Begin intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Began Begun ; present participle & verbal noun Beginning ] [ Anglo-Saxon beginnan (akin to Old Saxon biginnan , D. & German beginnen , Old High German biginnan , Goth., du-ginnan , Swedish begynna , Danish begynde ); prefix be- + an assumed ginnan . √31. See Gin to begin.]
1. To have or commence an independent or first existence; to take rise; to commence.

Vast chain of being! which from God began .
Pope.

2. To do the first act or the first part of an action; to enter upon or commence something new, as a new form or state of being, or course of action; to take the first step; to start. "Tears began to flow." Dryden.

When I begin , I will also make an end.
1 Sam. iii. 12.

Begin transitive verb
1. To enter on; to commence.

Ye nymphs of Solyma ! begin the song.
Pope.

2. To trace or lay the foundation of; to make or place a beginning of.

The apostle begins our knowledge in the creatures, which leads us to the knowledge of God.
Locke.

Syn. -- To commence; originate; set about; start.

Begin noun Beginning. [ Poetic & Obsolete] Spenser.

Beginner noun One who begins or originates anything. Specifically: A young or inexperienced practitioner or student; a tyro.

A sermon of a new beginner .
Swift.

Beginning noun
1. The act of doing that which begins anything; commencement of an action, state, or space of time; entrance into being or upon a course; the first act, effort, or state of a succession of acts or states.

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Gen. i. 1.

2. That which begins or originates something; the first cause; origin; source.

I am . . . the beginning and the ending.
Reintransitive verb 8.

3. That which is begun; a rudiment or element.

Mighty things from small beginnings grow.
Dryden.

4. Enterprise. "To hinder our beginnings ." Shak.

Syn. -- Inception; prelude; opening; threshold; origin; outset; foundation.

Begird transitive verb [ imperfect Begirt Begirded ; past participle Begirt ; present participle & verbal noun Begirding .] [ Anglo-Saxon begyrdan (akin to Goth. bigairdan ); prefix be- + gyrdan to gird.]
1. To bind with a band or girdle; to gird.

2. To surround as with a band; to encompass.

Begirdle transitive verb To surround as with a girdle.

Begirt transitive verb To encompass; to begird. Milton.

Beglerbeg noun [ Turk. beglerbeg , from beg , plural begler . See Beg , noun ] The governor of a province of the Ottoman empire, next in dignity to the grand vizier.

Begnaw transitive verb [ past participle Begnawed (R.) Begnawn ] [ Anglo-Saxon begnagan ; prefix be- + gnagan to gnaw.] To gnaw; to eat away; to corrode.

The worm of conscience still begnaw thy soul.
Shak.

Begod transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Begodded .] To exalt to the dignity of a god; to deify. [ Obsolete] " Begodded saints." South.

Begohm noun (Electricity) A unit of resistance equal to one billion ohms, or one thousand megohms.

Begone interj. [ Be , intransitive verb + gone , past participle ] Go away; depart; get you gone.

Begone past participle [ Middle English begon , Anglo-Saxon bigān ; prefix be- + gān to go.] Surrounded; furnished; beset; environed (as in woe- begone ). [ Obsolete] Gower. Chaucer.

Begonia (be*gō"nĭ*ȧ) noun [ From Michel Begon , a promoter of botany.] (Botany) A genus of plants, mostly of tropical America, many species of which are grown as ornamental plants. The leaves are curiously one-sided, and often exhibit brilliant colors.

Begore (be*gōr") transitive verb To besmear with gore.

Begot (be*gŏt"), imperfect & past participle of Beget .

Begotten past participle of Beget .

Begrave transitive verb [ Prefix be- + grave ; akin to German begraben , Goth. bigraban to dig a ditch around.] To bury; also, to engrave. [ Obsolete] Gower.

Begrease transitive verb To soil or daub with grease or other oily matter.

Begrime transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Begrimed ; present participle & verbal noun Begriming .] To soil with grime or dirt deeply impressed or rubbed in.

Books falling to pieces and begrimed with dust.
Macaulay.

Begrimer noun One who, or that which, begrimes.

Begrudge transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Begrudged ; present participle & verbal noun Begrudging .] To grudge; to envy the possession of.

Beguile transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Beguiled ; present participle & verbal noun Beguiling .]
1. To delude by guile, artifice, or craft; to deceive or impose on, as by a false statement; to lure.

The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
Gen. iii. 13.

2. To elude, or evade by craft; to foil. [ Obsolete]

When misery could beguile the tyrant's rage.
Shak.

3. To cause the time of to pass without notice; to relieve the tedium or weariness of; to while away; to divert.

Ballads . . . to beguile his incessant wayfaring.
W. Irving.

Syn. -- To delude; deceive; cheat; insnare; mislead; amuse; divert; entertain.

Beguilement noun The act of beguiling, or the state of being beguiled.

Beguiler noun One who, or that which, beguiles.

Beguiling adjective Alluring by guile; deluding; misleading; diverting. -- Be*guil"ing*ly , adverb

Beguin noun [ French] See Beghard .

Beguinage noun [ French] A collection of small houses surrounded by a wall and occupied by a community of Beguines.

Beguine noun [ French béguine ; Late Latin beguina , beghina ; from Lambert le Bègue (the Stammerer) the founder of the order. ( Du Cange .)] A woman belonging to one of the religious and charitable associations or communities in the Netherlands, and elsewhere, whose members live in beguinages and are not bound by perpetual vows.

Begum noun [ Persian , from Turk., perhaps properly queen mother, from Turk. beg (see Beg , noun ) + Arabic umm mother.] In the East Indies, a princess or lady of high rank. Malcom.

