Buttonhole noun The hole or loop in which a button is caught.

Buttonhole transitive verb To hold at the button or buttonhole; to detain in conversation to weariness; to bore; as, he buttonholed me a quarter of an hour.

Buttonmold noun A disk of bone, wood, or other material, which is made into a button by covering it with cloth. [ Written also buttonmould .]

Fossil buttonmolds , joints of encrinites. See Encrinite .

Buttons noun A boy servant, or page, -- in allusion to the buttons on his livery. [ Colloq.] Dickens.

Buttonweed noun (Botany) The name of several plants of the genera Spermacoce and Diodia , of the Madder family.

Buttonwood noun (Botany) The Platanus occidentalis , or American plane tree, a large tree, producing rough balls, from which it is named; -- called also buttonball tree , and, in some parts of the United States, sycamore . The California buttonwood is P. racemosa .

Buttony adjective Ornamented with a large number of buttons. "The buttony boy." Thackeray. "My coat so blue and buttony ." W. S. Gilbert.

Buttress noun [ Middle English butrasse , boterace , from French bouter to push; confer Old French bouteret (nom. sing. and acc. plural bouterez ) buttress. See Butt an end, and confer Butteris .]
1. (Architecture) A projecting mass of masonry, used for resisting the thrust of an arch, or for ornament and symmetry.

» When an external projection is used merely to stiffen a wall, it is a pier .

2. Anything which supports or strengthens. "The ground pillar and buttress of the good old cause of nonconformity." South.

Flying buttress . See Flying buttress .

Buttress transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Buttressed ; present participle & verbal noun Buttressing .] To support with a buttress; to prop; to brace firmly.

To set it upright again, and to prop and buttress it up for duration.
Burke.

Buttweld transitive verb To unite by a butt weld.

Butty noun (Mining) One who mines by contract, at so much per ton of coal or ore.

Butyl noun [ Latin but yrum butter + -yl . See Butter .] (Chemistry) A compound radical, regarded as butane, less one atom of hydrogen.

Butylamine noun [ But yric + -yl + amine .] (Org. Chem.) A colorless liquid base, C ₄ H ₉ NH ₂ , of which there are four isomeric varieties.

Butylene noun [ From Butyl .] (Chemistry) Any one of three metameric hydrocarbons, C ₄ H ₈ , of the ethylene series. They are gaseous or easily liquefiable.

Butyraceous adjective [ Latin butyrum butter. See Butter .] Having the qualities of butter; resembling butter.

Butyrate noun (Chemistry) A salt of butyric acid.

Butyric adjective (Chemistry) Pertaining to, or derived from, butter.

Butyric acid , C ₃ H ₇ .CO ₂ H, an acid found in butter; an oily, limpid fluid, having the smell of rancid butter, and an acrid taste, with a sweetish aftertaste, like that of ether. There are two metameric butyric acids, called in distinction the normal- and iso- butyric acid. The normal butyric acid is the one common in rancid butter.

Butyrin noun (Physiol. Chem.) A butyrate of glycerin; a fat contained in small quantity in milk, which helps to give to butter its peculiar flavor.

Butyrometer noun [ Latin butyrum butter + -meter .] An instrument for determining the amount of fatty matter or butter contained in a sample of milk.

Butyrone noun [ Butyr ic + - one .] (Chemistry) A liquid ketone obtained by heating calcium butyrate.

Butyrous adjective Butyraceous.

Butyryl noun [ Butyr ic + -yl .] (Chemistry) The radical (C ₄ H ₇ O) of butyric acid.

Buxeous adjective [ Latin buxeus , from buxus the box tree.] Belonging to the box tree.

Buxine noun (Chemistry) An alkaloid obtained from the Buxus sempervirens , or common box tree. It is identical with bebeerine ; -- called also buxina .

