BEAVER, b[=e]v'[.e]r, _n._ in medieval armour, the covering for the lower part of the face, the visor being that for the upper part--later the movable beaver was confounded with the visor.--_adj._ BEAV'ERED. [So called from a fancied likeness to a child's bib. O. Fr. _baviere_, from _bave_, slaver.]
BEBEERU, b[=e]-b[=e]'r[=oo], _n._ the native name of the green-heart tree of Guiana.--_n._ BEBEERINE (b[=e]-b[=e]'rin), an alkaloid yielded by it, and used as a substitute for quinine.
BEBLUBBERED, be-blub'[.e]rd, _p.adj._ disfigured by weeping [Pfx. _be-_, and BLUBBER.]
BECALL, be-kawl', _v.t._ to call names, miscall.
BECALM, be-kam', _v.t._ to make calm, still, or quiet.--_p.adj._ BECALMED', motionless from want of wind. [Pfx. _be-_, and CALM.]
BECAME, be-k[=a]m', _pa.t._ of BECOME.
BECAUSE, be-kawz', _adv._ and _conj._ because of: for the reason that: on account of: for (followed by _of_). [Prep. _by_, and CAUSE.]
BECCAFICO, bek-a-f[=e]'ko, _n._ a small bird of the family of Sylviadae or Warblers, considered a delicacy by the Italians:--_pl._ BECCAFI'COES. [It., from _beccare_ to peck, and _fico_, a fig.]
BECHANCE, be-chans', _v.t._ to happen by chance: to befall--_adv._ by chance: accidentally. [A.S. _be-_, by, and CHANCE.]
BECHARM, be-charm', _v.t._ to charm: to enchant.
BeCHE-DE-MER, b[=a]sh'-d[.e]-m[=a]r, _n._ the trepang or sea-slug, a species of Holothuria, much esteemed in China as a food delicacy. [Fr.]
BECK, bek, _n._ (_Spens._). Same as BEAK.
BECK, bek, _n._ a brook. [Ice. _bekkr_; Ger. _bach_.]
BECK, bek, _n._ a sign with the finger or head: a nod: (_Scot._) a gesture of salutation.--_v.i._ to make such a sign.--_v.t._ to call by a nod.--AT ONE'S BECK, subject to one's will. [A contr. of BECKON.]
BECKET, bek'et, _n._ (_naut._) a loop of rope having a knot at one end and an eye at the other: a large hook, or a wooden bracket used to keep loose tackle or spars in a convenient place. [Prob. Dut. _bogt_, _bocht_, a 'bend' of rope.]
BECKON, bek'n, _v.t._ to nod or make a sign to. [A.S. _biecnan_--_beacn_, a sign. See BEACON.]
BECLOUD, be-klowd', _v.t._ to obscure by clouds: to dim.
BECOME, be-kum', _v.i._ to pass from one state to another: to come to be: to be the fate or end of (followed by _of_).--_v.t._ to suit or befit, to grace or adorn fittingly (with _dat._ object):--_pa.t._ bec[=a]me'; _pa.p._ become'.--_adj._ BECOM'ING, suitable to: graceful.--_adv._ BECOM'INGLY.--_n._ BECOM'INGNESS. [A.S. _becuman_. See COME.]
BECURL, be-kurl', _v.t._ to curl.
BED, bed, _n._ a couch or place to sleep on: a plot in a garden: a place in which anything rests, in carpentry, architecture, &c.: conjugal union, the marriage-bed, matrimonial rights and duties: the channel of a river: (_geol._) a layer or stratum.--_v.t._ to place in bed, as a couple after a wedding: to provide a bed, or to make a bed, for: to sow or plant: to lay in layers.--_v.i._ to cohabit or use the same bed with another:--_pr.p._ bed'ding; _pa.p._ bed'ded.--_ns._ BED'CHAMBER (see BED'ROOM); BED'DING, a collective name for the mattress, bed-clothes, &c., also litter for cattle.--_adj._ BED'FAST, confined to bed.--_ns._ BED'FELLOW, a sharer of the same bed; BED'MAKER, the name at Cambridge and elsewhere for those who make the beds and sweep the rooms in college; BED'-OF-HON'OUR, the grave of a soldier who has fallen in battle; BED'-OF-JUS'TICE (Fr. _lit. de justice_), the king's throne in the Parlement of Paris, also a sitting at which the king was present, chiefly for the registration of his own decrees; BED'PLATE (_mech._), the foundation plate of an engine, lathe, &c.; BED'POST, a post forming an angle of a bedstead, often in former days high enough to support a canopy; BED'PRESSER (_Shak._), a heavy, lazy fellow.--_adjs._ BED'RID, BED'RIDDEN, confined to bed by age or sickness: worn out.--_ns._ BED'RIGHT (_Shak._), the privilege of the marriage-bed; BED'ROCK, the solid rock underneath superficial formations; BED'ROOM, a room in which there is a bed: a sleeping apartment--_Bedchamber_ was the earlier form.--_n.pl._ BED'-SORES, painful ulcers that often arise in a long confinement to bed, esp. over the bony prominences of the body--the lower parts of the spine, the haunch bones, the heel, and the elbow.--_ns._ BED'-STAFF, a staff or stick formerly used about a bed, in old times a handy weapon, whence perhaps the phrase, 'in the twinkling of a bed-staff;'
BED'STEAD, a frame for supporting a bed; BED'STRAW, the name applied to a genus of the Rubiaceae, of which eleven species are found in England, the most familiar our Lady's Bedstraw, or Yellow Bedstraw (_Galium verum_), sometimes called Cheese Rennet from its property of curdling milk; BED'SWERVER (_Shak._), one who is false to his marriage vow; BED'TICK, the case in which feathers, hair, chaff, &c. are put for bedding.--_adv._ BED'WARD, in the direction of bed: towards bedtime.--_n._ BED'WORK (_Shak._), work easily performed, as if done in bed.--BED AND BOARD, food and lodging: full connubial relations; BED OF DOWN, or ROSES, any easy or comfortable place.--LORDS OF THE BEDCHAMBER, twelve officers in the British royal household who wait in turn upon the sovereign's person; in the reign of a queen the office is performed by ladies.--TO BE BROUGHT TO BED, to be confined in child-birth (with _of_); TO KEEP ONE'S BED, to remain in bed; TO LIE IN THE BED ONE HAS MADE, to have to accept the consequences of one's own conduct; TO MAKE A BED, to put a bed in order after it has been used.
