B – Balearic

B

B is the second letter, and the first articulation, or consonant, in the English, as in the Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and most other alphabets. In the Ethiopic, it is the ninth letter, and its shape is that of a hut. Perhaps from this or other like figure, it received its Hebrew name, beth, a house. It is a mute and a labial, being formed by pressing the whole length of the lips together, as in pronouncing eb. It is less perfectly mute than p, as may be perceived by pronouncing the syllables ab and ap. It is convertible, 1st, with p, as in the Celtic, ben or pen, a mountain; in the English, beak and peak, beck and peck; 2d, with v, as in the German, silber for silver; and in Spanish, b and v are used indifferently; 3d, with f, as in bore and perforo; Eng. bear, Latin fero; in the celtic bun, bunadh, bunait, stock, origin, foundation; English, found; Latin fundamentum; with the Gr.as Bilip; 4th, with the v and w; as, Ir.fior, Latin verus; fear, vir; Ir. buaic, the wick of a candle.

The Greek b is always pronounced like the English V, and the Russian b corresponds with the Greek.

In composition, the letter b is changed into p before the letter p; as in opprimo, from ob and premo; oppono, from ob and pono; into f, before f, as in offero, from ob and fero; into c before c, as in occido, from ob and cado, and coedo.

As a numeral, b was used by the Hebrews and Greeks, as now by the Arabians, for 2; by the Romans for 300, and with a dash over it thus b for 3000. b is used also as an abbreviation; thus b adjective stand for bachelor of arts; b Latin for bachelor of laws; b D. for bachelor of divinity; b F. before the decrees of the old Romans, for bonum factum. In music, b stands for the tone above A; for b flat, or the semi-tone major above adjective b also stands for base, and

B.C. for basso continuo, or thorough base.

Baa

B'AA, noun The cry or appropriate bleating of sheep.

B'AA, verb intransitive To cry or bleat as sheep.

Baal

BA'AL, noun An idol among the ancient Chaldeans and Syrians, representing the sun. The word signifies also lord, or commander; and the character of the idol was varied by different nations, at different times. Thus baal Berith is supposed to signify the Lord of the Covenant; baal Peor, or rather baal Phegor, the Lord of the dead. Ps. cvi, baal Zebub, the god of flies, etc.

Babble

BAB'BLE, verb intransitive

1. To utter words imperfectly or indistinctly, as children.

2. To talk idly or irrationally; to talk thoughtlessly.

3. To talk much; to prate; hence to tell secrets.

4. To utter sounds frequently, incessantly, or indistinctly; as a babbling echo; a babbling stream.

BAB'BLE, verb transitive To prate; to utter.

BAB'BLE, noun Idle talk; senseless prattle.

1

Babblement

BAB'BLEMENT, noun Idle talk; senseless prate; unmeaning words.

Babbler

BAB'BLER, noun An idle talker; an irrational prattler; a teller of secrets.

Babbling

BAB'BLING, participle present tense Talking idly; telling secrets.

2. Uttering a succession of murmuring sounds; as a babbling stream.

3. In hunting, babbling is when the hounds are too busy after they have found a good scent.

BAB'BLING, noun Foolish talk. 1 Timothy 6:20.

Babe

BABE, noun [Latin pupus, a word of endearment; pupa, little girl; whence pupillus, pupilla, pupil.]

An infant; a young child of either sex.

Babel

BA'BEL, noun [Heb.] Confusion; disorder.

Babery

BA'BERY, noun Finery to please a child; any trifling toy for children.

Babish

BA'BISH, adjective Like a babe; childish.

Babishly

BA'BISHLY, adverb Childishly.

Baboon

BABOON', noun A monkey of the largest species; a quadruped belonging to the genus Simia, in the class Mammalia, and order Primates, according to the system of Linne; but by Pennant arranged under the digitated quadrupeds. Baboons have short tails; a long face; a broad high muzzle; dog-like tusks, or canine teeth; and naked callosities on the buttocks. They are found only on the eastern continent.

Baby

BA'BY, adjective Like a young child; pertaining to an infant.

BA'BY, noun [See Babe.] An infant or young child of either sex; a babe; [used in familiar language.]

2. A small image in form of an infant, for girls to play with; a doll.

BA'BY, verb transitive To treat like a young child.

Baby-House

BA'BY-HOUSE, noun A place for children's dolls and babies.

Babyhood

BA'BYHOOD, noun The state of being a baby.

Babylonian

BABYLO'NIAN

BABYLON'IC

BABYLON'ICAL, adjective Pertaining to Babylon, or made there; as Babylonic garments, carpets or hangings.

2. Tumultuous; disorderly.

Babylonic

BABYLON'IC

Babylonical

BABYLON'ICAL, a. Pertaining to Babylon, or made there; as Babylonic garments, carpets or hangings. 2. Tumultuous; disorderly.

Babylonics

BABYLON'ICS, noun plural The title of a fragment of the history of the world, ending 267 years before Christ, composed by Berosus, a priest of Babylon.

