Part 3 out of 9



The name is also applied to many other fishes. See Calico bass, under Calico.
Bass, n. [A corruption of bast.] 1. (Bot.) The linden or lime tree, sometimes wrongly called whitewood; also, its bark, which is used for making mats. See Bast.
2. (Pron. ? ) A hassock or thick mat.
Bass (?), n. [F. basse, fr. bas low. See Base, a.]
1. A bass, or deep, sound or tone.
2. (Mus.) (a) The lowest part in a musical composition. (b) One who sings, or the instrument which plays, bass. [Written also base.]
Thorough bass. See Thorough bass.
Bass, a. Deep or grave in tone.
Bass clef (Mus.), the character placed at the beginning of the staff containing the bass part of a musical composition. [See Illust. under Clef.] Bass voice, a deepsounding voice; a voice fitted for singing bass.
Bass, v. t. To sound in a deep tone. [R.]
Shak.
Bassa (?), Bassaw (?), n. See Bashaw.
Bass drum (?). (Mus.) The largest of the different kinds of drums, having two heads, and emitting a deep, grave sound. See Bass, a.
Basset (?),n. [F. bassette, fr.It. bassetta. Cf. Basso.] A game at cards, resembling the modern faro, said to have been invented at Venice.
Some dress, some dance, some play, not to forget
Your piquet parties, and your dear basset.
Rowe.
Basset (?), a. [Cf. OF. basset somewhat low, dim. of bas low.] (Geol.) Inclined upward; as, the basset edge of strata.
Lyell.
Basset, n. (Geol.) The edge of a geological stratum at the surface of the ground; the outcrop.
Basset, v. i. [imp. & p.p. Basseted; p. pr. & vb. n. Basseting.] (Geol.) To inclined upward so as to appear at the surface; to crop out; as, a vein of coal bassets.
Basset horn(?). [See Basset, a.] (Mus.) An instrument blown with a reed, and resembling a clarinet, but of much greater compass, embracing nearly four octaves.
Basset hound (?). [F. basset.] (Zol.) A small kind of hound with a long body and short legs, used as an earth dog.
Basseting, n. The upward direction of a vein in a mine; the emergence of a stratum at the surface.
Bassetto (?),n. [It., adj., somewhat low; n., counter tenor. See Basso.] (Mus.) A tenor or small bass viol.
Bass horn (?). (Mus.) A modification of the bassoon, much deeper in tone.
Bassinet (?), n. [Cf. F. bassinet, dim. of bassin. See Basin, and cf. Bascinet.] 1. A wicker basket, with a covering or hood over one end, in which young children are placed as in a cradle.
2. See Bascinet.
Lord Lytton.
Basso (?), n. [It., fr. LL. bassus. See Base, a.] (Mus.) (a) The bass or lowest part; as, to sing basso. (b) One who sings the lowest part. (c) The double bass, or contrabasso.
Basso continuo (?). [It., bass continued.] (Mus.) A bass part written out continuously, while the other parts of the harmony are indicated by figures attached to the bass; continued bass.
Bassock (?), n. A hassock. See 2d Bass, 2.
Bassoon (?), n. [F. basson, fr. basse bass; or perh. fr. bas son low sound. See Bass a part in music. ] (Mus.) A wind instrument of the double reed kind, furnished with holes, which are stopped by the fingers, and by keys, as in flutes. It forms the natural bass to the oboe, clarinet, etc.
Its compass comprehends three octaves. For convenience of carriage it is divided into two parts; whence it is also called a fagot.
Bassoonist, n. A performer on the bassoon.
Busby.
Bassorilievo (?), Bassorelievo (?), n. [It. bassorilievo.] Same as Basrelief.
Bassorin (?), n. [Cf. F. bassorine.] (Chem.) A constituent part of a species of gum from Bassora, as also of gum tragacanth and some gum resins. It is one of the amyloses.
Ure.
Bassrelief (?), n. Some as Basrelief.
Bass viol (?). (Mus.) A stringed instrument of the viol family, used for playing bass. See 3d Bass, n., and Violoncello.
Basswood (?), n. (Bot.) The bass (Tilia) or its wood; especially, T. Americana. See Bass, the lime tree.
All the bowls were made of basswood,
White and polished very smoothly.
Longfellow.
Bast (?), n. [AS. bst; akin to Icel., Sw., Dan., D., & G. bast, of unknown origin. Cf. Bass the tree.] 1. The inner fibrous bark of various plants; esp. of the lime tree; hence, matting, cordage, etc., made therefrom.
2. A thick mat or hassock. See 2d Bass, 2.
Basta (?), interj. [It.] Enough; stop.
Shak.
Bastard (?),n. [OF. bastard, bastart, F. b?tard, prob. fr. OF. bast, F. b?t, a packsaddle used as a bed by the muleteers (fr. LL. bastum) + ard. OF. fils de bast son of the packsaddle; as the muleteers were accustomed to use their saddles for beds in the inns. See Cervantes, Don Quixote, chap. 16; and cf.G. bankert, fr. bank bench.] 1. A natural child; a child begotten and born out of wedlock; an illegitimate child; one born of an illicit union.
By the civil and canon laws, and by the laws of many of the United States, a bastard becomes a legitimate child by the intermarriage of the parents at any subsequent time. But by those of England, and of some states of the United States, a child, to be legitimate, must at least be born after the lawful marriage.
Kent. Blackstone.
2. (Sugar Refining) (a) An inferior quality of soft brown sugar, obtained from the sirups that ? already had several boilings. (b) A large size of mold, in which sugar is drained.
3. A sweet Spanish wine like muscadel in flavor.
Brown bastard is your only drink.
Shak.
4. A writing paper of a particular size. See Paper.
Bastard (?), a. 1. Begotten and born out of lawful matrimony; illegitimate. See Bastard, n., note.
2. Lacking in genuineness; spurious; false; adulterate; applied to things which resemble those which are genuine, but are really not so.
That bastard selflove which is so vicious in itself, and productive of so many vices.
Barrow.
3. Of an unusual make or proportion; as, a bastard musket; a bastard culverin. [Obs.]
4. (Print.) Abbreviated, as the half title in a page preceding the full title page of a book.
Bastard ashlar (Arch.), stones for ashlar work, roughly squared at the quarry. Bastard file, a file intermediate between the coarsest and the second cut. Bastard type (Print.), type having the face of a larger or a smaller size than the body; e. g., a nonpareil face on a brevier body. Bastard wing (Zol.), three to five quill feathers on a small joint corresponding to the thumb in some mam malia; the alula.
Bastard, v. t. To bastardize. [Obs.]
Bacon.
Bastardism (?),n. The state of being a bastard; bastardy.
Bastardize (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Bastardized (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Bastardizing.] 1. To make or prove to be a bastard; to stigmatize as a bastard; to declare or decide legally to be illegitimate.
The law is so indulgent as not to bastardize the child, if born, though not begotten, in lawful wedlock.
Blackstone.
2. To beget out of wedlock. [R.]
Shak.
Bastardly, a. Bastardlike; baseborn; spurious; corrupt. [Obs.] adv. In the manner of a bastard; spuriously. [Obs.]
Shak. Donne.
Bastardy (?), n. 1. The state of being a bastard; illegitimacy.
2. The procreation of a bastard child.
Wharton.
Baste (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Basted; p. pr. & vb. n. Basting.] [Cf. Icel. beysta to strike, powder; Sw. basa to beat with a rod: perh. akin to E. beat.]
1. To beat with a stick; to cudgel.
One man was basted by the keeper for carrying some people
over on his back through the waters.
Pepys.
2. (Cookery) To sprinkle flour and salt and drip butter or fat on, as on meat in roasting.
3. To mark with tar, as sheep. [Prov. Eng.]
Baste, v. t. [OE. basten, OF. bastir, F. b?tir, prob. fr. OHG. bestan to sew, MHG. besten to bind, fr. OHG. bast bast. See Bast.] To sew loosely, or with long stitches; usually, that the work may be held in position until sewed more firmly.
Shak.
Bastile Bastille } (?), n. [F. bastille fortress, OF. bastir to build, F. b?tir.]
1. (Feud. Fort.) A tower or an elevated work, used for the defense, or in the siege, of a fortified place.
The high bastiles ... which overtopped the walls.
Holland.
2. The Bastille, formerly a castle or fortress in Paris, used as a prison, especially for political offenders; hence, a rhetorical name for a prison.
Bastinade (?), n. See Bastinado, n.
Bastinade, v. t. To bastinado. [Archaic]
Bastinado (?), n.; pl. Bastinadoes (?). [Sp. bastonada (cf. F. bastonnade), fr. baston (cf. F. b?ton) a stick or staff. See Baston.]
1. A blow with a stick or cudgel.
2. A sound beating with a stick or cudgel. Specifically: A form of punishment among the Turks, Chinese, and others, consisting in beating an offender on the soles of his feet.
Bastinado, v. t. [imp. & p.p. Bastinadoes (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Bastinadoing.] To beat with a stick or cudgel, especially on the soles of the feet.
Bastion (?), n. [F. bastion (cf. It. bastione), fr. LL. bastire to build (cf. F. b?tir, It. bastire), perh. from the idea of support for a weight, and akin to Gr. ? to lift, carry, and to E. baston, baton.] (Fort.) A work projecting outward from the main inclosure of a fortification, consisting of two faces and two flanks, and so constructed that it is able to defend by a flanking fire the adjacent curtain, or wall which extends from one bastion to another. Two adjacent bastions are connected by the curtain, which joins the flank of one with the adjacent flank of the other. The distance between the flanks of a bastion is called the gorge. A lunette is a detached bastion. See Ravelin.
Bastioned (?),a. Furnished with a bastion; having bastions.


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Basto (?), n. [Sp.] The ace of clubs in qua?rille and omber.
Pope.
Baston (?), n. [OF. baston, F. b?ton, LL. basto. See Bastion, and cf. Baton, and 3d Batten.]
1. A staff or cudgel. [Obs.] To fight with blunt bastons.
Holland.
2. (Her.) See Baton.
3. An officer bearing a painted staff, who formerly was in attendance upon the king's court to take into custody persons committed by the court.
Mozley & W.
Basyle (?), n. [Gr. ? base + ? wood. See yl.] (Chem.) A positive or nonacid constituent of compound, either elementary, or, if compound, performing the functions of an element.
Basylous (?), a. Pertaining to, or having the nature of, a basyle; electropositive; basic; opposed to chlorous.
Graham.
Bat (?), n. [OE. batte, botte, AS. batt; perhaps fr. the Celtic; cf. Ir. bat, bata, stick, staff; but cf. also F. batte a beater (thing), wooden sword, battre to beat.]
1. A large stick; a club; specifically, a piece of wood with one end thicker or broader than the other, used in playing baseball, cricket, etc.
2. (Mining) Shale or bituminous shale.
Kirwan.
3. A sheet of cotton used for filling quilts or comfortables; batting.
4. A part of a brick with one whole end.
Bat bolt (Machinery), a bolt barbed or jagged at its butt or tang to make it hold the more firmly.
Knight.
Bat, v. t. [imp. & p.p. Batted (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Batting.] To strike or hit with a bat or a pole; to cudgel; to beat.
Holland.
Bat, v. i. To use a bat, as in a game of baseball.
Bat, n. [Corrupt. from OE. back, backe, balke; cf. Dan. aftenbakke (aften evening), Sw. nattbacka (natt night), Icel. le?rblaka (le?r leather), Icel. blaka to flutter.] (Zol.) One of the Cheiroptera, an order of flying mammals, in which the wings are formed by a membrane stretched between the elongated fingers, legs, and tail. The common bats are small and insectivorous. See Cheiroptera and Vampire.
Bat tick (Zol.), a wingless, dipterous insect of the genus Nycteribia, parasitic on bats.
Batable (?), a. [Abbrev. from debatable.] Disputable. [Obs.]
The border land between England and Scotland, being formerly a subject of contention, was called batable or debatable ground.
Batailled (?), a. Embattled. [Obs.]
Chaucer.
Batardeau (?),n. [F.] 1. A cofferdam.
Brande & C.
2. (Mil.) A wall built across the ditch of a fortification, with a sluice gate to regulate the height of water in the ditch on both sides of the wall.
Batatas (?), Batata (?), } n. An aboriginal American name for the sweet potato (Ipoma batatas).
Batavian (?), a. Of or pertaining to (a) the Batavi, an ancient Germanic tribe; or to (b) ?atavia or Holland; as, a Batavian legion.
Batavian Republic, the name given to Holland by the French after its conquest in 1795.
Batavian, n. A native or inhabitant of Batavia or Holland. [R.]
Bancroft.
Batch (?), n. [OE. bache, bacche, fr. AS. bacan to bake; cf. G. gebck and D. baksel. See Bake, v. t.]
1. The quantity of bread baked at one time.
2. A quantity of anything produced at one operation; a group or collection of persons or things of the same kind; as, a batch of letters; the next batch of business. A new batch of Lords.
Lady M. W. Montagu.
Bate (?), n. [Prob. abbrev. from debate.] Strife; contention. [Obs.]
Shak.
Bate, v. t. [imp. & p.p. Bated; p. pr. & vb. n. Bating.] [From abate.] 1. To lessen by retrenching, deducting, or reducing; to abate; to beat down; to lower.
He must either bate the laborer's wages, or not employ or not pay him.
Locke.
2. To allow by way of abatement or deduction.
To whom he bates nothing or what he stood upon with the parliament.
South.
3. To leave out; to except. [Obs.]
Bate me the king, and, be he flesh and blood.
He lies that says it.
Beau. & Fl.
4. To remove. [Obs.]
About autumn bate the earth from about the roots of olives, and lay them bare.
Holland.
5. To deprive of. [Obs.]
When baseness is exalted, do not bate
The place its honor for the person's sake.
Herbert.
Bate, v. i. 1. To remit or retrench a part; with of.
Abate thy speed, and I will bate of mine.
Dryden.
2. To waste away. [Obs.]
Shak.
Bate (?), v. t. To attack; to bait. [Obs.]
Spenser.
Bate, imp. of Bite. [Obs.]
Spenser.
Bate, v. i. [F. battre des ailes to flutter. Cf. Bait to flutter.] To flutter as a hawk; to bait. [Obs.]
Bacon.
Bate, n. (Jewish Antiq.) See 2d Bath.
Bate, n. [Cf. Sw. beta maceration, soaking, G. beize, and E. bite.] An alkaline solution consisting of the dung of certain animals; employed in the preparation of hides; grainer.
Knight.
Bate, v. t. To steep in bate, as hides, in the manufacture of leather.
Bateau (?), n.; pl. Bateaux (?). [F. bateau, LL. batellus, fr. battus, batus, boa, which agrees with AS. bt boat: cf. W. bad boat. See Boat, n.] A boat; esp. a flatbottomed, clumsy boat used on the Canadian lakes and rivers. [Written also, but less properly, batteau.]
Bateau bridge, a floating bridge supported by bateaux.
Bated (?), a. Reduced; lowered; restrained; as, to speak with bated breath.
Macaulay.
Bateful (?), a. Exciting contention; contentious. [Obs.] It did bateful question frame.
Sidney.
Bateless, a. Not to be abated. [Obs.]
Shak.
Batement (?), n. [For Abatement. See 2d Bate.] Abatement; diminution.
Moxon.
Batement light (Arch.), a window or one division of a window having vertical sides, but with the sill not horizontal, as where it follows the rake of a staircase.
Batfish (?), n. (Zol.) A name given to several species of fishes: (a) The Malthe vespertilio of the Atlantic coast. (b) The flying gurnard of the Atlantic (Cephalacanthus spinarella). (c) The California batfish or sting ray (Myliobatis Californicus.)
Batfowler (?), n. One who practices or finds sport in batfowling.
Batfowling (?), n. [From Bat a stick.] A mode of catching birds at night, by holding a torch or other light, and beating the bush or perch where they roost. The birds, flying to the light, are caught with nets or otherwise.
Batful (?), a. [Icel. bati amelioration, batna to grow better; akin to AS. bet better. Goth. gabatnan to profit. ?255. Cf. Batten, v. i., Better.] Rich; fertile. [Obs.] Batful valleys.
Drayton.
Bath (?), n.; pl. Baths (?). [AS. b?; akin to OS. & Icel. ba?, Sw., Dan., D., & G. bad, and perh. to G. bhen to foment.] 1. The act of exposing the body, or part of the body, for purposes of cleanliness, comfort, health, etc., to water, vapor, hot air, or the like; as, a cold or a hot bath; a medicated bath; a steam bath; a hip bath.
2. Water or other liquid for bathing.
3. A receptacle or place where persons may immerse or wash their bodies in water.
4. A building containing an apartment or a series of apartments arranged for bathing.
Among the ancients, the public baths were of amazing extent and magnificence.
Gwilt.
5. (Chem.) A medium, as heated sand, ashes, steam, hot air, through which heat is applied to a body.
6. (Photog.) A solution in which plates or prints are immersed; also, the receptacle holding the solution.
Bath is used adjectively or in combination, in an obvious sense of or for baths or bathing; as, bathroom, bath tub, bath keeper.
Douche bath. See Douche. Order of the Bath, a high order of British knighthood, composed of three classes, viz., knights grand cross, knights commanders, and knights companions, abbreviated thus: G. C. B., K. C. B., K. B. Russian bath, a kind of vapor bath which consists in a prolonged exposure of the body to the influence of the steam of water, followed by washings and shampooings. Turkish bath, a kind of bath in which a profuse perspiration is produced by hot air, after which the body is washed and shampooed. Bath house, a house used for the purpose of bathing; also a small house, near a bathing place, where a bather undresses and dresses.
Bath (?), n. [Heb.] A Hebrew measure containing the tenth of a homer, or five gallons and three pints, as a measure for liquids; and two pecks and five quarts, as a dry measure.
Bath (?), n. A city in the west of England, resorted to for its hot springs, which has given its name to various objects.
Bath brick, a preparation of calcareous earth, in the form of a brick, used for cleaning knives, polished metal, etc. Bath chair, a kind of chair on wheels, as used by invalids at Bath. People walked out, or drove out, or were pushed out in their Bath chairs. Dickens. Bath metal, an alloy consisting of four and a half ounces of zinc and one pound of copper. Bath note, a folded writing paper, 8 1/2 by 14 inches. Bath stone, a species of limestone (olite) found near Bath, used for building.
Bathe (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Bathed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Bathing.] [OE. ba?ien, AS. ba?ian, fr. b? bath. See 1st Bath, and cf. Bay to bathe.] 1. To wash by immersion, as in a bath; to subject to a bath.
Chancing to bathe himself in the River Cydnus.
South.
2. To lave; to wet. The lake which bathed the foot of the Alban mountain.
T. Arnold.
3. To moisten or suffuse with a liquid.
And let us bathe our hands in Csar's blood.
Shak.
4. To apply water or some liquid medicament to; as, to bathe the eye with warm water or with sea water; to bathe one's forehead with camphor.
5. To surround, or envelop, as water surrounds a person immersed. The rosy shadows bathe me. Tennyson. The bright sunshine bathing all the world. Longfellow.
Bathe (?), v. i. 1. To bathe one's self; to take a bath or baths. They bathe in summer.
Waller.
2. To immerse or cover one's self, as in a bath. To bathe in fiery floods. Shak. Bathe in the dimples of her cheek. Lloyd.
3. To bask in the sun. [Obs.]
Chaucer.
Bathe, n. The immersion of the body in water; as to take one's usual bathe.
Edin. Rev.
Bather (?), n. One who bathes.
Bathetic (?), a. Having the character of bathos. [R.]
Bathing (?), n. Act of taking a bath or baths.
Bathing machine, a small room on wheels, to be driven into the water, for the convenience of bathers, who undress and dress therein.
Bathmism (?), n. See Vital force.
Bathometer (?), n. [Gr. ? depth + meter.] An instrument for measuring depths, esp. one for taking soundings without a sounding line.
Bathorse (?), n. [F. b?t packsaddle (cheval de b?t packhorse) + E. horse. See Bastard.] A horse which carries an officer's baggage during a campaign.
Bathos (?), n. [Gr. ? depth, fr. ? deep.] (Rhet.) A ludicrous descent from the elevated to the low, in writing or speech; anticlimax.
Bathybius (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. ? deep + ? life] (Zol.) A name given by Prof. Huxley to a gelatinous substance found in mud dredged from the Atlantic and preserved in alcohol. He supposed that it was free living protoplasm, covering a large part of the ocean bed. It is now known that the substance is of chemical, not of organic, origin.
Bathymetric (?), Bathymetrical (?), } a. Pertaining to bathymetry; relating to the measurement of depths, especially of depths in the sea.
Bathymetry (?), n. [Gr. ? depth + metry.] The art or science of sounding, or measuring depths in the sea.
Bating (?), prep. [Strictly p. pr. of Bat? to abate.] With the exception of; excepting.
We have little reason to think that they bring many ideas with them, bating some faint ideas of hunger and thirst.
Locke.
Batiste (?), n. [F. batiste, from the name of the alleged first maker, Baptiste of Cambrai. Littr.] Originally, cambric or lawn of fine linen; now applied also to cloth of similar texture made of cotton.
Batlet (?), n. [Bat stick + let.] A short bat for beating clothes in washing them; called also batler, batling staff, batting staff.
Shak.
Batman (?), n. [Turk. batman.] A weight used in the East, varying according to the locality; in Turkey, the greater batman is about 157 pounds, the lesser only a fourth of this; at Aleppo and Smyrna, the batman is 17 pounds.
Simmonds.
Batman (?), n.; pl. Batmen (?). [F. b?t packsaddle + E. man. Cf. Bathorse.] A man who has charge of a bathorse and his load.
Macaulay.
Batoidei (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. ? a kind of ray + oid.] (Zol.) The division of fishes which includes the rays and skates.
Baton (?), n. [F. b?ton. See Baston.] 1. A staff or truncheon, used for various purposes; as, the baton of a field marshal; the baton of a conductor in musical performances.
He held the baton of command.
Prescott.
2. (Her.) An ordinary with its ends cut off, borne sinister as a mark of bastardy, and containing one fourth in breadth of the bend sinister; called also bastard bar. See Bend sinister.
Batoon (?), n. See Baton, and Baston.
Bat printing (?). (Ceramics) A mode of printing on glazed ware.
Batrachia (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. ? belonging to a frog, fr. ? frog.] (Zol.) The order of amphibians which includes the frogs and toads; the Anura. Sometimes the word is used in a wider sense as equivalent to Amphibia.
Batrachian (?), a. (Zol.) Pertaining to the Batrachia. n. One of the Batrachia.
Batrachoid (?), a. [Batrachia + oid.] (Zol.) Froglike. Specifically: Of or pertaining to the Batrachid, a family of marine fishes, including the toadfish. Some have poisonous dorsal spines.
Batrachomyomachy (?), n. [Gr. ?; ? frog + ? mouse + ? battle.] The battle between the frogs and mice; a Greek parody on the Iliad, of uncertain authorship.
Batrachophagous (?), a. [Gr. ? frog + ? to eat.] Feeding on frogs.
Quart. Rev.
Batsman (?), n.; pl. Batsmen (?). The one who wields the bat in cricket, baseball, etc.
Bat'swing (?) or Batwing, a. Shaped like a bat's wing; as, a bat'swing burner.
Batta (?), n. [Prob. through Pg. for Canarese bhatta rice in the husk.] Extra pay; esp. an extra allowance to an English officer serving in India.
Whitworth.


