General

general
    adj 1: applying to all or most members of a category or group;
           "the general public"; "general assistance"; "a general
           rule"; "in general terms"; "comprehensible to the general
           reader" [ant: {specific}]
    2: not specialized or limited to one class of things; "general
       studies"; "general knowledge"
    3: prevailing among and common to the general public; "the
       general discontent"
    4: affecting the entire body; "a general anesthetic"; "general
       symptoms" [ant: {local}]
    5: somewhat indefinite; "bearing a general resemblance to the
       original"; "a general description of the merchandise"
    6: of worldwide scope or applicability; "an issue of
       cosmopolitan import"; "the shrewdest political and ecumenical
       comment of our time"- Christopher Morley; "universal
       experience" [syn: {cosmopolitan}, {ecumenical},
       {oecumenical}, {general}, {universal}, {worldwide}, {world-
       wide}]
    n 1: a general officer of the highest rank [syn: {general},
         {full general}]
    2: the head of a religious order or congregation [syn:
       {general}, {superior general}]
    3: a fact about the whole (as opposed to particular); "he
       discussed the general but neglected the particular" [ant:
       {particular}, {specific}]
    v 1: command as a general; "We are generaled by an incompetent!"
    

General \Gen"er*al\, a. [F. g['e]n['e]ral, fr. L. generalis. See
   {Genus}.]
   1. Relating to a genus or kind; pertaining to a whole class
      or order; as, a general law of animal or vegetable
      economy.
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   2. Comprehending many species or individuals; not special or
      particular; including all particulars; as, a general
      inference or conclusion.
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   3. Not restrained or limited to a precise import; not
      specific; vague; indefinite; lax in signification; as, a
      loose and general expression.
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   4. Common to many, or the greatest number; widely spread;
      prevalent; extensive, though not universal; as, a general
      opinion; a general custom.
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            This general applause and cheerful shout
            Argue your wisdom and your love to Richard. --Shak.
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   5. Having a relation to all; common to the whole; as, Adam,
      our general sire. --Milton.
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   6. As a whole; in gross; for the most part.
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            His general behavior vain, ridiculous. --Shak.
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   7. Usual; common, on most occasions; as, his general habit or
      method.
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   Note: The word general, annexed to a name of office, usually
         denotes chief or superior; as, attorney-general;
         adjutant general; commissary general; quartermaster
         general; vicar-general, etc.
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   {General agent} (Law), an agent whom a principal employs to
      transact all his business of a particular kind, or to act
      in his affairs generally.

   {General assembly}. See the Note under {Assembly}.

   {General average}, {General Court}. See under {Average},
      {Court}.

   {General court-martial} (Mil.), the highest military and
      naval judicial tribunal.

   {General dealer} (Com.), a shopkeeper who deals in all
      articles in common use.

   {General demurrer} (Law), a demurrer which objects to a
      pleading in general terms, as insufficient, without
      specifying the defects. --Abbott.

   {General epistle}, a canonical epistle.

   {General guides} (Mil.), two sergeants (called the right, and
      the left, general guide) posted opposite the right and
      left flanks of an infantry battalion, to preserve accuracy
      in marching. --Farrow.

   {General hospitals} (Mil.), hospitals established to receive
      sick and wounded sent from the field hospitals. --Farrow.

   {General issue} (Law), an issue made by a general plea, which
      traverses the whole declaration or indictment at once,
      without offering any special matter to evade it.
      --Bouvier. --Burrill.

   {General lien} (Law), a right to detain a chattel, etc.,
      until payment is made of any balance due on a general
      account.

   {General officer} (Mil.), any officer having a rank above
      that of colonel.

   {General orders} (Mil.), orders from headquarters published
      to the whole command.

   {General practitioner}, in the United States, one who
      practices medicine in all its branches without confining
      himself to any specialty; in England, one who practices
      both as physician and as surgeon.

   {General ship}, a ship not chartered or let to particular
      parties.

   {General term} (Logic), a term which is the sign of a general
      conception or notion.

   {General verdict} (Law), the ordinary comprehensive verdict
      in civil actions, "for the plaintiff" or "for the
      defendant". --Burrill.

   {General warrant} (Law), a warrant, now illegal, to apprehend
      suspected persons, without naming individuals.

   Syn: Syn. {General}, {Common}, {Universal}.

