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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)


A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
You are here: Webster > Letter B > Page 10 of 120.
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Balustered Bal"us·tered (-tẽrd) adjective Having balusters. Dryden.

Balustrade Bal"us·trade` (-trād`) noun [ French balustrade , Italian balaustrata from balaustro . See Baluster .] (Architecture) A row of balusters topped by a rail, serving as an open parapet, as along the edge of a balcony, terrace, bridge, staircase, or the eaves of a building.

Balænoidea Bal`æ·noi"de·a noun [ New Latin , from Latin balaena whale + -oid .] (Zoöl) A division of the Cetacea, including the right whale and all other whales having the mouth fringed with baleen. See Baleen .

Bam Bam (băm) noun [ Prob. a contr. of bamboozle .] An imposition; a cheat; a hoax. Garrick.

To relieve the tedium, he kept plying them with all manner of bams .
Prof. Wilson.

Bam Bam transitive verb To cheat; to wheedle. [ Slang] Foote.

Bambino Bam·bi"no (bäm*bē"no) noun [ Italian , a little boy, from bambo silly; confer Greek bambali`zein , bambai`nein , to chatter.] A child or baby; esp., a representation in art of the infant Christ wrapped in swaddling clothes.

Bambino Bam·bi"no noun ; Italian plural -ni . [ Italian ] A child or baby; specif., a representation in art of the infant Christ.

Bambocciade Bam·boc`ci·ade" noun [ Italian bambocciata , from Bamboccio a nickname of Peter Van Laer, a Dutch genre painter; properly, a child, simpleton, puppet, from bambo silly.] (Paint.) A representation of a grotesque scene from common or rustic life.

Bamboo Bam·boo" (băm*bō") noun [ Malay bambu , mambu .] (Botany) A plant of the family of grasses, and genus Bambusa , growing in tropical countries.

» The most useful species is Bambusa arundinacea , which has a woody, hollow, round, straight, jointed stem, and grows to the height of forty feet and upward. The flowers grow in large panicles, from the joints of the stalk, placed three in a parcel, close to their receptacles. Old stalks grow to five or six inches in diameter, and are so hard and durable as to be used for building, and for all sorts of furniture, for water pipes, and for poles to support palanquins. The smaller stalks are used for walking sticks, flutes, etc.

Bamboo Bam·boo" transitive verb To flog with the bamboo.

Bamboozle Bam·boo"zle (-z'l) transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Bamboozled ; present participle & verbal noun Bamboozling ] [ Said to be of Gipsy origin.] To deceive by trickery; to cajole by confusing the senses; to hoax; to mystify; to humbug. [ Colloq.] Addison.

What oriental tomfoolery is bamboozling you?
J. H. Newman.

Bamboozler Bam·boo"zler (băm*bō"zlẽr) noun A swindler; one who deceives by trickery. [ Colloq.] Arbuthnot.

Ban Ban (băn) noun A kind of fine muslin, made in the East Indies from the fiber of the banana leaf stalks.

Ban Ban (băn) noun [ Anglo-Saxon bann command, edict; akin to Dutch ban , Icelandic bann , Danish band , Old High German ban , German bann , a public proclamation, as of interdiction or excommunication, Greek fa`nai to say, Latin fari to speak, Sanskrit bhan to speak; confer French ban , Late Latin bannum , of G. origin. √86. Confer Abandon , Fame .] 1. A public proclamation or edict; a public order or notice, mandatory or prohibitory; a summons by public proclamation.

2. (Feudal & Mil.) A calling together of the king's (esp. the French king's) vassals for military service; also, the body of vassals thus assembled or summoned. In present usage, in France and Prussia, the most effective part of the population liable to military duty and not in the standing army.

3. plural Notice of a proposed marriage, proclaimed in church. See Banns (the common spelling in this sense).

4. An interdiction, prohibition, or proscription. "Under ban to touch." Milton.

5. A curse or anathema. "Hecate's ban ." Shak.

6. A pecuniary mulct or penalty laid upon a delinquent for offending against a ban; as, a mulct paid to a bishop by one guilty of sacrilege or other crimes.

Ban of the empire (German Hist.) , an imperial interdict by which political rights and privileges, as those of a prince, city, or district, were taken away.

Ban Ban transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Banned (bănd); present participle & verbal noun Banning .] [ Middle English bannen , bannien , to summon, curse, Anglo-Saxon bannan to summon; akin to Danish bande , forbande , to curse, Swedish banna to revile, bannas to curse. See Ban an edict, and confer Banish .] 1. To curse; to invoke evil upon. Sir W. Scott.

2. To forbid; to interdict. Byron.

Ban Ban intransitive verb To curse; to swear. [ Obsolete] Spenser.

