Part 5 out of 9



In a country more bigot than ours.
Dryden.
Bigoted, a. Obstinately and blindly attached to some creed, opinion practice, or ritual; unreasonably devoted to a system or party, and illiberal toward the opinions of others. Bigoted to strife.
Byron.
Syn. Prejudiced; intolerant; narrowminded.
Bigotedly, adv. In the manner of a bigot.
Bigotry (?), n. [Cf. F. bigoterie.] 1. The state of mind of a bigot; obstinate and unreasoning attachment of one's own belief and opinions, with narrow-minded intolerance of beliefs opposed to them.
2. The practice or tenets of a bigot.
Bigwig (?), n. [Big, a. + wig.] A person of consequence; as, the bigwigs of society. [Jocose]
In our youth we have heard him spoken of by the bigwigs with extreme condescension.
Dickens.
Bigwigged (?), a. characterized by pomposity of manner. [Eng.]
Bihydroguret (?), n. [Pref. bi + hydroguret.] (Chem.) A compound of two atoms of hydrogen with some other substance. [Obs.]
Bijou (?), n.; pl. Bijoux (?). [F.; of uncertain origin.] A trinket; a jewel; a word applied to anything small and of elegant workmanship.
Bijoutry (?), n. [F. bijouterie. See Bijou.] Small articles of virtu, as jewelry, trinkets, etc.
Bijugate (?), a. [L. bis twice + jugatus, p. p. of jugare to join.] (Bot.) Having two pairs, as of leaflets.
Bijugous (?), a. [L. bijugus yoked two together; bis twice + jugum yoke, pair.] (Bot.) Bijugate.
Bike (?), n. [Ethymol. unknown.] A nest of wild bees, wasps, or ants; a swarm. [Scot.]
Sir W. Scott.
Bikh (?), n. [Hind., fr. Skr. visha poison.] (Bot.) The East Indian name of a virulent poison extracted from Aconitum ferox or other species of aconite: also, the plant itself.
Bilabiate (?), a. [Pref. bi + labiate.] (Bot.) Having two lips, as the corols of certain flowers.
Bilaciniate (?), a. [Pref. bi + laciniate.] Doubly fringed.
Bilalo (?), n. A twomasted passenger boat or small vessel, used in the bay of Manila.
Bilamellate (?), Bilamellated (?), } a. [Pref. bi + lamellate.] (Bot.) Formed of two plates, as the stigma of the Mimulus; also, having two elevated ridges, as in the lip of certain flowers.
Bilaminar (?), Bilaminate (?), } a. [Pref. bi + laminar, laminate.] Formed of, or having, two lamin, or thin plates.
Biland (?), n. A byland. [Obs.]
Holland.
Bilander (?), n. [D. bijlander; bij by + land land, country.] (Naut.) A small twomasted merchant vessel, fitted only for coasting, or for use in canals, as in Holland.
Why choose we, then, like bilanders to creep
Along the coast, and land in view to keep?
Dryden.
Bilateral (?), a. [Pref. bi + lateral: cf. F. bilatral.] 1. Having two sides; arranged upon two sides; affecting two sides or two parties.
2. (Biol.) Of or pertaining to the two sides of a central area or organ, or of a central axis; as, bilateral symmetry in animals, where there is a similarity of parts on the right and left sides of the body.
Bilaterality (?), n. State of being bilateral.
Bilberry (?), n.; pl. Bilberries (?). [Cf. Dan. bllebr bilberry, where blle is perh. akin to E. ball.] 1. (Bot.) The European whortleberry (Vaccinium myrtillus); also, its edible bluish black fruit.
There pinch the maids as blue as bilberry.
Shak.
2. (Bot.) Any similar plant or its fruit; esp., in America, the species Vaccinium myrtilloides, V. cspitosum and V. uliginosum.
Bilbo (?), n.; pl. Bilboes (?). 1. A rapier; a sword; so named from Bilbao, in Spain.
Shak.
2. pl. A long bar or bolt of iron with sliding shackles, and a lock at the end, to confine the feet of prisoners or offenders, esp. on board of ships.
Methought I lay
Worse than the mutines in the bilboes.
Shak.
Bilboquet (?), n. [F.] The toy called cup and ball.
Bilcock (?), n. (Zol.) The European water rail.
Bildstein (?), n. [G., fr. bild image, likeness + stein stone.] Same as Agalmatolite.
Bile (?), n. [L. bilis: cf. F. bile.] 1. (Physiol.) A yellow, or greenish, viscid fluid, usually alkaline in reaction, secreted by the liver. It passes into the intestines, where it aids in the digestive process. Its characteristic constituents are the bile salts, and coloring matters.
2. Bitterness of feeling; choler; anger; ill humor; as, to stir one's bile.
Prescott.
The ancients considered the bile to be the humor which caused irascibility.
Bile, n. [OE. byle, bule, bele, AS. b?le, b?l; skin to D. buil, G. beule, and Goth. ufbauljan to puff up. Cf. Boil a tumor, Bulge.] A boil. [Obs. or Archaic]
Bilection (?), n. (Arch.) That portion of a group of moldings which projects beyond the general surface of a panel; a bolection.
Bilestone (?), n. [Bile + stone.] A gallstone, or biliary calculus. See Biliary.
E. Darwin.
Bilge (?), n. [A different orthography of bulge, of same origin as belly. Cf. Belly, Bulge.] 1. The protuberant part of a cask, which is usually in the middle.
2. (Naut.) That part of a ship's hull or bottom which is broadest and most nearly flat, and on which she would rest if aground.
3. Bilge water.
Bilge free (Naut.), stowed in such a way that the bilge is clear of everything; said of a cask. Bilge pump, a pump to draw the bilge water from the gold of a ship. Bilge water (Naut.), water which collects in the bilge or bottom of a ship or other vessel. It is often allowed to remain till it becomes very offensive. Bilge ways, the timbers which support the cradle of a ship upon the ways, and which slide upon the launching ways in launching the vessel.


<-- p. 145 -->

Bilge (?), v. i. [imp. & p.p. Bilged (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Bilging.] 1. (Naut.) To suffer a fracture in the bilge; to spring a leak by a fracture in the bilge.
2. To bulge.
Bilge, v. t. 1. (Naut.) To fracture the bilge of, or stave in the bottom of ( a ship or other vessel).
2. To cause to bulge.
Bilgy (?), a. Having the smell of bilge water.
Billary (?), a. [L. bilis bile: cf. F. biliaire.] (Physiol.) Relating or belonging to bile; conveying bile; as, biliary acids; biliary ducts.
Biliary calculus (Med.), a gallstone, or a concretion formed in the gall bladder or its duct.
Biliation (?), n. (Physiol.) The production and excretion of bile.
Biliferous (?), a. Generating bile.
Bilifuscin (?), n. [L. bilis bile + fuscus dark.] (Physiol.) A brownish green pigment found in human gallstones and in old bile. It is a derivative of bilirubin.
Bilimbi (?), Bilimbing (?), } n. [Malay.] The berries of two East Indian species of Averrhoa, of the Oxalide or Sorrel family. They are very acid, and highly esteemed when preserved or picked. The juice is used as a remedy for skin diseases. [Written also blimbi and blimbing.]
Biliment (?), n. A woman's ornament; habiliment. [Obs.]
Bilin (?), n. [Cf. F. biline, from L. bilis bile.] (Physiol. Chem.) A name applied to the amorphous or crystalline mass obtained from bile by the action of alcohol and ether. It is composed of a mixture of the sodium salts of the bile acids.
Bilinear (?), a. (Math.) Of, pertaining to, or included by, two lines; as, bilinear cordinates.
Bilingual (?), a. [L. bilinguis; bis twice + lingua tongue, language.] Containing, or consisting of, two languages; expressed in two languages; as, a bilingual inscription; a bilingual dictionary. Bilingually, adv.
Bilingualism (?), n. Quality of being bilingual.
The bilingualism of King's English.
Earle.
Bilinguar (?), a. See Bilingual.
Bilinguist (?), n. One versed in two languages.
Bilinguous (?), a. [L. bilinguis.] Having two tongues, or speaking two languages. [Obs.]
Bilious (?), a. [L. biliosus, fr. bilis bile.] 1. Of or pertaining to the bile.
2. Disordered in respect to the bile; troubled with and excess of bile; as, a bilious patient; dependent on, or characterized by, an excess of bile; as, bilious symptoms.
3. Choleric; passionate; ill tempered. A bilious old nabob.
Macaulay.
Bilious temperament. See Temperament.
Biliousness, n. The state of being bilious.
Biliprasin (?), n. [L. bilis bile + prasinus green.] (Physiol.) A dark green pigment found in small quantity in human gallstones.
Bilirubin (?), n. [L. bilis biel + ruber red.] (Physiol.) A reddish yellow pigment present in human bile, and in that from carnivorous and herbivorous animals; the normal biliary pigment.
Biliteral (?), a. [L. bis twice + littera letter.] Consisting of two letters; as, a biliteral root of a Sanskrit verb. Sir W. Jones. n. A word, syllable, or root, consisting of two letters.
Biliteralism (?), n. The property or state of being biliteral.
Biliverdin (?), n. [L. bilis bile + viridis green. Cf. Verdure.] (Physiol.) A green pigment present in the bile, formed from bilirubin by oxidation.
Bilk (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Bilked (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Bilking.] [Origin unknown. Cf. Balk.] To frustrate or disappoint; to deceive or defraud, by nonfulfillment of engagement; to leave in the lurch; to give the slip to; as, to bilk a creditor.
Thackeray.
Bilk, n. 1. A thwarting an adversary in cribbage by spoiling his score; a balk.
2. A cheat; a trick; a hoax.
Hudibras.
3. Nonsense; vain words.
B. Jonson.
4. A person who tricks a creditor; an untrustworthy, tricky person.
Marryat.
Bill (?), n. [OE. bile, bille, AS. bile beak of a bird, proboscis; cf. Ir. & Gael. bil, bile, mouth, lip, bird's bill. Cf. Bill a weapon.] A beak, as of a bird, or sometimes of a turtle or other animal.
Milton.
Bill, v. i. [imp. & p.p. Billed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Billing.] 1. To strike; to peck. [Obs.]
2. To join bills, as doves; to caress in fondness. As pigeons bill.
Shak.
To bill and coo, to interchange caresses; said of doves; also of demonstrative lovers.
Thackeray.
Bill, n. The bell, or boom, of the bittern
The bittern's hollow bill was heard.
Wordsworth.
Bill, n. [OE. bil, AS. bill, bil; akin to OS. bil sword, OHG. bill pickax, G. bille. Cf. Bill bea?.] 1. A cutting instrument, with hookshaped point, and fitted with a handle; used in pruning, etc.; a billhook. When short, called a hand bill, when long, a hedge bill.
2. A weapon of infantry, in the 14th and 15th centuries. A common form of bill consisted of a broad, heavy, doubleedged, hookshaped blade, having a short pike at the back and another at the top, and attached to the end of a long staff.
France had no infantry that dared to face the English bows end bills.
Macaulay.
3. One who wields a bill; a billman.
Strype.
4. A pickax, or mattock. [Obs.]
5. (Naut.) The extremity of the arm of an anchor; the point of or beyond the fluke.
Bill (?), v. t. To work upon ( as to dig, hoe, hack, or chop anything) with a bill.
Bill, n. [OE. bill, bille, fr. LL. billa (or OF. bille), for L. bulla anything rounded, LL., seal, stamp, letter, edict, roll; cf. F. bille a ball, prob. fr. Ger.; cf. MHG. bickel, D. bikkel, dice. Cf. Bull papal edict, Billet a paper.]
1. (Law) A declaration made in writing, stating some wrong the complainant has suffered from the defendant, or a fault committed by some person against a law.
2. A writing binding the signer or signers to pay a certain sum at a future day or on demand, with or without interest, as may be stated in the document. [Eng.]
In the United States, it is usually called a note, a note of hand, or a promissory note.
3. A form or draft of a law, presented to a legislature for enactment; a proposed or projected law.
4. A paper, written or printed, and posted up or given away, to advertise something, as a lecture, a play, or the sale of goods; a placard; a poster; a handbill.
She put up the bill in her parlor window.
Dickens.
5. An account of goods sold, services rendered, or work done, with the price or charge; a statement of a creditor's claim, in gross or by items; as, a grocer's bill.
6. Any paper, containing a statement of particulars; as, a bill of charges or expenditures; a weekly bill of mortality; a bill of fare, etc.
Bill of adventure. See under Adventure. Bill of costs, a statement of the items which form the total amount of the costs of a party to a suit or action. Bill of credit. (a) Within the constitution of the United States, a paper issued by a State, on the mere faith and credit of the State, and designed to circulate as money. No State shall emit bills of credit. U. S. Const. Peters. Wharton. Bouvier (b) Among merchants, a letter sent by an agent or other person to a merchant, desiring him to give credit to the bearer for goods or money. Bill of divorce, in the Jewish law, a writing given by the husband to the wife, by which the marriage relation was dissolved. Jer. iii. 8. Bill of entry, a written account of goods entered at the customhouse, whether imported or intended for exportation. Bill of exceptions. See under Exception. Bill of exchange (Com.), a written order or request from one person or house to another, desiring the latter to pay to some person designated a certain sum of money therein generally is, and, to be negotiable, must be, made payable to order or to bearer. So also the order generally expresses a specified time of payment, and that it is drawn for value. The person who draws the bil is called the drawer, the person on whom it is drawn is, before acceptance, called the drawee, after acceptance, the acceptor; the person to whom the money is directed to be paid is called the payee. The person making the order may himself be the payee. The bill itself is frequently called a draft. See Exchange. Chitty. Bill of fare, a written or printed enumeration of the dishes served at a public table, or of the dishes (with prices annexed) which may be ordered at a restaurant, etc. Bill of health, a certificate from the proper authorities as to the state of health of a ship's company at the time of her leaving port. Bill of indictment, a written accusation lawfully presented to a grand jury. If the jury consider the evidence sufficient to support the accusation, they indorse it A true bill, or Not found, or Ignoramus, or Ignored. Bill of lading, a written account of goods shipped by any person, signed by the agent of the owner of the vessel, or by its master, acknowledging the receipt of the goods, and promising to deliver them safe at the place directed, dangers of the sea excepted. It is usual for the master to sign two, three, or four copies of the bill; one of which he keeps in possession, one is kept by the shipper, and one is sent to the consignee of the goods. Bill of mortality, an official statement of the number of deaths in a place or district within a given time; also, a district required to be covered by such statement; as, a place within the bills of mortality of London. Bill of pains and penalties, a special act of a legislature which inflicts a punishment less than death upon persons supposed to be guilty of treason or felony, without any conviction in the ordinary course of judicial proceedings. Bouvier. Wharton. Bill of parcels, an account given by the seller to the buyer of the several articles purchased, with the price of each. Bill of particulars (Law), a detailed statement of the items of a plaintiff's demand in an action, or of the defendant's setoff. Bill of rights, a summary of rights and privileges claimed by a people. Such was the declaration presented by the Lords and Commons of England to the Prince and Princess of Orange in 1688, and enacted in Parliament after they became king and queen. In America, a bill or declaration of rights is prefixed to most of the constitutions of the several States. Bill of sale, a formal instrument for the conveyance or transfer of goods and chattels. Bill of sight, a form of entry at the customhouse, by which goods, respecting which the importer is not possessed of full information, may be provisionally landed for examination. Bill of store, a license granted at the customhouse to merchants, to carry such stores and provisions as are necessary for a voyage, custom free. Wharton. Bills payable (pl.), the outstanding unpaid notes or acceptances made and issued by an individual or firm. Bills receivable (pl.), the unpaid promissory notes or acceptances held by an individual or firm. McElrath. A true bill, a bill of indictment sanctioned by a grand jury.
Bill, v. t. 1. To advertise by a bill or public notice.
2. To charge or enter in a bill; as, to bill goods.
Billage (?), n. and v. t. & i. Same as Bilge.
Billard (?), n. (Zol.) An English fish, allied to the cod; the coalfish. [Written also billet and billit.]
Billbeetle (?), or Billbug (?), n. (Zol.) A weevil or curculio of various species, as the corn weevil. See Curculio.
Billboard (?), n. 1. (Naut.) A piece of thick plank, armed with iron plates, and fixed on the bow or fore channels of a vessel, for the bill or fluke of the anchor to rest on.
Totten.
2. A flat surface, as of a panel or of a fence, on which bills are posted; a bulletin board.
Bill book (?). (Com.) A book in which a person keeps an account of his notes, bills, bills of exchange, etc., thus showing all that he issues and receives.
Bill broker (?). One who negotiates the discount of bills.
Billed (?), a. Furnished with, or having, a bill, as a bird; used in composition; as, broadbilled.
Billet (?), n. [F. billet, dim. of an OF. bille bill. See Bill a writing.] 1. A small paper; a note; a short letter. I got your melancholy billet.
Sterne.
2. A ticket from a public officer directing soldiers at what house to lodge; as, a billet of residence.
Billet, v. t. [imp. & p.p. Billeted; p. pr. & vb. n. Billeting.] [From Billet a ticket.] (Mil.) To direct, by a ticket or note, where to lodge. Hence: To quarter, or place in lodgings, as soldiers in private houses.
Billeted in so antiquated a mansion.
W. Irving.
Billet, n. [F. billette, bille, log; of unknown origin; a different word from bille ball. Cf. Billiards, Billot.] 1. A small stick of wood, as for firewood.
They shall beat out my brains with billets.
Shak.
2. (Metal.) A short bar of metal, as of gold or iron.
3. (Arch.) An ornament in Norman work, resembling a billet of wood either square or round.
4. (Saddlery) (a) A strap which enters a buckle. (b) A loop which receives the end of a buckled strap.
Knight.
5. (Her.) A bearing in the form of an oblong rectangle.
Billetdoux (?), n.; pl. Billetsdoux (?). [F. billet note + doux sweet, L. dulcis.] A love letter or note.
A lover chanting out a billetdoux.
Spectator.
Billethead (?), n. (Naut.) A round piece of timber at the bow or stern of a whaleboat, around which the harpoon lone is run out when the whale darts off.
Billfish (?), n. (Zol.) A name applied to several distinct fishes: (a) The garfish (Tylosurus, or Belone, longirostris) and allied species. (b) The saury, a slender fish of the Atlantic coast (Scomberesox saurus). (c) The Tetrapturus albidus, a large oceanic species related to the swordfish; the spearfish. (d) The American freshwater garpike (Lepidosteus osseus).
Billhead (?), n. A printed form, used by merchants in making out bills or rendering accounts.
Bill holder (?). 1. A person who holds a bill or acceptance.
2. A device by means of which bills, etc., are held.
Billhook (?), n. [Bill + hook.] A thick, heavy knife with a hooked point, used in pruning hedges, etc. When it has a short handle, it is sometimes called a hand bill; when the handle is long, a hedge bill or scimiter.
Billiard (?), a. Of or pertaining to the game of billiards. Smooth as is a billiard ball.
B. Jonson.
Billiards (?), n. [F. billiard billiards, OF. billart staff, cue form playing, fr. bille log. See Billet a stick.] A game played with ivory balls o a clothcovered, rectangular table, bounded by elastic cushions. The player seeks to impel his ball with his cue so that it shall either strike (carom upon) two other balls, or drive another ball into one of the pockets with which the table sometimes is furnished.
Billing (?), a. & n. Caressing; kissing.
Billingsgate (?), n. 1. A market near the Billings gate in London, celebrated for fish and foul language.
2. Coarsely abusive, foul, or profane language; vituperation; ribaldry.
Billion (?), n. [F. billion, arbitrarily formed fr. L. bis twice, in imitation of million a million. See Million.] According to the French and American method of numeration, a thousand millions, or 1,000,000,000; according to the English method, a million millions, or 1,000,000,000,000. See Numeration.
Billman (?), n.; pl. Billmen (?). One who uses, or is armed with, a bill or hooked ax. A billman of the guard.
Savile.
Billon (?), n. [F. Cf. Billet a stick.] An alloy of gold and silver with a large proportion of copper or other base metal, used in coinage.
Billot (?), n. [F. billot, dim. of bille. See Billet a stick.] Bullion in the bar or mass.
Billow (?), n. [Cf. Icel. bylgja billow, Dan. blge, Sw. blja; akin to MHG. bulge billow, bag, and to E. bulge. See Bulge.] 1. A great wave or surge of the sea or other water, caused usually by violent wind.
Whom the winds waft where'er the billows roll.
Cowper.
2. A great wave or flood of anything.
Milton.
Billow, v. i. [imp. & p.p. Billowed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Billowing.] To surge; to rise and roll in waves or surges; to undulate. The billowing snow.
Prior.
Billowy (?), a. Of or pertaining to billows; swelling or swollen into large waves; full of billows or surges; resembling billows.
And whitening down the manytinctured stream,
Descends the billowy foam.
Thomson.
Billposter (?), Billsticker (?), } n. One whose occupation is to post handbills or posters in public places.
Billy (?), n. 1. A club; esp., a policeman's club.
2. (Wool Manuf.) A slubbing or roving machine.
Billyboy (?), n. A flatbottomed river barge or coasting vessel. [Eng.]
Billy goat (?). A male goat. [Colloq.]


