact the EMU is either a way-station towards full federal union, or it is a dog's dinner.
b. Of or belonging to a particular political unit constituted in this way, as distinguished from the separate states composing it.
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society > authority > rule or government > a or the state > [adjective] > of or relating to a confederation of states
unional1611
federative1776
federal1790
1790 R. Tyler Contrast iii. ii. 48 Growing jealous of their great federal council, the Amphictyons, they forgot that their common safety had existed.
1802 Monthly Mag. Nov. 352/2 They issued a plan for a federal constitution for the regulation of the whole Helvetic body.
1844 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece VIII. lxi. 83 The federal sovereignty resided in the general assembly.
1891 Speaker 11 July 36/1 Into both federal and cantonal legislation the Referendum has been introduced.
1943 K. Tennant Ride on Stranger xx. 225 The elevation of Southwell..to the Federal seat of Wilmot was a shrewd tactical stroke.
1985 P. Roazen Helene Deutsch i. 6 He was especially well known as a scholar in international law, and for a time represented Galicia before a federal court in Vienna.
2013 Premium Times (Nexis) 4 June Mr. Maku said apart from Lagos, Edo is another state that has benefitted a lot from federal infrastructure.
c. In extended use: designating an association of quasi-autonomous units.
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society > society and the community > social relations > association for a common purpose > [adjective]
conjunctive1694
confederal1782
confederativec1819
reunitive1851
federal1878
consortial1881
federative1885
1878 Amer. Socialist 21 Feb. 61 The members of this federal organization will be Communities,..[each] governed by its own rules.
1880 T. D. Woolsey Communism & Socialism 133 The essence of the International movement was a federal association.., with the social end in view of raising the operatives up over against the employers and capitalists.
1911 Encycl. Brit. XXII. 293/2 A loose union, called the ‘Federal Council of the Reformed Churches in America’, was formed in 1894.
1954 Times Lit. Suppl. 5 Feb. 93/1 The geography and diverse character of Wales made a federal university of scattered colleges a necessity.
2002 D. Goleman et al. Business: Ultimate Resource 889/1 The federal organisation is a form of decentralised set-up, in which the centre's powers are given to it by the outlying groups; the centre therefore co-ordinates, advises, influences, and suggests rather than directs or controls.
3. spec. Also with capital initial. Of, relating to, or designating the national government of the United States, esp. in contrast to state government.In quot. 1783 with reference to Congress under the Articles of Confederation.
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1783 Addr. & Recommendations to States (U.S. Continental Congr.) ii. 3 All that can be required is, that the fœderal government confine its appointments to such as it is empowered to make by the original act of union.
1786 E. Pendleton Let. 19 Dec. in Lett. & Papers (1967) II. 493 Pray do they mean to have a federal mint only and rest[r]ain the states from coining?
1789 T. Jefferson Writings (1859) II. 576 They have passed a bill rendering every person holding any federal office incapable of holding at the same time any State office.
1808 Aberdeen Jrnl. 2 Nov. The Federal elections are going on very favourably, and there is reason to hope that the Jeffersonian or Gallic Faction would soon sink into insignificance.
1837 H. Martineau Society in Amer. II. 290 The seven Judges of the Supreme Court are salaried with the same moderation as other members of the federal government.
1876 G. D. Mathews Coinages of World xxi. 198 It was not until several years after the declaration of Independence (1776) that a Federal coinage was issued.
1907 Food Inspection Decision No. 68 in Midland Druggist (Columbus, Ohio) May 778/2 Foods and drugs repackaged within a State and sold only within that State are not subject to the Federal law.
1960 Virginia Law Rev. 46 587 Evidence obtained by an unreasonable search and seizure by state officers, and subsequently transferred to federal officers who have not participated in the search, is admissible in a federal court.
1990 Washington Post 6 Mar. a4/4 A federal judge here ruled yesterday that the Flag Protection Act of 1989 was unconstitutional.
2009 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 24 Aug. b2/4 Federal officials have been pleasantly surprised to see the demand for Treasury securities keep pace with the growing supply.