Ban Ban noun [ Serv. ban ; confer Russian & Pol. pan a master, lord, Persian ban .] An ancient title of the warden of the eastern marches of Hungary; now, a title of the viceroy of Croatia and Slavonia.

Banal Ban"al adjective [ French, from ban an ordinance.] Commonplace; trivial; hackneyed; trite.

Banality Ba·nal"i·ty noun ; plural Banalities [ French banalité . See Banal .] Something commonplace, hackneyed, or trivial; the commonplace, in speech.

The highest things were thus brought down to the banalities of discourse.
J. Morley.

Banana Ba·na"na (bȧ*nä"nȧ; 277) noun [ Spanish banana , name of the fruit.] (Botany) A perennial herbaceous plant of almost treelike size ( Musa sapientum ); also, its edible fruit. See Musa .

» The banana has a soft, herbaceous stalk, with leaves of great length and breadth. The flowers grow in bunches, covered with a sheath of a green or purple color; the fruit is five or six inches long, and over an inch in diameter; the pulp is soft, and of a luscious taste, and is eaten either raw or cooked. This plant is a native of tropical countries, and furnishes an important article of food.

Banana bird (Zoology) , a small American bird ( Icterus leucopteryx ), which feeds on the banana. -- Banana quit (Zoology) , a small bird of tropical America, of the genus Certhiola , allied to the creepers.

Banana solution Ba·na"na so·lu"tion A solution used as a vehicle in applying bronze pigments. In addition to acetote, benzine, and a little pyroxylin, it contains amyl acetate, which gives it the odor of bananas.

Banat Ban"at noun [ Confer F. & German banat . See Ban a warden.] The territory governed by a ban.

Banc Banc Ban"cus Bank noun [ Old French banc , Late Latin bancus . See Bank , noun ] A bench; a high seat, or seat of distinction or judgment; a tribunal or court.

In banc , In banco (the ablative of bancus ), In bank , in full court, or with full judicial authority; as, sittings in banc (distinguished from sittings at nisi prius ).

Bancal Ban·cal" noun ; plural - cales . [ Spanish , from banca , banco , bench. Confer Bench .] An ornamental covering, as of carpet or leather, for a bench or form.

Banco Ban"co noun [ Italian See Bank .] A bank, especially that of Venice.

» This term is used in some parts of Europe to indicate bank money, as distinguished from the current money, when this last has become depreciated.

Band Band (bănd) noun [ Middle English band , bond , Icelandic band ; akin to G., Swedish , & Dutch band , Old High German bant , Goth. bandi , Sanskrit bandha a binding, bandh to bind, for bhanda , bhandh , also to English bend , bind . In sense 7, at least, it is from French bande , from Old High German bant . √90. See Bind , transitive verb , and confer Bend , Bond , 1st Bandy .] 1. A fillet, strap, or any narrow ligament with which a thing is encircled, or fastened, or by which a number of things are tied, bound together, or confined; a fetter.

Every one's bands were loosed.
Acts xvi. 26.

2. (Architecture) (a) A continuous tablet, stripe, or series of ornaments, as of carved foliage, of color, or of brickwork, etc. (b) In Gothic architecture, the molding, or suite of moldings, which encircles the pillars and small shafts.

3. That which serves as the means of union or connection between persons; a tie. "To join in Hymen's bands ." Shak.

4. A linen collar or ruff worn in the 16th and 17th centuries.

5. plural Two strips of linen hanging from the neck in front as part of a clerical, legal, or academic dress.

6. A narrow strip of cloth or other material on any article of dress, to bind, strengthen, ornament, or complete it. " Band and gusset and seam." Hood.

7. A company of persons united in any common design, especially a body of armed men.

Troops of horsemen with his bands of foot.
Shak.

8. A number of musicians who play together upon portable musical instruments, especially those making a loud sound, as certain wind instruments (trumpets, clarinets, etc.), and drums, or cymbals.

9. (Botany) A space between elevated lines or ribs, as of the fruits of umbelliferous plants.

10. (Zoology) A stripe, streak, or other mark transverse to the axis of the body.

11. (Mech.) A belt or strap.

12. A bond. [ Obsolete] "Thy oath and band ." Shak.

13. Pledge; security. [ Obsolete] Spenser.

Band saw , a saw in the form of an endless steel belt, with teeth on one edge, running over wheels.

Band Band (bănd) transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Banded ; present participle & verbal noun Banding .] 1. To bind or tie with a band.

2. To mark with a band.

3. To unite in a troop, company, or confederacy. " Banded against his throne." Milton.

Banded architrave , pier , shaft , etc. (Architecture) , an architrave, pier, etc., of which the regular profile is interrupted by blocks or projections crossing it at right angles.

