Dictionary
An American Dictionary of the English Language
Revised and enlarged (Goodrich & Porter)
Springfield, Mass. · G. & C. Merriam · 1865
- Entries
- 95,912
- Pages
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- Illustrations
- 2,133
Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.
Bas-sōon'ist, n. p. 112A performer on the bassoon. Busby.Bäs'so-rīne, n. p. 112A constituent part of a species of gum from Bassora, as also of gum tragacanth, and some gum resins. (Ure.)Bäss'-re-lief', n. p. 112Sculpture, whose figures do not stand out far from the ground on which they are formed. See RELIEF.Bäss'-vī'ol, n. p. 112(Mus.) A stringed instrument used for playing the bass or gravest part; the violoncello.Bäss'-wōod, n. p. 112(Bot.) A species of tree resembling the lime or linden of Europe (Tilia Americana); whitewood. See BASS. Bartlett.Bäst, n. p. 112The inner bark of the lime-tree, and hence matting, cordage, &c., made of the bark of the linden or lime-tree. 2. A thick mat or hassock for persons to kneel on at church. See BASS.Băs'tă p. 112(Mus.) Enough, or stop: — a term used by the leader of a band to stop a performer. Moore.Băs'tard, n. p. 112A natural child; a child begotten and born out of wedlock; an illegitimate or spurious child; one born of an illicit union. ☞ By the civil and canon laws, and by the laws of many of the United…Băs'tard, a. p. 112Begotten and born out of lawful matrimony; illegitimate. Shak. 2. Lacking in genuineness; spurious, false; adulterate; — applied to things which resemble those which are genuine, but are really not…Bās'tard, v. t. p. 113To make or determine to be a bastard. Bacon.Bās'tard-īce, n. p. 113Bastardy. [Obs.] Chapman.Bās'tard-īzm, n. p. 113The state of a bastard. [Obs.]Bās'tard-īze, v. t. p. 113To make or prove to be a bastard; to convict of being a bastard; to declare or decide legally to be illegitimate. The law is so indulgent as not to bastardize the child, if born, though not begotten…Bās'tard-ly, adv. p. 113In the manner of a bastard; spuriously. [Obs.] Donne.Bās'tard-wīng, n. p. 113(Ornith.) Three, four, or five quill-like feathers, placed on a small joint, rising from the middle part of the wing, and corresponding to the thumb in some mammalia.Bās'tar-dy, n. p. 113A state of being a bastard, or begotten and born out of lawful wedlock; illegitimacy. They blot my name with hateful bastardy. Drayton.Bāste, v. t. p. 113To beat with a stick; to cudgel. One man was basted by the keeper for carrying some people over on his back. Pepys. 2. To sprinkle flour and salt and drip butter or fat on, as on meat in roasting.…Bāste, v. t. p. 113[O. Fr. bastir, now bâtir, Sp. bastear, It. imbastire, Sp. embastar, from O. H. Ger. bestan, to sew, M. H. Ger. besten, to bind, buost, rope, from O. H. Ger. bast. See BAST. 1. To sew slightly, or…Bas-tīle', n. p. 113Originally, a temporary wooden tower used in warfare; hence, any tower or fortification. To fight . . . along the high bastiles . . . which overtopped the walls. Holland. The name has been…Bās'ti-mēn'to, n. p. 113A ship. [Obs.] Glover.Bās'ti-nāde' or Bās'ti-nā'do, n. p. 113A sound beating with a stick or cudgel; specifically, a form of punishment among the Turks, Chinese, and others, consisting in beating an offender on the soles of his feet.Bās'ti-nāde' or Bās'ti-nā'do, v. t. p. 113To beat with a stick or cudgel, especially on the soles of the feet.Bāstion, n. p. 113(Fort.) A part of the main inclosure which projects toward the exterior, consisting of the faces and the flanks. Two adjacent bastions are connected by the curtain, which joins the flank of one with…Băs'tioned, a. p. 113Furnished with a bastion. Holmes.Bās'to, n. p. 113The ace of clubs at quadrille. Pope.Bās'ton, n. p. 113A staff or cudgel used in tournaments. [Obs.] “To fight with blunt bastons.” Holland. 2. (Her.) A staff or cudgel generally borne as a mark of bastardy, and properly containing one eighth in breadth…Bās'ton, n. p. 113(Arch.) A round molding in the base of a column; — called also a tore, or torse.Bās'yle, n. p. 113(Chem.) An electro-positive ingredient of a compound, whether elementary, or, if compound, performing the functions of an element. ☞ The term radical was formerly, and is still, employed to denote…Bās'y-lōŭs, a. p. 113Pertaining to, or partaking of the nature of, basyle. Graham.Băt, n. p. 113A heavy stick or club; a piece of wood with one end thicker or broader than the other, used in playing ball. 2. (Mining.) Shale or bituminous shale. Kīrwan. 