Bracteate Brac"te·ate adjective [ Confer L. bracteatus covered with gold plate.] (Botany) Having a bract or bracts.

Bracted Bract"ed adjective (Botany) Furnished with bracts.

Bracteolate Brac"te·o·late adjective (Botany) Furnished with bracteoles or bractlets.

Bracteole Brac"te·ole noun [ Latin bracteola , dim. of bractea . See Bractea .] (Botany) Same as Bractlet .

Bractless Bract"less adjective (Botany) Destitute of bracts.

Bractlet Bract"let noun [ Bract + - let ] (Botany) A bract on the stalk of a single flower, which is itself on a main stalk that support several flowers. Gray.

Brad Brad noun [ Confer OE. brod , Danish braad prick, sting, brodde ice spur, frost nail, Swedish brodd frost nail, Icelandic broddr any pointed piece of iron or stell; akin to Anglo-Saxon brord point, spire of grass, and perhaps to English bristle . See Bristle , noun ] A thin nail, usually small, with a slight projection at the top on one side instead of a head; also, a small wire nail, with a flat circular head; sometimes, a small, tapering, square-bodied finishing nail, with a countersunk head.

Brad awl Brad" awl` A straight awl with chisel edge, used to make holes for brads, etc. Weale.

Bradoon Bra·doon" noun Same as Bridoon .

Brae Brae noun [ See Bray a hill.] A hillside; a slope; a bank; a hill. [ Scot.] Burns.

Brag Brag intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Bragged ; present participle & verbal noun Bragging .] [ Middle English braggen to resound, blow, boast (cf. French braguer to lead a merry life, flaunt, boast, Old French brague merriment), from Icelandic braka to creak, brak noise, from the same root as English break ; properly then, to make a noise, boast. ... 95 .] To talk about one's self, or things pertaining to one's self, in a manner intended to excite admiration, envy, or wonder; to talk boastfully; to boast; -- often followed by of ; as, to brag of one's exploits, courage, or money, or of the great things one intends to do.

Conceit, more rich in matter than in words,
Brags of his substance, not of ornament.
Shak.

Syn. -- To swagger; boast; vapor; bluster; vaunt; flourish; talk big.

Brag Brag transitive verb To boast of. [ Obsolete] Shak.

Brag Brag noun 1. A boast or boasting; bragging; ostentatious pretense or self glorification.

Cęsar . . . made not here his brag
Of "came," and "saw," and "overcame."
Shak.

2. The thing which is boasted of.

Beauty is Nature's brag .
Milton.

3. A game at cards similar to bluff. Chesterfield.

Brag Brag adjective [ See Brag , intransitive verb ] Brisk; full of spirits; boasting; pretentious; conceited. [ Archaic]

A brag young fellow.
B. Jonson.

Brag Brag adverb Proudly; boastfully. [ Obsolete] Fuller.

Braggadocio Brag`ga·do"cio noun [ From Braggadocchio , a boastful character in Spenser's "Faėrie Queene."] 1. A braggart; a boaster; a swaggerer. Dryden.

2. Empty boasting; mere brag; pretension.

Braggardism Brag"gard·ism noun [ See Braggart .] Boastfulness; act of bragging. Shak.

Braggart Brag"gart noun [ Old French bragard flaunting, vain, bragging. See Brag , intransitive verb ] A boaster.

O, I could play the woman with mine eyes,
And braggart with my tongue.
Shak.

Braggart Brag"gart adjective Boastful. -- Brag"gart*ly , adverb

Bragger Brag"ger noun One who brags; a boaster.

Bragget Brag"get noun [ Middle English braket , bragot , from W. bragawd , bragod , from brag malt.] A liquor made of ale and honey fermented, with spices, etc. [ Obsolete] B. Jonson.

Braggingly Brag"ging`ly adverb Boastingly.

Bragless Brag"less adjective Without bragging. [ R.] Shak.

Bragly Brag"ly adverb In a manner to be bragged of; finely; proudly. [ Obsolete] Spenser.

