Blunge Blunge transitive verb To amalgamate and blend; to beat up or mix in water, as clay.

Blunger Blun"ger noun [ Corrupted from plunger .] A wooden blade with a cross handle, used for mi...ing the clay in potteries; a plunger. Tomlinson.

Blunging Blun"ging noun The process of mixing clay in potteries with a blunger. Tomlinson.

Blunt Blunt adjective [ Confer Prov. German bludde a dull or blunt knife, Danish blunde to sleep, Swedish & Icelandic blunda ; or perhaps akin to English blind .] 1. Having a thick edge or point, as an instrument; dull; not sharp.

The murderous knife was dull and blunt .
Shak.

2. Dull in understanding; slow of discernment; stupid; -- opposed to acute .

His wits are not so blunt .
Shak.

3. Abrupt in address; plain; unceremonious; wanting the forms of civility; rough in manners or speech. "Hiding his bitter jests in blunt behavior." "A plain, blunt man." Shak.

4. Hard to impress or penetrate. [ R.]

I find my heart hardened and blunt to new impressions.
Pope.

» Blunt is much used in composition, as blunt- edged, blunt- sighted, blunt- spoken.

Syn. -- Obtuse; dull; pointless; curt; short; coarse; rude; brusque; impolite; uncivil.

Blunt Blunt transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Blunted ; present participle & verbal noun Blunting .] 1. To dull the edge or point of, by making it thicker; to make blunt. Shak.

2. To repress or weaken, as any appetite, desire, or power of the mind; to impair the force, keenness, or susceptibility, of; as, to blunt the feelings.

Blunt Blunt noun 1. A fencer's foil. [ Obsolete]

2. A short needle with a strong point. See Needle .

3. Money. [ Cant] Beaconsfield.

Blunt-witted Blunt"-wit`ted noun Dull; stupid.

Blunt-witted lord, ignoble in demeanor!
Shak.

Bluntish Blunt"ish adjective Somewhat blunt. -- Blunt"ish*ness , noun

Bluntly Blunt"ly adverb In a blunt manner; coarsely; plainly; abruptly; without delicacy, or the usual forms of civility.

Sometimes after bluntly giving his opinions, he would quietly lay himself asleep until the end of their deliberations.
Jeffrey.

Bluntness Blunt"ness noun 1. Want of edge or point; dullness; obtuseness; want of sharpness.

The multitude of elements and bluntness of angles.
Holland.

2. Abruptness of address; rude plainness. " Bluntness of speech." Boyle.

Blur Blur (blūr) transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Blurred (blūrd); present participle & verbal noun Blurring .] [ Prob. of same origin as blear . See Blear .] 1. To render obscure by making the form or outline of confused and uncertain, as by soiling; to smear; to make indistinct and confused; as, to blur manuscript by handling it while damp; to blur the impression of a woodcut by an excess of ink.

But time hath nothing blurred those lines of favor
Which then he wore.
Shak.

2. To cause imperfection of vision in; to dim; to darken.

Her eyes are blurred with the lightning's glare.
J. R. Drake.

3. To sully; to stain; to blemish, as reputation.

Sarcasms may eclipse thine own,
But can not blur my lost renown.
Hudibras.

Syn. -- To spot; blot; disfigure; stain; sully.

Blur Blur (blūr) noun 1. That which obscures without effacing; a stain; a blot, as upon paper or other substance.

As for those who cleanse blurs with blotted fingers, they make it worse.
Fuller.

2. A dim, confused appearance; indistinctness of vision; as, to see things with a blur ; it was all blur .

3. A moral stain or blot.

Lest she . . . will with her railing set a great blur on mine honesty and good name.
Udall.

Blurry Blur"ry (blūr"rȳ) adjective Full of blurs; blurred.

Blurt Blurt (blūrt) transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Blurted ; present participle & verbal noun Blurting .] [ Confer Blare .] To utter suddenly and unadvisedly; to divulge inconsiderately; to ejaculate; -- commonly with out .

Others . . . can not hold, but blurt out, those words which afterward they are forced to eat.
Hakewill.

To blurt at , to speak contemptuously of. [ Obsolete] Shak.

