Dictionary
An American Dictionary of the English Language
Revised and enlarged (Goodrich & Porter)
Springfield, Mass. · G. & C. Merriam · 1865
- Entries
- 95,912
- Pages
- 1,538
- Illustrations
- 2,133
Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.
Be-light', v. t. p. 123To illuminate. [Obs.] Cowley.Be-like', adv. p. 123It is likely; probably; perhaps. If he came in for a reckoning, belike it was for a better treat than mine. W. Scott.Be-like'ly, adv. p. 123Probably. [Obs.] Bp. Hall.Be-lime’, v. t. p. 123To besmear or insnare with lime. Bp. Hall.Be-lit'tle, v. t. p. 123To make little or less in a moral sense; to lower in character. [Rare in America. Not used in England.] Jefferson.**Be-līve'**, adv. p. 123Forthwith; speedily; quickly. [Obs.] Spencer.Bĕlk, v. t. p. 123To throw up; to vomit. [Obs.] Marsden.Bell, n. p. 123A hollow metallic vessel which gives forth a clear, musical, ringing sound on being struck. In its most common form, it is expanded at the lower part, is furnished at the top with an ear for the…Bĕll, v. i. p. 123To bellow. As ravens, screech-owls, bulls, and bears, We'll bellow and bawl our parts. Webster, 1623. The belling of scattered deer, as they go bouncing and mincing daintily across the openings here…Bĕll, v. i. p. 123To grow in the form of bells, as buds or flowers. Mortimer. 2. To call or bellow, as the deer in rutting time. The wild buck bells from ferny brake. W. Scott.Bĕl/la-dŏn/nă, n. p. 123(Bot.) (a.) A species of the genus Atropa, formerly employed as a cosmetic; deadly night-shade. (b.) A species of Amaryllis (A. belladonna); the belladonna lily. London.Bĕll'-bĭrd, n. p. 123(Ornith.) (a.) The Procnias carunculata of Brazil. (b.) The Myzantha melanophrys of Australia. The notes of both these birds resemble the sound of bells. Edwards. Baird.Bĕll'-crānk, n. p. 123The crank used to ring a bell; a rectangular lever by which the direction of motion is changed through an angle of ninety degrees. Francis.Bĕlle, n. p. 123A young lady of superior beauty and much admired. Say, what strange motive, goddess, could compel A well-bred lord to assault a gentle belle?Bĕlled, a. p. 123Hung with bells.Belles-let'tres, n. pl. p. 123Polite or elegant literature; including especially rhetoric, poetry, history, philology, and criticism, with the languages in which the standard works in these departments are written; the humanities.Bĕll'-flow'er, n. p. 123(Bot.) A plant of the genus Campanula;—so named from the shape of the corol or flower, which resembles a little bell.Bĕll'-found'er, n. p. 123A man whose occupation is to found or cast bells.Bĕll'-found'er-y or Bĕll'-found'ry, n. p. 123A place where bells are founded or cast.Bĕll'-hăng'er, n. p. 123A man who hangs or puts up bells.Bĕl'li-bōne, n. p. 123A woman excelling both in beauty and goodness. [Obs.] Spenser.Bĕl'lic or Bĕl'lic-al, a. p. 123Of, or pertaining to, war; warlike. [Obs.] “Bellic Cesar?” Feltham.Bĕl'li-cōse', or Bĕl'li-coŭs,, a. p. 123Disposed to contention; pugnacious. Arnold was, in fact, in a bellicose vein. W. Irving.Bĕl'lied, p. a. p. 123In composition, having a belly of a certain sort; as, pot-bellied, shad-bellied.Bel-līgʹer-āte, v. i. p. 123To make or carry on war. [Obs.] Cock'eram.Bel-līg'er-ence, n. p. 123Quality of being belligerent; act or state of making war; warfare.Bel-līg'er-ent, a. p. 123Waging war; carrying on war. “Belligerent powers.” E. Everett. 