Brahma Brah"ma noun [ See Brahman .]

1. (Hindoo Myth.) The One First Cause; also, one of the triad of Hindoo gods. The triad consists of Brahma , the Creator, Vishnu , the Preserver, and Siva , the Destroyer.

» According to the Hindoo religious books, Brahma (with the final a short), or Brahm , is the Divine Essence, the One First Cause, the All in All, while the personal gods, Brahmį (with the final a long), Vishnu, and Siva, are emanations or manifestations of Brahma the Divine Essence.

2. (Zoology) A valuable variety of large, domestic fowl, peculiar in having the comb divided lengthwise into three parts, and the legs well feathered. There are two breeds, the dark or penciled, and the light; -- called also Brahmapootra .

Brahman, Brahmin Brah"man, Brah"min noun ; plural Brahmans , Brahmins . [ Sanskrit Brāhmana (cf. Brahman worship, holiness; the God Brahma, also Brahman): confer French Brahmane , Brachmane , Bramine , Latin Brachmanae , -manes , - mani , plural, Greek ..., plural] A person of the highest or sacerdotal caste among the Hindoos.

Brahman bull (Zoology) , the male of a variety of the zebu, or Indian ox, considered sacred by the Hindoos.

Brahmaness Brah"man·ess noun A Brahmani.

Brahmani Brah"man·i noun [ Fem. of Brahman .] Any Brahman woman. [ Written also Brahmanee .]

Brahmanic, -ical Brah·man"ic, -ic·al Brah*min"ic *ic*al adjective Of or pertaining to the Brahmans or to their doctrines and worship.

Brahmanism, Brahminism Brah"man·ism, Brah"min·ism noun The religion or system of doctrines of the Brahmans; the religion of Brahma.

Brahmanist, Brahminist Brah"man·ist, Brah"min·ist noun An adherent of the religion of the Brahmans.

Brahmo-somaj Brah`mo-so·maj" noun [ Bengalese, a worshiping assembly.] A modern reforming theistic sect among the Hindoos. [ Written also Brama-samaj .]

Brahmoism Brah"mo·ism noun The religious system of Brahmo-somaj. Balfour.

Braid Braid (brād) transitive verb [ imperfect &. past participle Braided ; present participle & verbal noun Braiding .] [ Middle English braiden , breiden , to pull, reach, braid, Anglo-Saxon bregdan to move to and fro, to weave; akin. to Icelandic bregša , Dutch breiden to knit, Old Saxon bregdan to weave, Old High German brettan to brandish. Confer Broid .]

1. To weave, interlace, or entwine together, as three or more strands or threads; to form into a braid; to plait.

Braid your locks with rosy twine.
Milton.

2. To mingle, or to bring to a uniformly soft consistence, by beating, rubbing, or straining, as in some culinary operations.

3. To reproach. [ Obsolete] See Upbraid . Shak.

Braid Braid noun 1. A plait, band, or narrow fabric formed by intertwining or weaving together different strands.

A braid of hair composed of two different colors twined together.
Scott.

2. A narrow fabric, as of wool, silk, or linen, used for binding, trimming, or ornamenting dresses, etc.

Braid Braid noun [ Confer Icel. breg...a to move quickly.]

1. A quick motion; a start. [ Obsolete] Sackville.

2. A fancy; freak; caprice. [ Obsolete] R. Hyrde.

Braid Braid intransitive verb To start; to awake. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Braid Braid adjective [ Anglo-Saxon bręd , bred , deceit; akin to Icelandic bragš trick, Anglo-Saxon bredan , bregdan , to braid, knit, (hence) to knit a net, to draw into a net, i. e. , to deceive. See Braid , transitive verb ] Deceitful. [ Obsolete]

Since Frenchmen are so braid ,
Marry that will, I live and die a maid.
Shak.

Braiding Braid"ing noun 1. The act of making or using braids.

2. Braids, collectively; trimming.

A gentleman enveloped in mustachios, whiskers, fur collars, and braiding .
Thackeray.