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Batta (?), n. [Hind. ba??a.] Rate of exchange; also, the discount on uncurrent coins. [India]
Battable (?), a. [See Batful.] Capable of culti?ation; fertile; productive; fattening. [Obs.]
Burton.
Battailant (?), a. [F. bataillant, p. pr. See Battle, v. i. ] [Obs.] Prepared for battle; combatant; warlike. Spenser. n. A combatant.
Shelton.
Battailous (?), a. [OF. bataillos, fr. bataille. See Battle, n.] Arrayed for battle; fit or eager for battle; warlike. [Obs.] In battailous aspect.
Milton.
Battalia (?), n. [LL. battalia battle, a body of troops. See Battle, n.] 1. Order of battle; disposition or arrangement of troops (brigades, regiments, battalions, etc.), or of a naval force, for action.
A drawing up the armies in battalia.
Jer. Taylor.
2. An army in battle array; also, the main battalia or body. [Obs.]
Shak.
Battalion (?), n. [F. bataillon, fr. It. battaglione. See Battalia.] 1. A body of troops; esp. a body of troops or an army in battle array. The whole battalion views.
Milton.
2. (Mil.) A regiment, or two or more companies of a regiment, esp. when assembled for drill or battle.
Battalion (?), v. t. To form into battalions. [R.]
Battel (?), n. [Obs. form. of Battle.] (Old Eng. Law) A single combat; as, trial by battel. See Wager of battel, under Wager.
Battel, n. [Of uncertain etymology.] Provisions ordered from the buttery; also, the charges for them; only in the pl., except when used adjectively. [Univ. of Oxford, Eng.]
Battel, v. i. To be supplied with provisions from the buttery. [Univ. of Oxford, Eng.]
Battel, v. t. [Cf. Batful, Batten, v. i.] To make fertile. [Obs.] To battel barren land.
Ray.
Battel, a. Fertile; fruitful; productive. [Obs.]
A battel soil for grain, for pasture good.
Fairfax.
Batteler (?), Battler (?), n. [See 2d Battel, n.] A student at Oxford who is supplied with provisions from the buttery; formerly, one who paid for nothing but what he called for, answering nearly to a sizar at Cambridge.
Wright.
Batten (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Battened (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Battening.] [See Batful.] 1. To make fat by plenteous feeding; to fatten. Battening our flocks.
Milton.
2. To fertilize or enrich, as land.
Batten, v. i. To grow fat; to grow fat in ease and luxury; to glut one's self.
Dryden.
The pampered monarch lay battening in ease.
Garth.
Skeptics, with a taste for carrion, who batten on the hideous facts in history, persecutions, inquisitions.
Emerson.
Batten, n . [F. b?ton stick, staff. See Baton.] A strip of sawed stuff, or a scantling; as, (a) pl. (Com. & Arch.) Sawed timbers about 7 by 2 1/2 inches and not less than 6 feet long. Brande & C. (b) (Naut.) A strip of wood used in fastening the edges of a tarpaulin to the deck, also around masts to prevent chafing. (c) A long, thin strip used to strengthen a part, to cover a crack, etc.
Batten door (Arch.), a door made of boards of the whole length of the door, secured by battens nailed crosswise.
Batten, v. t. To furnish or fasten with battens.
To batten down, to fasten down with battens, as the tarpaulin over the hatches of a ship during a storm.
Batten, n. [F. battant. See Batter, v. t.] The movable bar of a loom, which strikes home or closes the threads of a woof.
Battening (?), n. (Arch.) Furring done with small pieces nailed directly upon the wall.
Batter (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Battered (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Battering.] [OE. bateren, OF. batre, F. battre, fr. LL. battere, for L. batuere to strike, beat; of unknown origin. Cf. Abate, Bate to abate.]
1. To beat with successive blows; to beat repeatedly and with violence, so as to bruise, shatter, or demolish; as, to batter a wall or rampart.
2. To wear or impair as if by beating or by hard usage. Each battered jade.
Pope.
3. (Metallurgy) To flatten (metal) by hammering, so as to compress it inwardly and spread it outwardly.
Batter, n. [OE. batere, batire; cf. OF. bateure, bature, a beating. See Batter, v. t.] 1. A semiliquid mixture of several ingredients, as, flour, eggs, milk, etc., beaten together and used in cookery.
King.
2. Paste of clay or loam.
Holland.
3. (Printing) A bruise on the face of a plate or of type in the form.
Batter, n. A backward slope in the face of a wall or of a bank; receding slope.
Batter rule, an instrument consisting of a rule or frame, and a plumb line, by which the batter or slope of a wall is regulated in building.
Batter, v. i. (Arch.) To slope gently backward.
Batter, n. One who wields a bat; a batsman.
Batterer (?), n. One who, or that which, batters.
Batteringram (?), n. 1. (Mil.) An engine used in ancient times to beat down the walls of besieged places.
It was a large beam, with a head of iron, which was sometimes made to resemble the head of a ram. It was suspended by ropes t a beam supported by posts, and so balanced as to swing backward and forward, and was impelled by men against the wall.
Grose.
2. A blacksmith's hammer, suspended, and worked horizontally.
Battering train (?). (Mil.) A train of artillery for siege operations.
Battery (?), n.; pl. Batteries (?). [F. batterie, fr. battre. See Batter, v. t.] 1. The act of battering or beating.
2. (Law) The unlawful beating of another. It includes every willful, angry and violent, or negligent touching of another's person or clothes, or anything attached to his person or held by him.
3. (Mil.) (a) Any place where cannon or mortars are mounted, for attack or defense. (b) Two or more pieces of artillery in the field. (c) A company or division of artillery, including the gunners, guns, horses, and all equipments. In the United States, a battery of flying artillery consists usually of six guns.
Barbette battery. See Barbette. Battery d'enfilade, or Enfilading battery, one that sweeps the whole length of a line of troops or part of a work. Battery en charpe, one that plays obliquely. Battery gun, a gun capable of firing a number, of shots simultaneously or successively without stopping to load. Battery wagon, a wagon employed to transport the tools and materials for repair of the carriages, etc., of the battery. In battery, projecting, as a gun, into an embrasure or over a parapet in readiness for firing. Masked battery, a battery artificially concealed until required to open upon the enemy. Out of battery, or From battery, withdrawn, as a gun, to a position for loading.
4. (Elec.) (a) A number of coated jars (Leyden jars) so connected that they may be charged and discharged simultaneously. (b) An apparatus for generating voltaic electricity.
In the trough battery, copper and zinc plates, connected in pairs, divide the trough into cells, which are filled with an acid or oxidizing liquid; the effect is exhibited when wires connected with the two endplates are brought together. In Daniell's battery, the metals are zinc and copper, the former in dilute sulphuric acid, or a solution of sulphate of zinc, the latter in a saturated solution of sulphate of copper. A modification of this is the common gravity battery, so called from the automatic action of the two fluids, which are separated by their specific gravities. In Grove's battery, platinum is the metal used with zinc; two fluids are used, one of them in a porous cell surrounded by the other. In Bunsen's or the carbon battery, the carbon of gas coke is substituted for the platinum of Grove's. In Leclanch's battery, the elements are zinc in a solution of ammonium chloride, and gas carbon surrounded with manganese dioxide in a porous cell. A secondary battery is a battery which usually has the two plates of the same kind, generally of lead, in dilute sulphuric acid, and which, when traversed by an electric current, becomes charged, and is then capable of giving a current of itself for a time, owing to chemical changes produced by the charging current. A storage battery is a kind of secondary battery used for accumulating and storing the energy of electrical charges or currents, usually by means of chemical work done by them; an accumulator.
5. A number of similar machines or devices in position; an apparatus consisting of a set of similar parts; as, a battery of boilers, of retorts, condensers, etc.
6. (Metallurgy) A series of stamps operated by one motive power, for crushing ores containing the precious metals.
Knight.
7. The box in which the stamps for crushing ore play up and down.
8. (Baseball) The pitcher and catcher together.
Batting (?), n. 1. The act of one who bats; the management of a bat in playing games of ball.
Mason.
2. Cotton in sheets, prepared for use in making quilts, etc.; as, cotton batting.
Battle (?), a. Fertile. See Battel, a. [Obs.]
Battle, n. [OE. bataille, bataile, F. bataille battle, OF., battle, battalion, fr. L. battalia, battualia, the fighting and fencing exercises of soldiers and gladiators, fr. batuere to strike, beat. Cf. Battalia, 1st Battel, and see Batter, v. t. ] 1. A general action, fight, or encounter, in which all the divisions of an army are or may be engaged; an engagement; a combat.
2. A struggle; a contest; as, the battle of life.
The whole intellectual battle that had at its center the best poem of the best poet of that day.
H. Morley.
3. A division of an army; a battalion. [Obs.]
The king divided his army into three battles.
Bacon.
The cavalry, by way of distinction, was called the battle, and on it alone depended the fate of every action.
Robertson.
4. The main body, as distinct from the van and rear; battalia. [Obs.]
Hayward.
Battle is used adjectively or as the first part of a selfexplaining compound; as, battle brand, a brand or sword used in battle; battle cry; battlefield; battle ground; battlearray; battle song.
Battle piece, a painting, or a musical composition, representing a battle. Battle royal. (a) A fight between several gamecocks, where the one that stands longest is the victor. Grose. (b) A contest with fists or cudgels in which more than two are engaged; a mle. Thackeray. Drawn battle, one in which neither party gains the victory. To give battle, to attack an enemy. To join battle, to meet the attack; to engage in battle. Pitched battle, one in which the armies are previously drawn up in form, with a regular disposition of the forces. Wager of battle. See under Wager, n.
Syn. Conflict; encounter; contest; action. Battle, Combat, Fight, Engagement. These words agree in denoting a close encounter between contending parties. Fight is a word of less dignity than the others. Except in poetry, it is more naturally applied to the encounter of a few individuals, and more commonly an accidental one; as, a street fight. A combat is a close encounter, whether between few or many, and is usually premeditated. A battle is commonly more general and prolonged. An engagement supposes large numbers on each side, engaged or intermingled in the conflict.
Battle (?), v. i. [imp. & p.p. Battled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Battling.] [F. batailler, fr. bataille. See Battle, n.] To join in battle; to contend in fight; as, to battle over theories.
To meet in arms, and battle in the plain.
Prior.
Battle, v. t. To assail in battle; to fight.
Battleax Battleaxe } (?), n. (Mil.) A kind of broadax formerly used as an offensive weapon.
Battled (?), p. p. Embattled. [Poetic]
Tennyson.
Battledoor (?), n. [OE. batyldour. A corrupted form of uncertain origin; cf. Sp. batallador a great combatant, he who has fought many battles, Pg. batalhador, Pr. batalhador, warrior, soldier, fr. L. battalia; or cf. Pr. batedor batlet, fr. batre to beat, fr. L. batuere. See Battle, n.] 1. An instrument, with a handle and a flat part covered with parchment or crossed with catgut, used to strike a shuttlecock in play; also, the play of battledoor and shuttlecock.
2. [OE. battleder.] A child's hornbook. [Obs.]
Halliwell.
Battlement (?), n. [OE. batelment; cf. OF. bataillement combat, fr. batailler, also OF. bastillier, bateillier, to fortify. Cf. Battle, n., Bastile, Bastion.] (Arch.) (a) One of the solid upright parts of a parapet in ancient fortifications. (b) pl. The whole parapet, consisting of alternate solids and open spaces. At first purely a military feature, afterwards copied on a smaller scale with decorative features, as for churches.
Battlemented (?), a. Having battlements.
A battlemented portal.
Sir W. Scott.
Battologist (?), n. One who battologizes.
Battologize (?), v. t. To keep repeating needlessly; to iterate.
Sir T. Herbert.
Battology (?), n. [F. battologie, fr. Gr. ?; ? a stammerer + ? speech.] A needless repetition of words in speaking or writing.
Milton.
Batton (?), n. See Batten, and Baton.
Battue (?), n. [F. battue, fr. battre to beat. See Batter, v. t., and cf. Battuta.] (Hunting) (a) The act of beating the woods, bushes, etc., for game. (b) The game itself. (c) The wanton slaughter of game.
Howitt.
Batture (?), n. [F., fr. battre to beat. ] An elevated river bed or sea bed.
Battuta (?), n. [It. battuta, fr. battere to beat.] (Mus.) The measuring of time by beating.
Batty (?), a. Belonging to, or resembling, a bat. Batty wings.
Shak.
Batule (?), n. A springboard in a circus or gymnasium; called also batule board.
Batz (?), n.; pl. Batzen (?). [Ger. batz, batze, batzen, a coin bearing the image of a bear, Ger. btz, betz, bear.] A small copper coin, with a mixture of silver, formerly current in some parts of Germany and Switzerland. It was worth about four cents.
Baubee (?), n. Same as Bawbee.
Bauble (?), n. [Cf. OF. baubel a child's plaything, F. babiole, It. babbola, LL. baubellum gem, jewel, L. babulus,a baburrus, foolish.] 1. A trifling piece of finery; a gewgaw; that which is gay and showy without real value; a cheap, showy plaything.
The ineffective bauble of an Indian pagod.
Sheridan.
2. The fool's club. [Obs.] A fool's bauble was a short stick with a head ornamented with an ass's ears fantastically carved upon it.
Nares.
Baubling (?), a. See Bawbling. [Obs.]
Baudekin (?), n. [OE. bawdekin rich silk stuff, OF. baudequin. See Baldachin.] The richest kind of stuff used in garments in the Middle Ages, the web being gold, and the woof silk, with embroidery : made originally at Bagdad. [Spelt also baudkin, baudkyn, bawdekin, and baldakin.]
Nares.
Baudrick (?), n. A belt. See Baldric.
Bauk, Baulk (?), n. & v. See Balk.
Baunscheidtism (?), n. [From the introducer, a German named Baunscheidt.] (Med.) A form of acupuncture, followed by the rubbing of the part with a stimulating fluid.
Bauxite, Beauxite (?), n. [F., fr. Baux or Beaux, near Arles.] (Min.) A ferruginous hydrate of alumina. It is largely used in the preparation of aluminium and alumina, and for the lining of furnaces which are exposed to intense heat.
Bavarian (?), a. Of or pertaining to Bavaria. n. A native or an inhabitant of Bavaria.
Bavarian cream. See under Cream.
Bavaroy (?), n. [F. Bavarois Bavarian.] A kind of cloak or surtout. [Obs.]
Johnson.
Let the looped bavaroy the fop embrace.
Gay.


