Loading earlier words…
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.

Biggin

A coffeepot with a strainer or perforated metallic vessel for holding the ground coffee, through which boiling water is poured; -- so called from Mr. Biggin, the inventor.

Bigha

A measure of land in India, varying from a third of an acre to an acre.

Bighorn

The Rocky Mountain sheep (Ovis montana or Caprovis montana); called also bighorn sheep.

Bight

A corner, bend, or angle; a hollow; as, the bight of a horse's knee; the bight of an elbow.

Bigly

In a tumid, swelling, blustering manner; haughtily; violently.

Bigness

The state or quality of being big; largeness; size; bulk.

Bignonia

A large genus of American, mostly tropical, climbing shrubs, having compound leaves and showy somewhat tubular flowers. Bignonia capreolata is the cross vine of the Southern United States. The trumpet creeper (also called the trumpet vine), with large red tubular flowers, was formerly considered to be of this genus, but is now classified as Campsis radicans.

Bignoniaceae

a natural family comprising the trees or shrubs or woody vines or herbs having gourdlike or capsular fruit; the are sometimes placed in the order Scrophulariales.

Bignoniaceous

Of pertaining to, or resembling, the family of plants of which the trumpet flower (also called trumpet creeper and trumpet vine) is an example.

Bigoted

Obstinately and blindly attached to some creed, opinion practice, or ritual; unreasonably devoted to a system or party, and illiberal toward the opinions of others.

Bigotry

The state of mind of a bigot; obstinate and unreasoning attachment of one's own belief and opinions, with narrow-minded intolerance of beliefs opposed to them.

bigram

a word that is written with two letters in an alphabetic writing system.

Bigwig

A person of consequence; as, the bigwigs of society.

Bihydroguret

A compound of two atoms of hydrogen with some other substance.

Bijou

A trinket; a jewel; -- a word applied to anything small and of elegant workmanship.

Bijoutry

Small articles of virtu, as jewelry, trinkets, etc.

Bijugate

Having two pairs, as of leaflets.

Bike

A nest of wild bees, wasps, or ants; a swarm.

Bikh

The East Indian name of a virulent poison extracted from Aconitum ferox or other species of aconite: also, the plant itself.

bilabial

a consonant that is articulated using both lips, as p or b or w.

Bilabiate

Having two lips, as the corols of certain flowers.

Bilalo

A two-masted passenger boat or small vessel, used in the bay of Manila.

Bilamellated Bilamellate

Formed of two plates, as the stigma of the Mimulus; also, having two elevated ridges, as in the lip of certain flowers.

Bilander

A small two-masted merchant vessel, fitted only for coasting, or for use in canals, as in Holland.

Loading more words…