Dictionary
An American Dictionary of the English Language
Revised and enlarged (Goodrich & Porter)
Springfield, Mass. · G. & C. Merriam · 1865
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- 95,912
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Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.
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.]Bräck'y, a. p. 158Brackish. [Obs.] “The bracky fountains.” Drayton.Bräct or Bräc'te-ä, n. p. 158(Bot.) A small leaf or scale, from the axil of which a flower or its pedicel proceeds. Bracts in general are the leaves of an inflorescence, more or less different from ordinary leaves.Brăc'te-al or Brăc'te-ate, a. p. 158(Bot.) Furnished with bracts. Barton.Brăct'ed, a. p. 158(Bot.) Furnished with bracts.Brăc'te-o-late, a. p. 158(Bot.) Furnished with bracteoles.Brăc'te-ōle or Brăct'let, n. p. 158(Bot.) A bract on the stalk of a single flower, which is itself on a main stalk that supports several flowers. Gray.Brăct'less, a. p. 158(Bot.) Destitute of bracts.Brăd, n. p. 158A particular kind of nail, with a slight projection at the top on one side instead of a head.Bräd'-awl, n. p. 158An awl to pierce holes for the insertion of brads. Weale.Bräd'y-pŭs, n. p. 158The sloth. See SLOTH.Brāe, n. p. 158A declivity; broken ground. [Scot.] Burns.Brăg, v. i. p. 158To praise one's self, or what belongs to one's self, in an ostentatious manner; to boast; to pretend; to vaunt;—followed by of. Conceit, more rich in matter than in words, Brags of his substance.…Brăg, n. p. 158A boast or boasting; ostentatious praise of one's own deeds or advantages. But made not here his brag Of “came,” and “saw,” and “overcame.” Shak. 2. The thing boasted of. “Beauty is Nature's brag.”…Brăg, a. p. 158Brisk; full of spirits. [Obs.] “A brag young fellow.” B. Jonson.