<-- p. 126 -->

Bavian (?), n. [See Baboon.] A baboon.
Bavin (?), n. [Cf. Gael. & Ir. baban tuft, tassel.] 1. A fagot of brushwood, or other light combustible matter, for kindling fires; refuse of brushwood. [Obs. or Dial. Eng.]
2. Impure limestone. [Prov. Eng.]
Wright.
Bawbee (?), n. [Perh. corrupt. fr. halfpenny.] A halfpenny. [Spelt also baubee.] [Scot. & Prov. Eng.]
Bawble (?), n. A trinket. See Bauble.
Bawbling, a. Insignificant; contemptible. [Obs.]
Bawcock (?), n. [From F. beau fine + E. cock (the bird); or more prob. fr. OF. baud bold, gay + E. cock. Cf. Bawd.] A fine fellow; a term of endearment. [Obs.] How now, my bawcock ?
Shak.
Bawd (?), n. [OE. baude, OF. balt, baut, baude, bold, merry, perh. fr. OHG. bald bold; or fr. Celtic, cf. W. baw dirt. Cf. Bold, Bawdry.] A person who keeps a house of prostitution, or procures women for a lewd purpose; a procurer or procuress; a lewd person; usually applied to a woman.
Bawd, v. i. To procure women for lewd purposes.
Bawdily (?), adv. Obscenely; lewdly.
Bawdiness, n. Obscenity; lewdness.
Bawdrick (?), n. A belt. See Baldric.
Bawdry (?), n. [OE. baudery, OF. bauderie, balderie, boldness, joy. See Bawd.] 1. The practice of procuring women for the gratification of lust.
2. Illicit intercourse; fornication.
Shak.
3. Obscenity; filthy, unchaste language. The pert style of the pit bawdry.
Steele.
Bawdy, a. /1. Dirty; foul; said of clothes. [Obs.]
It [a garment] is al bawdy and totore also.
Chaucer.
2. Obscene; filthy; unchaste. A bawdy story.
Burke.
Bawdyhouse (?), n. A house of prostitution; a house of ill fame; a brothel.
Bawhorse (?), n. Same as Bathorse.
Bawl (?), v. i. [imp. & p.p. Bawled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Bawling.] [Icel. baula to low, bellow, as a cow; akin to Sw. bla; cf. AS bellan, G. bellen to bark, E. bellow, bull.] 1. To cry out with a loud, full sound; to cry with vehemence, as in calling or exultation; to shout; to vociferate.
2. To cry loudly, as a child from pain or vexation.
Bawl, v. t. To proclaim with a loud voice, or by outcry, as a hawker or towncrier does.
Swift.
Bawl, n. A loud, prolonged cry; an outcry.
Bawler (?), n. One who bawls.
Bawn (?), n. [Ir. & Gael. babhun inclosure, bulwark.] 1. An inclosure with mud or stone walls, for keeping cattle; a fortified inclosure. [Obs.]
Spenser.
2. A large house. [Obs.]
Swift.
Bawrel (?), n. [Cf. It. barletta a tree falcon, or hobby.] A kind of hawk. [Obs.]
Halliwell.
Bawsin (?), Bawson (?), } n. [OE. bawson, baucyne, badger (named from its color), OF. bauzan, baucant, bauchant, spotted with white, pied; cf. It. balzano, F. balzan, a whitefooted horse, It. balza border, trimming, fr. L. balteus belt, border, edge. Cf. Belt.] 1. A badger. [Obs.]
B. Jonson.
2. A large, unwieldy person. [Obs.]
Nares.
Baxter (?), n. [OE. bakestre, bakistre, AS. bcestre, prop. fem. of bcere baker. See Baker.] A baker; originally, a female baker. [Old Eng. & Scotch]
Bay (?), a. [F. bai, fr. L. badius brown, chestnutcolored; used only of horses.] Reddish brown; of the color of a chestnut; applied to the color of horses.
Bay cat (Zol.), a wild cat of Africa and the East Indies (Felis aurata). Bay lynx (Zol.), the common American lynx (Felis, or Lynx, rufa).
Bay, n. [F. baie, fr. LL. baia. Of uncertain origin: cf. Ir. & Gael. badh or bagh bay harbor, creek; Bisc. baia, baiya, harbor, and F. bayer to gape, open the mouth.] 1. (Geol.) An inlet of the sea, usually smaller than a gulf, but of the same general character.
The name is not used with much precision, and is often applied to large tracts of water, around which the land forms a curve; as, Hudson's Bay. The name is not restricted to tracts of water with a narrow entrance, but is used foe any recess or inlet between capes or headlands; as, the Bay of Biscay.
2. A small body of water set off from the main body; as a compartment containing water for a wheel; the portion of a canal just outside of the gates of a lock, etc.
3. A recess or indentation shaped like a bay.
4. A principal compartment of the walls, roof, or other part of a building, or of the whole building, as marked off by the buttresses, vaulting, mullions of a window, etc.; one of the main divisions of any structure, as the part of a bridge between two piers.
5. A compartment in a barn, for depositing hay, or grain in the stalks.
6. A kind of mahogany obtained from Campeachy Bay.
Sick bay, in vessels of war, that part of a deck appropriated to the use of the sick.
Totten.
Bay, n. [ F. baie a berry, the fruit of the laurel and other trees, fr. L. baca, bacca, a small round fruit, a berry, akin to Lith. bapka laurel berry.] 1. A berry, particularly of the laurel. [Obs.]
2. The laurel tree (Laurus nobilis). Hence, in the plural, an honorary garland or crown bestowed as a prize for victory or excellence, anciently made or consisting of branches of the laurel.
The patriot's honors and the poet's bays.
Trumbull.
3. A tract covered with bay trees. [Local, U. S.]
Bay leaf, the leaf of the bay tree (Laurus nobilis). It has a fragrant odor and an aromatic taste.
Bay, v. i. [imp. & p.p. Bayed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Baying.] [ OE. bayen, abayen, OF. abaier, F. aboyer, to bark; of uncertain origin.] To bark, as a dog with a deep voice does, at his game.
The hounds at nearer distance hoarsely bayed.
Dryden.
Bay (?), v. t. To bark at; hence, to follow with barking; to bring or drive to bay; as, to bay the bear.
Shak.
Bay (?), n. [See Bay, v. i.] 1. Deeptoned, prolonged barking. The bay of curs.
Cowper.
2. [OE. bay, abay, OF. abai, F. aboi barking, pl. abois, prop. the extremity to which the stag is reduced when surrounded by the dogs, barking (aboyant); aux abois at or a difficulty, when escape has become impossible.
Embolden'd by despair, he stood at bay.
Dryden.
The most terrible evils are just kept at bay by incessant efforts.
I. Taylor
Bay, v. t. [Cf. OE. bwen to bathe, and G. bhen to foment.] To bathe. [Obs.]
Spenser.
Bay, n. A bank or dam to keep back water.
Bay, v. t. To dam, as water; with up or back.
Baya (?), n. [Native name.] (Zol.) The East Indian weaver bird (Ploceus Philippinus).
Bayad (?), Bayatte (?), n. [Ar. bayad.] (Zol.) A large, edible, siluroid fish of the Nile, of two species (Bagrina bayad and B. docmac).
Bayadere (?), n. [F., from Pg. bailadeira a female dancer, bailar to dance.] A female dancer in the East Indies. [Written also bajadere.]
Bayantler (?), n. [See BezAntler.] (Zol.) The second tine of a stag's horn. See under Antler.
Bayard (?), n. 1. [OF. bayard, baiart, bay horse; bai bay + ard. See Bay, a., and ard.] Properly, a bay horse, but often any horse. Commonly in the phrase blind bayard, an old blind horse.
Blind bayard moves the mill.
Philips.
2. [Cf. F. bayeur, fr. bayer to gape.] A stupid, clownish fellow. [Obs.]
B. Jonson.
Bayardly, a. Blind; stupid. [Obs.] A formal and bayardly round of duties.
Goodman.
Bayberry (?), n. (Bot.) (a) The fruit of the bay tree or Laurus nobilis. (b) A tree of the West Indies related to the myrtle (Pimenta acris). (c) The fruit of Myrica cerifera (wax myrtle); the shrub itself; called also candleberry tree.
Bayberry tallow, a fragrant green wax obtained from the bayberry or wax myrtle; called also myrtle wax.
Baybolt (?), n. A bolt with a barbed shank.
Bayed (?), a. Having a bay or bays. The large bayed barn.
Drayton.
Bay ice (?). See under Ice.
Bay leaf (?). See under 3d Bay.
Bayonet (?), n. [F. bayonnette, baonnette; so called, it is said, because the first bayonets were made at Bayonne.]
1. (Mil.) A pointed instrument of the dagger kind fitted on the muzzle of a musket or rifle, so as to give the soldier increased means of offense and defense.
Originally, the bayonet was made with a handle, which required to be fitted into the bore of the musket after the soldier had fired.
2. (Mach.) A pin which plays in and out of holes made to receive it, and which thus serves to engage or disengage parts of the machinery.
Bayonet clutch. See Clutch. Bayonet joint, a form of coupling similar to that by which a bayonet is fixed on the barrel of a musket.
Knight.
Bayonet, v. t. [imp. & p.p. Bayoneted; p. pr. & vb. n. Bayoneting.] 1. To stab with a bayonet.
2. To compel or drive by the bayonet.
To bayonet us into submission.
Burke.
Bayou (?), n.; pl. Bayous (?). [North Am. Indian bayuk, in F. spelling bayouc, bayouque.] An inlet from the Gulf of Mexico, from a lake, or from a large river, sometimes sluggish, sometimes without perceptible movement except from tide and wind. [Southern U. S.]
A dark slender thread of a bayou moves loiteringly northeastward into a swamp of huge cypresses.
G. W. Cable.
Bay rum (?). A fragrant liquid, used for cosmetic and medicinal purposes.
The original bay rum, from the West Indies, is prepared, it is believed, by distillation from the leaves of the bayberry (Myrcia acris). The bay rum of the Pharmacop?ia (spirit of myrcia) is prepared from oil of myrcia (bayberry), oil of orange peel, oil of pimento, alcohol, and water.
Bays, Bayze (?), n. See Baize. [Obs.]
Bay salt (?). Salt which has been obtained from sea water, by evaporation in shallow pits or basins, by the heat of the sun; the large crystalline salt of commerce.
Bacon. Ure.
Bay tree. A species of laurel. (Laurus nobilis).
Bay window (?). (Arch.) A window forming a bay or recess in a room, and projecting outward from the wall, either in a rectangular, polygonal, or semicircular form; often corruptly called a bow window.
Bay yarn (?). Woolen yarn. [Prov. Eng.]
Wright.
Bazaar Bazar } (?), n. [Per. bzar market.] 1. In the East, an exchange, marketplace, or assemblage of shops where goods are exposed for sale.
2. A spacious hall or suite of rooms for the sale of goods, as at a fair.
3. A fair for the sale of fancy wares, toys, etc., commonly for a charitable objects.
Macaulay.
Bdellium (?), n. [L., fr. Gr. ?; cf. Heb. b'dolakh bdellium (in sense 1).] 1. An unidentified substance mentioned in the Bible (Gen. ii. 12, and Num. xi. 7), variously taken to be a gum, a precious stone, or pearls, or perhaps a kind of amber found in Arabia.
2. A gum resin of reddish brown color, brought from India, Persia, and Africa.
Indian bdellium or false myrrh is an exudation from Balsamodendron Roxb?rghii. Other kinds are known as African, Sicilian, etc.
Bdelloidea (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. ? leech + oid.] (Zol.) The order of Annulata which includes the leeches. See Hirudinea.
Bdellometer (?), n. [Gr. ? leech + meter.] (Med.) A cupping glass to which are attached a scarificator and an exhausting syringe.
Dunglison.
Bdellomorpha (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. ? leech + ? form.] (Zol.) An order of Nemertina, including the large leechlike worms (Malacobdella) often parasitic in clams.
Be (?), v. i. [imp. Was (?); p. p. Been (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Being.] [OE. been, beon, AS. ben to be, bem I am; akin to OHG. bim, pim, G. bin, I am, Gael. & Ir. bu was, W. bod to be, Lith. buti, O. Slav. byti, to be, L. fui I have been, futurus about to be, fore to be about to be, and perh to fieri to become, Gr. ? to be born, to be, Skr. bh? to be. This verb is defective, and the parts lacking are supplied by verbs from other roots, is, was, which have no radical connection with be. The various forms, am, are, is, was, were, etc., are considered grammatically as parts of the verb to be, which, with its conjugational forms, is often called the substantive verb. ?97. Cf. Future, Physic.] 1. To exist actually, or in the world of fact; to have ex?stence.
To be contents his natural desire.
Pope.

To be, or not to be: that is the question.
Shak.
2. To exist in a certain manner or relation, whether as a reality or as a product of thought; to exist as the subject of a certain predicate, that is, as having a certain attribute, or as belonging to a certain sort, or as identical with what is specified, a word or words for the predicate being annexed; as, to be happy; to be here; to be large, or strong; to be an animal; to be a hero; to be a nonentity; three and two are five; annihilation is the cessation of existence; that is the man.
3. To take place; to happen; as, the meeting was on Thursday.
4. To signify; to represent or symbolize; to answer to.
The field is the world.
Matt. xiii. 38.
The seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.
Rev.i. 20.
The verb to be (including the forms is, was, etc.) is used in forming the passive voice of other verbs; as, John has been struck by James. It is also used with the past participle of many intransitive verbs to express a state of the subject. But have is now more commonly used as the auxiliary, though expressing a different sense; as, Ye have come too late but ye are come. The minstrel boy to the war is gone. The present and imperfect tenses form, with the infinitive, a particular future tense, which expresses necessity, duty, or purpose; as, government is to be supported; we are to pay our just debts; the deed is to be signed tomorrow.
Have or had been, followed by to, implies movement. I have been to Paris. Sydney Smith. Have you been to Franchard ? R. L. Slevenson.
Been, or ben, was anciently the plural of the indicative present. Ye ben light of the world. Wyclif, Matt. v. 14. Afterwards be was used, as in our Bible: They that be with us are more than they that be with them. 2 Kings vi. 16. Ben was also the old infinitive: To ben of such power. R. of Gloucester. Be is used as a form of the present subjunctive: But if it be a question of words and names. Acis xviii. 15. But the indicative forms, is and are, with if, are more commonly used.
Be it so, a phrase of supposition, equivalent to suppose it to be so; or of permission, signifying let it be so. Shak. If so be, in case. To be from, to have come from; as, from what place are you ? I am from Chicago. To let be, to omit, or leave untouched; to let alone. Let be, therefore, my vengeance to dissuade.
Spenser.
Syn. To be, Exist. The verb to be, except in a few rare case, like that of Shakespeare's To be, or not to be, is used simply as a copula, to connect a subject with its predicate; as, man is mortal; the soul is immortal. The verb to exist is never properly used as a mere copula, but points to things that stand forth, or have a substantive being; as, when the soul is freed from all corporeal alliance, then it truly exists. It is not, therefore, properly synonymous with to be when used as a copula, though occasionally made so by some writers for the sake of variety; as in the phrase there exists [is] no reason for laying new taxes. We may, indeed, say, a friendship has long existed between them, instead of saying, there has long been a friendship between them; but in this case, exist is not a mere copula. It is used in its appropriate sense to mark the friendship as having been long in existence.
Be. [AS. be, and in accented form b, akin to OS. be and b, OHG. bi, pi, and p, MHG. be and b, G. be and bei, Goth. bi, and perh. Gr. ? about (cf. AS. besen to look about). ?203. Gr. By, Amb.] A prefix, originally the same word as by; joined with verbs, it serves: (a) To intensify the meaning; as, bespatter, bestir. (b) To render an intransitive verb transitive; as, befall (to fall upon); bespeak (to speak for). (c) To make the action of a verb particular or definite; as, beget (to get as offspring); beset (to set around).
It is joined with certain substantives, and a few adjectives, to form verbs; as, bedew, befriend, benight, besot; belate (to make late); belittle (to make little). It also occurs in certain nouns, adverbs, and prepositions,


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often with something of the force of the preposition by, or about; as, belief (believe), behalf, bequest (bequeath); because, before, beneath, beside, between.
In some words the original force of be is obscured or lost; as, in become, begin, behave, behoove, belong.
Beach (?), n.; pl. Beaches (?). [Cf. Sw. backe hill, Dan. bakke, Icel. bakki hill, bank. Cf. Bank.] 1. Pebbles, collectively; shingle.
2. The shore of the sea, or of a lake, which is washed by the waves; especially, a sandy or pebbly shore; the strand.

Beach flea (Zol.), the common name of many species of amphipod Crustacea, of the family Orchestid, living on the sea beaches, and leaping like fleas. Beach grass (Bot.), a coarse grass (Ammophila arundinacea), growing on the sandy shores of lakes and seas, which, by its interlaced running rootstocks, binds the sand together, and resists the encroachment of the waves. Beach wagon, a light open wagon with two or more seats. Raised beach, an accumulation of waterworn stones, gravel, sand, and other shore deposits, above the present level of wave action, whether actually raised by elevation of the coast, as in Norway, or left by the receding waters, as in many lake and river regions.
Beach, v. t. [imp. & p.p. Beached (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Beaching.] To run or drive (as a vessel or a boat) upon a beach; to strand; as, to beach a ship.
Beach comber (?). A long, curling wave rolling in from the ocean. See Comber. [Amer.]
Beached (?), p. p. & a. 1. Bordered by a beach.
The beached verge of the salt flood.
Shak.
2. Driven on a beach; stranded; drawn up on a beach; as, the ship is beached.
Beachy (?), a. Having a beach or beaches; formed by a beach or beaches; shingly.
The beachy girdle of the ocean.
Shak.
Beacon (?), n. [OE. bekene, AS. becen, b?cen; akin to OS. b?kan, Fries. baken, beken, sign, signal, D. baak, OHG. bouhhan, G. bake; of unknown origin. Cf. Beckon.] 1. A signal fire to notify of the approach of an enemy, or to give any notice, commonly of warning.
No flaming beacons cast their blaze afar.
Gay.
2. A signal or conspicuous mark erected on an eminence near the shore, or moored in shoal water, as a guide to mariners.
3. A high hill near the shore. [Prov. Eng.]
4. That which gives notice of danger.
Modest doubt is called
The beacon of the wise.
Shak.
Beacon fire, a signal fire.
Beacon, v. t. [imp. & p.p. Beaconed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Beaconing.] 1. To give light to, as a beacon; to light up; to illumine.
That beacons the darkness of heaven.
Campbell.
2. To furnish with a beacon or beacons.
Beaconage (?), n. Money paid for the maintenance of a beacon; also, beacons, collectively.
Beaconless, a. Having no beacon.
Bead (?), n. [OE. bede prayer, prayer bead, AS. bed, gebed, prayer; akin to D. bede, G. bitte, AS. biddan, to ask, bid, G. bitten to ask, and perh. to Gr. ? to persuade, L. fidere to trust. Beads are used by the Roman Catholics to count their prayers, one bead being dropped down a string every time a prayer is said. Cf. Sp. cuenta bead, fr. contar to count. See Bid, in to bid beads, and Bide.] 1. A prayer. [Obs.]
2. A little perforated ball, to be strung on a thread, and worn for ornament; or used in a rosary for counting prayers, as by Roman Catholics and Mohammedans, whence the phrases to tell beads, to at one's beads, to bid beads, etc., meaning, to be at prayer.
3. Any small globular body; as, (a) A bubble in spirits. (b) A drop of sweat or other liquid. Cold beads of midnight dew. Wordsworth. (c) A small knob of metal on a firearm, used for taking aim (whence the expression to draw a bead, for, to take aim). (d) (Arch.) A small molding of rounded surface, the section being usually an arc of a circle. It may be continuous, or broken into short embossments. (e) (Chem.) A glassy drop of molten flux, as borax or microcosmic salt, used as a solvent and color test for several mineral earths and oxides, as of iron, manganese, etc., before the blowpipe; as, the borax bead; the iron bead, etc.
Bead and butt (Carp.), framing in which the panels are flush, having beads stuck or run upon the two edges. Knight. Beat mold, a species of fungus or mold, the stems of which consist of single cells loosely jointed together so as to resemble a string of beads. [Written also bead mould.] Bead tool, a cutting tool, having an edge curved so as to make beads or beading. Bead tree (Bot.), a tree of the genus Melia, the best known species of which (M. azedarach), has blue flowers which are very fragrant, and berries which are poisonous.
Bead, v. t. [imp. & p.p. Beaded; p. pr. & vb. n. Beading.] To ornament with beads or beading.
Bead, v. i. To form beadlike bubbles.
Beadhouse, Bedehouse (?), n. [OE. bede prayer + E. house. See Bead, n.] An almshouse for poor people who pray daily for their benefactors.
Beading, n. 1. (Arch.) Molding in imitation of beads.
2. The beads or beadforming quality of certain liquors; as, the beading of a brand of whisky.
Beadle (?), n. [OE. bedel, bidel, budel, OF. bedel, F. bedeau, fr. OHG. butil, putil, G. bttel, fr. OHG. biotan, G. bieten, to bid, confused with AS. bydel, the same word as OHG. butil. See. Bid, v.] 1. A messenger or crier of a court; a servitor; one who cites or bids persons to appear and answer; called also an apparitor or summoner.
2. An officer in a university, who precedes public processions of officers and students. [Eng.]
In this sense the archaic spellings bedel (Oxford) and bedell (Cambridge) are preserved.
3. An inferior parish officer in England having a variety of duties, as the preservation of order in church service, the chastisement of petty offenders, etc.
Beadlery (?), n. Office or jurisdiction of a beadle.]
Beadleship, n. The state of being, or the personality of, a beadle.
A. Wood.
Bead proof (?). 1. Among distillers, a certain degree of strength in alcoholic liquor, as formerly ascertained by the floating or sinking of glass globules of different specific gravities thrown into it; now ascertained by more accurate meters.
2. A degree of strength in alcoholic liquor as shown by beads or small bubbles remaining on its surface, or at the side of the glass, when shaken.
Beadroll (?), n. (R. C. Ch.) A catalogue of persons, for the rest of whose souls a certain number of prayers are to be said or counted off on the beads of a chaplet; hence, a catalogue in general.
On Fame's eternal beadroll worthy to be field.
Spenser.
It is quite startling, on going over the beadroll of English worthies, to find how few are directly represented in the male line.
Quart. Rev.
Beadsman, Bedesman (?), n.; pl. men (?). A poor man, supported in a beadhouse, and required to pray for the soul of its founder; an almsman.
Whereby ye shall bind me to be your poor beadsman for ever unto Almighty God.
Fuller.
Beadsnake (?), n. (Zol.) A small poisonous snake of North America (Elaps fulvius), banded with yellow, red, and black.
Beadswoman, Bedeswoman (?), n.; pl. women (?). Fem. of Beadsman.
Beadwork (?), n. Ornamental work in beads.
Beady (?), a. 1. Resembling beads; small, round, and glistening. Beady eyes.
Thackeray.
2. Covered or ornamented with, or as with, beads.
3. Characterized by beads; as, beady liquor.
Beagle (?), n. [OE. begele; perh. of Celtic origin; cf. Ir. & Gael. beag small, little, W. bach. F. bigle is from English.] 1. A small hound, or hunting dog, twelve to fifteen inches high, used in hunting hares and other small game. See Illustration in Appendix.
2. Fig.: A spy or detective; a constable.
Beak (?), n. [OE. bek, F. bec, fr. Celtic; cf. Gael. & Ir. bac, bacc, hook, W. bach.] 1. (Zol.) (a) The bill or nib of a bird, consisting of a horny sheath, covering the jaws. The form varied much according to the food and habits of the bird, and is largely used in the classification of birds. (b) A similar bill in other animals, as the turtles. (c) The long projecting sucking mouth of some insects, and other invertebrates, as in the Hemiptera. (d) The upper or projecting part of the shell, near the hinge of a bivalve. (e) The prolongation of certain univalve shells containing the canal.
2. Anything projecting or ending in a point, like a beak, as a promontory of land.
Carew.
3. (Antiq.) A beam, shod or armed at the end with a metal head or point, and projecting from the prow of an ancient galley, in order to pierce the vessel of an enemy; a beakhead.
4. (Naut.) That part of a ship, before the forecastle, which is fastened to the stem, and supported by the main knee.
5. (Arch.) A continuous slight projection ending in an arris or narrow fillet; that part of a drip from which the water is thrown off.
6. (Bot.) Any process somewhat like the beak of a bird, terminating the fruit or other parts of a plant.
7. (Far.) A toe clip. See Clip, n. (Far.)
8. A magistrate or policeman. [Slang, Eng.]
Beaked (?), a. 1. Having a beak or a beaklike point; beakshaped. Each beaked promontory.
Milton.
2. (Biol.) Furnished with a process or a mouth like a beak; rostrate.
Beaked whale (Zol.), a cetacean of the genus Hyperoodon; the bottlehead whale.
Beaker (?), n. [OE. biker; akin to Icel. bikarr, Sw. bgare, Dan. baeger, G. becher, It. bicchiere; all fr. LL. bicarium, prob. fr. Gr. ? wine jar, or perh. L. bacar wine vessel. Cf. Pitcher a jug.] 1. A large drinking cup, with a wide mouth, supported on a foot or standard.
2. An openmouthed, thin glass vessel, having a projecting lip for pouring; used for holding solutions requiring heat.
Knight.
Beakhead (?), n. 1. (Arch.) An ornament used in rich Norman doorways, resembling a head with a beak.
Parker.
2. (Naut.) (a) A small platform at the fore part of the upper deck of a vessel, which contains the water closets of the crew. (b) (Antiq.) Same as Beak, 3.
Beakiron (?), n. [From Bickern.] A bickern; a bench anvil with a long beak, adapted to reach the interior surface of sheet metal ware; the horn of an anvil.
Beal (?), n. [See Boil a tumor.] (Med.) A small inflammatory tumor; a pustule. [Prov. Eng.]
Beal, v. i. [imp. & p.p. Bealed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Bealing.] To gather matter; to swell and come to a head, as a pimple. [Prov. Eng.]
Beall (?), n. The whole; all that is to be. [Poetic]
Shak.
Beam (?), n. [AS. bem beam, post, tree, ray of light; akin to OFries. bm tree, OS. b?m, D. boom, OHG. boum, poum, G. baum, Icel. ba?mr, Goth. bahms and Gr. ? a growth, ? to become, to be. Cf. L. radius staff, rod, spoke of a wheel, beam or ray, and G. strahl arrow, spoke of a wheel, ray or beam, flash of lightning. ?97. See Be; cf. Boom a spar.] 1. Any large piece of timber or iron long in proportion to its thickness, and prepared for use.
2. One of the principal horizontal timbers of a building or ship.
The beams of a vessel are strong pieces of timber stretching across from side to side to support the decks.
Totten.
3. The width of a vessel; as, one vessel is said to have more beam than another.
4. The bar of a balance, from the ends of which the scales are suspended.
The doubtful beam long nods from side to side.
Pope.
5. The principal stem or horn of a stag or other deer, which bears the antlers, or branches.
6. The pole of a carriage. [Poetic]
Dryden.
7. A cylinder of wood, making part of a loom, on which weavers wind the warp before weaving; also, the cylinder on which the cloth is rolled, as it is woven; one being called the fore beam, the other the back beam.
8. The straight part or shank of an anchor.
9. The main part of a plow, to which the handles and colter are secured, and to the end of which are attached the oxen or horses that draw it.
10. (Steam Engine) A heavy iron lever having an oscillating motion on a central axis, one end of which is connected with the piston rod from which it receives motion, and the other with the crank of the wheel shaft? called also working beam or walking beam.
11. A ray or collection of parallel rays emitted from the sun or other luminous body; as, a beam of light, or of heat.
How far that little candle throws his beams !
Shak.
12. Fig.: A ray; a gleam; as, a beam of comfort.
Mercy with her genial beam.
Keble.
13. One of the long feathers in the wing of a hawk; called also beam feather.
Abaft the beam (Naut.), in an are of the horizon between a line that crosses the ship at right angles, or in the direction of her beams, and that point of the compass toward which her stern is directed. Beam center (Mach.), the fulcrum or pin on which the working beam of an engine vibrates. Beam compass, an instrument consisting of a rod or beam, having sliding sockets that carry steel or pencil points; used for drawing or describing large circles. Beam engine, a steam engine having a working beam to transmit power, in distinction from one which has its piston rod attached directly to the crank of the wheel shaft. Before the beam (Naut.), in an arc of the horizon included between a line that crosse the ship at right angles and that point of the compass toward which the ship steers. On the beam , in a line with the beams, or at right angled with the keel. On the weather beam, on the side of a ship which faces the wind. To be on her beam ends, to incline, as a vessel, so much on one side that her beams approach a vertical position.
Beam, v. t. [imp. & p.p. Beamed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Beaming.] To send forth; to emit; followed ordinarily by forth; as, to beam forth light.
Beam, v. i. To emit beams of light.
He beamed, the daystar of the rising age.
Trumbull.
Beambird (?), n. (Zol.) A small European flycatcher (Muscicapa gricola), so called because it often nests on a beam in a building.
Beamed (?), a. Furnished with beams, as the head of a stag.
Tost his beamed frontlet to the sky.
Sir W. Scott.
Beamful (?), a. Beamy; radiant.
Beamily (?), adv. In a beaming manner.
Beaminess, n. The state of being beamy.
Beaming, a. Emitting beams; radiant.
Beamingly, adv. In a beaming manner; radiantly.
Beamless, a. 1. Not having a beam.
2. Not emitting light.
Beamlet (?), n. A small beam of light.
Beam tree (?). [AS. bem a tree. See Beam.] (Bot.) A tree (Pyrus aria) related to the apple.
Beamy (?), a. 1. Emitting beams of light; radiant; shining. Beamy gold.
Tickell.


