The Collaborative International Dictionary
Comparison \Com*par"i*son\ (? or ?), n. [F. comparaison, L. comparatio. See 1st Compare.]
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The act of comparing; an examination of two or more objects with the view of discovering the resemblances or differences; relative estimate.
As sharp legal practitioners, no class of human beings can bear comparison with them.
--Macaulay.The miracles of our Lord and those of the Old Testament afford many interesting points of comparison.
--Trench. The state of being compared; a relative estimate; also, a state, quality, or relation, admitting of being compared; as, to bring a thing into comparison with another; there is no comparison between them.
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That to which, or with which, a thing is compared, as being equal or like; illustration; similitude.
Whereto shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what comparison shall we compare it?
--Mark iv. 30. (Gram.) The modification, by inflection or otherwise, which the adjective and adverb undergo to denote degrees of quality or quantity; as, little, less, least, are examples of comparison.
(Rhet.) A figure by which one person or thing is compared to another, or the two are considered with regard to some property or quality, which is common to them both; e.g., the lake sparkled like a jewel.
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(Phren.) The faculty of the reflective group which is supposed to perceive resemblances and contrasts.
Beyond comparison, so far superior as to have no likeness, or so as to make comparison needless.
In comparison of, In comparison with, as compared with; in proportion to. [Archaic] ``So miserably unpeopled in comparison of what it once was.''
--Addison.Comparison of hands (Law), a mode of proving or disproving the genuineness of a signature or writing by comparing it with another proved or admitted to be genuine, in order to ascertain whether both were written by the same person.
--Bouvier.
--Burrill.
Usage examples of "in comparison with".
Light as this armament was in comparison with the smallest gunboat that ever sailed, it was sufficient for them to outfight as well as outfly the German monster airships.
It will be perceived by the above list how very much better all classes in the American service are paid in comparison with those in our service.
The New City was new only in comparison with the Inner City it surrounded.
Believe me, I shall be modesty personified, in comparison with Madame de Pé.
This evidence shows conclusively how little the curvature of the seedlings differed in the successive pots, in comparison with the great difference in the amount of light which they received.
The real enemy had at last declared itself, stealthily, but with a stealth which was naivete itself in comparison with the ancient guile of the jungle.
I hesitate to take back my resignation because I am old in comparison with you, and I have habits difficult to abandon.
Murry's flaming red hair, creamy skin, and violet eyes with long dark lashes, seemed even more spectacular in comparison with Meg's outrageous plainness.
I ought to have mentioned, as a singular instance of the advance of this chief in comparison with the other Indians, that at this time he issued bills of credit on slips of bark, signed with his totem, the otter.
He meant in comparison with the tremendous matter which he was now determined to keep to himself.
Our fare is simple, I fear, in comparison with the richness I have heard may be sampled at the board of even the lowliest citizen of that mighty Empire of Granbretan, but that, too, is yours.
It paled in comparison with what McMasterson, Sageman, and scores of others had been doing for decades.
Though it seemed to labor at its swimming it closed upon that flight and snapped up mouthful after mouthful of prey so small in comparison with its bulk that it must near spend most of its lifetime eating merely to keep life within that hideous body.
Grimes II led the way out of the dining saloon, which, as a public room in a much larger ship, was luxurious in comparison with that aboard Faraway Quest I.