4.
a. Originally U.S. Also with capital initial. Favouring the establishment or principles of a federal government. Later chiefly in names of political parties.In early U.S. use, with emphasis on a strong federal or centralized government; later in other countries more frequently with emphasis on the powers devolved to member states under a federal system (cf. federales n. 1).
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society > authority > rule or government > politics > American politics > [adjective] > favouring specific principles or policies
federal1787
anti-federal1788
rep1812
dough-faced1820
republican1854
hunkerish1857
unreconstructed1865
reservationist1919
America First1925
McCarthyite1952
1787 D. Humphreys Let. 24 Mar. in G. Washington Papers (1997) Confederation Ser. V. 103 Your not attending will not be considered either by the fœderal, or antifœderal party, as a dereliction of Republicanism.
1789 T. Jefferson Writings (1859) II. 576 Everywhere the elections are federal.
1796 J. Morse Amer. Universal Geogr. (new ed.) I. 587 Marylanders..are in general very federal.
1839 J. C. Calhoun Wks. III. 391 He [sc. Hamilton] is the..impersonation of the national or Federal School..as Jefferson is of the State Rights Republican School.
1888 J. Bryce Amer. Commonw. II. liii. 332 The disappearance of the Federal party between 1815 and 1820 left the Republicans masters of the field.
1922 New Internat. Year Bk. 1921 631/2 The [Romanian] parliament at the beginning of 1921 was distributed among the various political groups as follows: Peoples Party, 215; Federal Democrats, 34; Bessarabian Peasants, 25 [etc.].
1998 J. K. White & P. Davies Polit. Parties x. 188 In 1953 the Union Federal Party emerged with the redistribution of government powers as its main objective.
2013 N. Trujillo-pagan Mod. Colonization by Med. Intervention ii. 49 The issue of municipal autonomy was of particular consequence for the Federal Party (later the Unionist Party) [in Puerto Rico].
b. With capital initial. In the American Civil War of 1861–5: of or relating to the Northern or Union party, or its supporters, troops, etc. Opposed to confederate adj. 3b. Now historical.
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society > authority > rule or government > politics > American politics > [adjective] > supporting Union in Civil War
unionist1830
federal1861
1861 Boston Investigator 24 Apr. 7/1 Thirty-three deserters from the Federal army have landed at Fort Jackson, leaving twelve months pay behind, so anxious were they to join the Confederate army.
1863 E. Dicey Six Months in Federal States II. 241 The stories of the barbarities and cruelties inflicted by the Confederates on Federal prisoners.
1878 N. Amer. Rev. 126 258 A loud Federal cheer was heard, proving Jackson to be hard pressed.
1913 Crisis July 127/1 After the disastrous engagement at Fort Wagner, the Fifty-fifth Massachusetts was sent down from St. Helena Island to reinforce the Federal troops.
1977 Compar. Stud. Society & Hist. 19 31 A force of militia..was called by the Governor to defend the state against any intrusion..of either the Federal Union or the aborning Confederate States of America.
2002 A. N. Wilson Victorians (2003) xxii. 338 After the close of the American Civil War when many Irish soldiers in the Federal army, supplied with American money, decided to imitate the Polish, or Italian nationalists and stage outrages.
5. U.S. Usually with capital initial.
a. Designating the period of U.S. history following the War of Independence (1775–83) and lasting until the 1820s. Chiefly in Federal era, Federal period.
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the world > time > relative time > the past > historical period > [adjective] > of other specific periods
Georgian1745
romancean1804
early modern1817
federal1838
Jacobean1844
post-Reformation1850
pre-Reformation1855
postcolonial1861
post-Renaissance1874
post-conquest1880
post-conquestual1880
Jacobian1883
post-pyramidal1883
pre-industrial1883
early American1895
bow-and-arrow1899
palaeotechnic1904
Renaissancist1932
steam age1941
Carolinian1949
postcolonialist1957
1838 Inq. Moral & Relig. Char. Amer. Govt. 139 The same doctrine and spirit, descending upon the patriots of the federal era, entered largely into the primary state constitutions of the republic, and if analogy can be trusted, into the constructive meaning of the federal charter itself.
1893 School Rev. 1 245 Tracing the development of national life from 1750, when the movement toward union was beginning dimly to be felt, through the Federal period, to the time when the vote of the masses raised Andrew Jackson to the presidency.