Blush Blush (blŭsh) intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Blushed (blŭsht); present participle & verbal noun Blushing .] [ Middle English bluschen to shine, look, turn red, Anglo-Saxon blyscan to glow; akin to blysa a torch, āblȳsian to blush, Dutch blozen , Danish blusse to blaze, blush.]

1. To become suffused with red in the cheeks, as from a sense of shame, modesty, or confusion; to become red from such cause, as the cheeks or face.

To the nuptial bower
I led her blushing like the morn.
Milton.

In the presence of the shameless and unblushing, the young offender is ashamed to blush .
Buckminster.

He would stroke
The head of modest and ingenuous worth,
That blushed at its own praise.
Cowper.

2. To grow red; to have a red or rosy color.

The sun of heaven, methought, was loth to set,
But stayed, and made the western welkin blush .
Shak.

3. To have a warm and delicate color, as some roses and other flowers.

Full many a flower is born to blush unseen.
T. Gray.

Blush Blush transitive verb 1. To suffuse with a blush; to redden; to make roseate. [ Obsolete]

To blush and beautify the cheek again.
Shak.

2. To express or make known by blushing.

I'll blush you thanks.
Shak.

Blush Blush noun 1. A suffusion of the cheeks or face with red, as from a sense of shame, confusion, or modesty.

The rosy blush of love.
Trumbull.

2. A red or reddish color; a rosy tint.

Light's last blushes tinged the distant hills.
Lyttleton.

At first blush , or At the first blush , at the first appearance or view. " At the first blush , we thought they had been ships come from France." Hakluyt. This phrase is used now more of ideas, opinions, etc., than of material things. "All purely identical propositions, obviously, and at first blush , appear," etc. Locke. -- To put to the blush , to cause to blush with shame; to put to shame.

Blusher Blush"er (blŭsh"ẽr) noun One that blushes.

Blushet Blush"et (-ĕt) noun A modest girl. [ Obsolete] B. Jonson.

Blushful Blush"ful (-ful) adjective Full of blushes.

While from his ardent look the turning Spring
Averts her blushful face.
Thomson.

Blushing Blush"ing adjective Showing blushes; rosy red; having a warm and delicate color like some roses and other flowers; blooming; ruddy; roseate.

The dappled pink and blushing rose.
Prior.

Blushing Blush"ing noun The act of turning red; the appearance of a reddish color or flush upon the cheeks.

Blushingly Blush"ing·ly adverb In a blushing manner; with a blush or blushes; as, to answer or confess blushingly .

Blushless Blush"less adjective Free from blushes; incapable of blushing; shameless; impudent.

Vice now, secure, her blushless front shall raise.
Dodsley.

Blushy Blush"y adjective Like a blush; having the color of a blush; rosy. [ R.] "A blushy color." Harvey.

Bluster Blus"ter intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Blustered ; present participle & verbal noun Blustering .] [ Allied to blast .]

1. To blow fitfully with violence and noise, as wind; to be windy and boisterous, as the weather.

And ever-threatening storms
Of Chaos blustering round.
Milton.

2. To talk with noisy violence; to swagger, as a turbulent or boasting person; to act in a noisy, tumultuous way; to play the bully; to storm; to rage.

Your ministerial directors blustered like tragic tyrants.
Burke.

Bluster Blus"ter transitive verb To utter, or do, with noisy violence; to force by blustering; to bully.

He bloweth and blustereth out . . . his abominable blasphemy.
Sir T. More.

As if therewith he meant to bluster all princes into a perfect obedience to his commands.
Fuller.

Bluster Blus"ter noun 1. Fitful noise and violence, as of a storm; violent winds; boisterousness.

To the winds they set
Their corners, when with bluster to confound
Sea, air, and shore.
Milton.

2. Noisy and violent or threatening talk; noisy and boastful language. L'Estrange.

Syn. -- Noise; boisterousness; tumult; turbulence; confusion; boasting; swaggering; bullying.

Blusterer Blus"ter·er noun One who, or that which, blusters; a noisy swaggerer.

Blustering Blus"ter·ing adjective 1. Exhibiting noisy violence, as the wind; stormy; tumultuous.

A tempest and a blustering day.
Shak.

2. Uttering noisy threats; noisy and swaggering; boisterous. "A blustering fellow." L'Estrange.

Blusteringly Blus"ter·ing·ly adverb In a blustering manner.

Blusterous Blus"ter·ous adjective Inclined to bluster; given to blustering; blustering. Motley.

