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Babingtonite

A mineral occurring in triclinic crystals approaching pyroxene in angle, and of a greenish black color. It is a silicate of iron, manganese, and lime.

Babirussa Babiroussa

A large hoglike quadruped (Sus babirussa, syn. Porcus babirussa) of the East Indies, sometimes domesticated; the Indian hog. Its upper canine teeth or tusks are large and recurved.

Babish

Like a babe; a childish; babyish.

Bablah

The rind of the fruit of several East Indian species of acacia; neb-neb. It contains gallic acid and tannin, and is used for dyeing drab.

Babool Babul

Any one of several species of Acacia, esp. Acacia Arabica, which yelds a gum used as a substitute for true gum arabic.

Baboon

One of the Old World Quadrumana, of the genera Cynocephalus and Papio; the dog-faced ape. Baboons have dog-like muzzles and large canine teeth, cheek pouches, a short tail, and naked callosities on the buttocks. They are mostly African. See Mandrill, and Chacma, and Drill an ape.

Babu Baboo

A Hindu gentleman; a native clerk who writes English; also, a Hindu title equivalent to the English Mr. or Esquire.

Baby

To treat like a young child; to keep dependent; to humor; to fondle.

baby-blue-eyes

delicate California annual having blue flowers marked with dark spots.

baby-walker

a framework on small wheels or casters designed to support small children while they are learning to walk, and usually having a fabric support that permits the child to sit. Called also walker and go-cart.

Babyhouse

A place for children's dolls and dolls' furniture.

Babyish

Like a baby; childish; puerile; simple.

Babylonian

An inhabitant of Babylonia (which included Chaldea); a Chaldean.

Babylonish

Of or pertaining to, or made in, Babylon or Babylonia.

Babyship

The quality of being a baby; the personality of an infant.

babysitting

the work of a baby sitter; caring for children when their parents are not home.

Bac

A broad, flat-bottomed ferryboat, usually worked by a rope.

bacca

an indehiscent fruit derived from a single ovary having one or many seeds within a fleshy wall or pericarp: e. g. grape; tomato; cranberry.

Baccate

Pulpy throughout, like a berry; -- said of fruits.

Bacchanal

A devotee of Bacchus; one who indulges in drunken revels; one who is noisy and riotous when intoxicated; a carouser.

Bacchant

Bacchanalian; fond of drunken revelry; wine-loving; reveling; carousing.

Bacchical Bacchic

Of or relating to Bacchus; hence, jovial, or riotous, with intoxication; riotously drunken; -- used of revelrous gatherings.

Bacchius

A metrical foot composed of a short syllable and two long ones; according to some, two long and a short.

Bacchus

The god of wine, son of Jupiter and Semele.

Baccivorous

Eating, or subsisting on, berries; as, baccivorous birds.

Bachelor

A man of any age who has not been married.

bachelor-at-arms

a knight of the lowest order; he was permitted to display only a pennon.

Bachelordom

The state of bachelorhood; the whole body of bachelors.

Bachelorhood

The state or condition of being a bachelor; bachelorship.

Bachelorism

Bachelorhood; also, a manner or peculiarity belonging to bachelors.

Bachelry

The body of young aspirants for knighthood.

Bacillary

Of or pertaining to little rods; rod-shaped.

bacilli

plural of bacillus; usually designating aerobic rod-shaped spore-producing bacteria; they often occur in chainlike formations.

Bacillus

A variety of bacterium; a microscopic, rod-shaped vegetable organism.

bacitracin

a polypeptide antibacterial antibiotic of known chemical structure effective against several types of Gram-positive organisms, and usually used topically for superficial local infection.

Back

In, to, or toward, the rear; as, to stand back; to step back.

Back stairs Backstairs

Stairs in the back part of a house, as distinguished from the front stairs; a second staircase at the rear of a building; hence, a private or indirect way.

back up

to serve as a backup{3} for (another person or persons); as, the patrolmen backed up the detectives as they went inside to make the arrest; the center fielder backed up the shortstop on the play.

