Bulrush noun [ Middle English bulrysche , bolroysche ; of uncertain origin, perhaps from bole stem + rush .] (Botany) A kind of large rush, growing in wet land or in water.

» The name bulrush is applied in England especially to the cat-tail ( Typha latifolia and T. angustifolia ) and to the lake club-rush ( Scirpus lacustris ); in America, to the Juncus effusus , and also to species of Scirpus or club-rush.

Bulse noun A purse or bag in which to carry or measure diamonds, etc. [ India] Macaulay.

Bultel noun [ Late Latin bultellus . See Bolt to sift.] A bolter or bolting cloth; also, bran. [ Obsolete]

Bulti noun (Zoology) Same as Bolty .

Bultong noun Biltong.

Bultow noun A trawl; a boulter; the mode of fishing with a boulter or spiller.

Bulwark noun [ Akin to Dutch bolwerk , German bollwerk , Swedish bolwerk , Danish bolvärk , bulvärk , rampart; akin to German bohle plank, and werk work, defense. See Bole stem, and Work , noun , and confer Boulevard .]
1. (Fort.) A rampart; a fortification; a bastion or outwork.

2. That which secures against an enemy, or defends from attack; any means of defense or protection.

The royal navy of England hath ever been its greatest defense, . . . the floating bulwark of our island.
Blackstone.

3. plural (Nautical) The sides of a ship above the upper deck.

Syn. -- See Rampart .

Bulwark transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Bulwarked ; present participle & vb . noun Bulwarking .] To fortify with, or as with, a rampart or wall; to secure by fortification; to protect.

Of some proud city, bulwarked round and armed
With rising towers.
Glover.

Bum noun [ Contr. from bottom in this sense.] The buttock. [ Low] Shak.

Bum intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Bummed ; present participle & vb . noun Bumming ] [ See Boom , intransitive verb , to roar.] To make murmuring or humming sound. Jamieson.

Bum noun A humming noise. Halliwell.

Bumbailiff noun [ A corruption of bound bailiff .] [ Low, Eng.] See Bound bailiff , under Bound , adjective

Bumbard See Bombard . [ Obsolete]

Bumbarge noun See Bumboat . Carlyle.

Bumbast See Bombast . [ Obsolete]

Bumbelo noun ; plural Bumbeloes [ Italian bombola .] A glass used in subliming camphor. [ Spelled also bombolo and bumbolo .]

Bumble noun [ See Bump to boom.] (Zoology) The bittern. [ Local, Eng.]

Bumble intransitive verb To make a hollow or humming noise, like that of a bumblebee; to cry as a bittern.

As a bittern bumbleth in the mire.
Chaucer.

Bumblebee noun [ Middle English bumblen to make a humming noise (dim. of bum , intransitive verb ) + bee . Confer Humblebee .] (Zoology) A large bee of the genus Bombus , sometimes called humblebee ; -- so named from its sound.

» There are many species. All gather honey, and store it in the empty cocoons after the young have come out.

Bumblepuppy noun [ Origin unknown; confer Bumble , noun ]
1. The old game of nineholes.

2. (Card Playing) Whist played in an unscientific way.

Bumboat noun [ From bum the buttocks, on account of its clumsy form; or from Dutch bun a box for holding fish in a boat.] (Nautical) A clumsy boat, used for conveying provisions, fruit, etc., for sale, to vessels lying in port or off shore.

Bumkin noun [ Boom a beam + - kin . See Bumpkin .] (Nautical) A projecting beam or boom; as: (a) One projecting from each bow of a vessel, to haul the fore tack to, called a tack bumpkin . (b) One from each quarter, for the main-brace blocks, and called brace bumpkin . (c) A small outrigger over the stern of a boat, to extend the mizzen. [ Written also boomkin .]

Bummalo noun [ Native name.] (Zoology) A small marine Asiatic fish ( Saurus ophidon ) used in India as a relish; -- called also Bombay duck .

Bummer noun An idle, worthless fellow, who is without any visible means of support; a dissipated sponger. [ Slang, U.S.]

Bummery noun See Bottomery . [ Obsolete]

There was a scivener of Wapping brought to hearing for relief against a bummery bond.
R. North.

Bump transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Bumped ; present participle & verbal noun Bumping .] [ Confer W. pwmp round mass, pwmpiaw to thump, bang, and English bum , intransitive verb , boom to roar.] To strike, as with or against anything large or solid; to thump; as, to bump the head against a wall.

Bump intransitive verb To come in violent contact with something; to thump. " Bumping and jumping." Southey.

Bump noun [ From Bump to strike, to thump.]
1. A thump; a heavy blow.

2. A swelling or prominence, resulting from a bump or blow; a protuberance.

It had upon its brow
A bump as big as a young cockerel's stone.
Shak.

3. (Phren.) One of the protuberances on the cranium which are associated with distinct faculties or affections of the mind; as, the bump of "veneration;" the bump of "acquisitiveness." [ Colloq.]

4. The act of striking the stern of the boat in advance with the prow of the boat following. [ Eng.]

Bump intransitive verb [ See Boom to roar.] To make a loud, heavy, or hollow noise, as the bittern; to boom.

As a bittern bumps within a reed.
Dryden.

