Dictionary
An American Dictionary of the English Language
Revised and enlarged (Goodrich & Porter)
Springfield, Mass. · G. & C. Merriam · 1865
- Entries
- 95,912
- Pages
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- Illustrations
- 2,133
Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.
Bul-lăn’tĭc, a. p. 173Pertaining to, or used in, apostolic bulls. Fry. Bullantic letters, ornamented capitals used in apostolic bulls.Bŭl'la-ry, n. p. 173A collection of papal bulls. 2. A place for boiling or preparing salt; boilary. And certain salt fats or bullaries, and divers other lands. Bills in Chancery,Bŭl'late, a. p. 173Having elevations like blisters. A bullate leaf (Bot.), one the membranous part of which rises between the veins in elevations like blisters.Bŭll'-bāit'ing, n. p. 173The practice of baiting or exciting bulls with dogs.Bŭl'-bĕg'gar, n. p. 173Something terrible or frightful; something used or suggested to produce terror, as in children or persons of weak mind; a bugbear. And being an ill-looked fellow, he has a pension from the…Bull'-bri'er, n. p. 173(Bot.) A large brier growing in the alluvial bottoms of the South-west, the root of which contains a farinaceous substance from which the Indians make bread. [Called also bamboo-brier.] [U. S.]…Bull'-cālf, n. p. 173A male calf; a stupid fellow.Bull'-dŏg, n. p. 173A variety of dog, of remarkable ferocity and courage;—so named, probably, from being employed in baiting bulls, or from the size of the head.Bulled, a. p. 173Swollen. B. Jonson.Bull'en-nāil, n. p. 173A nail with a round head and short shank, turned and lackered. Gwilt.Bull'et, n. p. 173A small ball. 2. A missile, usually of lead, and round or conical in form, to be discharged from small-arms. 3. A cannon ball. [Obs.] One observation was, that the wind of a common bullet, though…Bul'le-tin, n. p. 173A brief statement of facts respecting some passing event, as military operations, the health of some distinguished personage, issued by authority for the information of the public. 2. Any public…Bul'le-tin-bōard, n. p. 173A board on which announcements of news are put up, particularly at news-rooms, printing offices, &c.Bul'let-proof, a. p. 173Capable of resisting the force of a bullet.Bul'let-wood, n. p. 173(Bot.) A West Indian wood, close and hard in texture, of a greenish-hazel color, resembling green-heart.Bull'-fāced, a. p. 173Having a large face. Dryden.Bull'fiſt, n. p. 173(Bot.) A plant of the genus Bovista (Ger. bofist), of the order of Fungi. B. gigantea, called also bull puff-ball, and frog’s cheese, grows to an immense size, measuring sometimes nine feet in…Bull'-fight, n. p. 173A combat with a bull; an ancient popular amusement in many countries, and still practiced among the Spaniards and Portuguese.Bull'-finch, n. p. 173(Ornith.) A bird of the genus Pyrrhula and other related genera, especially the P. vulgaris, a bird allied to the grosbeak, having the breast, cheeks, and throat of a crimson color. Crimson-fronted…Bull'-fly or Bull'-bee, n. p. 173The gadfly, a stinging insect which torments cattle. Phillips.Bull'-frog, n. p. 173(Zoöl.) A large species of frog (the Rana pipiens), found in North America, of a dusky-brown color, mixed with yellowish-green, and spotted with black.Bull'-hēad, n. p. 173(Ichth.) (a.) A fish of the genus Cottus, especially the C. gobio. (b.) In America, a species of Pimelodus, called likewise cat-fish and horned-pout. 2. A stupid fellow; a lubber. Johnson. 3. A…Bull'ion, n. p. 173Uncoined gold or silver in the mass. ☞ Properly, the precious metals are called bullion, when smelted and not perfectly refined; or when refined, but in bars, ingots, or in any form uncoined, as in…Bull'ion-ist, n. p. 173An advocate for an exclusive metallic currency, or a paper currency always convertible into gold.Bul'li-rāg, v. t. p. 173To insult in a bullying manner. [Low.] Todd.Bull'ish, a. p. 173Partaking of the nature of a bull, or a blunder. [Rare.] Let me inform you, a toothless satyr is as improper as a toothless sleek-stone, and as bullish. Milton.Bul'list, n. p. 173A writer of papal bulls. [Rare.] Harmer.Bul-li'tion, n. p. 173The act or state of boiling. [Obs.] See EBULLITION. Bacon.Bull'ock, n. p. 173A young bull, or any male of the ox kind. Take thy father's young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old. Judges vi. 25. 