delivery
    n 1: the act of delivering or distributing something (as goods
         or mail); "his reluctant delivery of bad news" [syn:
         delivery, bringing]
    2: the event of giving birth; "she had a difficult delivery"
    3: your characteristic style or manner of expressing yourself
       orally; "his manner of speaking was quite abrupt"; "her
       speech was barren of southernisms"; "I detected a slight
       accent in his speech" [syn: manner of speaking, speech,
       delivery]
    4: the voluntary transfer of something (title or possession)
       from one party to another [syn: delivery, livery, legal
       transfer]
    5: (baseball) the act of throwing a baseball by a pitcher to a
       batter [syn: pitch, delivery]
    6: recovery or preservation from loss or danger; "work is the
       deliverance of mankind"; "a surgeon's job is the saving of
       lives" [syn: rescue, deliverance, delivery, saving]
    7: the act of delivering a child [syn: delivery, obstetrical
       delivery]

Pronunciation \Pro*nun`ci*a"tion\ (?; 277), n. [F.
   pronunciation, L. pronunciatio. See Pronounce.]
   [1913 Webster]
   1. The act of uttering with articulation; the act of giving
      the proper sound and accent; utterance; as, the
      pronunciation of syllables of words; distinct or
      indistinct pronunciation.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. The mode of uttering words or sentences.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. (Rhet.) The art of manner of uttering a discourse publicly
      with propriety and gracefulness; -- now called delivery.
      --J. Q. Adams.
      [1913 Webster]

Delivery \De*liv"er*y\, n.; pl. Deliveries.
   1. The act of delivering from restraint; rescue; release;
      liberation; as, the delivery of a captive from his
      dungeon.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. The act of delivering up or over; surrender; transfer of
      the body or substance of a thing; distribution; as, the
      delivery of a fort, of hostages, of a criminal, of goods,
      of letters.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. The act or style of utterance; manner of speaking; as, a
      good delivery; a clear delivery.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. The act of giving birth; parturition; the expulsion or
      extraction of a fetus and its membranes.
      [1913 Webster]

   5. The act of exerting one's strength or limbs.
      [1913 Webster]

            Neater limbs and freer delivery.      --Sir H.
                                                  Wotton.
      [1913 Webster]

   6. The act or manner of delivering a ball; as, the pitcher
      has a swift delivery.
      [1913 Webster]

DELIVERY, conveyancing. The transferring of a deed from the grantor to the 
grantee, in such a manner as to deprive him of the right to recall it; Dev. 
Eq. R. 14 or the delivery may be made and accepted by an attorney. This is 
indispensably necessary to the validity of a deed; 9 Shepl. 569 2 Harring. 
197; 16 Verm. 563; except it be the deed of a corporation, which, however, 
must be executed under their common seal. Watkin's Prin. Con. 300. But 
although, as a general rule, the delivery of a deed is essential to its 
perfection, it is never averred in pleading. 1 Wms. Saund. Rep. 291, note 
Arch. Dig. of Civ. Pl. 138. 
     2. As to the form, the delivery may be by words without acts; as, if 
the deed be lying upon a table, and the grantor says to the grantee, "take 
that as my deed," it will be a sufficient delivery; or it may be by acts 
without words, and therefore a dumb man may deliver a deed. Co. Litt. 36 a, 
note; 6 Sim. Rep. 31; Gresl. Eq. Ev. 120; Wood. B. 2, c. 3; 6 Miss. R. 326; 
5 Shepl. 391; 11 Verm. 621; 6 Watts & S. 329; 23 Wend. 43; 3 Hill, 513; 2 
Barr, 191, 193 2 Ev. Poth. 165-6. 
     3. A delivery may be either absolute, Is when it is delivered to the 
grantor himself; or it may be conditional, that is, to a third person to 
keep until some condition shall have been performed by the grantee, and then 
it is called an escrow. (q.v.) See 2 Bl. Com. 306 4 Kent. Coin. 446 2 Bouv. 
Inst. n. 2018, et seq.; Cruise, Dig. tit. 32, c. 2, s. 87; 5 Serg. & Rawle, 
523; 8 Watts, R. 1; and articles Assent; Deed. 
     4. The formula, "I deliver this as my act and deed," which means the 
actual delivery of the deed by the grantor into the hands or for the use of 
the grantee, is incongruous, not to say absurd, when applied to deeds which 
cannot in their nature be delivered to any person; as deeds of revocation, 
appointment, &c., under a power where uses to unborn children and the like, 
if in fact such instruments, though sealed, can be properly called deeds, i. 
e. writings sealed and delivered. Ritson's Practical Points, 146. 