Babylonish

BABYLO'NISH, adjective Pertaining to Babylon, the capital of the ancient kingdom of Babylonia, or to the kingdom. The city stood on the river Frat, or Euphrates, and it is supposed, on the spot where the tower of Babel was founded.

2. Like the language of Babel; mixed; confused.

BABYLO'NIAN, noun An inhabitant of Babylonia. In ancient writers, an astrologer, as the Chaldeans were remarkable for the study of astrology.

Babyroussa

BABYROUS'SA, noun In zoology, the Indian hog, a native of Celebes, and of Buero, but not found on the continent of Asia or of Africa. This quadruped belongs to the genus, Sus, in the class Mammalia, and order Bellua. From the outside of the upper jaw, spring two teeth twelve inches long, bending like horns, and almost touching the forehead. Along the back are some weak bristles, and on the rest of the body only a sort of wool. These animals live in herds, feed on herbage, are sometimes tamed, and their flesh is well tasted. When pursued hard, they rush into the sea, swim or dive and pass from isle to isle. In the forest, they rest their heads by hooking their upper tusks on a bough.

Bac

BAC or BACK, noun

1. In navigation, a ferry-boat or praam.

2. In brewing, a large flat tub, or vessel, in which wort is cooled before boiling; hence called a cooler.

3. In distilleries, a vessel into which the liquor to be fermented is pumped, from the cooler, in order to be worked with the yeast.

Bacca

BAC'CA, noun [Latin] In botany, a berry; a fruit which consists of a pulpy pericarp, without valves, inclosing several naked seeds.

Baccalaureate

BACCALAU'REATE, noun [The first part of this word is from the same root as bachelor; or as Bailey supposes, from bacca, berry; and the latter part, from laurea, a laurel, from the practice of wearing a garland of bay berries.]

The degree of bachelor of arts.

Baccated

BAC'CATED, adjective [Latin baccatus, garnished with pearls, from bacca, a berry.]

Set or adorned with pearls; having many berries.

Bacchanal

BAC'CHANAL,

BACCHANA'LIAN, noun [from Bacchus, Gr., the deity of wine and revelling. Latin poculum.]

One who indulges in drunken revels; a drunkard; one who is noisy and riotous, when intoxicated.

BAC'CHANAL,

BACCHANA'LIAN, adjective Revelling in intemperate drinking; riotous; noisy.

BACCHANA'LIAN, adjective Pertaining to reveling and drunkenness. Even bacchanalian madness has its charms.

Bacchanals

BAC'CHANALS, noun plural Drunken feasts; the revels of bacchanalians. In antiquity, feasts in honor of Bacchus, the god of wine. These were celebrated in spring and autumn, with games and shows.

Bacchic

BAC'CHIC, adjective Jovial; drunken; mad with intoxication.

2. Relating to Bacchus, the god of wine; as, a bacchic feast or song; bacchic mysteries.

Bacchius

BAC'CHIUS, noun In ancient poetry, a foot composed of a short syllable and two long ones; as in avari.

Baccifferous

BACCIF'FEROUS, adjective [Latin baccifer, of bacca, a berry, and fero, to bear.]

That produces berries. [See Bacca.] Bacciferous plants formerly included all such plants as have a pulpy fruit, whether of the apple, berry or cherry kind; but the modern systems of botany comprehend under this description such plants only as bear the pulpy pericarp, called bacca, or berry.

Baccivorous

BACCIV'OROUS, adjective [Latin bacca, berry, and voro, to eat.]

Eating or subsisting on berries; as baccivorous birds.

Bachelor

BACH'ELOR, noun [Latin baculus, a stick, that is, a shoot.]

1. A young man who has not been married.

2. A man of any age, who has not been married; often with the word old.

3. A person who has taken the first degree in the liberal arts and sciences, at a college or university. This degree or honor is called the baccalaureate. This title is given also to such as take the first degree in divinity, law or physic, in certain European universities.

4. A knight of the lowest order, or more correctly, a young knight, styled, a knight bachelor The Germans anciently constituted their young men knights or soldiers, by presenting to them a shield and a lance, in a great council. This ceremony answered to that of the toga virilis of the Romans. In the livery companies of London, those persons not yet admitted to the livery are called bachelors.

Bachelorship

BACH'ELORSHIP, noun The state of being a bachelor.

2. The state of one who has taken his first degree in a college or university.

Back

BACK, noun

1. The upper part of an animal, particularly of a quadruped, whose back is a ridge. In human beings, the hinder part of the body.

2. The outward or convex part of the hand, opposed to the inner, concave part, or palm.

3. As the back of man is the part on the side opposite to the face; hence the part opposed to the front; as the back of a book and of a chimney, or the back of a house.

4. The part opposite to or most remote from that which fronts the speaker or actor, or the part out of sight; as the back of an isle, of a wood, of a village.

5. As the back is the strongest part of an animal, and as the back is behind in motion; hence the thick and strong part of a cutting tool; as the back of a knife, or of a saw.

