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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- 2,133
Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.
Beet, n. p. 120(Bot.) A plant of the family Chenopodium, and genus Beta, having a succulent root much used for food, and also for making sugar. The two kinds most commonly cultivated in gardens are the red (B.…Bee'tle (bē'tl), n. p. 120A heavy mallet or wooden hammer, used to drive wedges, beat pavements, &c. 2. (Zool.) Any insect of the order Coleoptera, characterized by having four wings, the outer pair being stiff cases for…Bee'tle, v. t. p. 120To produce ornamental figures on, by the use of the instrument called a beetle.Bee'tle, v. i. p. 120To hang or extend out; to be prominent; to jut. “The cliff that beetles o’er his base.” Shak. Each beetling rampart, and each tower sublime. Wordsworth.Bee'tle-brow, n. p. 120A prominent brow. Shak.Bee'tle-browed, a. p. 120Having prominent brows. Swift.Bee'tle-hēad, n. p. 120A stupid fellow. Scott.Bee'tle-hĕad'ed, a. p. 120Having a head like a beetle; dull; stupid. Shak.Bee'tle-stōck, n. p. 120The handle of a beetle. Spenser.Beet'-rād'ish or Beet'-rāve, n. p. 120The red beet (Beta vulgaris). London.Beeve, n. p. 120Any bovine quadruped, a bull, ox, or cow. They would knock down the first beeve they met with. W. Irving. ☞ Rarely used in the singular. See BEEF, n., No. 1.Be-fall′, v. t. p. 120To happen to; to occur to. “Let me know The worst that may befall me.” Shak.Be-fall′, v. i. p. 120To come to pass; to happen. I have revealed this discord which befell. Milton. ☞ To befall of is obsolete and not legitimate.Be-fit′, v. t. p. 120To be suitable to; to suit; to become. “That name best befits thee.” Milton.Be-flăt'ter, v. t. p. 120To flatter unduly or offensively.Be-flow'er, v. t. p. 120To besprinkle or scatter over with flowers, or with pustules. Hobbes.Be-fōam', v. t. p. 120To cover with foam. [Rare.] Dryden.Be-fōgged', a. p. 120Involved in a fog. W. Irving.Be-fōol', v. t. p. 120To fool; to delude or lead into error; to infatuate; to deceive. This story of Ursula was contrived to befool credulous men. Fuller.Be-fōre', prep. p. 120In front of; preceding in space; as, to stand before the fire, before the house. “Who shall go before them?” Milton. 2. Preceding in time; earlier than; previous to; in order. Before Abraham was, I…Be-fōre', adv. p. 121On the fore part; in front, or in the direction of the front. The battle was before and behind. 2 Chron. xiii. 14. 2. In time preceding; earlier; hitherto; already. You tell me, mother, what I knew…Be-fore'-cit/ed, a. p. 121Cited in a preceding part.Be-fōre'hānd, adv. p. 121In a state of anticipation or preoccupation;—often followed by with. Agricola . . . resolves to be beforehand with the danger. Milton. The last-cited author has been beforehand with me. Addison. 2.…Be-fōre’hānd, a. p. 121In comfortable circumstances as regards property; forehanded. “Rich and much beforehand.” Bacon.Be·före'-mên/tioned, a. p. 121Mentioned before.Be-fōre'time, adv. p. 121Of old time; formerly; aforetime. The children of Israel dwelt in their tents, as beforetime. 2 Kings xiii. 5.Be-fort'ūne, v. t. p. 121To happen to; to betide; to befall. I wish all good befortune you. Shak.Be-foul', v. t. p. 121To make foul; to soil.Be-friend', v. t. p. 121To act as a friend to; to favor; to aid, benefit, or countenance. “By the darkness befriended.” Longfellow.Be-friend'ment, n. p. 121The act of befriending.Be-frĭnge', v. t. p. 121To furnish with a fringe; to adorn as with fringe. Fuller.Be-fûrred', a. p. 121Covered with fur.Bēg, n. p. 121The governor of a town, city, or district in Turkey and some other parts of the East; a