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Blue-john

A name given to fluor spar in Derbyshire, where it is used for ornamental purposes.

blue-pencil

to change, delete, or abridge (a portion of a text) with a blue pencil (or as if with a blue pencil), as in the editing process; -- of books, etc.

blue-ribbon

selected or chosen for special qualifications; as, a blue-ribbon grand jury.

Blueback

A trout (Salmo oquassa) inhabiting some of the lakes of Maine. A salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) of the Columbia River and northward. An American river herring (Clupea /stivalis), closely allied to the alewife.

Bluebeard

The hero of a medi/val French nursery legend, who, leaving home, enjoined his young wife not to open a certain room in his castle. She entered it, and found the murdered bodies of his former wives. -- Also used adjectively of a subject which it is forbidden to investigate.

Bluebell

A plant of the genus Campanula, especially the Campanula rotundifolia, which bears blue bell-shaped flowers; the harebell. A plant of the genus Scilla (Scilla nutans).

Blueberry

The berry of several species of Vaccinium, an ericaceous genus, differing from the American huckleberries in containing numerous minute seeds instead of ten nutlets. The commonest species are Vaccinium Pennsylvanicum and Vaccinium vacillans. Vaccinium corymbosum is the tall blueberry.

Bluebill

A duck of the genus Fuligula. Two American species (Fuligula marila and Fuligula affinis) are common. See Scaup duck.

Bluebird

A small song bird (Sialia sialis), very common in the United States, and, in the north, one of the earliest to arrive in spring. The male is blue, with the breast reddish. It is related to the European robin.

Bluebreast

A small European bird; the blue-throated warbler.

Bluecap

The bluepoll. The blue bonnet or blue titmouse.

Bluecoat

One dressed in blue, as a soldier, a sailor, a beadle, etc.

Bluefin

A species of whitefish (Coregonus nigripinnis) found in Lake Michigan.

Bluefish

A large voracious fish (Pomatomus saitatrix), of the family Carangid/, valued as a food fish, and widely distributed on the American coast. On the New Jersey and Rhode Island coast it is called the horse mackerel, in Virginia saltwater tailor, or skipjack.

Bluegown

One of a class of paupers or pensioners, or licensed beggars, in Scotland, to whim annually on the king's birthday were distributed certain alms, including a blue gown; a beadsman.

Blueness

The quality of being blue; a blue color.

Bluenoser Bluenose

A nickname for a Nova Scotian; also, a Nova Scotian ship (called also Blue"nos`er (/)); a Nova Scotian potato, etc.

Bluepoll

A kind of salmon (Salmo Cambricus) found in Wales.

blues

a type of folk song that originated among Black Americans at the beginning of the 20th century; has a melancholoy sound from repeated used of blue notes.

bluestem

tall grass with smooth bluish leaf sheaths grown for hay in Western U.S.

Bluethroat

A singing bird of northern Europe and Asia (Cyanecula Suecica), related to the nightingales; -- called also blue-throated robin and blue-throated warbler.

Bluets

A name given to several different species of plants having blue flowers, as the Houstonia c/rulea, the Centaurea cyanus or bluebottle, and the Vaccinium angustifolium.

blueweed

a coarse prickly European weed (Echium vulgare) with spikes of blue flowers; naturalized in the U. S.

Bluey

A bushman's blanket; -- named from its color.

Bluff

To act as in the game of bluff.

Bluff-bowed

Built with the stem nearly straight up and down.

Bluff-headed

Built with the stem nearly straight up and down.

Bluffness

The quality or state of being bluff.

Bluffy

Having bluffs, or bold, steep banks.

Bluing

The act of rendering blue; as, the bluing of steel.

Bluish

Somewhat blue; as, bluish veins.

Blunderbuss

A short gun or firearm, with a large bore, capable of holding a number of balls, and intended to do execution without exact aim.

Blunge

To amalgamate and blend; to beat up or mix in water, as clay.

Blunger

A wooden blade with a cross handle, used for mi/ing the clay in potteries; a plunger.

Blunging

The process of mixing clay in potteries with a blunger.

Bluntly

In a blunt manner; coarsely; plainly; abruptly; without delicacy, or the usual forms of civility.

