an adviser to the court on some matter of law who is not a party to the case; usually someone who wants to influence the outcome of a lawsuit involving matters of wide public interest
in a manful manner; with qualities thought to befit a man; "having said her say Peggy manfully shouldered her burden and prepared to break up yet another home"
a crystalline rock that can be cut and polished for jewelry; "he had the gem set in a ring for his wife"; "she had jewels made of all the rarest stones"
guided by practical experience and observation rather than theory; "a hardheaded appraisal of our position"; "a hard-nosed labor leader"; "completely practical in his approach to business"; "not ideology but pragmatic politics"
unreasonably rigid in the face of argument or entreaty or attack