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.
Bŏx'ing, n. p. 157The act of fighting with the fist; a combat with the fist. Blackstone.Bŏx'ing-dāy or Bŏx'ing-night, n. p. 157The day and night after Christmas, when presents, or boxes, are given in England. Wright.Bŏx'-ī'ron, n. p. 157A hollow smoothing iron containing a heater within, thus differing from a flat-iron, which is itself heated. Simmonds.Bŏx'-keep'er, n. p. 157An attendant at a theater or any other place of public amusement. Simmonds.Bŏx'-lŏb'by, n. p. 157The lobby leading to the boxes in a theater.Bŏx'-thôrn, n. p. 157(Bot.) A plant, the Lycium barbarum, and other species of the genus. Loudon.Bŏx'-tick'et, n. p. 157A ticket for theater-boxes. Clarke.Bŏx'-tree, n. p. 157The box (Buxus sempervirens).Bŏx'-wood, n. p. 157The wood of the box-tree (Buxus sempervirens).Boy, n. p. 157A male child, from birth to the age of puberty; a lad. Sometimes it is used in contempt or familiarity for a man.Boy, v. t. p. 157To act as a boy, in allusion to the practice of employing boys to act women's parts on the early English stage. I shall see Some squeaking Cleopatra boy my greatness. Shak.Boy'ar, n. p. 157A nobleman of Russia, Transylvania, &c. See BOIAR.Boy'au, n. p. 157or BOY'AUS. [Fr. boyau, gut, a long and narrow place, and (of trenches) a branch. See BOWEL.] (Fort.) A small trench, or a branch of a trench, leading to a magazine, or to any particular point. They…Boy'-bish'op, n. p. 157A boy (usually a chorister) elected bishop, in old Christmas sports, and invested with robes and other insignia. He practiced a kind of mimicry of the ceremonies in which the bishop usually…Boy'-blind, a. p. 157Blind as a boy; undiscerning. [Obs.] Beau. & Fl.Boy'er, n. p. 157(Naut.) A Flemish sloop with a castle at each end.Boy'hood, n. p. 157The state of a boy, or of immature age. Turning to mirth all things of earth, As only boyhood can. Hood.Boy'ish, a. p. 157Resembling a boy in manners or opinions; belonging to a boy; childish; trifling; puerile. “A boyish, odd conceit.” Baillie.Boy'ish-ly, adv. p. 157In a boyish manner; like a boy; childishly.Boy'ish-ness, n. p. 157The manners or behavior of a boy; childishness.Boy'ism, n. p. 157Childishness; puerility. Dryden. 2. The state of a boy; boyhood. [Rare.] Warton.Boy's'-play, n. p. 157Childish amusement; any thing trifling.Bo-yū'na, n. p. 157A large serpent of America, black and slender, having an intolerable smell. Also, a harmless reptile.Bra-bant'ine, a. p. 157(Geog.) Pertaining to Brabant, a province of the Netherlands, or to its inhabitants.Brāb'ble, n. p. 157A broil; a clamorous contest; a wrangle. [Obs.] This petty brabble will undo us all. Shak.Brāb'ble, v. i. p. 157To clamor; to contest noisily. [Obs.] Beau. & Fl.Brāb'ble-ment, n. p. 157Clamorous, contentious language. [Obs.] Holland.Brāb'bler, n. p. 157A clamorous, quarrelsome, noisy fellow; a wrangler. [Obs.] Shak.Brāb'bling, n. p. 157The act of contentious clamoring. [Obs.] Sir T. More.Brăc'cāte, a. p. 157(Ornith.) Furnished with feathers which conceal the feet.Brāce, n. p. 157A prop or support; especially (Carp.), a piece of timber extending like an arm across a corner from one piece of timber to another, which forms an angle with it in the frame of a building, to give…Brāce, v. t. p. 157To furnish with braces; to support; to prop; as, to brace a beam on a building. 