Begun past participle of Begin .

Behalf noun [ Middle English on-behalve in the name of, bihalven by the side of, from Anglo-Saxon healf half, also side, part: akin to German halb half, halber on account of. See Be- , and Half , noun ] Advantage; favor; stead; benefit; interest; profit; support; defense; vindication.

In behalf of his mistress's beauty.
Sir P. Sidney.

Against whom he had contracted some prejudice in behalf of his nation.
Clarendon.

In behalf of , in the interest of. -- On behalf of , on account of; on the part of.

Behappen transitive verb To happen to. [ Obsolete]

Behave transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Behaved ; present participle & verbal noun Behaving .] [ Anglo-Saxon behabban to surround, restrain, detain (akin to German gehaben (obs.) to have, sich gehaben to behave or carry one's self); prefix be- + habban to have. See Have , transitive verb ]
1. To manage or govern in point of behavior; to discipline; to handle; to restrain. [ Obsolete]

He did behave his anger ere 't was spent.
Shak.

2. To carry; to conduct; to comport; to manage; to bear; -- used reflexively.

Those that behaved themselves manfully.
2 Macc. ii. 21.

Behave intransitive verb To act; to conduct; to bear or carry one's self; as, to behave well or ill.

» This verb is often used colloquially without an adverb of manner; as, if he does not behave , he will be punished. It is also often applied to inanimate objects; as, the ship behaved splendidly.

Behavior noun Manner of behaving, whether good or bad; mode of conducting one's self; conduct; deportment; carriage; -- used also of inanimate objects; as, the behavior of a ship in a storm; the behavior of the magnetic needle.

A gentleman that is very singular in his behavior .
Steele.

To be upon one's good behavior , To be put upon one's good behavior , to be in a state of trial, in which something important depends on propriety of conduct. -- During good behavior , while (or so long as) one conducts one's self with integrity and fidelity or with propriety.

Syn. -- Bearing; demeanor; manner. -- Behavior , Conduct . Behavior is the mode in which we have or bear ourselves in the presence of others or toward them; conduct is the mode of our carrying ourselves forward in the concerns of life. Behavior respects our manner of acting in particular cases; conduct refers to the general tenor of our actions. We may say of soldiers, that their conduct had been praiseworthy during the whole campaign, and their behavior admirable in every instance when they met the enemy.

Behead transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Beheaded ; present participle & verbal noun Beheading .] [ Middle English bihefden , Anglo-Saxon beheáfdian ; prefix be- + heáfod head. See Head .] To sever the head from; to take off the head of.

Beheadal noun Beheading. [ Modern]

Beheld imperfect & past participle of Behold .

Behemoth noun [ Hebrew behemōth , from Egyptian P-ehe-maut hippopotamus.] An animal, probably the hippopotamus, described in Job xl. 15- 24.

Behen, Behn noun [ Persian & Arabic bahman , behmen , an herb, whose leaves resemble ears of corn, saffron.] (Botany) (a) The Centaurea behen , or saw-leaved centaury. (b) The Cucubalus behen , or bladder campion, now called Silene inflata . (c) The Statice limonium , or sea lavender.

Behest noun [ Middle English biheste promise, command, Anglo-Saxon behǣs promise; prefix be- + hǣs command. See Hest , Hight .]
1. That which is willed or ordered; a command; a mandate; an injunction.

To do his master's high behest .
Sir W. Scott.

2. A vow; a promise. [ Obsolete]

The time is come that I should send it her, if I keep the behest that I have made.
Paston.

Behest transitive verb To vow. [ Obsolete] Paston.

Behete transitive verb See Behight . [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Behight transitive verb [ imperfect Behight ; past participle Behight , Behoten .] [ Middle English bihaten , Anglo-Saxon behātan to vow, promise; prefix be- + hātan to call, command. See Hight , v. ] [ Obsolete in all its senses.]
1. To promise; to vow.

Behight by vow unto the chaste Minerve.
Surrey.

2. To give in trust; to commit; to intrust.

The keys are to thy hand behight .
Spenser.

3. To adjudge; to assign by authority.

The second was to Triamond behight .
Spenser.

4. To mean, or intend.

More than heart behighteth .
Mir. for Mag.

5. To consider or esteem to be; to declare to be.

All the lookers-on him dead behight .
Spenser.

6. To call; to name; to address.

Whom . . . he knew and thus behight .
Spenser.

7. To command; to order.

He behight those gates to be unbarred.
Spenser.

Behight noun A vow; a promise. [ Obsolete] Surrey.

Behind preposition [ Anglo-Saxon behindan ; prefix be- + hindan . See Hind , adjective ]
1. On the side opposite the front or nearest part; on the back side of; at the back of; on the other side of; as, behind a door; behind a hill.

A tall Brabanter, behind whom I stood.
Bp. Hall.

2. Left after the departure of, whether this be by removing to a distance or by death.

A small part of what he left behind him.
Pope.

3. Left a distance by, in progress of improvement Hence: Inferior to in dignity, rank, knowledge, or excellence, or in any achievement.

I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles.
2 Cor. xi. 5.

Behind adverb
1. At the back part; in the rear. "I shall not lag behind ." Milton.

2. Toward the back part or rear; backward; as, to look behind .

3. Not yet brought forward, produced, or exhibited to view; out of sight; remaining.

We can not be sure that there is no evidence behind .
Locke.

4. Backward in time or order of succession; past.

Forgetting those things which are behind .
Phil. ii. 13.

5. After the departure of another; as, to stay behind .

Leave not a rack behind .
Shak.

Behind noun The backside; the rump. [ Low]