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Bilobate (?), a. [Pref. bi + lobate.] Divided into two lobes or segments.
Bilobed (?), a. [Pref. bi + lobe.] Bilobate.
Bilocation (?), n. [Pref. bi + location.] Double location; the state or power of being in two places at the same instant; a miraculous power attributed to some of the saints.
Tylor.
Bilocular (?), a. [Pref. bi + locular: cf. F. biloculaire.] Divided into two cells or compartments; as, a bilocular pericarp.
Gray.
Bilsted (?), n. (Bot.) See Sweet gum.
Biltong (?), n. [S. African.] Lean meat cut into strips and sundried.
H. R. Haggard.
Bimaculate (?), a. [Pref. bi + maculate, a.] Having, or marked with, two spots.
Bimana (?), n. pl. [NL. See Bimanous.] (Zol.) Animals having two hands; a term applied by Cuvier to man as a special order of Mammalia.
Bimanous (?), a. [L. bis twice + manus hand.] (Zol.) Having two hands; twohanded.
Bimarginate (?), a. [Pref. bi + marginate.] Having a double margin, as certain shells.
Bimastism (?), n. [Pref. bi + Gr. ? breast.] (Anat.) The condition of having two mamm or teats.
Bimedial (?), a. [Pref. bi + medial.] (Geom.) Applied to a line which is the sum of two lines commensurable only in power (as the side and diagonal of a square).
Bimembral (?), a. [L. bis twice + membrum member.] (Gram.) Having two members; as, a bimembral sentence.
J. W. Gibbs.
Bimensal (?), a. [Pref. bi + mensal.] See Bimonthly, a. [Obs. or R.]
Bimestrial (?), a. [L. bimestris; bis twice + mensis month.] Continuing two months. [R.]
Bimetallic (?), a. [Pref. bi + metallic: cf. F. bimtallique.] Of or relating to, or using, a double metallic standard (as gold and silver) for a system of coins or currency.
Bimetallism (?), n. [F. bimtalisme.] The legalized use of two metals (as gold and silver) in the currency of a country, at a fixed relative value; in opposition to monometallism.
The words bimtallisme and monomtallisme are due to M. Cernuschi [1869].
Littr.
Bimetallist (?), n. An advocate of bimetallism.
Bimonthly (?), a. [Pref. bi + monthly.] Occurring, done, or coming, once in two months; as, bimonthly visits; bimonthly publications. n. A bimonthly publication.
Bimonthly, adv. Once in two months.
Bimuscular (?), a. [Pref. bi + muscular.] (Zol.) Having two adductor muscles, as a bivalve mollusk.
Bin (?), n. [OE. binne, AS. binn manager, crib; perh. akin to D. ben, benne, basket, and to L. benna a kind of carriage ( a Gallic word), W. benn, men, wain, cart.] A box, frame, crib, or inclosed place, used as a receptacle for any commodity; as, a corn bin; a wine bin; a coal bin.
Bin, v. t. [imp. & p.p. Binned (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Binning.] To put into a bin; as, to bin wine.
Bin. An old form of Be and Been. [Obs.]
Bin. A euphonic form of the prefix Bi.
Binal (?), a. [See Binary.] Twofold; double. [R.] Binal revenge, all this.
Ford.
Binarseniate (?), n. [Pref. bin + arseniate.] (Chem.) A salt having two equivalents of arsenic acid to one of the base.
Graham.
Binary (?), a. [L. binarius, fr. bini two by two, two at a time, fr. root of bis twice; akin to E. two: cf. F. binaire.] Compounded or consisting of two things or parts; characterized by two (things).
Binary arithmetic, that in which numbers are expressed according to the binary scale, or in which two figures only, 0 and 1, are used, in lieu of ten; the cipher multiplying everything by two, as in common arithmetic by ten. Thus, 1 is one; 10 is two; 11 is three; 100 is four, etc. Davies & Peck. Binary compound (Chem.), a compound of two elements, or of an element and a compound performing the function of an element, or of two compounds performing the function of elements. Binary logarithms, a system of logarithms devised by Euler for facilitating musical calculations, in which 1 is logarithm of 2, instead of 10, as in the common logarithms, and the modulus 1.442695 instead of .43429448. Binary measure (Mus.), measure divisible by two or four; common time. Binary nomenclature (Nat. Hist.), nomenclature in which the names designate both genus and species. Binary scale (Arith.), a uniform scale of notation whose ratio is two. Binary star (Astron.), a double star whose members have a revolution round their common center of gravity. Binary theory (Chem.), the theory that all chemical compounds consist of two constituents of opposite and unlike qualities.
Binary, n. That which is constituted of two figures, things, or parts; two; duality.
Fotherby.
Binate (?), a. [L. bini two and two.] (Bot.) Double; growing in pairs or couples.
Gray.
Binaural (?), a. [Pref. bin + aural.] Of or pertaining to, or used by, both ears.
Bind (?), v. t. [imp. Bound (?); p. p. Bound, formerly Bounden (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Binding.] [AS. bindan, perfect tense band, bundon, p. p. bunden; akin to D. & G. binden, Dan. binde, Sw. & Icel. binda, Goth. bindan, Skr. bandh (for bhandh) to bind, cf. Gr. ? (for ?) cable, and L. offendix. ?90.] 1. To tie, or confine with a cord, band, ligature, chain, etc.; to fetter; to make fast; as, to bind grain in bundles; to bind a prisoner.
2. To confine, restrain, or hold by physical force or influence of any kind; as, attraction binds the planets to the sun; frost binds the earth, or the streams.
He bindeth the floods from overflowing.
Job xxviii. 11.
Whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years.
Luke xiii. 16.
3. To cover, as with a bandage; to bandage or dress; sometimes with up; as, to bind up a wound.
4. To make fast ( a thing) about or upon something, as by tying; to encircle with something; as, to bind a belt about one; to bind a compress upon a part.
5. To prevent or restrain from customary or natural action; as, certain drugs bind the bowels.
6. To protect or strengthen by a band or binding, as the edge of a carpet or garment.
7. To sew or fasten together, and inclose in a cover; as, to bind a book.
8. Fig.: To oblige, restrain, or hold, by authority, law, duty, promise, vow, affection, or other moral tie; as, to bind the conscience; to bind by kindness; bound by affection; commerce binds nations to each other.
Who made our laws to bind us, not himself.
Milton.
9. (Law) (a) To bring (any one) under definite legal obligations; esp. under the obligation of a bond or covenant. Abbott. (b) To place under legal obligation to serve; to indenture; as, to bind an apprentice; sometimes with out; as, bound out to service.
To bind over, to put under bonds to do something, as to appear at court, to keep the peace, etc. To bind to, to contract; as, to bind one's self to a wife. To bind up in, to cause to be wholly engrossed with; to absorb in.
Syn. To fetter; tie; fasten; restrain; restrict; oblige.
Bind (?), v. i. 1. To tie; to confine by any ligature.
They that reap must sheaf and bind.
Shak.
2. To contract; to grow hard or stiff; to cohere or stick together in a mass; as, clay binds by heat.
Mortimer.
3. To be restrained from motion, or from customary or natural action, as by friction.
4. To exert a binding or restraining influence.
Locke.
Bind, n. 1. That which binds or ties.
2. Any twining or climbing plant or stem, esp. a hop vine; a bine.
3. (Metal.) Indurated clay, when much mixed with the oxide of iron.
Kirwan.
4. (Mus.) A ligature or tie for grouping notes.
Binder (?), n. 1. One who binds; as, a binder of sheaves; one whose trade is to bind; as, a binder of books.
2. Anything that binds, as a fillet, cord, rope, or band; a bandage; esp. the principal piece of timber intended to bind together any building.
Bindery (?), n. A place where books, or other articles, are bound; a bookbinder's establishment.
Bindheimite (?), n. [From Bindheim, a German who analyzed it.] (Min.) An amorphous antimonate of lead, produced from the alteration of other ores, as from jamesonite.
Binding (?), a. That binds; obligatory.
Binding beam (Arch.), the main timber in double flooring. Binding joist (Arch.), the secondary timber in doubleframed flooring.
Syn. Obligatory; restraining; restrictive; stringent; astringent; costive; styptic.
Binding, n. 1. The act or process of one who, or that which, binds.
2. Anything that binds; a bandage; the cover of a book, or the cover with the sewing, etc.; something that secures the edge of cloth from raveling.
3. pl. (Naut.) The transoms, knees, beams, keelson, and other chief timbers used for connecting and strengthening the parts of a vessel.
Bindingly, adv. So as to bind.
Bindingness, n. The condition or property of being binding; obligatory quality.
Coleridge.
Bindweed (?), n. (Bot.) A plant of the genus Convolvulus; as, greater bindweed (C. Sepium); lesser bindweed (C. arvensis); the white, the blue, the Syrian, bindweed. The black bryony, or Tamus, is called black bindweed, and the Smilax aspera, rough bindweed.
The fragile bindweed bells and bryony rings.
Tennyson.
Bine (?), n. [Bind, cf. Woodbine.] The winding or twining stem of a hop vine or other climbing plant.
Binervate (?), a. [L. bis twice + nervus sinew, nerve.] 1. (Bot.) Twonerved; applied to leaves which have two longitudinal ribs or nerves.
2. (Zol.) Having only two nerves, as the wings of some insects.
Bing (?), n. [Cf. Icel. bingr, Sw. binge, G. beige, beuge. Cf. Prov. E. bink bench, and bench coal the uppermost stratum of coal.] A heap or pile; as, a bing of wood. Potato bings. Burns. A bing of corn. Surrey. [Obs. or Dial. Eng. & Scot.]
Biniodide (?), n. Same as Diiodide.
Bink (?), n. A bench. [North of Eng. & Scot.]
Binnacle (?), n. [For bittacle, corrupted (perh. by influence of bin) fr. Pg. bitacola binnacle, fr. L. habitaculum dwelling place, fr. habitare to dwell. See Habit, and cf. Bittacle.] (Naut.) A case or box placed near the helmsman, containing the compass of a ship, and a light to show it at night.
Totten.
Binny (?), n. (Zol.) A large species of barbel (Barbus bynni), found in the Nile, and much esteemed for food.
Binocle (?), n. [F. binocle; L. bini two at a time + oculus eye.] (Opt.) A dioptric telescope, fitted with two tubes joining, so as to enable a person to view an object with both eyes at once; a doublebarreled field glass or an opera glass.
Binocular (?), a. [Cf. F. binoculaire. See Binocle.] 1. Having two eyes. Most animals are binocular.
Derham.
2. Pertaining to both eyes; employing both eyes at once; as, binocular vision.
3. Adapted to the use of both eyes; as, a binocular microscope or telescope.
Brewster.
Binocular (?), n. A binocular glass, whether opera glass, telescope, or microscope.
Binocularly, adv. In a binocular manner.
Binoculate (?), a. Having two eyes.
Binomial (?), n. [L. bis twice + nomen name: cf. F. binome, LL. binomius (or fr. bi + Gr. ? distribution ?). Cf. Monomial.] (Alg.) An expression consisting of two terms connected by the sign plus (+) or minus (); as, a+b, or 73.
Binomial, a. 1. Consisting of two terms; pertaining to binomials; as, a binomial root.
2. (Nat. Hist.) Having two names; used of the system by which every animal and plant receives two names, the one indicating the genus, the other the species, to which it belongs.
Binomial theorem (Alg.), the theorem which expresses the law of formation of any power of a binomial.
Binominal (?), a. [See Binomial.] Of or pertaining to two names; binomial.
Binominous (?), a. Binominal. [Obs.]
Binotonous (?), a. [L. bini two at a time + tonus, fr. Gr. ?, tone.] Consisting of two notes; as, a binotonous cry.
Binous (?), a. Same as Binate.
Binoxalate (?), n. [Pref. bin + oxalate.] (Chem.) A salt having two equivalents of oxalic acid to one of the base; an acid oxalate.
Binoxide (?), n. [Pref. bin + oxide.] (Chem.) Same as Dioxide.
Binturong (?), n. (Zol.) A small Asiatic civet of the genus Arctilis.
Binuclear (?), Binucleate (?), } a. [Pref. bi + nuclear, nucleate.] (Biol.) Having two nuclei; as, binucleate cells.
Binucleolate (?), a. [Pref. bi + nucleolus.] (Biol.) Having two nucleoli.
Bioblast (?), n. [Gr. ? life + blast.] (Biol.) Same as Bioplast.
Biocellate (?), a. [L. bis twice + ocellatus. See Ocellated.] (Zol.) Having two ocelli (eyelike spots); said of a wing, etc.
Biochemistry (?), n. [Gr. ? life + E. chemistry.] (Biol.) The chemistry of living organisms; the chemistry of the processes incidental to ? characteristic of, life.
Biodynamics (?), n. [Gr. ? life + E. dynamics.] (Biol.) The doctrine of vital forces or energy.
Biogen (?), n. [Gr. ? life + gen.] (Biol.) Bioplasm.
Biogenesis (?), Biogeny (?), } n. [Gr. ? life + ?, ?, birth.] (Biol.) (a) A doctrine that the genesis or production of living organisms can take place only through the agency of living germs or parents; opposed to abiogenesis. (b) Life development generally.
Biogenetic (?), a. (Biol.) Pertaining to biogenesis.
Biogenist (?), n. A believer in the theory of biogenesis.
Biognosis (?), n. [Gr. ? life + ? investigation.] (Biol.) The investigation of life.
Biographer (?), n. One who writes an account or history of the life of a particular person; a writer of lives, as Plutarch.
Biographic (?), Biographical (?), } a. Of or pertaining to biography; containing biography. Biographically, adv.
Biographize (?), v. t. To write a history of the life of.
Southey.
Biography (?), n.; pl. Biographies (?). [Gr. ?; ? life + ? to write: cf. F. biographie. See Graphic.] 1. The written history of a person's life.
2. Biographical writings in general.
Biologic (?), Biological (?), } a. Of or relating to biology. Biologically, adv.
Biologist (?), n. A student of biology; one versed in the science of biology.
Biology (?), n. [Gr. ? life + logy: cf. F. biologie.] The science of life; that branch of knowledge which treats of living matter as distinct from matter which is not living; the study of living tissue. It has to do with the origin, structure, development, function, and distribution of animals and plants.
Biolysis (?), n. [Gr. ? life + ? a dissolving.] (Biol.) The destruction of life.
Biolytic (?), a. [Gr. ? life + ? to destroy.] Relating to the destruction of life.
Biomagnetic (?), a. Relating to biomagnetism.
Biomagnetism (?), n. [Gr. ? life + E. magnetism.] Animal magnetism.
Biometry (?), n. [Gr. ? life + metry.] Measurement of life; calculation of the probable duration of human life.
Bion (?), n. [Gr. ? living, p. pr. of ? to live.] (Biol.) The physiological individual, characterized by definiteness and independence of function, in distinction from the morphological individual or morphon.
Bionomy (?), n. [Gr. ? life + ? law.] Physiology. [R.]
Dunglison.
Biophor Biophore } (?), n. [Gr. ? life + ? bearing, fr. ? to bear.] (Biol.) One of the smaller vital units of a cell, the bearer of vitality and heredity. See Pangen, in Supplement.
Bioplasm (?), n. [Gr. ? life + ? form, mold, fr. ? to mold.] (Biol.) A name suggested by Dr. Beale for the germinal matter supposed to be essential to the functions of all living beings; the material through which every form of life manifests itself; unaltered protoplasm.