6. The place behind or nearest the back; as, on the back of a hill or of a village.

7. The outer part of the body, or the whole body; a part for the whole; as, he has not clothes to his back

8. To turn the back on one, is to forsake, or neglect him.

9. To turn the back to one, to acknowledge to be superior.

10. To turn the back is to depart, or to leave the care or cognizance of; to remove or be absent.

11. Behind the back is in secret, or when one is absent.

12. To cast behind the back in scripture, is to forget and forgive, Is.xxxviii, 17; or to treat with contempt. Ez.xxiii.35. Neh.ix.26.

13. To plow the back is to oppress and persecute. Psalms 129:3.

14. To bow the back is to submit to oppression. Rom.xi.10.

BACK, adverb To the place from which one came; as, to go back is to return.

2. In a figurative sense, to a former state, condition or station; as, he cannot go back from his engagements.

3. Behind; not advancing; not coming or bringing forward; as, to keep back a part; to keep one's selfback.

4. Towards times or things past; as, to look back on former ages.

5. Again; in return; as, give back the money.

6. To go or come back is to return, either to a former place, or state.

7. To go or give back is to retreat to recede.

BACK, verb transitive To mount; to get upon the back; sometimes perhaps to place upon the back; as, to back a horse.

2. To support; to maintain; to second or strengthen by aid; as, the Court was backed by the House of Commons.

3. To put backward; to cause to retreat or recede; as, to back oxen.

4. To back a warrant, is for a justice of the peace in the county where the warrant is to be executed, to sign or indorse a warrant, issued in another county, to apprehend an offender.

5. In seamanship, to back an anchor is to lay down a small anchor ahead of a large one, the cable of the small one being fastened to the crown of the large one, to prevent its coming home.

6. To back astern, in rowing, is to manage the oars in a direction contrary to the usual method, to move a boat stern foremost.

7. To back the sails, is to arrange them so as to cause the ship to move astern.

BACK, verb intransitive To move or go back; as, the horse refuses to back

Backbite

BACK'BITE, verb transitive [back and bite] To censure, slander, reproach, or speak evil of the absent. Proverbs 25:1.

Backbiter

BACK'BITER, noun One who slanders, calumniates or speaks ill of the absent.

Backbiting

BACK'BITING, noun The act of slandering the absent; secret calumny. 2 Corinthians 12:20.

Backbitingly

BACKBI'TINGLY, adverb With secret slander.

Backboard

BACK'BOARD, noun [back and board.] A board placed across the after part of a boat.

Backbone

BACKBO'NE, noun [back and bone.] The bone of the back; or the spine.

Backcarry

BACK'CARRY, noun A having on the back; a term of law.

Backdoor

BACKDOOR, noun [back and door.] A door on the back part of a bulding; a private passage; and indirect way.

Backed

BACK'ED, participle passive Mounted; having on the back; supported by aid; seconded; moved backward.

BACK'ED, adjective Having a back; a word used in composition; as broad-backed, hump-backed.

Backfriend

BACK'FRIEND, noun [back and friend.] A secret enemy.

Backgammon

BACKGAM'MON, noun A game played by two persons, upon a table, with box and dice. The table is in two parts, on which are 24 black and white spaces, called points. Each player has 15 men of different colors for the purpose of distinction.

Background

BACK'GROUND, noun [back and ground.] Ground in the rear or behind, as opposed to the front.

2. A place of obscurity, or shade; a situation little seen, or noticed.

Backhanded

BACK'HANDED, adjective [back and hand.] With the hand turned backward; as a backhanded blow.

BACK'HANDED, adverb With the hand directed backward; as, to strike backhanded

Backhouse

BACK'HOUSE, noun [back and house.] A building behind the main or front building.

6

Backing

BACK'ING, participle present tense Mounting; moving back, as a horse; seconding.

Backpainting

BACK'PAINTING, noun [back and paint.] The method of painting mezzotinto prints, pasted on glass of a size to fit the print.

Backpiece

BACK'PIECE, noun [back and piece.] The piece of armor which covers the back.

Backreturn

BACK'RETURN, noun Repeated return.

Backroom

BACK'ROOM, noun [back and room.] A room behind the front room, or in the back part of the house.

Backs

BACKS, noun Among dealers in leather, the thickest and best tanned hides.

Backset

BACK'SET, adjective [back and set.] Set upon in the rear.

Backside

BACK'SIDE, noun [back and side.] The back part of anything; the part behind that which is presented to the face of a spectator. Exodus 3:1.

2. The hind part of an animal.

3. The yard, ground or place behind a house.

Backslide

BACKSLI'DE, verb intransitive [back and slide.] To fall off; to apostatize; to turn gradually from the faith and practice of christianity. Jeremiah 3:1. Hosea 4.

Backslider

BACKSLI'DER, noun An apostate; one who falls from the faith and practice of religion. Proverbs 14:14.

2. One who neglects his vows of obedience and falls into sin.

Backsliding

BACKSLI'DING, noun The act of apostatizing from faith or practice; a falling insensibly from religion into sin or idolatry. Jer. v.6.