DELIVERY, contracts. The transmitting the possession of a thing from one 
person into the power and possession of another. 
     2. Originally, delivery was a clear and unequivocal act of giving 
possession, accomplished by placing the subject to be transferred in the 
hands of the buyer or his avowed agent, or in their respective warehouses, 
vessels, carts, and the like. This delivery was properly considered as the 
true badge of transferred property, as importing full evidence of consent to 
transfer; preventing the appearance of possession in the transferrer from 
continuing the credit of property unduly; and avoiding uncertainty and risk 
in the title of the acquirer. 
     3. The complicated transactions of modern trade, however, render 
impossible a strict adherence to this simple rule. It often happens that the 
purchaser of a commodity cannot take immediate possession and receive the 
delivery. The bulk of the goods; their peculiar situation, as when they are 
deposited in public custody for duties, or in the hands of a manufacturer 
for the purpose of having some operation of his art performed upon them, to 
fit them for the market the distance they are from the house; the frequency 
of bargains concluded by correspondence between distant countries, and many 
other obstructions, frequently render it impracticable to give or to receive 
actual delivery. In these and such like cases, something short of actual 
delivery has been considered sufficient to transfer the property. 
     4. In sales, gifts, and other contracts, where the party intends to 
transfer the property, the delivery must be made with the intent to enable 
the receiver to obtain dominion over it. 3 Serg. & Rawle, 20; 4 Rawle, 260; 
5 Serg. & Rawle, 275 9 John. 337. The delivery may be actual, by putting the 
thing sold in the hands or possession of the purchaser; or it may be 
symbolical, as where a man buys goods which are in a room, the receipt of 
the keys will be sufficient. 1 Yeates, 529; 5 Johns. R. 335; 1 East, R. 
192.; 3 Bos. & Pull. 233; 10 Mass. 308; 6 Watts & Serg. 94. As to what will 
amount to a delivery of goods and merchandise, vide 1 Holt, 18; 4 Mass. 661; 
8 Mass. 287; 14 Johns. R. 167; 15 Johns. R. 849; 1 Taunt. R. 318 H. Black. 
R. 316, 504; 1 New R. 69; 6 East, R. 614. 
     5. There is sometimes considerable difficulty in ascertaining the 
particular period when the property in the goods sold passes from the vendor 
to the vendee; and what facts amount to an actual delivery of the goods. 
Certain rules have been established, and the difficulty is to apply the 
facts of the case. 
     6.-1. Where goods are sold, if nothing remains to be done on the part 
of the seller as between him and the buyer, before the article is to be 
deliver-ed, the property has passed. East, R. 614; 4 Mass. 661; 8 Mass. 287 
14 Johns. 167; 15 Johns. 349; 1 Holt's R. 18; 3 Eng. C. L. r. 9. 
     7.-2. Where a chattel is made to order, the property therein is not 
vested in the quasi vendee, until finished and delivered, though he has paid 
for it. 1 Taunt. 318. 
     8.-3. The criterion to determine whether there has been a delivery on 
a sale, is to consider whether the vendor still retains, in that character, 
a right over. the property. 2 H. Blackst, R. 316. 
     9.-4. Where a part of the goods sold by an entire contract, has been 
