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.
Brāin, n. p. 158(Anat.) (a.) The whitish, soft mass which constitutes the anterior or cephalic extremity of the nervous system in man and other vertebrates, occupying the upper cavity of the skull, and considered to…Brāin, v. t. p. 158To dash out the brains of; to kill by beating out the brains; hence, to destroy; to put an end to. “There thou mayst brain him.” Shak. It was the swift celerity of his death . . . That bruised my…Brāin'-cōr'al or Brāin'-stōne, n. p. 158(Zoöl.) A coral of the genus Meandrina, growing in hemispherical forms, the surface of which is covered with meandering furrows somewhat like those of the brain; hence the name. Dana.Brāined, p. a. p. 158Having brains. “If the other two be brāined like us.” Shak.Brāin'-fē'ver, n. p. 158An inflammation of the brain; phrenitis. Dunglison.Brāin'ish, a. p. 158Hot-headed; furious. Shak.Brāin'less, a. p. 158Without understanding; silly; thoughtless; witless.Brāin'-păn, n. p. 158The bones which include the brain; the skull; the cranium.Brāin'-sick, a. p. 158Disordered in the understanding; giddy; thoughtless.Brāin'-sick'ly, adv. p. 158Weakly; with a disordered understanding. Shak.Brāin'-sick'ness, n. p. 158Disorder of the understanding; giddiness; indiscretion. Holland.Brāin'-thrōb, n. p. 158The throbbing of the brain.Brāit, n. p. 158A rough diamond;—so called by jewelers.Brāke, n. p. 158(Bot.) A fern of different genera, especially of the genus Pteris. 2. A place overgrown with brakes. Wordsworth. 3. A thicket; a place overgrown with shrubs and brambles. He staid not for brake, and…Brāke, n. p. 158An instrument or machine to break flax or hemp. 2. The handle by which a pump is worked. 3. A baker’s kneading-trough. Johnson. 4. A sharp bit or snaffle. “Pampered jades . . . which need nor brake…Brāke'man, n. p. 158The man whose business is to manage the brake on railways. 2. (Mining.) The man in charge of the winding-engine.Brāke'wheel, n. p. 158A wheel to which a brake is applied. Weale.Brāk'y, a. p. 158Full of brakes; abounding with brambles or shrubs; rough; thorny. “In the woods and braky glens.” Browne.Brā'ma, n. p. 158See BRAHMA.Bră'mah p. 158Lock. A lock peculiarly difficult to pick, invented by a Mr. Bramah of London. Simmonds.Brä'mah-prĕss, n. p. 158A hydrostatic press of immense power, invented by the Messrs. Bramah. See HYDROSTATIC-PRESS. Weale.Brām'ble, n. p. 158(Bot.) One of several different species of the genus Rubus, including the raspberry and blackberry; hence, any rough, prickly shrub. London.Brām'ble or Brām'ble-finch, n. p. 158(Ornith.) A bird,Bräm'bling p. 158a species of Fringilla; the mountain-finch (F. montifringilla).Brām'ble-bush, n. p. 158(Bot.) The bramble, or a collection of brambles growing together. “His eyebrows were large and shaggy, and greatly resembled bramble-bushes.” Lytton.Brām’bled, a. p. 158Overgrown with brambles. Forlorn she sits upon the bramble-floor. Warton.Brām'ble-nēt, n. p. 158A hallier, or a net to catch birds.Brām'bly, a. p. 158Pertaining to, resembling, or full of brambles. “In brambly wilderness.” Tennyson.Brāme, n. p. 158Vexation. [Obs.] “Heart-burning brame.” Spenser.Brā'min, n. p. 158See BRAHMAN.Brā'min-ee' or Brā'min-ess, n. p. 158See BRAHMANEE, BRAHMANESS.Bra-min'-i-cal, a. p. 158See BRAHMINICAL.Brā'min-ism, n. p. 158See BRAHMINISM.Brän, n. p. 158The proper coat of the seed of wheat, rye, or other farinaceous grain, separated from the flour by bolting.Brān'card, n. p. 159A horse litter. [Obs.] Cotgrave.Brânch, n. p. 159(Bot.) A shoot of a tree or other plant; a limb; a bough growing from a stem, or from another branch or bough. 