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Bibulous

Readily imbibing fluids or moisture; spongy; as, bibulous blotting paper.

Bibulously

In a bibulous manner; with profuse imbibition or absorption.

Bicalcarate

Having two spurs, as the wing or leg of a bird.

Bicameral

Consisting of, or including, two chambers, or legislative branches.

Bicapsular

Having two capsules; as, a bicapsular pericarp.

Bicarbonate

A carbonate in which but half the hydrogen of the acid is replaced by a positive element or radical, thus making the proportion of the acid to the positive or basic portion twice what it is in the normal carbonates; an acid carbonate; -- sometimes called supercarbonate.

Bicarinate

Having two keel-like projections, as the upper palea of grasses.

Bicaudal

Having, or terminating in, two tails.

Bicentenary

Of or pertaining to two hundred, esp. to two hundred years; as, a bicentenary celebration. The two hundredth anniversary, or its celebration.

Bicentennial

The two hundredth year or anniversary, or its celebration.

Biceps

A muscle having two heads or origins; -- applied particularly to a flexor in the arm, and to another in the thigh.

Bichir

A remarkable ganoid fish (Polypterus bichir) found in the Nile and other African rivers. See Brachioganoidei.

Bichloride

A compound consisting of two atoms of chlorine with one or more atoms of another element; -- called also dichloride.

Bichromate

A salt containing two parts of chromic acid to one of the other ingredients; as, potassium bichromate; -- called also dichromate.

Bichromatize

To combine or treat with a bichromate, esp. with bichromate of potassium; as, bichromatized gelatine.

Bicipital

Having two heads or origins, as a muscle. Pertaining to a biceps muscle; as, bicipital furrows, the depressions on either side of the biceps of the arm.

Bicker

A skirmish; an encounter.

Bickern

An anvil ending in a beak or point (orig. in two beaks); also, the beak or horn itself.

Bicolligate

Having the anterior toes connected by a basal web.

Biconcave

Concave on both sides; as, biconcave vertebr/.

Biconjugate

Twice paired, as when a petiole forks twice.

Biconvex

Convex on both sides; as, a biconvex lens.

Bicorporate

Double-bodied, as a lion having one head and two bodies.

Bicostate

Having two principal ribs running longitudinally, as a leaf.

Bicrenate

Twice crenated, as in the case of leaves whose crenatures are themselves crenate.

Bicuspid

One of the two double-pointed teeth which intervene between the canines (cuspids) and the molars, on each side of each jaw. See Tooth, n.

Bicuspidate Bicuspid

Having two points or prominences; ending in two points; -- said of teeth, leaves, fruit, etc.

Bicycle

A light vehicle having two wheels one behind the other. It has a saddle seat and is propelled by the rider's feet acting on cranks or levers.

Bicycling

The use of a bicycle; the act or practice of riding a bicycle.

Bidale

An invitation of friends to drink ale at some poor man's house, and there to contribute in charity for his relief.

Bidder

One who bids or offers a price.

Bidding

Command; order; a proclamation or notifying.

Biddy

An Irish serving woman or girl.

Bide

To encounter; to remain firm under (a hardship); to endure; to suffer; to undergo.

Bident

An instrument or weapon with two prongs.

Bidentate

Having two teeth or two toothlike processes; two-toothed.

Bidigitate

Having two fingers or fingerlike projections.

Bielid

See Andromede and cf. Biela's comet.

Biennial

Something which takes place or appears once in two years; esp. a biennial examination.

Bier

A handbarrow or portable frame on which a corpse is placed or borne to the grave.

Bierbalk

A church road (e. g., a path across fields) for funerals.

Bifacial

Having the opposite surfaces alike.

Biffin

A sort of apple peculiar to Norfolk, Eng.

Bifid

Cleft to the middle or slightly beyond the middle; opening with a cleft; divided by a linear sinus, with straight margins.

Bifilar

Two-threaded; involving the use of two threads; as, bifilar suspension; a bifilar balance.

Bifocals

eyeglasses whose lenses have two foci, allowing the wearer to see both far and nearby objects clearly. The lenses are partitioned horizontally, the upper and lower parts having different focal lengths.

Bifold

Twofold; double; of two kinds, degrees, etc.

Bifoliolate

Having two leaflets, as some compound leaves.

Biforine

An oval sac or cell, found in the leaves of certain plants of the order Arace/. It has an opening at each end through which raphides, generated inside, are discharged.

Biform

Having two forms, bodies, or shapes.

Big

Having largeness of size; of much bulk or magnitude; of great size; large.

Big Apple

New York City; -- a nickname, usually written The Big Apple.

big bang

The explosive event marking the beginning of the known universe, according to big bang theory; the beginning of time.

big bang theory

The theory that the known universe originated in an explosive event (the big bang) in which all of the matter and energy of the universe was contained in a single point and began to rapidly expand and evolve, starting as high-energy particles and radiation, and, as it cooled over time, evolving into ordinary subatomic particles, atoms, and then stars and galaxies. According to this theory, the four-dimensional space-time continuum which we perceive as our universe continues to expand to the present time, but it is unknown whether the expansion will continue indefinitely or eventually stop or even reverse, possibly leading to a contraction to a single point sometimes referred to as the /big crunch/. The competing /Steady-state Theory/ gradually lost favor in the 1980's and 1990's. See also big bang.

Big Board

The New York Stock Exchange; -- a nickname often used in financial reporting.

Big-bellied

Having a great belly; as, a big-bellied man or flagon; advanced in pregnancy.

big-ticket

same as expensive, but in an absolute sense; -- referring to items of a type which are all expensive, such as automobiles, refrigerators, or large-screen television sets.

Biga

A two-horse chariot.

Bigamous

Guilty of bigamy; involving bigamy; as, a bigamous marriage.

Bigamy

The offense of marrying one person when already legally married to another.

bigeminate

Having a forked petiole, and a pair of leaflets at the end of each division; biconjugate; twice paired; -- said of a decompound leaf.

bigential

Including two tribes or races of men.

Bigeye

A fish of the genus Priacanthus, remarkable for the large size of the eye.

Biggen

To make or become big; to enlarge.

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