vitalsn.
/ˈvʌɪtəlz/ With plural agreement.
1.
a. Those parts or organs of the body, esp. the human body, essential to life, or upon which life depends; the vital parts.Usually as a vague or general term, but sometimes applied specifically to the brain, heart, lungs, and liver.For the phr. stop my vitals at stop v. 9c, and stap v.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > system > [noun] > organ > vital organs
heartOE
vitalsa1610
vital1710
a1610 J. Healey tr. Cebes' Table in tr. Epictetus Manuall (1636) 134 Now hee.. purgeth away the causes and nutriment of the maladie, and then corroborates the vitals.
1641 J. Tatham Distracted State (1651) iv. i. 24 I feel my vitals fail me.
1690 C. Ness Compl. Hist. & Myst. Old & New Test. I. 52 Like the wound in the heel, far from the vitals, the head or heart.
1709 J. Swift Let. conc. Sacramental Test 9 If..you think a Poltice made of our Vitals will give it any Ease, speak the Word.
1769 H. Brooke Fool of Quality IV. xvii. 172 The weapon has missed your vitals.
1791 W. Cowper tr. Homer Odyssey in Iliad & Odyssey II. ix. 347 Me, then, my courage prompted to approach The monster..And to transfix him where the vitals wrap The liver.
1861 F. A. Paley Æschylus' Choephori (ed. 2) 264 (note) The notion in the mind of the speaker is that of a cold chill at the vitals.
1897 M. Kingsley Trav. W. Afr. 246 A miscellaneous collection of bits of broken iron pots and lumps of lead frisking among their vitals.
b. figurative or in figurative context.
ΚΠ
1641 J. Milton Of Reformation 64 Now heare how they [sc. prelates] strike at the very heart and vitals [of monarchy].
1671 C. Trenchfield Cap of Gray Hairs 18 The dainty tooths of some, corroding so far into their estates, as to reach the very vitals.
1719 W. Wood Surv. Trade (ed. 2) 56 The truest Sign of our Vitals not being tainted, and that we are not wounded in any Noble Part, but go on increasing in Trade.
1790 E. Burke Refl. Revol. in France 350 Such immense sums, drawn from the vitals of all France. View more context for this quotation
a1827 in J. Bentham Rationale Judicial Evid. (1827) V. ix. iii. 536 The very life and vitals of the cause lies in secreting the evidence.
1853 C. Merivale Fall Rom. Republic i. 7 Tiberius..continued to brood over the plague-spot he had discovered in the vitals of his country.
1868 F. W. Farrar Seekers after God i. iii. 37 To have fastened upon the very vitals of the national existence.
2.
a. transferred. Parts or features essentially necessary to something; essential points, essentials.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [noun] > that which is important > essential or central
pitheOE
effectc1405
substancec1450
kernel1556
nick1577
keystone1641
vitals1657
narrow1702
secret1738
ganglion1828
nub1833
primality1846
keyword1848
knub1864
buzzword1946
in word1964
the mind > will > necessity > condition of being necessary > [noun] > that which is necessary > necessaries
necessarya1382
necessars1386
necessity?1406
mister1477
needment1590
implements1612
needfuls1614
vitals1657
essentiality1710
fundamentals1864
needcessities1874
1657 J. Watts Scribe, Pharisee 30 So long as the vitals and fundamentals of faith and truth abide.
1658 T. Burton Diary (1828) II. 433 If the vitals were preserved, I should not differ for the rest.
1689 Myst. Iniq. 9 Tho all English Protestants have ever been at an Accord in all the Essentials and Vitals of Religion.
1702 C. Mather Magnalia Christi iii. ii. xxviii. 157/2 Of Pernicious Consequence to the very Vitals of Religion.
1887 Pall Mall Gaz. 4 May 11/1 When the Parnellite leaders approached the vitals of the issue.
b. The vital parts of a ship. Cf. vital adj. 3b.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > parts of vessels > [noun] > vital parts
vitals1884
1884 Pall Mall Gaz. 13 Nov. 5/1 Riachuelo... Speed 17 knots; 6,200 tons; 8½ in. armour over vitals.
1894 C. N. Robinson Brit. Fleet 288 The armour..shielding the gun, the machinery, and ‘vitals’ of the vessel.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1920; most recently modified version published online September 2021).
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n.a1610