Bestill Be·still" transitive verb To make still.

Bestir Be·stir" transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Bestirred ; present participle & verbal noun Bestirring .] To put into brisk or vigorous action; to move with life and vigor; -- usually with the reciprocal pronoun.

You have so bestirred your valor.
Shak.

Rouse and bestir themselves ere well awake.
Milton.

Bestorm Be·storm" intransitive verb & t. To storm. Young.

Bestow Be·stow" transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Bestowed ; present participle & verbal noun Bestowing .] [ Middle English bestowen ; prefix be- + stow a place. See Stow .] 1. To lay up in store; to deposit for safe keeping; to stow; to place; to put. "He bestowed it in a pouch." Sir W. Scott.

See that the women are bestowed in safety.
Byron.

2. To use; to apply; to devote, as time or strength in some occupation.

3. To expend, as money. [ Obsolete]

4. To give or confer; to impart; -- with on or upon.

Empire is on us bestowed .
Cowper.

Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor.
1 Cor. xiii. 3.

5. To give in marriage.

I could have bestowed her upon a fine gentleman.
Tatler.

6. To demean; to conduct; to behave; -- followed by a reflexive pronoun. [ Obsolete]

How might we see Falstaff bestow himself to-night in his true colors, and not ourselves be seen ?
Shak.

Syn. -- To give; grant; present; confer; accord.

Bestowal Be·stow"al noun The act of bestowing; disposal.

Bestower Be·stow"er noun One that bestows.

Bestowment Be·stow"ment noun 1. The act of giving or bestowing; a conferring or bestowal.

If we consider this bestowment of gifts in this view.
Chauncy.

2. That which is given or bestowed.

They almost refuse to give due praise and credit to God's own bestowments .
I. Taylor.

Bestraddle Be·strad"dle transitive verb To bestride.

Bestraught Be·straught" adjective [ Prefix be- + straught ; probably here used for distraught .] Out of one's senses; distracted; mad. [ Obsolete] Shak.

Bestreak Be·streak" transitive verb To streak.

Bestrew Be·strew" transitive verb [ imperfect Bestrewed ; past participle Bestrewed , Bestrown ; present participle & verbal noun Bestrewing .] To strew or scatter over; to besprinkle. [ Spelt also bestrow .] Milton.

Bestride Be·stride" transitive verb [ imperfect Bestrode (Obsolete or R.) Bestrid ; past participle Bestridden Bestrid , Bestrode ; present participle & verbal noun Bestriding .] [ Anglo-Saxon bestrīdan ; prefix be- + strīdan to stride.] 1. To stand or sit with anything between the legs, or with the legs astride; to stand over

That horse that thou so often hast bestrid .
Shak.

Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world
Like a Colossus.
Shak.

2. To step over; to stride over or across; as, to bestride a threshold.

Bestrode Be·strode" imperfect & past participle of Bestride .

Bestrown Be·strown" past participle of Bestrew .

Bestuck Be·stuck" imperfect & past participle Bestick .

Bestud Be·stud" transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Bestudded ; present participle & verbal noun Bestudding .] To set or adorn, as with studs or bosses; to set thickly; to stud; as, to bestud with stars. Milton.

Beswike Be·swike" transitive verb [ Anglo-Saxon beswīcan ; be- + swīcan to deceive, entice; akin to Old Saxon swīkan , Old High German swīhhan , Icelandic svīkja .] To lure; to cheat. [ Obsolete] Gower.

Bet Bet noun [ Prob. from Middle English abet abetting, Old French abet , from abeter to excite, incite. See Abet .] That which is laid, staked, or pledged, as between two parties, upon the event of a contest or any contingent issue; the act of giving such a pledge; a wager. "Having made his bets ." Goldsmith.

Bet Bet transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Bet , Betted ; present participle & verbal noun Betting .] To stake or pledge upon the event of a contingent issue; to wager.

John a Gaunt loved him well, and betted much money on his head.
Shak.

I'll bet you two to one I'll make him do it.
O. W. Holmes.

Bet Bet imperfect & past participle of Beat . [ Obsolete]

Bet Bet adjective & adverb An early form of Better . [ Obsolete]

To go bet , to go fast; to hurry. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Beta Be"ta noun [ Greek bh^ta .] The second letter of the Greek alphabet, B, β. See B , and confer etymology of Alphabet . Beta (B, β) is used variously for classifying, as: (a) (Astron.) To designate some bright star, usually the second brightest, of a constellation, as, β Aurigæ. (b) (Chemistry) To distinguish one of two or more isomers; also, to indicate the position of substituting atoms or groups in certain compounds; as, β-naphthol. With acids, it commonly indicates that the substituent is in union with the carbon atom next to that to which the carboxyl group is attached.

Beta rays Be"ta rays (Physics) Penetrating rays readily deflected by a magnetic or electric field, emitted by radioactive substances, as radium. They consist of negatively charged particles or electrons, apparently the same in kind as those of the cathode rays, but having much higher velocities (about 35,000 to 180,000 miles per second).

Betacism Be"ta·cism Be`ta*cis"mus noun Excessive or extended use of the b sound in speech, due to conversion of other sounds into it, as through inability to distinguish them from b , or because of difficulty in pronouncing them.

Betaine Be"ta·ine noun [ From beta , generic name of the beet.] (Chemistry) A nitrogenous base, C ₅ H ₁₁ NO ₂ , produced artificially, and also occurring naturally in beet-root molasses and its residues, from which it is extracted as a white crystalline substance; -- called also lycine and oxyneurine . It has a sweetish taste.

Betake Be·take" transitive verb [ imperfect Betook ; past participle Betaken ; present participle & verbal noun Betaking .] [ Prefix be- + take .] 1. To take or seize. [ Obsolete] Spenser.

