SU'RETY, noun Certainty; indubitableness.

Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs-- Genesis 15:13.

1. Security; safety.

Yet for the more surety they looked round about.

2. Foundation of stability; support.

We our state

Hold, as you yours, while our obedience holds;

On other surety none.

3. Evidence; ratification; confirmation.

She call'd the saints to surety

That she would never put it from her finger,

Unless she gave it to yourself.

4. Security against loss or damage; security for payment.

There remains unpaid

A hundred thousand more, in surety of the which

One part of Aquitain is bound to us.

5. In law, one that is bound with and for another; one who enters into a bond or recognizance to answer for another's appearance in court, or for his payment of a debt or for the performance of some act, and who, in case of the principal debtor's failure, is compellable to pay the debt or damages; a bondsman; a bail.

He that is surety for a stranger, shall smart for it. Proverbs 11:15.

Thy servant became surety for the lad to my father. Genesis 44:32.

6. In Scripture, Christ is called 'the surety of a better testament.' Hebrews 7:22. He undertook to make atonement for the sins of men, and thus prepare the way to deliver them from the punishment to which they had rendered themselves liable.

7. A hostage.