<-- p. 147 -->

Bioplasmic (?), a. Pertaining to, or consisting of, bioplasm.
Bioplast (?), n. [Gr. ? life + ? to form.] (Biol.) A tiny mass of bioplasm, in itself a living unit and having formative power, as a living white blood corpuscle; bioblast.
Bioplastic (?), a. (Biol.) Bioplasmic.
Biorgan (?), n. [Gr. ? life + E. organ.] (Biol.) A physiological organ; a living organ; an organ endowed with function; distinguished from idorgan.
Biostatics (?), n. [Gr. ? life + ?. See Statics.] (Biol.) The physical phenomena of organized bodies, in opposition to their organic or vital phenomena.
Biostatistics (?), n. [Gr. ? life + E. statistics.] (Biol.) Vital statistics.
Biotaxy (?), n. [Gr. ? life + ? arrangement.] (Biol.) The classification of living organisms according to their structural character; taxonomy.
Biotic (?), a. [Gr. ? pert. to life.] (Biol.) Relating to life; as, the biotic principle.
Biotite (?), n. [From Biot, a French naturalist.] (Min.) Mica containing iron and magnesia, generally of a black or dark green color; a common constituent of crystalline rocks. See Mica.
Bipalmate (?), a. [Pref. bi + palmate.] (Bot.) Palmately branched, with the branches again palmated.
Biparietal (?), a. [Pref. bi + parietal.] (Anat.) Of or pertaining to the diameter of the cranium, from one parietal fossa to the other.
Biparous (?), a. [L. bis twice + parere to bring forth.] Bringing forth two at a birth.
Bipartible (?), a. [Cf. F. bipartible. See Bipartite.] Capable of being divided into two parts.
Bipartient (?), a. [L. bis twice + partiens, p. pr. of partire to divide.] Dividing into two parts. n. A number that divides another into two equal parts without a remainder.
Bipartile (?), a. Divisible into two parts.
Bipartite (?), a. [L. bipartitus, p. p. of bipartire; bis twice + partire. See Partite.] 1. Being in two parts; having two correspondent parts, as a legal contract or writing, one for each party; shared by two; as, a bipartite treaty.
2. Divided into two parts almost to the base, as a leaf; consisting of two parts or subdivisions.
Gray.
Bipartition (?), n. The act of dividing into two parts, or of making two correspondent parts, or the state of being so divided.
Bipectinate (?), Bipectinated (?), } a. [Pref. bi + pectinate.] (Biol.) Having two margins toothed like a comb.
Biped (?), n. [L. bipes; bis twice + pes, pedis, ?oot: cf. F. bipde.] A twofooted animal, as man.
Biped, a. Having two feet; twofooted.
By which the man, when heavenly life was ceased,
Became a helpless, naked, biped beast.
Byrom.
Bipedal (?), a. [L. bipedalis: cf. F. bipdal. See Biped, n.] 1. Having two feet; biped.
2. Pertaining to a biped.
Bipeltate (?), a. [Pref. bi + peltate.] Having a shell or covering like a double shield.
Bipennate (?), Bipennated (?), } a. [Pref. bi + pennate: cf. L. bipennis. Cf. Bipinnate.] Having two wings. Bipennated insects.
Derham.
Bipennis (?), n. [L.] An ax with an edge or blade on each side of the handle.
Bipetalous (?), a. [Pref. bi + petalous.] (Bot.) Having two petals.
Bipinnaria (?), n. [NL., fr. L. bis twice + pinna feather.] (Zol.) The larva of certain starfishes as developed in the freeswimming stage.
Bipinnate (?), Bipinnated (?), } a. [Pref. bi + pinnate; cf. F. bipinn. Cf. Bipennate.] Twice pinnate.
Bipinnatifid (?), a. [Pref. bi + pinnatifid.] (Bot.) Doubly pinnatifid.
A bipinnatifid leaf is a pinnatifid leaf having its segments or divisions also pinnatifid. The primary divisions are pinn and the secondary pinnules.
Biplicate (?), a. [Pref. bi + plicate.] Twice folded together.
Henslow.
Biplicity (?), n. The state of being twice folded; reduplication. [R.]
Bailey.
Bipolar (?), a. [Pref. bi + polar. Cf. Dipolar.] Doubly polar; having two poles; as, a bipolar cell or corpuscle.
Bipolarity (?), n. Bipolar quality.
Bipont (?), Bipontine (?), a. (Bibliog.) Relating to books printed at Deuxponts, or Bipontium (Zweibrcken), in Bavaria.
Bipunctate (?), a. [Pref. bi + punctate.] Having two punctures, or spots.
Bipunctual (?), a. Having two points.
Bipupillate (?), a. [Pref. bi + pupil (of the eye).] (Zol.) Having an eyelike spot on the wing, with two dots within it of a different color, as in some butterflies.
Bipyramidal (?), a. [Pref. bi + pyramidal.] Consisting of two pyramids placed base to base; having a pyramid at each of the extremities of a prism, as in quartz crystals.
Biquadrate (?), n. [Pref. bi + quadrate.] (Math.) The fourth power, or the square of the square. Thus 4x4=16, the square of 4, and 16x16=256, the biquadrate of 4.
Biquadratic (?), a. [Pref. bi + quadratic: cf. F. biquadratique.] (Math.) Of or pertaining to the biquadrate, or fourth power.
Biquadratic equation (Alg.), an equation of the fourth degree, or an equation in some term of which the unknown quantity is raised to the fourth power. Biquadratic root of a number, the square root of the square root of that number. Thus the square root of 81 is 9, and the square root of 9 is 3, which is the biquadratic root of 81. Hutton.
Biquadratic, n. (Math.) (a) A biquadrate. (b) A biquadratic equation.
Biquintile (?), n. [Pref. bi + quintile: cf. F. biquintile.] (Astron.) An aspect of the planets when they are distant from each other by twice the fifth part of a great circle that is, twice 72 degrees.
Biradiate (?), Biradiated (?), } a. [Pref. bi + radiate.] Having two rays; as, a biradiate fin.
Biramous (?), a. [Pref. bi + ramous.] (Biol.) Having, or consisting of, two branches.
Birch (?), n.; pl. Birches (?). [OE. birche, birk, AS. birce, beorc; akin to Icel. bjrk, Sw. bjrk, Dan. birk, D. berk, OHG. piricha, MHG. birche, birke, G. birke, Russ. bereza, Pol. brzoza, Serv. breza, Skr. bh?rja. ?254. Cf. 1st Birk.] 1. A tree of several species, constituting the genus Betula; as, the white or common birch (B. alba) (also called silver birch and lady birch); the dwarf birch (B. glandulosa); the paper or canoe birch (B. papyracea); the yellow birch (B. lutea); the black or cherry birch (B. lenta).
2. The wood or timber of the birch.
3. A birch twig or birch twigs, used for flogging.
The twigs of the common European birch (B. alba), being tough and slender, were formerly much used for rods in schools. They were also made into brooms.
The threatening twigs of birch.
Shak.
4. A birchbark canoe.
Birch of Jamaica, a species (Bursera gummifera) of turpentine tree. Birch partridge. (Zol.) See Ruffed grouse. Birch wine, wine made of the spring sap of the birch. Oil of birch. (a) An oil obtained from the bark of the common European birch (Betula alba), and used in the preparation of genuine ( and sometimes of the imitation) Russia leather, to which it gives its peculiar odor. (b) An oil prepared from the black birch (B. lenta), said to be identical with the oil of wintergreen, for which it is largely sold.
Birch, a. Of or pertaining to the birch; birchen.
Birch, v. t. [imp. & p.p. Birched (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Birching.] To whip with a birch rod or twig; to flog.
Birchen (?), a. Of or relating to birch.
He passed where Newark's stately tower
Looks out from Yarrow's birchen bower.
Sir W. Scott.
Bird (?), n. [OE. brid, bred, bird, young bird, bird, AS. bridd young bird. ?92.] 1. Orig., a chicken; the young of a fowl; a young eaglet; a nestling; and hence, a feathered flying animal (see 2).
That ungentle gull, the cuckoo's bird.
Shak.
The brydds [birds] of the aier have nestes.
Tyndale (Matt. viii. 20).
2. (Zol.) A warmblooded, feathered vertebrate provided with wings. See Aves.
3. Specifically, among sportsmen, a game bird.
4. Fig.: A girl; a maiden.
And by my word! the bonny bird
In danger shall not tarry.
Campbell.
Arabian bird, the phenix. Bird of Jove, the eagle. Bird of Juno, the peacock. Bird louse (Zol.), a wingless insect of the group Mallophaga, of which the genera and species are very numerous and mostly parasitic upon birds. Bird mite (Zol.), a small mite (genera Dermanyssus, Dermaleichus and allies) parasitic upon birds. The species are numerous. Bird of passage, a migratory bird. Bird spider (Zol.), a very large South American spider (Mygale avicularia). It is said sometimes to capture and kill small birds. Bird tick (Zol.), a dipterous insect parasitic upon birds (genus Ornithomyia, and allies), usually winged.
Bird (?), v. i. 1. To catch or shoot birds.
2. Hence: To seek for game or plunder; to thieve. [R.]
B. Jonson.
Birdbolt (?), n. A short blunt arrow for killing birds without piercing them. Hence: Anything which smites without penetrating.
Shak.
Bird cage, or Birdcage (?), n. A cage for confining birds.
Birdcall (?), n. 1. A sound made in imitation of the note or cry of a bird for the purpose of decoying the bird or its mate.
2. An instrument of any kind, as a whistle, used in making the sound of a birdcall.
Birdcatcher (?), n. One whose employment it is to catch birds; a fowler.
Birdcatching, n. The art, act, or occupation or catching birds or wild fowls.
Bird cherry (?). (Bot.) A shrub (Prunus Padus ) found in Northern and Central Europe. It bears small black cherries.
Birder (?), n. A birdcatcher.
Birdeyed (?), a. Quicksighted; catching a glance as one goes.
Bird fancier (?). 1. One who takes pleasure in rearing or collecting rare or curious birds.
2. One who has for sale the various kinds of birds which are kept in cages.
Birdie (?), n. A pretty or dear little bird; a pet name.
Tennyson.
Birdikin (?), n. A young bird.
Thackeray.
Birding, n. Birdcatching or fowling.
Shak.
Birding piece, a fowling piece.
Shak.
Birdlet, n. A little bird; a nestling.
Birdlike (?), a. Resembling a bird.
Birdlime (?), n. [Bird + lime viscous substance.] An extremely adhesive viscid substance, usually made of the middle bark of the holly, by boiling, fermenting, and cleansing it. When a twig is smeared with this substance it will hold small birds which may light upon it. Hence: Anything which insnares.
Not birdlime or Idean pitch produce
A more tenacious mass of clammy juice.
Dryden.
Birdlime is also made from mistletoe, elder, etc.
Birdlime, v. t. To smear with birdlime; to catch with birdlime; to insnare.
When the heart is thus birdlimed, then it cleaves to everything it meets with.
Coodwin.
Birdling, n. A little bird; a nestling.
Birdman (?), n. A fowler or birdcatcher.
Bird of paradise (?). (Zol.) The name of several very beautiful birds of the genus Paradisea and allied genera, inhabiting New Guinea and the adjacent islands. The males have brilliant colors, elegant plumes, and often remarkable tail feathers.
The Great emerald (Paradisea apoda) and the Lesser emerald (P. minor) furnish many of the plumes used as ornaments by ladies; the Red is P. rubra or sanguinea; the Golden is Parotia aurea or sexsetacea; the King is Cincinnurus regius.
The name is also applied to the lingerbilled birds of another related group (Epimachin) from the same region. The Twelvewired (Seleucides alba) is one of these. See Paradise bird, and Note under Apod.
Bird pepper (?). A species of capsicum (Capsicum baccatum), whose small, conical, coralred fruit is among the most piquant of all red peppers.
Bird'sbeak (?), n. (Arch.) A molding whose section is thought to resemble a beak.
Birdseed (?), n. Canary seed, hemp, millet or other small seeds used for feeding caged birds.
Bird'seye (?), a. 1. Seen from above, as if by a flying bird; embraced at a glance; hence, general? not minute, or entering into details; as, a bird'seye view.
2. Marked with spots resembling bird's eyes; as, bird'seye diaper; bird'seye maple.
Bird'seye, n. (Bot.) A plant with a small bright flower, as the Adonis or pheasant's eye, the mealy primrose (Primula farinosa), and species of Veronica, Geranium, etc.
Bird'seye maple (?). See under Maple.
Bird'sfoot (?), n. (Bot.) A papilionaceous plant, the Ornithopus, having a curved, cylindrical pod tipped with a short, clawlike point.
Bird'sfoot trefoil. (Bot.) (a) A genus of plants (Lotus) with clawlike pods. L. corniculatas, with yellow flowers, is very common in Great Britain. (b) the related plant, Trigonella ornithopodioides, is also European.
Bird'smouth (?), n. (Arch.) An interior a?gle or notch cut across a piece of timber, for the reception of the edge of another, as that in a rafter to be laid on a plate; commonly called crow'sfoot in the United States.
Bird's nest, or Bird'snest (?), n. 1. The nest in which a bird lays eggs and hatches her young.
2. (Cookery) The nest of a small swallow (Collocalia nidifica and several allied species), of China and the neighboring countries, which is mixed with soups.
The nests are found in caverns and fissures of


