| Words | Parts of Speech | Meaning/Definition/Similar Words |
|---|---|---|
| baaing | noun | The bleating of a sheep. |
| baalim | plural | of Baal |
| babble | verb i. | To utter words indistinctly or unintelligibly; to utter inarticulate sounds; as a child babbles., To talk incoherently; to utter unmeaning words., To talk much; to chatter; to prate., To make a continuous murmuring noise, as shallow water running over stones., To utter in an indistinct or incoherent way; to repeat, as words, in a childish way without understanding., To disclose by too free talk, as a secret., Idle talk; senseless prattle; gabble; twaddle., Inarticulate speech; constant or confused murmur. |
| babery | noun | Finery of a kind to please a child. |
| babian | noun | Alt. of Babion |
| babion | noun | A baboon. |
| babish | adjective | Like a babe; a childish; babyish. |
| babism | noun | The doctrine of a modern religious sect, which originated in Persia in 1843, being a mixture of Mohammedan, Christian, Jewish and Parsee elements. |
| babist | noun | A believer in Babism. |
| bablah | noun | The ring of the fruit of several East Indian species of acacia; neb-neb. It contains gallic acid and tannin, and is used for dyeing drab. |
| baboon | noun | One of the Old World Quadrumana, of the genera Cynocephalus and Papio; the dog-faced ape. Baboons have dog-like muzzles and large canine teeth, cheek pouches, a short tail, and naked callosities on the buttocks. They are mostly African. See Mandrill, and Chacma, and Drill an ape. |
| babies | plural | of Baby |
| babied | imp. & past participle | of Baby |
| backed | imp. & past participle | of Back, Having a back; fitted with a back; as, a backed electrotype or stereotype plate. Used in composition; as, broad-backed; hump-backed. |
| backer | noun | One who, or that which, backs; especially one who backs a person or thing in a contest. |
| bacule | noun | See Bascule. |
| badder | compar. of Bad, a. | |
| badger | noun | An itinerant licensed dealer in commodities used for food; a hawker; a huckster; — formerly applied especially to one who bought grain in one place and sold it in another., A carnivorous quadruped of the genus Meles or of an allied genus. It is a burrowing animal, with short, thick legs, and long claws on the fore feet. One species (M. vulgaris), called also brock, inhabits the north of Europe and Asia; another species (Taxidea Americana / Labradorica) inhabits the northern parts of North America. See Teledu., A brush made of badgers’ hair, used by artists., To tease or annoy, as a badger when baited; to worry or irritate persistently., To beat down; to cheapen; to barter; to bargain. |
| badian | noun | An evergreen Chinese shrub of the Magnolia family (Illicium anisatum), and its aromatic seeds; Chinese anise; star anise. |
| baffle | verb t. | To cause to undergo a disgraceful punishment, as a recreant knight., To check by shifts and turns; to elude; to foil., To check by perplexing; to disconcert, frustrate, or defeat; to thwart., To practice deceit., To struggle against in vain; as, a ship baffles with the winds., A defeat by artifice, shifts, and turns; discomfiture. |
| bagged | imp. & past participle | of Bag |
| bagmen | plural | of Bagman |
| bagman | noun | A commercial traveler; one employed to solicit orders for manufacturers and tradesmen. |
| bagnio | noun | A house for bathing, sweating, etc.; — also, in Turkey, a prison for slaves., A brothel; a stew; a house of prostitution. |
| baguet | noun | Alt. of Baguette |
| bagwig | noun | A wig, in use in the 18th century, with the hair at the back of the head in a bag. |
| baigne | verb i. | To soak or drench. |
| bailed | imp. & past participle | of Bail |
| bailee | noun | The person to whom goods are committed in trust, and who has a temporary possession and a qualified property in them, for the purposes of the trust. |
| bailer | noun | See Bailor., One who bails or lades., A utensil, as a bucket or cup, used in bailing; a machine for bailing water out of a pit. |
| bailey | noun | The outer wall of a feudal castle., The space immediately within the outer wall of a castle or fortress., A prison or court of justice; — used in certain proper names; as, the Old Bailey in London; the New Bailey in Manchester. |
| bailie | noun | An officer in Scotland, whose office formerly corresponded to that of sheriff, but now corresponds to that of an English alderman. |
| bailor | noun | One who delivers goods or money to another in trust. |
| bairam | noun | The name of two Mohammedan festivals, of which one is held at the close of the fast called Ramadan, and the other seventy days after the fast. |
| baited | imp. & past participle | of Bait |
| baiter | noun | One who baits; a tormentor. |
