Loading earlier words…
Barky

Covered with, or containing, bark.

Barley

A valuable grain, of the family of grasses, genus Hordeum, used for food, and for making malt, from which are prepared beer, ale, and whisky.

Barleybreak Barleybrake

An ancient rural game, commonly played round stacks of barley, or other grain, in which some of the party attempt to catch others who run from a goal.

Barm

The lap or bosom.

Barmaid

A girl or woman who attends the customers of a bar, as in a tavern or beershop.

Barmaster

Formerly, a local judge among miners; now, an officer of the barmote.

Barmecide

One who proffers some illusory advantage or benefit. Also used as an adj.: Barmecidal.

Barmote

A court held in Derbyshire, in England, for deciding controversies between miners.

Barmy

Full of barm or froth; in a ferment.

Barn

A child. See Bairn.

Barnabite

A member of a religious order, named from St. Barnabas.

Barnacle

An instrument for pinching a horse's nose, and thus restraining him.

Barnburner

A member of the radical section of the Democratic party in New York, about the middle of the 19th century, which was hostile to extension of slavery, public debts, corporate privileges, etc., and supported Van Buren against Cass for president in 1848; -- opposed to Hunker.

barndoor

An opaque adjustable flap on a lamp fixture; used in photography to cut off light from particular areas.

barnful

The quantity that a barn will hold.

Barnstorm

To travel from place to place, making brief stops.

Barnstormer

An itinerant theatrical player who plays in barns when a theatre is lacking; hence, an inferior actor, or one who plays in the country away from the larger cities.

Barocyclonometer

An aneroid barometer for use with accompanying graphic diagrams and printed directions designed to aid mariners to interpret the indications of the barometer so as to determine the existence of a violent storm at a distance of several hundred miles.

Barogram

A tracing, usually made by the barograph, showing graphically the variations of atmospheric pressure for a given time.

Barograph

An instrument for recording automatically the variations of atmospheric pressure.

Baroko

A form or mode of syllogism of which the first proposition is a universal affirmative, and the other two are particular negatives.

Barology

The science of weight or gravity.

Baromacrometer

An instrument for ascertaining the weight and length of a newborn infant.

Barometer

An instrument for determining the weight or pressure of the atmosphere, and hence for judging of the probable changes of weather, or for ascertaining the height of any ascent.

Barometrical Barometric

Pertaining to the barometer; made or indicated by a barometer; as, barometric changes; barometrical observations.

Barometrically

By means of a barometer, or according to barometric observations.

Barometrograph

A form of barometer so constructed as to inscribe of itself upon paper a record of the variations of atmospheric pressure.

Barometry

The art or process of making barometrical measurements.

Barometz

The woolly-skinned rhizoma or rootstock of a fern (Dicksonia barometz), which, when specially prepared and inverted, somewhat resembles a lamb; -- called also Scythian lamb.

baronduki

same as baranduki; the terrestrial Siberian squirrel.

Baroness

A baron's wife; also, a lady who holds the baronial title in her own right; as, the Baroness Burdett-Coutts.

Baronet

A dignity or degree of honor next below a baron and above a knight, having precedency of all orders of knights except those of the Garter. It is the lowest degree of honor that is hereditary. The baronets are commoners.

Barong

A kind of cutting weapon similar to a cleaver, with a thick back and thin razorlike edge, used by the Moros of the Philippine Islands.

Baronial

Pertaining to a baron or a barony.

Barony

The fee or domain of a baron; the lordship, dignity, or rank of a baron.

Baroque

of, pertaining to, or characteristic of, an artistic style common in the 17th century, characterized by the use of complex and elaborate ornamentation, curved rather than straight lines, and, in music a high degree of embellishment.

Baroscope

Any instrument showing the changes in the weight of the atmosphere; also, less appropriately, any instrument that indicates or foreshadows changes of the weather, as a deep vial of liquid holding in suspension some substance which rises and falls with atmospheric changes.

Barothermograph

An instrument for recording both pressure and temperature, as of the atmosphere.

Barouche

A four-wheeled carriage, with a falling top, a seat on the outside for the driver, and two double seats on the inside arranged so that the sitters on the front seat face those on the back seat.

Barpost

A post sunk in the ground to receive the bars closing a passage into a field.

Barracan

A thick, strong stuff, somewhat like camlet; -- still used for outer garments in the Levant.

Barrack

To live or lodge in barracks.

Barracoon

A slave warehouse, or an inclosure where slaves are quartered temporarily.

Barracouta Barracuda

Any of several voracious pikelike marine fishes allied to the gray mullets, constituting the genus Sphyr/na and family Sphyr/nid/. The great barracuda (Sphyr/na barracuda) of the West Indies, Florida, etc., is often six feet or more long, and as dangerous as a shark. In Cuba its flesh is reputed to be poisonous. Sphyr/na Argentea of the Pacific coast and Sphyr/na sphyr/na of Europe are smaller species, and are used as food.