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2. Resembling a beam in size and weight; massy.
His doublebiting ax, and beamy spear.
Dryden.
3. Having horns, or antlers.
Beamy stags in toils engage.
Dryden.
Bean (?), n. [OE. bene, AS.ben; akin to D. boon, G. bohne, OHG. p?na, Icel. baun, Dan. bnne, Sw. bna, and perh. to Russ. bob, L. faba.] 1. (Bot.) A name given to the seed of certain leguminous herbs, chiefly of the genera Faba, Phaseolus, and Dolichos; also, to the herbs.
The origin and classification of many kinds are still doubtful. Among true beans are: the blackeyed bean and China bean, included in Dolichos Sinensis; black Egyptian bean or hyacinth bean, D. Lablab; the common haricot beans, kidney beans, string beans, and pole beans, all included in Phaseolus vulgaris; the lower bush bean, Ph. vulgaris, variety nanus; Lima bean, Ph. lunatus; Spanish bean and scarlet runner, Ph. maltiflorus; Windsor bean, the common bean of England, Faba vulgaris.
As an article of food beans are classed with vegetables.
2. The popular name of other vegetable seeds or fruits, more or less resembling true beans.
Bean aphis (Zol.), a plant louse (Aphis fab) which infests the bean plant. Bean fly (Zol.), a fly found on bean flowers. Bean goose (Zol.), a species of goose (Anser se?etum). Bean weevil (Zol.), a small weevil that in the larval state destroys beans. The American species in Bruchus fab. Florida bean (Bot.), the seed of Mucuna urens, a West Indian plant. The seeds are washed up on the Florida shore, and are often polished and made into ornaments. Ignatius bean, or St. Ignatius's bean (Bot.), a species of Strychnos. Navy bean, the common dried white bean of commerce; probably so called because an important article of food in the navy. Pea bean, a very small and highly esteemed variety of the edible white bean; so called from its size. Sacred bean. See under Sacred. Screw bean. See under Screw. Sea bean. (a) Same as Florida bean. (b) A red bean of unknown species used for ornament. Tonquin bean, or Tonka bean, the fragrant seed of Dipteryx odorata, a leguminous tree. Vanilla bean. See under Vanilla.
Bean caper. (Bot.) A deciduous plant of warm climates, generally with fleshy leaves and flowers of a yellow or whitish yellow color, of the genus Zygophyllum.
Bean trefoil. (Bot.) A leguminous shrub of southern Europe, with trifoliate leaves (Anagyris f?tida).
Bear (?), v. t. [imp. Bore (?) (formerly Bare (?)); p. p. Born (?), Borne (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Bearing.] [OE. beren, AS. beran, beoran, to bear, carry, produce; akin to D. baren to bring forth, G. gebren, Goth. baran to bear or carry, Icel. bera, Sw. bra, Dan. bre, OHG. beran, peran, L. ferre to bear, carry, produce, Gr. ?, OSlav brati to take, carry, OIr. berim I bear, Skr. bh? to bear. ?92. Cf. Fertile.]
1. To support or sustain; to hold up.
2. To support and remove or carry; to convey.
I 'll bear your logs the while.
Shak.
3. To conduct; to bring; said of persons. [Obs.]
Bear them to my house.
Shak.
4. To possess and use, as power; to exercise.
Every man should bear rule in his own house.
Esther i. 22.
5. To sustain; to have on (written or inscribed, or as a mark), as, the tablet bears this inscription.
6. To possess or carry, as a mark of authority or distinction; to wear; as, to bear a sword, badge, or name.
7. To possess mentally; to carry or hold in the mind; to entertain; to harbor
Dryden.
The ancient grudge I bear him.
Shak.
8. To endure; to tolerate; to undergo; to suffer.
Should such a man, too fond to rule alone,
Bear, like the Turk, no brother near the throne.
Pope.
I cannot bear
The murmur of this lake to hear.
Shelley.
My punishment is greater than I can bear.
Gen. iv. 13.
9. To gain or win. [Obs.]
Some think to bear it by speaking a great word.
Bacon.
She was ... found not guilty, through bearing of friends and bribing of the judge.
Latimer.
10. To sustain, or be answerable for, as blame, expense, responsibility, etc.
He shall bear their iniquities.
Is. liii. 11.
Somewhat that will bear your charges.
Dryden.
11. To render or give; to bring forward. Your testimony bear
Dryden.
12. To carry on, or maintain; to have. The credit of bearing a part in the conversation.
Locke.
13. To admit or be capable of; that is, to suffer or sustain without violence, injury, or change.
In all criminal cases the most favorable interpretation should be put on words that they can possibly bear.
Swift.
14. To manage, wield, or direct. Thus must thou thy body bear. Shak. Hence: To behave; to conduct.
Hath he borne himself penitently in prison ?
Shak.
15. To afford; to be to ; to supply with.
?is faithful dog shall bear him company.
Pope.
16. To bring forth or produce; to yield; as, to bear apples; to bear children; to bear interest.
Here dwelt the man divine whom Samos bore.
Dryden.
In the passive form of this verb, the best modern usage restricts the past participle born to the sense of brought forth, while borne is used in the other senses of the word. In the active form, borne alone is used as the past participle.
To bear down. (a) To force into a lower place; to carry down; to depress or sink. His nose, ... large as were the others, bore them down into insignificance. Marryat. (b) To overthrow or crush by force; as, to bear down an enemy. To bear a hand. (a) To help; to give assistance. (b) (Naut.) To make haste; to be quick. To bear in hand, to keep (one) up in expectation, usually by promises never to be realized; to amuse by false pretenses; to delude. [Obs.] How you were borne in hand, how crossed. Shak. To bear in mind, to remember. To bear off. (a) To restrain; to keep from approach. (b) (Naut.) To remove to a distance; to keep clear from rubbing against anything; as, to bear off a blow; to bear off a boat. (c) To gain; to carry off, as a prize. To bear one hard, to owe one a grudge. [Obs.] Csar doth bear me hard. Shak. To bear out. (a) To maintain and support to the end; to defend to the last. Company only can bear a man out in an ill thing. South. (b) To corroborate; to confirm. To bear up, to support; to keep from falling or sinking. Religious hope bears up the mind under sufferings. Addison.
Syn. To uphold; sustain; maintain; support; undergo; suffer; endure; tolerate; carry; convey; transport; waft.
Bear (?), v. i. 1. To produce, as fruit; to be fruitful, in opposition to barrenness.
This age to blossom, and the next to bear.
Dryden.
2. To suffer, as in carrying a burden.
But man is born to bear.
Pope.
3. To endure with patience; to be patient.
I can not, can not bear.
Dryden.
4. To press; with on or upon, or against.
These men bear hard on the suspected party.
Addison.
5. To take effect; to have influence or force; as, to bring matters to bear.
6. To relate or refer; with on or upon; as, how does this bear on the question?
7. To have a certain meaning, intent, or effect.
Her sentence bore that she should stand a certain time upon the platform.
Hawthorne.
8. To be situated, as to the point of compass, with respect to something else; as, the land bears N. by E.
To bear against, to approach for attack or seizure; as, a lion bears against his prey. [Obs.] To bear away (Naut.), to change the course of a ship, and make her run before the wind. To bear back, to retreat. Bearing back from the blows of their sable antagonist. Sir W. Scott. To bear down upon (Naut.), to approach from the windward side; as, the fleet bore down upon the enemy. To bear in with (Naut.), to run or tend toward; as, a ship bears in with the land. To bear off (Naut.), to steer away, as from land. To bear up. (a) To be supported; to have fortitude; to be firm; not to sink; as, to bear up under afflictions. (b) (Naut.) To put the helm up (or to windward) and so put the ship before the wind; to bear away. Ha?ersly. To bear upon (Mil.), to be pointed or situated so as to affect; to be pointed directly against, or so as to hit (the object); as, to bring or plant guns so as to bear upon a fort or a ship; the artillery bore upon the center. To bear up to, to tend or move toward; as, to bear up to one another. To bear with, to endure; to be indulgent to; to forbear to resent, oppose, or punish.
Bear (?), n. A bier. [Obs.]
Spenser.
Bear (?), n. [OE. bere, AS. bera; akin to D. beer, OHG. bero, pero, G. br, Icel. & Sw. bjrn, and possibly to L. fera wild beast, Gr. ? beast, Skr. bhalla bear.]
1. (Zol.) Any species of the genus Ursus, and of the closely allied genera. Bears are plantigrade Carnivora, but they live largely on fruit and insects.
The European brown bear (U. arctos), the white polar bear (U. maritimus), the grizzly bear (U. horribilis), the American black bear, and its variety the cinnamon bear (U. Americanus), the Syrian bear (Ursus Syriacus), and the sloth bear, are among the notable species.
2. (Zol.) An animal which has some resemblance to a bear in form or habits, but no real affinity; as, the woolly bear; ant bear; water bear; sea bear.
3. (Astron.) One of two constellations in the northern hemisphere, called respectively the Great Bear and the Lesser Bear, or Ursa Major and Ursa Minor.
4. Metaphorically: A brutal, coarse, or morose person.
5. (Stock Exchange) A person who sells stocks or securities for future delivery in expectation of a fall in the market.
The bears and bulls of the Stock Exchange, whose interest it is, the one to depress, and the other to raise, stocks, are said to be so called in allusion to the bear's habit of pulling down, and the bull's of tossing up.
6. (Mach.) A portable punching machine.
7. (Naut.) A block covered with coarse matting; used to scour the deck.
Australian bear. (Zol.) See Koala. Bear baiting, the sport of baiting bears with dogs. Bear caterpillar (Zol.), the hairy larva of a moth, esp. of the genus Euprepia. Bear garden. (a) A place where bears are kept for diversion or fighting. (b) Any place where riotous conduct is common or permitted. M. Arnold. Bear leader, one who leads about a performing bear for money; hence, a facetious term for one who takes charge of a young man on his travels.
Bear, v. t. (Stock Exchange) To endeavor to depress the price of, or prices in; as, to bear a railroad stock; to bear the market.
Bear, Bere (?), n. [AS. bere. See Barley.] (Bot.) Barley; the sixrowed barley or the fourrowed barley, commonly the former (Hord?um hexastichon or H. vulgare). [Obs. except in North of Eng. and Scot.]
Bearable (?), a. Capable of being borne or endured; tolerable. Bearably, adv.
Bearberry (?), n. (Bot.) A trailing plant of the heath family (Arctostaphylos uvaursi), having leaves which are tonic and astringent, and glossy red berries of which bears are said to be fond.
Bearbind (?), n. (Bot.) The bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis).
Beard (?), n. [OE. berd, AS. beard; akin to Fries. berd, D. baard, G. bart, Lith. barzda, OSlav. brada, Pol. broda, Russ. boroda, L. barba, W. barf. Cf. 1st Barb.]
1. The hair that grows on the chin, lips, and adjacent parts of the human face, chiefly of male adults.
2. (Zol.) (a) The long hairs about the face in animals, as in the goat. (b) The cluster of small feathers at the base of the beak in some birds (c) The appendages to the jaw in some Cetacea, and to the mouth or jaws of some fishes. (d) The byssus of certain shellfish, as the muscle. (e) The gills of some bivalves, as the oyster. (f) In insects, the hairs of the labial palpi of moths and butterflies.
3. (Bot.) Long or stiff hairs on a plant; the awn; as, the beard of grain.
4. A barb or sharp point of an arrow or other instrument, projecting backward to prevent the head from being easily drawn out.
5. That part of the under side of a horse's lower jaw which is above the chin, and bears the curb of a bridle.
6. (Print.) That part of a type which is between the shoulder of the shank and the face.
7. An imposition; a trick. [Obs.]
Chaucer.
Beard grass (Bot.), a coarse, perennial grass of different species of the genus Andropogon. To one's beard, to one's face; in open defiance.
Beard (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Bearded; p. pr. & vb. n. Bearding.] 1. To take by the beard; to seize, pluck, or pull the beard of (a man), in anger or contempt.
2. To oppose to the gills; to set at defiance.
No admiral, bearded by three corrupt and dissolute minions of the palace, dared to do more than mutter something about a court martial.
Macaulay.
3. To deprive of the gills; used only of oysters and similar shellfish.
Bearded, a. Having a beard. Bearded fellow. Shak. Bearded grain. Dryden.
Bearded vulture, Bearded eagle. (Zol.) See Lammergeir. Bearded tortoise. (Zol.) See Matamata.
Beardie (?), n. [From Beard, n.] (Zol.) The bearded loach (Nemachilus barbatus) of Europe. [Scot.]
Beardless, a. 1. Without a beard. Hence: Not having arrived at puberty or manhood; youthful.
2. Destitute of an awn; as, beardless wheat.
Beardlessness, n. The state or quality of being destitute of beard.
Bearer (?), n. 1. One who, or that which, bears, sustains, or carries. Bearers of burdens. 2 Chron. ii. 18. The bearer of unhappy news.
Dryden.
2. Specifically: One who assists in carrying a body to the grave; a pallbearer.
Milton.
3. A palanquin carrier; also, a house servant. [India]
4. A tree or plant yielding fruit; as, a good bearer.
5. (Com.) One who holds a check, note, draft, or other order for the payment of money; as, pay to bearer.
6. (Print.) A strip of reglet or other furniture to bear off the impression from a blank page; also, a type or typehigh piece of metal interspersed in blank parts to support the plate when it is shaved.
Bearherd (?), n. A man who tends a bear.
Bearhound (?), n. A hound for baiting or hunting bears.
Car??le.
Bearing (?), n. 1. The manner in which one bears or conducts one's self; mien; behavior; carriage.
I know him by his bearing.
Shak.
2. Patient endurance; suffering without complaint.
3. The situation of one object, with respect to another, such situation being supposed to have a connection with the object, or influence upon it, or to be influenced by it; hence, relation; connection.
But of this frame, the bearings and the ties,
The strong connections, nice dependencies.
Pope.
4. Purport; meaning; intended significance; aspect.
5. The act, power, or time of producing or giving birth; as, a tree in full bearing; a tree past bearing.
[His mother] in travail of his bearing.
R. of Gloucester.
6. (Arch.) (a) That part of any member of a building which rests upon its supports; as, a lintel or beam may have four inches of bearing upon the wall. (b) The portion of a support on which anything rests. (c) Improperly, the unsupported span; as, the beam has twenty feet of bearing between its supports.
7. (Mach.) (a) The part of an axle or shaft in contact with its support, collar, or boxing; the journal. (b) The part of the support on which a journal rests and rotates.
8. (Her.) Any single emblem or charge in an escutcheon or coat of arms commonly in the pl.
A carriage covered with armorial bearings.
Thackeray.
9. (Naut.) (a) The situation of a distant object, with regard to a ship's position, as on the bow, on the lee quarter, etc.; the direction or point of the compass in which an object is seen; as, the bearing of the cape was M. N. W. (b) pl. The widest part of a vessel below the planksheer. (c) pl. The line of flotation of a vessel when properly trimmed with cargo or ballast.
Ball bearings. See under Ball. To bring one to his bearings, to bring one to his senses. To lose one's bearings, to become bewildered. To take bearings, to ascertain by the compass the position of an object; to ascertain the relation of one object or place to another; to ascertain one's position by reference to landmarks or to the compass; hence (Fig.), to ascertain the condition of things when one is in trouble or perplexity.
Syn. Deportment; gesture; mien; behavior; manner; carriage; demeanor; port; conduct; direction; relation; tendency; influence.
Bearing cloth (?). A cloth with which a child is covered when carried to be baptized.
Shak.
Bearing rein (?). A short rein looped over the check hook or the hames to keep the horse's head up; called in the United States a checkrein.
Bearish, a. Partaking of the qualities of a bear; resembling a bear in temper or manners.
Harris.
Bearishness, n. Behavior like that of a bear.
Bearn (?), n. See Bairn. [Obs.]
Bear'sbreech (?), n. (Bot.) (a) See Acanthus, n., 1. (b) The English cow parsnip (Heracleum sphondylium)
Dr. Prior.


