2. Destitute; helpless; in pitiful plight; wretched; miserable; almost hopeless; desperate.
For here forlorn and lost I tread.
Goldsmith.
The condition of the besieged in the mean time was forlorn in the extreme.
Prescott.
She cherished the forlorn hope that he was still living.
Thomson. A forlorn hope [D.
verloren hoop, prop., a lost band or troop;
verloren, p. p. of
verliezen to lose +
hoop band; akin to E.
heap. See
For-, and
Heap.]
(Mil.),
a body of men (called in F. enfants perdus,
in G. verlornen posten) selected, usually from volunteers, to attempt a breach, scale the wall of a fortress,
or perform other extraordinarily perilous service; also, a desperate case or enterprise.
Syn. — Destitute, lost; abandoned; forsaken; solitary; helpless; friendless; hopeless; abject; wretched; miserable; pitiable.
Forlorn
(For*lorn"), n.
1. A lost, forsaken, or solitary person.
Forced to live in Scotland a forlorn.
Shak. 2. A forlorn hope; a vanguard. [Obs.]
Our forlorn of horse marched within a mile of the enemy.
Oliver Cromvell. Forlornly
(For*lorn"ly), adv. In a forlorn manner. Pollok.
Forlornness
(For*lorn"ness), n. State of being forlorn. Boyle.
Forlye
(For*lye") v. i. Same as Forlie. [Obs.]
-
form
(-form) [See Form, n.] A suffix used to denote in the form or shape of, resembling, etc.; as,
valiform; oviform.
Form
(Form) (form; in senses 8 & 9, often form in England), n. [OE. & F. forme, fr. L. forma; cf. Skr.
dhariman. Cf. Firm.]
1. The shape and structure of anything, as distinguished from the material of which it is composed; particular
disposition or arrangement of matter, giving it individuality or distinctive character; configuration; figure; external
appearance.
The form of his visage was changed.
Dan. iii. 19.
And woven close close, both matter, form, and style.
Milton. 2. Constitution; mode of construction, organization, etc.; system; as, a republican form of government.
3. Established method of expression or practice; fixed way of proceeding; conventional or stated scheme; formula; as,
a form of prayer.
Those whom form of laws
Condemned to die.
Dryden. 4. Show without substance; empty, outside appearance; vain, trivial, or conventional ceremony; conventionality; formality; as,
a matter of mere form.
Though well we may not pass upon his life
Without the form of justice.
Shak.