| Words | Parts of Speech | Meaning/Definition/Similar Words |
|---|---|---|
| blackamoor | noun | A negro or negress. |
| black bass | An edible, fresh-water fish of the United States, of the genus Micropterus. the small-mouthed kind is M. dolomiei; the large-mouthed is M. salmoides., The sea bass. See Blackfish, 3. | |
| blackberry | noun | The fruit of several species of bramble (Rubus); also, the plant itself. Rubus fruticosus is the blackberry of England; R. villosus and R. Canadensis are the high blackberry and low blackberry of the United States. There are also other kinds. |
| blackboard | noun | A broad board painted black, or any black surface on which writing, drawing, or the working of mathematical problems can be done with chalk or crayons. It is much used in schools. |
| black book | One of several books of a political character, published at different times and for different purposes; — so called either from the color of the binding, or from the character of the contents., A book compiled in the twelfth century, containing a description of the court of exchequer of England, an official statement of the revenues of the crown, etc., A book containing details of the enormities practiced in the English monasteries and religious houses, compiled by order of their visitors under Henry VIII., to hasten their dissolution., A book of admiralty law, of the highest authority, compiled in the reign of Edw. III., A book kept for the purpose of registering the names of persons liable to censure or punishment, as in the English universities, or the English armies., Any book which treats of necromancy. | |
| blackening | present participle & vb. noun | of Blacken |
| black-eyed | adjective | Having black eyes. |
| blackguard | noun | The scullions and lower menials of a court, or of a nobleman’s household, who, in a removal from one residence to another, had charge of the kitchen utensils, and being smutted by them, were jocularly called the “black guard”; also, the servants and hangers-on of an army., The criminals and vagrants or vagabonds of a town or community, collectively., A person of stained or low character, esp. one who uses scurrilous language, or treats others with foul abuse; a scoundrel; a rough., A vagrant; a bootblack; a gamin., To revile or abuse in scurrilous language., Scurrilous; abusive; low; worthless; vicious; as, blackguard language. |
| blackheart | noun | A heart-shaped cherry with a very dark-colored skin. |
| black hole | A dungeon or dark cell in a prison; a military lock-up or guardroom; — now commonly with allusion to the cell (the Black Hole) in a fort at Calcutta, into which 146 English prisoners were thrust by the nabob Suraja Dowla on the night of June 20, 17656, and in which 123 of the prisoners died before morning from lack of air. | |
| black-jack | noun | A name given by English miners to sphalerite, or zinc blende; — called also false galena. See Blende., Caramel or burnt sugar, used to color wines, spirits, ground coffee, etc., A large leather vessel for beer, etc., The Quercus nigra, or barren oak., The ensign of a pirate. |
| black lead | Plumbago; graphite. It leaves a blackish mark somewhat like lead. See Graphite. | |
| black monk | A Benedictine monk. | |
| blacksmith | noun | A smith who works in iron with a forge, and makes iron utensils, horseshoes, etc., A fish of the Pacific coast (Chromis, / Heliastes, punctipinnis), of a blackish color. |
| blacksnake | noun | A snake of a black color, of which two species are common in the United States, the Bascanium constrictor, or racer, sometimes six feet long, and the Scotophis Alleghaniensis, seven or eight feet long. |
| blackstrap | noun | A mixture of spirituous liquor (usually rum) and molasses., Bad port wine; any common wine of the Mediterranean; — so called by sailors. |
| blackthorn | noun | A spreading thorny shrub or small tree (Prunus spinosa), with blackish bark, and bearing little black plums, which are called sloes; the sloe., A species of Crataegus or hawthorn (C. tomentosa). Both are used for hedges. |
| black wash | noun | Alt. of Blackwash |
| bladdering | present participle & vb. noun | of Bladder |
| bladesmith | noun | A sword cutler. |
| blancmange | noun | A preparation for desserts, etc., made from isinglass, sea moss, cornstarch, or other gelatinous or starchy substance, with mild, usually sweetened and flavored, and shaped in a mold. |
| blandation | noun | Flattery. |
| blandished | imp. & past participle | of Blandish |
| blandisher | noun | One who uses blandishments. |
| blanketing | present participle & vb. noun | of Blanket, Cloth for blankets., The act or punishment of tossing in a blanket. |
