Webster's Dictionary, 1913
Branchiura noun plural [ New Latin , from , Greek ... gill + ... tail.] (Zoology) A group of Entomostraca, with suctorial mouths, including species parasitic on fishes, as the carp lice ( Argulus ).
Branchless adjective Destitute of branches or shoots; without any valuable product; barren; naked.
Branchlet noun [ Branch + - let .] A little branch; a twig.
Branchy adjective Full of branches; having wide-spreading branches; consisting of branches. Beneath thy branchy bowers of thickest gloom.
J. Scott.
Brand noun [ Middle English
brand ,
brond , Anglo-Saxon
brand brond brand, sword, from
byrnan ,
beornan , to burn; akin to D., Dan., Swedish , & German
brand brand, Icelandic
brandr a brand, blade of a sword. √32. See
Burn ,
transitive verb , and confer
Brandish .]
1. A burning piece of wood; or a stick or piece of wood partly burnt, whether burning or after the fire is extinct. Snatching a live brand from a wigwam, Mason threw it on a matted roof.
Palfrey.
2. A sword, so called from its glittering or flashing brightness. [ Poetic]
Tennyson. Paradise, so late their happy seat,
Waved over by that flaming brand .
Milton.
3. A mark made by burning with a hot iron, as upon a cask, to designate the quality, manufacturer, etc., of the contents, or upon an animal, to designate ownership; -- also, a mark for a similar purpose made in any other way, as with a stencil. Hence, figurately: Quality; kind; grade; as, a good brand of flour. 4. A mark put upon criminals with a hot iron. Hence: Any mark of infamy or vice; a stigma. The brand of private vice.
Channing.
5. An instrument to brand with; a branding iron. 6. (Botany) Any minute fungus which produces a burnt appearance in plants. The brands are of many species and several genera of the order Pucciniæi .
Brand transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Branded ;
present participle & verbal noun Branding .].
1. To burn a distinctive mark into or upon with a hot iron, to indicate quality, ownership, etc., or to mark as infamous (as a convict). 2. To put an actual distinctive mark upon in any other way, as with a stencil, to show quality of contents, name of manufacture, etc. 3. Fig.: To fix a mark of infamy, or a stigma, upon. The Inquisition branded its victims with infamy.
Prescott.
There were the enormities, branded and condemned by the first and most natural verdict of common humanity.
South.
4. To mark or impress indelibly, as with a hot iron. As if it were branded on my mind.
Geo. Eliot.
Brand goose [ Prob. from 1st
brand +
goose : confer Swedish
brandgås . Confer
Brant .]
(Zoology) A species of wild goose ( Branta bernicla ) usually called in America brant . See Brant .
Brand iron
1. A branding iron. 2. A trivet to set a pot on. Huloet. 3. The horizontal bar of an andiron.
Brand spore (Botany) One of several spores growing in a series or chain, and produced by one of the fungi called brand .
Brand-new adjective [ See
Brand , and confer
Brannew .]
Quite new; bright as if fresh from the forge.
Brandenburg noun [ So named after
Brandenburg , a province and a town of Prussia.]
A kind of decoration for the breast of a coat, sometimes only a frog with a loop, but in some military uniforms enlarged into a broad horizontal stripe. He wore a coat . . . trimmed with Brandenburgs .
Smollett.
Brander noun
1. One who, or that which, brands; a branding iron. 2. A gridiron. [ Scot.]
Brandied adjective Mingled with brandy; made stronger by the addition of brandy; flavored or treated with brandy; as, brandied peaches.
Branding iron An iron to brand with.
Brandish transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Brandished ;
present participle & verbal noun Brandishing .] [ Middle English
braundisen , French
brandir , from
brand a sword, from Old High German
brant brand. See
Brand ,
noun ]
1. To move or wave, as a weapon; to raise and move in various directions; to shake or flourish. The quivering lance which he brandished bright.
Drake.
2. To play with; to flourish; as, to brandish syllogisms.
Brandish noun A flourish, as with a weapon, whip, etc. " Brandishes of the fan." Tailer.
Brandisher noun One who brandishes.
Brandle transitive verb & i. [ French brandiller .] To shake; to totter. [ Obsolete]
Brandling, Brandlin noun (Zoology) Same as Branlin , fish and worm.
Brandy noun ;
plural Brandies [ From older
brandywine ,
brandwine , from Dutch
brandewijn , from past participle of
branden to burn, distill +
wijn wine, akin to German
branntwein . See
Brand .]
A strong alcoholic liquor distilled from wine. The name is also given to spirit distilled from other liquors, and in the United States to that distilled from cider and peaches. In northern Europe, it is also applied to a spirit obtained from grain. Brandy fruit ,
fruit preserved in brandy and sugar.
Brandywine noun Brandy. [ Obsolete] Wiseman.
Brangle noun [ Prov. English
brangled confused, entangled, Scot.
brangle to shake, menace; probably a variant of
wrangle , confused with
brawl . √95.> ]
A wrangle; a squabble; a noisy contest or dispute. [ R.]
A brangle between him and his neighbor.
Swift.
Brangle intransitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Brangled ;
present participle & verbal noun Brangling ]
To wrangle; to dispute contentiously; to squabble. [ R.]
Branglement noun Wrangle; brangle. [ Obsolete]
Brangler noun A quarrelsome person.
Brangling noun A quarrel. [ R.] Whitlock.
Brank noun [ Prov. of Celtic origin; confer Latin brance , brace , the Gallic name of a particularly white kind of corn.] Buckwheat. [ Local, Eng.] Halliwell.
Brank intransitive verb
1. To hold up and toss the head; -- applied to horses as spurning the bit. [ Scot. & Prov. Eng.] 2. To prance; to caper. [ Scot.] Jamieson.