taken possession of by the vendee, that shall be deemed a taking possession 
of the whole. 2 H. Bl. R. 504; 1 New Rep. 69. Such partial delivery is not a 
delivery of the whole, so as to vest in the vendee the entire property in 
the whole, where some act, other than the payment of the price, is necessary 
to be performed in order to vest the property. 6 East, R. 614. 
    10.-5. Where goods are sent by order to a carrier the carrier receives 
them as the vendee's agent. Cowp. 294; 3 Bos. & Pull. 582; 2 N. R. 119. 
    11.-6. A delivery may be made in a very slight manner; as where one 
buys goods which are in a room, the receipt of the key is sufficient. 1 
Yeates, 529; 5 Johns. 335; 1 East, R. 192. See, also, 3. B. & P. 233 7 East, 
Rep. 558; 1 Camp. 235. 
    12.-7. The vendor. of bulky articles is not bound to, deliver them, 
unless he stipulated to do so; be must give notice to the buyer that he is 
ready to deliver them. 5 Serg. & Rawle, 19; 12. Mass. 300; 4 Shepl. Rep. 49; 
and see 3 Johns. 399; 13 Johns. 294; 19 Johns. 218; 1 Dall. 171. 
    13.-8. A sale of bricks in a brickyard, accompanied with a lease of 
the yard until the bricks should be sold and removed, was held to be valid 
against the creditors of the vendor, without an actual removal. 10 Mass. 
308. 
    14.-9. Where goods were contracted to be sold upon condition that the 
vendee should give security for the price, and they are delivered without 
security being given, but with the declaration on the part of the vendor 
that the transaction should not be deemed a sale, until the security should 
be furnished; it was held that the goods remained the property of the 
vendor, notwithstanding the delivery. But it seems that in such cases the 
goods would be liable for the debts of, the vendee's creditors, originating 
after the delivery; and that the vendee may, for a bona fide consideration, 
sell the goods while in his possession. 4 Mass. 405. 
    15.-10. Where goods are sold to be paid for on delivery, if, on 
delivery, the vendee refuses to pay for them, the property is not divested 
from the vendor. 13 Johns. 434; 1 Yeates, 529. 
    16.-11. If the vendor rely on the promises of the vendee to perform 
the conditions of the sale, and deliver the goods accordingly, the right of 
property. is changed; but where, performance and delivery are understood to 
be simultaneous, possession, obtained by artifice, will not vest a title in 
the vendee. 3 Serg. & Rawle, 20. 
    17.-12. Where, on the sale of a chattel, the purchase money is paid, 
the property is vested in the vendee, and if he permit it to remain in the 
custody of the vendor, he cannot call upon the latter for any subsequent 
loss or deterioration not arising from negligence. 2 Johns. 13; 2 Caines, R. 
38 3 Jolins. 394. 
    18. In order to make a good donatio mortis causa, it is requisite that 
there should be a delivery of the subject to or for the donee, where such 
delivery can be made. 3 Binn. R. 370; 1 Miles, Rep. 109, 110; 2 Ves. Jr. 
120; 9 Ves. Jr. 1. 
    19. The delivery of the key of the place where bulky goods are 
deposited, is, however, a sufficient delivery of such goods. 2 Ves. Sen. 
445. Vide 3 P. Wms. 357; 2 Bro. C. C. 612; 4 Barn. & A. 1; 3 Barn. & C. 45 
Bouv. Inst. Index, h.t. See Sale; Stoppage in transitu; Tender; and Domat, 
Lois Civiles, Liv. 1, tit. 2, s. 2 Harr. Dig. Sale, II. 3. 