Backstaff

BACK'STAFF, noun [back and staff, so called from its being used with the observer's back toward the sun.]

A quadrant; an instrument for taking the sun's altitude at sea; called also, from its inventor, Davis's quadrant.

Backstairs

BACK'STAIRS, noun [back and stairs.]

Stairs in the back part of a house; private stairs; and figuratively, a private or indirect way.

Backstays

BACK'STAYS, noun [back and stay.]

Long ropes or stays extending from the top-mast heads to both sides of a ship, to assist the shrouds in supporting the mast, when strained by a weight of sail, and prevent it from giving way and falling overboard.

Backsword

BACK'SWORD, noun [back and sword.]

A sword with one sharp edge. In England, a stick with a basket handle used in rustic amusements.

7

Backward

BACK'WARD

BACK'WARDLY, adverb Unwillingly; reluctantly; adversely; perversely.

Backwardness

BACK'WARDNESS, noun Unwillingness; reluctance, dilatoriness, or dullness in action.

2. A state of being behind in progress; slowness; tardiness; as the backwardness of the spring.

Backwards

BACK'WARDS, adverb [back and ward. See Ward.] With the back in advance; as, to move backward.

2. Toward the back; as, to throw the arms backward; to move backwards and forwards.

3. On the back, or with the back downwards; as, to fall backward.

4. Toward past times or events; as to look backward on the history of man.

5. By way of reflection; reflexively.

6. From a better to a worse state; as, public affairs go backward.

7. In time past; as, let us look some ages backward.

8. Perversely; from a wrong end.

I never yet saw man but she would spell him backward.

9. Towards the beginning; in an order contrary to the natural order; as, to read backward.

10. In a scriptural sense, to go or turn backward, is to rebel, apostatize, or relapse into sin, or idolatry. Isaiah 1:1.

11. Contrarily; in a contrary manner.

To be driven or turned backward, is to be defeated, or disappointed. Ps.xl.turn judgment backward, is to pervert justice and laws. Is.lix.

BACK'WARD, adjective Unwilling; averse; reluctant; hesitating. For wiser brutes are backward to be slaves.

2. Slow; sluggish; dilatory. The mind is backward to undergo the fatigue of weighing every argument.

3. Dull; not quick of apprehension; behind in progress; as a backward learner.

4. Late; behind in time; coming after something else, or after the usual time; as backward fruits; the season is backward.

BACK'WARD, noun The things or state behind or past.

In the dark backward or abysm of time. [Not proper, nor in use.]

Backworm

BACK'WORM, noun [back and worm.] A small worm, in a thin skin, in the reins of a hawk. [See Filanders.]

Bacon

BA'CON, noun ba'kn.

Hog's flesh, salted or pickled and dried, usually in smoke.

To save one's bacon is to preserve one's self from harm.

Bacule

BAC'ULE, noun In fortification, a kind of portcullis or gate, made like a pit-fall, with a counterpoise, and supported by two great stakes.

Baculite

BAC'ULITE, noun [Latin baculus.]

A genus of fossil shells, of a straight form, in their cellular structure resembling the ammonites.

Baculometry

BACULOM'ETRY, noun [Latin baculus, a staff, and Gr. measure.]

The act of measuring distance of altitude by a staff or staves.

Bad

BAD, adjective [Heb. to perish or destroy]

1. Ill; evil; opposed to good; a word of general use, denoting physical defects and moral faults, in men and things; as a bad man, a bad heart, a bad design, bad air, bad water, bad books.

2. Vicious; corrupt; depraved, in a moral sense; as a bad life; a bad action.

3. Unwholesome; as bad provisions.

4. Unfortunate; unprosperous; as a bad state of affairs.

5. Unskillful; as a bad player.

6. Small; poor; as a bad crop.

7. Infirm; as a bad state of health.

8. Feeble, corrupt, or oppressive; as a bad government.

9. Hurtful; pernicious; as, fine print is bad for the eyes.

10. Unfavorable; as a bad season.

11. Poor; sterile; as a bad soil.

12. Rough or muddy; as a bad road. In short, bad expresses whatever is injurious, hurtful, inconvenient, unlawful or immoral; whatever is offensive, painful or unfavorable; or what is defective.

Bade

BAD, BADE, the past tense of bid. [See Bid.]

Badge

BADGE, noun [I know not the affinities of this word, not having found it in any other language. Probably it belongs to class Bg.]

1. A mark, sign, token or thing, by which a person is distinguished, in a particular place or employment, and designating his relation to a person or to a particular occupation; as the badge of authority.

2. The mark or token of anything; as the badge of bitterness.

3. An ornament on ships, near the stern, decorated with figures.

BADGE, verb transitive To mark, or distinguish with a badge

Badger

BADG'ER, noun In law, a person who is licensed to buy corn in one place and sell it in another, without incurring the penalties of engrossing.

