Select a letter for some words
Baboon
One of the Old World Quadrumana, of the genera and ; the dog-faced ape. Baboons have dog-like muzzles and large canine teeth, cheek pouches, a short tail, and naked callosities on the buttocks. They are mostly African. See , and , and an ape.
Badger
A carnivorous quadruped of the genus or of an allied genus. It is a burrowing animal, with short, thick legs, and long claws on the fore feet. One species ( ), called also , inhabits the north of Europe and Asia; another species ( ) inhabits the northern parts of North America. See .
Badger game
The method of blackmailing by decoying a person into a compromising situation and extorting money by threats of exposure.
Bail
To lade; to dip and throw; -- usually with ; .
Bale
A bundle or package of goods in a cloth cover, and corded for storage or transportation; also, a bundle of straw, hay, etc., put up compactly for transportation.
Ballad
To make or sing ballads.
ballet master
a man who trains ballet dancers.
Balotade
See .
bangtail
a horse bred for racing.
Bardship
The state of being a bard.
Barmy
Full of barm or froth; in a ferment.
Baroscope
Any instrument showing the changes in the weight of the atmosphere; also, less appropriately, any instrument that indicates or foreshadows changes of the weather, as a deep vial of liquid holding in suspension some substance which rises and falls with atmospheric changes.
Barque
Same as 3d ,
Bartender
A barkeeper.
Barth
A place of shelter for cattle.
basileus
a ruler of the eastern Roman Empire.
Bass viol
A stringed instrument of the viol family, used for playing bass. See 3d , , and .
bastardisation
An act that debases or corrupts.
Bathe
To bathe one's self; to take a bath or baths.
Bawhorse
Same as .
Bedchamber
A chamber for a bed; an apartment form sleeping in.
Bedpost
One of the four standards that support a bedstead or the canopy over a bedstead.
Beggarhood
The condition of being a beggar; also, the class of beggars.
Belladonna
An herbaceous European plant () with reddish bell-shaped flowers and shining black berries. The whole plant and its fruit are very poisonous, and the root and leaves are used as powerful medicinal agents. Its properties are largely due to the alkaloid atropine which it contains. Called also .
bell-ringer
a person who rings church bells (as for summoning the congregation).
Beplumed
Decked with feathers.
Bere
To pierce.
Berenice's Hair
See , under .
Berretta
A square cap worn by ecclesiastics of the Roman Catholic Church. A cardinal's berretta is scarlet; that worn by other clerics is black, except that a bishop's is lined with green.
Betel nut
The nutlike seed of the areca palm, chewed in the East with betel leaves (whence its name) and shell lime.
Bibliopole
One who sells books.
Bicycle
A light vehicle having two wheels one behind the other. It has a saddle seat and is propelled by the rider's feet acting on cranks or levers.
biogenic
produced by living organisms; .
Bird's-eye maple
See under .
Birthday
Of or pertaining to the day of birth, or its anniversary; .
Bishop's-wort
Wood betony (); also, the plant called fennel flower (), or devil-in-a-bush.
Bitter spar
A common name of dolomite; -- so called because it contains magnesia, the soluble salts of which are bitter. See .
blabbermouthed
tending to talk excessively.
Blackheart
A heart-shaped cherry with a very dark-colored skin.
black out
to experience a temporary loss of consciousness, memory, or vision.
Blamelessly
In a blameless manner.
bleep
to to obscure or replace (an offensive word or phrase) by substituting a beeping sound while broadcasting.
Blind
To make blind; to deprive of sight or discernment.
Blissus
a genus comprising the chinch bugs. See , 2.
blither
same as .
Blocklike
Like a block; stupid.
Bloodwort
A plant, , or bloody-veined dock. The name is applied also to bloodroot (), and to an extensive order of plants (), the roots of many species of which contain a red coloring matter useful in dyeing.
Blue-john
A name given to fluor spar in Derbyshire, where it is used for ornamental purposes.
Boarder
One who has food statedly at another's table, or meals and lodgings in his house, for pay, or compensation of any kind.
Bobbinet
A kind of cotton lace which is wrought by machines, and not by hand.
Bode
To foreshow something; to augur.
Boldly
In a bold manner.
Bole
Any one of several varieties of friable earthy clay, usually colored more or less strongly red by oxide of iron, and used to color and adulterate various substances. It was formerly used in medicine. It is composed essentially of hydrous silicates of alumina, or more rarely of magnesia. See , and .
Boree
Same as .
bosom
To inclose or carry in the bosom; to keep with care; to take to heart; to cherish.
Bow-pencil
Bow-compasses, one leg of which carries a pencil.
Boxfish
The trunkfish.
boys-and-girls
a Eurafrican annual () naturalized in America as a weed; formerly dried for use as a purgative, diuretic or antisyphilitic.
Brazenface
An impudent or shameless person.
Breakneck
Producing danger of a broken neck; .
Brim
To fill to the brim, upper edge, or top.
Bronchiole
A minute bronchial tube.
brooding
the process of sitting on eggs so as to hatch them by the warmth of the body; -- mostly used of birds.
Brown thrush
A common American singing bird (), allied to the mocking bird; -- also called .
Bucolical
Bucolic.
Burliness
Quality of being burly.
Busk
Among the Creek Indians, a feast of first fruits celebrated when the corn is ripe enough to be eaten. The feast usually continues four days. On the first day the new fire is lighted, by friction of wood, and distributed to the various households, an offering of green corn, including an ear brought from each of the four quarters or directions, is consumed, and medicine is brewed from snakeroot. On the second and third days the men physic with the medicine, the women bathe, the two sexes are taboo to one another, and all fast. On the fourth day there are feasting, dancing, and games.
Butylene
Any one of three metameric hydrocarbons, , of the ethylene series. They are gaseous or easily liquefiable; -- called also .