2. To have recourse to; to apply; to resort; to go; -- with a reflexive pronoun.

They betook themselves to treaty and submission.
Burke.

The rest, in imitation, to like arms
Betook them.
Milton.

Whither shall I betake me, where subsist?
Milton.

3. To commend or intrust to; to commit to. [ Obsolete]

Betaught Be·taught" adjective [ past participle of Middle English bitechen , Anglo-Saxon bet...can , to assign, deliver. See Teach .] Delivered; committed in trust. [ Obsolete]

Bete Bete transitive verb To better; to mend. See Beete . [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Bête noire Bête" noire" [ Fr., lit. black beast.] Something especially hated or dreaded; a bugbear.

Beteela Be·tee"la noun [ Portuguese beatilha .] An East India muslin, formerly used for cravats, veils, etc. [ Obsolete]

Beteem Be·teem" transitive verb [ Prefix be- + an old verb teem to be fitting; confer Dutch betamen to beseem, German ziemen , Goth. gatiman , and English tame . See Tame , adjective ] 1. To give ; to bestow; to grant; to accord; to consent. [ Obsolete] Spenser. Milton.

2. To allow; to permit; to suffer. [ Obsolete]

So loving to my mother,
That he might not beteem the winds of heaven
Visit her face too roughly.
Shak.

Betel Be"tel (bē"t'l) noun [ Portuguese , from Tamil vettilei , prop. meaning, a mere leaf.] (Botany) A species of pepper ( Piper betle ), the leaves of which are chewed, with the areca or betel nut and a little shell lime, by the inhabitants of the East Indies. It is a woody climber with ovate many- nerved leaves.

Betel nut Be"tel nut` The nutlike seed of the areca palm, chewed in the East with betel leaves (whence its name) and shell lime.

Betelguese Bet"el·guese (bĕt"ĕl*jēz) noun [ French Bételgeuse , of Arabic origin.] (Astron.) A bright star of the first magnitude, near one shoulder of Orion. [ Written also Betelgeux and Betelgeuse .]

Bethabara wood Beth·ab"a·ra wood` (Botany) A highly elastic wood, used for fishing rods, etc. The tree is unknown, but it is thought to be East Indian.

Bethel Beth"el noun [ Hebrew b...th-el house of God.] 1. A place of worship; a hallowed spot. S. F. Adams.

2. A chapel for dissenters. [ Eng.]

3. A house of worship for seamen.

Bethink Be·think" transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Bethought ; present participle & verbal noun Bethinking .] [ Anglo-Saxon beþencan ; prefix be- + þencan to think. See Think .] To call to mind; to recall or bring to recollection, reflection, or consideration; to think; to consider; -- generally followed by a reflexive pronoun, often with of or that before the subject of thought.

I have bethought me of another fault.
Shak.

The rest . . . may . . . bethin k themselves, and recover.
Milton.

We bethink a means to break it off.
Shak.

Syn. -- To recollect; remember; reflect.

Bethink Be·think" intransitive verb To think; to recollect; to consider. " Bethink ere thou dismiss us." Byron.

Bethlehem Beth"le·hem noun [ Hebrew bēth- lekhem house of food; bēth house + lekhem food, lākham to eat. Formerly the name of a hospital for the insane, in London, which had been the priory of St. Mary of Bethlehem. Confer Bedlam .] 1. A hospital for lunatics; -- corrupted into bedlam .

2. (Architecture) In the Ethiopic church, a small building attached to a church edifice, in which the bread for the eucharist is made. Audsley.

Bethlehemite, Bethlemite Beth"le·hem·ite, Beth"lem·ite noun 1. An inhabitant of Bethlehem in Judea.

2. An insane person; a madman; a bedlamite.

3. One of an extinct English order of monks.

Bethought Be·thought" imperfect & past participle of Bethink .

Bethrall Be·thrall" transitive verb To reduce to thralldom; to inthrall. [ Obsolete] Spenser.

Bethumb Be·thumb" transitive verb To handle; to wear or soil by handling; as books. Poe.

Bethump Be·thump" transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Bethumped or Bethumpt ; present participle & verbal noun Bethumping .] To beat or thump soundly. Shak.

Betide Be·tide" transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Betided Obs . Betid ; present participle & verbal noun Betiding .] [ Middle English bitiden ; prefix bi- , be- + tiden , from Anglo-Saxon tīdan , to happen, from tīd time. See Tide .] To happen to; to befall; to come to ; as, woe betide the wanderer.

What will betide the few ?
Milton.

Betide Be·tide" intransitive verb To come to pass; to happen; to occur.

A salve for any sore that may betide .
Shak.

» Shakespeare has used it with of . "What would betide of me ?"

Betime, Betimes Be·time", Be·times" adverb [ Prefix be- (for by ) + time ; that is, by the proper time. The -s is an adverbial ending.] 1. In good season or time; before it is late; seasonably; early.

To measure life learn thou betimes .
Milton.

To rise betimes is often harder than to do all the day's work.
Barrow.

2. In a short time; soon; speedily; forth with.

He tires betimes that spurs too fast betimes.
Shak.

Betitle Be·ti"tle transitive verb To furnish with a title or titles; to entitle. [ Obsolete] Carlyle.

Betoken Be·to"ken transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Betokened ; present participle & verbal noun Betokening .] 1. To signify by some visible object; to show by signs or tokens.

A dewy cloud, and in the cloud a bow . . .
Betokening peace from God, and covenant new.
Milton.

2. To foreshow by present signs; to indicate something future by that which is seen or known; as, a dark cloud often betokens a storm.

Syn. -- To presage; portend; indicate; mark; note.

Béton Bé`ton" noun [ French béton , from Latin bitumen bitumen.] (Masonry) The French name for concrete; hence, concrete made after the French fashion.

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