1920 Archit. Rec. Dec. 513/1 We look with reverence upon the local styles that were evolved in colonial and early federal days, when buildings were conceived by local men and built with local materials.
1988 Mid-Atlantic Country Mar. 29/1 Both have long specialized in American country furniture and accessories, although Cherishables, in recent years, has drifted toward the more formal furniture of the Federal period.
2014 Washington Post (Nexis) 18 June (Food section) e6 Participants make their own ice cream treat, sample a flavor from the Federal period and tour the historic house.
b. Designating the style of neoclassical architecture or decorative arts characteristic of the Federal period (see sense A. 5a); of or belonging to this style. Frequently in Federal style.
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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > architecture > style of architecture > [adjective] > other styles
florida1706
massive1723
rounded1757
round-arched1782
castellar1789
baronial1807
rational1813
English colonial1817
massy1817
transitional1817
Scottish Baronial1829
rococo1830
flamboyant1832
Scotch Baronial1833
Churrigueresque1845
Russo-Byzantine1845
soaring1849
trenchant1849
vernacular1857
Scots Baronial1864
baroque1867
Perp.1867
rayonnant1873
Dutch colonial1876
Neo-Grec1878
rococoesque1885
Richardsonian1887
federal1894
organic1896
confectionery1897
European-style1907
postmodern1916
Lutyens1921
modern1927
moderne1928
functionalist1930
Williamsburg1931
Colonial Revival1934
packing case1935
Corbusian1936
lavatorial1936
pseudish1938
Adamesque1942
rationalist1952
Miesian1956
open-planned1958
Lutyensesque1961
façade1962
Odeon1964
high-tech1979
Populuxe1986
1894 Technol. Q. & Proc. Soc. Arts 7 328 The style of the federal period, which should really be termed ‘the Federal Style of architecture’.
1937 N.Y. Times Mag. 15 Aug. 10/2 The continuing popularity of the Federal style of interior decoration..is undoubtedly due to the fact that it is so characteristically American.
1990 Country Living Aug. 95/2 They fell in love with a snapshot of the Parsonage, a 200-year-old Federal clapboard house with a dignified façade.
2011 Times & Transcript (New Brunswick) (Nexis) 2 Nov. (Features section) d4 The swag and rope design on the exposed mahogany sections of the back and armrests are reminiscent of the English Adam style—which harmonizes very nicely with American Federal motifs.
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society > society and the community > social relations > association for a common purpose > [adjective] > associated for common purpose
federeda1382
confedered1528
conjunct1529
adjoinate1543
confederate1555
in league with1565
associate1600
banded1601
combined1603
colleagued1605
confederated1605
contesserate1606
conjunctivea1616
conspired1619
coalesced1765
co-allied1765
leagued1781
federalized1793
federated1793
in cahoot(s) (with)18..
interleagued1844
federal1867
society > authority > rule or government > politics > international politics or relations > international agreements > [adjective] > relating to alliance > allied
confedered1528
confederate1555
confederated1605
federate1672
leagued1781
federal1867
1867 J. B. Rose tr. Virgil Æneis 105 No fleet of mine was federal 'gainst Troy [L. non..classemve ad Pergama misi].
B. n.
1. U.S. Usually with capital initial. A member or supporter of the Federalist party, in the early years of American independence. Cf. federalist n. and slightly earlier anti-federal n. Now rare (in later use historical).
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society > authority > rule or government > politics > American politics > [noun] > other parties > members or adherents of
liberty man1705
monocrat1792
federal1796
National Republican1828
rummy1840
Native American1844
free-soiler1848
know-nothing1853
soft1853
tea partier2009
1796 J. Peck Let. 18 Apr. in Polit. Wars of Otsego 48 How is it now the Federals as you call them, is divided who hath done this?
1801 A. Gallatin Let. 18 Aug. in T. Jefferson Papers (2008) XXXV. 108 I dare say that Jonas Clark [customs collector] of Kennebunk is a federal.
1822 N. Amer. Rev. Jan. 17 Our fair traveller..did not visit New England; nor did she even make herself, by reading, so familiar with our great political controversy, as to know even the names of the parties; else she would not have used the word Federals, the vulgarism for Federalists.