BADG'ER, noun A quadruped of the genus Ursus, of a clumsy make, with short, thick legs, and long claws on the fore feet. It inhabits the north of Europe and Asia, burrows, is indolent and sleepy, feeds by night on vegetables, and is very fat. Its skin is used for pistol furniture; its flesh makes good bacon, and its hair is used for brushes to soften the shades in painting. The American badger is called the ground hog, and is sometimes white.

Badger-Legged

BADG'ER-LEGGED, adjective Having legs like a badger. Johnson says having legs of unequal length; but, qu.short thick legs.

Badiaga

BADIA'GA, noun A small spunge, common in the North of Europe, the powder of which is used to take away the livid marks of bruises.

Badiane

BAD'IANE

BADIGE'ON, noun A mixture of plaster and free stone, ground together and sifted, used by statuaries to fill the small holes and repair the defects of the stones, of which they make their statues.

Badinage

BAD'INAGE, noun Light or playful discourse.

Badly

BAD'LY, adverb [from bad.] In a bad manner; not well, unskillfully; grievously; unfortunately; imperfectly.

Badness

BAD'NESS, noun The state of being bad, evil, vicious or depraved; want of good qualities, natural or moral; as the badness of the heart, of the season, of the roads, _ c.

Baffetas

BAF'FETAS

BAF'FLE, verb transitive To mock or elude by artifice; to elude by shifts and turns; hence to defeat, or confound; as, to baffle the designs of an enemy.

Fashionable follies baffle argument.

BAF'FLE, verb intransitive To practice deceit.

BAF'FLE, noun A defeat by artifice, shifts and turns.

Baffle

BAF'FLE, v.t. To mock or elude by artifice; to elude by shifts and turns; hence to defeat, or confound; as, to baffle the designs of an enemy.

Fashionable follies baffle argument.

Baffled

BAF'FLED, participle passive Eluded; defeated; confounded.

Baffler

BAF'FLER, noun One that baffles.

Baffling

BAF'FLING, participle present tense Eluding by shifts, and turns, or by stratagem; defeating; confounding. A baffling wind, among seamen, is one that frequently shifts, from one point to another.

Baftas

BAF'TAS

BAG, noun [Norm. bage, a bag, a coffer, bagnes, baggage. This word seems to be from the root of pack, pouch.]

1. A sack; a pouch, usually of cloth or leather, used to hold, preserve or convey corn, and other commodities.

2. A sack in animal bodies containing some fluid or other substance.

3. Formerly, a sort of silken purse tied to the hair.

4. In commerce, a certain quantity of a commodity, such as it is customary to carry to market in a sack; as a bag of pepper or hops; a bag of corn.

5. Among farriers, a bag of asafoetida and savin is tied to the bits of horses to restore their appetites.

BAG, verb transitive To put into a bag.

2. To load with bags.

BAG, verb intransitive To swell like a full bag, as sails when filled with wind.

Bag

BAG, n.[Norm. bage, a bag, a coffer, bagnes, baggage. This word seems to be from the root of pack, pouch.] 1. A sack; a pouch, usually of cloth or leather, used to

Bagatelle

BAGATELLE, noun bagatel'.

A trifle; a thing of no importance.

Baggage

BAG'GAGE, noun [Eng.package.]

1. The tents, clothing, utensils, and other necessaries of an army.

2. The clothing and other conveniencies which a traveller carries with him, on a journey.

Having dispatched my baggage by water to Altdorf.

[The English now call this luggage.]

BAG'GAGE, noun A low worthless woman; a strumpet.

Bagging

BAG'GING, participle present tense Swelling; becoming protuberant.

BAG'GING, noun The cloth or materials for bags. U.States. Edwards' W. Indies.

Bagnio

BAGNIO, noun ban'yo.[Latin balneum.]

1. A bath; a house for bathing, cupping, sweating and otherwise cleansing the body. In Turkey, it is the name of prisons where slaves are kept; so called from the baths which they contain.

2. A brothel.

Bagpipe

BAG'PIPE, noun [bag and pipe.]

A musical wind instrument, used chiefly in Scotland and Ireland. It consists of a leathern bag, which receives the air by a tube, which is stopped by a valve; and pipes, into which the air is pressed by the performer. The base-pipe is called the drone, and the tenor or treble is called the chanter. The pipes have eight holes like those of a flute, which the performer stops and opens at pleasure. There are several species of bag-pipes, as the soft and melodious Irish bag-pipe, with two short drones and a long one; the Highland bag-pipe, with two short drones, the music of which is very loud; the Scot's Lowland bag-pipe, which is played with a bellows and is also a loud instrument. There is also a small pipe, with a chanter about eight inches in length.

In seamanship, to bag-pipe the mizen, is to lay it aback by bringing the sheet to the mizen shrouds.

Bagpiper

BAG'PIPER, noun One who plays on a bag-pipe.

Bagre

BAG'RE, noun A small bearded fish, a species of Silurus, anguilliform, of a silvery hue, without scales, and delicious food.

Bagreef

BAG'REEF, noun [bag and reef.] A fourth and lower reef used in the British navy.

Baguet

BAGUET', noun In architecture, a little round molding, less than an astragal, sometimes carved and enriched.

