Prev Next

BIRMINGHAMISE, bir'ming-ham-[=i]z, _v.t._ to make up artificially. [See BRUMMAGEM.]

BIROSTRATE, b[=i]-ros'tr[=a]t, _adj._ having a double beak. [L. _bi-_, twice, and _rostratus_, beaked--_rostrum_, a beak.]

BIRR, bir, _n._ impetus: a violent push: stress in pronunciation: any sharp whirring sound. [_Scot._; Ice. _byrr_, a favouring wind.]

BIRSE, birs, _n._ bristle.--_adj._ BIRS'Y.--TO LICK THE BIRSE, to draw a hog's bristle through the mouth--part of the ceremony of citizenship in Selkirk; TO SET UP ONE'S BIRSE, to rouse the wrath of, from the habit of animals bristling up when enraged. [Scot.; A.S. _byrst_.]

BIRSLE, birs'l, _v.t._ to scorch, to toast. [Scot.]

BIRTH, b[.e]rth, _n._ a ship's station at anchor. [Same as BERTH.]

BIRTH, b[.e]rth, _n._ the act of bearing or bringing forth: the offspring born: dignity of family: origin.--_n._ BIRTH'DAY, the day on which one is born, or the anniversary of that day.--_adj._ relating to the day of one's birth.--_ns._ BIRTH'DAY-BOOK, a book in diary form, in which the birthdays of one's friends are entered in their autographs; BIRTH'DOM (_Shak._), birthright; BIRTH'-MARK, a peculiar mark on one's body at birth; BIRTH'NIGHT, the night on which one is born, or the anniversary of that night; BIRTH'PLACE, the place of one's birth; BIRTH'RIGHT, the right or privilege to which one is entitled by birth: native rights.--_adj._ BIRTH'-STRANG'LED (_Shak._), strangled in birth.--_n._ BIRTH'-WORT, a genus of perennial plants, formerly used medicinally in cases of difficult parturition. [M. E. _bire_, prob. Scand.; cf. Goth, _ga-baurs_, Ger.

_ge-burt_.]

BIS, bis, _adv._ twice: (_mus._) a direction that a passage is to be repeated [L.].--_n._ B[=I]SEG'MENT, a segment of a line or figure cut into two equal parts.--_adjs._ B[=I]SER'RATE (_bot._), doubly serrate; B[=I]SEX'UAL, of both sexes: (_bot._) applied to flowers which contain both stamens and pistils within the same envelope.

BISCAYAN, bis'k[=a]-an, _adj._ and _n._ of or pertaining to the Basque province of _Biscay_ in Spain, or its people: Basque generally: a long heavy musket, or the bullet fired by such.

BISCUIT, bis'kit, _n._ hard dry bread in small cakes: a kind of unglazed earthenware. [O. Fr. _bescoit_ (mod. _biscuit_)--L. _bis_, twice, _coqu[)e]re_, _coctum_, to cook or bake.]

BISE, b[=e]z, _n._ a cold north or north-east wind prevalent at certain seasons in Switzerland and neighbouring parts of France and Italy. [Fr.]

BISECT, b[=i]-sekt', _v.t._ to cut into two equal parts.--_n._ BISEC'TION.

[L. _bi_, twice, and _sec[=a]re_, _sectum_, to cut.]

BISERIAL, b[=i]-s[=e]'ri-al, _adj._ arranged in two series or rows. [L.

_bi-_, and SERIES.]

BISHOP, bish'op, _n._ in the Western and Eastern Churches, and in the Anglican communion, a clergyman consecrated for the spiritual direction of a diocese, under an archbishop, and over the priests or presbyters and deacons: a spiritual overseer in the early Christian Church, whether of a local church or of a number of churches--the terms _bishop_ [Gr.

_episcopos_] and _presbyter_ [Gr. _presbyteros_] are used interchangeably in the New Testament for the officers who direct the discipline and administer the affairs of a single congregation--the differentiation in function and dignity is, however, well marked by the end of the 2d century: one of the pieces or men in chess, from the upper part being carved into the shape of a bishop's mitre (formerly the _archer_): a wholesome hot drink compounded of red wine (claret, Burgundy, &c.) poured warm or cold upon ripe bitter oranges, sugared and spiced to taste.--_v.t._ (_jocularly_) to play the bishop, to confirm: to supply with bishops: to let milk or the like burn while cooking.--_ns._ BISH'OPESS, a she-bishop, a bishop's wife; BISH'OPRIC, the office and jurisdiction of a bishop: a diocese--also BISH'OPDOM.--BISHOP IN PARTIBUS (see PARTIBUS). [A.S.

_biscop_--L. _episcopus_--Gr. _episcopos_, an overseer--_epi_, upon, _skop-ein_, to view.]

BISK. See BISQUE (1).

BISMAR, bis'mar, _n._ a kind of steelyard still used in Orkney. [Dan.

_bismer_.]

BISMILLAH, bis-mil'a, _interj._ in the name of Allah or God--a common Mohammedan exclamation. [Ar.]

BISMUTH, biz'muth, _n._ a brittle metal of a reddish-white colour used in the arts and in medicine. [Ger. _bismuth_, _wissmuth_; origin unknown.]

BISON, b[=i]'son, or bis'on, _n._ a large wild animal like the bull, found in Lithuania, the Caucasus, &c., with shaggy hair and a fatty hump on its shoulders.--The American 'buffalo' is also a bison. [From L. pl.

_bisontes_, prob. of Teut. origin; cf. Old High Ger. _wisunt_, A.S.

_wesend_.]

