Box Box noun [ Confer Dan.
baske to slap,
bask slap, blow. Confer
Pash .]
A blow on the head or ear with the hand. A good-humored box on the ear.
W. Irving.
Box Box intransitive verb To fight with the fist; to combat with, or as with, the hand or fist; to spar.
Box Box transitive verb To strike with the hand or fist, especially to strike on the ear, or on the side of the head.
Box Box transitive verb [ Confer Sp.
boxar , now spelt
bojar .]
To boxhaul. To box off (Nautical) ,
to turn the head of a vessel either way by bracing the headyards aback. --
To box the compass (Nautical) ,
to name the thirty-two points of the compass in their order.
Box kite Box kite A kite, invented by Lawrence Hargrave, of Sydney, Australia, which consist of two light rectangular boxes, or cells open on two sides, and fastened together horizontally. Called also Hargrave, or cellular, kite .
Box tail Box tail (Aëronautics) In a flying machine, a tail or rudder, usually fixed, resembling a box kite.
Box-iron Box"-i`ron noun A hollow smoothing iron containing a heater within.
Boxberry Box"ber`ry noun (Botany) The wintergreen. ( Gaultheria procumbens ). [ Local, U.S.]
Boxen Box"en (bŏks"'n)
adjective Made of boxwood; pertaining to, or resembling, the box ( Buxus ). [ R.]
The faded hue of sapless boxen leaves.
Dryden.
Boxer Box"er (bŏks"ẽr)
noun One who packs boxes.
Boxer Box"er noun One who boxes; a pugilist.
Boxer Box"er noun A member of a powerful Chinese organization which committed numerous outrages on Europeans and Christian converts in the uprising against foreigners in 1900. Various names, as "League of United Patriots" and "Great Knife [ or Sword] Society," have been given as the Chinese name of the organization; why the members were called Boxers is uncertain.
Boxfish Box"fish` noun (Zoology) The trunkfish.
Boxhaul Box"haul` transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Boxhauled ]
(Nautical) To put (a vessel) on the other tack by veering her short round on her heel; -- so called from the circumstance of bracing the head yards abox (i. e., sharp aback, on the wind). Totten.
Boxhauling Box"haul`ing noun (Nautical) A method of going from one tack to another. See Boxhaul .
Boxing Box"ing noun 1. The act of inclosing (anything) in a box, as for storage or transportation. 2. Material used in making boxes or casings. 3. Any boxlike inclosure or recess; a casing. 4. (Architecture) The external case of thin material used to bring any member to a required form.
Boxing Box"ing noun The act of fighting with the fist; a combat with the fist; sparring. Blackstone. Boxing glove ,
a large padded mitten or glove used in sparring for exercise or amusement.
Boxing day Box"ing day` The first week day after Christmas, a legal holiday on which Christmas boxes are given to postmen, errand boys, employees, etc. The night of this day is boxing night . [ Eng.]
Boxkeeper Box"keep`er noun An attendant at a theater who has charge of the boxes.
Boxthorn Box"thorn` noun (Botany) A plant of the genus Lycium , esp. Lycium barbarum .
Boxwood Box"wood` noun The wood of the box ( Buxus ).
Boy Boy noun [ Confer Dutch
boef , Fries.
boi ,
boy ; akin to German
bube , Icelandic
bofi rouge.]
A male child, from birth to the age of puberty; a lad; hence, a son. My only boy fell by the side of great Dundee.
Sir W. Scott.
»
Boy is often used as a term of comradeship, as in college, or in the army or navy. In the plural used colloquially of members of an associaton, fraternity, or party.
Boy bishop ,
a boy (usually a chorister) elected bishop, in old Christian sports, and invested with robes and other insignia. He practiced a kind of mimicry of the ceremonies in which the bishop usually officiated. --
The Old Boy ,
the Devil. [ Slang] --
Yellow boys ,
guineas. [ Slang, Eng.] --
Boy's love ,
a popular English name of Southernwood ( Artemisia abrotonum ); -- called also lad's love . --
Boy's play ,
childish amusements; anything trifling.