DELIVERY, child-birth, med. jur. The act of a woman giving birth to her 
offspring. 
     2. It is frequently of great importance to ascertain whether or not a 
delivery has taken place, and the time when it took place. Delivery may be 
considered with regard, 1. To pretended delivery. 2. To concealed delivery 
and, 3. To the usual signs of delivery. 
     3.-1. In pretended delivery, the female declares herself to be a 
mother, without being so in reality; an act always prompted by folly or 
fraud. 
     4. Pretended delivery may present itself in three points of view, 1. 
When the female who feigns has never been pregnant. When thoroughly 
investigated, this may always be detected. There are signs which must be 
present, and cannot be feigned. An enlargement of the orifice of the uterus, 
and a tumefaction of the organs of generation, should always be present, and 
if absent, are conclusive against the' fact. Annales d'Hygiene, tome ii. p. 
227. 2. When the pretended pregnancy and delivery have been preceded by one 
or more deliveries. In this case, attention should be given to the following 
circumstances: the mystery, if any, which has been affected with regard to 
the situation of the female; her age; that of her husband and particularly 
whether aged or decrepit. 3. When the woman has been actually delivered, and 
substitutes a living for a dead child. But little evidence can be obtained 
on this subject from a physical examination. 
     5.-2. Concealed delivery generally takes place when the woman either 
has destroyed her offspring, or it was born dead. In suspected cases, the 
following circumstances should be attended to: 1. The proofs of pregnancy 
which arise in consequence of the examination of the mother. When she has 
been pregnant, and has been delivered, the usual signs of delivery, 
mentioned below, will be present. A careful investigation as to the woman's 
appearance, before and since the delivery, will have some weight, though 
such evidence is not always to be relied upon, as such appearances are not 
unfrequently deceptive. 2. The proofs of recent delivery. 3. The connexion 
between the supposed state of parturition, and the state of the child that 
is found; for if the age of the child do not correspond to that time, it 
will be a strong circumstance in favor of the mother's innocence. A redness 
of the shin and an attachment of the umbilical cord to the navel, indicate a 
recent birth. Whether the child was living at its birth, belongs to the 
subject of infanticide. (q.v.) 
     6.-3. The usual signs of delivery are very well collected in Beck's 
excellent treatise on Medical Jurisprudence, and are here extracted: If the 
female be examined within three or four days after the occurrence of 
delivery, the following circumstances will generally be observed: greater or 
less weakness, a slight paleness of the face, the eye a little sunken, and 
surrounded by a purplish or dark brown colored ring, and a whiteness of the 
skin, like a person convalescing from disease. The belly is soft, the skin 
of the abdomen is lax, lies in folds, and is traversed in various directions 
by shining reddish and whitish lines, which especially extend from the 
groins and pubis to the naval. These lines have sometimes been termed 
linecae albicantes, and are particularly observed near the umbilical region, 
where the abdomen has experienced the greatest distention. The breasts 
become tumid and hard, and on pressure emit a fluid, which at first is 
serous, and afterwards gradually becomes whiter; and the presence of this 
secretion is generally accompanied with a full pulse and soft skin, covered 
with a moisture of a peculiar and somewhat acid odor. The areolae round the 
nipples are dark colored. The external genital organs and vagina are dilated 
and tumefied throughout the whole of their extent, from the pressure of the 
foetus. The uterus may be felt through the abdominal parietes, voluminous, 
firm, and globular, and rising nearly as high as the umbilicus. Its orifice 
is soft and tumid, and dilated so as to admit two or more fingers. The 
fourchette; or anterior margin of the perinaeum, is sometimes torn, or it is 
lax, and appears to have suffered considerable distention. A discharge 
(termed the lochial) commences from the uterus, which is distinguished from 
the menses by its pale color, its peculiar and well-known smell, and its 
duration. The lochia are at first of a red color, and gradually become 
lighter until they cease. 
     7. These signs may generally be relied upon as indicating the state of 
pregnancy, yet it requires much experience in order not to be deceived by 
appearances. 
     8.-1. The lochial discharge might be mistaken for menstruation, or 
fluor albus, were it not for its peculiar smell; and this it has been found 
impossible, by any artifice, to destroy. 
     9.-2. Relaxation of the soft parts arises as frequently from 
menstruation as from delivery; but in these cases the os uteri and vagina 
are not so much tumefied, nor is there that tenderness and swelling. The 
parts are found pale and flabby, when all signs of contusion disappear, 
after delivery; and this circumstance does not follow menstruation. 
    10.-3. The presence of milk, though a usual sign of delivery, is not 
always to be relied upon, for this secretion may take place independent of 
pregnancy. 
    11.-4. The wrinkles and relaxations of the abdomen which follow 
delivery, may be the consequence of dropsy, or of lankness following great 
obesity. This state of the parts is also seldom striking after the birth of 
the first child, as they shortly resume their natural state. Vide, 
generally, 1 Beck's Med. Jur. c. 7, p. 206; 1 Chit. Med. Jur. 411; Ryan's 
Med. Jur. ch. 10, p. 133; 1 Briand, Med. Leg. lere partie, c. 5.