<-- p. 148 -->

cliffs on rocky coasts, and are composed in part of alg. They are of the size of a goose egg, and in substance resemble isinglass. See Illust. under Edible.
3. (Bot.) An orchideous plant with matted roots, of the genus Neottia (N. nidusavis.)
Bird'snest pudding, a pudding containing apples whose cores have been replaces by sugar. Yellow bird's nest, a plant, the Monotropa hypopitys.
Bird'snesting (?), n. Hunting for, or taking, birds' nests or their contents.
Bird'stongue (?), n. (Bot.) The knotgrass (Polygonum aviculare).
Birdwitted (?), a. Flighty; passing rapidly from one subject to another; not having the faculty of attention.
Bacon.
Birectangular (?), a. [Pref. bi + rectangular.] Containing or having two right angles; as, a birectangular spherical triangle.
Bireme (?), n. [L. biremis; bis twice + remus oar: cf. F. birme.] An ancient galley or vessel with two banks or tiers of oars.
Biretta (?), n. Same as Berretta.
Birgander (?), n. See Bergander.
Birk (?), n. [See Birch, n.] A birch tree. [Prov. Eng.] The silver birk.
Tennyson.
Birk, n. (Zol.) A small European minnow (Leuciscus phoxinus).
Birken (?), v. t. [From 1st Birk.] To whip with a birch or rod. [Obs.]
Birken, a. Birchen; as, birken groves.
Burns.
Birkie (?), n. A lively or mettlesome fellow. [Jocular, Scot.]
Burns.
Birl (?), v. t. & i. To revolve or cause to revolve; to spin. [Scot.]
Sir W. Scott.
Birl (?), v. t. & i. [AS. byrlian. ?92.] To pour (beer or wine); to ply with drink; to drink; to carouse. [Obs. or Dial.]
Skelton.
Birlaw (?), n. [See Bylaw.] (Law) A law made by husbandmen respecting rural affairs; a rustic or local law or bylaw. [Written also byrlaw, birlie, birley.]
Birostrate (?), Birostrated (?), } a. [Pref. bi + rostrate.] Having a double beak, or two processes resembling beaks.
The capsule is bilocular and birostrated.
Ed. Encyc.
Birr (?), v. i. [imp. & p.p. Birred (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Birring.] [Cf. OE. bur, bir, wind, storm wind, fr. Icel. byrr wind. Perh. imitative.] To make, or move with, a whirring noise, as of wheels in motion.
Birr, n. 1. A whirring sound, as of a spinning wheel.
2. A rush or impetus; force.
Birrus (?), n. [LL., fr. L. birrus a kind of cloak. See Berretta.] A coarse kind of thick woolen cloth, worn by the poor in the Middle Ages; also, a woolen cap or hood worn over the shoulders or over the head.
Birse (?), n. A bristle or bristles. [Scot.]
Birt (?), n. [OE. byrte; cf. F. bertonneau. Cf. Bret, Burt.] (Zol.) A fish of the turbot kind; the brill. [Written also burt, bret, or brut.] [Prov. Eng.]
Birth (?), n. [OE. burth, birth, AS. beor?, gebyrd, fr. beran to bear, bring forth; akin to D. geboorate, OHG. burt, giburt, G. geburt, Icel. bur?r, Skr. bhrti bearing, supporting; cf. Ir. & Gael. beirthe born, brought forth. ?92. See 1st Bear, and cf. Berth.] 1. The act or fact of coming into life, or of being born; generally applied to human beings; as, the birth of a son.
2. Lineage; extraction; descent; sometimes, high birth; noble extraction.
Elected without reference to birth, but solely for qualifications.
Prescott.
3. The condition to which a person is born; natural state or position; inherited disposition or tendency.
A foe by birth to Troy's unhappy name.
Dryden.
4. The act of bringing forth; as, she had two children at a birth. At her next birth.
Milton.
5. That which is born; that which is produced, whether animal or vegetable.
Poets are far rarer births that kings.
B. Jonson.
Others hatch their eggs and tend the birth till it is able to shift for itself.
Addison.
6. Origin; beginning; as, the birth of an empire.
New birth (Theol.), regeneration, or the commencement of a religious life.
Syn. Parentage; extraction; lineage; race; family.
Birth, n. See Berth. [Obs.]
De Foe.
Birthday (?), n. 1. The day in which any person is born; day of origin or commencement.
Those barbarous ages past, succeeded next
The birthday of invention.
Cowper.
2. The day of the month in which a person was born, in whatever succeeding year it may recur; the anniversary of one's birth.
This is my birthday; as this very day
Was Cassius born.
Shak.
Birthday, a. Of or pertaining to the day of birth, or its anniversary; as, birthday gifts or festivities.
Birthdom (?), n. [Birth + dom.] The land of one's birth; one's inheritance. [R.]
Shak.
Birthing, n. (Naut.) Anything added to raise the sides of a ship.
Bailey.
Birthless, a. Of mean extraction. [R.]
Sir W. Scott.
Birthmark (?), n. Some peculiar mark or blemish on the body at birth.
Most part of this noble lineage carried upon their body for a natural birthmark, ... a snake.
Sir T. North.
Birthnight (?), n. The night in which a person is born; the anniversary of that night in succeeding years.
The angelic song in Bethlehem field,
On thy birthnight, that sung thee Savior born.
Milton.
Birthplace (?), n. The town, city, or country, where a person is born; place of origin or birth, in its more general sense. The birthplace of valor.
Burns.
Birthright (?), n. Any right, privilege, or possession to which a person is entitled by birth, such as an estate descendible by law to an heir, or civil liberty under a free constitution; esp. the rights or inheritance of the first born.
Lest there be any ... profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
Heb. xii. 16.
Birthroot (?), n. (Bot.) An herbaceous plant (Trillium erectum), and its astringent rootstock, which is said to have medicinal properties.
Birthwort (?), n. A genus of herbs and shrubs (Aristolochia), reputed to have medicinal properties.
Bis (?), adv. [L. bis twice, for duis, fr. root of duo two. See Two, and cf. Bi.] Twice; a word showing that something is, or is to be, repeated; as a passage of music, or an item in accounts.
Bis, pref. A form of Bi, sometimes used before s, c, or a vowel.
Bisa antelope (?). (Zol.) See Oryx.
Bisaccate (?), a. [Pref. bi + saccate.] (Bot.) Having two little bags, sacs, or pouches.
Biscayan (?), a. Of or pertaining to Biscay in Spain. n. A native or inhabitant of Biscay.
Biscotin (?), n. [F. biscotin. See Biscuit.] A confection made of flour, sugar, marmalade, and eggs; a sweet biscuit.
Biscuit (?), n. [F. biscuit (cf. It. biscotto, Sp. bizcocho, Pg. biscouto), fr. L. bis twice + coctus, p. p. of coquere to cook, bake. See Cook, and cf. Bisque a kind of porcelain.] 1. A kind of unraised bread, of many varieties, plain, sweet, or fancy, formed into flat cakes, and bakes hard; as, ship biscuit.
According to military practice, the bread or biscuit of the Romans was twice prepared in the oven.
Gibbon.
2. A small loaf or cake of bread, raised and shortened, or made light with soda or baking powder. Usually a number are baked in the same pan, forming a sheet or card.
3. Earthen ware or porcelain which has undergone the first baking, before it is subjected to the glazing.
4. (Sculp.) A species of white, unglazed porcelain, in which vases, figures, and groups are formed in miniature.
Meat biscuit, an alimentary preparation consisting of matters extracted from meat by boiling, or of meat ground fine and combined with flour, so as to form biscuits.
Biscutate (?), a. [Pref. bi + scutate.] (Bot.) Resembling two bucklers placed side by side.
Bise (?), n. [F.] A cold north wind which prevails on the northern coasts of the Mediterranean and in Switzerland, etc.; nearly the same as the mistral.
Bise (?), n. (Paint.) See Bice.
Bisect (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Bisected; p. pr. & vb. n. Bisecting.] [L. bis twice + secare, sectum, to cut.] 1. To cut or divide into two parts.
2. (Geom.) To divide into two equal parts.
Bisection (?), n. [Cf. F. bissection.] Division into two parts, esp. two equal parts.
Bisector (?), n. One who, or that which, bisects; esp. (Geom.) a straight line which bisects an angle.
Bisectrix (?), n. The line bisecting the angle between the optic axes of a biaxial crystal.
Bisegment (?), n. [Pref. bi + segment.] One of tow equal parts of a line, or other magnitude.
Biseptate (?), a. [Pref. bi + septate.] With two partitions or septa.
Gray.
Biserial (?), Biseriate (?), } a. [Pref. bi + serial, seriate.] In two rows or series.
Biserrate (?), a. [Pref. bi + serrate.]
1. (Bot.) Doubly serrate, or having the serratures serrate, as in some leaves.
2. (Zol.) Serrate on both sides, as some antenn.
Bisetose (?), Bisetous (?), } a. [Pref. bi + setose, setous.] Having two bristles.
Bisexous (?), a. [L. bis twice + sexus sex: cf. F. bissexe.] Bisexual. [Obs.]
Sir T. Browne.
Bisexual (?), a. [Pref. bi + sexual.] (Biol.) Of both sexes; hermaphrodite; as a flower with stamens and pistil, or an animal having ovaries and testes.
Bisexuous (?), a. Bisexual.
Biseye (?), p. p. of Besee. [Obs.]
Chaucer.
Evil biseye, ill looking. [Obs.]
Bish (?), n. Same as Bikh.
Bishop (?), n. [OE. bischop, biscop, bisceop, AS. bisceop, biscop, L. episcopus overseer, superintendent, bishop, fr. Gr. ?, ? over + ? inspector, fr. root of ?, ?, to look to, perh. akin to L. specere to look at. See Spy, and cf. Episcopal.]
1. A spiritual overseer, superintendent, or director.
Ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.
1 Pet. ii. 25.
It is a fact now generally recognized by theologians of all shades of opinion, that in the language of the New Testament the same officer in the church is called indifferently bishop ( ? ) and elder or presbyter.
J. B. Lightfoot.
2. In the Roman Catholic, Greek, and Anglican or Protestant Episcopal churches, one ordained to the highest order of the ministry, superior to the priesthood, and generally claiming to be a successor of the Apostles. The bishop is usually the spiritual head or ruler of a diocese, bishopric, or see.
Bishop in partibus [infidelium] (R. C. Ch.), a bishop of a see which does not actually exist; one who has the office of bishop, without especial jurisdiction. Shipley. Titular bishop (R. C. Ch.), a term officially substituted in 1882 for bishop in partibus. Bench of Bishops. See under Bench.
3. In the Methodist Episcopal and some other churches, one of the highest church officers or superintendents.
4. A piece used in the game of chess, bearing a representation of a bishop's miter; formerly called archer.
5. A beverage, being a mixture of wine, oranges or lemons, and sugar.
Swift.
6. An old name for a woman's bustle. [U. S.]
If, by her bishop, or her grace alone,
A genuine lady, or a church, is known.
Saxe.
Bishop, v. t. [imp. & p.p. Bishoped (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Bishoping.] To admit into the church by confirmation; to confirm; hence, to receive formally to favor.
Bishop (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Bishoped (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Bishoping.] [From the name of the scoundrel who first practiced it. Youatt.] (Far.) To make seem younger, by operating on the teeth; as, to bishop an old horse or his teeth.
The plan adopted is to cut off all the nippers with a saw to the proper length, and then with a cutting instrument the operator scoops out an oval cavity in the corner nippers, which is afterwards burnt with a hot iron until it is black.
J. H. Walsh.
Bishopdom (?), n. Jurisdiction of a bishop; episcopate. Divine right of bishopdom.
Milton.
Bishoplike (?), a. Resembling a bishop; belonging to a bishop.
Fulke.
Bishoply, a. Bishoplike; episcopal. [Obs.]
Bishoply, adv. In the manner of a bishop. [Obs.]
Bishopric (?), n. [AS. bisceoprce; bisceop bishop + rce dominion. See ric.] 1. A diocese; the district over which the jurisdiction of a bishop extends.
2. The office of a spiritual overseer, as of an apostle, bishop, or presbyter.
Acts i. 20.
Bishop's cap (?). (Bot.) A plant of the genus Mitella; miterwort.
Longfellow.
Bishop sleeve (?). A wide sleeve, once worn by women.
Bishop's length (?). A canvas for a portrait measuring 58 by 94 inches. The half bishop measures 45 of 56.
Bishopstool (?), n. A bishop's seat or see.
Bishop'sweed (?), n. (Bot.) (a) An umbelliferous plant of the genus Ammi. (b) Goutweed (?gopodium podagraria).
Bishop'swort (?), n. (Bot.) Wood betony (Stachys betonica); also, the plant called fennel flower (Nigella Damascena), or devilinabush.
Bisie (?), v. t. To busy; to employ. [Obs.]
Bisilicate (?), n. (Min. Chem.) A salt of metasilicic acid; so called because the ratio of the oxygen of the silica to the oxygen of the base is as two to one. The bisilicates include many of the most common and important minerals.
Bisk (?), n. [F. bisque.] Soup or broth made by boiling several sorts of flesh together.
King.
Bisk, n. [F. bisque.] (Tennis) See Bisque.
Bismare (?), Bismer (?), n. [AS. bismer.] Shame; abuse. [Obs.]
Chaucer.
Bismer (?), n. 1. A rule steelyard. [Scot.]
2. (Zol.) The fifteenspined (Gasterosteus spinachia).
Bismillah (?), interj. [Arabic, in the name of God!] An adjuration or exclamation common among the Mohammedans. [Written also Bizmillah.]
Bismite (?), n. (Min.) Bismuth trioxide, or bismuth ocher.
Bismuth (?), n. [Ger. bismuth, wismuth: cf. F. bismuth.] (Chem.) One of the elements; a metal of a reddish white color, crystallizing in rhombohedrons. It is somewhat harder than lead, and rather brittle; masses show broad cleavage surfaces when broken across. It metals at 507? Fahr., being easily fused in the flame of a candle. It is found in a native state, and as a constituent of some minerals. Specific gravity 9.8. Atomic weight 207.5. Symbol Bi.
Chemically, bismuth (with arsenic and antimony is intermediate between the metals and nonmetals; it is used in thermoelectric piles, and as an alloy with lead and tin in the fusible alloy or metal. Bismuth is the most diamagnetic substance known.
Bismuth glance, bismuth sulphide; bismuthinite. Bismuth ocher, a native bismuth oxide; bismite.
Bismuthal (?), a. Containing bismuth.
Bismuthic (?), a. (Chem.) Of or pertaining to bismuth; containing bismuth, when this element has its higher valence; as, bismuthic oxide.
Bismuthiferous (?), a. [Bismuth + ferous.] Containing bismuth.
Bismuthine (?), Bismuthinite (?), } n. Native bismuth sulphide; sometimes called bismuthite.
Bismuthous (?), a. Of, or containing, bismuth, when this element has its lower valence.
Bismuthyl (?), n. (Min.) Hydrous carbonate of bismuth, an earthy mineral of a dull white or yellowish color. [Written also bismuthite.]
Bison (?), n. [L. bison, Gr. ?, a wild ox; akin to OHG. wisunt, wisant, G. wisent, AS. wesend, Icel. vsundr: cf. F. bison.] (Zol.) (a) The aurochs or European bison. (b) The American bison buffalo (Bison Americanus), a large, gregarious bovine quadruped with shaggy mane and short black horns, which formerly roamed in herds over most of the temperate portion of North America, but is now restricted to very limited districts in the region of the Rocky Mountains, and is rapidly decreasing in numbers.