Buxom adjective [ Middle English buxum , boxom , buhsum , pliable, obedient, Anglo-Saxon bōcsum , būhsum (akin to Dutch buigzaam blexible, German biegsam ); būgan to bow, bend + -sum , English - some . See Bow to bend, and -some .]
1. Yielding; pliable or compliant; ready to obey; obedient; tractable; docile; meek; humble. [ Obsolete]

So wild a beast, so tame ytaught to be,
And buxom to his bands, is joy to see.
Spenser.

I submit myself unto this holy church of Christ, to be ever buxom and obedient to the ordinance of it.
Foxe.

2. Having the characteristics of health, vigor, and comeliness, combined with a gay, lively manner; stout and rosy; jolly; frolicsome.

A daughter fair,
So buxom , blithe, and debonair.
Milton.

A parcel of buxom bonny dames, that were laughing, singing, dancing, and as merry as the day was long.
Tatler.

-- Bux"om*ly , adverb -- Bux"om*ness , noun

Buy transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Bought ; present participle & verbal noun Buying ] [ Middle English buggen , buggen , bien , Anglo-Saxon bycgan , akin to Old Saxon buggean , Goth. bugjan .]
1. To acquire the ownership of (property) by giving an accepted price or consideration therefor, or by agreeing to do so; to acquire by the payment of a price or value; to purchase; -- opposed to sell .

Buy what thou hast no need of, and ere long thou wilt sell thy necessaries.
B. Franklin.

2. To acquire or procure by something given or done in exchange, literally or figuratively; to get, at a cost or sacrifice; to buy pleasure with pain.

Buy the truth and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
Prov. xxiii. 23.

To buy again . See Againbuy . [ Obsolete] Chaucer. -- To buy off . (a) To influence to compliance; to cause to bend or yield by some consideration; as, to buy off conscience. (b) To detach by a consideration given; as, to buy off one from a party. -- To buy out (a) To buy off, or detach from. Shak. (b) To purchase the share or shares of in a stock, fund, or partnership, by which the seller is separated from the company, and the purchaser takes his place; as, A buys out B. (c) To purchase the entire stock in trade and the good will of a business. -- To buy in , to purchase stock in any fund or partnership. -- To buy on credit , to purchase, on a promise, in fact or in law, to make payment at a future day. -- To buy the refusal (of anything), to give a consideration for the right of purchasing, at a fixed price, at a future time.

Buy intransitive verb To negotiate or treat about a purchase.

I will buy with you, sell with you.
Shak.

Buyer noun One who buys; a purchaser.

Buz v. & noun See Buzz . [ Obsolete]

Buzz intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Buzzed ; present participle & verbal noun Buzzing .] [ An onomatopœia.] To make a low, continuous, humming or sibilant sound, like that made by bees with their wings. Hence: To utter a murmuring sound; to speak with a low, humming voice.

Like a wasp is buzzed , and stung him.
Longfellow.

However these disturbers of our peace
Buzz in the people's ears.
Shak.

Buzz transitive verb
1. To sound forth by buzzing. Shak.

2. To whisper; to communicate, as tales, in an under tone; to spread, as report, by whispers, or secretly.

I will buzz abroad such prophecies
That Edward shall be fearful of his life.
Shak.

3. To talk to incessantly or confidentially in a low humming voice. [ Colloq.]

4. (Phonetics) To sound with a "buzz". H. Sweet.

Buzz noun
1. A continuous, humming noise, as of bees; a confused murmur, as of general conversation in low tones, or of a general expression of surprise or approbation. "The constant buzz of a fly." Macaulay.

I found the whole room in a buzz of politics.
Addison.

There is a buzz all around regarding the sermon.
Thackeray.

2. A whisper; a report spread secretly or cautiously.

There's a certain buzz
Of a stolen marriage.
Massinger.

3. (Phonetics) The audible friction of voice consonants. H. Sweet.

Buzzard (bŭz"zẽrd) noun [ O.E. busard , bosard , French busard , from buse , Latin buteo , a kind of falcon or hawk.]

1. (Zoology) A bird of prey of the Hawk family, belonging to the genus Buteo and related genera.

