Besmoke Be·smoke" transitive verb 1. To foul with smoke. 2. To harden or dry in smoke. Johnson.
Besmut Be·smut" transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Besmutted ;
present participle & verbal noun Besmutting .] [ Prefix
be- +
smut : confer Anglo-Saxon
besmītan , and also Middle English
besmotren .]
To blacken with smut; to foul with soot.
Besnow Be·snow" transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Besnowed ] [ Middle English
bisnewen , Anglo-Saxon
besnīwan ; prefix
be- +
snīwan to snow.]
1. To scatter like snow; to cover thick, as with snow flakes. [ R.]
Gower. 2. To cover with snow; to whiten with snow, or as with snow.
Besnuff Be·snuff" transitive verb To befoul with snuff. Young.
Besogne Be·sogne" noun [ French
bisogne .]
A worthless fellow; a bezonian. [ Obsolete]
Besom Be"som noun [ Middle English
besme ,
besum , Anglo-Saxon
besma ; akin to Dutch
bezem , OHG
pesamo , German
besen ; of uncertain origin.]
A brush of twigs for sweeping; a broom; anything which sweeps away or destroys. [ Archaic or Fig.]
I will sweep it with the besom of destruction.
Isa. xiv. 23.
The housemaid with her besom .
W. Irving.
Besom Be"som transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Besomed ]
To sweep, as with a besom. [ Archaic or Poetic]
Cowper. Rolls back all Greece, and besoms wide the plain.
Barlow.
Besomer Be"som·er noun One who uses a besom. [ Archaic]
Besort Be·sort" transitive verb To assort or be congruous with; to fit, or become. [ Obsolete]
Such men as may besort your age.
Shak.
Besort Be·sort" noun Befitting associates or attendants. [ Obsolete]
With such accommodation and besort
As levels with her breeding.
Shak.
Besot Be·sot" transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Besotted ;
present participle & verbal noun Besotting .]
To make sottish; to make dull or stupid; to stupefy; to infatuate. Fools besotted with their crimes.
Hudibras.
Besotted Be·sot"ted adjective Made sottish, senseless, or infatuated; characterized by drunken stupidity, or by infatuation; stupefied. "
Besotted devotion."
Sir W. Scott. --
Be*sot"ted*ly ,
adverb --
Be*sot"ted*ness ,
noun Milton.
Besottingly Be·sot"ting·ly adverb In a besotting manner.
Besought Be·sought" past participle of Beseech .
Bespangle Be·span"gle transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Bespangled ;
present participle & verbal noun Bespangling ]
To adorn with spangles; to dot or sprinkle with something brilliant or glittering. The grass . . . is all bespangled with dewdrops.
Cowper.
Bespatter Be·spat"ter transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Bespattered ;
present participle & verbal noun Bespattering .]
1. To soil by spattering; to sprinkle, esp. with dirty water, mud, or anything which will leave foul spots or stains. 2. To asperse with calumny or reproach. Whom never faction could bespatter .
Swift.
Bespawl Be·spawl" transitive verb To daub, soil, or make foul with spawl or spittle. [ Obsolete]
Milton.
Bespeak Be·speak" transitive verb [
imperfect Bespoke Bespake (Archaic);
past participle Bespoke ,
Bespoken ;
present participle & verbal noun Bespeaking .] [ Middle English
bispeken , Anglo-Saxon
besprecan , to speak to, accuse; prefix
be- +
sprecan to speak. See
Speak .]
1. To speak or arrange for beforehand; to order or engage against a future time; as, to bespeak goods, a right, or a favor. Concluding, naturally, that to gratify his avarice was to bespeak his favor.
Sir W. Scott.
2. To show beforehand; to foretell; to indicate. [ They] bespoke dangers . . . in order to scare the allies.
Swift.
3. To betoken; to show; to indicate by external marks or appearances. When the abbot of St. Martin was born, he had so little the figure of a man that it bespoke him rather a monster.
Locke.
4. To speak to; to address. [ Poetic]
He thus the queen bespoke .
Dryden.
Bespeak Be·speak" intransitive verb To speak. [ Obsolete]
Milton.
Bespeak Be·speak" noun A bespeaking. Among actors, a benefit (when a particular play is bespoken.) "The night of her
bespeak ."
Dickens.
Bespeaker Be·speak"er noun One who bespeaks.
Bespeckle Be·spec"kle transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Bespeckled ;
present participle & verbal noun Bespeckling .]
To mark with speckles or spots. Milton.
Bespew Be·spew" transitive verb To soil or daub with spew; to vomit on.
Bespice Be·spice" transitive verb To season with spice, or with some spicy drug. Shak.
Bespirt Be·spirt" transitive verb Same as Bespurt .
Bespit Be·spit (be*spĭt")
transitive verb [
imperfect Bespit ;
past participle Bespit ,
Bespitten (-t'n);
present participle & verbal noun Bespitting .]
To daub or soil with spittle. Johnson.
Bespoke Be·spoke" (be*spōk"),
imperfect & past participle of Bespeak .
Bespot Be·spot" (be*spŏt")
transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Bespotted ;
present participle & verbal noun Bespotting .]
To mark with spots, or as with spots.
Bespread Be·spread" transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Bespread ;
present participle & verbal noun Bespreading .]
To spread or cover over. The carpet which bespread
His rich pavilion's floor.
Glover.
Besprent Be·sprent" past participle [ Middle English
bespreynt , past participle of
besprengen ,
bisprengen , to besprinkle, Anglo-Saxon
besprengan , akin to D. & German
besprengen ; prefix
be- +
sprengan to sprinkle. See
Sprinkle .]
