Bird-witted adjective Flighty; passing rapidly from one subject to another; not having the faculty of attention. Bacon.

Bird's-eye adjective
1. Seen from above, as if by a flying bird; embraced at a glance; hence, general; not minute, or entering into details; as, a bird's-eye view.

2. Marked with spots resembling bird's eyes; as, bird's-eye diaper; bird's-eye maple.

Bird's-eye noun (Botany) A plant with a small bright flower, as the Adonis or pheasant's eye, the mealy primrose ( Primula farinosa ), and species of Veronica, Geranium, etc.

Bird's-eye maple See under Maple .

Bird's-foot noun (Botany) A papilionaceous plant, the Ornithopus , having a curved, cylindrical pod tipped with a short, clawlike point.

Bird's-foot trefoil . (Botany) (a) A genus of plants ( Lotus ) with clawlike pods. Latin corniculatas , with yellow flowers, is very common in Great Britain. (b) the related plant, Trigonella ornithopodioides , is also European.

Bird's-mouth noun (Architecture) An interior angle or notch cut across a piece of timber, for the reception of the edge of another, as that in a rafter to be laid on a plate; -- commonly called crow's-foot in the United States.

Bird's-nesting (bẽrdz"nĕst`ĭng) noun Hunting for, or taking, birds' nests or their contents.

Bird's-tongue noun (Botany) The knotgrass ( Polygonum aviculare ).

Birdseed noun Canary seed, hemp, millet or other small seeds used for feeding caged birds.

Birdwoman noun An airwoman; an aviatress. [ Colloq.]

Birectangular adjective [ Prefix bi- + rectangular .] Containing or having two right angles; as, a birectangular spherical triangle.

Bireme noun [ Latin biremis ; bis twice + remus oar: confer French birème .] An ancient galley or vessel with two banks or tiers of oars.

Biretta noun Same as Berretta .

Birgander noun See Bergander .

Birk noun [ See Birch , noun ] A birch tree. [ Prov. Eng.] "The silver birk ." Tennyson.

Birk noun (Zoology) A small European minnow ( Leuciscus phoxinus ).

Birken transitive verb [ From 1st Birk .] To whip with a birch or rod. [ Obsolete]

Birken adjective Birchen; as, birken groves. Burns.

Birkie noun A lively or mettlesome fellow. [ Jocular, Scot.] Burns.

Birl transitive verb & i. To revolve or cause to revolve; to spin. [ Scot.] Sir W. Scott.

Birl transitive verb & i. [ Anglo-Saxon byrlian . √92.] To pour (beer or wine); to ply with drink; to drink; to carouse. [ Obsolete or Dial.] Skelton.

Birlaw noun [ See By -law .] (Law) A law made by husbandmen respecting rural affairs; a rustic or local law or by-law. [ Written also byrlaw , birlie , birley .]

Birostrate, Birostrated adjective [ Prefix bi- + rostrate .] Having a double beak, or two processes resembling beaks.

The capsule is bilocular and birostrated .
Ed. Encyc.

Birr intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Birred ; present participle & verbal noun Birring .] [ Confer Middle English bur , bir , wind, storm wind, from Icelandic byrr wind. Perh. imitative.] To make, or move with, a whirring noise, as of wheels in motion.

Birr noun
1. A whirring sound, as of a spinning wheel.

2. A rush or impetus; force.

Birrus noun [ Late Latin , from Latin birrus a kind of cloak. See Berretta .] A coarse kind of thick woolen cloth, worn by the poor in the Middle Ages; also, a woolen cap or hood worn over the shoulders or over the head.

Birse noun A bristle or bristles. [ Scot.]

Birt (bẽrt) noun [ Middle English byrte ; confer French bertonneau . Confer Bret , Burt .] (Zoology) A fish of the turbot kind; the brill. [ Written also burt , bret , or brut .] [ Prov. Eng.]

Birth (bẽrth) noun [ Middle English burth , birth , Anglo-Saxon gebyrd , from beran to bear, bring forth; akin to Dutch geboorte , Old High German burt , giburt , German geburt , Icelandic burðr , Sanskrit bhrti bearing, supporting; confer Ir. & Gael. beirthe born, brought forth. √92. See 1st Bear , and confer Berth .]
1. The act or fact of coming into life, or of being born; -- generally applied to human beings; as, the birth of a son.

