Definition: humbler

Search dictionary for

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) 

Humble \Hum"ble\, a. [Compar. Humbler; superl. Humblest.]
   [F., fr. L. humilis on the ground, low, fr. humus the earth,
   ground. See Homage, and cf. Chameleon, Humiliate.]
   1. Near the ground; not high or lofty; not pretentious or
      magnificent; unpretending; unassuming; as, a humble
      cottage.

            THy humble nest built on the ground.  --Cowley.

   2. Thinking lowly of one's self; claiming little for one's
      self; not proud, arrogant, or assuming; thinking one's
      self ill-deserving or unworthy, when judged by the demands
      of God; lowly; waek; modest.

            God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the
            humble.                               --Jas. iv. 6.

            She should be humble who would please. --Prior.

            Without a humble imitation of the divine Author of
            our . . . religion we can never hope to be a happy
            nation.                               --Washington.

   Humble plant (Bot.), a species of sensitive plant, of the
      genus Mimosa (M. sensitiva).

   To eat humble pie, to endure mortification; to submit or
      apologize abjectly; to yield passively to insult or
      humilitation; -- a phrase derived from a pie made of the
      entrails or humbles of a deer, which was formerly served
      to servants and retainers at a hunting feast. See
      Humbles. --Halliwell. --Thackeray.
Humbler \Hum"bler\, n.
   One who, or that which, humbles some one.