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BARRACAN, bar'a-kan, _n._ a thick, strong stuff resembling camlet. [Fr.; It.--Ar. _barrak[=a]n_, a dark dress, Pers. _barak_, a stuff made of camel's hair.]

BARRACE, bar'as, _n._ (_obs._) the lists in a tournament. [O. Fr.

_barras_--_barre_, bar.]

BARRACK, bar'ak, _n._ a building for soldiers, esp. in garrison (generally in _pl._). [Fr. _baraque_ (It. _baracca_, Sp. _barraca_, a tent); acc. to Diez from _barra_, bar.]

BARRACOON, bar'a-k[=oo]n, _n._ a depot for slaves. [Sp.--_barraca_.]

BARRACOOTA, -CUDA, bar'a-k[=oo]'ta, -k[=oo]'da, _n._ a voracious West Indian fish.--Also BARRACOU'TA, an Australian food-fish. [Sp.]

BARRAGE, bar'[=a]j, _n._ the forming of an artificial bar in order to deepen a river. [Fr. _barrage_--_barre_, bar.]

BARRATOR, bar-[=a]t'or, _n._ one who vexatiously stirs up lawsuits, quarrels, &c.--_adj._ BAR'RATROUS.--_adv._ BAR'RATROUSLY.--_n._ BAR'RATRY, fraudulent practices on the part of the master or mariners of a ship to the prejudice of the owners: vexatious litigation, or the stirring up of suits and quarrels among subjects, forbidden under penalties to lawyers: traffic in offices of church or state. [O. Fr. _barateor_--_barat_, deceit; traced by some to Gr. _prattein_, by others to a Celt. or a Scand. origin.]

BARREL, bar'el, _n._ a cylindrical wooden vessel made of curved staves bound with hoops: the quantity which such a vessel contains (36 imperial gallons of ale and beer): a certain weight or quantity of other goods usually sold in casks called barrels: anything long and hollow, as the barrel of a gun, or cylindrical and barrel-shaped.--_v.t._ to put in a barrel.--_n._ BAR'REL-BULK, a measurement of five cubic feet.--_p.adj._ BAR'RELLED, having a barrel or barrels: placed in a barrel.--_ns._ BAR'REL-OR'GAN, an organ in which the music is produced by a barrel or cylinder set with pins, the revolution of which opens the key-valves and produces the music; BARREL-VAULT, a vault with a simple semi-cylindrical roof.--_adj._ BAR'REL-VAULT'ED. [Fr. _baril_ (Sp. _barril_, It.

_barile_)--Low L. _barile_, _barillus_, possibly from _barra_, bar.]

BARREN, bar'en, _adj._ incapable of bearing offspring: unfruitful: dull, stupid: unprofitable (with _of_).--_adj._ BAR'REN-BEAT'EN.--_adv._ BAR'RENLY.--_n._ BAR'RENNESS.--_adjs._ BAR'REN-SPIR'ITED; BAR'REN-WIT'TED.

[O. Fr. _barain_, _brahain_, _brehaing_, perh. from _bar_, man, as if 'male-like, not producing offspring.']

BARRET, bar'et, _n._ a flat cap, esp. the BIRETTA (q.v.). [Fr. _barrette_, Sp. _birreta_. See BIRETTA.]

BARRICADE, bar'ik-[=a]d, _n._ a temporary fortification raised to hinder the advance of an enemy, as in the street fights of Parisian insurrections.--_v.t._ to obstruct: to fortify.--Earlier form BARRIC[=A]'DO. [Fr.; _barrique_, a cask, the first street barricades having consisted of casks filled with stones, &c. See BAR.]

BARRICO, bar-[=e]'ko, _n._ a small cask. [Sp.]

BARRIER, bar'i-[.e]r, _n._ a defence against attack: a limit or boundary: a fence, railing, gate where customs are collected: the lists in a tournament: any obstacle that keeps apart: (_pl._) a martial exercise in 15th and 16th centuries.--_v.t._ to shut by means of a barrier.--_n._ BAR'RIER-REEF, a coral-reef surrounding an island or fringing a coast with a navigable channel inside.--BARRIER ACT, an act passed by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1697 as a security against innovations, decreeing that changes in the law of the Church, even when approved by the Assembly, shall not become law till approved also by a majority of presbyteries. [O. Fr. _barriere_--Low L. _barraria_--_barra_, bar.]