<-- p. 149 -->

Bispinose (?), a. [Pref. bi + spinose.] (Zol.) Having two spines.
Bisque (?), n. [A corruption of biscuit.] Unglazed white porcelain.
Bisque, n. [F.] A point taken by the receiver of odds in the game of tennis; also, an extra innings allowed to a weaker player in croquet.
Bisque, n. [F.] A white soup made of crayfish.
Bissextile (?), n. [L. bissextilis annus, fr. bissextus (bis + sextus sixth, fr. sex six) the sixth of the calends of March, or twentyfourth day of February, which was reckoned twice every fourth year, by the intercalation of a day.] Leap year; every fourth year, in which a day is added to the month of February on account of the excess of the tropical year (365 d. 5 h. 48 m. 46 s.) above 365 days. But one day added every four years is equivalent to six hours each year, which is 11 m. 14 s. more than the excess of the real year. Hence, it is necessary to suppress the bissextile day at the end of every century which is not divisible by 400, while it is retained at the end of those which are divisible by 400.
Bissextile, a. Pertaining to leap year.
Bisson (?), a. [OE. bisen, bisne, AS. bisen, prob. for bs?ne; bi by + s?ne clear, akin to sen to see; clear when near, hence shortsighted. See See.] Purblind; blinding. [Obs.] Bisson rheum.
Shak.
Bister, Bistre } (?), n. [F. bistre a color made of soot; of unknown origin. Cf., however, LG. biester frowning, dark, ugly.] (Paint.) A dark brown pigment extracted from the soot of wood.
Bistipuled (?), a. [Pref. bi + stipule.] (Bot.) Having two stipules.
Bistort (?), n. [L. bis + tortus, p. p. of torquere to twist: cf. F. bistorte.] (Bot.) An herbaceous plant of the genus Polygonum, section Bistorta; snakeweed; adderwort. Its root is used in medicine as an astringent.
Bistoury (?), n.; pl. Bistouries (?). [F. bistouri.] A surgical instrument consisting of a slender knife, either straight or curved, generally used by introducing it beneath the part to be divided, and cutting towards the surface.
Bistre (?), n. See Bister.
Bisulcate (?), a. [Pref. bi + sulcate.]
1. Having two grooves or furrows.
2. (Zol.) Cloven; said of a foot or hoof.
Bisulcous (?), a. [L. bisulcus; bis twice + sulcus furrow.] Bisulcate.
Sir T. Browne.
Bisulphate (?), n. [Pref. bi + sulphate.] (Chem.) A sulphate in which but half the hydrogen of the acid is replaced by a positive element or radical, thus making the proportion of the acid to the positive or basic portion twice what it is in the normal sulphates; an acid sulphate.
Bisulphide (?), n. [Pref. bi + sulphide.] (Chem.) A sulphide having two atoms of sulphur in the molecule; a disulphide, as in iron pyrites, FeS2; less frequently called bisulphuret.
Bisulphite (?), n. (Chem.) A salt of sulphurous acid in which the base replaces but half the hydrogen of the acid; an acid sulphite.
Bisulphuret (?), n. [Pref. bi + sulphuret.] (Chem.) See Bisulphide.
Bit (?), n. [OE. bitt, bite, AS. bite, bite, fr. btan to bite. See Bite, n. & v., and cf. Bit a morsel.] 1. The part of a bridle, usually of iron, which is inserted in the mouth of a horse, and having appendages to which the reins are fastened.
Shak.
The foamy bridle with the bit of gold.
Chaucer.
2. Fig.: Anything which curbs or restrains.
Bit, v. t. [imp. & p.p. Bitted (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Bitting.] To put a bridle upon; to put the bit in the mouth of.
Bit, imp. & p. p. of Bite.
Bit, n. [OE. bite, AS. bita, fr. btan to bite; akin to D. beet, G. bissen bit, morsel, Icel. biti. See Bite, v., and cf. Bit part of a bridle.] 1. A part of anything, such as may be bitten off or taken into the mouth; a morsel; a bite. Hence: A small piece of anything; a little; a mite.
2. Somewhat; something, but not very great.
My young companion was a bit of a poet.
T. Hook.
This word is used, also, like jot and whit, to express the smallest degree; as, he is not a bit wiser.
3. A tool for boring, of various forms and sizes, usually turned by means of a brace or bitstock. See Bitstock.
4. The part of a key which enters the lock and acts upon the bolt and tumblers.
Knight.
5. The cutting iron of a plane.
Knight.
6. In the Southern and Southwestern States, a small silver coin (as the real) formerly current; commonly, one worth about 12 1/2 cents; also, the sum of 12 1/2 cents.
Bit my bit, piecemeal.
Pope.
Bit, 3d sing. pr. of Bid, for biddeth. [Obs.]
Chaucer.
Bitake (?), v. t. [See Betake, Betaught.] To commend; to commit. [Obs.]
Chaucer.
Bitangent (?), a. [Pref. bi + tangent.] (Geom.) Possessing the property of touching at two points. n. A line that touches a curve in two points.
Bitartrate (?), n. (Chem.) A salt of tartaric acid in which the base replaces but half the acid hydrogen; an acid tartrate, as cream of tartar.
Bitch (?), n. [OE. biche, bicche, AS. bicce; cf. Icel. bikkja, G. betze, peize.] 1. The female of the canine kind, as of the dog, wolf, and fox.
2. An opprobrious name for a woman, especially a lewd woman.
Pope.
Bite (?), v. t. [imp. Bit (?); p. p. Bitten (?), Bit; p. pr. & vb. n. Biting.] [OE. biten, AS. btan; akin to D. bijten, OS. btan, OHG. bzan, G. beissen, Goth. beitan, Icel. bta, Sw. bita, Dan. bide, L. findere to cleave, Skr. bhid to cleave. ?87. Cf. Fissure.]
1. To seize with the teeth, so that they enter or nip the thing seized; to lacerate, crush, or wound with the teeth; as, to bite an apple; to bite a crust; the dog bit a man.
Such smiling rogues as these,
Like rats, oft bite the holy cords atwain.
Shak.
2. To puncture, abrade, or sting with an organ (of some insects) used in taking food.
3. To cause sharp pain, or smarting, to; to hurt or injure, in a literal or a figurative sense; as, pepper bites the mouth. Frosts do bite the meads.
Shak.
4. To cheat; to trick; to take in. [Colloq.]
Pope.
5. To take hold of; to hold fast; to adhere to; as, the anchor bites the ground.
The last screw of the rack having been turned so often that its purchase crumbled, ... it turned and turned with nothing to bite.
Dickens.
To bite the dust, To bite the ground, to fall in the agonies of death; as, he made his enemy bite the dust. To bite in (Etching), to corrode or eat into metallic plates by means of an acid. To bite the thumb at (any one), formerly a mark of contempt, designed to provoke a quarrel; to defy. Do you bite your thumb at us ? Shak. To bite the tongue, to keep silence. Shak.
Bite (?), v. i. 1. To seize something forcibly with the teeth; to wound with the teeth; to have the habit of so doing; as, does the dog bite ?
2. To cause a smarting sensation; to have a property which causes such a sensation; to be pungent; as, it bites like pepper or mustard.
3. To cause sharp pain; to produce anguish; to hurt or injure; to have the property of so doing.
At the last it [wine] biteth like serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
Prov. xxiii. 32.
4. To take a bait into the mouth, as a fish does; hence, to take a tempting offer.
5. To take or keep a firm hold; as, the anchor bites.
Bite, n. [OE. bite, bit, bitt, AS. bite bite, fr. btan to bite, akin to Icel. bit, OS. biti, G. biss. See Bite, v., and cf. Bit.] 1. The act of seizing with the teeth or mouth; the act of wounding or separating with the teeth or mouth; a seizure with the teeth or mouth, as of a bait; as, to give anything a hard bite.
I have known a very good fisher angle diligently four or six hours for a river carp, and not have a bite.
Walton.
2. The act of puncturing or abrading with an organ for taking food, as is done by some insects.
3. The wound made by biting; as, the pain of a dog's or snake's bite; the bite of a mosquito.
4. A morsel; as much as is taken at once by biting.
5. The hold which the short end of a lever has upon the thing to be lifted, or the hold which one part of a machine has upon another.
6. A cheat; a trick; a fraud. [Colloq.]
The baser methods of getting money by fraud and bite, by deceiving and overreaching.
Humorist.
7. A sharper; one who cheats. [Slang]
Johnson.
8. (Print.) A blank on the edge or corner of a page, owing to a portion of the frisket, or something else, intervening between the type and paper.
Biter (?), n. 1. One who, or that which, bites; that which bites often, or is inclined to bite, as a dog or fish. Great barkers are no biters.
Camden.
2. One who cheats; a sharper. [Colloq.]
Spectator.
Biternate (?), a. [Pref. bi + ternate.] (Bot.)Doubly ternate, as when a petiole has three ternate leaflets. Biternately, adv.
Gray.
Bitheism (?), n. [Pref. bi + theism.] Belief in the existence of two gods; dualism.
Biting (?), a. That bites; sharp; cutting; sarcastic; caustic. A biting affliction. A biting jest.
Shak.
Biting in (?). (Etching.) The process of corroding or eating into metallic plates, by means of an acid. See Etch.
G. Francis.
Bitingly, adv. In a biting manner.
Bitless (?), a. Not having a bit or bridle.
Bitstock (?), n. A stock or handle for holding and rotating a bit; a brace.
Bitt (?), n. (Naut.) See Bitts.
Bitt (?), v. t. [See Bitts.] (Naut.) To put round the bitts; as, to bitt the cable, in order to fasten it or to slacken it gradually, which is called veering away.
Totten.
Bittacle (?), n. A binnacle. [Obs.]
Bitten (?), p. p. of Bite.
Bitten (?), a. (Bot.) Terminating abruptly, as if bitten off; premorse.
Bitter (?), n. [See Bitts.] (Naut.) AA turn of the cable which is round the bitts.
Bitter end, that part of a cable which is abaft the bitts, and so within board, when the ship rides at anchor.
Bitter (?), a. [AS. biter; akin to Goth. baitrs, Icel. bitr, Dan., Sw., D., & G. bitter, OS. bittar, fr. root of E. bite. See Bite, v. t.] 1. Having a peculiar, acrid, biting taste, like that of wormwood or an infusion of hops; as, a bitter medicine; bitter as aloes.
2. Causing pain or smart; piercing; painful; sharp; severe; as, a bitter cold day.
3. Causing, or fitted to cause, pain or distress to the mind; calamitous; poignant.
It is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God.
Jer. ii. 19.
4. Characterized by sharpness, severity, or cruelty; harsh; stern; virulent; as, bitter reproach.
Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.
Col. iii. 19.
5. Mournful; sad; distressing; painful; pitiable.
The Egyptians ... made their lives bitter with hard bondage.
Ex. i. 14.
Bitter apple, Bitter cucumber, Bitter gourd. (Bot.) See Colocynth. Bitter cress (Bot.), a plant of the genus Cardamine, esp. C. amara. Bitter earth (Min.), tale earth; calcined magnesia. Bitter principles (Chem.), a class of substances, extracted from vegetable products, having strong bitter taste but with no sharply defined chemical characteristics. Bitter salt, Epsom salts;; magnesium sulphate. Bitter vetch (Bot.), a name given to two European leguminous herbs, Vicia Orobus and Ervum Ervilia. To the bitter end, to the last extremity, however calamitous.
Syn. Acrid; sharp; harsh; pungent; stinging; cutting; severe; acrimonious.
Bitter (?), n. Any substance that is bitter. See Bitters.
Bitter, v. t. To make bitter.
Wolcott.
Bitterbump (?), n. (Zol.) the butterbump or bittern.
Bitterful (?), a. Full of bitterness. [Obs.]
Bittering, n. A bitter compound used in adulterating beer; bittern.
Bitterish, a. Somewhat bitter.
Goldsmith.
Bitterling (?), n. [G.] (Zol.) A roachlike European fish (Rhodima amarus).
Bitterly, adv. In a bitter manner.
Bittern (?), n. [OE. bitoure, betore, bitter, fr. F. butor; of unknown origin.] (Zol.) A wading bird of the genus Botaurus, allied to the herons, of various species.
The common European bittern is Botaurus stellaris. It makes, during the brooding season, a noise called by Dryden bumping, and by Goldsmith booming. The American bittern is B. lentiginosus, and is also called stakedriver and meadow hen. See Stakedriver.
The name is applied to other related birds, as the least bittern (Ardetta exilis), and the sun bittern.
Bittern, n. [From Bitter, a.] 1. The brine which remains in salt works after the salt is concreted, having a bitter taste from the chloride of magnesium which it contains.
2. A very bitter compound of quassia, cocculus Indicus, etc., used by fraudulent brewers in adulterating beer.
Cooley.
Bitterness (?), n. [AS. biternys; biter better + nys = ness.] 1. The quality or state of being bitter, sharp, or acrid, in either a literal or figurative sense; implacableness; resentfulness; severity; keenness of reproach or sarcasm; deep distress, grief, or vexation of mind.
The lip that curls with bitterness.
Percival.
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
Job vii. 11.
2. A state of extreme impiety or enmity to God.
Thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.
Acts viii. 23.
3. Dangerous error, or schism, tending to draw persons to apostasy.
Looking diligently, ... lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you.
Heb. xii. 15.
Bitternut, n. (Bot.) The swamp hickory (Carya amara). Its thinshelled nuts are bitter.
Bitterroot (?), n. (Bot.) A plant (Lewisia rediviva) allied to the purslane, but with fleshy, farinaceous roots, growing in the mountains of Idaho, Montana, etc. It gives the name to the Bitter Root mountains and river. The Indians call both the plant and the river Spt'lum.
Bitters (?), n. pl. A liquor, generally spirituous in which a bitter herb, leaf, or root is steeped.
Bitter spar (?). A common name of dolomite so called because it contains magnesia, the soluble salts of which are bitter. See Dolomite.
Bittersweet (?), a. Sweet and then bitter or bitter and then sweet; esp. sweet with a bitter after taste; hence (Fig.), pleasant but painful.
Bittersweet, n. 1. Anything which is bittersweet.
2. A kind of apple so called.
Gower.
3. (Bot.) (a) A climbing shrub, with oval coralred berries (Solanum dulcamara); woody nightshade. The whole plant is poisonous, and has a taste at first sweetish and then bitter. The branches are the officinal dulcamara. (b) An American woody climber (Celastrus scandens), whose yellow capsules open late in autumn, and disclose the red aril which covers the seeds; also called Roxbury waxwork.
Bitterweed (?), n. (Bot.) A species of Ambrosia (A. artemisifolia); Roman worm wood.
Gray.
Bitterwood (?), n. A West Indian tree (Picrna excelsa) from the wood of which the bitter drug Jamaica quassia is obtained.
Bitterwort (?), n. (Bot.) The yellow gentian (Gentiana lutea), which has a very bitter taste.
Bittock (?), n. [See Bit a morsel.] A small bit of anything, of indefinite size or quantity; a short distance. [Scot.]
Sir W. Scott.
Bittor Bittour } (?), n. [See Bittern] (Zol.) The bittern.
Dryden.
Bitts (?), n. pl. [Cf. F. bitte, Icel. biti, a beam. ?87.] (Naut.) A frame of two strong timbers fixed perpendicularly in the fore part of a ship, on which to fasten the cables as the ship rides at anchor, or in warping. Other bitts are used for belaying (belaying bitts), for sustaining the windlass (carrick bitts, winch bitts, or windlass bitts), to hold the pawls of the windlass (pawl bitts) etc.
Bitume (?), n. [F. See Bitumen.] Bitumen. [Poetic]
May.
Bitumed (?), a. Smeared with bitumen. [R.] The hatches caulked and bitumed.
Shak.
Bitumen (?), n. [L. bitumen: cf. F. bitume. Cf. Bton.] 1. Mineral pitch; a black, tarry substance, burning with a bright flame; Jew's pitch. ?