3. A sheet of cotton prepared for filling…Bāt, v. i. p. 113To manage a bat, or play with one. Mason.Băt, n. p. 113(Nat. Hist.) A class, or one of a class, of true quadrupeds or mammals having a kind of wings made by the extension of the fingers to support a membranous expansion which stretches from the side of…Bāt'a-ble, a. p. 113Disputable; debatable. The land between England and Scotland, when the kingdoms were distinct, was a subject of contention, and hence was called batable ground. Cowell.Băt-ăr-deau’, n. p. 113A coffer-dam. Brande. 2. (Mil.) A wall built across a ditch or fortification, with a sluice-gate by which the height of water in the ditch on both sides of the wall may be regulated.Ba-tā'tas, n. p. 113(Bot.) A genus of plants having tuberous roots, belonging to the order Convolvulaceæ. The Batatas edulis (or Convolvulus batatas of some botanists) is the sweet potato. Baird.Ba-tā'vi-an, n. p. 113(Geog.) A native or inhabitant of Batavia, or Holland. 2. A native or inhabitant of Batavia, in Java.Ba-tā'vi-an, a. p. 113(Geog.) Pertaining to Batavia or its inhabitants.Bătch, n. p. 113The quantity of bread baked at one time. 2. Any work or business dispatched at once, or any quantity of things so united as to have like qualities. B. Jonson.Bāte, n. p. 113Strife; contention. [Obs.] “Breeds no bate with telling.” Shak.Bāte, v. t. p. 113To lessen by retrenching, deducting, or reducing; to abate. He must either bate the laborer’s wages, or not employ or not pay him. Locke. 2. To allow by way of abatement or deduction. These are the…Bāte, v. i. p. 113To remit or retrench a part;— with of. Abate thy speed, and I will bate of mine. Dryden. 2. To penetrate; to sink in. [Obs.] Yet there the steel staid not, but inly bate Deep in the flesh, and opened…Bāte, imp. p. 113of bite. [Obs.] Spenser.Ba-teau' or BA-TEAUX', n. p. 113A light boat, long in proportion to its breadth, and wider in the middle than at the ends. Bateau-bridge, a floating bridge supported by bateaux.Bāte'ful, a. p. 113Exciting contention; contentious. [Obs.] “It did bateful question frame.” Sidney.Bāte'less, a. p. 113Not to be abated. [Obs.] Shak.Bāte'ment, n. p. 113Abatement; deduction; diminution. [Obs.] Moxon.Bāt'-fowl'er, n. p. 113One who practices or finds sport in bat-fowling. Barrington.Bāt'-fowl'ing, n. p. 113A mode of catching birds at night, by holding a torch or other light, and beating the bush or perch where they roost. The birds, flying to the light, are caught with nets or otherwise.Băt'ful, a. p. 113Rich; fertile. [Obs.] “Batful valleys.” Drayton.Bāth, n. p. 113A receptacle of water for persons to plunge or wash their bodies in. 2. A building containing an apartment or series of apartments arranged for bathing. Among the ancients, the public baths were of…Order of the Bath p. 113a high order of British knighthood, composed of three classes, viz., knights grand crosses, knights commanders, and knights companions, abbreviated thus: G. B. C., K. C. B., K. B.Bāth'-brīck, n. p. 113A preparation of calcareous earth in the form of a brick, used for cleaning knives.Bāthe, v. t. p. 113To wash by immersion, as in a bath. “Chancing to bathe herself in the River Cydnus.” South. 2. To moisten or suffuse with a liquid. “Her bosom bathed in blood.” Dryden.Bāthe, v. i. p. 113To be, or lie, in a bath; to be in water, or in other liquid. “They bathe in summer.” Walter. 2. To immerse or cover one's self, as in a bath. “To bathe in fiery floods.” Shak. “Bathe in the dimples…Bāthe, n. p. 113The immersion of the body in water; as, to take one's usual bathe. Ed. Rev.Bāth'er, n. p. 113One who bathes.Ba-thĕt'ic, a. p. 113Pertaining to the bathos. [Rare.]Bāth'ing-ma-çhïne', n. p. 113A small room on wheels, to be driven into the water for the convenience of bathers, who undress and dress therein. Simmonds.Bāth'ing-tŭb, n. p. 113A vessel for bathing, usually made either of wood or tin.Bāth'-mēt'al, n. p. 113An alloy consisting of four and a half ounces of zinc and one pound of copper.