2. Any arm or part shooting or extended from the main body of a thing, as a smaller…Brănch, v. i. p. 159To shoot or spread in branches; to ramify. 2. To divide into separate parts or subdivisions. To branch off, to form a branch or a separate part; to diverge. — To branch out, to speak diffusively; to…Brânch, v. t. p. 159To divide as into branches; to make subordinate divisions in. Bacon. 2. To adorn with needle-work representing branches, flowers, or twigs. Spenser.Brănch'-chŭck, n. p. 159(Mech.) A chuck formed of four branches turned up at the ends, and each furnished with a screw.Brānched'-work, n. p. 159(Sculp.) The carved and sculptured leaves and branches in monuments and friezes.Brânch'er, n. p. 159One that shoots forth branches. 2. (Ornith.) A young hawk when it begins to leave the nest and take to the branches.Brânch'er-y, n. p. 159(Bot.) The ramifications of the vessels dispersed through the pulpy part of fruit.Brăn'chiæ, n. pl. p. 159(Anat.) Gills; a term applied to the organs of respiration in certain animals which live in water, as fishes and crustacea. Carpenter.Brän'chi-al, a. p. 159(Anat.) Pertaining to the branchiæ or gills; performed by means of branchiæ. “Branchial respiration.” Carpenter.Brânch'i-ness, n. p. 159Fullness of branches.Brănch'ing, a. p. 159Furnished with branches; shooting out branches. “The branching palm.” Milton.Brănch'ing, n. p. 159The act of branching; division into parts or branches. “The sciences, with their numerous branchings.” Watts.Brăn'chi-ŏp'o-dă or Brăn'chi-o-pod, n. pl. p. 159(Zool.) An order of crustacea, generally very small or minute; — so named from their feet, or locomotive extremities, having been supposed to perform the function of gills. It includes the genera…Brăn’chi-ŏs’te-gal or Brăn’chi-ŏs’te-goûs, a. p. 159(Compar. Anat.) Pertaining to the branchiostege. ☞ This term was early applied also to a group of fishes having boneless branchiæ. But the arrangement was unnatural, and is rejected. Dana.Brăn'chi-ŏs'tege, n. p. 159(Compar. Anat.) The membrane which covers the gills of fishes, lying beneath the operculum. It is supported by rays, to which the name is also applied.Brânch'less, a. p. 159Destitute of branches or shoots; without any valuable product; barren; naked.Brânch'let, n. p. 159A little branch; a twig; the subdivision of a branch.Brănch'-pī'lot, n. p. 159A pilot who has a branch or public commission. [U. S.]Brânch'y, a. p. 159Full of branches; having wide-spreading branches. Beneath thy branchy bowers of thickest gloom: Scott.Brănd, n. p. 159A burning piece of wood; or a stick or piece of wood partly burnt, whether burning or after the fire is extinct. Snatching a live brand from a wigwam, Mason threw it on a matted roof. Palfrey. 2. A…Brănd, v. t. p. 159To burn or impress a mark with a hot iron; as, to brand a criminal, by way of punishment; to brand a cask, or any thing else, for the purpose of fixing a mark upon it. 2. To fix a mark or character…Brănd'er, n. p. 159One who brands. 2. A gridiron. [Scot.]Brānd'-goose, n. p. 159(Ornith.) A species of wild goose, of the genus Anas, usually called, in America, brant (Anser bernicla).Brăn'died, a. p. 159Mingled with brandy; made stronger by the addition of brandy. 2. Flavored or treated with brandy; as, brandied preserves.Brănd'ing-ī'ron, n. p. 159An iron to brand with.