2. Tending, or pertaining, to war; as, a belligerent tone of debate, belligerent rights, &c.Bel-līg'er-ent, n. p. 123A nation, power, or state, carrying on war.Bel-līg'er-ous, a. p. 123The same as BELLIGERENT.Bēl'ling, n. p. 123Noise of a roe in rutting time. Johnson.Bel-lĭp'o-tent, a. p. 123Powerful or mighty in war. [Rare.] Blount.Bel-lĭque', a. p. 123Warlike. [Obs.] See BELLIC. Feltham.Bĕl'li-tūde, n. p. 123Beauty of person; elegance; loveliness. [Obs.] Cockeram.Bĕll'-jär, n. p. 123A bell-shaped jar used by chemists.Bĕll'-less, a. p. 123Having no bell. [Rare.] Scott.Bĕll'man, n. p. 123A man who rings a bell, especially to give notice of any thing in the streets;—formerly a watchman, part of whose office was to bless the sleepers whose door he passed. Milton.Bĕll'-mĕt/al, n. p. 123An alloy of copper and tin, in no definite proportion, but varying from 66 to 80 per cent. of copper, and the remainder tin;—used for making bells, &c. Encyc. Am.Bĕll'-mouthed, a. p. 123Gradually expanded at the mouth in the form of a bell; as, a bell-mouthed gun. Marryatt.Bēl'l'on, n. p. 123(Med.) That variety of colic produced by the effect of lead on the system. Ingliston.Bel-lō'na, n. p. 123(Myth.) The goddess of war.Bĕl'lōw, v. i. p. 123To make a hollow, loud noise, as a bull. 2. To bawl; to vociferate; to clamor. Dryden. 3. To roar, as the sea in a tempest, or as the wind when violent; to make a loud, hollow, continued sound. “And…Bĕl'lōw, n. p. 123A loud outcry; roar.Bĕl'lōw-er, n. p. 123One who bellows.Bĕl'lōws, n. sing. & pl. p. 123An instrument, utensil, or machine for propelling air through a tube, for various purposes, as blowing fires, ventilating mines, filling the pipes of an organ with wind, &c. Hydrostatic bellows. See…Bēl'lōws-fish, n. p. 123(Ichth.) A fish of the genus Centriscus (C. scolopax), distinguished by a long, tubular snout, like the pipe of a bellows; — called also trumpet-fish.Bēll'-pĕp'per, n. p. 123(Bot.) A species of Capsicum, or Guinea pepper; (C. annuum). It is the red pepper of the gardens.Bĕll'-pull, n. p. 123A bell-cord; a bell-pulling knob.Bĕll'-rĭng'er, n. p. 123One whose business is to ring a church or other bell.Bēll'-rōpe, n. p. 124A rope used to ring bells.Bĕll'-shāped, a. p. 124(Bot.) Having the form of a bell; widening upward or swelling out from the base; campanulate.Bĕl'lu-ine, a. p. 124Pertaining to; or like, a beast; brutal. [Rare.] “Animal and belluine life.” Atterbury.Bēl'-wēth'er, n. p. 124A wether or sheep which leads the flock, with a bell on his neck.Bēll'-wort, n. p. 124(Bot.) A plant of different species of the genus Uvularia. Muhlenberg.Bĕl'ly, n. p. 124That part of the human body which extends downward from the breast to the thighs, and contains the bowels, or intestines; the abdomen. ¶ Formerly all the splanchnic or visceral cavities were called…Bĕl'ly, v. t. p. 124To swell out; to fill. [Rare.] Your breath, with full consent, bellied his sails. Shak.Bĕl'ly, v. i. p. 124To swell and become protuberant, like the belly. The bellying canvas strutted with the gale. Dryden.Bēl'ly-āche, n. p. 124Pain in the bowels; colic. [Vulgar.]Bĕl'ly-bānd, n. p. 124A band that encompasses the belly of a horse and fastens the saddle or harness; a girth. 2. (Naut.) A band of canvas, used to strengthen a sail. Ogilvie.Bĕl'ly-bound, a. p. 124Costive; constipated. [Low.]Bĕl'ly-brāçe, n. p. 124A cross brace, stayed to the boiler, between the frames of a locomotive.