<-- p. 129 -->

Bear'sear (?), n. (Bot.) A kind of primrose (Primula auricula), so called from the shape of the leaf.
Bear'sroot (?), n. (Bot.) A species of hellebore (Helleborus f?tidus), with digitate leaves. It has an offensive smell and acrid taste, and is a powerful emetic, cathartic, and anthelmintic.
Bearskin (?), n. 1. The skin of a bear.
2. A coarse, shaggy, woolen cloth for overcoats.
3. A cap made of bearskin, esp. one worn by soldiers.
Bear'spaw (?), n. (Zol.) A large bivalve shell of the East Indies (Hippopus maculatus), often used as an ornament.
Bearward (?), n. [Bear + ward a keeper.] A keeper of bears. See Bearherd. [R.]
Shak.
Beast (?), n. [OE. best, beste, OF. beste, F. bte, fr. L. bestia.] 1. Any living creature; an animal; including man, insects, etc. [Obs.]
Chaucer.
2. Any fourfooted animal, that may be used for labor, food, or sport; as, a beast of burden.
A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast.
Prov. xii. 10.
3. As opposed to man: Any irrational animal.
4. Fig.: A coarse, brutal, filthy, or degraded fellow.
5. A game at cards similar to loo. [Obs.]
Wright.
6. A penalty at beast, omber, etc. Hence: To be beasted, to be beaten at beast, omber, etc.
Beast royal, the lion. [Obs.]
Chaucer.
Syn. Beast, Brute. When we use these words in a figurative sense, as applicable to human beings, we think of beasts as mere animals governed by animal appetite; and of brutes as being destitute of reason or moral feeling, and governed by unrest?ained passion. Hence we speak of beastly appetites; beastly indulgences, etc.; and of brutal manners; brutal inhumanity; brutal ferocity. So, also, we say of a drunkard, that he first made himself a beast, and then treated his family like a brute.
Beasthood (?), n. State or nature of a beast.
Beastings (?), n. pl. See Biestings.
Beastlihead (?), n. [Beastly + head state.] Beastliness. [Obs.]
Spenser.
Beastlike (?), a. Like a beast.
Beastliness, n. The state or quality of being beastly.
Beastly (?), a. 1. Pertaining to, or having the form, nature, or habits of, a beast.
Beastly divinities and droves of gods.
Prior.
2. Characterizing the nature of a beast; contrary to the nature and dignity of man; brutal; filthy.
The beastly vice of drinking to excess.
Swift.
3. Abominable; as, beastly weather. [Colloq. Eng.]
Syn. Bestial; brutish; irrational; sensual; degrading.
Beat (?), v. t. [imp. Beat; p.p. Beat, Beaten (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Beating.] [OE. beaten, beten, AS. betan; akin to Icel. bauta, OHG. b?zan. Cf. 1st Butt, Button.] 1. To strike repeatedly; to lay repeated blows upon; as, to beat one's breast; to beat iron so as to shape it; to beat grain, in order to force out the ?eeds; to beat eggs and sugar; to beat a drum.
Thou shalt beat some of it [spices] very small.
Ex. xxx. 36.
They did beat the gold into thin plates.
Ex. xxxix. 3.
2. To punish by blows; to thrash.
3. To scour or range over in hunting, accompanied with the noise made by striking bushes, etc., for the purpose of rousing game.
To beat the woods, and rouse the bounding prey.
Prior.
4. To dash against, or strike, as with water or wind.
A frozen continent ... beat with perpetual storms.
Milton.
5. To tread, as a path.
Pass awful gulfs, and beat my painful way.
Blackmore.
6. To overcome in a battle, contest, strife, race, game, etc.; to vanquish or conquer; to surpass.
He beat them in a bloody battle.
Prescott.
For loveliness, it would be hard to beat that.
M. Arnold.
7. To cheat; to chouse; to swindle; to defraud; often with out. [Colloq.]
8. To exercise severely; to perplex; to trouble.
Why should any one ... beat his head about the Latin grammar who does not intend to be a critic?
Locke.
9. (Mil.) To give the signal for, by beat of drum; to sound by beat of drum; as, to beat an alarm, a charge, a parley, a retreat; to beat the general, the reveille, the tattoo. See Alarm, Charge, Parley, etc.
To beat down, to haggle with (any one) to secure a lower price; to force down. [Colloq.] To beat into, to teach or instill, by repetition. To beat off, to repel or drive back. To beat out, to extend by hammering. To beat out of a thing, to cause to relinquish it, or give it up. Nor can anything beat their posterity out of it to this day. South. To beat the dust. (Man.) (a) To take in too little ground with the fore legs, as a horse. (b) To perform curvets too precipitately or too low. To beat the hoof, to walk; to go on foot. To beat the wing, to flutter; to move with fluttering agitation. To beat time, to measure or regulate time in music by the motion of the hand or foot. To beat up, to attack suddenly; to alarm or disturb; as, to beat up an enemy's quarters.
Syn. To strike; pound; bang; buffet; maul; drub; th?ap; baste; thwack; thrash; pommel; cudgel; belabor; conquer; defeat; vanquish; overcome.
Beat, v. i. 1. To strike repeatedly; to inflict repeated bla?s; to knock vigorously or loudly.
The men of the city ... beat at the door.
Judges. xix. 22.
2. To move with pulsation or throbbing.
A thousand hearts beat happily.
Byron.
3. To come or act with violence; to dash or fall with force; to strike anything, as, rain, wind, and waves do.
Sees rolling tempests vainly beat below.
Dryden.
They [winds] beat at the crazy casement.
Longfellow.
The sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wisbed in himself to die.
Jonah iv. 8.
Public envy seemeth to beat chiefly upon ministers.
Bacon.
4. To be in agitation or doubt. [Poetic]
To still my beating mind.
Shak.
5. (Naut.) To make progress against the wind, by sailing in a zigzag line or traverse.
6. To make a sound when struck; as, the drums beat.
7. (Mil.) To make a succession of strokes on a drum; as, the drummers beat to call soldiers to their quarters.
8. (Acoustics & Mus.) To sound with more or less rapid alternations of greater and less intensity, so as to produce a pulsating effect; said of instruments, tones, or vibrations, not perfectly in unison.
A beating wind (Naut.), a wind which necessitates tacking in order to make progress. To beat about, to try to find; to search by various means or ways. Addison. To beat about the bush, to approach a subject circuitously. To beat up and down (Hunting), to run first one way and then another; said of a stag. To beat up for recruits, to go diligently about in order to get helpers or participators in an enterprise.
Beat (?), n. 1. A stroke; a blow.
He, with a careless beat,
Struck out the mute creation at a heat.
Dryden.
2. A recurring stroke; a throb; a pulsation; as, a beat of the heart; the beat of the pulse.
3. (Mus.) (a) The rise or fall of the hand or foot, marking the divisions of time; a division of the measure so marked. In the rhythm of music the beat is the unit. (b) A transient grace note, struck immediately before the one it is intended to ornament.
4. (Acoustics & Mus.) A sudden swelling or renforcement of a sound, recurring at regular intervals, and produced by the interference of sound waves of slightly different periods of vibrations; applied also, by analogy, to other kinds of wave motions; the pulsation or throbbing produced by the vibrating together of two tones not quite in unison. See Beat, v. i., 8.
5. A round or course which is frequently gone over; as, a watchman's beat.
6. A place of habitual or frequent resort.
7. A cheat or swindler of the lowest grade; often emphasized by dead; as, a dead beat. [Low]
Beat of drum (Mil.), a succession of strokes varied, in different ways, for particular purposes, as to regulate a march, to call soldiers to their arms or quarters, to direct an attack, or retreat, etc. Beat of a watch, or clock, the stroke or sound made by the action of the escapement. A clock is in beat or out of beat, according as the strokes is at equal or unequal intervals.
Beat, a. Weary; tired; fatigued; exhausted. [Colloq.]
Quite beat, and very much vexed and disappointed.
Dickens.
Beaten (?), a. 1. Made smooth by beating or treading; worn by use. A broad and beaten way. Milton. Beaten gold. Shak.
2. Vanquished; conquered; baffled.
3. Exhausted; tired out.
4. Become common or trite; as, a beaten phrase. [Obs.]
5. Tried; practiced. [Obs.]
Beau. & Fl.
Beater (?), n. 1. One who, or that which, beats.
2. A person who beats up game for the hunters.
Black.
Beath (?), v. t. [AS. be?ian to foment.] To bathe; also, to dry or heat, as unseasoned wood. [Obs.]
Spenser.
Beatific (?), Beatifical (?), } a. [Cf. F. batifique, L. beatificus. See Beatify.] Having the power to impart or complete blissful enjoyment; blissful. The beatific vision. South. Beatifically, adv.
Beatificate (?), v. t. To beatify. [Obs.]
Fuller.
Beatification (?), n. [Cf. F. batification.] The act of beatifying, or the state of being beatified; esp., in the R. C. Church, the act or process of ascertaining and declaring that a deceased person is one of the blessed, or has attained the second degree of sanctity, usually a stage in the process of canonization. The beatification of his spirit.
Jer. Taylor.
Beatify (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Beatified (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Beatifying.] [L. beatificare; beatus happy (fr. beare to bless, akin to bonus good) + facere to make: cf. F. batifier. See Bounty.] 1. To pronounce or regard as happy, or supremely blessed, or as conferring happiness.
The common conceits and phrases that beatify wealth.
Barrow.
2. To make happy; to bless with the completion of celestial enjoyment. Beatified spirits.
Dryden.
3. ( R. C. Ch.) To ascertain and declare, by a public process and decree, that a deceased person is one of the blessed and is to be reverenced as such, though not canonized.
Beating (?), n. 1. The act of striking or giving blows; punishment or chastisement by blows.
2. Pulsation; throbbing; as, the beating of the heart.
3. (Acoustics & Mus.) Pulsative sounds. See Beat, n.
4. (Naut.) The process of sailing against the wind by tacks in zigzag direction.
Beatitude (?), n. [L. beatitudo: cf. F. batitude. See Beatify.] 1. Felicity of the highest kind; consummate bliss.
2. Any one of the nine declarations (called the Beatitudes), made in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. v. 312), with regard to the blessedness of those who are distinguished by certain specified virtues.
3. (R. C. Ch.) Beatification.
Milman.
Syn. Blessedness; felicity; happiness.
Beau (?), n.; pl. F. Beaux (E. pron. b?z), E. Beaus (?). [F., a fop, fr. beau fine, beautiful, fr. L. bellus pretty, fine, for bonulus, dim. of bonus good. See Bounty, and cf. Belle, Beauty.] 1. A man who takes great care to dress in the latest fashion; a dandy.
2. A man who escorts, or pays attentions to, a lady; an escort; a lover.
Beaucatcher (?), n. A small flat curl worn on the temple by women. [Humorous]
Beaufet (?), n. [See Buffet.] A niche, cupboard, or sideboard for plate, china, glass, etc.; a buffet.
A beaufet ... filled with gold and silver vessels.
Prescott.
Beaufin (?), n. See Biffin.
Wright.
Beau ideal (?). [F. beau beautiful + idal ideal.] A conception or image of consummate beauty, moral or physical, formed in the mind, free from all the deformities, defects, and blemishes seen in actual existence; an ideal or faultless standard or model.
Beauish (?), n. Like a beau; characteristic of a beau; foppish; fine. A beauish young spark.
Byrom.
Beau monde (?). [F. beau fine + monde world.] The fashionable world; people of fashion and gayety.
Prior.
Beaupere (?), n. [F. beau pre; beau fair + pre father.] 1. A father. [Obs.]
Wyclif.
2. A companion. [Obs.]
Spenser.
Beauseant (?), n. [F. beaucant.] The black and white standard of the Knights Templars.
Beauship (?), n. The state of being a beau; the personality of a beau. [Jocular]
Dryden.
Beauteous (?), a. Full of beauty; beautiful; very handsome. [Mostly poetic] Beauteously, adv. Beauteousness, n.
Beautied (?), p. a. Beautiful; embellished. [Poetic]
Shak.
Beautifier (?), n. One who, or that which, beautifies or makes beautiful.
Beautiful (?), a. Having the qualities which constitute beauty; pleasing to the sight or the mind.
A circle is more beautiful than a square; a square is more beautiful than a parallelogram.
Lord Kames.
Syn. Handsome; elegant; lovely; fair; charming; graceful; pretty; delightful. See Fine. Beautifully, adv. Beautifulness, n.
Beautify (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Beautified (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Beautifying.] [Beauty + fy.] To make or render beautiful; to add beauty to; to adorn; to deck; to grace; to embellish.
The arts that beautify and polish life.
Burke.
Syn. To adorn; grace; ornament; deck; decorate.
Beautify, v. i. To become beautiful; to advance in beauty.
Addison.
Beautiless, a. Destitute of beauty.
Hammond.
Beauty (?), n.; pl. Beauties (?). [OE. beaute, beute, OF. beaut, biaut, Pr. beltat, F. beaut, fr. an assumed LL. bellitas, from L. bellus pretty. See Beau.]
1. An assemblage or graces or properties pleasing to the eye, the ear, the intellect, the sthetic faculty, or the moral sense.
Beauty consists of a certain composition of color and figure, causing delight in the beholder.
Locke.
The production of beauty by a multiplicity of symmetrical parts uniting in a consistent whole.
Wordsworth.
The old definition of beauty, in the Roman school, was, multitude in unity; and there is no doubt that such is the principle of beauty.
Coleridge.
2. A particular grace, feature, ornament, or excellence; anything beautiful; as, the beauties of nature.
3. A beautiful person, esp. a beautiful woman.
All the admired beauties of Verona.
Shak.
4. Prevailing style or taste; rage; fashion. [Obs.]
She stained her hair yellow, which was then the beauty.
Jer. Taylor.
Beauty spot, a patch or spot placed on the face with intent to heighten beauty by contrast.
Beaux (?), n., pl. of Beau.
Beauxite (?), n. (Min.) See Bauxite.
Beaver (?), n. [OE. bever, AS. beofer, befer; akin to D. bever, OHG. bibar, G. biber, Sw. bfver, Dan. bver, Lith. bebru, Russ. bobr', Gael. beabhar, Corn. befer, L. fiber, and Skr. babhrus large ichneumon; also as an adj., brown, the animal being probably named from its color. ?253. See Brown.]
1. (Zol.) An amphibious rodent, of the genus Castor.
It has palmated hind feet, and a broad, flat tail. It is remarkable for its ingenuity in constructing its valued for its fur, and for the material called castor, obtained from two small bags in the groin of the animal. The European species is Castor fiber, and the American is generally considered a variety of this, although sometimes called Castor Canadensis.
2. The fur of the beaver.
3. A hat, formerly made of the fur of the beaver, but now usually of silk.
A brown beaver slouched over his eyes.
Prescott.
4. Beaver cloth, a heavy felted woolen cloth, used chiefly for making overcoats.
Beaver rat (Zol.), an aquatic ratlike quadruped of Tasmania (Hydromys chrysogaster). Beaver skin, the furry skin of the beaver. Bank beaver. See under 1st Bank.
Beaver, n. [OE. baviere, bauier, beavoir, bever; fr. F. bavire, fr. bave slaver, drivel, foam, OF., prattle, drivel, perh. orig. an imitative word. Bavire, according to Cotgrave, is the bib put before a (slavering) child.] That piece of armor which protected the lower part of the face, whether forming a part of the helmet or fixed to the breastplate. It was so constructed (with joints or otherwise) that the wearer could raise or lower it to eat and drink.
Beavered (?), a. Covered with, or wearing, a beaver or hat. His beavered brow.
Pope.
Beaverteen (?), n. A kind of fustian made of coarse twilled cotton, shorn after dyeing.
Simmonds.