Bump noun The noise made by the bittern.

Bumper noun [ A corruption of bumbard , bombard , a large drinking vessel.]
1. A cup or glass filled to the brim, or till the liquor runs over, particularly in drinking a health or toast.

He frothed his bumpers to the brim.
Tennyson.

2. A covered house at a theater, etc., in honor of some favorite performer. [ Cant]

Bumper noun
1. That which bumps or causes a bump.

2. Anything which resists or deadens a bump or shock; a buffer.

Bumpkin noun [ The same word as bumkin , which Cotgrave defines thus: " Bumkin , Fr. chicambault, the luffe-block, a long and thick piece of wood, whereunto the fore-sayle and sprit-sayle are fastened, when a ship goes by the winde." Hence, a clumsy man may easily have been compared to such a block of wood; confer OD. boomken a little tree. See Boom a pole.] An awkward, heavy country fellow; a clown; a country lout. "Bashful country bumpkins ." W. Irving.

Bumptious adjective Self-conceited; forward; pushing. [ Colloq.] Halliwell.

Bumptiousness noun Conceitedness. [ Colloq.]

Bun, Bunn noun [ Scot. bun , bunn , Middle English bunne , bonne ; from Celtic; confer Ir. bunna , Gael. bonnach , or Old French bugne tumor, Prov. French bugne a kind of pancake; akin to Old High German bungo bulb, Middle High German bunge , Prov. English bung heap, cluster, bunny a small swelling.] A slightly sweetened raised cake or bisquit with a glazing of sugar and milk on the top crust.

Bunch noun [ Akin to OSw. & Danish bunke heap, Icelandic bunki heap, pile, bunga tumor, protuberance; confer W. pwng cluster. Confer Bunk .]
1. A protuberance; a hunch; a knob or lump; a hump.

They will carry . . . their treasures upon the bunches of camels.
Isa. xxx. 6.

2. A collection, cluster, or tuft, properly of things of the same kind, growing or fastened together; as, a bunch of grapes; a bunch of keys.

3. (Mining) A small isolated mass of ore, as distinguished from a continuous vein. Page.

Bunch intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Bunched ; present participle & verbal noun Bunching .] To swell out into a bunch or protuberance; to be protuberant or round.

Bunching out into a large round knob at one end.
Woodward.

Bunch transitive verb To form into a bunch or bunches.

Bunch grass (Botany) A grass growing in bunches and affording pasture. In California, Atropis tenuifolia , Festuca scabrella , and several kinds of Stipa are favorite bunch grasses. In Utah, Eriocoma cuspidata is a good bunch grass.

Bunch-backed adjective Having a bunch on the back; crooked. " Bunch-backed toad." Shak.

Bunchberry noun (Botany) The dwarf cornel ( Cornus Canadensis ), which bears a dense cluster of bright red, edible berries.

Bunchiness noun The quality or condition of being bunchy; knobbiness.

Bunchy adjective
1. Swelling out in bunches.

An unshapen, bunchy spear, with bark unpiled.
Phaer.

2. Growing in bunches, or resembling a bunch; having tufts; as, the bird's bunchy tail.

3. (Mining) Yielding irregularly; sometimes rich, sometimes poor; as, a bunchy mine. Page.

Buncombe, Bunkum noun [ Buncombe a county of North Carolina.] Speech-making for the gratification of constituents, or to gain public applause; flattering talk for a selfish purpose; anything said for mere show. [ Cant or Slang, U.S.]

All that flourish about right of search was bunkum -- all that brag about hanging your Canada sheriff was bunkum . . . slavery speeches are all bunkum .
Haliburton.

To speak for Buncombe , to speak for mere show, or popularly.

» "The phrase originated near the close of the debate on the famous ‘Missouri Question,' in the 16th Congress. It was then used by Felix Walker -- a naïve old mountaineer, who resided at Waynesville, in Haywood, the most western country of North Carolina, near the border of the adjacent county of Buncombe , which formed part of his district. The old man rose to speak, while the house was impatiently calling for the ‘ Question ,' and several members gathered round him, begging him to desist. He preserved, however, for a while, declaring that the people of his district expected it, and that he was bound to ‘make a speech for Buncombe .'" W. Darlington.

Bund noun [ G.] League; confederacy; esp. the confederation of German states.

Bund noun [ Hindi band .] An embankment against inundation. [ India] S. Wells Williams.

Bunder noun [ Pers. bandar a landing place, pier.] A boat or raft used in the East Indies in the landing of passengers and goods.

Bundesrath (bon"dĕs*rät`) noun [ G., from bund (akin to English bond ) confederacy + rath council, probably akin to English read .] The federal council of the German Empire. In the Bundesrath and the Reichstag are vested the legislative functions. The federal council of Switzerland is also so called.

» The Bundesrath of the German empire is presided over by a chancellor, and is composed of sixty-two members, who represent the different states of the empire, being appointed for each session by their respective governments.

By this united congress, the highest tribunal of Switzerland, -- the Bundesrath -- is chosen, and the head of this is a president.
J. P. Peters (Trans. Müller's Pol. Hist.).

Bundesrath noun [ G.; bund confederacy + rath council.] Lit., a federal council, esp. of the German Empire. See Legislature .