1878 Vermont Watchman & State Jrnl. 21 Aug. The opponents of the early Republicans—the federals, and of the democrats—the whigs—favored granting more powers to the general government.
1900 A. E. Barr Maid of Maiden Lane iv. 80 If taken was the vote of the Church, it would be six for the Federals and half-a-dozen for the anti-Federals.
1906 H. H. Ravenel Charleston 379 The old gentlemen who tied back their powdered hair, wore lace ruffles, diamond buckles, knee breeches, and silk stockings, were Federals—the ‘Friends of Washington’ as they delighted to be called.
2001 World News Now (transcript of TV programme) (Nexis) 19 Feb. John Adams was president and Alexander Hamilton was involved too, and they were both very conservative, the ultra Republicans of their time. They were called Federals.
2. Chiefly with capital initial. A soldier in the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861–5); (in plural) Union forces. Now historical.
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society > armed hostility > armed forces > the Army > [noun] > American armies in Civil War
federal1861
Union Army1861
black hats1862
boys in blue1864
society > authority > rule or government > politics > American politics > [noun] > support of Union in Civil War > supporter
unionist1815
Fed1861
federal1861
unioner1861
Union man1861
Tory1862
red-leg1863
1861 Daily Dispatch (Richmond, Va.) 24 July 3/5 The federals advanced gradually among the masked batteries.
1867 J. N. Edwards Shelby iii. 52 The dead were buried by the Federals, and the wounded cared for in the hospitals.
1870 A. H. Stephens Hist. War betw. States II. xxiii. 582 Two grand campaigns were now again clearly developed by the Federals.
1871 S. Northcote Life, Lett. & Diaries (1890) II. 38 Timidly putting in a plea for a few flowers to two or three graves of Federals also.
1974 S. Foote Civil War iii. ii. 237 Pay them off they did,..first with round shot, then with case and canister as the Federals pressed forward.
2011 R. M. Coffman Going back Way they Came vi. 62 The graybacks could not halt the westward thrust of the Federals under Meade.
3. U.S. Also with capital initial.
a. In plural. With the. The U.S. federal government or its agencies, esp. as opposed to state or local authorities. rare before late 20th cent.
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1861 R. F. Burton City of Saints vi. 382 If the territorial judiciary sentences a criminal he appeals to the Federals, and at once obtains cassation—and vice versâ.
1943 Cumberland (Maryland) Evening Times 27 Sept. 3/2 The Federals have been in asking me to do what I can toward breaking down public prejudice against the sharing of homes with war workers.
1965 Financial Times 12 Apr. 44/5 As one county judge remarked on the activities of the Civil Rights Commissions, ‘Hell, the Federals are interested only when you try to keep the coloureds from voting’.
1982 Washington Post (Nexis) 7 June a1 The U.S. occupation of the Kentucky coal fields is over now, but virtually no one around here doubts the power of Washington—known locally as ‘the federals’—to change their lives anymore.
2014 Orange County (Calif.) Reg. (Nexis) 15 Aug. (Yorbalinda section) p. C Others maintain city officials should take back as much of the money the federals collect from city taxpayers as possible.
b. An officer of a U.S. federal government agency, esp. a law-enforcement agency such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation or the U.S. Marshals Service; = federal agent n. at Compounds. Usually in plural. Cf. Fed n.2 2a.
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society > law > law enforcement > police force or the police > political police > [noun] > secret service or police > member of secret police
special agent1893
federal1921
1921 Pacific Reporter 192 163/2 There was no offer of evidence..that Mrs. Larson had any communication with the federals, as she called the government agents, except in connection with the arrest of Parsons.
a1966 L. Bruce Pills & Shit in J. Cohen Essent. Lenny Bruce (1967) vii. 150 Schnook, don'tya remembuh me? Ya arrested me last week. I'm the undercover guy for the federals.
1998 Atlanta Jrnl. & Constit. (Nexis) 9 Feb. 1 a ‘They've got something, but nothing is confirmed,’ Thompson said. ‘It will be up to the federals to confirm that.’
