Crit"ic*al (kr&ibreve;t"&ibreve;*kal),
a. [See Critic, n.,
Crisis.]
1.
Qualified to criticise, or pass judgment upon, literary or artistic
productions.
It is submitted to the judgment of more critical ears to direct and determine what is graceful and what is not.
Holder.
2.
Pertaining to criticism
or the critic's art;
of the nature of a criticism; accurate; as, critical knowledge; a critical dissertation.
3.
Inclined to make nice distinctions, or to exercise careful judgment and selection; exact; nicely judicious.
Virgil was so critical in the rites of religion, that he would never have brought in such prayers as these, if they had not
been agreeable to the Roman
customs.
Bp. Stillingfleet.
4. Inclined to criticise or find fault; fastidious; captious; censorious; exacting.
O gentle lady, do not put me to 't,
For I am nothing, if not critical.
Shak.
5. Characterized by thoroughness and a reference to principles, as becomes a critic; as,
a critical analysis of a
subject.
6. [See Crisis.]
Pertaining to, or indicating,
a crisis, turning point, or specially important juncture; important as regards
consequences; hence, of doubtful issue; attended with risk; dangerous; as, the critical stage of a fever; a critical situation.
Our circumstances are indeed critical.
Burke.
The small moment, the exact point, the critical minute, on which every good work so
much depends.
South.
Critical angle (Optics), that angle of incidence of a luminous ray at which
it is wholly reflected, and no portion of it
transmitted. The sine of this angle
is the reciprocal of the refractive index of the
medium. -- Critical philosophy,
the metaphysical system of Kant; -- so called from his most important work, the "Critique of Pure Reason." -- Critical
point (Physics),
a certain temperature, different
for different gases, but always the same for
each gas, regarded as the limit
above which no amount of
pressure can produce condensation to a liquid.
Hear it pronounced