BARRISTER, bar'is-t[.e]r, _n._ one who is qualified to plead at the bar in an English or Irish law-court.--_adj._ BARRIST[=E]R'IAL.--_n._ BAR'RISTERSHIP.--REVISING BARRISTER, a barrister appointed annually by the English judges to revise the lists and settle who are the persons entitled to vote for members of parliament. [From _barra_, bar, the suffix being undetermined.]

BARROW, bar'r[=o], _n._ a small hand or one-wheel carriage used to bear or convey a load.--_n._ BAR'ROW-TRAM, the shaft of a barrow. [M. E. _barewe_, from an assumed A.S. form _bearwe_--_beran_, to bear.]

BARROW, bar'r[=o], _n._ originally a mountain, hillock: a mound raised over graves in former times. [A.S. _beorg_; cog. with Ger. _berg_.]

BARROW, bar'r[=o], _n._ a long sleeveless flannel garment for infants.

[A.S. _beorgan_, to protect.]

BAR-SINISTER. Variant of BATON-SINISTER (q.v. under BATON).

BARTER, bar't[.e]r, _v.t._ to give one thing in exchange for another (with _for_, _away_).--_v.i._ to traffic by exchanging.--_n._ traffic by exchange of commodities.--_n._ BAR'TERER, one who barters. [Prob. from O. Fr.

_barat_.]

BARTHOLOMEW-TIDE, bar-thol'o-m[=u]-t[=i]d, _n._ the day of the festival of St Bartholomew, 24th August: the name was also applied to things sold at the fair.--Often spelt BAR'TLEMY.--BLACK BARTHOLOMEW, 24th August 1662, the day on which the Act of Uniformity came into force within the Church of England.

[Illustration]

BARTISAN, bar'ti-zan, _n._ a small overhanging turret projecting from an angle on the top of a tower. [Apparently an adaptation by Scott of Scot.

_bertisene_, traceable to O. Fr. _bretesche_, a parapet of wood.]

BARTON, bar'ton, _n._ a farm-yard. [A.S. _bere-tun_, yard, _bere_, barley, and _tun_, enclosure.]

BARYCENTRIC, bar-i-sen'trik, _adj._ pertaining to the centre of gravity.

[Gr. _barys_, heavy, _kentron_, centre.]

BARYTA, ba-r[=i]'ta, BARYTES, ba-r[=i]'t[=e]z, _n._ the earth present in the minerals _witherite_ and _heavy spar_.--_adj._ BARYT'IC, of or containing baryta. [From Gr. _barys_, heavy.]

BARYTONE, bar'i-t[=o]n, _n._ a deep-toned male voice between bass and tenor: a singer with such a voice: in Greek, applied to words not having an acute accent on the last syllable. [Through Fr. from Gr. _barys_, heavy, deep, and _tonos_, a tone.]

BASALT, bas-awlt', _n._ a hard, dark-coloured rock of igneous origin.--_adj._ BASALT'IC. [L. _basaltes_, an African word.]

BASANITE, bas'an-[=i]t, _n._ a kind of quartz serviceable for testing the purity of the precious metals by the marks made. [Gr. _basanos_, touchstone.]

BASBLEU. Same as BLUE-STOCKING (q.v. under BLUE).

BASCINET. Same as BASINET.

BASCULE, bas'k[=u]l, _n._ an apparatus of the lever kind, in which one end is raised while the other is depressed. [Fr. _bas_, down, and _cul_, the posteriors.]