2009 T. Pynchon Inherent Vice vi. 72 They weren't two steps into the lobby before being joined..by a couple of feds in cheap suits... Both federals seemed newly arrived in town, maybe even straight from our nation's capital.
Compounds
federal agent n. (also with capital initial) U.S. a representative of the U.S. federal government, (now) esp. a federal law-enforcement officer.
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society > law > law enforcement > law-enforcement or peace-officer > [noun] > specifically in U.S.
sheriff1662
federal agent1781
marshal1789
marshal1830
federales1958
1781 Jrnls. Congr. 1780 Index p. xxviii Fœderal agents for [prizes], in Pennsylvania state, discharged.
1824 ‘Citizen of Massachusetts’ Remarks State Rights 38 The certain, though gradual effect of the concentration of all power in the general government will be the multiplication of federal agents and officers.
1893 Garden & Forest 27 Sept. 401/2 It seems idle to believe that Congress can ever confer upon a Federal agent the authority to enter upon a man's field and destroy his trees or their products in order to abate vegetable diseases or insect enemies.
1923 F. J. Haskin Amer. Govt. (rev. ed.) xxxvii. 437 Federal agents staged raids that revealed both the widespread extent of Volstead Law violations as well as the determination of the Government to suppress such violations.
2010 Nature 7 Oct. 651/2 In 2004, federal agents stormed his house in hazmat suits with guns drawn.
federal aid n. (also with capital initial) U.S. financial or material assistance provided by the federal government to state or local governments, or to U.S. businesses, institutions, etc.
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1831 Daily National Intelligencer (Washington) 28 Apr. It is true, the old States, with few exceptions, have prosecuted their own improvements to a great extent without federal aid.
1889 N. Amer. Rev. Mar. 285 The Legislature now in session has, by a practically unanimous vote, declared its sentiments against Federal aid to free schools.
1936 Washington Post 22 Nov. 9/7 The Security Act provides Federal aid for the States to help the needy aged, the needy blind and dependent children who live with relatives.
1971 R. M. Nixon Special Revenue Sharing for Educ.: Message from President 3 in U.S. Congress. Serial Set (92nd Congr., 1st Sess.: House of Representatives Doc. 92–83) I. i The large number and great variety of Federal aid programs have made it impossible for those at the Federal level to measure the success or failure of their efforts.
2013 Record (Bergen County, New Jersey) (Nexis) 13 Feb. (Business section) l8 The state's Economic Development Authority will hire a substantial number of temporary staffers and contractors to oversee claims and allocate federal aid to businesses hit by superstorm Sandy.
federal case n. (also with capital initial) U.S. (a) Law a case that falls under the jurisdiction of a federal court; (b) colloquial a matter of great concern; a big deal; usually in to make a federal case out of and variants.
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1824 N. Dane Gen. Abridgm. & Digest Amer. Law VII. ccxxv. 516 In the constitution of the United States we have laid a solid foundation of such a system, which well provides for carrying into effect the judicial powers of the Union, in federal cases.
1911 Abilene (Texas) Daily Reporter 7 Mar. 6/4 Sheriff Matthews stated that he was of the opinion that this fact would make a federal case out of the matter.
1945 J. Durante in J. Gaver & D. Stanley There's Laughter in the Air! 263/1 He's got one moment to spend and he's taking three hours to tell her about it. The guy's making a Federal case out of it.
1950 Washington Post 30 Dec. 11/2 I'm not trying to make a Federal case of it, but Mi Scandal and Petty Larceny won the two chief races on the Friday program.
1990 T. Seidler Take Good Look 101 Touching somebody else wasn't such a big deal. Wasn't it a little irrational to make a federal case out of Alex's finger being hooked in Stevie's waistband?
2013 S. Carolina Lawyers Weekly (Nexis) 15 Nov. (Commentary section) Price and the town are now literally making a federal case over a littering ticket.
Federal City n. Washington D.C., as the capital of the United States.
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1784 Morning Post 17 June It is said, that the American Congress, unable to determine in what town of the United States to fix their residence, are about to build a fœderal city for the purpose, between the Delaware and the Potowmack.]