<-- p. 130 -->

Bebeerine, or Bebirine (?), n. (Chem.) An alkaloid got from the bark of the bebeeru, or green heart of Guiana (Nectandra Rodi?i). It is a tonic, antiperiodic, and febrifuge, and is used in medicine as a substitute for quinine. [Written also bibirine.]
Bebleed (?), v. t. To make bloody; to stain with blood. [Obs.]
Chaucer.
Beblood (?), Bebloody (?), v. t. To make bloody; to stain with blood. [Obs.]
Sheldon.
Beblot (?), v. t. To blot; to stain.
Chaucer.
Beblubber (?), v. t. To make swollen and disfigured or sullied by weeping; as, her eyes or cheeks were beblubbered.
Becalm (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Becalmed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Becalming.] 1. To render calm or quiet; to calm; to still; to appease.
Soft whispering airs ... becalm the mind.
Philips.
2. To keep from motion, or stop the progress of, by the stilling of the wind; as, the fleet was becalmed.
Became (?), imp. of Become.
Becard (?), n. (Zol.) A South American bird of the flycatcher family. (Tityra inquisetor).
Because (?), conj. [OE. bycause; by + cause.] 1. By or for the cause that; on this account that; for the reason that.
Milton.
2. In order that; that. [Obs.]
And the multitude rebuked them because they should hold their peace.
Matt. xx. 31.
Because of, by reason of, on account of. [Prep. phrase.]
Because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.
Eph. v. 6.
Syn. Because, For, Since, As, Inasmuch As. These particles are used, in certain connections, to assign the reason of a thing, or that on account of which it is or takes place. Because (by cause) is the strongest and most emphatic; as, I hid myself because I was afraid. For is not quite so strong; as, in Shakespeare, I hate him, for he is a Christian. Since is less formal and more incidental than because; as, I will do it since you request me. It more commonly begins a sentence; as, Since your decision is made, I will say no more. As is still more incidental than since, and points to some existing fact by way of assigning a reason. Thus we say, as I knew him to be out of town, I did not call. Inasmuch as seems to carry with it a kind of qualification which does not belong to the rest. Thus, if we say, I am ready to accept your proposal, inasmuch as I believe it is the best you can offer, we mean, it is only with this understanding that we can accept it.
Beccabunga (?), n. [NL. (cf. It. beccabunga, G. bachbunge), fr. G. bach brook + bunge, OHG. bungo, bulb. See Beck a brook.] See Brooklime.
Beccafico (?), n.; pl. Beccaficos (?). [It., fr. beccare to peck + fico fig.] (Zol.) A small bird. (Silvia hortensis), which is highly prized by the Italians for the delicacy of its flesh in the autumn, when it has fed on figs, grapes, etc.
Bachamel (?), n. [F. bchamel, named from its inventor, Louis de Bchamel.] (Cookery) A rich, white sauce, prepared with butter and cream.
Bechance (?), adv. [Pref. be for by + chance.] By chance; by accident. [Obs.]
Grafton.
Bechance, v. t. & i. To befall; to chance; to happen to.
God knows what hath bechanced them.
Shak.
Becharm (?), v. t. To charm; to captivate.
Bche de mer (?). [F., lit., a sea spade.] (Zol.) The trepang.
Bechic (?), a. [L. bechicus, adj., for a cough, Gr. ?, fr. ? cough: cf. F. bchique.] (Med.) Pertaining to, or relieving, a cough. Thomas. n. A medicine for relieving coughs.
Quincy.
Beck (?), n. See Beak. [Obs.]
Spenser.
Beck, n. [OE. bek, AS. becc; akin to Icel. bekkr brook, OHG. pah, G. bach.] A small brook.
The brooks, the becks, the rills.
Drayton.
Beck, n. A vat. See Back.
Beck, v. i. [imp. & p.p. Becked (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Becking.] [Contr. of beckon.] To nod, or make a sign with the head or hand. [Archaic]
Drayton.
Beck, v. t. To notify or call by a nod, or a motion of the head or hand; to intimate a command to. [Archaic]
When gold and silver becks me to come on.
Shak.
Beck, n. A significant nod, or motion of the head or hand, esp. as a call or command.
They have troops of soldiers at their beck.
Shak.
Becker (?), n. (Zol.) A European fish (Pagellus centrodontus); the sea bream or braise.
Becket (?), n. [Cf. D. bek beak, and E. beak.]
1. (Naut.) A small grommet, or a ring or loop of rope ? metal for holding things in position, as spars, ropes, etc.; also a bracket, a pocket, or a handle made of rope.
2. A spade for digging turf. [Prov. Eng.]
Wright.
Beckon, v. t. [imp. & p.p. Beckoned (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Beckoning.] To make a significant sign to; hence, to summon, as by a motion of the hand.
His distant friends, he beckons near.
Dryden.
It beckons you to go away with it.
Shak.
Beckon, n. A sign made without words; a beck. At the first beckon.
Bolingbroke.
Beclap (?), v. t. [OE. biclappen.] To catch; to grasp; to insnare. [Obs.]
Chaucer.
Beclip (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Beclipped (?).] [AS. beclyppan; pref. be + clyppan to embrace.] To embrace; to surround. [Obs.]
Wyclif.
Becloud (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Beclouded; p. pr. & vb. n. Beclouding.] To cause obscurity or dimness to; to dim; to cloud.
If thou becloud the sunshine of thine eye.
Quarles.
Become (?), v. i. [imp. Became (?); p.p. Become; p. pr. & vb. n. Becoming.] [OE. bicumen, becumen, AS. becuman to come to, to happen; akin to D. bekomen, OHG.a piquman, Goth. biquiman to come upon, G. bekommen to get, suit. See Be, and Come.] 1. To pass from one state to another; to enter into some state or condition, by a change from another state, or by assuming or receiving new properties or qualities, additional matter, or a new character.
The Lord God ... breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Gen. ii. 7.
That error now which is become my crime.
Milton.
2. To come; to get. [Obs.]
But, madam, where is Warwick then become!
Shak.
To become of, to be the present state or place of; to be the fate of; to be the end of; to be the final or subsequent condition of.
What is then become of so huge a multitude?
Sir W. Raleigh.
Become, v. t. To suit or be suitable to; to be con???ous with; to befit; to accord with, in character or circumstances; to be worthy of, or proper for; to cause to appear well; said of persons and things.
It becomes me so to speak of so excellent a poet.
Dryden.
I have known persons so anxious to have their dress become them, as to convert it, at length, into their proper self, and thus actually to become the dress.
Coleridge.
Becomed (?), a. Proper; decorous. [Obs.]
And gave him what becomed love I might.
Shak.
Becoming, a. Appropriate or fit; congruous; suitable; graceful; befitting.
A low and becoming tone.
Thackeray.
Formerly sometimes followed by of.
Such discourses as are becoming of them.
Dryden.
Syn. Seemly; comely; decorous; decent; proper.
Becoming, n. That which is becoming or appropriate. [Obs.]
Becomingly, adv. In a becoming manner.
Becomingness, n. The quality of being becoming, appropriate, or fit; congruity; fitness.
The becomingness of human nature.
Grew.
Becripple (?), v. t. To make a cripple of; to cripple; to lame. [R.]
Dr. H. More.
Becuna (?), n. [Sp.] (Zol.) A fish of the Mediterranean (Sphyrna spet.) See Barracuda.
Becurl (?), v. t. To curl; to adorn with curls.
Bed (?), n. [AS. bed, bedd; akin to OS. bed, D. bed, bedde, Icel. be?r, Dan. bed, Sw. bdd, Goth. badi, OHG. betti, G. bett, bette, bed, beet a plat of ground; all of uncertain origin.] 1. An article of furniture to sleep or take rest in or on; a couch. Specifically: A sack or mattress, filled with some soft material, in distinction from the bedstead on which it is placed (as, a feather bed), or this with the bedclothes added. In a general sense, any thing or place used for sleeping or reclining on or in, as a quantity of hay, straw, leaves, or twigs.
And made for him [a horse] a leafy bed.
Byron.
I wash, wring, brew, bake, ... make the beds.
Shak.
In bed he slept not for my urging it.
Shak.
2. (Used as the symbol of matrimony) Marriage.
George, the eldest son of his second bed.
Clarendon.
3. A plat or level piece of ground in a garden, usually a little raised above the adjoining ground. Beds of hyacinth and roses.
Milton.
4. A mass or heap of anything arranged like a bed; as, a bed of ashes or coals.
5. The bottom of a watercourse, or of any body of water; as, the bed of a river.
So sinks the daystar in the ocean bed.
Milton.
6. (Geol.) A layer or seam, or a horizontal stratum between layers; as, a bed of coal, iron, etc.
7. (Gun.) See Gun carriage, and Mortar bed.
8. (Masonry) (a) The horizontal surface of a building stone; as, the upper and lower beds. (b) A course of stone or brick in a wall. (c) The place or material in which a block or brick is laid. (d) The lower surface of a brick, slate, or tile.
Knight.
9. (Mech.) The foundation or the more solid and fixed part or framing of a machine; or a part on which something is laid or supported; as, the bed of an engine.
10. The superficial earthwork, or ballast, of a railroad.
11. (Printing) The flat part of the press, on which the form is laid.
Bed is much used adjectively or in combination; as, bed key or bedkey; bed wrench or bedwrench; bedchamber; bedmaker, etc.
Bed of justice (French Hist.), the throne (F. lit bed) occupied by the king when sitting in one of his parliaments (judicial courts); hence, a session of a refractory parliament, at which the king was present for the purpose of causing his decrees to be registered. To be brought to bed, to be delivered of a child; often followed by of; as, to be brought to bed of a son. To make a bed, to prepare a bed; to arrange or put in order a bed and its bedding. From bed and board (Law), a phrase applied to a separation by partial divorce of man and wife, without dissolving the bonds of matrimony. If such a divorce (now commonly called a judicial separation) be granted at the instance of the wife, she may have alimony.
Bed, v. t. [imp. & p.p. Bedded; p. pr. & vb. n. Bedding.] 1. To place in a bed. [Obs.]
Bacon.
2. To make partaker of one's bed; to cohabit with.
I'll to the Tuscan wars, and never bed her.
Shak.
3. To furnish with a bed or bedding.
4. To plant or arrange in beds; to set, or cover, as in a bed of soft earth; as, to bed the roots of a plant in mold.
5. To lay or put in any hollow place, or place of rest and security, surrounded or inclosed; to embed; to furnish with or place upon a bed or foundation; as, to bed a stone; it was bedded on a rock.
Among all chains or clusters of mountains where large bodies of still water are bedded.
Wordsworth.
6. (Masonry) To dress or prepare the surface of stone) so as to serve as a bed.
7. To lay flat; to lay in order; to place in a horizontal or recumbent position. Bedded hair.
Shak.
Bed (?), v. i. To go to bed; to cohabit.
If he be married, and bed with his wife.
Wiseman.
Bedabble (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Bedabbled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Bedabbling (?). To dabble; to sprinkle or wet.
Shak.
Bedaff (?), v. t. To make a daff or fool of. [Obs.]
Chaucer.
Bedagat (?), n. The sacred books of the Buddhists in Burmah.
Malcom.
Bedaggle (?), v. t. To daggle.
Bedash (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Bedashed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Bedashing.] To wet by dashing or throwing water or other liquid upon; to bespatter. Trees bedashed with rain.
Shak.
Bedaub (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Bedaubed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Bedaubing.] To daub over; to besmear or soil with anything thick and dirty.
Bedaub foul designs with a fair varnish.
Barrow.
Bedazzle (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Bedazzled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Bedazzling (?).] To dazzle or make dim by a strong light. Bedazzled with the sun.
Shak.
Bedbug (?), n. (Zol.) A wingless, bloodsucking, hemipterous insect (Cimex Lectularius), sometimes infesting houses and especially beds. See Illustration in Appendix.
Bedchair (?), n. A chair with adjustable back, for the sick, to support them while sitting up in bed.
Bedchamber (?), n. A chamber for a bed; an apartment form sleeping in.
Shak.
Lords of the bedchamber, eight officers of the royal household, all of noble families, who wait in turn a week each. [Eng.] Ladies of the bedchamber, eight ladies, all titled, holding a similar official position in the royal household, during the reign of a queen. [Eng.]
Bedclothes (?), n. pl. Blankets, sheets, coverlets, etc., for a bed.
Shak.
Bedcord (?), n. A cord or rope interwoven in a bedstead so as to support the bed.
Bedded (?), a. Provided with a bed; as, doublebedded room; placed or arranged in a bed or beds.
Bedding (?), n. [AS. bedding, beding. See Bed.] 1. A bed and its furniture; the materials of a bed, whether for man or beast; bedclothes; litter.
2. (Geol.) The state or position of beds and layers.
Bede (?), v. t. [See Bid, v. t.] To pray; also, to offer; to proffer. [Obs.]
R. of Gloucester. Chaucer.
Bede, n. (Mining) A kind of pickax.
Bedeck (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Bedecked (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Bedecking.] To deck, ornament, or adorn; to grace.
Bedecked with boughs, flowers, and garlands.
Pennant.
Bedeguar, Bedegar (?), n. [F., fr. Per. bdоward, or bdоwardag, prop., a kind of white thorn or thistle.] A gall produced on rosebushes, esp. on the sweetbrier or eglantine, by a puncture from the ovipositor of a gallfly (Rhodites ros). It was once supposed to have medicinal properties.
Bedehouse (?), n. Same as Beadhouse.
Bedel, Bedell (?), n. Same as Beadle.
Bedelry (?), n. Beadleship. [Obs.]
Blount.
Beden (?), n. (Zol.) The Abyssinian or Arabian ibex (Capra Nubiana). It is probably the wild goat of the Bible.
Bedesman (?), n. Same as Beadsman. [Obs.]
Bedevil (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Bedevilled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Bedeviling or Bedevilling.] 1. To throw into utter disorder and confusion, as if by the agency of evil spirits; to bring under diabolical influence; to torment.
Bedeviled and used worse than St. Bartholomew.
Sterne.
2. To spoil; to corrupt.
Wright.
Bedevilment (?), n. The state of being bedeviled; bewildering confusion; vexatious trouble. [Colloq.]
Bedew (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Bedewed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Bedewing.] To moisten with dew, or as with dew. Falling tears his face bedew.
Dryden.
Bedewer (?), n. One who, or that which, bedews.
Bedewy (?), a. Moist with dew; dewy. [Obs.]
Night with her bedewy wings.
A. Brewer.
Bedfellow (?), n. One who lies with another in the same bed; a person who shares one's couch.
Bedfere Bedphere } (?), n. [Bed + AS. fera a companion.] A bedfellow. [Obs.]
Chapman.
Bedgown (?), n. A nightgown.
Bedight (?), v. t. [ p. p. Bedight, Bedighted.] TO bedeck; to array or equip; to adorn. [Archaic]
Milton.
Bedim (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Bedimmed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Bedimming.] To make dim; to obscure or darken.
Shak.
Bedizen (?), v. t. To dress or adorn tawdrily or with false taste.
Remnants of tapestried hangings, ... and shreds of pictures with which he had bedizened his tatters.
Sir W. Scott.
Bedizenment (?), n. That which bedizens; the act of dressing, or the state of being dressed, tawdrily.
Bedkey (?), n. An instrument for tightening the parts of a bedstead.
Bedlam (?), n. [See Bethlehem.] 1. A place appropriated to the confinement and care of the insane; a madhouse.
Abp. Tillotson.
2. An insane person; a lunatic; a madman. [Obs.]
Let's get the bedlam to lead him.
Shak.
3. Any place where uproar and confusion prevail.
Bedlam, a. Belonging to, or fit for, a madhouse. The bedlam, brainsick duchess.
Shak.
Bedlamite (?), n. An inhabitant of a madhouse; a madman. Raving bedlamites.
Beattie.
Bedmaker (?), n. One who makes beds.


<-- p. 131 -->

Bedmolding Bedmoulding } (?), n. (Arch.) The molding of a cornice immediately below the corona.
Oxf. Gloss.
Bedote (?), v. t. To cause to dote; to deceive. [Obs.]
Chaucer.
Bedouin (?), n. [F. bdouin, OF. bduin, fr. Ar. bedaw rural, living in the desert, fr. badw desert, fr. bad to live in the desert, to lead a nomadic life.] One of the nomadic Arabs who live in tents, and are scattered over Arabia, Syria, and northern Africa, esp. in the deserts. Bedouinism (?), n.
Bedouin, a. Pertaining to the Bedouins; nomad.
Bedpan (?), n. 1. A pan for warming beds.
Nares.
2. A shallow chamber vessel, so constructed that it can be used by a sick person in bed.
Bedphere (?), n. See Bedfere. [Obs.]
B. Jonson.
Bedpiece (?), Bedplate (?), } n. (Mach.) The foundation framing or piece, by which the other parts are supported and held in place; the bed; called also baseplate and soleplate.
Bedpost (?), n. 1. One of the four standards that support a bedstead or the canopy over a bedstead.
2. Anciently, a post or pin on each side of the bed to keep the clothes from falling off. See Bedstaff.
Brewer.
Bedquilt (?), n. A quilt for a bed; a coverlet.
Bedrabble (?), v. t. To befoul with rain and mud; to drabble.
Bedraggle (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Bedraggled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Bedraggling (?). To draggle; to soil, as garments which, in walking, are suffered to drag in dust, mud, etc.
Swift.
Bedrench (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Bedrenched (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Bedrenching.] To drench; to saturate with moisture; to soak.
Shak.
Bedribble (?), v. t. To dribble upon.
Bedrid (?), Bedridden (?), } a. [OE. bedrede, AS. bedreda, bedrida; from bed, bedd, a bed or couch + ridda a rider; cf. OHG. pettiriso, G. bettrise. See Bed, n., and Ride, v. i. ] Confined to the bed by sickness or infirmity. Her decrepit, sick, and bedrid father. Shak. The estate of a bedridden old gentleman. Macaulay.
Bedright Bedrite } (?), n. [Bed + right, rite.] The duty or privilege of the marriage bed.
Shak.
Bedrizzle (?), v. t. To drizzle upon.
Bed rock (?). (Mining) The solid rock underlying superficial formations. Also Fig.
Bedroom (?), n. 1. A room or apartment intended or used for a bed; a lodging room.
2. Room in a bed. [In this sense preferably bed room.]
Then by your side no bed room me deny.
Shak.
Bedrop (?), v. t. To sprinkle, as with drops.
The yellow carp, in scales bedropped with gold.
Pope.
Bedrug (?), v. t. To drug abundantly or excessively.
Bed screw (?). 1. (Naut.) A form of jack screw for lifting large bodies, and assisting in launching.
2. A long screw formerly used to fasten a bedpost to one of the adjacent side pieces.
Bedside (?), n. The side of a bed.
Bedsite (?), n. A recess in a room for a bed.
Of the three bedrooms, two have fireplaces, and all are of fair size, with windows and bedsite well placed.
Quart. Rev.
Bedsore (?), n. (Med.) A sore on the back or hips caused by lying for a long time in bed.
Bedspread (?), n. A bedquilt; a counterpane; a coverlet. [U. S.]
Bedstaff (?), n.; pl. Bedstaves (?). A wooden pin stuck anciently on the sides of the bedstead, to hold the clothes from slipping on either side.
Johnson.
Hostess, accommodate us with a bedstaff.
B. Jonson.
Say there is no virtue in cudgels and bedstaves.
Brome.
Bedstead (?), n. [Bed + stead a frame.] A framework for supporting a bed.
Bed steps (?). Steps for mounting a bed of unusual height.
Bedstock (?), n. The front or the back part of the frame of a bedstead. [Obs. or Dial. Eng.]
Bedstraw (?), n. 1. Straw put into a bed.
Bacon.
2. (Bot.) A genus of slender herbs, usually with square stems, whorled leaves, and small white flowers.
Our Lady's bedstraw, which has yellow flowers, is Galium verum. White bedstraw is G. mollugo.
Bedswerver (?), n. One who swerves from and is unfaithful to the marriage vow. [Poetic]
Shak.
Bedtick (?), n. A tick or bag made of cloth, used for inclosing the materials of a bed.
Bedtime (?), n. The time to go to bed.
Shak.
Beduck (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Beducked (?).] To duck; to put the head under water; to immerse. Deep himself beducked.
Spenser.
Beduin (?), n. See Bedouin.
Bedung (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Bedunged (?).] To cover with dung, as for manuring; to bedaub or defile, literally or figuratively.
Bp. Hall.
Bedust (?), v. t. To sprinkle, soil, or cover with dust.
Sherwood.
Bedward (?), adv. Towards bed.
Bedwarf (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Bedwarfed (?).] To make a dwarf of; to stunt or hinder the growth of; to dwarf.
Donne.
Bedye (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Bedyed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Bedyeing.] To dye or stain.
Briton fields with Sarazin blood bedyed.
Spenser.
Bee (?), p. p. of Be; used for been. [Obs.]
Spenser.
Bee (?), n. [AS. be; akin to D. bij and bije, Icel. b?, Sw. & Dan. bi, OHG. pini, G. biene, and perh. Ir. beach, Lith. bitis, Skr. bha. ?97.] 1. (Zol.) An insect of the order Hymenoptera, and family Apid (the honeybees), or family Andrenid (the solitary bees.) See Honeybee.
There are many genera and species. The common honeybee (Apis mellifica) lives in swarms, each of which has its own queen, its males or drones, and its very numerous workers, which are barren females. Besides the A. mellifica there are other species and varieties of honeybees, as the A. ligustica of Spain and Italy; the A. Indica of India; the A. fasciata of Egypt. The bumblebee is a species of Bombus. The tropical honeybees belong mostly to Melipoma and Trigona.
2. A neighborly gathering of people who engage in united labor for the benefit of an individual or family; as, a quilting bee; a husking bee; a raising bee. [U. S.]
The cellar ... was dug by a bee in a single day.
S. G. Goodrich.
3. pl. [Prob. fr. AS. beh ring, fr. b?gan to bend. See 1st Bow.] (Naut.) Pieces of hard wood bolted to the sides of the bowsprit, to reeve the foretopmast stays through; called also bee blocks.
Bee beetle (Zol.), a beetle (Trichodes apiarius) parasitic in beehives. Bee bird (Zol.), a bird that eats the honeybee, as the European flycatcher, and the American kingbird. Bee flower (Bot.), an orchidaceous plant of the genus Ophrys (O. apifera), whose flowers have some resemblance to bees, flies, and other insects. Bee fly (Zol.), a two winged fly of the family Bombyliid. Some species, in the larval state, are parasitic upon bees. Bee garden, a garden or inclosure to set beehives in ; an apiary. Mortimer. Bee glue, a soft, unctuous matter, with which bees cement the combs to the hives, and close up the cells; called also propolis. Bee hawk (Zol.), the honey buzzard. Bee killer (Zol.), a large twowinged fly of the family Asilid (esp. Trupanea apivora) which feeds upon the honeybee. See Robber fly. Bee louse (Zol.), a minute, wingless, dipterous insect (Braula cca) parasitic on hive bees. Bee martin (Zol.), the kingbird (Tyrannus Carolinensis) which occasionally feeds on bees. Bee moth (Zol.), a moth (Galleria cereana) whose larv feed on honeycomb, occasioning great damage in beehives. Bee wolf (Zol.), the larva of the bee beetle. See Illust. of Bee beetle. To have a bee in the head or in the bonnet. (a) To be choleric. [Obs.] (b) To be restless or uneasy. B. Jonson. (c) To be full of fancies; to be a little crazy. She's whiles crackbrained, and has a bee in her head. Sir W. Scott.
Beebread (?), n. A brown, bitter substance found in some of the cells of honeycomb. It is made chiefly from the pollen of flowers, which is collected by bees as food for their young.
Beech (?), n.; pl. Beeches (?). [OE. beche, AS. b?ce; akin to D. beuk, OHG. buocha, G. buche, Icel. beyki, Dan. bg, Sw. bok, Russ. buk, L. fagus, Gr. ? oak, ? to eat, Skr. bhaksh; the tree being named originally from the esculent fruit. See Book, and cf. 7th Buck, Buckwheat.] (Bot.) A tree of the genus Fagus.
It grows to a large size, having a smooth bark and thick foliage, and bears an edible triangular nut, of which swine are fond. The Fagus sylvatica is the European species, and the F. ferruginea that of America.
Beech drops (Bot.), a parasitic plant which grows on the roots of beeches (Epiphegus Americana). Beech marten (Zol.), the stone marten of Europe (Mustela foina). Beech mast, the nuts of the beech, esp. as they lie under the trees, in autumn. Beech oil, oil expressed from the mast or nuts of the beech tree. Cooper beech, a variety of the European beech with coppercolored, shining leaves.
Beechen (?), a. [AS. b?cen.] Consisting, or made, of the wood or bark of the beech; belonging to the beech. Plain beechen vessels.
Dryden.
Beechnut (?), n. The nut of the beech tree.
Beech tree (?). The beech.
Beechy (?), a. Of or relating to beeches.
Beeeater (?), n. (Zol.) (a) A bird of the genus Merops, that feeds on bees. The European species (M. apiaster) is remarkable for its brilliant colors. (b) An African bird of the genus Rhinopomastes.
Beef (?), n. [OE. boef, befe, beef, OF. boef, buef, F. b?ef, fr. L. bos, bovis, ox; akin to Gr. ?, Skr. g? cow, and E. cow. See 2d Cow.] 1. An animal of the genus Bos, especially the common species, B. taurus, including the bull, cow, and ox, in their full grown state; esp., an ox or cow fattened for food. [In this, which is the original sense, the word has a plural, beeves (?).]
A herd of beeves, fair oxen and fair kine.
Milton.
2. The flesh of an ox, or cow, or of any adult bovine animal, when slaughtered for food. [In this sense, the word has no plural.] Great meals of beef.
Shak.
3. Applied colloquially to human flesh.
Beef (?), a. Of, pertaining to, or resembling, beef.
Beef tea, essence of beef, or strong beef broth.
Beefeater (?), n. [Beef + eater; prob. one who eats another's beef, as his servant. Cf. AS. hlf?ta servant, properly a loaf eater.] 1. One who eats beef; hence, a large, fleshy person.
2. One of the yeomen of the guard, in England.
3. (Zol.) An African bird of the genus Buphaga, which feeds on the larv of botflies hatched under the skin of oxen, antelopes, etc. Two species are known.
Beefsteak (?), n. A steak of beef; a slice of beef broiled or suitable for broiling.
Beefwitted (?), n. Stupid; dull.
Shak.
Beefwood (?), n. An Australian tree (Casuarina), and its red wood, used for cabinetwork; also, the trees Stenocarpus salignus of New South Wales, and Banksia compar of Queensland.
Beefy, a. Having much beef; of the nature of beef; resembling beef; fleshy.
Beehive (?), n. A hive for a swarm of bees. Also used figuratively.
A common and typical form of beehive was a domeshaped inverted basket, whence certain ancient Irish and Scotch architectural remains are called beehive houses.
Beehouse (?), n. A house for bees; an apiary.
Bee larkspur (?). (Bot.) See Larkspur.
Beeld (?), n. Same as Beild.
Fairfax.
Bee line (?). The shortest line from one place to another, like that of a bee to its hive when loaded with honey; an air line. A bee line for the brig.
Kane.
Beelzebub (?), n. The title of a heathen deity to whom the Jews ascribed the sovereignty of the evil spirits; hence, the Devil or a devil. See Baal.
Beem (?), n. [AS. b?me, b?me.] A trumpet. [Obs.]
Beemaster (?), n. One who keeps bees.
Been (?). [OE. beon, ben, bin, p. p. of been, beon, to be. See Be.] The past participle of Be. In old authors it is also the pr. tense plural of Be. See 1st Bee.
Assembled been a senate grave and stout.
Fairfax.
Beer (?), n. [OE. beor, ber, AS. ber; akin to Fries. biar, Icel. bj?rr, OHG. bior, D. & G. bier, and possibly E. brew. ?93, See Brew.] 1. A fermented liquor made from any malted grain, but commonly from barley malt, with hops or some other substance to impart a bitter flavor.
Beer has different names, as small beer, ale, porter, brown stout, lager beer, according to its strength, or other qualities. See Ale.
2. A fermented extract of the roots and other parts of various plants, as spruce, ginger, sassafras, etc.
Small beer, weak beer; (fig.) insignificant matters. To suckle fools, and chronicle small beer.
Shak.
Beeregar (?), n. [Beer + eager.] Sour beer. [Obs.]
Beerhouse (?), n. A house where malt liquors are sold; an alehouse.
Beeriness (?), n. Beery condition.
Beery (?), a. Of or resembling beer; affected by beer; maudlin.
Beestings (?), n. Same as Biestings.
Beeswax (?), n. The wax secreted by bees, and of which their cells are constructed.
Beeswing (?), n. The second crust formed in port and some other wines after long keeping. It consists of pure, shining scales of tartar, supposed to resemble the wing of a bee.
Beet (?), n. [AS. bete, from L. beta.] 1. (Bot.) A biennial plant of the genus Beta, which produces an edible root the first year and seed the second year.
2. The root of plants of the genus Beta, different species and varieties of which are used for the table, for feeding stock, or in making sugar.
There are many varieties of the common beet (Beta vulgaris). The Old white beet, cultivated for its edible leafstalks, is a distinct species (Beta Cicla).
Beete, Bete (?), v. t. [AS. b?tan to mend. See Better.] 1. To mend; to repair. [Obs.]
Chaucer.
2. To renew or enkindle (a fire). [Obs.]
Chaucer.
Beetle (?), n. [OE. betel, AS. btl, b?tl, mallet, hammer, fr. betan to beat. See Beat, v. t.] 1. A heavy mallet, used to drive wedges, beat pavements, etc.
2. A machine in which fabrics are subjected to a hammering process while passing over rollers, as in cotton mills; called also beetling machine.
Knight.


