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Webster 1913 Edition
Ostensible
Os-ten′si-ble
(ŏs-tĕn′sĭ-b’l)
, Adj.
[From L.
ostensus
, p. p. of ostendere
to show, prop., to stretch out before; fr. prefix obs-
(old form of ob-
) + tendere
to stretch. See Tend
.] 1.
Capable of being shown; proper or intended to be shown.
[R.]
Walpole.
Webster 1828 Edition
Ostensible
OSTEN'SIBLE
,Adj.
1.
That may be shown; proper or intended to be shown.2.
Plausible; colorable.3.
Appearing; seeming; shown, declared or avowed. We say, the ostensible reason or motive for a measure may be the real one, or very different from the real one. This is the common, and I believe the only sense in which the word is used in America.One of the ostensible grounds on which the proprietors had obtained their charter -