| baking | present participle & vb. noun | of Bake, The act or process of cooking in an oven, or of drying and hardening by heat or cold., The quantity baked at once; a batch; as, a baking of bread. |
| bakery | noun | The trade of a baker., The place for baking bread; a bakehouse. |
| balaam | noun | A paragraph describing something wonderful, used to fill out a newspaper column; — an allusion to the miracle of Balaam’s ass speaking. |
| balcon | noun | A balcony. |
| balder | noun | The most beautiful and beloved of the gods; the god of peace; the son of Odin and Freya. |
| baldly | adverb | Nakedly; without reserve; inelegantly. |
| baling | present participle & vb. noun | of Bale |
| baleen | noun | Plates or blades of “whalebone,” from two to twelve feet long, and sometimes a foot wide, which in certain whales (Balaenoidea) are attached side by side along the upper jaw, and form a fringelike sieve by which the food is retained in the mouth. |
| balize | noun | A pole or a frame raised as a sea beacon or a landmark. |
| balked | imp. & past participle | of Balk |
| balker | noun | One who, or that which balks., A person who stands on a rock or eminence to espy the shoals of herring, etc., and to give notice to the men in boats which way they pass; a conder; a huer. |
| balled | imp. & past participle | of Ball |
| ballad | noun | A popular kind of narrative poem, adapted for recitation or singing; as, the ballad of Chevy Chase; esp., a sentimental or romantic poem in short stanzas., To make or sing ballads., To make mention of in ballads. |
| ballet | noun | An artistic dance performed as a theatrical entertainment, or an interlude, by a number of persons, usually women. Sometimes, a scene accompanied by pantomime and dancing., The company of persons who perform the ballet., A light part song, or madrigal, with a fa la burden or chorus, — most common with the Elizabethan madrigal composers., A bearing in coats of arms, representing one or more balls, which are denominated bezants, plates, etc., according to color. |
| ballot | noun | Originally, a ball used for secret voting. Hence: Any printed or written ticket used in voting., The act of voting by balls or written or printed ballots or tickets; the system of voting secretly by balls or by tickets., The whole number of votes cast at an election, or in a given territory or electoral district., To vote or decide by ballot; as, to ballot for a candidate., To vote for or in opposition to. |
| ballow | noun | A cudgel. |
| balsam | noun | A resin containing more or less of an essential or volatile oil., A species of tree (Abies balsamea)., An annual garden plant (Impatiens balsamina) with beautiful flowers; balsamine., Anything that heals, soothes, or restores., To treat or anoint with balsam; to relieve, as with balsam; to render balsamic. |
| balter | verb t. | To stick together. |
| baltic | adjective | Of or pertaining to the sea which separates Norway and Sweden from Jutland, Denmark, and Germany; situated on the Baltic Sea. |
| bamboo | noun | A plant of the family of grasses, and genus Bambusa, growing in tropical countries., To flog with the bamboo. |
| banned | imp. & past participle | of Ban |
| banana | noun | A perennial herbaceous plant of almost treelike size (Musa sapientum); also, its edible fruit. See Musa. |
| bancus | noun | Alt. of Bank |
| banded | imp. & past participle | of Band |
| bander | noun | One banded with others. |
| bandit | noun | An outlaw; a brigand. |
| bandle | noun | An Irish measure of two feet in length. |
| bandog | noun | A mastiff or other large and fierce dog, usually kept chained or tied up. |
| bandon | noun | Disposal; control; license. |
| banged | imp. & past participle | of Bang |
| bangue | noun | See Bhang. |
| bangle | verb t. | To waste by little and little; to fritter away., An ornamental circlet, of glass, gold, silver, or other material, worn by women in India and Africa, and in some other countries, upon the wrist or ankle; a ring bracelet. |
| banian | noun | A Hindoo trader, merchant, cashier, or money changer., A man’s loose gown, like that worn by the Banians., The Indian fig. See Banyan. |
| banish | verb t. | To condemn to exile, or compel to leave one’s country, by authority of the ruling power., To drive out, as from a home or familiar place; — used with from and out of., To drive away; to compel to depart; to dispel. |
| banked | imp. & past participle | of Bank |
| banker | noun | One who conducts the business of banking; one who, individually, or as a member of a company, keeps an establishment for the deposit or loan of money, or for traffic in money, bills of exchange, etc., A money changer., The dealer, or one who keeps the bank in a gambling house., A vessel employed in the cod fishery on the banks of Newfoundland., A ditcher; a drain digger., The stone bench on which masons cut or square their work. |