1788 Deb. & Proc. Convent. N.-Y. 64 Are the people to corrupt the senators with their own gold? Is bribery to enter the federal city, with the amazing influx of adamant, the gentleman so pathetically contemplates?
1796 G. Washington Let. in Writings (1892) XIII. 342 One or other of the proprietors in the Federal City.
1847 Knickerbocker Mag. 29 536 She..last winter travelled with her uncle as far as the Federal City.
1992 N.Y. Times 23 Aug. iv. 3/2 A career public official who has spent most of his adult life in appointive or elected office in Washington, he now runs—and rails—against the bureaucrats and politicians of the Federal city.
federal head n. †(a) the central governing body in a federation of individual states (obsolete); (b) Theology an individual who enters into a covenant representing others (applied to Adam and Christ); = covenant-head n. at covenant n. Compounds 2.
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1786 T. Jefferson Let. 11 July in Papers (1954) X. 123 It will arm the federal head with the safest of all the instruments of coercion over their delinquent members.
a1800 W. Cowper Comm. Milton's Paradise Lost in Wks. (1837) XV. 339 Christ becomes the fœderal head of his church.
1886 N. Amer. Rev. July 19 Adam, according to this old-school Calvinism, was the Federal Head, the representative of his race.
2010 J. C. Hilbun Disciple's Life in Christ Jesus vi. 81 Adam was the figure or type in that he was the appointed federal head of the fallen race.
federal marshal n. (also with capital initial(s)) U.S. an officer responsible for carrying out law enforcement on behalf of the federal courts; (now) spec. an officer of the U.S. Marshals Service.
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1800 Raleigh Reg. & N.-Carolina Weekly Advertiser 3 June The Federal Marshal came post haste from Richmond to Petersburg for the purpose of apprehending James Thompson Callender..for publishing ‘The Prospect before us’.
1857 B. J. Lossing Hist. U.S. 508 Orders were given to Federal marshals to seize suspected men, vessels, and munitions of war.
1929 N.Y. Times 9 Oct. 10/5 Federal marshals tonight arrested all the commanding officers..and several members of the police force here on indictments charging conspiracy to violate the Volstead act.
2004 N. Flynn Another Bullshit Night in Suck City vi. 330 Federal marshals. Open up, tough guy, we got you surrounded.
federal salute n. (also with capital initial) U.S. a ceremonial discharge of cannon or small arms consisting of a number of rounds in succession.In early use the number discharged often corresponded to the number of states currently in the Union, in later use there are typically thirteen, one for each of the original states.
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1787 Worcester (Mass.) Mag. 3 112/1 [Washington's] entrance into the city, was announced by a federal salute from the train of artillery, and the ringing of bells.
1802 Balance, & Columbian Repository 13 July 219/2 At nine, the Company of Artillery formed and marched in procession to the public square..where a federal salute of seventeen guns was fired.
1836 Post (Bloomington, Indiana) 8 July Immediately after the sun began to shed her brilliant rays on this memorable day, a federal salute of 13 guns were fired.
1957 N.Y. Times 30 Jan. 1/8 King Saud of Saudi Arabia received Federal salutes and United Nations tributes when he arrived here yesterday for a state visit.
2002 PR Newswire (Nexis) 10 June On July 4, 1974, the [Veteran] Corps [of Artillery] resumed its traditional practice of firing a Federal salute at New York City's Battery.
federal theology n. Theology (in Calvinist thought) theology organized around the idea of an Old Testament Covenant of Works and a New Testament Covenant of Grace (see sense A. 1a); cf. covenant theology n. at covenant n. Additions.
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1878 Encycl. Brit. VI. 91 As one of the leading exponents of ‘federal’ theology, he [sc. Cocceius] spiritualized the Hebrew Scriptures to such an extent that [etc.].
1939 P. Miller New Eng. Mind xiii. 397 In the federal theology the Old Testament Jehovah begins the metamorphosis..from a mail-clad seigneur to a skillful teacher who contrives that pupils be brought to truth not by compulsion but by conviction.
2000 H. S. Pyper in A. Hastings et al. Oxf. Compan. Christian Thought 497/1 In selecting the concept of covenant on which to centre his OT theology, Eichrodt was following in a tradition that harks back to the so-called federal theology of Cocceius.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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