<-- p. 150 -->

occurs as an abundant natural product in many places, as on the shores of the Dead and Caspian Seas. It is used in cements, in the construction of pavements, etc. See Asphalt.
2. By extension, any one of the natural hydrocarbons, including the hard, solid, brittle varieties called asphalt, the semisolid maltha and mineral tars, the oily petroleums, and even the light, volatile naphthas.
Bituminate (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Bituminated; p. pr. & vb. n. Bituminating.] [L. bituminatus, p. p. of bituminare to bituminate. See Bitumen.] To treat or impregnate with bitumen; to cement with bitumen. Bituminated walls of Babylon.
Feltham.
Bituminiferous (?), a. [Bitumen + ferous.] Producing bitumen.
Kirwan.
Bituminization (?), n. [Cf. F. bituminisation.] The process of bituminizing.
Mantell.
Bituminize (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Bituminized (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Bituminizing.] [Cf. F. bituminiser.] To prepare, treat, impregnate, or coat with bitumen.
Bituminous (?), a. [L. bituminosus: cf. F. bitumineux.] Having the qualities of bitumen; compounded with bitumen; containing bitumen.
Near that bituminous lake where Sodom flamed.
Milton.
Bituminous coal, a kind of coal which yields, when heated, a considerable amount of volatile bituminous matter. It burns with a yellow smoky flame. Bituminous limestone, a mineral of a brown or black color, emitting an unpleasant smell when rubbed. That of Dalmatia is so charged with bitumen that it may be cut like soap. Bituminous shale, an argillaceous shale impregnated with bitumen, often accompanying coal.
Biuret (?), n. [Pref. bi + urea.] (Chem.) A white, crystalline, nitrogenous substance, C2O2N3H5, formed by heating urea. It is intermediate between urea and cyanuric acid.
Bivalency (?), n. (Chem.) The quality of being bivalent.
Bivalent (?), a. [L. bis twice + valens, p. pr. See Valence.] (Chem.) Equivalent in combining or displacing power to two atoms of hydrogen; dyad.
Bivalve (?), n. [F. bivalve; bi (L. bis) + valve valve.] 1. (Zol.) A mollusk having a shell consisting of two lateral plates or valves joined together by an elastic ligament at the hinge, which is usually strengthened by prominences called teeth. The shell is closed by the contraction of two transverse muscles attached to the inner surface, as in the clam, or by one, as in the oyster. See Mollusca.
2. (Bot.) A pericarp in which the seed case opens or splits into two parts or valves.
Bivalve (?), a. [Pref. bi + valve.] (Zol. & Bot.) Having two shells or valves which open and shut, as the oyster and certain seed vessels.
Bivalved (?), a. Having two valves, as the oyster and some seed pods; bivalve.
Bivalvous (?), a. Bivalvular.
Bivalvular (?), a. Having two valves.
Bivaulted (?), a. [Pref. bi + vault.] Having two vaults or arches.
Bivector (?), n. [Pref. bi + vector.] (Math.) A term made up of the two parts ? + ?1 ?1, where ? and ?1 are vectors.
Biventral (?), a. [Pref. bi + ventral.] (Anat.) Having two bellies or protuberances; as, a biventral, or digastric, muscle, or the biventral lobe of the cerebellum.
Bivial (?), a. Of or relating to the bivium.
Bivious (?), a. [L. bivius; bis twice + via way.] Having, or leading, two ways.
Bivious theorems and Janusfaced doctrines.
Sir T. Browne.
Bivium (?), n. [L., a place with two ways. See Bivious.] (Zol.) One side of an echinoderm, including a pair of ambulacra, in distinction from the opposite side (trivium), which includes three ambulacra.
Bivouac (?), n. [F. bivouac, bivac, prab. fr. G. beiwache, or beiwacht; bei by, near + wachen to watch, wache watch, guard. See By, and Watch.] (Mil.) (a) The watch of a whole army by night, when in danger of surprise or attack. (b) An encampment for the night without tents or covering.
Bivouac, v. i. [imp. & p.p. Bivouacked (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Bivouacking.] (Mil.) (a) To watch at night or be on guard, as a whole army. (b) To encamp for the night without tents or covering.
Biweekly (?), a. [Pref. bi + weekly.] Occurring or appearing once every two weeks; fortnightly. n. A publication issued every two weeks. Biweekly, adv.
Biwreye (?), v. t. To bewray; to reveal. [Obs.]
Bizantine (?). See Byzantine.
Bizarre (?), a. [F. bizarre odd, fr. Sp. bizarro gallant, brave, liberal, prob. of Basque origin; cf. Basque bizarra beard, whence the meaning manly, brave.] Odd in manner or appearance; fantastic; whimsical; extravagant; grotesque.
C. Kingsley.
Bizet (?), n. [Cf. Bezel.] The upper faceted portion of a brilliantcut diamond, which projects from the setting and occupies the zone between the girdle and the table. See Brilliant, n.
Blab (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Blabbed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Blabbing.] [Cf. OE. blaberen, or Dan. blabbre, G. plappern, Gael. blabaran a stammerer; prob. of imitative origin. Cf. also Blubber, v.] To utter or tell unnecessarily, or in a thoughtless manner; to publish (secrets or trifles) without reserve or discretion.
Udall.
And yonder a vile physician blabbing
The case of his patient.
Tennyson.
Blab, v. i. To talk thoughtlessly or without discretion; to tattle; to tell tales.
She must burst or blab.
Dryden.
Blab, n. [OE. blabbe.] One who blabs; a babbler; a telltale. Avoided as a blab.
Milton.
For who will open himself to a blab or a babbler.
Bacon.
Blabber (?), n. A tattler; a telltale.
Black (?), a. [OE. blak, AS. blc; akin to Icel. blakkr dark, swarthy, Sw. blck ink, Dan. blk, OHG. blach, LG. & D. blaken to burn with a black smoke. Not akin to AS. blc, E. bleak pallid. ?98.] 1. Destitute of light, or incapable of reflecting it; of the color of soot or coal; of the darkest or a very dark color, the opposite of white; characterized by such a color; as, black cloth; black hair or eyes.
O night, with hue so black!
Shak.
2. In a less literal sense: Enveloped or shrouded in darkness; very dark or gloomy; as, a black night; the heavens black with clouds.
I spy a black, suspicious, threatening cloud.
Shak.
3. Fig.: Dismal, gloomy, or forbidding, like darkness; destitute of moral light or goodness; atrociously wicked; cruel; mournful; calamitous; horrible. This day's black fate. Black villainy. Arise, black vengeance. Black day. Black despair.
Shak.
4. Expressing menace, or discontent; threatening; sullen; foreboding; as, to regard one with black looks.
Black is often used in selfexplaining compound words; as, blackeyed, blackfaced, blackhaired, blackvisaged.
Black act, the English statute 9 George I, which makes it a felony to appear armed in any park or warren, etc., or to hunt or steal deer, etc., with the face blackened or disguised. Subsequent acts inflicting heavy penalties for malicious injuries to cattle and machinery have been called black acts. Black angel (Zol.), a fish of the West Indies and Florida (Holacanthus tricolor), with the head and tail yellow, and the middle of the body black. Black antimony (Chem.), the black sulphide of antimony, Sb2S3, used in pyrotechnics, etc. Black bear (Zol.), the common American bear (Ursus Americanus). Black beast. See Bte noire. Black beetle (Zol.), the common large cockroach (Blatta orientalis). Black and blue, the dark color of a bruise in the flesh, which is accompanied with a mixture of blue. To pinch the slatterns black and blue. Hudibras. Black bonnet (Zol.), the blackheaded bunting (Embriza Sch?niclus) of Europe. Black canker, a disease in turnips and other crops, produced by a species of caterpillar. Black cat (Zol.), the fisher, a quadruped of North America allied to the sable, but larger. See Fisher. Black cattle, any bovine cattle reared for slaughter, in distinction from dairy cattle. [Eng.] Black cherry. See under Cherry. Black cockatoo (Zol.), the palm cockatoo. See Cockatoo. Black copper. Same as Melaconite. Black currant. (Bot.) See Currant. Black diamond. (Min.) See Carbonado. Black draught (Med.), a cathartic medicine, composed of senna and magnesia. Black drop (Med.), vinegar of opium; a narcotic preparation consisting essentially of a solution of opium in vinegar. Black earth, mold; earth of a dark color. Woodward. Black flag, the flag of a pirate, often bearing in white a skull and crossbones; a signal of defiance. Black flea (Zol.), a flea beetle (Haltica nemorum) injurious to turnips. Black flux, a mixture of carbonate of potash and charcoal, obtained by deflagrating tartar with half its weight of niter. Brande & C. Black fly. (Zol.) (a) In the United States, a small, venomous, twowinged fly of the genus Simuliu? of several ?, exceedingly abundant and troublesome in the northern forests. The larv are aquatic. (b) A black plant louse, as the bean aphis (A. fab). Black Forest [a translation of G. Schwarzwald], a forest in Baden and Wrtemburg, in Germany; a part of the ancient Hercynian forest. Black game, or Black grouse. (Zol.) See Blackcock, Grouse, and Heath grouse. Black grass (Bot.), a grasslike rush of the species Juncus Gerardi, growing on salt marshes, and making good hay. Black gum (Bot.), an American tree, the tupelo or pepperidge. See Tupelo. Black Hamburg (grape) (Bot.), a sweet and juicy variety of dark purple or black grape. Black horse (Zol.), a fish of the Mississippi valley (Cycleptus elongatus), of the sucker family; the Missouri sucker. Black lemur (Zol.), the Lemurniger of Madagascar; the acoumbo of the natives. Black list, a list of persons who are for some reason thought deserving of censure or punishment; esp. a list of persons stigmatized as insolvent or untrustworthy, made for the protection of tradesmen or employers. See Blacklist, v. t. Black manganese (Chem.), the black oxide of manganese, MnO2. Black Maria, the close wagon in which prisoners are carried to or from jail. Black martin (Zol.), the chimney swift. See Swift. Black moss (Bot.), the common socalled long moss of the southern United States. See Tillandsia. Black oak. See under Oak. Black ocher. See Wad. Black pigment, a very fine, light carbonaceous substance, or lampblack, prepared chiefly for the manufacture of printers' ink. It is obtained by burning common coal tar. Black plate, sheet iron before it is tinned. Knight. Black quarter, malignant anthrax with engorgement of a shoulder or quarter, etc., as of an ox. Black rat (Zol.), one of the species of rats (Mus rattus), commonly infesting houses. Black rent. See Blackmail, n., 3. Black rust, a disease of wheat, in which a black, moist matter is deposited in the fissures of the grain. Black sheep, one in a family or company who is unlike the rest, and makes trouble. Black silver. (Min.) See under Silver. Black and tan, black mixed or spotted with tan color or reddish brown; used in describing certain breeds of dogs. Black tea. See under Tea. Black tin (Mining), tin ore ( cassiterite), when dressed, stamped and washed, ready for smelting. It is in the form of a black powder, like fine sand. Knight. Black walnut. See under Walnut. Black warrior (Zol.), an American hawk (Buteo Harlani).
Syn. Dark; murky; pitchy; inky; somber; dusky; gloomy; swart; Cimmerian; ebon; atrocious.
Black (?), adv. Sullenly; threateningly; maliciously; so as to produce blackness.
Black, n. 1. That which is destitute of light or whiteness; the darkest color, or rather a destitution of all color; as, a cloth has a good black.
Black is the badge of hell,
The hue of dungeons, and the suit of night.
Shak.
2. A black pigment or dye.
3. A negro; a person whose skin is of a black color, or shaded with black; esp. a member or descendant of certain African races.
4. A black garment or dress; as, she wears black pl. (Obs.) Mourning garments of a black color; funereal drapery.
Friends weeping, and blacks, and obsequies, and the like show death terrible.
Bacon.
That was the full time they used to wear blacks for the death of their fathers.
Sir T. North.
5. The part of a thing which is distinguished from the rest by being black.
The black or sight of the eye.
Sir K. Digby.
6. A stain; a spot; a smooch.
Defiling her white lawn of chastity with ugly blacks of lust.
Rowley.
Black and white, writing or print; as, I must have that statement in black and white. Blue black, a pigment of a blue black color. Ivory black, a fine kind of animal charcoal prepared by calcining ivory or bones. When ground it is the chief ingredient of the ink used in copperplate printing. Berlin black. See under Berlin.
Black, v. t. [imp. & p.p. Blacked ; p. pr. & vb. n. Blacking.] [See Black, a., and cf. Blacken.]
1. To make black; to blacken; to soil; to sully.
They have their teeth blacked, both men and women, for they say a dog hath his teeth white, therefore they will black theirs.
Hakluyt.
Sins which black thy soul.
J. Fletcher.
2. To make black and shining, as boots or a stove, by applying blacking and then polishing with a brush.
Blackamoor (?), n. [Black + Moor.] A negro or negress.
Shak.
Black art (?). The art practiced by conjurers and witches; necromancy; conjuration; magic.
This name was given in the Middle Ages to necromancy, under the idea that the latter term was derived from niger black, instead of ?, a dead person, and ?, divination.
Wright.
Blackavised (?), a. Darkvisaged; swart.
Blackball (?), n. 1. A composition for blacking shoes, boots, etc.; also, one for taking impressions of engraved work.
2. A ball of black color, esp. one used as a negative in voting; in this sense usually two words.
Blackball, v. t. [imp. & p.p. Blackballed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Blackballing.] 1. To vote against, by putting a black ball into a ballot box; to reject or exclude, as by voting against with black balls; to ostracize.
He was blackballed at two clubs in succession.
Thackeray.
2. To blacken (leather, shoes, etc.) with blacking.
Blackband (?), n. (Min.) An earthy carbonate of iron containing considerable carbonaceous matter; valuable as an iron ore.
Black bass (?). (Zol.) 1. An edible, freshwater fish of the United States, of the genus Micropterus. the smallmouthed kind is M. dolomie; the largemouthed is M. salmoides.
2. The sea bass. See Blackfish, 3.
Blackberry (?), n. [OE. blakberye, AS. blcerie;blc black + berie berry.] The fruit of several species of bramble (Rubus); also, the plant itself. Rubus fruticosus is the blackberry of England; R. villosus and R. Canadensis are the high blackberry and low blackberry of the United States. There are also other kinds.
Blackbird (?), n. (Zol.) In England, a species of thrush (Turdus merula), a singing bird with a fin note; the merle. In America the name is given to several birds, as the Quiscalus versicolor, or crow blackbird; the Agelus ph?niceus, or redwinged blackbird; the cowbird; the rusty grackle, etc. See Redwing.
Blackboard (?), n. A broad board painted black, or any black surface on which writing, drawing, or the working of mathematical problems can be done with chalk or crayons. It is much used in schools.
Black book (?). 1. One of several books of a political character, published at different times and for different purposes; so called either from the color of the binding, or from the character of the contents.