BASE, b[=a]s, _n._ that on which a thing rests: foot: bottom: foundation: support: the chief ingredient, as in dyeing and chemistry: the starting-point, in a race: the fixed goal across which the ball is struck in hockey, the fixed stations at base-ball: the point from which the operations of a campaign are conducted: a measured line serving as a basis for trigonometrical calculations: the surface on which a plane or solid figure stands: (_chem._) a term applied to a compound body, generally consisting of a metal united with oxygen; (_archit._) the foot or lower member of a pillar, on which the shaft rests: (_her._) the lower portion of the shield--any figure placed on it is said to be 'in base:' a small portion of the base of a shield parted off by a horizontal line is sometimes called a base.--_v.t._ to found or place on a base:--_pr.p._ b[=a]s'ing; _pa.p._ based (b[=a]st).--_adjs._ BAS'AL, BAS'ILAR, pertaining to or situated at the base, esp. of the skull; BASE'LESS, without a base or foundation.--_ns._ BASE'LESSNESS; BASE'MENT, the base or lowest story of a building.--_adj._ BAS'EN-WIDE (_Spens._), widely extended.--_n._ BASE'-PLATE, the foundation plate of a piece of heavy machinery.--_n.pl._ BAS'ES, a kind of embroidered mantle which hung down from the middle to about the knees or lower, worn by knights on horseback: (_Spens._) armour for the legs.--_ns._ BASE'-STRING, the string of a musical instrument that gives the lowest note; BASE'-V[=I]OL (same as BASS-VIOL).--_adj._ BAS'IC (_chem._), belonging to or of the nature of a base.--_v.t._ BAS'IFY (_chem._), to convert into a salifiable base:--_pr.p._ b[=a]s'ifying; _pa.p._ b[=a]s'if[=i]ed. [Fr.--L.--Gr. _basis_--_ba-_, in _bainein_, to go.]

BASE, b[=a]s, _adj._ low in place, value, estimation, or principle: mean: vile: worthless: debased: counterfeit: (_law_) servile, as opposed to _free_: humble: (_B._ and _Shak._) lowly.--_adj._ BASE'-BORN, illegitimate.--_adv._ BASE'LY.--_adj._ BASE'-MIND'ED, of a low mind or spirit: mean.--_n._ BASE'NESS.--_adj._ BASE'-SPIR'ITED, mean-spirited. [Fr.

_bas_--Low L. _bassus_, thick, fat, a vulgar Roman word, found also in name _Bassus_.]

BASE, b[=a]s, _v.t._ a form of ABASE.

BASE, b[=a]s, _n._ an old game played by two sides occupying contiguous spaces, called _bases_ or _homes_, off which any player is liable to be touched with the hand or struck by a ball by the enemy, and so attached to their sides. Forms of this game are known as _Prisoner's Base_ or _Bars_, and _Rounders_, and the national American game of _Base-ball_ is a development from it.

BASE-BALL, b[=a]s'-bawl, _n._ a game played with a bat and a ball, and run round bases, marking the circuit to be taken by each player of the inside after striking the ball. There are nine players on each side; the pitcher, of the one side, throws the ball; one of the other side tries to hit it as it passes him; and the runs to the bases are regulated according as the ball falls inside or outside certain lines, &c. A development from rounders, base-ball has been the American national game since 1865.

[Coupled with cricket in Jane Austen's _Northanger Abbey_ (written 1798).]

BASECOURT, b[=a]s'k[=o]rt, _n._ the outer court of a mansion, which contained the stable-yard and servants' accommodation, as distinguished from the principal quadrangle: an inferior court of justice. [Fr.

_basse-court_.]

BASENET. Same as BASINET.

BASH, bash, _v.t._ to beat or smash in.--_n._ BASH. [Prob. Scand.]

BASHAW, ba-shaw', _n._ a pasha: a haughty man--now usually written PASHA or PACHA (q.v.).--_ns._ BASHAW'ISM, BASHAW'SHIP. [Turk.]

BASHFUL, bash'f[=oo]l, _adj._ easily confused: modest: shy: wanting confidence.--_v.i._ BASH (_Spens._), to be abashed.--_adv._ BASH'FULLY.--_n._ BASH'FULNESS.--_adj._ BASH'LESS, unashamed. [See ABASH.]

BASHI-BAZOUK, bash'i-ba-z[=oo]k', _n._ a Turkish irregular trooper. They are mostly Asiatics, and are brutal plundering ruffians, capable, as in 1876 in Bulgaria, of the most devilish atrocities. [Turk. _bashi-bozuq_.]

BASHLYK, bash'lik, _n._ a kind of hood with long ends worn in Russia.

[Russ. _bashluik[)u]_, a Caucasian hood.]

BASIL, baz'il, _n._ a mainly tropical or subtropical genus of Labiatae, characterised by a pleasant aromatic smell and taste, and reckoned amongst _sweet herbs_.--SWEET BASIL is an Indian annual long cultivated in Europe for seasoning purposes. [O. Fr. _basile_--L. _basilisca_--Gr. _basilikon_, royal.]

BASIL, baz'il, _n._ a sheepskin roughly tanned and undressed.

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