Loading earlier words…
Bdelloidea

The order of Annulata which includes the leeches. See Hirudinea.

Bdellometer

A cupping glass to which are attached a scarificator and an exhausting syringe.

Bdellomorpha

An order of Nemertina, including the large leechlike worms (Malacobdella) often parasitic in clams.

Be

To exist actually, or in the world of fact; to have existence.

Be-all

The whole; all that is to be.

Beach

To run or drive (as a vessel or a boat) upon a beach; to strand; as, to beach a ship.

beachhead

an area in hostile territory that has been occupied and is held to allow aditional troops and supplies to enter.

beachlike

having an extensive gently sloping area of sand or gravel; -- of a shore or shoreline. Opposite of cliffy.

Beachy

Having a beach or beaches; formed by a beach or beaches; shingly.

Beacon

To give light to, as a beacon; to light up; to illumine.

Beaconage

Money paid for the maintenance of a beacon; also, beacons, collectively.

Bead

To form beadlike bubbles.

beaded

imp. p. p. of bead, v. t. i..

Beading

Molding in imitation of beads.

Beadle

A messenger or crier of a court; a servitor; one who cites or bids persons to appear and answer; -- called also an apparitor or summoner.

Beadlery

Office or jurisdiction of a beadle.

Beadleship

The state of being, or the personality of, a beadle.

Beadroll

A catalogue of persons, for the rest of whose souls a certain number of prayers are to be said or counted off on the beads of a chaplet; hence, a catalogue in general.

Beadsnake

A small poisonous snake of North America (Elaps fulvius), banded with yellow, red, and black.

Beady

Resembling beads; small, round, and glistening.

Beagle

A small hound, or hunting dog, twelve to fifteen inches high, used in hunting hares and other small game. See Illustration in Appendix.

Beak

The bill or nib of a bird, consisting of a horny sheath, covering the jaws. The form varies much according to the food and habits of the bird, and is largely used in the classification of birds. A similar bill in other animals, as the turtles. The long projecting sucking mouth of some insects, and other invertebrates, as in the Hemiptera. The upper or projecting part of the shell, near the hinge of a bivalve. The prolongation of certain univalve shells containing the canal.

Beaked

Having a beak or a beaklike point; beak-shaped.

Beaker

A large drinking cup, with a wide mouth, supported on a foot or standard.

Beakhead

An ornament used in rich Norman doorways, resembling a head with a beak.

Beakiron

A bickern; a bench anvil with a long beak, adapted to reach the interior surfaces of sheet metal ware; the horn of an anvil.

Beal

To gather matter; to swell and come to a head, as a pimple.

Beam

To emit beams of light.

Beambird

A small European flycatcher (Muscicapa grisola), so called because it often nests on a beam in a building.

Beamed

Furnished with beams, as the head of a stag.

Beamy

Emitting beams of light; radiant; shining.

Bean

A name given to the seed of certain leguminous herbs, chiefly of the genera Faba, Phaseolus, and Dolichos; also, to the herbs.

beanbag

a small cloth bag filled with dried beans; it is thrown from person to person in games.

beanball

a baseball deliberately thrown at the batter's head.

beaner

a baseball deliberately thrown at the batter's head.

beanfeast

(British) an annual dinner party given by an employer for the employees.

beanie

a small skullcap; formerly worn by schoolboys and college freshmen.

beano

a game in which numbered balls are drawn and random and players cover the correponding numbers on their cards.

Bear

To endeavor to depress the price of, or prices in; as, to bear a railroad stock; to bear the market.

bear jam

A traffic jam caused by tourists stopping to look at bears near the road; -- a phenomenon once common in Yellowstone Park, Wyoming.

Bear's-ear

A kind of primrose (Primula auricula), so called from the shape of the leaf.

Bear's-foot

A species of hellebore (Helleborus f/tidus), with digitate leaves. It has an offensive smell and acrid taste, and is a powerful emetic, cathartic, and anthelmintic.

Bear's-paw

A large bivalve shell of the East Indies (Hippopus maculatus), often used as an ornament.

Bearable

Capable of being borne or endured; tolerable.

Bearberry

A trailing plant of the heath family (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi), having leaves which are tonic and astringent, and glossy red berries of which bears are said to be fond.

Bearbind

The bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis).

bearcat

an arboreal civet of Asia (Arctictis bintourong) having a long prehensile tail and shaggy black hair.

Beard

To take by the beard; to seize, pluck, or pull the beard of (a man), in anger or contempt.

Beardie

The bearded loach (Nemachilus barbatus) of Europe.

Beardless

Without a beard. Hence: Not having arrived at puberty or manhood; youthful.

beardown

devoting full strength and concentrated attention to.

Bearer

One who, or that which, bears, sustains, or carries.

Bearhound

A hound for baiting or hunting bears.

Bearing

The manner in which one bears or conducts one's self; mien; behavior; carriage.

Bearish

Partaking of the qualities of a bear; resembling a bear in temper or manners.

Bearward

A keeper of bears. See Bearherd.

Beast

Any living creature; an animal; -- including man, insects, etc.

Beastly

Pertaining to, or having the form, nature, or habits of, a beast.

Beat

One that beats, or surpasses, another or others; as, the beat of him.

Beaten

Made smooth by beating or treading; worn by use.

beaten-up

worn by use into a deplorable condition.

Beater

One who, or that which, beats.

Beath

To bathe; also, to dry or heat, as unseasoned wood.

Beatification

The act of beatifying, or the state of being beatified; esp., in the R. C. Church, the act or process of ascertaining and declaring that a deceased person is one of /the blessed,/ or has attained the second degree of sanctity, -- usually a stage in the process of canonization.

beatified

proclaimed one of the blessed and thus worthy of veneration.

Beatify

To pronounce or regard as happy, or supremely blessed, or as conferring happiness.

Beating

The act of striking or giving blows; punishment or chastisement by blows.

Beatitude

Felicity of the highest kind; consummate bliss.

beatnik

a member of the Beat Generation; a nonconformist in dress and behavior.

Beau

A man who takes great care to dress in the latest fashion; a dandy.

Beaucatcher

A small flat curl worn on the temple by women.

Beaufet

A niche, cupboard, or sideboard for plate, china, glass, etc.; a buffet.

Beauish

Like a beau; characteristic of a beau; foppish; fine.

Beaumontague

A cement used in making joints, filling cracks, etc. For iron, the principal constituents are iron borings and sal ammoniac; for wood, white lead or litharge, whiting, and linseed oil.

Beauseant

The black and white standard of the Knights Templars.

Beauship

The state of being a beau; the personality of a beau.

beaut

an outstanding example of its kind; as, when I make a mistake it's a beaut.

Beauteous

Full of beauty; beautiful; very handsome.

Beautifier

One who, or that which, beautifies or makes beautiful.

Beautiful

Having the qualities which constitute beauty; pleasing to the sight or the mind.

Beautify

To become beautiful; to advance in beauty.

Beauxite Bauxite

A ferruginous hydrate of alumina. It is the most commonly used ore for the preparation of aluminum and alumina. It is also used for the lining of furnaces which are exposed to intense heat.

Beaver

That piece of armor which protected the lower part of the face, whether forming a part of the helmet or fixed to the breastplate. It was so constructed (with joints or otherwise) that the wearer could raise or lower it to eat and drink.

Loading more words…