Brank, Branks noun [ Confer Gael. brangus , brangas , a sort of pillory, Ir. brancas halter, or Dutch pranger fetter.]
1. A sort of bridle with wooden side pieces. [ Scot. & Prov. Eng.] Jamieson. 2. A scolding bridle, an instrument formerly used for correcting scolding women. It was an iron frame surrounding the head and having a triangular piece entering the mouth of the scold.
Brankursine noun [ French
branc- ursine ,
branch-ursine , from Late Latin
branca claw + Latin
ursinus belonging to a bear (fr.
ursus bear),
i. e. , bear's claw, because its leaves resemble the claws of a bear. Confer
Branch .]
(Botany) Bear's-breech, or Acanthus.
Branlin noun [ Scot. branlie from brand .] (Zoology) A young salmon or parr, in the stage in which it has transverse black bands, as if burned by a gridiron.
Branlin noun [ See
Brand .]
A small red worm or larva, used as bait for small fresh-water fish; -- so called from its red color.
Branny adjective Having the appearance of bran; consisting of or containing bran. Wiseman.
Bransle noun [ See
Brawl a dance.]
A brawl or dance. [ Obsolete]
Spenser.
Brant (brănt)
noun [ Confer
Brand goose ,
Brent ,
Brenicle .]
(Zoology) A species of wild goose ( Branta bernicla ) -- called also brent and brand goose . The name is also applied to other related species.
Brant adjective [ See
Brent .]
Steep. [ Prov. Eng.]
Brant-fox noun [ For
brand-fox ; confer German
brandfuchs , Swedish
bradräf . So called from its yellowish brown and somewhat black color. See
Brand .]
(Zoology) A kind of fox found in Sweden ( Vulpes alopex ), smaller than the common fox ( V. vulgaris ), but probably a variety of it.
Brantail (brăn"tāl`) noun (Zoology) The European redstart; -- so called from the red color of its tail.
Branular adjective Relating to the brain; cerebral. I. Taylor.
Brasen adjective Same as Brazen .
Brash adjective [ Confer Gael. bras or German barsch harsh, sharp, tart, impetuous, Dutch barsch , Swedish & Danish barsk .] Hasty in temper; impetuous. Grose.
Brash adjective [ Confer Amer. bresk , brusk , fragile, brittle.] Brittle, as wood or vegetables. [ Colloq., U. S.] Bartlett.
Brash noun [ See
Brash brittle.]
1. A rash or eruption; a sudden or transient fit of sickness. 2. Refuse boughs of trees; also, the clippings of hedges. [ Prov. Eng.]
Wright. 3. (Geol.) Broken and angular fragments of rocks underlying alluvial deposits. Lyell. 4. Broken fragments of ice. Kane. Water brash (Medicine) ,
an affection characterized by a spasmodic pain or hot sensation in the stomach with a rising of watery liquid into the mouth; pyrosis. --
Weaning brash (Medicine) ,
a severe form of diarrhea which sometimes attacks children just weaned.
Brashy adjective 1. Resembling, or of the nature of, brash, or broken fragments; broken; crumbly. Our progress was not at all impeded by the few soft, brashy floes that we encountered.
F. T. Bullen. 2. Showery; characterized by brashes, or showers.
Brasier, Brazier noun [ Middle English
brasiere , French
braise live coals. See
Brass .]
An artificer who works in brass. Franklin.
Brasier, Brazier noun [ French
brasier ,
braisíer , from
braise live coals. See
Brass .]
A pan for holding burning coals.
Brasilin noun [ Confer French
brésiline . See 2d
Brazil .]
(Chemistry) A substance, C 16 H 14 O 5 , extracted from brazilwood as a yellow crystalline powder which is white when pure. It is colored intensely red by alkalies on exposure to the air, being oxidized to bra*sil"e*in C 16 H 12 O 5 , to which brazilwood owes its dyeing properties.
Brasque noun [ French] (Metal.) A paste made by mixing powdered charcoal, coal, or coke with clay, molasses, tar, or other suitable substance. It is used for lining hearths, crucibles, etc. Called also steep .
Brass noun ;
plural Brasses [ Middle English
bras ,
bres , Anglo-Saxon
bræs ; akin to Icelandic
bras cement, solder,
brasa to harden by fire, and to English
braze ,
brazen . Confer 1st & 2d
Braze .]
1. An alloy (usually yellow) of copper and zinc, in variable proportion, but often containing two parts of copper to one part of zinc. It sometimes contains tin, and rarely other metals. 2. (Machinery) A journal bearing, so called because frequently made of brass. A brass is often lined with a softer metal, when the latter is generally called a white metal lining . See Axle box , Journal Box , and Bearing . 3. Coin made of copper, brass, or bronze. [ Obsolete]
Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses, nor scrip for your journey.
Matt. x. 9.
4. Impudence; a brazen face. [ Colloq.]
5. plural Utensils, ornaments, or other articles of brass. The very scullion who cleans the brasses .
Hopkinson.
6. A brass plate engraved with a figure or device. Specifically, one used as a memorial to the dead, and generally having the portrait, coat of arms, etc. 7. plural (Mining) Lumps of pyrites or sulphuret of iron, the color of which is near to that of brass. » The word
brass as used in Sculpture language is a translation for
copper or some kind of
bronze . »
Brass is often used adjectively or in self-explaining compounds; as,
brass button,
brass kettle,
brass founder,
brass foundry or
brass foundry.
Brass band (Mus.) ,
a band of musicians who play upon wind instruments made of brass, as trumpets, cornets, etc. - -
Brass foil ,
Brass leaf ,
brass made into very thin sheets; -- called also Dutch gold .