| banner | noun | A kind of flag attached to a spear or pike by a crosspiece, and used by a chief as his standard in battle., A large piece of silk or other cloth, with a device or motto, extended on a crosspiece, and borne in a procession, or suspended in some conspicuous place., Any flag or standard; as, the star-spangled banner. |
| bantam | noun | A variety of small barnyard fowl, with feathered legs, probably brought from Bantam, a district of Java. |
| banter | verb t. | To address playful good-natured ridicule to, — the person addressed, or something pertaining to him, being the subject of the jesting; to rally; as, he bantered me about my credulity., To jest about; to ridicule in speaking of, as some trait, habit, characteristic, and the like., To delude or trick, — esp. by way of jest., To challenge or defy to a match., The act of bantering; joking or jesting; humorous or good-humored raillery; pleasantry. |
| banyan | noun | A tree of the same genus as the common fig, and called the Indian fig (Ficus Indica), whose branches send shoots to the ground, which take root and become additional trunks, until it may be the tree covers some acres of ground and is able to shelter thousands of men. |
| baobab | noun | A gigantic African tree (Adansonia digitata), also naturalized in India. See Adansonia. |
| barred | imp. & past participle | of Bar |
| barbed | imp. & past participle | of Barb, Accoutered with defensive armor; — said of a horse. See Barded ( which is the proper form.), Furnished with a barb or barbs; as, a barbed arrow; barbed wire. |
| barbel | noun | A slender tactile organ on the lips of certain fished., A large fresh-water fish ( Barbus vulgaris) found in many European rivers. Its upper jaw is furnished with four barbels., Barbs or paps under the tongued of horses and cattle. See 1st Barb, 3. |
| barber | noun | One whose occupation it is to shave or trim the beard, and to cut and dress the hair of his patrons., To shave and dress the beard or hair of. |
| barbet | noun | A variety of small dog, having long curly hair., A bird of the family Bucconidae, allied to the Cuckoos, having a large, conical beak swollen at the base, and bearded with five bunches of stiff bristles; the puff bird. It inhabits tropical America and Africa., A larva that feeds on aphides. |
| barble | noun | See Barbel. |
| barbre | adjective | Barbarian. |
| barcon | noun | A vessel for freight; — used in Mediterranean. |
| barded | p.adjective | Accoutered with defensive armor; — said of a horse., Wearing rich caparisons. |
| bardic | adjective | Of or pertaining to bards, or their poetry. |
| baring | present participle & vb. noun | of Bare |
| barege | noun | A gauzelike fabric for ladies’ dresses, veils, etc. of worsted, silk and worsted, or cotton and worsted. |
| barely | adverb | Without covering; nakedly., Without concealment or disguise., Merely; only., But just; without any excess; with nothing to spare ( of quantity, time, etc.); hence, scarcely; hardly; as, there was barely enough for all; he barely escaped. |
| barful | adjective | Full of obstructions. |
| bargee | noun | A bargeman. |
| barger | noun | The manager of a barge. |
| barite | noun | Native sulphate of barium, a mineral occurring in transparent, colorless, white to yellow crystals (generally tabular), also in granular form, and in compact massive forms resembling marble. It has a high specific gravity, and hence is often called heavy spar. It is a common mineral in metallic veins. |
| barium | noun | One of the elements, belonging to the alkaline earth group; a metal having a silver-white color, and melting at a very high temperature. It is difficult to obtain the pure metal, from the facility with which it becomes oxidized in the air. Atomic weight, 137. Symbol, Ba. Its oxide called baryta. |
| barked | imp. & past participle | of Bark |
| barque | noun | Formerly, any small sailing vessel, as a pinnace, fishing smack, etc.; also, a rowing boat; a barge. Now applied poetically to a sailing vessel or boat of any kind., A three-masted vessel, having her foremast and mainmast square-rigged, and her mizzenmast schooner-rigged., Same as 3d Bark, n. |
| barken | adjective | Made of bark. |
| barker | noun | An animal that barks; hence, any one who clamors unreasonably., One who stands at the doors of shops to urg/ passers by to make purchases., A pistol., The spotted redshank., One who strips trees of their bark. |
| barley | noun | A valuable grain, of the family of grasses, genus Hordeum, used for food, and for making malt, from which are prepared beer, ale, and whisky. |