Bahar

BAHAR'

BAIGNE, verb transitive To soak or drench. [Not used.]

Baigne

BAIGNE, v.t. To soak or drench. [Not used.]

Baikalite

BA'IKALITE, noun [From Baikal, a lake in Northern Asia.]

A mineral occurring in acicular prisms, sometimes long, and either confusedly grouped or radiating from a center. Its color is greenish, or yellowish white. It is regarded as a variety of Tremolite. This name is given also to an olive-green variety of augite and also of epidote.

Bail

BAIL

, verb transitive

1. To set free, deliver, or liberate from arrest and imprisonment, upon security given that the person bailed shall appear and answer in court. The word is applied to the magistrate, or the surety. The magistrate bails a man, when he liberates him from arrest or imprisonment, upon bond given with sureties. The surety bails a person, when he procures his release from arrest, by giving bond for his appearance.

2. To deliver goods in trust, upon a contract, expressed or implied, that the trust shall be faithfully executed on the part of the bailee or person entrusted; as, to bail cloth to a tailor to be made into a garment, or to bail goods to a carrier.

3. To free from water, as to bail a boat. This word is improperly written bale. The word is probably the same as bail in law, to free, or liberate, and signifies to throw out water, as with a bucket or shovel.

BAIL, noun The person or persons who procure the release of a prisoner from custody, by becoming surety for his appearance in court.

The bail must be real substantial bondsmen.

B and B were bail to the arrest in a suit at law.

BAIL is not used with a plural termination.

2. The security given for the release of a prisoner from custody; as, the man is out upon bail

Excessive bail ought not to be required.

BAIL is common or special. Common bail are imaginary persons, who are pledges for the plaintiff's prosecution; as John Doe and Richard Roe.

Special bail must be men of real substance, sufficient to pay their bond or recognizance. To perfect or justify bail is to prove by the oath of the person that he is worth the sum for which he is surety beyond his debts. To admit to bail is to release upon security given by bondsmen.

3. The handle of a kettle or other vessel.

4. In England, a certain limit within a forest.

Bailable

BA'ILABLE, adjective That may be set free upon bond with sureties; that may be admitted to bail; used of persons.

2. That admits of bail; as a bailable offense.

Bailbond

BA'ILBOND, noun A bond or obligation given by a prisoner and his surety, to insure the prisoner's appearance in court, at the return of the writ.

Bailed

BA'ILED, participle passive Released from custody on bonds for appearance in court.

2. Delivered in trust, to be carried and deposited, redelivered, or otherwise accounted for.

3. Freed from water, as a boat.

Bailee

BAILEE', noun The person to whom goods are committed in trust, and who has a temporary possession and a qualified property in them, for the purposes of the trust.

Bailer

BA'ILER

BA'ILIFF, noun [Heb.lord, chief.] In England, an officer appointed by the sheriff. Bailiffs are either special, and appointed, for their adroitness, to arrest persons; or bailiffs of hundreds, who collect fines, summon juries, attend the assizes, and execute writs and process. The sheriff in England is the king's bailiff.

There are also bailiffs of liberties, appointed by the lords in their respective jurisdictions, to execute process, and perform other duties; bailiffs of forests and manors, who direct the husbandry, collect rents, etc.; and water bailiffs in each port, to search vessels, gather toll for anchorage, arrest persons for debt on the water, etc.

The office of bailiff formerly was high and honorable in England, and officers under that title on the continent are still invested with important functions.

Bailif

BA'ILIF, n.[Heb.lord, chief.] In England, an officer appointed by the sheriff. Bailiffs are either special, and appointed, for their adroitness, to arrest persons; or bailiffs of hundreds, who collect fines, summon juries, attend the assizes, and execute writs and process. The sheriff in England is the king's bailiff.

There are also bailiffs of liberties, appointed by the lords in their respective jurisdictions, to execute process, and perform other duties; bailiffs of forests and manors, who direct the husbandry, collect rents, &c; and water bailiffs in each port, to search vessels, gather toll for anchorage, arrest persons for debt on the water, &c.

The office of bailiff formerly was high and honorable in England, and officers under that title on the continent are still invested with important functions.

Bailiwick

BA'ILIWICK, noun [bailli, an officer, see bailiff.]

The precincts in which a bailiff has jurisdiction; the limits of a bailiff's authority; as a hundred, a liberty, a forest, over which a bailiff is appointed. In the liberties and franchises of lords, the bailiff has exclusive jurisdiction.

Bailment

BA'ILMENT, noun [from bail.]

A delivery of goods, in trust, upon a contract, expressed or implied, that the trust shall be faithfully executed.

Bailor

BA'ILOR, noun One who delivers goods to another in trust, for some particular purpose.

Bailpiece

BA'ILPIECE, noun A slip of parchment or paper containing a recognizance of bail above or bail to the action.

Bairn

BAIRN

BAIT, noun

1. Any substance for food, proper to be used or actually used, to catch fish, or other animals, by alluring them to swallow a hook, or to be caught in snares, or in an inclosure or net.

