Receiving the charge at the breech instead of at the muzzle.

The movable piece which closes the breech of a breech-loading firearm, and resists the backward force of the discharge. It is withdrawn for the insertion of a cartridge, and closed again before the gun is fired.

A cloth worn around the breech.

covering for the loins.

dressed in trousers.

A garment worn by men, covering the hips and thighs; smallclothes.

A whipping on the breech, or the act of whipping on the breech.

A firearm which receives its load at the breech.

A race or variety of men or other animals (or of plants), perpetuating its special or distinctive characteristics by inheritance.

One who breeds or originates quarrels.

Breadth.

One who, or that which, breeds, produces, brings up, etc.

The act or process of generating or bearing.

To blow gently.

A fly of various species, of the family Tabanid/, noted for buzzing about animals, and tormenting them by sucking their blood; -- called also horsefly, and gadfly. They are among the largest of two-winged or dipterous insects. The name is also given to different species of botflies.

Motionless; destitute of breezes.

State of being breezy.

Characterized by, or having, breezes; airy.

The point of junction of the coronal and sagittal sutures of the skull.

Pertaining to the bregma.

An ancient Irish or Scotch judge.

A French gambling game somewhat like poker. In French games, a pair royal, or triplet.

A seal or charm for a watch chain.

Fierce; sharp; severe; cruel.

Bran.

A tribute which tenants paid to their lord, in lieu of bran, which they were obliged to furnish for his hounds.

To burn.

Burningly; ardently.

the time at which the engines of a rocket stop firing; the termination of the firing of the rocket engines, whether due to intentional shutdown of the engines or exhaustion of the fuel. This term was used mostly in the early days of rocketry when only one firing sequence occurred for rockets, which were used as ballistic missiles or for experiments in rocketry or atmospheric science.

A brant. See Brant.

A brier.

for Bursteth.

To burst.

See Breastsummer.

See Birt.

Brimful.

pl. of Brother.

Of or relating to Brittany, or Bretagne, in France. A native or inhabitant of Brittany, or Bretagne, in France; also, the ancient language of Brittany; Armorican.

Same as Britzska.

The wooden boarding used in supporting the roofs and walls of coal mines. See Brattice.

The official title applied to that one of the Anglo-Saxon chieftains who was chosen by the other chiefs to lead them in their warfare against the British tribes.

See Pretzel.

A note or character of time, equivalent to two semibreves or four minims. When dotted, it is equal to three semibreves. It was formerly of a square figure (as thus: / ), but is now made oval, with a line perpendicular to the staff on each of its sides; -- formerly much used for choir service.

Taking or conferring rank by brevet; as, a brevet colonel; a brevet commission.

The rank or condition of a brevet officer.

An abridgment; a compend; an epitome; a brief account or summary.

To abbreviate.

An abbreviature; an abbreviation.

A size of type between bourgeois and minion.

A brief and pertinent mode of speaking.

Having short legs. A breviped bird.

A brevipennate bird.

Short-winged; -- applied to birds which can not fly, owing to their short wings, as the ostrich, cassowary, and emu.

Short-billed; having a short beak.

Shortness of duration; briefness of time; as, the brevity of human life.

a genus of fishes consisting of the menhaden.

The mixture formed by brewing; that which is brewed.

Malt liquor; drink brewed.

One who brews; one whose occupation is to prepare malt liquors.

A brewhouse; the building and apparatus where brewing is carried on.

The act or process of preparing liquors which are brewed, as beer and ale.

Broth or pottage.

A rare zeolitic mineral occurring in white monoclinic crystals with pearly luster. It is a hydrous silicate of aluminia, baryta, and strontia.

See Brazilin.

Same as Brier.

A plant with a slender woody stem bearing stout prickles; especially, species of Rosa, Rubus, and Smilax.

an old French breed of large strong usually black dogs having a long tail and long wavy and slightly stiff coat.

Pertaining to, or resembling, Briareus, a giant fabled to have a hundred hands; hence, hundred-handed or many-handed.

the hard woody root of the briar Erica arborea.

wood from the hard woody root of the briar Erica arborea; used to make tobacco pipes.

having or covered with protective barbs or quills or spines or thorns etc.; -- of plants or animals.

Capable of being bribed.

To commit robbery or theft.

Incapable of being bribed; free from bribes.

A thief.

Robbery; extortion.

Miscellaneous curiosities and works of decorative art, considered collectively.

To lay or pave with bricks; to surround, line, or construct with bricks.

A piece or fragment of a brick. See 1st Bat, n. 4.

genus of herbs of SW America having usually creamy florets followed by one-seeded fruits in a prominent bristly sheath.

a place where bricks are made and sold.

Orig., at Sydney, a cold and violent south or southwest wind, rising suddenly, and regularly preceded by a hot wind from the north; -- now usually called southerly buster. It blew across the Brickfields, formerly so called, a district of Sydney, and carried clouds of dust into the city.

A kiln, or furnace, in which bricks are baked or burnt; or a pile of green bricks, laid loose, with arches underneath to receive the wood or fuel for burning them.

One whose occupation is to build with bricks.

The art of building with bricks, or of uniting them by cement or mortar into various forms; the act or occupation of laying bricks.

Brittle; easily broken.

Brittleness.

One whose occupation is to make bricks.

Anything made of bricks.

Full of bricks; formed of bricks; resembling bricks or brick dust.

A place where bricks are made, especially an inclosed place.

A kind of traces with hooks and rings, with which men drag and maneuver guns where horses can not be used.

A bird.

A nuptial festival or ceremony; a marriage.

Celebration of the nuptial feast.

a shrub (Spiraea prunifolia) having copious small white flowers in spring.

To make a bride of.

A rustic wedding feast; a bridal. See Ale.

The marriage bed.

Rich or highly ornamented cake, to be distributed to the guests at a wedding, or sent to friends after the wedding.

The nuptial apartment.

A man newly married, or just about to be married.

A knot of ribbons worn by a guest at a wedding; a wedding favor.

See Bridesmaid, Bridesman.

A female friend who attends on a bride at her wedding.

A male friend who attends upon a bridegroom and bride at their marriage; the /best man./

A stake or post set in the ground, for guests at a wedding to dance round.

A house of correction for the confinement of disorderly persons; -- so called from a hospital built in 1553 near St. Bride's (or Bridget's) well, in London, which was subsequently a penal workhouse.

A card game resembling whist.

A bridge keeper; a warden or a guard for a bridge.

capable of being connected by a bridge or as if by a bridge.

A notched board to which the treads and risers of the steps of wooden stairs are fastened.

a circuit consisting of a T-network with an additional arm bridging the two series arms.

A fortification commanding the extremity of a bridge nearest the enemy, to insure the preservation and usefulness of the bridge, and prevent the enemy from crossing; a t/te-de-pont.

The system of bracing used between floor or other timbers to distribute the weight.

Having no bridge; not bridged.

The adjustable socket, or step, of a millstone spindle.

The capital city of Barbados. Population (2000) = 6,700.

The beam which supports the spindle socket of the runner in a grinding mill.

Full of bridges.