Boy Boy transitive verb To act as a boy; -- in allusion to the former practice of boys acting women's parts on the stage. I shall see
Some squeaking Cleopatra boy my greatness.
Shak.
Boy Boy noun In various countries, a male servant, laborer, or slave of a native or inferior race; also, any man of such a race. He reverted again and again to the labor difficulty, and spoke of importing boys from Capetown.
Frances Macnab.
Boy scout Boy scout Orig., a member of the "Boy Scouts," an organization of boys founded in 1908, by Sir R. S. S. Baden-Powell, to promote good citizenship by creating in them a spirit of civic duty and of usefulness to others, by stimulating their interest in wholesome mental, moral, industrial, and physical activities, etc. Hence, a member of any of the other similar organizations, which are now worldwide. In "The Boy Scouts of America" the local councils are generally under a scout commissioner, under whose supervision are scout masters, each in charge of a troop of two or more patrols of eight scouts each, who are of three classes, tenderfoot , second-class scout , and first-class scout .
Boyar, Boyard Boˇyar", Boˇyard" noun [ Russian
boiárin' .]
A member of a Russian aristocratic order abolished by Peter the Great. Also, one of a privileged class in Roumania. » English writers sometimes call Russian landed proprietors
boyars .
Boyau Boy"au noun ;
plural Boyaux or
Boyaus [ French
boyau gut, a long and narrow place, and (of trenches) a branch. See
Bowel .]
(Fort.) A winding or zigzag trench forming a path or communication from one siegework to another, to a magazine, etc.
Boycott Boy"cott` transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Boycotted ;
present participle & verbal noun Boycotting .] [ From Captain
Boycott , a land agent in Mayo, Ireland, so treated in 1880.]
To combine against (a landlord, tradesman, employer, or other person), to withhold social or business relations from him, and to deter others from holding such relations; to subject to a boycott.
Boycott Boy"cott noun The process, fact, or pressure of boycotting; a combining to withhold or prevent dealing or social intercourse with a tradesman, employer, etc.; social and business interdiction for the purpose of coercion.
Boycotter Boy"cott`er noun A participant in boycotting.
Boycottism Boy"cottˇism noun Methods of boycotters.
Boydekin Boy"deˇkin noun A dagger; a bodkin. [ Obsolete]
Boyer Boy"er noun [ Dutch
boeijer ; -- so called because these vessels were employed for laying the
boeijen , or buoys: confer French
boyer . See
Buoy .]
(Nautical) A Flemish sloop with a castle at each end. Sir W. Raleigh.
Boyhood Boy"hood noun [
Boy +
- hood .]
The state of being a boy; the time during which one is a boy. Hood.
Boyish Boy"ish adjective Resembling a boy in a manners or opinions; belonging to a boy; childish; trifling; puerile. A boyish , odd conceit.
Baillie.
Boyishly Boy"ishˇly adverb In a boyish manner; like a boy.
Boyishness Boy"ishˇness noun The manners or behavior of a boy.
Boyism Boy"ism noun 1. Boyhood. [ Obsolete]
T. Warton. 2. The nature of a boy; childishness. Dryden.
Boyle's law Boyle's" law` See under Law .
Boza Bo"za noun [ See
Bosa .]
An acidulated fermented drink of the Arabs and Egyptians, made from millet seed and various astringent substances; also, an intoxicating beverage made from hemp seed, darnel meal, and water. [ Written also
bosa ,
bozah ,
bouza .]
Boötes Boˇö"tes (bo*ō"tēz)
noun [ Latin
Bootes , Greek
bow`ths herdsman, from
boy^s , gen.
boo`s , ox, cow.]
(Astron.) A northern constellation, containing the bright star Arcturus.
Brabantine Braˇbant"ine adjective Pertaining to Brabant, an ancient province of the Netherlands.
Brabble Brab"ble intransitive verb [ Dutch
brabbelen to talk confusedly. ...95. Confer
Blab ,
Babble .]
To clamor; to contest noisily. [ R.]