Band Band intransitive verb To confederate for some common purpose; to unite; to conspire together.

Certain of the Jews banded together.
Acts xxiii. 12.

Band Band transitive verb To bandy; to drive away. [ Obsolete]

Band Band imperfect of Bind . [ Obsolete] Spenser.

Band fish Band" fish` (Zoology) A small red fish of the genus Cepola ; the ribbon fish.

Bandage Band"age (bănd"aj) noun [ French bandage , from bande . See Band .] 1. A fillet or strip of woven material, used in dressing and binding up wounds, etc.

2. Something resembling a bandage; that which is bound over or round something to cover, strengthen, or compress it; a ligature.

Zeal too had a place among the rest, with a bandage over her eyes.
Addison.

Bandage Band"age transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Bandaged (-ajd); present participle & verbal noun Bandaging (bănd"a*jĭng).] To bind, dress, or cover, with a bandage; as, to bandage the eyes.

Bandala Ban·da"la noun A fabric made in Manilla from the older leaf sheaths of the abaca ( Musa textilis ).

Bandanna, Bandana Ban·dan"na, Ban·dan"a noun [ Hind. bāndhnū a mode of dyeing in which the cloth is tied in different places so as to prevent the parts tied from receiving the dye. Confer Band , noun ] 1. A species of silk or cotton handkerchief, having a uniformly dyed ground, usually of red or blue, with white or yellow figures of a circular, lozenge, or other simple form.

2. A style of calico printing, in which white or bright spots are produced upon cloth previously dyed of a uniform red or dark color, by discharging portions of the color by chemical means, while the rest of the cloth is under pressure. Ure.

Bandbox Band"box` (bănd"bŏks`) noun A light box of pasteboard or thin wood, usually cylindrical, for holding ruffs (the bands of the 17th century), collars, caps, bonnets, etc.

Bandeau Ban"deau (băn"dō) noun ; plural Bandeaux (băn"dōz). [ French] A narrow band or fillet; a part of a head-dress.

Around the edge of this cap was a stiff bandeau of leather.
Sir W. Scott.

Bandeau Ban·deau" noun ; plural - deaux . [ French] A narrow band or fillet, as for the hair, part of a headdress, etc.

Bandelet, Bandlet Band"e·let, Band"let noun [ French bandelette , dim. of bande . See Band , noun , and confer Bendlet .] (Architecture) A small band or fillet; any little band or flat molding, compassing a column, like a ring. Gwilt.

Bander Band"er noun One banded with others. [ R.]

Banderilla Ban`de·ril"la noun [ Spanish , dim. of bandera banner. See Banner , and confer Banderole .] A barbed dart carrying a banderole which the banderillero thrusts into the neck or shoulder of the bull in a bullfight.

Banderillero Ban`de·ril·le"ro noun [ Spanish ] One who thrusts in the banderillas in bullfighting. W. D. Howells.

Banderole, Bandrol Band"e·role, Band"rol noun [ French banderole , dim. of bandière , bannière , banner; confer Italian banderuola a little banner. See Banner .] A little banner, flag, or streamer. [ Written also bannerol .]

From the extremity of which fluttered a small banderole or streamer bearing a cross.
Sir W. Scott.

Bandicoot Ban"di·coot noun [ A corruption of the native name.] (Zoology) (a) A species of very large rat ( Mus giganteus ), found in India and Ceylon. It does much injury to rice fields and gardens. (b) A ratlike marsupial animal (genus Perameles ) of several species, found in Australia and Tasmania.

Banding plane Band"ing plane` A plane used for cutting out grooves and inlaying strings and bands in straight and circular work.

Bandit Ban"dit (băn"dĭt) noun ; plural Bandits (băn"dĭts), or Banditti (băn*dĭt"tĭ). [ Italian bandito outlaw, past participle of bandire to proclaim, to banish, to proscribe, Late Latin bandire , bannire . See Ban an edict, and confer Banish .] An outlaw; a brigand.

No savage fierce, bandit , or mountaineer.
Milton.

» The plural banditti was formerly used as a collective noun.

Deerstealers are ever a desperate banditti .
Sir W. Scott.

Bandle Ban"dle noun [ Ir. bannlamh cubit, from bann a measure + lamh hand, arm.] An Irish measure of two feet in length.

Bandlet Band"let noun Same as Bandelet .

Bandmaster Band"mas`ter noun The conductor of a musical band.

Bandog Ban"dog` (băn"dŏg`; 115) noun [ Band + dog , i.e., bound dog.] A mastiff or other large and fierce dog, usually kept chained or tied up.

The keeper entered leading his bandog , a large bloodhound, tied in a leam, or band, from which he takes his name.
Sir W. Scott.

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