| Words | Parts of Speech | Meaning/Definition/Similar Words |
|---|---|---|
| babbitt metal | A soft white alloy of variable composition (as a nine parts of tin to one of copper, or of fifty parts of tin to five of antimony and one of copper) used in bearings to diminish friction. | |
| baccalaureate | noun | The degree of bachelor of arts. (B.A. or A.B.), the first or lowest academical degree conferred by universities and colleges., A baccalaureate sermon., Pertaining to a bachelor of arts. |
| backwardation | noun | The seller’s postponement of delivery of stock or shares, with the consent of the buyer, upon payment of a premium to the latter; — also, the premium so paid. See Contango. |
| bacterioscopy | noun | The application of a knowledge of bacteria for their detection and identification, as in the examination of polluted water. |
| badger-legged | adjective | Having legs of unequal length, as the badger was thought to have. |
| balance wheel | A wheel which regulates the beats or pulses of a watch or chronometer, answering to the pendulum of a clock; — often called simply a balance., A ratchet-shaped scape wheel, which in some watches is acted upon by the axis of the balance wheel proper (in those watches called a balance)., A wheel which imparts regularity to the movements of any engine or machine; a fly wheel. | |
| balanoglossus | noun | A peculiar marine worm. See Enteropneusta, and Tornaria. |
| ballad monger | A seller or maker of ballads; a poetaster. | |
| balneotherapy | noun | The treatment of disease by baths. |
| balsamiferous | adjective | Producing balsam. |
| banding plane | A plane used for cutting out grooves and inlaying strings and bands in straight and circular work. | |
| barbarousness | noun | The quality or state of being barbarous; barbarity; barbarism. |
| barefacedness | noun | The quality of being barefaced; shamelessness; assurance; audaciousness. |
| barker’s mill | A machine, invented in the 17th century, worked by a form of reaction wheel. The water flows into a vertical tube and gushes from apertures in hollow horizontal arms, causing the machine to revolve on its axis. | |
| barking irons | Instruments used in taking off the bark of trees., A pair of pistols. | |
| basioccipital | adjective | Of or pertaining to the bone in the base of the cranium, frequently forming a part of the occipital in the adult, but usually distinct in the young., The basioccipital bone. |
| basipterygium | noun | A bar of cartilage at the base of the embryonic fins of some fishes. It develops into the metapterygium. |
| basipterygoid | adjective & noun | Applied to a protuberance of the base of the sphenoid bone. |
| basking shark | One of the largest species of sharks (Cetorhinus maximus), so called from its habit of basking in the sun; the liver shark, or bone shark. It inhabits the northern seas of Europe and America, and grows to a length of more than forty feet. It is a harmless species. | |
| basso-rilievo | noun | Alt. of Basso-relievo |
| basso-relievo | noun | Same as Bas-relief. |
| bathymetrical | adjective | Pertaining to bathymetry; relating to the measurement of depths, especially of depths in the sea. |
| battering-ram | noun | An engine used in ancient times to beat down the walls of besieged places., A blacksmith’s hammer, suspended, and worked horizontally. |