» The Buteo vulgaris is the common buzzard of Europe. The American species (of which the most common are B. borealis , B. Pennsylvanicus , and B. lineatus ) are usually called hen hawks . -- The rough-legged buzzard, or bee hawk , of Europe ( Pernis apivorus ) feeds on bees and their larvæ, with other insects, and reptiles. -- The moor buzzard of Europe is Circus æruginosus . See Turkey buzzard , and Carrion buzzard .

Bald buzzard , the fishhawk or osprey. See Fishhawk .

2. A blockhead; a dunce.

It is common, to a proverb, to call one who can not be taught, or who continues obstinately ignorant, a buzzard .
Goldsmith.

Buzzard adjective Senseless; stupid. [ R. & Obsolete] Milton.

Buzzardet (-ĕt`) noun (Zoology) A hawk resembling the buzzard, but with legs relatively longer.

Buzzer (bŭz"ẽr) noun One who, or that which, buzzes; a whisperer; a talebearer.

And wants not buzzers to infect his ear
With pestilent speeches of his father's death.
Shak.

Buzzingly adverb In a buzzing manner; with a buzzing sound.

Buzzsaw A circular saw; -- so called from the buzzing it makes when running at full speed.

By (bī) preposition [ Middle English bi , Anglo-Saxon bī , big , near to, by, of, from, after, according to; akin to Old Saxon & OFries. bi , be , Dutch bij , Old High German bī , German bei , Goth. bi , and perhaps Greek 'amfi` . E. prefix be- is orig. the same word. √203. See prefix Be- .]
1. In the neighborhood of; near or next to; not far from; close to; along with; as, come and sit by me.
[ 1913 Webster]

By foundation or by shady rivulet
He sought them both.
Milton.

2. On; along; in traversing. Compare 5.

Long labors both by sea and land he bore.
Dryden.

By land, by water, they renew the charge.
Pope.

3. Near to, while passing; hence, from one to the other side of; past; as, to go by a church.

4. Used in specifying adjacent dimensions; as, a cabin twenty feet by forty.

5. Against. [ Obsolete] Tyndale [ 1. Cor. iv. 4].

6. With, as means, way, process, etc.; through means of; with aid of; through; through the act or agency of; as, a city is destroyed by fire; profit is made by commerce; to take by force.

To the meaning of by , as denoting means or agency, belong, more or less closely, most of the following uses of the word: (a) It points out the author and producer; as, "Waverley", a novel by Sir W.Scott; a statue by Canova; a sonata by Beethoven. (b) In an oath or adjuration, it indicates the being or thing appealed to as sanction; as, I affirm to you by all that is sacred; he swears by his faith as a Christian; no, by Heaven. (c) According to; by direction, authority, or example of; after; -- in such phrases as, it appears by his account; ten o'clock by my watch; to live by rule; a model to build by . (d) At the rate of; according to the ratio or proportion of; in the measure or quantity of; as, to sell cloth by the yard, milk by the quart, eggs by the dozen, meat by the pound; to board by the year. (e) In comparison, it denotes the measure of excess or deficiency; when anything is increased or diminished, it indicates the measure of increase or diminution; as, larger by a half; older by five years; to lessen by a third. (f) It expresses continuance or duration; during the course of; within the period of; as, by day, by night. (g) As soon as; not later than; near or at; -- used in expressions of time; as, by this time the sun had risen; he will be here by two o'clock.

In boxing the compass, by indicates a pint nearer to, or towards, the next cardinal point; as, north by east, i.e. , a point towards the east from the north; northeast by east, i.e. , on point nearer the east than northeast is.

» With is used instead of by before the instrument with which anything is done; as, to beat one with a stick; the board was fastened by the carpenter with nails. But there are many words which may be regarded as means or processes, or, figuratively, as instruments; and whether with or by shall be used with them is a matter of arbitrary, and often, of unsettled usage; as, to a reduce a town by famine; to consume stubble with fire; he gained his purpose by flattery; he entertained them with a story; he distressed us with or by a recital of his sufferings. see With .