2. Lineage; extraction; descent; sometimes, high birth; noble extraction.

Elected without reference to birth , but solely for qualifications.
Prescott.

3. The condition to which a person is born; natural state or position; inherited disposition or tendency.

A foe by birth to Troy's unhappy name.
Dryden.

4. The act of bringing forth; as, she had two children at a birth . "At her next birth ." Milton.

5. That which is born; that which is produced, whether animal or vegetable.

Poets are far rarer births than kings.
B. Jonson.

Others hatch their eggs and tend the birth till it is able to shift for itself.
Addison.

6. Origin; beginning; as, the birth of an empire.

New birth (Theol.) , regeneration, or the commencement of a religious life.

Syn. -- Parentage; extraction; lineage; race; family.

Birth noun See Berth . [ Obsolete] De Foe.

Birthday (bẽrth"dā`) noun
1. The day in which any person is born; day of origin or commencement.

Those barbarous ages past, succeeded next
The birthday of invention.
Cowper.

2. The day of the month in which a person was born, in whatever succeeding year it may recur; the anniversary of one's birth.

This is my birthday ; as this very day
Was Cassius born.
Shak.

Birthday adjective Of or pertaining to the day of birth, or its anniversary; as, birthday gifts or festivities.

Birthdom noun [ Birth + - dom .] The land of one's birth; one's inheritance. [ R.] Shak.

Birthing noun (Nautical) Anything added to raise the sides of a ship. Bailey.

Birthless adjective Of mean extraction. [ R.] Sir W. Scott.

Birthmark noun Some peculiar mark or blemish on the body at birth.

Most part of this noble lineage carried upon their body for a natural birthmark , . . . a snake.
Sir T. North.

Birthnight noun The night in which a person is born; the anniversary of that night in succeeding years.

The angelic song in Bethlehem field,
On thy birthnight , that sung thee Savior born.
Milton.

Birthplace noun The town, city, or country, where a person is born; place of origin or birth, in its more general sense. "The birthplace of valor." Burns.

Birthright noun Any right, privilege, or possession to which a person is entitled by birth, such as an estate descendible by law to an heir, or civil liberty under a free constitution; esp. the rights or inheritance of the first born.

Lest there be any . . . profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright .
Hebrew xii. 16.

Birthroot noun (Botany) An herbaceous plant ( Trillium erectum ), and its astringent rootstock, which is said to have medicinal properties.

Birthwort noun A genus of herbs and shrubs ( Aristolochia ), reputed to have medicinal properties.

Bis adverb [ Latin bis twice, for duis , from root of duo two. See Two , and confer Bi- .] Twice; -- a word showing that something is, or is to be, repeated; as a passage of music, or an item in accounts.

Bis- prefix A form of Bi- , sometimes used before s , c , or a vowel.

Bisa antelope (Zoology) See Oryx .

Bisaccate adjective [ Prefix bi- + saccate .] (Botany) Having two little bags, sacs, or pouches.

Biscayan adjective Of or pertaining to Biscay in Spain. -- noun A native or inhabitant of Biscay.

Biscotin noun [ French biscotin . See Biscuit .] A confection made of flour, sugar, marmalade, and eggs; a sweet biscuit.

Biscuit noun [ French biscuit (cf. Italian biscotto , Spanish bizcocho , Portuguese biscouto ), from Latin bis twice + coctus , past participle of coquere to cook, bake. See Cook , and confer Bisque a kind of porcelain.]
1. A kind of unraised bread, of many varieties, plain, sweet, or fancy, formed into flat cakes, and bakes hard; as, ship biscuit .

According to military practice, the bread or biscuit of the Romans was twice prepared in the oven.
Gibbon.

2. A small loaf or cake of bread, raised and shortened, or made light with soda or baking powder. Usually a number are baked in the same pan, forming a sheet or card.

3. Earthen ware or porcelain which has undergone the first baking, before it is subjected to the glazing.

4. (Sculp.) A species of white, unglazed porcelain, in which vases, figures, and groups are formed in miniature.

Meat biscuit , an alimentary preparation consisting of matters extracted from meat by boiling, or of meat ground fine and combined with flour, so as to form biscuits.

Biscutate adjective [ Prefix bi- + scutate .] (Botany) Resembling two bucklers placed side by side.