bey.Bēg, v. t. p. 121[Cf. A-S. biddan, O. S. biddian, Goth. bidjan, Icel. bidia, O. H. Ger. bitjan, O. Fries. bidia, bidda, Sw. bedja, to beg, the letter d having perhaps been dropped, and i or j changed into g. But it…Bĕg, v. i. p. 121To ask alms or charity; to practice begging; to live by asking alms. I can not dig; to beg I am ashamed. Luke xvi. 3.Bē'gā or Bīg'gāh, n. p. 121In Bengal, a land measure equal to about a third of an acre; 1600 square yards. Malcom.Be-gĕm', v. t. p. 121To adorn with gems, or as with gems. “Begemmed with dew-drops.” W. Scott. Those lonely realms bright garden isles begem. Shelley.Be-gĕt', v. t. p. 121To procreate, as a father or sire; to generate; to get. Yet they a beauteous offspring shall beget. Milton. 2. To produce as an effect; to cause. “Love is begot by fancy.” Granville.Be-gĕt'ter, n. p. 121One who begets or procreates; a father.Bĕg'ga-ble, a. p. 121Capable of being begged. Butler.Bĕg'gar, n. p. 121One who begs or entreats earnestly, or with humility; a petitioner; specifically, one who makes it his business to ask alms; a mendicant. A beggar begs that never begged before. Shak. 2. One who…Bĕg'gar, v. t. p. 121To reduce to beggary; to impoverish. “He had, by his ill stewardship, . . . beggared both himself and the public.” Milton. 2. To deprive, or make destitute; to exhaust. “It beggared all description.”…Bĕg'gar-li-ness, n. p. 121The state of being beggarly; meanness; extreme poverty. Barret.Bĕg'gar-ly, a. p. 121In, or partaking of, or resembling, the condition of a beggar; extremely indigent; mean; poor; contemptible. “A bankrupt, beggarly fellow.” South. “A beggary fellowship.” Swift. “Beggary elements.”…Bĕg'gar-ly, adv. p. 121In a beggarly, mean, or despicable manner.Bĕg'gar'-līçe, n. p. 121The prickly fruit or seed of certain plants (as some species of Echinospermum and Cynoglossum) which fasten on the clothing of those who pass by them.Bĕg'gar-y, n. p. 121A state of extreme indigence. The freedom and the beggary of the old studio. Thackeray.Bĕg'gar-y, a. p. 121Beggarly. [Obs.] B. Jonson.Be-ghārd’ or Be-guārd’, n. p. 121(Eccl. Hist.) One of a class of Franciscan monks who observed the regulations of their founder with peculiar strictness, holding no property and subsisting by begging from day to day. They also…Be-gild′, v. t. p. 121To cover or overlay with gold. “Bride-laces begilt.” B. Jonson.Be-gĭn′, v. i. p. 121To have an original or first existence; to take rise; to commence. “Tears began to flow.” Dryden. From Nimrod first the savage race began. Pope. 2. To do the first act; to enter upon something new…Be-gĭn', v. t. p. 121To enter on; to commence. Ye nymphs of Solyma, begin the song. Pope. 2. To trace from as the first ground; to lay the foundation of. The apostle begins our knowledge in the creatures, which leads us…Be-gĭn', n. p. 121Beginning. [Obs. and poet.] Spenser.Be-gĭn'ner, n. p. 121One who begins; specifically, a young or inexperienced practitioner; a tyro. “A sermon of a new beginner.” Swift. “Where are the vile beginners of this fray?” Shak.Be-gĭn'ning, n. p. 121The first cause; origin; source. I am . . . the beginning and the ending. Rev. i. 8. 2. That which is first; the first state; commencement; entrance into being. In the beginning, God created the…Be-gĭn'ning-less, a. p. 121Having no beginning.Be-gird', v. t. p. 121To bind with a band or girdle; to gird. 2. To surround as with a band; to encompass or inclose. “To begird the almighty throne.” Milton.Be-girt', v. t. p. 121Same as BEGIRD. [Obs. and illegitimate.]Bēg'ler-bēg, n. p. 121The governor of a province in the Turkish empire, next in dignity to the grand vizier.Bĕg'ler-bĕg'lie, n. p. 121The province ruled over by a beglerbeg.