Brabble Brab"ble noun A broil; a noisy contest; a wrangle. This petty brabble will undo us all.
Shak.
Brabblement Brab"bleˇment noun A brabble. [ R.]
Holland.
Brabbler Brab"bler noun A clamorous, quarrelsome, noisy fellow; a wrangler. [ R]
Shak.
Braccate Brac"cate adjective [ Latin
bracatus wearing breeches, from
bracae breeches.]
(Zoology) Furnished with feathers which conceal the feet.
Brace Brace noun [ Old French
brace ,
brasse , the two arms, embrace, fathom, French
brasse fathom, from Latin
bracchia the arms (stretched out), plural of
bracchium arm; confer Greek ....]
1. That which holds anything tightly or supports it firmly; a bandage or a prop. 2. A cord, ligament, or rod, for producing or maintaining tension, as a cord on the side of a drum. The little bones of the ear drum do in straining and relaxing it as the braces of the war drum do in that.
Derham.
3. The state of being braced or tight; tension. The laxness of the tympanum, when it has lost its brace or tension.
Holder.
4. (Arch. & Engin.) A piece of material used to transmit, or change the direction of, weight or pressure; any one of the pieces, in a frame or truss, which divide the structure into triangular parts. It may act as a tie, or as a strut, and serves to prevent distortion of the structure, and transverse strains in its members. A boiler brace is a diagonal stay, connecting the head with the shell. 5. (Print.) A vertical curved line connecting two or more words or lines, which are to be taken together; thus, boll , bowl ; or, in music, used to connect staves. 6. (Nautical) A rope reeved through a block at the end of a yard, by which the yard is moved horizontally; also, a rudder gudgeon. 7. (Mech.) A curved instrument or handle of iron or wood, for holding and turning bits, etc.; a bitstock. 8. A pair; a couple; as, a brace of ducks; now rarely applied to persons, except familiarly or with some contempt. "A
brace of greyhounds."
Shak. He is said to have shot . . . fifty brace of pheasants.
Addison.
A brace of brethren, both bishops, both eminent for learning and religion, now appeared in the church.
Fuller.
But you, my brace of lords.
Shak.
9. plural Straps or bands to sustain trousers; suspenders. I embroidered for you a beautiful pair of braces .
Thackeray.
10. Harness; warlike preparation. [ Obsolete]
For that it stands not in such warlike brace .
Shak.
11. Armor for the arm; vantbrace. 12. (Mining) The mouth of a shaft. [ Cornwall]
Angle brace .
See under Angle .
Brace Brace transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Braced ;
present participle & verbal noun Bracing .]
1. To furnish with braces; to support; to prop; as, to brace a beam in a building. 2. To draw tight; to tighten; to put in a state of tension; to strain; to strengthen; as, to brace the nerves. And welcome war to brace her drums.
Campbell.
3. To bind or tie closely; to fasten tightly. The women of China, by bracing and binding them from their infancy, have very little feet.
Locke.
Some who spurs had first braced on.
Sir W. Scott.
4. To place in a position for resisting pressure; to hold firmly; as, he braced himself against the crowd. A sturdy lance in his right hand he braced .
Fairfax.
5. (Nautical) To move around by means of braces; as, to brace the yards. To brace about (Nautical) ,
to turn (a yard) round for the contrary tack. --
To brace a yard (Nautical) ,
to move it horizontally by means of a brace. --
To brace in (Nautical) ,
to turn (a yard) by hauling in the weather brace. --
To brace one's self ,
to call up one's energies. "He
braced himself for an effort which he was little able to make."
J. D. Forbes. --
To brace to (Nautical) ,
to turn (a yard) by checking or easing off the lee brace, and hauling in the weather one, to assist in tacking. --
To brace up (Nautical) ,
to bring (a yard) nearer the direction of the keel by hauling in the lee brace. --
To brace up sharp (Nautical) ,
to turn (a yard) as far forward as the rigging will permit.
Brace Brace intransitive verb To get tone or vigor; to rouse one's energies; -- with up . [ Colloq.]
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