Bluntness

Want of edge or point; dullness; obtuseness; lack of sharpness.

Blur

That which obscures without effacing; a stain; a blot, as upon paper or other substance.

blurred

out of focus; not sharply defined.

Blurt

To utter suddenly and unadvisedly; to divulge inconsiderately; to ejaculate; -- commonly with out.

Blush

A suffusion of the cheeks or face with red, as from a sense of shame, confusion, or modesty.

Blushing

The act of turning red; the appearance of a reddish color or flush upon the cheeks.

Blushingly

In a blushing manner; with a blush or blushes; as, to answer or confess blushingly.

Blushless

Free from blushes; incapable of blushing; shameless; impudent.

Blushy

Like a blush; having the color of a blush; rosy.

Bluster

Fitful noise and violence, as of a storm; violent winds; boisterousness.

Blusterer

One who, or that which, blusters; a noisy swaggerer.

Blustering

Exhibiting noisy violence, as the wind; stormy; tumultuous.

Blusterous

Inclined to bluster; given to blustering; blustering.

BM

an abbreviation for bowel movement; -- used as an informal euphemism, especially in hospitals.

BMW

any automobile manufactured by the German firm BMW AG (from the German Bayerische MotorWerke); -- sometimes referred to colloquially as a beemer.

Bo

An exclamation used to startle or frighten.

bo's'n

a petty officer on a merchant ship who controls the work of other seamen.

Boa

A genus of large American serpents, including the boa constrictor, the emperor boa of Mexico (Boa imperator), and the chevalier boa of Peru (Boa eques).

Boar

The uncastrated male of swine; specifically, the wild hog.

Board

To approach; to accost; to address; hence, to woo.

Boarder

One who has food statedly at another's table, or meals and lodgings in his house, for pay, or compensation of any kind.

Boarding

The act of entering a ship, whether with a hostile or a friendly purpose.

boardinghouse

a private house that provides accommodations and meals for paying guests.

boardroom

a room where a committee meets (such as the board of directors of a company).

boards

the boarding that surrounds an ice hockey rink.

boardwalk

a walkway made of wooden boards; usually at a seaside. The more elaborate boardwalks at shore resorts are lined with many commercial retail establishments, on the side of the walk opposite the ocean.

Boarfish

A Mediterranean fish (Capros aper), of the family Caproid/; -- so called from the resemblance of the extended lips to a hog's snout. An Australian percoid fish (Histiopterus recurvirostris), valued as a food fish.

Boast

Act of boasting; vaunting or bragging.

Boaster

A stone mason's broad-faced chisel.

Boastful

Given to, or full of, boasting; inclined to boast; vaunting; vainglorious; self-praising.

Boasting

The act of glorying or vaunting; vainglorious speaking; ostentatious display.

Boat

To go or row in a boat.

Boat-tail

A large grackle or blackbird (Quiscalus major), found in the Southern United States.

Boatable

Such as can be transported in a boat.

Boatage

Conveyance by boat; also, a charge for such conveyance.

Boatbill

A wading bird (Cancroma cochlearia) of the tropical parts of South America. Its bill is somewhat like a boat with the keel uppermost.

Boatful

The quantity or amount that fills a boat.

Boating

The act or practice of rowing or sailing, esp. as an amusement; carriage in boats.

Boation

A crying out; a roaring; a bellowing; reverberation.

Boatman

A man who manages a boat; a rower of a boat.

Boatswain

An officer who has charge of the boats, sails, rigging, colors, anchors, cables, cordage, etc., of a ship, and who also summons the crew, and performs other duties.

Bob

To have a short, jerking motion; to play to and fro, or up and down; to play loosely against anything.

Bob-cherry

A play among children, in which a cherry, hung so as to bob against the mouth, is to be caught with the teeth.

Bobac

The Poland marmot (Arctomys bobac).

Bobber

One who, or that which, bobs.

Bobbery

A squabble; a tumult; a commotion; a noisy disturbance; as, to raise a bobbery.

Bobbin

A small pin, or cylinder, formerly of bone, now most commonly of wood, used in the making of pillow lace. Each thread is wound on a separate bobbin which hangs down holding the thread at a slight tension.

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