| baroko | noun | A form or mode of syllogism of which the first proposition is a universal affirmative, and the other two are particular negative. |
| barony | noun | The fee or domain of a baron; the lordship, dignity, or rank of a baron., In Ireland, a territorial division, corresponding nearly to the English hundred, and supposed to have been originally the district of a native chief. There are 252 of these baronies. In Scotland, an extensive freehold. It may be held by a commoner. |
| barras | noun | A resin, called also galipot. |
| barrel | noun | A round vessel or cask, of greater length than breadth, and bulging in the middle, made of staves bound with hoops, and having flat ends or heads., The quantity which constitutes a full barrel. This varies for different articles and also in different places for the same article, being regulated by custom or by law. A barrel of wine is 31/ gallons; a barrel of flour is 196 pounds., A solid drum, or a hollow cylinder or case; as, the barrel of a windlass; the barrel of a watch, within which the spring is coiled., A metallic tube, as of a gun, from which a projectile is discharged., A jar., The hollow basal part of a feather., To put or to pack in a barrel or barrels. |
| barren | adjective | Incapable of producing offspring; producing no young; sterile; — said of women and female animals., Not producing vegetation, or useful vegetation; /rile., Unproductive; fruitless; unprofitable; empty., Mentally dull; stupid., A tract of barren land., Elevated lands or plains on which grow small trees, but not timber; as, pine barrens; oak barrens. They are not necessarily sterile, and are often fertile. |
| barret | noun | A kind of cap formerly worn by soldiers; — called also barret cap. Also, the flat cap worn by Roman Catholic ecclesiastics. |
| barrow | noun | A support having handles, and with or without a wheel, on which heavy or bulky things can be transported by hand. See Handbarrow, and Wheelbarrow., A wicker case, in which salt is put to drain., A hog, esp. a male hog castrated., A large mound of earth or stones over the remains of the dead; a tumulus., A heap of rubbish, attle, etc. |
| barter | verb i. | To traffic or trade, by exchanging one commodity for another, in distinction from a sale and purchase, in which money is paid for the commodities transferred; to truck., To trade or exchange in the way of barter; to exchange (frequently for an unworthy consideration); to traffic; to truck; — sometimes followed by away; as, to barter away goods or honor., The act or practice of trafficking by exchange of commodities; an exchange of goods., The thing given in exchange. |
| barton | noun | The demesne lands of a manor; also, the manor itself., A farmyard. |
| barway | noun | A passage into a field or yard, closed by bars made to take out of the posts. |
| baryta | noun | An oxide of barium (or barytum); a heavy earth with a specific gravity above 4. |
| basalt | noun | A rock of igneous origin, consisting of augite and triclinic feldspar, with grains of magnetic or titanic iron, and also bottle-green particles of olivine frequently disseminated., An imitation, in pottery, of natural basalt; a kind of black porcelain. |
| basing | present participle & vb. noun | of Base |
| basely | adverb | In a base manner; with despicable meanness; dishonorably; shamefully., Illegitimately; in bastardy. |
| bashaw | noun | A Turkish title of honor, now written pasha. See Pasha., Fig.: A magnate or grandee., A very large siluroid fish (Leptops olivaris) of the Mississippi valley; — also called goujon, mud cat, and yellow cat. |
| basify | verb t. | To convert into a salifiable base. |
| basion | noun | The middle of the anterior margin of the great foramen of the skull. |
| basked | imp. & past participle | of Bask |
| basket | noun | A vessel made of osiers or other twigs, cane, rushes, splints, or other flexible material, interwoven., The contents of a basket; as much as a basket contains; as, a basket of peaches., The bell or vase of the Corinthian capital., The two back seats facing one another on the outside of a stagecoach., To put into a basket. |
| basnet | noun | Same as Bascinet. |
| basque | adjective | Pertaining to Biscay, its people, or their language., One of a race, of unknown origin, inhabiting a region on the Bay of Biscay in Spain and France., The language spoken by the Basque people., A part of a lady’s dress, resembling a jacket with a short skirt; — probably so called because this fashion of dress came from the Basques. |
| basses | plural | of Bass |
| bassaw | noun | See Bashaw. |
| basset | noun | A game at cards, resembling the modern faro, said to have been invented at Venice., Inclined upward; as, the basset edge of strata., The edge of a geological stratum at the surface of the ground; the outcrop., To inclined upward so as to appear at the surface; to crop out; as, a vein of coal bassets. |