2. An ox, or castrated bull. ☞ The ox, or steer, is the castrated…Bull'ock, v. t. p. 173To bully. [Obs.] “She shan't think to bullock and domineer over me.” Foote.Bull'ock's-eye, n. p. 173A small, thick glass used as a skylight, in a covering or roof. See BULL'S-EYE.Bull's'-eye, n. p. 173(Naut.) An oval wooden block without sheaves, having a groove around it and a hole through it, used for connecting rigging, as the stays. 2. A thick piece of glass inserted in a deck, roof, floor…Bull's'-nōse, n. p. 173(Arch.) The external angle of a polygon, or of two lines which meet at an obtuse angle. Gwilt.Bull'-stăg, n. p. 173A castrated bull. See STAG.Bull'-trout, n. p. 173(Ichth.) A large species of trout, (Salmo trutta), stouter than the common kind, and, like the salmon, ascending rivers periodically to spawn. Its back is bluish green, and there are several black…Bull'-weed, n. p. 173(Bot.) Knapweed, a species of Centaurea.Bull'-wort, n. p. 173(Bot.) A plant, called also bishop'sweed. Johnson.Bul'ly, n. p. 173A noisy, blustering fellow, more insolent than courageous; a quarrelsome person. The blustering bully, in our neighboring streets, Scorns to attack the female whom he meets. Prior.Bul'ly, a. p. 173Jovial; merry. [Low.] “Bless thee, bully doctor.” Shak.Bul'ly, v. t. p. 173To insult with noise and blustering menaces; to act the part of a bully toward. For the last fortnight there have been prodigious shoals of volunteers gone over to bully the French, upon hearing the…Bull'y, v. i. p. 173To be noisy and quarrelsome. Johnson.Būlly'ing, n. p. 173The act or behavior of a bully. Both are as remote from the spirit of true philosophy as bullying and cowardice from true valor. Beattie. 2. State of being bullied.Bŭl'rush, n. p. 173(Bot.) A plant; a large kind of rush, growing in wet land or water. ☞ The name bulrush is applied, in England, to the Penicillaria spicata (Loudon), the Scirpus lacustris, and also to the Typha…Bülse, n. p. 173A certain quantity of diamonds. [India.] Wraxall.Bŭl'tel, n. p. 173A bolter or boiling-cloth; also, bran. [Obs.]Bull'tōw, n. p. 173A mode of fishing practiced on the banks of Newfoundland, by stringing a number of hooks on one line, and thus taking many fish at a haul. Simmonds.Būl'wark, n. p. 174(Fort.) A mound of earth round a place, capable of resisting cannon-shot, and formed with bastions, curtains, &c.; an outwork for defense; a bastion. 2. That which secures against an enemy or…Bŭl'wark, v. t. p. 174To fortify with a rampart; to secure by a fortification; to protect. Some proud city, bulwarked round and armed with rising towers. Glover.Būm, n. p. 174The buttocks. [Lou.]Būm, v. i. p. 174To make a murmuring or humming sound.Būm’/būll’iff, n. p. 174A subordinate civil officer, appointed to serve writs and to make arrests and executions, and bound with sureties for a faithful discharge of his trust; an under bailiff. [Eng. Law.] See…Bŭm’bĭrd, n. p. 174See BOMBARD.Būm'bärge, n. p. 174Same as BUMBOAT, q. v. Carlyle.Būm'bāst, n. p. 174See BOMBAST.Būm’be-lo or Bōm’bo-lo, n. p. 174A thin, spheroidal glass vessel, or flask, with a short neck, used in the sublimation of camphor. In a large chemical factory near Birmingham, the camphor-refining room contained about a dozen…Būm'ble, n. p. 174The bittern. [Local, Eng.] Ogilvie.Būm'ble, v. i. p. 174To make a hollow or humming noise, like that of a bumble-bee; to cry as a bittern. As when the bittern bumbleth in the mire. Chaucer.Būm'ble-bee, n. p. 174A large bee, a species of Bombus, sometimes called humble-bee; so named from its sound.Būm’bōat, n. p. 174(Naut.) A clumsy boat, used for conveying provisions, fruit, &c., for sale, to vessels lying in port or off shore.Būm'kīn, n. p. 174(Naut.) (a.) Pieces of timber projecting from each bow of a vessel, to haul the fore tack to, called a fork-bumkin; also, from each quarter, for the standing part of the main brace, and called…