Sprinkled over; strewed. His face besprent with liquid crystal shines.
Shenstone.
The floor with tassels of fir was besprent .
Longfellow.
Besprinkle Be·sprin"kle transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Besprinkled ;
present participle & verbal noun Besprinkling ]
To sprinkle over; to scatter over. The bed besprinkles , and bedews the ground.
Dryden.
Besprinkler Be·sprin"kler noun One who, or that which, besprinkles.
Besprinkling Be·sprin"kling noun The act of sprinkling anything; a sprinkling over.
Bespurt Be·spurt" transitive verb To spurt on or over; to asperse. [ Obsolete]
Milton.
Bessemer steel Bes"se·mer steel` Steel made directly from cast iron, by burning out a portion of the carbon and other impurities that the latter contains, through the agency of a blast of air which is forced through the molten metal; -- so called from Sir Henry Bessemer , an English engineer, the inventor of the process.
Best Best (bĕst)
adjective ;
superl .
of Good. [ Anglo-Saxon
besta ,
best , contr. from
betest ,
betst ,
betsta ; akin to Goth.
batists , Old High German
pezzisto , German
best ,
beste , Dutch
best , Icelandic
beztr , Danish
best , Swedish
bäst . This word has no connection in origin with
good . See
Better .]
1. Having good qualities in the highest degree; most good, kind, desirable, suitable, etc.; most excellent; as, the best man; the best road; the best cloth; the best abilities. When he is best , he is a little worse than a man.
Shak.
Heaven's last, best gift, my ever new delight.
Milton.
2. Most advanced; most correct or complete; as, the best scholar; the best view of a subject. 3. Most; largest; as, the best part of a week. Best man ,
the only or principal groomsman at a wedding ceremony.
Best Best noun Utmost; highest endeavor or state; most nearly perfect thing, or being, or action; as, to do one's best ; to the best of our ability. At best ,
in the utmost degree or extent applicable to the case; under the most favorable circumstances; as, life is at best very short. --
For best ,
finally. [ Obsolete] "Those constitutions . . . are now established
for best , and not to be mended."
Milton. --
To get the best of ,
to gain an advantage over, whether fairly or unfairly. --
To make the best of .
(a) To improve to the utmost; to use or dispose of to the greatest advantage. "Let there be freedom to carry their commodities where they can
make the best of them."
Bacon. (b) To reduce to the least possible inconvenience; as, to make the best of ill fortune or a bad bargain.
Best Best adverb ;
superl. of
Well .
1. In the highest degree; beyond all others. "Thou serpent! That name
best befits thee."
Milton. He prayeth best , who loveth best
All things both great and small.
Coleridge.
2. To the most advantage; with the most success, case, profit, benefit, or propriety. Had we best retire? I see a storm.
Milton.
Had I not best go to her?
Thackeray.
3. Most intimately; most thoroughly or correctly; as, what is expedient is best known to himself.
Best Best transitive verb To get the better of. [ Colloq.]
Bestad Be·stad" imperfect & past participle of
Bestead .
Beset; put in peril. [ Obsolete]
Chaucer.
Bestain Be·stain" transitive verb To stain.
Bestar Be·star" transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Bestarred ]
To sprinkle with, or as with, stars; to decorate with, or as with, stars; to bestud. "
Bestarred with anemones."
W. Black.
Bestead Be·stead" transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Bestead or
Bested , also (Obsolete)
Bestad . In sense 3
imperfect also
Besteaded .] [ Prefix
be- +
stead a place.]
1. To put in a certain situation or condition; to circumstance; to place. [ Only in past participle ]
They shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: . . . and curse their king and their God.
Is. viii. 21.
Many far worse bestead than ourselves.
Barrow.
2. To put in peril; to beset. [ Only in past participle ]
Chaucer. 3. To serve; to assist; to profit; to avail. Milton.
Bestial Bes"tial adjective [ French
bestial , Latin
bestialis , from
bestia beast. See
Beast .]
1. Belonging to a beast, or to the class of beasts. Among the bestial herds to range.
Milton.
2. Having the qualities of a beast; brutal; below the dignity of reason or humanity; irrational; carnal; beastly; sensual. Shak. Syn. -- Brutish; beastly; brutal; carnal; vile; low; depraved; sensual; filthy.
Bestial Bes"tial noun A domestic animal; also collectively, cattle; as, other kinds of bestial . [ Scot.]
Bestiality Bes·tial"i·ty noun [ French
bestialité .]
1. The state or quality of being bestial. 2. Unnatural connection with a beast.
Bestialize Bes"tial·ize transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Bestialized ;
present participle & verbal noun Bestializing .]
To make bestial, or like a beast; to degrade; to brutalize. The process of bestializing humanity.
Hare.
Bestially Bes"tial·ly adverb In a bestial manner.
Bestiary Bes"ti·a·ry noun [ Late Latin
bestiarium , from Latin
bestiarius pert. to beasts, from
bestia beast: confer French
bestiaire .]
A treatise on beasts; esp., one of the moralizing or allegorical beast tales written in the Middle Ages. A bestiary . . . in itself one of the numerous mediæval renderings of the fantastic mystical zoölogy.
Saintsbury.
Bestick Be·stick" transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Bestuck ;
present participle & verbal noun Besticking .]
To stick over, as with sharp points pressed in; to mark by infixing points or spots here and there; to pierce. Truth shall retire
Bestuck with slanderous darts.
Milton.
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