2. A portion of food and drink, or a refreshment taken on a journey.

3. An allurement; enticement; temptation.

BAIT, verb transitive To put meat on a hook or line, or in an inclosure, or among snares, to allure fish, fowls and other animals into human power.

2. To give a portion of food and drink to man or beast upon the road; as, to bait horses.

BAIT, verb intransitive To take a portion of food and drink for refreshment on a journey; as, we stopped to bait.

BAIT, verb transitive

1. To provoke and harass by dogs; to harass by the help of others; as, to bait a bull or a boar.

2. To attack with violence; to harass in the manner of small animals.

BAIT, verb intransitive To clap the wings; to flutter as if to fly; or to hover as a hawk, when she stoops to her prey.

BAIT, noun White Bait, a small fish of the Thames.

Bait

BAIT, n. 1. Any substance for food, proper to be used or actually used, to catch fish, or other animals, by alluring them to swallow a hook, or to be caught in snares, or in an inclosure or net.2. A portion of food and drink, or a refreshment taken on a journey.3. An allurement; enticement; temptation. BAIT, v.t. To put meat on a hook or line, or in an inclosure, or among snares, to allure fish, fowls and other animals into human power. 2. To give a portion of food and drink to man or beast upon the road; as, to bait horses. BAIT, v.i. To take a portion of food and drink for refreshment on a journey; as, we stopped to bait.

Baited

BA'ITED, participle passive Furnished with bait; allured; tempted.

2. Fed, or refreshed, on the road.

3. Harassed by dogs or other small animals; attacked.

Baiting

BA'ITING, participle present tense Furnishing with bait; tempting; alluring.

2. Feeding; refreshing at an inn.

3. Harassing, with dogs; attacking.

Baize

BAIZE, noun A coarse woolen stuff, with a long nap, sometimes frized on one side, without wale, being wove with two treadles like flannel.

Bake

BAKE, verb transitive

1. To heat, dry and harden, as in an oven or furnace, or under coals of fire; to dress and prepare for food, in a close place heated; as, to bake bread.

2. To dry and harden by heat, either in an oven, kiln or furnace, or by the solar rays; as, to bake bricks; to bake the ground.

BAKE, verb intransitive To do the work of baking; as, she brews, washes and bakes.

2. To be baked; to dry and harden in heat; as, the bread bakes, the ground bakes in a hot sun.

Baked

BA'KED, participle passive Dried and hardened by heat; dressed in heat; as baked meat.

Bakehouse

BA'KEHOUSE, noun [bake and house.] A house or building for baking.

Bakemeats

BA'KEMEATS, noun Meats prepared for food in an oven. Gen.xl.

Baken

BA'KEN, participle passive The same as baked, and nearly obsolete.

Baker

BA'KER, noun One whose occupation is to bake bread, biscuit, etc.

Baker-Foot

BA'KER-FOOT, noun An ill-shaped or distorted foot.

Baker-Legged

BA'KER-LEGGED, adjective One who has crooked legs, or legs that bend inward at the knees.

Bakery

BA'KERY, noun The trade of a baker.

2. A place occupied with the business of baking bread, etc.

Baking

BA'KING, participle present tense Drying and hardening in heat; dressing or cooking in a close place, or in heat.

BA'KING, noun The quantity baked at once; as a baking of bread.

Balan

BAL'AN, noun A fish of a beautiful yellow, variegated with orange, a species of wrasse, caught on the shores of England.

Balance

BAL'ANCE, noun [Latin bilanx, bis, twice, and lanz, a dish, the double dish.]

1. A pair of scales, for weighing commodities. It consists of a beam or lever suspended exactly in the middle, with a scale or basin hung to each extremity, of precisely equal weight.

The Roman balance our steel-yard, consists of a lever or beam, movable on a center, and suspended near one of its extremities. Hence,

2. One of the simple powers in mechanics, used for determining the equality or difference of weight in heavy bodies, and consequently their masses or quantity of matter.

3. Figuratively, an impartial state of the mind, in deliberating; or a just estimate of the reasons and arguments on

both sides of a question, which gives to each its due weight, or force and importance.

4. As balance signifies equal weight, or equality, it is by custom used for the weight or sum necessary to make two unequal weights or sums equal; that which is necessary to bring them to a balance or equipoise. Hence, in accounts, balance is the difference of two sums; as upon an adjustment of accounts, a balance was found against A, in favor of B. Hence, to pay a balance is to pay the difference and make the two accounts equal.

5. balance of trade is an equal exportation of domestic productions, and importation of foreign. But, usually, the term is applied to the difference between the amount or value of the commodities exported and imported. Hence the common expression, the balance of trade is against or in favor of a country.

6. Equipoise, or an equal state of power between nations; as the 'balance of power.'

7. Equipoise, or an equal state of the passions.

The balance of the mind.

8. That which renders weight or authority equal.

The only balance attempted against the ancient kings, was a body of nobles.