   Usage: Common denotes primarily that in which many share; and
          hence, that which is often met with. General is
          stronger, denoting that which pertains to a majority
          of the individuals which compose a genus, or whole.
          Universal, that which pertains to all without
          exception. To be able to read and write is so common
          an attainment in the United States, that we may
          pronounce it general, though by no means universal.
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General \Gen"er*al\, n. [F. g['e]n['e]ral. See {General}., a.]
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   1. The whole; the total; that which comprehends or relates to
      all, or the chief part; -- opposed to particular.
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            In particulars our knowledge begins, and so spreads
            itself by degrees to generals.        --Locke.
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   2. (Mil.) One of the chief military officers of a government
      or country; the commander of an army, of a body of men not
      less than a brigade. In European armies, the highest
      military rank next below field marshal.
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   Note: In the United States the office of General of the Army
         has been created by temporary laws, and has been held
         only by Generals U. S. Grant, W. T. Sherman, and P. H.
         Sheridan. Popularly, the title General is given to
         various general officers, as General, Lieutenant
         general, Major general, Brigadier general, Commissary
         general, etc. See {Brigadier general}, {Lieutenant
         general}, {Major general}, in the Vocabulary.
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   3. (Mil.) The roll of the drum which calls the troops
      together; as, to beat the general.
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   4. (Eccl.) The chief of an order of monks, or of all the
      houses or congregations under the same rule.
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   5. The public; the people; the vulgar. [Obs.] --Shak.
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   {In general}, in the main; for the most part.
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GENERAL. This word has several meanings, namely: 1. A principal officer, 
particularly in the army. 2. Something opposed to special; as, a general 
verdict, the general issue, which expressions are used in contradistinction 
to special verdict, special issue. 3. Principal, as the general post office. 
4. Not select, as a general ship. (q. v.) 5. Not particular, as a general 
custom. 6. Not limited, as general jurisdiction. 7. This word is sometimes 
annexed or prefixed to other words to express or limit the extent of their 
signification; as Attorney General, Solicitor General, the General Assembly, 
&c. 
    

256 Moby Thesaurus words for "general":
      ADC, Babbittish, CO, OD, Philistine, abstract, accepted,
      accustomed, across the board, aide, aide-de-camp, aleatoric,
      aleatory, all-inclusive, amorphous, approximate, ascendant,
      associated, assorted, at the head, bland, blanket, blended, blobby,
      blurred, blurry, boss, bourgeois, brigadier, brigadier general,
      broad, campy, captain, casual, catholic, chance, chancy, chaotic,
      chicken colonel, chief, chief of staff, civic, civil, collective,
      collectivistic, colonel, combined, commandant, commander,
      commander in chief, commanding, commanding officer,
      commissioned officer, common, commonplace, communal, communistic,
      community, commutual, company officer, composite, comprehensive,
      confused, conjoint, controlling, cooperative, cosmopolitan,
      customary, disordered, diversified, dominant, encyclopedic,
      everyday, exec, executive officer, extended, extensive, familiar,
      featureless, field marshal, field officer, first lieutenant,
      five-star general, foggy, four-star general, fuzzy,
      general officer, generalissimo, generalized, generic, global,
      governing, habitual, hazy, head, hegemonic, hegemonistic,
      heterogeneous, high-camp, hit-or-miss, homely, homespun, humdrum,
      hybrid, ill-defined, imprecise, imprudent, in ascendancy,
      in charge, in chief, in common, in the ascendant, inaccurate,
      inchoate, inclusive, incoherent, indecisive, indefinable,
      indefinite, indeterminable, indeterminate, indiscreet,
      indiscriminate, indiscriminative, indistinct, inexact, insensitive,
      international, jemadar, joint, junior officer, kitschy, lax,
      leading, lieutenant, lieutenant colonel, lieutenant general, loose,
      low-camp, major, major general, marechal, marshal, master,
      miscellaneous, mixed, mongrel, mutual, national, natural,
      naturalistic, naturistic, nebulous, neutral, nonjudgmental,
      nonspecific, normal, obscure, officer, one-star general, orderless,
      orderly, orderly officer, ordinary, overall, panoramic, paramount,
      plebeian, pop, popular, predominant, predominate, prepollent,
      preponderant, preponderate, prepotent, prevailing, prevalent,
      promiscuous, public, random, realistic, reciprocal, regnant,
      regular, regulating, regulative, regulatory, reigning, risaldar,
      routine, ruling, run-of-the-mill, senior officer, shadowed forth,
      shadowy, shapeless, shared, shavetail, sirdar, social, socialistic,
      societal, sovereign, staff officer, state, stochastic, subahdar,
      subaltern, sublieutenant, supranational, supreme, sweeping,
      tactless, the Old Man, the brass, three-star general, top brass,
      two-star general, typical, uncharacterized, unclear, uncritical,
      uncriticizing, undefined, undemanding, undestined, undetermined,
      undifferentiated, undifferentiating, undiscreet, undiscriminating,
      undiscriminative, uneventful, unexacting, unexceptional,
      unfastidious, universal, unmeticulous, unparticular, unplain,
      unrestricted, unselective, unspecific, unspecified, unsubtle,
      untactful, usual, vague, veiled, vernacular, vulgar, wholesale,
      wide, widespread, worldwide