| blanquette | noun | A white fricassee. |
| blanquillo | noun | A large fish of Florida and the W. Indies (Caulolatilus chrysops). It is red, marked with yellow. |
| blarneying | present participle & vb. noun | of Blarney |
| blasphemed | imp. & past participle | of Blaspheme |
| blasphemer | noun | One who blasphemes. |
| blastemata | plural | of Blastema |
| blastocyst | noun | The germinal vesicle. |
| blastoderm | noun | The germinal membrane in an ovum, from which the embryo is developed. |
| blastoidea | noun pl. | One of the divisions of Crinoidea found fossil in paleozoic rocks; pentremites. They are so named on account of their budlike form. |
| blastomere | noun | One of the segments first formed by the division of the ovum. |
| blastopore | noun | The pore or opening leading into the cavity of invagination, or archenteron. |
| blast pipe | The exhaust pipe of a steam engine, or any pipe delivering steam or air, when so constructed as to cause a blast. | |
| blattering | noun | Senseless babble or boasting. |
| blatteroon | noun | A senseless babbler or boaster. |
| blazonment | noun | The act of blazoning; blazoning; emblazonment. |
| blear-eyed | adjective | Having sore eyes; having the eyes dim with rheum; dim-sighted., Lacking in perception or penetration; short-sighted; as, a blear-eyed bigot. |
| blemishing | present participle & vb. noun | of Blemish |
| blendwater | noun | A distemper incident to cattle, in which their livers are affected. |
| blindstory | noun | The triforium as opposed to the clearstory. |
| blink beer | Beer kept unbroached until it is sharp. | |
| blink-eyed | adjective | Habitually winking. |
| blistering | present participle & vb. noun | of Blister |
| blitheness | noun | The state of being blithe. |
| blithesome | adjective | Cheery; gay; merry. |
| blockading | present participle & vb. noun | of Blockade |
| block book | A book printed from engraved wooden blocks instead of movable types. | |
| blockhouse | noun | An edifice or structure of heavy timbers or logs for military defense, having its sides loopholed for musketry, and often an upper story projecting over the lower, or so placed upon it as to have its sides make an angle wit the sides of the lower story, thus enabling the defenders to fire downward, and in all directions; — formerly much used in America and Germany., A house of squared logs. |
| bloodhound | noun | A breed of large and powerful dogs, with long, smooth, and pendulous ears, and remarkable for acuteness of smell. It is employed to recover game or prey which has escaped wounded from a hunter, and for tracking criminals. Formerly it was used for pursuing runaway slaves. Other varieties of dog are often used for the same purpose and go by the same name. The Cuban bloodhound is said to be a variety of the mastiff. |
| bloodiness | noun | The state of being bloody., Disposition to shed blood; bloodthirstiness. |
| bloodstick | noun | A piece of hard wood loaded at one end with lead, and used to strike the fleam into the vein. |
| bloodstone | noun | A green siliceous stone sprinkled with red jasper, as if with blood; hence the name; — called also heliotrope., Hematite, an ore of iron yielding a blood red powder or “streak.” |
| bloomingly | adverb | In a blooming manner. |
| blossoming | present participle & vb. noun | of Blossom |
| blottesque | adjective | Characterized by blots or heavy touches; coarsely depicted; wanting in delineation. |
| blow valve | See Snifting valve. | |
| blubbering | present participle & vb. noun | of Blubber, The act of weeping noisily. |
| bluebottle | noun | A plant (Centaurea cyanus) which grows in grain fields. It receives its name from its blue bottle-shaped flowers., A large and troublesome species of blowfly (Musca vomitoria). Its body is steel blue. |
| bluebreast | noun | A small European bird; the blue-throated warbler. |
| blue grass | A species of grass (Poa compressa) with bluish green stems, valuable in thin gravelly soils; wire grass. | |
| bluethroat | noun | A singing bird of northern Europe and Asia (Cyanecula Suecica), related to the nightingales; — called also blue-throated robin and blue-throated warbler. |
| blundering | present participle & vb. noun | of Blunder, Characterized by blunders. |
| blushingly | adverb | In a blushing manner; with a blush or blushes; as, to answer or confess blushingly. |
| blustering | present participle & vb. noun | of Bluster, Exhibiting noisy violence, as the wind; stormy; tumultuous., Uttering noisy threats; noisy and swaggering; boisterous. |
| blusterous | adjective | Inclined to bluster; given to blustering; blustering. |