2. To draw tight; to tighten; to bind or tie close; to put in a state of tension; to strengthen; as, to brace the…Brāçē'let, n. p. 157An ornament for the wrist, worn mostly by ladies. He had bracelets of gold upon his arm. Scott. 2. A piece of defensive armor for the arm. Johnson.Brā'cer, n. p. 157That which braces, binds, or makes firm; a band or bandage. 2. Armor for the arm. Chaucer. 3. A medicine which gives tension or tone to any part of the body. Johnson.Brāch, n. p. 157A bitch of the hound kind. Shak.Brāch'i-al or Brā'chi-al, a. p. 157Belonging to the arm; as, the brachial artery; the brachial nerve. Hooper. 2. Of the nature of an arm; resembling an arm.Brāch'i-ate, a. p. 157(Bot.) Having branches in pairs, decussated, all nearly horizontal, and each pair at right angles with the next, as in the maple and lilac. Greg.Bräch'i-o-pŏd, n. p. 157(Zoöl.) An animal of the sub-kingdom Mollusca. See MOLLUSK.Brāh'man, n. p. 157See BRAHMAN.Brăch'y-căt/a-lē/ctĭc, n. p. 157(Gr. & Lat. Pros.) A verse wanting two syllables at its termination.Bräch'y-cĕph'a-lous, a. p. 157Having skulls whose transverse diameter, or that from parietal bone to parietal bone, exceeds the antero-posterior diameter. Dant.Brăch'y-dī-ăg'o-nal, n. p. 157The shortest of the diagonals in a rhombic prism.Bräch'y-dōme, n. p. 157(Crystallog.) A dome parallel to the shorter diagonal. Dana.Bra-chȳg'ra-pher, n. p. 157A writer in short hand. He asked the brachygrapher whether he wrote the notes of that sermon. Gayton.Bra-chȳg'ra-phy, n. p. 157The art or practice of writing in short hand; stenography. B. Jonson.Bra-chyl'o-gy, n. p. 157(Rhet.) The expressing of any thing in the most concise manner.Bra-chȳp'ter-ōŭs, a. p. 157(Ornith.) Having wings, which, when folded, do not reach to the base of the tail. Eronde.Bra-chȳst'o-chrōne, n. p. 157A curve, in which a body, starting from a given point, and descending solely by the force of gravity, will reach another given point in it in a shorter time than it could by any other path. This…Bräch'y-tȳp'ōüs, a. p. 157(Min.) Of a short form. Mols.Brăch'y-ū'rāl, a. p. 157(Zoöl.) Short-tailed;— a term applied to a tribe of crustacea, comprehending the crabs. See CRUSTACEA.Brā'cing, n. p. 157Act of bracing, or state of being braced. 2. (Engin.) Any system of braces, as the bracing of a truss.Brā'cing, a. p. 157Imparting strength or tone; strengthening; stiffening.Bräck, n. p. 157An opening caused by the parting of any solid body; a breach; a flaw. “Stain or brack in her sweet reputation.” Beau. & Fl.Brack'en, n. p. 157Fern. See BRAKE.Brăck'et, n. p. 157(Arch. & Engin.) A piece, or combination of pieces, of wood, stone, or metal, triangular in general shape, and either plain or ornamented, usually projecting from, or fastened to, a wall, or other…Brăck'et, v. t. p. 157To place within brackets; to connect by brackets; to furnish with brackets.Bräck'et-ing, n. p. 157(Arch.) A series of ribs, or brackets, for supporting cornices, &c. Gwilt.Brăck'et-light, n. p. 157A gas-light projecting from a side-wall.Bräck'ish, a. p. 157Saltish, or salt in a moderate degree;—applied to water partially saturated with salt, or mixed with sea-water. “Water so salt and brackish as no man can drink it.” North.Brăck'ish-ness, n. p. 158The quality of being brackish; saltiness in a small degree. [Obs.]