<-- p. 151 -->

2. A book compiled in the twelfth century, containing a description of the court of exchequer of England, an official statement of the revenues of the crown, etc.
3. A book containing details of the enormities practiced in the English monasteries and religious houses, compiled by order of their visitors under Henry VIII., to hasten their dissolution.
4. A book of admiralty law, of the highest authority, compiled in the reign of Edw. III.
Bouvier. Wharton.
5. A book kept for the purpose of registering the names of persons liable to censure or punishment, as in the English universities, or the English armies.
6. Any book which treats of necromancy.
Blackbrowed (?), a. Having black eyebrows. Hence: Gloomy; dismal; threatening; forbidding.
Shak. Dryden.
Blackburnian warbler (?). [Named from Mrs. Blackburn, an English lady.] (Zol.) A beautiful warbler of the United States (Dendroica Blackburni). The male is strongly marked with orange, yellow, and black on the head and neck, and has an orangeyellow breast.
Blackcap (?), n. 1. (Zol.) (a) A small European song bird (Sylvia atricapilla), with a black crown; the mock nightingale. (b) An American titmouse (Parus atricapillus); the chickadee.
2. (Cookery) An apple roasted till black, to be served in a dish of boiled custard.
3. The black raspberry.
Blackcoat (?), n. A clergyman; familiarly so called, as a soldier is sometimes called a redcoat or a bluecoat.
Blackcock (?), n. (Zol.) The male of the European black grouse (Tetrao tetrix, Linn.); so called by sportsmen. The female is called gray hen. See Heath grouse.
Black death (?). A pestilence which ravaged Europe and Asia in the fourteenth century.
Blacken (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Blackened (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Blackening.] [See Black, a., and cf. Black, v. t. ] 1. To make or render black.
While the long funerals blacken all the way.
Pope.
2. To make dark; to darken; to cloud. Blackened the whole heavens.
South.
3. To defame; to sully, as reputation; to make infamous; as, vice blackens the character.
Syn. To denigrate; defame; vilify; slander; calumniate; traduce; malign; asperse.
Blacken, v. i. To grow black or dark.
Blackener (?), n. One who blackens.
Blackeyed (?), a. Having black eyes.
Dryden.
Blackfaced (?), a. Having a black, dark, or gloomy face or aspect.
Blackfeet (?), n. pl. (Ethn.) A tribe of North American Indians formerly inhabiting the country from the upper Missouri River to the Saskatchewan, but now much reduced in numbers.
Blackfin (?), n. (Zol.) See Bluefin.
Blackfish (?), n. 1. (Zol.) A small kind of whale, of the genus Globicephalus, of several species. The most common is G. melas. Also sometimes applied to other whales of larger size.
2. (Zol.) The tautog of New England (Tautoga).
3. (Zol.) The black sea bass (Centropristis atrarius) of the Atlantic coast. It is excellent food fish; locally called also black Harry.
4. (Zol.) A fish of southern Europe (Centrolophus pompilus) of the Mackerel family.
5. (Zol.) The female salmon in the spawning season.
The name is locally applied to other fishes.
Blackfoot (?), a. Of or pertaining to the Blackfeet; as, a Blackfoot Indian. n. A Blackfoot Indian.
Black friar (?). (Eccl.) A friar of the Dominican order; called also predicant and preaching friar; in France, Jacobin. Also, sometimes, a Benedictine.
Blackguard (?), n. [Black + guard.] 1. The scullions and lower menials of a court, or of a nobleman's household, who, in a removal from one residence to another, had charge of the kitchen utensils, and being smutted by them, were jocularly called the black guard; also, the servants and hangerson of an army. [Obs.]
A lousy slave, that ... rode with the black guard in the duke's carriage, 'mongst spits and dripping pans.
Webster (1612).
2. The criminals and vagrants or vagabonds of a town or community, collectively. [Obs.]
3. A person of stained or low character, esp. one who uses scurrilous language, or treats others with foul abuse; a scoundrel; a rough.
A man whose manners and sentiments are decidedly below those of his class deserves to be called a blackguard.
Macaulay.
4. A vagrant; a bootblack; a gamin. [Obs.]
Blackguard, v. t. [imp. & p.p. Blackguarded; p. pr. & vb. n. Blackguarding.] To revile or abuse in scurrilous language.
Southey.
Blackguard, a. Scurrilous; abusive; low; worthless; vicious; as, blackguard language.
Blackguardism (?), n. The conduct or language of a blackguard; rufflanism.
Blackguardly, adv. & a. In the manner of or resembling a blackguard; abusive; scurrilous; ruffianly.
Blackhead (?), n. (Zol.) The scaup duck.
Blackheart (?), n. A heartshaped cherry with a very darkcolored skin.
Blackhearted, a. Having a wicked, malignant disposition; morally bad.
Black hole (?). A dungeon or dark cell in a prison; a military lockup or guardroom; now commonly with allusion to the cell (the Black Hole) in a fort at Calcutta, into which 146 English prisoners were thrust by the nabob Suraja Dowla on the night of June 20, 17656, and in which 123 of the prisoners died before morning from lack of air.
A discipline of unlimited autocracy, upheld by rods, and ferules, and the black hole.
H. Spencer.
Blacking, n. 1. Any preparation for making things black; esp. one for giving a black luster to boots and shoes, or to stoves.
2. The act or process of making black.
Blackish, a. Somewhat black.
Blackjack , n. 1. (Min.) A name given by English miners to sphalerite, or zinc blende; called also false galena. See Blende.
2. Caramel or burnt sugar, used to color wines, spirits, ground coffee, etc.
3. A large leather vessel for beer, etc. [Obs.]
4. (Bot.) The Quercus nigra, or barren oak.
5. The ensign of a pirate.
Black lead (?). Plumbago; graphite.It leaves a blackish mark somewhat like lead. See Graphite.
Blacklead, v. t. To coat or to polish with black lead.
Blackleg (?), n. 1. A notorious gambler. [Colloq.]
2. A disease among calves and sheep, characterized by a settling of gelatinous matter in the legs, and sometimes in the neck. [Eng.]
Black letter (?). The old English or Gothic letter, in which the Early English manuscripts were written, and the first English books were printed. It was conspicuous for its blackness. See Type.
Blackletter, a. 1. Written or printed in black letter; as, a blackletter manuscript or book.
2. Given to the study of books in black letter; that is, of old books; out of date.
Kemble, a blackletter man!
J. Boaden.
3. Of or pertaining to the days in the calendar not marked with red letters as saints' days. Hence: Unlucky; inauspicious.
Blacklist (?), v. t. To put in a black list as deserving of suspicion, censure, or punishment; esp. to put in a list of persons stigmatized as insolvent or untrustworthy, as tradesmen and employers do for mutual protection; as, to blacklist a workman who has been discharged. See Black list, under Black, a.
If you blacklist us, we will boycott you.
John Swinton.
Blackly, adv. In a black manner; darkly, in color; gloomily; threateningly; atrociously. Deeds so blackly grim and horrid.
Feltham.
Blackmail (?), n. [Black + mail a piece of money.] 1. A certain rate of money, corn, cattle, or other thing, anciently paid, in the north of England and south of Scotland, to certain men who were allied to robbers, or moss troopers, to be by them protected from pillage.
Sir W. Scott.
2. Payment of money exacted by means of intimidation; also, extortion of money from a person by threats of public accusation, exposure, or censure.
3. (Eng. Law) Black rent, or rent paid in corn, flesh, or the lowest coin, a opposed to white rent, which paid in silver.
To levy blackmail, to extort money by threats, as of injury to one's reputation.
Blackmail, v. t. [imp. & p.p. Blackmailed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Blackmailing.] To extort money from by exciting fears of injury other than bodily harm, as injury to reputation, distress of mind, etc.; as, to blackmail a merchant by threatening to expose an alleged fraud. [U. S.]
Blackmailer (?), n. One who extorts, or endeavors to extort, money, by black mailing.
Blackmailing, n. The act or practice of extorting money by exciting fears of injury other than bodily harm, as injury to reputation.
Black Monday (?). 1. Easter Monday, so called from the severity of that day in 1360, which was so unusual that many of Edward III.'s soldiers, then before Paris, died from the cold.
Stow.
Then it was not for nothing that may nose fell a bleeding on Black Monday last.
Shak.
2. The first Monday after the holidays; so called by English schoolboys.
Halliwell.
Black monk (?). A Benedictine monk.
Blackmoor (?), n. See Blackamoor.
Blackmouthed (?), a. Using foul or scurrilous language; slanderous.
Blackness, n. The quality or state of being black; black color; atrociousness or enormity in wickedness.
They're darker now than blackness.
Donne.
Blackpoll (?), n. [Black + poll head.] (Zol.) A warbler of the United States (Dendroica striata).
Black pudding (?). A kind of sausage made of blood, suet, etc., thickened with meal.
And fat black puddings, proper food,
For warriors that delight in blood.
Hudibras.
Black Rod (?). (a) the usher to the Chapter of the Garter, so called from the black rod which he carries. He is of the king's chamber, and also usher to the House of Lords. [Eng.] (b) An usher in the legislature of British colonies.
Cowell.
Committed to the custody of the Black Rod.
Macaulay.
Blackroot , n. (Bot.) See Colicroot.
Blacks (?), n. pl. 1. The name of a kind of in used in copperplate printing, prepared from the charred husks of the grape, and residue of the wine press.
2. Soot flying in the air. [Eng.]
3. Black garments, etc. See Black, n., 4.
Blacksalter (?), n. One who,makes crude potash, or black salts.
Black salts (?). Crude potash.
De Colange.
Blacksmith (?), n. [Black (in allusion to the color of the metal) + smith. Cf. Whitesmith.] 1. A smith who works in iron with a forge, and makes iron utensils, horseshoes, etc.
The blacksmith may forge what he pleases.
Howell.
2. (Zol.) A fish of the Pacific coast (Chromis, or Heliastes, punctipinnis), of a blackish color.
Black snake (?) or Blacksnake, n. (Zol.) A snake of a black color, of which two species are common in the United States, the Bascanium constrictor, or racer, sometimes six feet long, and the Scotophis Alleghaniensis, seven or eight feet long.
%The name is also applied to various other black serpents, as Natrix atra of Jamaica.
Blackstrap (?), n. 1. A mixture of spirituous liquor (usually rum) and molasses.
No blackstrap tonight; switchel, or ginger pop.
Judd.
2. Bad port wine; any commo wine of the Mediterranean; so called by sailors.
Blacktail (?), n. [Black + tail.] 1. (Zol.) A fish; the ruff or pope.
2. (Zol.) The blacktailed deer (Cervus or Cariacus Columbianus) of California and Oregon; also, the mule deer of the Rocky Mountains. See Mule deer.
Blackthorn (?), n. (Bot.) (a) A spreading thorny shrub or small tree (Prunus spinosa), with blackish bark, and bearing little black plums, which are called sloes; the sloe. (b) A species of Cratgus or hawthorn (C. tomentosa). Both are used for hedges.
Black vomit (?). (Med.) A copious vomiting of darkcolored matter; or the substance so discharged; one of the most fatal symptoms in yellow fever.
Black wash (?) or Blackwash, n. 1. (Med.) A lotion made by mixing calomel and lime water.
2. A wash that blackens, as opposed to whitewash; hence, figuratively, calumny.
To remove as far as he can the modern layers of black wash, and let the man himself, fair or foul, be seen.
C. Kingsley.
Blackwood (?), n. A name given to several darkcolored timbers. The East Indian black wood is from the tree Dalbergia latifolia.
Balfour.
Blackwork (?), n. Work wrought by blacksmiths; so called in distinction from that wrought by whitesmiths.
Knight.
Bladder (?), n. [OE. bladder, bleddre, AS. bl?dre, bl?ddre; akin to Icel. bla?ra, SW. blddra, Dan. blre, D. blaar, OHG. bltara the bladder in the body of animals, G. blatter blister, bustule; all fr. the same root as AS. blwan, E. blow, to puff. See Blow to puff.]
1. (Anat.) A bag or sac in animals, which serves as the receptacle of some fluid; as, the urinary bladder; the gall bladder; applied especially to the urinary bladder, either within the animal, or when taken out and inflated with air.
2. Any vesicle or blister, especially if filled with air, or a thin, watery fluid.
3. (Bot.) A distended, membranaceous pericarp.
4. Anything inflated, empty, or unsound. To swim with bladders of philosophy.
Rochester.
Bladder nut, or Bladder tree (Bot.), a genus of plants (Staphylea) with bladderlike seed pods. Bladder pod (Bot.), a genus of low herbs (Vesicaria) with inflated seed pods. Bladdor senna (Bot.), a genus of shrubs (Colutea), with membranaceous, inflated pods. Bladder worm (Zol.), the larva of any species of tapeworm (Tnia), found in the flesh or other parts of animals. See Measle, Cysticercus. Bladder wrack (Bot.), the common black rock weed of the seacoast (Fucus nodosus and F. vesiculosus) called also bladder tangle. See Wrack.
Bladder, v. t. [imp. & p.p. Bladdered (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Bladdering.] 1. To swell out like a bladder with air; to inflate. [Obs.]
G. Fletcher.
2. To put up in bladders; as, bladdered lard.
Bladderwort (?), n. (Bot.) A genus (Utricularia) of aquatic or marshy plants, which usually bear numerous vesicles in the divisions of the leaves. These serve as traps for minute animals. See Ascidium.
Bladdery (?), a. Having bladders; also, resembling a bladder.
Blade (?), n. [OE. blade, blad, AS. bld leaf; akin to OS., D., Dan., & Sw. blad, Icel. bla?, OHG. blat, G. blatt, and perh. to L. folium, Gr. ?. The root is prob. the same as that of AS. bl?wan, E. blow, to blossom. See Blow to blossom, and cf. Foil leaf of metal.]
1. Properly, the leaf, or flat part of the leaf, of any plant, especially of gramineous plants. The term is sometimes applied to the spire of grasses.
The crimson dulse ... with its waving blade.
Percival.
First the blade, then ear, after that the full corn in the ear.
Mark iv. 28.
2. The cutting part of an instrument; as, the blade of a knife or a sword.
3. The broad part of an oar; also, one of the projecting arms of a screw propeller.
4. The scapula or shoulder blade.
5. pl. (Arch.) The principal rafters of a roof.
Weale.
6. pl. (Com.) The four large shell plates on the sides, and the five large ones of the middle, of the carapace of the sea turtle, which yield the best tortoise shell.
De Colange.
7. A sharpwitted, dashing, wild, or reckless, fellow; a word of somewhat indefinite meaning.
He saw a turnkey in a trice
Fetter a troublesome blade.
Coleridge.

