approximativement (-mān) adv., approximatively.
☉approximer, v.a., to approximate.
appui, n.m., prop, stay, support, rest; help, protection; buttress, rail, hand-rail, sill (of windows); rail (of stairs); (man.) appui; (mec.) fulcrum. À hauteur d’—; breast-high. Point d’—; point of support, prop, fulcrum, base. A l’— de; in support of, in confirmation of. Sans —; unsupported, friendless. Il est l’— des malheureux; he is the support of the unfortunate. Ce cheval a l’— bon; that horse is soft-mouthed. Aller à l’— de; to support (a proposal).
appui-main, n.m., (—s-—) painter’s maul-stick, hand-rest.
appui-queue, n.m., rest (at billiards), jigger.
appuyer, v.a., to prop up, to stay, to support, to second; to hold up, to sustain; to set upon; to lean upon; to ground, to found; to back, to stand by; to favor, to countenance; to protect; to enforce, to strengthen. — une maison contre un coteau; to build a house against a hill. — le coude sur la table; to lean one’s elbow upon the table. Son droit est appuyé sur de bons titres; his claim is founded on just grounds. Il m’a promis d’— mon placet; he has promised to back my petition. — les chiens; to urge on the hounds.
appuyer, v.n., to bear upon, to lean; to rest; to lay a stress on; to dwell upon; to insist upon, to urge. — sur un mot; to lay a stress on a word. — sur un passage; to dwell upon a passage. — sur la droite, la gauche, or à droite, à gauche; to bear to the right, the left. Ce cheval appuie sur le mors; that horse hangs on the bit.
s’appuyer, v.r., to lean, to lean upon; to lie, to rest, to recline upon; to confide in, to rely upon, to depend upon, to trust to; to lay a stress on, to dwell upon. Appuyez-vous sur moi; lean upon me. — sur un roseau; (fig.) to trust to a broken reed.
âpre, adj., rough, harsh; tart, sharp; hard, rugged, uneven; biting, cutting, bitter; severe; crabbed, peevish; violent, greedy, eager. Chemin — et raboteux; rough, rugged way. — au gain; greedy of gain. — au jeu; eager for play (a born gambler). — à se venger; eager for revenge. — à la curée; eager for prey (of animals); greedy of gain (of persons).