Blustrous Blus"trous adjective Blusterous. Shak.

Blę Blę adjective [ See Blue .] Dark blue or bluish gray; lead-colored. [ Scot.]

Blęberry Blę"ber·ry noun [ Blę + berry ; akin to Icel blāber , Swedish bl...bär , Dutch blaabęr . Confer Blueberry .] The bilberry. [ North of Eng. & Scot.]

Bo Bo interj. [ Confer W. bw , an interj. of threatening or frightening; noun , terror, fear, dread.] An exclamation used to startle or frighten. [ Spelt also boh and boo .]

Bo tree Bo" tree` (Botany) The peepul tree; esp., the very ancient tree standing at Anurajahpoora in Ceylon, grown from a slip of the tree under which Gautama is said to have received the heavenly light and so to have become Buddha.

The sacred bo tree of the Buddhists ( Ficus religiosa ), which is planted close to every temple, and attracts almost as much veneration as the status of the god himself. . . . It differs from the banyan ( Ficus Indica ) by sending down no roots from its branches.
Tennent.

Boa Bo"a (bō"ȧ) noun ; plural Boas . [ Latin boa a kind of water serpent. Perh. from bos an ox.] 1. (Zoology) A genus of large American serpents, including the boa constrictor, the emperor boa of Mexico ( B. imperator ), and the chevalier boa of Peru ( B. eques ).

» The name is also applied to related genera; as, the dog-headed boa ( Xiphosoma caninum ).

2. A long, round fur tippet; -- so called from its resemblance in shape to the boa constrictor.

Boa constrictor Bo"a con·strict"or [ New Latin See Boa , and Constrictor .] (Zoology) A large and powerful serpent of tropical America, sometimes twenty or thirty feet long. See Illustration in Appendix.

» It has a succession of spots, alternately black and yellow, extending along the back. It kills its prey by constriction. The name is also loosely applied to other large serpents which crush their prey, particularly to those of the genus Python , found in Asia and Africa.

Boanerges Bo`a·ner"ges [ Greek ... , from Hebrew bnē hargem sons of thunder. -- an appellation given by Christ to two of his disciples (James and John). See Mark iii. 17.] Any declamatory and vociferous preacher or orator.

Boar Boar (bōr) noun [ Middle English bar , bor , bore , Anglo-Saxon bār ; akin to Old High German pēr , Middle High German bēr , German bär , boar (but not bär bear), and perhaps Russian borov' boar.] (Zoology) The uncastrated male of swine; specifically, the wild hog.

Board Board (bōrd) noun [ Middle English bord , Anglo-Saxon bord board, shipboard; akin to bred plank, Icelandic borš board, side of a ship, Goth. fōtu- baurd footstool, Dutch bord board, German brett , bort . See def. 8. √92.] 1. A piece of timber sawed thin, and of considerable length and breadth as compared with the thickness, -- used for building, etc.

» When sawed thick, as over one and a half or two inches, it is usually called a plank .

2. A table to put food upon.

» The term board answers to the modern table , but it was often movable, and placed on trestles. Halliwell.

Fruit of all kinds . . .
She gathers, tribute large, and on the board
Heaps with unsparing hand.
Milton.

3. Hence: What is served on a table as food; stated meals; provision; entertainment; -- usually as furnished for pay; as, to work for one's board ; the price of board .

4. A table at which a council or court is held. Hence: A council, convened for business, or any authorized assembly or meeting, public or private; a number of persons appointed or elected to sit in council for the management or direction of some public or private business or trust; as, the Board of Admiralty; a board of trade; a board of directors, trustees, commissioners, etc.

Both better acquainted with affairs than any other who sat then at that board .
Clarendon.

We may judge from their letters to the board .
Porteus.

5. A square or oblong piece of thin wood or other material used for some special purpose, as, a molding board ; a board or surface painted or arranged for a game; as, a chess board ; a backgammon board .

6. Paper made thick and stiff like a board, for book covers, etc.; pasteboard; as, to bind a book in boards .

7. plural The stage in a theater; as, to go upon the boards , to enter upon the theatrical profession.

8. [ In this use originally perhaps a different word meaning border , margin ; confer Dutch boord , German bord , shipboard, and German borte trimming; also French bord (fr. G.) the side of a ship. Confer Border .] The border or side of anything. (Nautical) (a) The side of a ship. "Now board to board the rival vessels row." Dryden. See On board , below. (b) The stretch which a ship makes in one tack.