By all means , most assuredly; without fail; certainly. -- By and by . (a) Close together (of place). [ Obsolete] "Two yonge knightes liggyng [ lying] by and by ." Chaucer. (b) Immediately; at once. [ Obsolete] "When . . . persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended." Matt. xiii. 21. (c) Presently; pretty soon; before long. In this phrase, by seems to be used in the sense of nearness in time , and to be repeated for the sake of emphasis, and thus to be equivalent to "soon, and soon ," that is instantly; hence, -- less emphatically, -- pretty soon, presently. -- By one's self , with only one's self near; alone; solitary. - By the bye . See under Bye . -- By the head (Nautical) , having the bows lower than the stern; -- said of a vessel when her head is lower in the water than her stern. If her stern is lower, she is by the stern. -- By the lee , the situation of a vessel, going free, when she has fallen off so much as to bring the wind round her stern, and to take her sails aback on the other side. -- By the run , to let go by the run , to let go altogether, instead of slacking off. -- By the way , by the bye; -- used to introduce an incidental or secondary remark or subject. - Day by day , One by one , Piece by piece , etc., each day, each one, each piece, etc., by itself singly or separately; each severally. -- To come by , to get possession of; to obtain. -- To do by , to treat, to behave toward. -- To set by , to value, to esteem. -- To stand by , to aid, to support.

» The common phrase good-by is equivalent to farewell , and would be better written good-bye , as it is a corruption of God be with you ( b'w'ye ).

By adverb
1. Near; in the neighborhood; present; as, there was no person by at the time.

2. Passing near; going past; past; beyond; as, the procession has gone by ; a bird flew by .

3. Aside; as, to lay by ; to put by .

By adjective Out of the common path; aside; -- used in composition, giving the meaning of something aside, secondary, or incidental, or collateral matter, a thing private or avoiding notice; as, by -line, by -place, by -play, by - street. It was formerly more freely used in composition than it is now; as, by -business, by -concernment, by -design, by - interest, etc.

By-bidder noun One who bids at an auction in behalf of the auctioneer or owner, for the purpose of running up the price of articles. [ U.S.]

By-blow noun
1. A side or incidental blow; an accidental blow.

With their by-blows they did split the very stones in pieces.
Bunyan.

2. An illegitimate child; a bastard.

The Aga speedily . . . brought her [ his disgraced slave] to court, together with her pretty by-blow , the present Padre Ottomano.
Evelyn.

By-corner noun A private corner.

Britain being a by-corner, out of the road of the world.
Fuller.

By-dependence noun An appendage; that which depends on something else, or is distinct from the main dependence; an accessory. Shak.

By-drinking noun A drinking between meals. [ Obsolete]

By-election noun An election held by itself, not at the time of a general election.

Byard noun A piece of leather crossing the breast, used by the men who drag sledges in coal mines.

Bye (bī) noun
1. A thing not directly aimed at; something which is a secondary object of regard; an object by the way, etc.; as in on or upon the bye , i. e. , in passing; indirectly; by implication. [ Obsolete except in the phrase by the bye .]

The Synod of Dort condemneth upon the bye even the discipline of the Church of England.
Fuller.

2. (Cricket) A run made upon a missed ball; as, to steal a bye . T. Hughes.

By the bye , in passing; by way of digression; apropos to the matter in hand. [ Written also by the by .]

Bye (bī) noun [ Anglo-Saxon bȳ ; confer Icelandic bygð dwelling, byggja , būa , to dwell √97.]
1. A dwelling. Gibson.

2. In certain games, a station or place of an individual player. Emerson.

Bye noun
1. In various sports in which the contestants are drawn in pairs, the position or turn of one left with no opponent in consequence of an odd number being engaged; as, to draw a bye in a round of a tennis tournament.

2. (Golf) The hole or holes of a stipulated course remaining unplayed at the end of a match.