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Blade (?), v. t. To furnish with a blade.
Blade, v. i. To put forth or have a blade.
As sweet a plant, as fair a flower, is faded
As ever in the Muses' garden bladed.
P. Fletcher.
Bladebone (?), n. The scapula. See Blade, 4.
Bladed (?), a. 1. Having a blade or blades; as a twobladed knife.
Decking with liquid pearl the bladed grass.
Shak.
2. Divested of blades; as, bladed corn.
3. (Min.) Composed of long and narrow plates, shaped like the blade of a knife.
Bladefish (?), n. (Zol.) A long, thin, marine fish of Europe (Trichiurus lepturus); the ribbon fish.
Bladesmith (?), n. A sword cutler. [Obs.]
Blady (?), a. Consisting of blades. [R.] Blady grass.
Drayton.
Bl (?), a. [See Blue.] Dark blue or bluish gray; leadcolored. [Scot.]
Blberry (?), n. [Bl + berry; akin to Icel blber, Sw. bl?br, D. blaabr. Cf. Blueberry.] The bilberry. [North of Eng. & Scot.]
Blague (?), n. [F.] Mendacious boasting; falcefood; humbug.
Blain (?), n. [OE. blein, bleyn, AS. bl?gen; akin to Dan. blegn, D. blein; perh. fr. the same root as E. bladder. See Bladder.] 1. An inflammatory swelling or sore; a bulla, pustule, or blister.
Blotches and blains must all his flesh emboss.
Milton.
2. (Far.) A bladder growing on the root of the tongue of a horse, against the windpipe, and stopping the breath.
Blamable (?), a. [Cf. F. blmable.] Deserving of censure; faulty; culpable; reprehensible; censurable; blameworthy. Blamableness, n. Blamably (?), adv.
Blame , v. t. [imp. & p.p. Blamed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Blaming.] [OE. blamen, F. blr, OF. blasmer, fr. L. blasphemare to blaspheme, LL. also to blame, fr. Gr. ? to speak ill to slander, to blaspheme, fr. ? evil speaking, perh, for ?; ? injury (fr. ? to injure) + ? a saying, fr. ? to say. Cf. Blaspheme, and see Fame.]
1. To censure; to express disapprobation of; to find fault with; to reproach.
We have none to blame gut ourselves.
Tillotson.
2. To bring reproach upon; to blemish. [Obs.]
She ... blamed her noble blood.
Spenser.
To blame, to be blamed, or deserving blame; in fault; as, the conductor was to blame for the accident.
You were to blame, I must be plain with you.
Shak.
Blame, n. [OE. blame, fr. F. blme, OF. blasme, fr. blmer, OF. blasmer, to blame. See Blame, v.] 1. An expression of disapprobation fir something deemed to be wrong; imputation of fault; censure.
Let me bear the blame forever.
Gen. xiiii. 9.
2. That which is deserving of censure or disapprobation; culpability; fault; crime; sin.
Holy and without blame before him in love.
Eph. i. 4.
3. Hurt; injury. [Obs.]
Spenser.
Syn. Censure; reprehension; condemnation; reproach; fault; sin; crime; wrongdoing.
Blameful (?), a. 1. Faulty; meriting blame.
Shak.
2. Attributing blame or fault; implying or conveying censure; faultfinding; censorious.
Chaucer.
Blamefully, adv. Blamefulness, n.
Blameless, a. Free from blame; without fault; innocent; guiltless; sometimes followed by of.
A bishop then must be blameless.
1 Tim. iii. 2.
Blameless still of arts that polish to deprave.
Mallet.
We will be blameless of this thine oath.
Josh. ii. 17.
Syn. Irreproachable; sinless; unblemished; inculpable. Blameless, Spotless, Faultless, Stainless. We speak of a thing as blameless when it is free from blame, or the just imputation of fault; as, a blameless life or character. The others are stronger. We speak of a thing as faultless, stainless, or spotless, only when we mean that it is absolutely without fault or blemish; as, a spotless or stainless reputation; a faultless course of conduct. The last three words apply only to the general character, while blameless may be used in reverence to particular points; as, in this transaction he was wholly blameless. We also apply faultless to personal appearance; as, a faultless figure; which can not be done in respect to any of the other words.
Blamelessly, adv. In a blameless manner.
Blamelessness, n. The quality or state of being blameless; innocence.
Blamer (?), n. One who blames.
Wyclif.
Blameworthy (?), a. Deserving blame; culpable; reprehensible. Blameworthiness, n.
Blancard (?), n. [F., fr. blanc white.] A kind of linen cloth made in Normandy, the thread of which is partly blanches before it is woven.
Blanch (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Blanched (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Blanching.] [OE. blanchen, blaunchen, F. blanchir, fr. blanc white. See Blank, a.]
1. To take the color out of, and make white; to bleach; as, to blanch linen; age has blanched his hair.
2. (Gardening) To bleach by excluding the light, as the stalks or leaves of plants, by earthing them up or tying them together.
3. (Confectionery & Cookery) (a) To make white by removing the skin of, as by scalding; as, to blanch almonds. (b) To whiten, as the surface of meat, by plunging into boiling water and afterwards into cold, so as to harden the surface and retain the juices.
4. To give a white luster to (silver, before stamping, in the process of coining.).
5. To cover (sheet iron) with a coating of tin.
6. Fig.: To whiten; to give a favorable appearance to ; to whitewash; to palliate.
Blanch over the blackest and most absurd things.
Tillotson.
Syn. To Blanch, Whiten. To whiten is the generic term, denoting, to render white; as, to whiten the walls of a room. Usually (though not of necessity) this is supposed to be done by placing some white coloring matter in or upon the surface of the object in question. To blanch is to whiten by the removal of coloring matter; as, to blanch linen. So the cheek is blanched by fear, i. e., by the withdrawal of the blood, which leaves it white.
Blanch (?), v. i. To grow or become white; as, his cheek blanched with fear; the rose blanches in the sun.
[Bones] blanching on the grass.
Tennyson.
Blanch, v. t. [See Blench.] 1. To avoid, as from fear; to evade; to leave unnoticed. [Obs.]
Ifs and ands to qualify the words of treason, whereby every man might express his malice and blanch his danger.
Bacon.
I suppose you will not blanch Paris in your way.
Reliq. Wot.
2. To cause to turn aside or back; as, to blanch a deer.
Blanch, v. i. To use evasion. [Obs.]
Books will speak plain, when counselors blanch.
Bacon.
Blanch, n. (Mining) Ore, not in masses, but mixed with other minerals.
Blancher (?), n. One who, or that which, blanches or whitens; esp., one who anneals and cleanses money; also, a chemical preparation for this purpose.
Blancher, n. One who, or that which, frightens away or turns aside. [Obs.]
And Gynecia, a blancher, which kept the dearest deer from her.
Sir P. Sidney.
And so even now hath he divers blanchers belonging to the market, to let and stop the light of the gospel.
Latimer.
Blanch holding (?). (Scots Law) A mode of tenure by the payment of a small duty in white rent (silver) or otherwise.
Blanchimeter (?), n. [1st blanch + meter.] An instrument for measuring the bleaching power of chloride of lime and potash; a chlorometer.
Ure.
Blancmange (?), n. [F. blancmanger, lit. white food; blanc white + manger to eat.] (Cookery) A preparation for desserts, etc., made from isinglass, sea moss, cornstarch, or other gelatinous or starchy substance, with mild, usually sweetened and flavored, and shaped in a mold.
Blancmanger (?), n. [F. See Blancmange.] A sort of fricassee with white sauce, variously made of capon, fish, etc. [Obs.]
Chaucer.
Bland (?), a. [L. blandus, of unknown origin.]
1. Mild; soft; gentle; smooth and soothing in manner; suave; as, a bland temper; bland persuasion; a bland sycophant. Exhilarating vapor bland.
Milton.
2. Having soft and soothing qualities; not drastic or irritating; not stimulating; as, a bland oil; a bland diet.
Blandation (?), n. [Cf. L. blanditia, blandities, fr. blandus. See Bland.] Flattery. [Obs.]
Blandiloquence (?), n. [L. blandiloquentia; blandus mild + loqui to speak.] Mild, flattering speech.
Blandiloquous (?), Blandiloquious (?), } a. Fairspoken; flattering.
Blandise (?), v. i. [Same word as Blandish.] To blandish any one. [Obs.]
Chaucer.
Blandish (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Blandished (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Blandishing.] [OE. blaundisen, F. blandir, fr. L. blandiri, fr. blandus mild, flattering.] 1. To flatter with kind words or affectionate actions; to caress; to cajole.
2. To make agreeable and enticing.
Mustering all her wiles,
With blandished parleys.
Milton.
Blandisher (?), n. One who uses blandishments.
Blandishment (?), n. [Cf. OF. blandissement.] The act of blandishing; a word or act expressive of affection or kindness, and tending to win the heart; soft words and artful caresses; cajolery; allurement.
Cowering low with blandishment.
Milton.
Attacked by royal smiles, by female blandishments.
Macaulay.
Blandly (?), adv. In a bland manner; mildly; suavely.
Blandness, n. The state or quality of being bland.
Blank (?), a. [OE. blank, blonc, blaunc, blaunche, fr. F. blanc, fem. blanche, fr. OHG. blanch shining, bright, white, G. blank; akin to E. blink, cf. also AS. blanc white. ?98. See Blink, and cf. 1st Blanch.]
1. Of a white or pale color; without color.
To the blank moon
Her office they prescribed.
Milton.
2. Free from writing, printing, or marks; having an empty space to be filled in with some special writing; said of checks, official documents, etc.; as, blank paper; a blank check; a blank ballot.
3. Utterly confounded or discomfited.
Adam ... astonied stood, and blank.
Milton.
4. Empty; void; without result; fruitless; as, a blank space; a blank day.
5. Lacking characteristics which give variety; as, a blank desert; a blank wall; destitute of interests, affections, hopes, etc.; as, to live a blank existence; destitute of sensations; as, blank unconsciousness.
6. Lacking animation and intelligence, or their associated characteristics, as expression of face, look, etc.; expressionless; vacant. Blank and horrorstricken faces.
C. Kingsley.
The blank ... glance of a half returned consciousness.
G. Eliot.
7. Absolute; downright; unmixed; as, blank terror.
Blank bar (Law), a plea put in to oblige the plaintiff in an action of trespass to assign the certain place where the trespass was committed; called also common bar. Blank cartridge, a cartridge containing no ball. Blank deed. See Deed. Blank door, or Blank window (Arch.), a depression in a wall of the size of a door or window, either for symmetrical effect, or for the more convenient insertion of a door or window at a future time, should it be needed. Blank indorsement (Law), an indorsement which omits the name of the person in whose favor it is made; it is usually made by simply writing the name of the indorser on the back of the bill. Blank line (Print.), a vacant space of the breadth of a line, on a printed page; a line of quadrats. Blank tire (Mech.), a tire without a flange. Blank tooling. See Blind tooling, under Blind. Blank verse. See under Verse. Blank wall, a wall in which there is no opening; a dead wall.
Blank (?), n. 1. Any void space; a void space on paper, or in any written instrument; an interval void of consciousness, action, result, etc; a void.
I can not write a paper full, I used to do; and yet I will not forgive a blank of half an inch from you.
Swift.
From this time there ensues a long blank in the history of French legislation.
Hallam.
I was ill. I can't tell how long it was a blank.
G. Eliot.
2. A lot by which nothing is gained; a ticket in a lottery on which no prize is indicated.
In Fortune's lottery lies
A heap of blanks, like this, for one small prize.
Dryden.
3. A paper unwritten; a paper without marks or characters a blank ballot; especially, a paper on which are to be inserted designated items of information, for which spaces are left vacant; a bland form.
The freemen signified their approbation by an inscribed vote, and their dissent by a blank.
Palfrey.
4. A paper containing the substance of a legal instrument, as a deed, release, writ, or execution, with spaces left to be filled with names, date, descriptions, etc.
5. The point aimed at in a target, marked with a white spot; hence, the object to which anything is directed.
Let me still remain
The true blank of thine eye.
Shak.
6. Aim; shot; range. [Obs.]
I have stood ... within the blank of his displeasure
For my free speech.
Shak.
7. A kind of base silver money, first coined in England by Henry V., and worth about 8 pence; also, a French coin of the seventeenth century, worth about 4 pence.
Nares.
8. (Mech.) A piece of metal prepared to be made into something by a further operation, as a coin, screw, nuts.
9. (Dominoes) A piece or division of a piece, without spots; as, the