Dictionary
An American Dictionary of the English Language
Revised and enlarged (Goodrich & Porter)
Springfield, Mass. · G. & C. Merriam · 1865
- Entries
- 95,912
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- Illustrations
- 2,133
Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.
Be-cāme', imp. p. 119of become. See BECOME.Be-cause', conj. p. 119By or for the cause that; on this account that; for the reason that. Freely we serve, because we freely love. Milton. Because of, by reason of, on account of. [prep.] The spirit is life, because of…Bē'ca-būn'gā, n. p. 119See BROOKLIME.Bĕch'a-mel, n. p. 119(Cookery.) A kind of fine, white broth or sauce, thickened with cream. Cooley.Be-chănçe', v. t. p. 119To befall; to happen to. What hath bechanced them? Shak.Be-chānçe', adv. p. 119By chance; by accident. Grafton.Be-chārm', v. t. p. 119To charm; to captivate. Beau. & Fl.Beche de Mer, n. p. 119(Zoöl.) The sea-slug or trepang, a species of Holothuria, much esteemed as a culinary delicacy among the Chinese. Baird.Bē'chĭc, n. p. 119A medicine for relieving coughs. [Obs.] Quincy.Bĕck, n. p. 119A small brook. “The brooks, the becks, the rills.” Drayton. [I have] watched The beck roll glittering to the noon-tide sun. Southey.Bĕck, n. p. 119A significant nod, or motion of the head or hand, as a call or command.Bĕck, v. i. p. 119To nod, or make a sign with the head or hand. Drayt. m.Bēck, v. t. p. 119To notify or call by a nod, or a motion of the head or hand; to intimate a command to.Bĕck'et, n. p. 119(Naut.) A contrivance to confine loose ropes, tackles, or spars, as a large hook, a rope with an eye at one end, &c. Totten. 2. A spade for digging turf. [Prov. Eng.] Wright.Bĕck-hār'man, n. p. 119A constable. [Obs. and low.] B. Jonson.Bĕck'on, v. i. p. 119To make a sign to another, by nodding, or a motion of the hand or finger, &c., intended as a hint or intimation. Stood and beckoned at the doorway. Longfellow.Bĕck'on, v. t. p. 119To make a significant sign to; hence, to summon. His distant friends he beckons near. Dryden.Bĕck'on, n. p. 119A sign made without words; a beck. [Rare.] “At the first beckon.” Bolingbroke.Be-clĭp', v. t. p. 119To embrace; to surround. [Obs.] Wickliffe.Be-cloud', v. t. p. 119To cause obscurity or dimness to; to overshadow. “If thou becloud the sunshine of thine eye.” Quarles.Be-cŏme' (-kŭm'), v. i. p. 119To pass from one state to another; to enter into some state or condition, by a change from another state or condition, or by assuming or receiving new properties or qualities, additional matter, or a…Be-cōme', v. t. p. 119To suit or be suitable to; to be congruous with; to befit; to accord with, in character or circumstances; to be worthy of, or proper for; — usually said of things, but sometimes of persons. If I…Be-côm'ing, a. p. 119Appropriate or fit; congruous; suitable; graceful; befitting. “A low and becoming tone.” Thackeray. Formerly sometimes followed by of. Such discourses as are becoming of them. Dryden.Be-côm'ing, n. p. 119Something worn as an ornament. [Obs.] Shak.Be-côm'ing-ly, adv. p. 119After a becoming or proper manner.Be-côm'ing-ness, n. p. 119The state or quality of being becoming, appropriate, or fit; congruity; fitness. “The becomingness of human nature.” Grew.Be-crĭp'ple, v. t. p. 119To make a cripple of; to cripple; to lame. [Rare.]Be-cûrl', v. t. p. 119To curl. [Obs.]Bĕd, n. p. 119An article of furniture to sleep or take rest on; — usually a sack filled with some soft material, in distinction from the bedstead or framework on which it is placed. 2. Matrimonial connection…Bĕd, v. t. p. 119To place in a bed. [Obs.] “She was . . . solemnly bedded.” Bacon. 2. To make partaker of the bed. [Obs.] “I’ll . . . never bed her.” Shak. 3. To plant and inclose or cover; to set or lay and inclose…Bĕd, v. i. p. 119To go to bed; to cohabit. If he be married, and bed with his wife. Wiseman.Be-dăb’ble, v. t. p. 119To sprinkle or wet with moisture. Shak.Be-dâff, v. t. p. 119To make a fool of. [Obs.] Chaucer.Bĕd'a-găt, n. p. 119The sacred books of the Buddhists in Burmah. Malcom.Be-dăg'gle, v. t. p. 119To soil, as clothes, by drawing the ends in the mud, or spattering them with dirty water. Johnson.Be-dāre′, v. t. p. 119To dare; to defy. [Obs.] Peele.Be-dārk', v. t. p. 119To make dark; to darken. [Obs.] Gower.Be-dăsh', v. t. p. 119To wet by dashing or throwing water or other liquor upon; to bespatter. “Trees bedashed with rain.” Shak.Be-dăub', v. t. p. 119To daub over; to besmear or soil with any thing thick and dirty. “bedaub fair designs with a foul varnish.” Barrow.Be-dăz'zle, v. t. p. 119To dazzle or make dim by too strong a light. “Bedazzled with the sun.” Shak.Be-dăz'zling-ly, adv. p. 119So as to bedazzle.Bĕd'-bŭg, n. p. 119An offensive bug (Cimex lectularius) which infests beds. Baird.Běd'-chăir, n. p. 119A chair for the sick, with a movable back, to sustain them while sitting up in bed.Bĕd'-chăm'ber, n. p. 119A chamber for a bed. Shak.Bĕd'clōthes, n. pl. p. 119Blankets, sheets, coverlets, &c., for a bed. Shak.Bĕd'der or Be-dĕt'ter, n. p. 119The nether stone of an oil mill. Chalmers.Bĕd'ding, n. p. 119A bed and its furniture; the materials of a bed, whether for man or beast. Spenser. 2. (Geol.) The state or position of beds and layers. Dana.Be-dĕād′, v. t. p. 119To make dead; to kill. [Obs.]Be-dĕck′, v. t. p. 119To deck, ornament, or adorn; to grace. “Bedecked with boughs, flowers, and garlands.” Pennant.Bĕd'e-guār, n. p. 119A hairy or spongy substance on rose-bushes, produced by the puncture of certain insects, and once supposed to have valuable medicinal properties. Booth.Bēde'-house, n. p. 119See BEAD HOUSE.Bē'del, n. p. 119Same as BEADLE, q. v.Bē'del-ry, n. p. 119The extent of a bedel's or beadle's office. Blount.Be-dĕv'il, v. t. p. 119To throw into utter disorder and confusion, as if by the agency of evil spirits. “Bedeviled and used worse than St. Bartholomew.” Sterne. 2. To spoil; to corrupt. Wright.Be-dew', v. t. p. 119To moisten with dew, or as with dew. Falling tears his face bedew. Dryden.Be-dew'er, n. p. 119One who, or that which, bedews.Be-dew'y, a. p. 119Moist with dew. [Obs.] “Night with her bedewy wings.” Brewer.Bĕd'fel-lōw, n. p. 119One who lies with another in the same bed. Shak.Bĕd'fēre, n. p. 119Bĕd'phēre p. 119A bedfellow. [Obs.] Chapman.