» Board is much used adjectively or as the last part of a compound; as, fir board , clap board , floor board , ship board , side board , ironing board , chess board , card board , paste board , sea board ; board measure.

The American Board , a shortened form of "The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions" (the foreign missionary society of the American Congregational churches). -- Bed and board . See under Bed . -- Board and board (Nautical) , side by side. -- Board of control , six privy councilors formerly appointed to superintend the affairs of the British East Indies. Stormonth. -- Board rule , a figured scale for finding without calculation the number of square feet in a board. Haldeman. -- Board of trade , in England, a committee of the privy council appointed to superintend matters relating to trade. In the United States, a body of men appointed for the advancement and protection of their business interests; a chamber of commerce. -- Board wages . (a) Food and lodging supplied as compensation for services; as, to work hard, and get only board wages . (b) Money wages which are barely sufficient to buy food and lodging. (c) A separate or special allowance of wages for the procurement of food, or food and lodging. Dryden. -- By the board , over the board , or side. "The mast went by the board ." Totten. Hence (Fig.), To go by the board , to suffer complete destruction or overthrow. -- To enter on the boards , to have one's name inscribed on a board or tablet in a college as a student. [ Cambridge, England.] "Having been entered on the boards of Trinity college." Hallam. -- To make a good board (Nautical) , to sail in a straight line when close-hauled; to lose little to leeward. -- To make short boards , to tack frequently. -- On board . (a) On shipboard; in a ship or a boat; on board of; as, I came on board early; to be on board ship. (b) In or into a railway car or train. [ Colloq. U. S.] -- Returning board , a board empowered to canvass and make an official statement of the votes cast at an election. [ U.S.]

Board Board transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Boarded ; present participle & verbal noun Boarding .] 1. To cover with boards or boarding; as, to board a house. "The boarded hovel." Cowper.

2. [ Confer Board to accost, and see Board , noun ] To go on board of, or enter, as a ship, whether in a hostile or a friendly way.

You board an enemy to capture her, and a stranger to receive news or make a communication.
Totten.

3. To enter, as a railway car. [ Colloq. U. S.]

4. To furnish with regular meals, or with meals and lodgings, for compensation; to supply with daily meals.

5. To place at board, for compensation; as, to board one's horse at a livery stable.

Board Board intransitive verb To obtain meals, or meals and lodgings, statedly for compensation; as, he boards at the hotel.

We are several of us, gentlemen and ladies, who board in the same house.
Spectator.

Board Board transitive verb [ French aborder . See Abord , transitive verb ] To approach; to accost; to address; hence, to woo. [ Obsolete]

I will board her, though she chide as loud
As thunder when the clouds in autumn crack.
Shak.

Boardable Board"a·ble adjective That can be boarded, as a ship.

Boarder Board"er noun 1. One who has food statedly at another's table, or meals and lodgings in his house, for pay, or compensation of any kind.

2. (Nautical) One who boards a ship; one selected to board an enemy's ship. Totten.

Boarding Board"ing noun 1. (Nautical) The act of entering a ship, whether with a hostile or a friendly purpose.

Both slain at one time, as they attempted the boarding of a frigate.
Sir F. Drake.

2. The act of covering with boards; also, boards, collectively; or a covering made of boards.

3. The act of supplying, or the state of being supplied, with regular or specified meals, or with meals and lodgings, for pay.

Boarding house , a house in which boarders are kept. -- Boarding nettings (Nautical) , a strong network of cords or ropes erected at the side of a ship to prevent an enemy from boarding it. -- Boarding pike (Nautical) , a pike used by sailors in boarding a vessel, or in repelling an attempt to board it. Totten. -- Boarding school , a school in which pupils receive board and lodging as well as instruction.

Boarfish Boar"fish` noun (Zoology) (a) A Mediterranean fish ( Capros aper ), of the family Caproidę ; -- so called from the resemblance of the extended lips to a hog's snout. (b) An Australian percoid fish ( Histiopterus recurvirostris ), valued as a food fish.

Boarish Boar"ish adjective Swinish; brutal; cruel.

In his anointed flesh stick boarish fangs.
Shak.

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