Back-fire Backfire

To have or experience a back fire or back fires; -- said of an internal-combustion engine.

back-formation

a word invented (usually unwittingly by subtracting an affix) on the assumption that a familiar word derives from it, such as emote from emotion.

back-to-back

occurring immediately one after the other; consecutive.

Backare Baccare

Stand back! give place! -- a cant word of the Elizabethan writers, probably in ridicule of some person who pretended to a knowledge of Latin which he did not possess.

Backband

The band which passes over the back of a horse and holds up the shafts of a carriage.

backbench

any of the seats occupied by backbenchers in the House of Commons of Great Britain.

backbencher

a member of the House of Commons of Great Britain who is not a party leader.

backbend

an acrobatic feat in which the trunk is bent backward from a standing position until the hands touch the floor.

Backbite

To censure or revile the absent.

Backbiter

One who backbites; a secret calumniator or detractor.

Backbond

An instrument which, in conjunction with another making an absolute disposition, constitutes a trust.

Backcast

Anything which brings misfortune upon one, or causes failure in an effort or enterprise; a reverse.

backdate

to make effective from an earlier date; to make retroactive.

Backdoor

Acting from behind and in concealment; backstairs; as, backdoor intrigues.

Backdown

A receding or giving up; a complete surrender.

backdrop

the scenery hung at back of stage. Also called in Britain backcloth.

Backed

Having a back; fitted with a back; as, a backed electrotype or stereotype plate. Used in composition; as, broad-backed; hump-backed.

Backer

One who, or that which, backs; especially one who backs a person or thing in a contest.

Backfall

A fall or throw on the back in wrestling.

backgammon

In the game of backgammon, to beat by ending the game before the loser is clear of his first /table/. When played for betting purposes, the winner in such a case scores three times the wagered amount.

backgrounding

The execution of low priority programs while higher priority programs are not using the processing system.

Backhand

Sloping from left to right; -- said of handwriting.

Backhanded

With the hand turned backward; as, a backhanded blow.

backhanded

Stroked with a backhand{2}; as, a backhanded drive.

Backhandedness

State of being backhanded; the using of backhanded or indirect methods.

Backheel

A method of tripping by getting the leg back of the opponent's heel on the outside and pulling forward while pushing his body back; a throw made in this way. To trip (a person) in this way.

Backhouse

A building behind the main building. A privy; an outhouse; a necessary.

Backing

The act of moving backward, or of putting or moving anything backward.

Backjoint

A rebate or chase in masonry left to receive a permanent slab or other filling.

Backlash

The distance through which one part of connected machinery, as a wheel, piston, or screw, can be moved without moving the connected parts, resulting from looseness in fitting or from wear; also, the jarring or reflex motion caused in badly fitting machinery by irregularities in velocity or a reverse of motion.

Backlog

A large stick of wood, forming the back of a fire on the hearth. Contrasted to forestick.

backpack

to hike while carrying a backpack; -- often used in the form go backpacking; as, to backpack through the forest.

backpacker

one who backpacks; as, two backpackers were mauled by bears in Yellowstone this week.

Backplate Backpiece

A piece, or plate which forms the back of anything, or which covers the back.

backrest

a support that you can lean against while sitting.

backroom

the meeting place of a group of leaders who make their decisions via private negotiations.

Backs

Among leather dealers, the thickest and stoutest tanned hides.

Backsaw

A saw (as a tenon saw) whose blade is stiffened by an added metallic back.

Backset

To plow again, in the fall; -- said of prairie land broken up in the spring.

Backsettler

One living in the back or outlying districts of a community.

Backshish Backsheesh

In Egypt and the Turkish empire, a relatively small amount of money given for services rendered (as by a waiter); a gratuity; a /tip/.

Backside

The hinder part, posteriors, or rump of a person or animal.

Backsight

The reading of the leveling staff in its unchanged position when the leveling instrument has been taken to a new position; a sight directed backwards to a station previously occupied. Cf. Foresight, n., 3.

Backslide

To slide back; to fall away; esp. to abandon gradually the faith and practice of a religion that has been professed.

Backsliding

The act of one who backslides; abandonment of faith or duty.

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