REST Rest, n. Etym: [AS. rest, r, rest; akin to D. rust, G. rast. OHG. rasta, Dan. & Sw. rast rest, repose, Icel. r the distance between two resting places, a mole, Goth. rasta a mile, also to Goth. razn house, Icel. rann, and perhaps to G. ruhe rest, repose, AS. r, Gr. Ransack.]
1. A state of quiet or repose; a cessation from motion or labor; tranquillity; as, rest from mental exertion; rest of body or mind. Chaucer. Sleep give thee all his rest! Shak.
2. Hence, freedom from everything which wearies or disturbs; peace; security. And the land had rest fourscore years. Judges iii. 30.
3. Sleep; slumber; hence, poetically, death. How sleep the brave who sink to rest, By all their country's wishes blest. Collins.
4. That on which anything rests or leans for support; as, a rest in a lathe, for supporting the cutting tool or steadying the work. He made narrowed rests round about, that the beams should not be fastened in the walls of the house. 1 Kings vi. 6.
5. (Anc. Armor)
Defn: A projection from the right side of the cuirass, serving to
support the lance.
Their visors closed, their lances in the rest. Dryden.
6. A place where one may rest, either temporarily, as in an inn, or permanently, as, in an abode. "Halfway houses and travelers' rests." J. H. Newman. In dust our final rest, and native home. Milton. Ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance which the Lord your God giveth you. Deut. xii. 9.
7. (Pros.)
Defn: A short pause in reading verse; a cæsura.