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Beetle (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Beetled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Beetling.] 1. To beat with a heavy mallet.
2. To finish by subjecting to a hammering process in a beetle or beetling machine; as, to beetle cotton goods.
Beetle, n. [OE. bityl, bittle, AS. b?tel, fr. b?tan to bite. See Bite, v. t.] Any insect of the order Coleoptera, having four wings, the outer pair being stiff cases for covering the others when they are folded up. See Coleoptera.
Beetle mite (Zol.), one of many species of mites, of the family Oribatid, parasitic on beetles. Black beetle, the common large black cockroach (Blatta orientalis).
Beetle, v. i. [See Beetlebrowed.] To extend over and beyond the base or support; to overhang; to jut.
To the dreadful summit of the cliff
That beetles o'er his base into the sea.
Shak.
Each beetling rampart, and each tower sublime.
Wordsworth.
Beetle brow (?). An overhanging brow.
Beetlebrowed (?), a. [OE. bitelbrowed; cf. OE. bitel, adj., sharp, projecting, n., a beetle. See Beetle an insect.] Having prominent, overhanging brows; hence, lowering or sullen.
The earlier meaning was, Having bushy or overhanging eyebrows.
Beetlehead (?), n. [Beetle a mallet + head.]
1. A stupid fellow; a blockhead.
Sir W. Scott.
2. (Zol.) The blackbellied plover, or bullhead (Squatarola helvetica). See Plover.
Beetleheaded (?), a. Dull; stupid.
Shak.
Beetlestock (?), n. The handle of a beetle.
Beet radish (?). Same as Beetrave.
Beetrave (?), n. [F. betterave; bette beet + rave radish.] The common beet (Beta vulgaris).
Beeve (?), n. [Formed from beeves, pl. of beef.] A beef; a beef creature.
They would knock down the first beeve they met with.
W. Irving.
Beeves (?), n.; plural of Beef, the animal.
Befall (?), v. t. [imp. Befell (?); p. p. Befallen (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Befalling.] [ AS. befeallan; pref. be + feallan to fall.] To happen to.
I beseech your grace that I may know
The worst that may befall me.
Shak.
Befall, v. i. To come to pass; to happen.
I have revealed ... the discord which befell.
Milton.
Befit (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Befitted; p. pr. & vb. n. Befitting.] To be suitable to; to suit; to become.
That name best befits thee.
Milton.
Befitting, a. Suitable; proper; becoming; fitting.
Befittingly, adv. In a befitting manner; suitably.
Beflatter (?), v. t. To flatter excessively.
Beflower (?), v. t. To besprinkle or scatter over with, or as with, flowers.
Hobbes.
Befog (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Befogged (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Befogging (?).] 1. To involve in a fog; mostly as a participle or part. adj.
2. Hence: To confuse; to mystify.
Befool (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Befooled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Befooling.] [OE. befolen; pref. be + fol fool.] 1. To fool; to delude or lead into error; to infatuate; to deceive.
This story ... contrived to befool credulous men.
Fuller.
2. To cause to behave like a fool; to make foolish. Some befooling drug.
G. Eliot.
Before (?), prep. [OE. beforen, biforen, before, AS. beforan; pref. be + foran, fore, before. See Be, and Fore.] 1. In front of; preceding in space; ahead of; as, to stand before the fire; before the house.
His angel, who shall go
Before them in a cloud and pillar of fire.
Milton.
2. Preceding in time; earlier than; previously to; anterior to the time when; sometimes with the additional idea of purpose; in order that.
Before Abraham was, I am.
John viii. 58.
Before this treatise can become of use, two points are necessary.
Swift.
Formerly before, in this sense, was followed by that. Before that Philip called thee... I saw thee.
John i. 48.
3. An advance of; farther onward, in place or time.
The golden age ... is before us.
Carlyle.
4. Prior or preceding in dignity, order, rank, right, or worth; rather than.
He that cometh after me is preferred before me.
John i. 15.
The eldest son is before the younger in succession.
Johnson.
5. In presence or sight of; face to face with; facing.
Abraham bowed down himself before the people.
Gen. xxiii. 12.
Wherewith shall I come before the Lord?
Micah vi. 6.
6. Under the cognizance or jurisdiction of.
If a suit be begun before an archdeacon.
Ayliffe.
7. Open for; free of access to; in the power of.
The world was all before them where to choose.
Milton.
Before the mast (Naut.), as a common sailor, because the sailors live in the forecastle, forward of the foremast. Before the wind (Naut.), in the direction of the wind and by its impulse; having the wind aft.
Before, adv. 1. On the fore part; in front, or in the direction of the front; opposed to in the rear.
The battle was before and behind.
2 Chron. xiii. 14.
2. In advance. I come before to tell you.
Shak.
3. In time past; previously; already.
You tell me, mother, what I knew before.
Dryden.
4. Earlier; sooner than; until then.
When the butt is out, we will drink water; not a drop before.
Shak.
Before is often used in selfexplaining compounds; as, beforecited, beforementioned; beforesaid.
Beforehand (?), adv. [Before + hand.]
1. In a state of anticipation ore preoccupation; in advance; often followed by with.
Agricola ... resolves to be beforehand with the danger.
Milton.
The last cited author has been beforehand with me.
Addison.
2. By way of preparation, or preliminary; previously; aforetime.
They may be taught beforehand the skill of speaking.
Hooker.
Beforehand, a. In comfortable circumstances as regards property; forehanded.
Rich and much beforehand.
Bacon.
Beforetime (?), adv. Formerly; aforetime.
[They] dwelt in their tents, as beforetime.
2 Kings xiii. 5.
Befortune (?), v. t. To befall. [Poetic]
I wish all good befortune you.
Shak.
Befoul (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Befouled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Befouling.] [Cf. AS. bef?lan; pref. be + f?lan to foul. See Foul, a.] 1. To make foul; to soil.
2. To entangle or run against so as to impede motion.
Befriend (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Befriended; p. pr. & vb. n. Befriending.] To act as a friend to; to favor; to aid, benefit, or countenance.
By the darkness befriended.
Longfellow.
Befriendment (?), n. Act of befriending. [R.]
Befrill (?), v. t. To furnish or deck with a frill.
Befringe (?), v. t. To furnish with a fringe; to form a fringe upon; to adorn as with fringe.
Fuller.
Befuddle (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Befuddled (?)] To becloud and confuse, as with liquor.
Beg (?), n. [Turk. beg, pronounced bay. Cf. Bey, Begum.] A title of honor in Turkey and in some other parts of the East; a bey.
Beg (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Begged (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Begging.] [OE. beggen, perh. fr. AS. bedecian (akin to Goth. bedagwa beggar), biddan to ask. (Cf. Bid, v. t.); or cf. beghard, beguin.] 1. To ask earnestly for; to entreat or supplicate for; to beseech.
I do beg your good will in this case.
Shak.
[Joseph] begged the body of Jesus.
Matt. xxvii. 58.
Sometimes implying deferential and respectful, rather than earnest, asking; as, I beg your pardon; I beg leave to disagree with you.
2. To ask for as a charity, esp. to ask for habitually or from house to house.
Yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.
Ps. xxxvii. 25.
3. To make petition to; to entreat; as, to beg a person to grant a favor.
4. To take for granted; to assume without proof.
5. (Old Law) To ask to be appointed guardian for, or to ask to have a guardian appointed for.
Else some will beg thee, in the court of wards.
Harrington.
Hence: To beg (one) for a fool, to take him for a fool.
I beg to, is an elliptical expression for I beg leave to; as, I beg to inform you. To bag the question, to assume that which was to be proved in a discussion, instead of adducing the proof or sustaining the point by argument. To go abegging, a figurative phrase to express the absence of demand for something which elsewhere brings a price; as, grapes are so plentiful there that they go abegging.
Syn. To Beg, Ask, Request. To ask (not in the sense of inquiring) is the generic term which embraces all these words. To request is only a polite mode of asking. To beg, in its original sense, was to ask with earnestness, and implied submission, or at least deference. At present, however, in polite life, beg has dropped its original meaning, and has taken the place of both ask and request, on the ground of its expressing more of deference and respect. Thus, we beg a person's acceptance of a present; we beg him to favor us with his company; a tradesman begs to announce the arrival of new goods, etc. Crabb remarks that, according to present usage, we can never talk of asking a person's acceptance of a thing, or of asking him to do us a favor. This can be more truly said of usage in England than in America.
Beg, v. i. To ask alms or charity, especially to ask habitually by the wayside or from house to house; to live by asking alms.
I can not dig; to beg I am ashamed.
Luke xvi. 3.
Bega (?), n. See Bigha.
Begem (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Begemmed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Begemming.] To adorn with gems, or as with gems.
Begemmed with dewdrops.
Sir W. Scott.
Those lonely realms bright garden isles begem.
Shelley.
Beget (?), v. t. [imp. Begot (?), (Archaic) Begat (?); p. p. Begot, Begotten (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Begetting.] [OE. bigiten, bigeten, to get, beget, AS. begitan to get; pref. be + gitan. See Get, v. t. ] 1. To procreate, as a father or sire; to generate; commonly said of the father.
Yet they a beauteous offspring shall beget.
Milton.
2. To get (with child.) [Obs.]
Shak.
3. To produce as an effect; to cause to exist.
Love is begot by fancy.
Granville.
Begetter (?), n. One who begets; a father.
Beggable (?), a. Capable of being begged.
Beggar (?), n. [OE. beggere, fr. beg.] 1. One who begs; one who asks or entreats earnestly, or with humility; a petitioner.
2. One who makes it his business to ask alms.
3. One who is dependent upon others for support; a contemptuous or sarcastic use.
4. One who assumes in argument what he does not prove.
Abp. Tillotson.
Beggar, v. t. [imp. & p.p. Beggared (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Beggaring.] 1. To reduce to beggary; to impoverish; as, he had beggared himself.
Milton.
2. To cause to seem very poor and inadequate.
It beggared all description.
Shak.
Beggarhood (?), n. The condition of being a beggar; also, the class of beggars.
Beggarism (?), n. Beggary. [R.]
Beggarliness (?), n. The quality or state of being beggarly; meanness.
Beggarly (?), a. 1. In the condition of, or like, a beggar; suitable for a beggar; extremely indigent; povertystricken; mean; poor; contemptible.A bankrupt, beggarly fellow. South. A beggarly fellowship. Swift. Beggarly elements. Gal. iv. 9.
2. Produced or occasioned by beggary. [Obs.]
Beggarly sins, that is, those sins which idleness and beggary usually betray men to; such as lying, flattery, stealing, and dissimulation.
Jer. Taylor.
Beggarly, adv. In an indigent, mean, or despicable manner; in the manner of a beggar.
Beggar's lice (?). (Bot.) The prickly fruit or seed of certain plants (as some species of Echinospermum and Cynoglossum) which cling to the clothing of those who brush by them.
Beggar's ticks (?). The bur marigold (Bidens) and its achenes, which are armed with barbed awns, and adhere to clothing and fleeces with unpleasant tenacity.
Beggary (?), n. [OE. beggerie. See Beggar, n.] 1. The act of begging; the state of being a beggar; mendicancy; extreme poverty.
2. Beggarly appearance. [R.]
The freedom and the beggary of the old studio.
Thackeray.
Syn. Indigence; want; penury; mendicancy.
Beggary, a. Beggarly. [Obs.]
B. Jonson.
Beggestere (?), n. [Beg + ster.] A beggar. [Obs.]
Chaucer.
Beghard Beguard } (?), n. [F. bgard, bguard; cf. G. beghard, LL. Beghardus, Begihardus, Begardus. Prob. from the root of beguine + ard or hard. See Beguine.] (Eccl. Hist.) One of an association of religious laymen living in imitation of the Beguines. They arose in the thirteenth century, were afterward subjected to much persecution, and were suppressed by Innocent X. in 1650. Called also Beguins.
Begild (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Begilded or Begilt (?).] To gild.
B. Jonson.
Begin (?), v. i. [imp. & p.p. Began (?), Begun (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Beginning (?).] [AS. beginnan (akin to OS. biginnan, D. & G. beginnen, OHG. biginnan, Goth., duginnan, Sw. begynna, Dan. begynde); pref. be + an assumed ginnan. ?31. See Gin to begin.] 1. To have or commence an independent or first existence; to take rise; to commence.
Vast chain of being ! which from God began.
Pope.
2. To do the first act or the first part of an action; to enter upon or commence something new, as a new form or state of being, or course of action; to take the first step; to start. Tears began to flow.
Dryden.
When I begin, I will also make an end.
1 Sam. iii. 12.
Begin, v. t. 1. To enter on; to commence.
Ye nymphs of Solyma ! begin the song.
Pope.
2. To trace or lay the foundation of; to make or place a beginning of.
The apostle begins our knowledge in the creatures, which leads us to the knowledge of God.
Locke.
Syn. To commence; originate; set about; start.
Begin, n. Beginning. [Poetic & Obs.]
Spenser.
Beginner (?), n. One who begins or originates anything. Specifically: A young or inexperienced practitioner or student; a tyro.
A sermon of a new beginner.
Swift.
Beginning (?), n. 1. The act of doing that which begins anything; commencement of an action, state, or space of time; entrance into being or upon a course; the first act, effort, or state of a succession of acts or states.
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Gen. i. 1.
2. That which begins or originates something; the first cause; origin; source.
I am ... the beginning and the ending.
Rev. i. 8.
3. That which is begun; a rudiment or element.
Mighty things from small beginnings grow.
Dryden.
4. Enterprise. To hinder our beginnings.
Shak.
Syn. Inception; prelude; opening; threshold; origin; outset; foundation.
Begird (?), v. t. [imp. Begirt (?), Begirded; p. p. Begirt; p. pr. & vb. n. Begirding.] [AS. begyrdan (akin to Goth. bigairdan); pref. be + gyrdan to gird.] 1. To bind with a band or girdle; to gird.
2. To surround as with a band; to encompass.
Begirdle (?), v. t. To surround as with a girdle.
Begirt (?), v. t. To encompass; to begird.
Milton.
Beglerbeg (?), n. [Turk. beglerbeg, fr. beg, pl. begler. See Beg, n.] The governor of a province of the Ottoman empire, next in dignity to the grand vizier.
Begnaw (?), v. t. [p. p. Begnawed (?), (R.) Begnawn (?).] [AS. begnagan; pref. be + gnagan to gnaw.] To gnaw; to eat away; to corrode.
The worm of conscience still begnaw thy soul.
Shak.
Begod (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Begodded.] To exalt to the dignity of a god; to deify. [Obs.] Begodded saints.
South.
Begone (?), interj. [Be, v. i. + gone, p. p.] Go away; depart; get you gone.
Begone, p. p. [OE. begon, AS. bign; pref. be + gn to go.] Surrounded; furnished; beset; environed (as in woebegone). [Obs.]
Gower. Chaucer.
Begonia (?), n. [From Michel Begon, a promoter of botany.] (Bot.) A genus of plants, mostly of tropical America, many species of which are grown as ornamental plants. The leaves are curiously onesided, and often exhibit brilliant colors.