9. The part of a clock or watch which regulates the beats.

10. In astronomy, a sign in the zodiac, called in Latin Libra, which the sun enters at the equinox in September.

The hydrostatic balance is an instrument to determine the specific gravity of fluid and solid bodies.

The assay balance is one which is used in docimastic operations, to determine the weight of minute bodies.

BAL'ANCE, verb transitive To adjust the weights in the scales of a balance so as to bring them to an equipoise. Hence,

2. To weigh reasons; to compare, by estimating the relative force, importance, or value of different things; as, to balance good and evil.

3. To regulate different powers, so as to keep them in a state of just proportion; as, to balance Europe, or the powers of Europe.

4. To counterpoise; to make of equal weight or force; to make equipollent; as, one species of attraction balances another.

One expression in the letter check and balance another.

5. To settle and adjust, as an account; to find the difference of two accounts, and to pay the balance or difference, and make them equal.

6. In seamanship, to contract a sail, by rolling up a small part of it at one corner.

BAL'ANCE, verb intransitive To have on each side equal weight; to be on a poise.

2. To hesitate; to fluctuate between motives which appear of equal force, as a balance plays when poised by equal weights.

Between right and wrong, never balance a moment.

Balance-Reef

BAL'ANCE-REEF, noun A reef band that crosses a sail diagonally, used to contract it in a storm.

Balanced

BAL'ANCED, participle passive Charged with equal weights; standing on an equipoise, regulated so as to be equal; settled; adjusted; made equal in weight or amount.

BAL'ANCE FISH, noun The zygaena, or marteau; a fish of the genus squalus, or shark kind. It is 6 feet long, and weighs 500 lbs. It has three or four rows of broad pointed and serrated teeth; has a horrible aspect, and is very voracious.

Balancer

BAL'ANCER, noun The person who weighs, or who uses a balance.

2. A member of an insect useful in balancing the body.

3. One skilled in balancing.

Balancing

BAL'ANCING, participle present tense Charging with equal weights; being in a state of equipoise; bringing to a state of equality; regulating respective forces or sums to make them equal; settling; adjusting; paying a difference of accounts; hesitating; contracting a sail by rolling up one corner of it.

BAL'ANCING, noun Equilibrium; poise.

Balanite

BAL'ANITE, noun A fossil shell of the genus Balanus.

Balas

BAL'AS, noun A variety of spinel ruby, of a pale rose red, or inclining to orange. Its crystals are usually octahedrons, composed of two four-sided pyramids, applied base to base. [See Spinel.]

Balass

BAL'ASS

BAL'CONY, noun In architecture, a frame of wood, iron or stone, in front of a house or other building, supported by columns, pillars or consoles and encompassed with a balustrade. Balconies are common before windows.

Balcony

BAL'CONY, n. In architecture, a frame of wood, iron or stone, in front of a house or other building, supported by columns, pillars or consoles and encompassed with a balustrade. Balconies are common before windows.

Bald

BALD, adjective bauld.

1. Destitute of hair, especially on the top and back of the head.

2. Destitute of the natural covering; as a bald oak.

3. Without feathers on the head; as a bald vulture.

4. Destitute of trees on the top; as a bald mountain.

5. Unadorned; inelegant; as a bald translation.

6. Mean; naked; base; without dignity or value.

7. In popular language, open, bold, audacious.

8. Without beard or awn; as bald wheat.

Balda-Chin

BALD'A-CHIN,

BALD'AQUIN, noun In architecture, a building in form of a canopy, supported by columns, and often used as a covering to insulated altars; sometimes used for a shell over a door.

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Baldaquin

BALD'AQUIN, n. In architecture, a building in form of a canopy, supported by columns, and often used as a covering to insulated altars; sometimes used for a shell over a door.

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Balderdash

BALD'ERDASH, noun Mean, senseless prate; a jargon of words; ribaldry; anything jumbled together without judgment.

BALD'ERDASH, verb transitive To mix or adulterate liquors.

Baldlly

BALDL'LY, adverb Nakedly; meanly; inelegantly; openly.

Baldness

BALD'NESS, noun Want of hair on the top and back of the head; loss of hair; meanness or inelegance of writing; want of ornament.

Baldpate

BALD'PATE, noun A pate without hair.

Baldpated

BALD'PATED, adjective Destitute of hair; shorn of hair.

Baldrick

BALD'RICK, noun [Latin balleus, a belt, and rick, rich. See these words.]

1. A girdle, or richly ornamented belt; a war girdle.

A radiant baldrick o'er his shoulders tied.

2. The zodiac.

Bale

BALE, noun [Heb. to bind, to pledge, and its derivative.]

1. A bundle or package of goods in a cloth cover, and corded for carriage or transportation.

2. Formerly, a pair of dice

BALE, verb transitive To make up in a bale

BALE, noun [Heb. to grieve or mourn, to be desolate, or to destroy.]

Misery; calamity.

Balearic

BALEAR'IC, adjective [Gr. to throw, because the inhabitants were good slingers.]

Pertaining to the isles of Majorca and Minorca, in the Mediterranean sea.