BISQUE, bisk, _n._ a rich soup made of meat or fish slowly stewed and seasoned, crayfish soup.--Also BISK. [Fr.]

BISQUE, bisk, _n._ pottery that has undergone the first firing before being glazed. [See BISCUIT.]

BISQUE, bisk, _n._ a term at tennis for the odds given by one player to another, in allowing him to score one point once during the set--a means of equalising a strong and a weak player. [Fr.]

BISSEXTILE, bis-sext'il, _n._ leap-year.--_adj._ containing the BISSEXT (L.

_bissextus_), or extra day which the Julian calendar inserts in leap-year--the sixth before the kalends of March, 24th February. [L. _bis_, twice, and _sextus_, sixth.]

BISSON, bis'son, _adj._ (_Shak._) blind, blinding. [A.S. _bisene_, blind.]

BISTORT, bis'tort, _n._ a perennial plant with astringent properties (_Polygonum bistorta_), so named from its twisted roots, called also _Snakeweed_ and _Adder's Wort_. [Fr.--L. _bistorta_; _bis_, twice, _torta_, twisted.]

BISTOURY, bis't[=oo]r-i, _n._ a narrow surgical knife for making incisions, having a straight, convex, or concave edge. [Fr.]

BISTRE, BISTER, bis't[.e]r, _n._ a pigment of a warm brown colour made from the soot of wood, esp. beechwood.--_adj._ BIS'TRED. [Fr. _bistre_; origin unknown.]

BISULCATE, b[=i]-sul'k[=a]t, _adj._ (_zool._) cloven-footed. [L. _bi-_, twice, _sulcus_, a furrow.]

BISULPHATE, b[=i]-sul'f[=a]t, _n._ a salt of sulphuric acid, in which one-half of the hydrogen of the acid is replaced by a metal. [L. _bi-_, twice, and SULPHATE.]

BIT, bit, _n._ a bite, a morsel: a small piece: the smallest degree: a small tool for boring (see BRACE): the part of the bridle which the horse holds in his mouth (see BRIDLE)--hence, TO TAKE THE BIT IN HIS TEETH, to be beyond restraint.--_v.t._ to put the bit in the mouth; to curb or restrain:--_pr.p._ bit'ting; _pa.p._ bit'ted.--BIT BY BIT, piecemeal, gradually. [From BITE.]

BITCH, bich, _n._ the female of the dog, wolf, and fox. [A.S. _bicce_; Ice.

_bikkja_.]

BITE, b[=i]t, _v.t._ to seize or tear with the teeth: to sting or pain: to wound by reproach: to deceive, or take in--now only passive:--_pa.t._ bit; _pa.p._ bit or bit'ten.--_n._ a grasp by the teeth: a nibble at the bait by a fish: something bitten off: a mouthful.--_v.t._ BITE'-IN, to eat out the lines of an etching with acid: to repress.--_n._ BIT'ER, one who bites: a fish apt to take the bait: a cheat.--_n._ and _adj._ BIT'ING.--TO BITE THE DUST, to fall, to die; TO BITE THE THUMB, to express defiance by putting the thumbnail into the mouth and knocking it against the teeth. [A.S.

_bitan_; Goth. _beitan_, Ice. _bita_, Ger. _beissen_.]

BITT, bit, _v.t._ (_naut._) to fasten round the BITTS (q.v.).

BITTACLE. Same as BINNACLE.

BITTER, bit'[.e]r, _adj._ biting or acrid to the taste: sharp: painful.--_n._ any substance having a bitter taste.--_adj._ BITT'ERISH.--_adv._ BITT'ERLY.--_n._ BITT'ERNESS.--_n.pl._ BITT'ERS, a liquid prepared from bitter herbs or roots, and used as a stomachic.--_n._ BITT'ER-SWEET, the Woody Nightshade, a slender, climbing hedge-plant, having red poisonous berries, said to be named from its root, when chewed, having first a bitter, then a sweet taste: (_Shak._) an apple that has a compound taste of sweet and bitter: a mixture of sweet and bitter. [A.S.

_bitan_, to bite.]

BITTER (_Spens._), used for BITTERN.

BITTERN, bit'[.e]rn, _n._ a bird of the heron family, said to have been named from the resemblance of its voice to the lowing of a bull. [M. E.

_bittour_--Fr.--Low L. _butorius_ (_bos_, _taurus_).]

BITTERN, bit'[.e]rn, _n._ an oily liquid remaining in salt-works after the crystallisation of the salt, and used in the manufacture of Epsom salts.

BITTOR, BITTOUR, bit'tur, _n._ (_Dryden_) the bird BITTERN.

BITTS, bits, _n._ a frame in the forepart of a ship round which the cables are passed when the vessel rides at anchor.

BITUMEN, bi-t[=u]'men, or bit'yu-men, _n._ a name applied to various inflammable mineral substances, as naphtha, petroleum, asphaltum.--_v.t._ BIT[=U]'MINATE, to mix with or make into bitumen--also BIT[=U]'MINISE.--_adjs._ BIT[=U]'MINOUS, BIT[=U]MED' (_Shak._), impregnated with bitumen. [L.]

BIVALVE, b[=i]'valv, _n._ an animal having a shell in two valves or parts, like the oyster: a seed-vessel of like kind.--_adj._ having two valves.--_adj._ BIVALV'ULAR. [L. _bi-_, twice, _valva_, a valve.]

BIVIOUS, biv'i-us, _adj._ leading two, or different, ways. [L.

_bivius_--_bi-_, twice, _via_, a way.]

Report error

If you found broken links, wrong episode or any other problems in a anime/cartoon, please tell us. We will try to solve them the first time.

Email:

SubmitCancel

Share