<-- p. 133 -->

Begore (?), v. t. To besmear with gore.
Begot (?), imp. & p. p. of Beget.
Begotten (?), p. p. of Beget.
Begrave (?), v. t. [Pref. be + grave; akin to G. begraben, Goth. bigraban to dig a ditch around.] To bury; also, to engrave. [Obs.]
Gower.
Begrease (?), v. t. To soil or daub with grease or other oily matter.
Begrime (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Begrimed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Begriming.] To soil with grime or dirt deeply impressed or rubbed in.
Books falling to pieces and begrimed with dust.
Macaulay.
Begrimer (?), n. One who, or that which, begrimes.
Begrudge (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Begrudged (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Begrudging.] To grudge; to envy the possession of.
Beguile (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Beguiled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Beguiling.] 1. To delude by guile, artifice, or craft; to deceive or impose on, as by a false statement; to lure.
The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
Gen. iii. 13.
2. To elude, or evade by craft; to foil. [Obs.]
When misery could beguile the tyrant's rage.
Shak.
3. To cause the time of to pass without notice; to relieve the tedium or weariness of; to while away; to divert.
Ballads ... to beguile his incessant wayfaring.
W. Irving.
Syn. To delude; deceive; cheat; insnare; mislead; amuse; divert; entertain.
Beguilement (?), n. The act of beguiling, or the state of being beguiled.
Beguiler (?), n. One who, or that which, beguiles.
Beguiling, a. Alluring by guile; deluding; misleading; diverting. Beguilingly, adv.
Beguin (?), n. [F.] See Beghard.
Beguinage (?), n. [F.] A collection of small houses surrounded by a wall and occupied by a community of Beguines.
Beguine (?), n. [F. bguine; LL. beguina, beghina; fr. Lambert le Bgue (the Stammerer) the founder of the order. (Du Cange.)] A woman belonging to one of the religious and charitable associations or communities in the Netherlands, and elsewhere, whose members live in beguinages and are not bound by perpetual vows.
Begum (?), n. [Per., fr. Turk., perh. properly queen mother, fr. Turk. beg (see Beg, n.) + Ar. umm mother.] In the East Indies, a princess or lady of high rank.
Malcom.
Begun (?), p. p. of Begin.
Behalf (?), n. [OE. onbehalve in the name of, bihalven by the side of, fr. AS. healf half, also side, part: akin to G. halb half, halber on account of. See Be, and Half, n.] Advantage; favor; stead; benefit; interest; profit; support; defense; vindication.
In behalf of his mistress's beauty.
Sir P. Sidney.
Against whom he had contracted some prejudice in behalf of his nation.
Clarendon.
In behalf of, in the interest of. On behalf of, on account of; on the part of.
Behappen (?), v. t. To happen to. [Obs.]
Behave (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Behaved (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Behaving.] [AS. behabban to surround, restrain, detain (akin to G. gehaben (obs.) to have, sich gehaben to behave or carry one's self); pref. be + habban to have. See Have, v. t. ] 1. To manage or govern in point of behavior; to discipline; to handle; to restrain. [Obs.]
He did behave his anger ere 't was spent.
Shak.
2. To carry; to conduct; to comport; to manage; to bear; used reflexively.
Those that behaved themselves manfully.
2 Macc. ii. 21.
Behave, v. i. To act; to conduct; to bear or carry one's self; as, to behave well or ill.
This verb is often used colloquially without an adverb of manner; as, if he does not behave, he will be punished. It is also often applied to inanimate objects; as, the ship behaved splendidly.
Behavior (?), n. Manner of behaving, whether good or bad; mode of conducting one's self; conduct; deportment; carriage; used also of inanimate objects; as, the behavior of a ship in a storm; the behavior of the magnetic needle.
A gentleman that is very singular in his behavior.
Steele.
To be upon one's good behavior, To be put upon one's good behavior, to be in a state of trial, in which something important depends on propriety of conduct. During good behavior, while (or so long as) one conducts one's self with integrity and fidelity or with propriety.
Syn. Bearing; demeanor; manner. Behavior, Conduct. Behavior is the mode in which we have or bear ourselves in the presence of others or toward them; conduct is the mode of our carrying ourselves forward in the concerns of life. Behavior respects our manner of acting in particular cases; conduct refers to the general tenor of our actions. We may say of soldiers, that their conduct had been praiseworthy during the whole campaign, and their behavior admirable in every instance when they met the enemy.
Behead (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Beheaded; p. pr. & vb. n. Beheading.] [OE. bihefden, AS. behefdian; pref. be + hefod head. See Head.] To sever the head from; to take off the head of.
Beheadal (?), n. Beheading. [Modern]
Beheld (?), imp. & p. p. of Behold.
Behemoth (?), n. [Heb. behem?th, fr. Egyptian Pehemaut hippopotamus.] An animal, probably the hippopotamus, described in Job xl. 1524.
Behen (?), Behn (?), n. [Per. & Ar. bahman, behmen, an herb, whose leaves resemble ears of corn, saffron.] (Bot.) (a) The Centaurea behen, or sawleaved centaury. (b) The Cucubalus behen, or bladder campion, now called Silene inflata. (c) The Statice limonium, or sea lavender.
Behest (?), n. [OE. biheste promise, command, AS. beh?s promise; pref. be + h?s command. See Hest, Hight.] 1. That which is willed or ordered; a command; a mandate; an injunction.
To do his master's high behest.
Sir W. Scott.
2. A vow; a promise. [Obs.]
The time is come that I should send it her, if I keep the behest that I have made.
Paston.
Behest, v. t. To vow. [Obs.]
Paston.
Behete (?), v. t. See Behight. [Obs.]
Chaucer.
Behight (?), v. t. [imp. Behight; p. p. Behight, Behoten.] [ OE. bihaten, AS. behtan to vow, promise; pref. be + htan to call, command. See Hight, v.] [Obs. in all its senses.] 1. To promise; to vow.
Behight by vow unto the chaste Minerve.
Surrey.
2. To give in trust; to commit; to intrust.
The keys are to thy hand behight.
Spenser.
3. To adjudge; to assign by authority.
The second was to Triamond behight.
Spenser.
4. To mean, or intend.
More than heart behighteth.
Mir. for Mag.
5. To consider or esteem to be; to declare to be.
All the lookerson him dead behight.
Spenser.
6. To call; to name; to address.
Whom ... he knew and thus behight.
Spenser.
7. To command; to order.
He behight those gates to be unbarred.
Spenser.
Behight, n. A vow; a promise. [Obs.]
Surrey.
Behind (?), prep. [AS. behindan; pref. be + hindan. See Hind, a.] 1. On the side opposite the front or nearest part; on the back side of; at the back of; on the other side of; as, behind a door; behind a hill.
A tall Brabanter, behind whom I stood.
Bp. Hall.
2. Left after the departure of, whether this be by removing to a distance or by death.
A small part of what he left behind him.
Pope.
3. Left a distance by, in progress of improvement Hence: Inferior to in dignity, rank, knowledge, or excellence, or in any achievement.
I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles.
2 Cor. xi. 5.
Behind, adv. 1. At the back part; in the rear. I shall not lag behind.
Milton.
2. Toward the back part or rear; backward; as, to look behind.
3. Not yet brought forward, produced, or exhibited to view; out of sight; remaining.
We can not be sure that there is no evidence behind.
Locke.
4. Backward in time or order of succession; past.
Forgetting those things which are behind.
Phil. ii. 13.
5. After the departure of another; as, to stay behind.
Leave not a rack behind.
Shak.
Behind, n. The backside; the rump. [Low]
Behindhand (?), adv. & a. [Behind + hand.]
1. In arrears financially; in a state where expenditures have exceeded the receipt of funds.
2. In a state of backwardness, in respect to what is seasonable or appropriate, or as to what should have been accomplished; not equally forward with some other person or thing; dilatory; backward; late; tardy; as, behindhand in studies or in work.
In this also [dress] the country are very much behindhand.
Addison.
Behither (?), prep. On this side of. [Obs.]
Two miles behither Clifden.
Evelyn.
Behold (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Beheld (?) (p. p. formerly Beholden (?), now used only as a p. a.); p. pr. & vb. n. Beholding.] [OE. bihalden, biholden, AS. behealdan to hold, have in sight; pref. be + healdan to hold, keep; akin to G. behalten to hold, keep. See Hold.] To have in sight; to see clearly; to look at; to regard with the eyes.
When he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
Num. xxi. 9.
Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
John. i. 29.
Syn. To scan; gaze; regard; descry; view; discern.
Behold, v. i. To direct the eyes to, or fix them upon, an object; to look; to see.
And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne, ... a lamb as it had been slain.
Rev. v. 6.
Beholden (?), p. a. [Old p. p. of behold, used in the primitive sense of the simple verb hold.] Obliged; bound in gratitude; indebted.
But being so beholden to the Prince.
Tennyson.
Beholder (?), n. One who beholds; a spectator.
Beholding, a. Obliged; beholden. [Obs.]
I was much bound and beholding to the right reverend father.
Robynson (More's Utopia).
So much hath Oxford been beholding to her nephews, or sister's children.
Fuller.
Beholding, n. The act of seeing; sight; also, that which is beheld.
Shak.
Beholdingness, n., The state of being obliged or beholden. [Obs.]
Sir P. Sidney.
Behoof (?), n. [OE. to bihove for the use of, AS. beh?f advantage, a word implied in beh?flc necessary; akin to Sw. behof, Dan. behov, G. behuf, and E. heave, the root meaning to seize, hence the meanings to hold, make use of. See Heave, v. t.] Advantage; profit; benefit; interest; use.
No mean recompense it brings
To your behoof.
Milton.
Behoovable (?), a. Supplying need; profitable; advantageous. [Obs.]
Udall.
Behoove (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Behooved (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Behooving.] [OE. bihoven, behoven, AS. beh?fian to have need of, fr. beh?f. See Behoof.] To be necessary for; to be fit for; to be meet for, with respect to necessity, duty, or convenience; mostly used impersonally.
And thus it behooved Christ to suffer.
Luke xxiv. 46.
[Also written behove.]
Behoove (?), v. i. To be necessary, fit, or suitable; to befit; to belong as due.
Chaucer.
Behoove, n. Advantage; behoof. [Obs.]
It shall not be to his behoove.
Gower.
Behooveful (?), a. Advantageous; useful; profitable. [Archaic] Behoovefully, adv. Behoovefulness, n. [Archaic]
Behove (?), v., and derivatives. See Behoove, & c.
Behovely, a. & adv. Useful, or usefully. [Obs.]
Behowl (?), v. t. To howl at. [Obs.]
The wolf behowls the moon.
Shak.
Beige (?), n. [F.] Debeige.
Beild (?), n. [Prob. from the same root as build, v. t.] A place of shelter; protection; refuge. [Scot. & Prov. Eng.] [Also written bield and beeld.]
The random beild o' clod or stane.
Burns.
Being (?), p. pr. from Be. Existing.
Being was formerly used where we now use having. Being to go to a ball in a few days. Miss Edgeworth.
In modern usage, is, are, was or were being, with a past participle following (as built, made, etc.) indicates the process toward the completed result expressed by the participle. The form is or was building, in this passive signification, is idiomatic, and, if free from ambiguity, is commonly preferable to the modern is or was being built. The last form of speech is, however, sufficiently authorized by approved writers. The older expression was is, or was, abuilding or in building.
A man who is being strangled.
Lamb.
While the article on Burns was being written.
Froude.
Fresh experience is always being gained.
Jowett (Thucyd.)
Being, n. 1. Existence, as opposed to nonexistence; state or sphere of existence.
In Him we live, and move, and have our being.
Acts xvii. 28.
2. That which exists in any form, whether it be material or spiritual, actual or ideal; living existence, as distinguished from a thing without life; as, a human being; spiritual beings.
What a sweet being is an honest mind !
Beau. & Fl.
A Being of infinite benevolence and power.
Wordsworth.
3. Lifetime; mortal existence. [Obs.]
Claudius, thou
Wast follower of his fortunes in his being.
Webster (1654).
4. An abode; a cottage. [Prov. Eng.]
Wright.
It was a relief to dismiss them [Sir Roger's servants] into little beings within my manor.
Steele.
Being, adv. Since; inasmuch as. [Obs. or Colloq.]
And being you have
Declined his means, you have increased his malice.
Beau. & Fl.
Bejade (?), v. t. To jade or tire. [Obs.]
Milton.
Bejape (?), v. t. To jape; to laugh at; to deceive. [Obs.]
Chaucer.
Bejaundice (?), v. t. To infect with jaundice.
Bejewel (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Bejeweled or Bejewelled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Bejeweling or Bejewelling.] To ornament with a jewel or with jewels; to spangle. Bejeweled hands.
Thackeray.
Bejumble (?), v. t. To jumble together.
Bekah (?), n. [Heb.] Half a shekel.
Beknave (?), v. t. To call knave. [Obs.]
Pope.
Beknow (?), v. t. To confess; to acknowledge. [Obs.]
Chaucer.
Bel (?), n. The Babylonian name of the god known among the Hebrews as Baal. See Baal.
Baruch vi. 41.
Belabor (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Belabored (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Belaboring.] 1. To ply diligently; to work carefully upon. If the earth is belabored with culture, it yieldeth corn.
Barrow.
2. To beat soundly; to cudgel.
Ajax belabors there a harmless ox.
Dryden.
Belaccoyle (?), n. [F. bel beautiful + accueil reception.] A kind or favorable reception or salutation. [Obs.]
Belace (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Belaced (?).]
1. To fasten, as with a lace or cord. [Obs.]
2. To cover or adorn with lace. [Obs.]
Beaumont.
3. To beat with a strap. See Lace. [Obs.]
Wright.
Belam (?), v. t. [See Lam.] To beat or bang. [Prov. & Low, Eng.]
Todd.
Belamour (?), n. [F. bel amour fair love.] 1. A lover. [Obs.]
Spenser.
2. A flower, but of what kind is unknown. [Obs.]
Her snowy brows, like budded belamours.
Spenser.
Belamy (?), n. [F. bel ami fair friend.] Good friend; dear friend. [Obs.]
Chaucer.
Belate (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Belated; p. pr. & vb. n. Belating.] To retard or make too late.
Davenant.
Belated, a. Delayed beyond the usual time; too late; overtaken by night; benighted. Some belated peasant. Milton. Belatedness, n. Milton.
Belaud (?), v. t. To laud or praise greatly.
Belay (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Belaid, Belayed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Belaying.] [For senses 1 & 2, D. beleggen to cover, belay; akin to E. pref. be, and lay to place: for sense 3, OE. beleggen, AS. belecgan. See pref. Be, and Lay to place.] 1. To lay on or cover; to adorn. [Obs.]
Jacket ... belayed with silver lace.
Spenser.
2. (Naut.) To make fast, as a rope, by taking several turns with it round a pin, cleat, or kevel.
Totten.
3. To lie in wait for with a view to assault. Hence: to block up or obstruct. [Obs.]
Dryden.
Belay thee! Stop.


<-- p. 134 -->

Belaying pin (?). (Naut.) A strong pin in the side of a vessel, or by the mast, round which ropes are wound when they are fastened or belayed.
Belch (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Belched (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Belching.] [OE. belken, AS. bealcan, akin to E. bellow. See Bellow, v. i.] 1. To eject or throw up from the stomach with violence; to eruct.
I belched a hurricane of wind.
Swift.
2. To eject violently from within; to cast forth; to ?mit; to give vent to; to vent.
Within the gates that now
Stood open wide, belching outrageous flame.
Milton.
Belch, v. i. 1. To eject wind from the stomach through the mouth; to eructate.
2. To issue with spasmodic force or noise.
Dryden.
Belch, n. 1. The act of belching; also, that which is belched; an eructation.
2. Malt liquor; vulgarly so called as causing eructation. [Obs.]
Dennis.
Belcher (?), n. One who, or that which, belches.
Beldam Beldame } (?), n. [Pref. bel, denoting relationship + dame mother: cf. F. belledame fair lady, It. belladonna. See Belle, and Dame.]
1. Grandmother; corresponding to belsire.
To show the beldam daughters of her daughter.
Shak.
2. An old woman in general; especially, an ugly old woman; a hag.
Around the beldam all erect they hang.
Akenside.
Beleaguer (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Beleaguered (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Beleaguering.] [D. belegeren (akin to G. belagern, Sw. belgra, Dan. beleire); pref. be = E. be + leger bed, camp, army, akin to E. lair. See Lair.] To surround with an army so as to preclude escape; to besiege; to blockade.
The wail of famine in beleaguered towns.
Longfellow.
Syn. To block up; environ; invest; encompass.
Beleaguerer (?), n. One who beleaguers.
Beleave (?), v. t. & i. [imp. & p.p. Beleft (?).] To leave or to be left. [Obs.]
May.
Belecture (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Belectured (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Belecturing.] To vex with lectures; to lecture frequently.
Belee (?), v. t. To place under the lee, or unfavorably to the wind.
Shak.
Belemnite (?), n. [Gr. ? dart, fr. ? dart, fr. ? to throw: cf. F. blemnite.] (Paleon.) A conical calcareous fossil, tapering to a point at the lower extremity, with a conical cavity at the other end, where it is ordinarily broken; but when perfect it contains a small chambered cone, called the phragmocone, prolonged, on one side, into a delicate concave blade; the thunderstone. It is the internal shell of a cephalopod related to the sepia, and belonging to an extinct family. The belemnites are found in rocks of the Jurassic and Cretaceous ages. Belemnitic, a.
Beleper (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Belepered (?).] To infect with leprosy. [Obs.]
Beau. & Fl.
Belesprit (?), n.; pl. Beauxesprits (?). [F., fine wit.] A fine genius, or man of wit. A man of letters and a bel esprit.
W. Irving.
Belfry (?), n. [OE. berfray movable tower used in sieges, OF. berfreit, berfroit, F. beffroi, fr. MHG. bervrit, bercvrit, G. bergfriede, fr. MHG. bergen to protect (G. bergen to conceal) + vride peace, protection, G. friede peace; in compounds often taken in the sense of security, or place of security; orig. therefore a place affording security. G. friede is akin to E. free. See Burg, and Free.] 1. (Mil. Antiq.) A movable tower erected by besiegers for purposes of attack and defense.
2. A bell tower, usually attached to a church or other building, but sometimes separate; a campanile.
3. A room in a tower in which a bell is or may be hung; or a cupola or turret for the same purpose.
4. (Naut.) The framing on which a bell is suspended.
Belgard (?), n. [It. bel guardo.] A sweet or loving look. [Obs.]
Spenser.
Belgian (?), a. Of or pertaining to Belgium. n. A native or inhabitant of Belgium.
Belgic (?), a. [L. Belgicus, fr. Belgae the Belgians.] 1. Of or pertaining to the Belg, a German tribe who anciently possessed the country between the Rhine, the Seine, and the ocean.
How unlike their Belgic sires of old.
Goldsmith.
2. Of or pertaining to the Netherlands or to Belgium.
Belgravian (?), a. Belonging to Belgravia (a fashionable quarter of London, around Pimlico), or to fashionable life; aristocratic.
Belial (?), n. [Heb. beli ya'al; beli without + ya'al profit.] An evil spirit; a wicked and unprincipled person; the personification of evil.
What concord hath Christ with Belia ?
2 Cor. vi. 15.
A son (or man) of Belial, a worthless, wicked, or thoroughly depraved person.
1 Sam. ii. 12.
Belibel (?), v. t. [See Libel, v. t. ] To libel or traduce; to calumniate.
Fuller.
Belie (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Belied (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Belying (?).] [OE. bilien, bili?en, AS. belegan; pref. be + legan to lie. See Lie, n.] 1. To show to be false; to convict of, or charge with, falsehood.
Their trembling hearts belie their boastful tongues.
Dryden.
2. To give a false representation or account of.
Should I do so, I should belie my thoughts.
Shak.
3. To tell lie about; to calumniate; to slander.
Thou dost belie him, Percy, thou dost belie him.
Shak.
4. To mimic; to counterfeit. [Obs.]
Dryden.
5. To fill with lies. [Obs.] The breath of slander] doth belie all corners of the world.
Shak.
Belief (?), n. [OE. bileafe, bileve; cf. AS. gelefa. See Believe.] 1. Assent to a proposition or affirmation, or the acceptance of a fact, opinion, or assertion as real or true, without immediate personal knowledge; reliance upon word or testimony; partial or full assurance without positive knowledge or absolute certainty; persuasion; conviction; confidence; as, belief of a witness; the belief of our senses.
Belief admits of all degrees, from the slightest suspicion to the fullest assurance.
Reid.
2. (Theol.) A persuasion of the truths of religion; faith.
No man can attain [to] belief by the bare contemplation of heaven and earth.
Hooker.
3. The thing believed; the object of belief.
Superstitious prophecies are not only the belief of fools, but the talk sometimes of wise men.
Bacon.


 


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