| basted | imp. & past participle | of Baste |
| baston | noun | A staff or cudgel., See Baton., An officer bearing a painted staff, who formerly was in attendance upon the king’s court to take into custody persons committed by the court. |
| basyle | noun | A positive or nonacid constituent of compound, either elementary, or, if compound, performing the functions of an element. |
| batted | imp. & past participle | of Bat |
| batata | noun | An aboriginal American name for the sweet potato (Ipomaea batatas). |
| bating | present participle & vb. noun | of Bate, With the exception of; excepting. |
| bateau | noun | A boat; esp. a flat-bottomed, clumsy boat used on the Canadian lakes and rivers. |
| batful | verb i. | Rich; fertile. |
| bathed | imp. & past participle | of Bathe |
| bather | noun | One who bathes. |
| bathos | noun | A ludicrous descent from the elevated to the low, in writing or speech; anticlimax. |
| batlet | noun | A short bat for beating clothes in washing them; — called also batler, batling staff, batting staff. |
| batman | noun | A weight used in the East, varying according to the locality; in Turkey, the greater batman is about 157 pounds, the lesser only a fourth of this; at Aleppo and Smyrna, the batman is 17 pounds., A man who has charge of a bathorse and his load. |
| batmen | plural | of Batman |
| batoon | noun | See Baton, and Baston. |
| battel | noun | A single combat; as, trial by battel. See Wager of battel, under Wager., Provisions ordered from the buttery; also, the charges for them; — only in the pl., except when used adjectively., To be supplied with provisions from the buttery., To make fertile., Fertile; fruitful; productive. |
| batten | verb t. | To make fat by plenteous feeding; to fatten., To fertilize or enrich, as land., To grow fat; to grow fat in ease and luxury; to glut one’s self., A strip of sawed stuff, or a scantling; as, (a) pl. (Com. & Arch.) Sawed timbers about 7 by 2 1/2 inches and not less than 6 feet long. Brande & C. (b) (Naut.) A strip of wood used in fastening the edges of a tarpaulin to the deck, also around masts to prevent chafing. (c) A long, thin strip used to strengthen a part, to cover a crack, etc., To furnish or fasten with battens., The movable bar of a loom, which strikes home or closes the threads of a woof. |
| batter | verb t. | To beat with successive blows; to beat repeatedly and with violence, so as to bruise, shatter, or demolish; as, to batter a wall or rampart., To wear or impair as if by beating or by hard usage., To flatten (metal) by hammering, so as to compress it inwardly and spread it outwardly., A semi-liquid mixture of several ingredients, as, flour, eggs, milk, etc., beaten together and used in cookery., Paste of clay or loam., A bruise on the face of a plate or of type in the form., A backward slope in the face of a wall or of a bank; receding slope., To slope gently backward., One who wields a bat; a batsman. |
| battle | adjective | Fertile. See Battel, a., A general action, fight, or encounter, in which all the divisions of an army are or may be engaged; an engagement; a combat., A struggle; a contest; as, the battle of life., A division of an army; a battalion., The main body, as distinct from the van and rear; battalia., To join in battle; to contend in fight; as, to battle over theories., To assail in battle; to fight. |
| batton | noun | See Batten, and Baton. |
| battue | verb t. | The act of beating the woods, bushes, etc., for game., The game itself., The wanton slaughter of game. |
| batule | noun | A springboard in a circus or gymnasium; — called also batule board. |
| batzen | plural | of Batz |
| baubee | noun | Same as Bawbee. |
| bauble | noun | A trifling piece of finery; a gewgaw; that which is gay and showy without real value; a cheap, showy plaything., The fool’s club. |
| bavian | noun | A baboon. |
| bawbee | noun | A halfpenny. |
| bawble | noun | A trinket. See Bauble. |
| bawdry | noun | The practice of procuring women for the gratification of lust., Illicit intercourse; fornication., Obscenity; filthy, unchaste language. |
| bawled | imp. & past participle | of Bawl |
| bawler | noun | One who bawls. |
| bawrel | noun | A kind of hawk. |
| bawsin | noun | Alt. of Bawson |
| bawson | noun | A badger., A large, unwieldy person. |
| baxter | noun | A baker; originally, a female baker. |
| baying | present participle & vb. noun | of Bay |
| bayard | adjective | Properly, a bay horse, but often any horse. Commonly in the phrase blind bayard, an old blind horse., A stupid, clownish fellow. |
| bayous | plural | of Bayou |
| bazaar | noun | Alt. of Bazar |