Barrage

An artificial bar or obstruction placed in a river or watercourse to increase the depth of water; as, the barrages of the Nile.

Barramundi

A remarkable Australian fresh-water ganoid fish of the genus Ceratodus. An Australian river fish (Osteoglossum Leichhardtii).

Barranca

A ravine caused by heavy rains or a watercourse.

Barras

A resin, called also galipot.

Barratrous

Tainted with, or constituting, barratry.

Barratry

The practice of exciting and encouraging lawsuits and quarrels.

Barrel

To put or to pack in a barrel or barrels.

barrel cactus

any of several large cacti native to the southwestern U. S. and Mexico, having a short cylindrical form with deep vertical ribs and bearing sharp spines. They are classed in the genera Ferocactus and Echinocactus.

barrelfish

A blackish fish (Hyperglyphe perciformis) of New England waters.

barrelful

The quantity that a barrel (of any size) will hold.

Barrenness

The condition of being barren; sterility; unproductiveness.

Barrenwort

An herbaceous plant of the Barberry family (Epimedium alpinum), having leaves that are bitter and said to be sudorific.

Barret

A kind of cap formerly worn by soldiers; -- called also barret cap. Also, the flat cap worn by Roman Catholic ecclesiastics.

barretter

a resistor inserted into a circuit to compensate for changes (such as those arising from temperature fluctuations); a thermal cymoscope.

Barricade

To fortify or close with a barricade or with barricades; to stop up, as a passage; to obstruct; as, the workmen barricaded the streets of Paris.

Barrier

A carpentry obstruction, stockade, or other obstacle made in a passage in order to stop an enemy.

Barrigudo

A large, dark-colored, South American monkey, of the genus Lagothrix, having a long prehensile tail.

barring

the act of excluding someone by a negative vote or veto.

Barringout

The act of closing the doors of a schoolroom against a schoolmaster; -- a boyish mode of rebellion in schools.

Barrio

In Spain and countries colonized by Spain, a village, ward, or district outside a town or city to whose jurisdiction it belongs; in Spanish-speaking areas of cities in the United States, it is a neighborhood, ward, or quarter inside a town.

Barrister

Counselor at law; a counsel admitted to plead at the bar, and undertake the public trial of causes, as distinguished from an attorney or solicitor. See Attorney.

Barroom

A room containing a bar or counter at which liquors are sold.

Barrow

A large mound of earth or stones over the remains of the dead; a tumulus.

Barrowist

A follower of Henry Barrowe, one of the founders of Independency or Congregationalism in England. Barrowe was executed for nonconformity in 1593.

Barrulet

A diminutive of the bar, having one fourth its width.

Barruly

Traversed by barrulets or small bars; -- said of the field.

Barry

Divided into bars; -- said of the field.

Barse

The common perch. See 1st Bass.

Bart.

an abbreviation of baronet.

Barter

The act or practice of trafficking by exchange of commodities; an exchange of goods.

Barth

A place of shelter for cattle.

Bartizan

A small, overhanging structure for lookout or defense, usually projecting at an angle of a building or near an entrance gateway.

Bartlett

A Bartlett pear, a favorite kind of pear, which originated in England about 1770, and was called Williams' Bonchr/tien. It was brought to America, and distributed by Mr. Enoch Bartlett, of Dorchester, Massachusetts.

Barton

The demesne lands of a manor; also, the manor itself.

Barway

A passage into a field or yard, closed by bars made to take out of the posts.

Barwood

A red wood of a leguminous tree (Baphia nitida), from Angola and the Gabon in Africa. It is used as a dyewood, and also for ramrods, violin bows and turner's work.

barycenter

the point representing the mean position of the matter in a body.

Barycentric

Of or pertaining to the center of gravity. See Barycentric calculus, under Calculus.

baryon

any of the elementary particles having a mass equal to or greater than that of a proton and that participate in strong interactions; a hadron with a baryon number of +1.

Barysphere

The heavy interior portion of the earth, within the lithosphere.

Baryta

An oxide of barium (or barytum); a heavy earth with a specific gravity above 4.

Barytes

Barium sulphate, generally called heavy spar or barite. See Barite.

Baryto-calcite

A mineral of a white or gray color, occurring massive or crystallized. It is a compound of the carbonates of barium and calcium.

Barytum

The metal barium. See Barium.

Bas-relief

Low relief; sculpture, the figures of which project less than half of their true proportions; -- called also bass-relief and basso-rilievo. See Alto-rilievo.

Basal

Relating to, or forming, the base.

Basal-nerved

Having the nerves radiating from the base; -- said of leaves.

Basalt

A rock of igneous origin, consisting of augite and triclinic feldspar, with grains of magnetic or titanic iron, and also bottle-green particles of olivine frequently disseminated.

Basaltic

Pertaining to basalt; formed of, or containing, basalt; as basaltic lava.

Loading more words…