[A.S. _bed_; Ger. _bett_, Ice. _bedr_.]
BEDABBLE, be-dab'l, _v.t._ to dabble or wet. [Pfx. _be-_, and DABBLE.]
BEDAD, be-dad', _interj._ an Irish minced oath, from _begad_ = by God.
BEDAGGLE, be-dag'l, _v.t._ to soil by dragging along the wet ground.
BEDARKEN, be-dark'n, _v.t._ to cover with darkness.
BEDASH, be-dash', _v.t._ to bespatter with water.
BEDAUB, be-dawb', _v.t._ to daub over or smear with any dirty matter.
BEDAZZLE, be-daz'l, _v.t._ to dazzle or overpower by any strong light.--_pa.p._ BEDAZ'ZLED, BEDAZED', stupefied, besotted.--_n._ BEDAZ'ZLEMENT.
BEDE. Same as BEAD, a prayer.
BEDEAFEN, be-def'n, _v.t._ to make deaf: to stun.
BEDECK, be-dek', _v.t._ to deck or ornament.
BEDEGUAR, bed'e-gar, _n._ a soft spongy gall found on the branches of some species of roses, esp. the sweet-brier, called also the sweet-brier sponge.
[Through Fr. from Pers. and Ar. _b[=a]d[=a]-war_, lit. 'wind-brought.']
BEDEL, b[=e]'dl, BEDELL, be-del', archaic forms of BEADLE (q.v.), still used at Oxford and Cambridge.
BEDESMAN. Same as BEADSMAN (q.v. under BEAD).
BEDEVIL, be-dev'il, _v.t._ to throw into confusion: to 'play the devil'
with: to torment: to treat with devilish malignity.--_pass._ to be possessed of a devil, to be devil-rid.--_n._ BEDEV'ILMENT.
BEDEW, be-d[=u]', _v.t._ to moisten gently, as with dew.
BEDIGHT, be-d[=i]t', _adj._ (_poet._) adorned. [Pfx. _be-_, and DIGHT.]
BEDIM, be-dim', _v.t._ to make dim or dark.--_pa.p._ BEDIMMED'.
BEDIZEN, be-d[=i]z'n, _v.t._ to dress gaudily.--_adj._ BEDIZ'ENED.--_n._ BEDIZ'ENMENT.
BEDLAM, bed'lam, _n._ an asylum for lunatics: a madhouse: a place of uproar.--_adj._ fit for a madhouse.--_ns._ BED'LAMISM, anything characteristic of madness; BED'LAMITE, a madman. [Corrupted from _Bethlehem_ (St Mary of Bethlehem), the name of a priory in London, afterwards converted into a madhouse.]
BEDOUIN, bed'[=oo]-in, _n._ the name given to those Arabs who live in tents and lead a nomadic life. [Fr.--Ar. _b[=a]d[=a]win_, dwellers in the desert.]
BEDRAGGLE, be-drag'l, _v.t._ to soil by dragging in the wet or dirt--most common, the _p.adj._ BEDRAG'GLED. [See DRAGGLE.]
BEDRAL, bed'ral, _n._ a beadle.--Also BED'ERAL. [A Scand. form of BEADLE.]
BEDRENCH, be-drensh', _v.t._ to drench or wet thoroughly.
BEDROP, be-drop', _v.t._ to drop upon.--_pa.p._ BEDROPT', sprinkled as with drops: strewn.
BEDUCK, be-duk', _v.t._ to duck or plunge under water.
BEDUIN, a form of BEDOUIN.
BEDUNG, be-dung', _v.t._ to manure: to befoul with dung.
BEDUST, be-dust', _v.t._ to cover with dust.