Brail Brail noun [ Middle English brayle furling rope, Old French braiol a band placed around the breeches, from French braies , plural, breeches, from Latin braca , bracae , breeches, a Gallic word; confer Arm. bragez . Confer Breeches .]

1. (Falconry) A thong of soft leather to bind up a hawk's wing.

2. plural (Nautical) Ropes passing through pulleys, and used to haul in or up the leeches, bottoms, or corners of sails, preparatory to furling.

3. A stock at each end of a seine to keep it stretched.

Brail Brail transitive verb (Nautical) To haul up by the brails; -- used with up ; as, to brail up a sail.

Braille Braille noun A system of printing or writing for the blind in which the characters are represented by tangible points or dots. It was invented by Louis Braille, a French teacher of the blind.

Brain Brain noun [ Middle English brain , brein , Anglo-Saxon bragen , bręgen ; akin to LG. brägen , bregen , Dutch brein , and perhaps to Greek ..., the upper part of head, if ... =.... √95.]

1. (Anat.) The whitish mass of soft matter (the center of the nervous system, and the seat of consciousness and volition) which is inclosed in the cartilaginous or bony cranium of vertebrate animals. It is simply the anterior termination of the spinal cord, and is developed from three embryonic vesicles, whose cavities are connected with the central canal of the cord; the cavities of the vesicles become the central cavities, or ventricles, and the walls thicken unequally and become the three segments, the fore-, mid-, and hind-brain.

» In the brain of man the cerebral lobes, or largest part of the forebrain, are enormously developed so as to overhang the cerebellum, the great lobe of the hindbrain, and completely cover the lobes of the midbrain. The surface of the cerebrum is divided into irregular ridges, or convolutions, separated by grooves (the so-called fissures and sulci), and the two hemispheres are connected at the bottom of the longitudinal fissure by a great transverse band of nervous matter, the corpus callosum , while the two halves of the cerebellum are connected on the under side of the brain by the bridge, or pons Varolii .

2. (Zoology) The anterior or cephalic ganglion in insects and other invertebrates.

3. The organ or seat of intellect; hence, the understanding. " My brain is too dull." Sir W. Scott.

» In this sense, often used in the plural.

4. The affections; fancy; imagination. [ R.] Shak.

To have on the brain , to have constantly in one's thoughts, as a sort of monomania. [ Low]

Brain box or case , the bony on cartilaginous case inclosing the brain. -- Brain coral , Brain stone coral (Zoöl) , a massive reef-building coral having the surface covered by ridges separated by furrows so as to resemble somewhat the surface of the brain, esp. such corals of the genera Męandrina and Diploria . -- Brain fag (Medicine) , brain weariness. See Cerebropathy . -- Brain fever (Medicine) , fever in which the brain is specially affected; any acute cerebral affection attended by fever. -- Brain sand , calcareous matter found in the pineal gland.

Brain Brain transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Brained ; present participle & verbal noun Braining .]

1. To dash out the brains of; to kill by beating out the brains. Hence, Fig.: To destroy; to put an end to; to defeat.

There thou mayst brain him.
Shak.

It was the swift celerity of the death . . .
That brained my purpose.
Shak.

2. To conceive; to understand. [ Obsolete]

...T is still a dream, or else such stuff as madmen
Tongue, and brain not.
Shak.

Brained Brained p.a. Supplied with brains.

If th' other two be brained like us.
Shak.

Brainish Brain"ish adjective Hot-headed; furious. [ R.] Shak.

Brainless Brain"less adjective Without understanding; silly; thoughtless; witless. -- Brain"less*ness , noun

Brainpan Brain"pan` noun [ Brain + pan .] The bones which inclose the brain; the skull; the cranium.

Brainsick Brain"sick` adjective Disordered in the understanding; giddy; thoughtless. -- Brain"sick*ness , noun

Brainsickly Brain"sick`ly adverb In a brainsick manner.

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