| Words | Parts of Speech | Meaning/Definition/Similar Words |
|---|---|---|
| babillard | noun | The lesser whitethroat of Europe; — called also babbling warbler. |
| babirussa | noun | A large hoglike quadruped (Sus, / Porcus, babirussa) of the East Indies, sometimes domesticated; the Indian hog. Its upper canine teeth or tusks are large and recurved. |
| baboonery | noun | Baboonish behavior. |
| baboonish | adjective | Like a baboon. |
| baby farm | A place where the nourishment and care of babies are offered for hire. | |
| babyhouse | adjective | A place for children’s dolls and dolls’ furniture. |
| babylonic | adjective | Alt. of Babylonical |
| babyrussa | noun | See Babyroussa. |
| bacchanal | adjective | Relating to Bacchus or his festival., Engaged in drunken revels; drunken and riotous or noisy., A devotee of Bacchus; one who indulges in drunken revels; one who is noisy and riotous when intoxicated; a carouser., The festival of Bacchus; the bacchanalia., Drunken revelry; an orgy., A song or dance in honor of Bacchus. |
| bacchants | plural | of Bacchant |
| bacchante | noun | A priestess of Bacchus., A female bacchanal. |
| bacchical | adjective | Of or relating to Bacchus; hence, jovial, or riotous,with intoxication. |
| bacciform | adjective | Having the form of a berry. |
| bacharach | noun | Alt. of Backarack |
| backarack | noun | A kind of wine made at Bacharach on the Rhine., See Bacharach. |
| bacillary | adjective | Of or pertaining to little rods; rod-shaped. |
| backbiter | noun | One who backbites; a secret calumniator or detractor. |
| backboard | noun | A board which supports the back wen one is sitting;, A board serving as the back part of anything, as of a wagon., A thin stuff used for the backs of framed pictures, mirrors, etc., A board attached to the rim of a water wheel to prevent the water from running off the floats or paddies into the interior of the wheel., A board worn across the back to give erectness to the figure. |
| backboned | adjective | Vertebrate. |
| back door | A door in the back part of a building; hence, an indirect way. | |
| backhouse | noun | A building behind the main building. Specifically: A privy; a necessary. |
| backjoint | noun | A rebate or chase in masonry left to receive a permanent slab or other filling. |
| backpiece | noun | Alt. of Backplate |
| backplate | noun | A piece, or plate which forms the back of anything, or which covers the back; armor for the back. |
| backshish | noun | In Egypt and the Turkish empire, a gratuity; a “tip”. |
| backsight | noun | The reading of the leveling staff in its unchanged position when the leveling instrument has been taken to a new position; a sight directed backwards to a station previously occupied. Cf. Foresight, n., 3. |
| backslide | verb i. | To slide back; to fall away; esp. to abandon gradually the faith and practice of a religion that has been professed. |
| backstaff | noun | An instrument formerly used for taking the altitude of the heavenly bodies, but now superseded by the quadrant and sextant; — so called because the observer turned his back to the body observed. |
| backstair | adjective | Private; indirect; secret; intriguing; — as if finding access by the back stairs. |
| backsword | noun | A sword with one sharp edge., In England, a stick with a basket handle, used in rustic amusements; also, the game in which the stick is used. Also called singlestick. |
| backwards | adverb | With the back in advance or foremost; as, to ride backward., Toward the back; toward the rear; as, to throw the arms backward., On the back, or with the back downward., Toward, or in, past time or events; ago., By way of reflection; reflexively., From a better to a worse state, as from honor to shame, from religion to sin., In a contrary or reverse manner, way, or direction; contrarily; as, to read backwards. |
| backwater | noun | Water turned back in its course by an obstruction, an opposing current , or the flow of the tide, as in a sewer or river channel, or across a river bar., An accumulation of water overflowing the low lands, caused by an obstruction., Water thrown back by the turning of a waterwheel, or by the paddle wheels of a steamer. |
| backwoods | noun pl. | The forests or partly cleared grounds on the frontiers. |
| bacterial | adjective | Of or pertaining to bacteria. |
| bacterium | noun | A microscopic vegetable organism, belonging to the class Algae, usually in the form of a jointed rodlike filament, and found in putrefying organic infusions. Bacteria are destitute of chlorophyll, and are the smallest of microscopic organisms. They are very widely diffused in nature, and multiply with marvelous rapidity, both by fission and by spores. Certain species are active agents in fermentation, while others appear to be the cause of certain infectious diseases. See Bacillus. |
| bacteroid | adjective | Alt. of Bacteroidal |
| badgeless | adjective | Having no badge. |
| badgering | present participle & vb. noun | of Badger, The act of one who badgers., The practice of buying wheat and other kinds of food in one place and selling them in another for a profit. |
| bad lands | Barren regions, especially in the western United States, where horizontal strata (Tertiary deposits) have been often eroded into fantastic forms, and much intersected by caons, and where lack of wood, water, and forage increases the difficulty of traversing the country, whence the name, first given by the Canadian French, Mauvaises Terres (bad lands). | |
| badminton | noun | A game, similar to lawn tennis, played with shuttlecocks., A preparation of claret, spiced and sweetened. |
| baenomere | noun | One of the somites (arthromeres) that make up the thorax of Arthropods. |
| baenosome | noun | The thorax of Arthropods. |
| bagatelle | noun | A trifle; a thing of no importance., A game played on an oblong board, having, at one end, cups or arches into or through which balls are to be driven by a rod held in the hand of the player. |
| bail bond | A bond or obligation given by a prisoner and his surety, to insure the prisoner’s appearance in court, at the return of the writ., Special bail in court to abide the judgment. | |
| bailiwick | noun | The precincts within which a bailiff has jurisdiction; the limits of a bailiff’s authority. |
| bailpiece | noun | A piece of parchment, or paper, containing a recognizance or bail bond. |
| bakehouse | verb t. | A house for baking; a bakery. |
| baksheesh | noun | Alt. of Bakshish |
| balachong | noun | A condiment formed of small fishes or shrimps, pounded up with salt and spices, and then dried. It is much esteemed in China. |
| balancing | present participle & vb. noun | of Balance |
| balbuties | noun | The defect of stammering; also, a kind of incomplete pronunciation. |
| balconied | adjective | Having balconies. |
| balconies | plural | of Balcony |
| baldachin | noun | A rich brocade; baudekin., A structure in form of a canopy, sometimes supported by columns, and sometimes suspended from the roof or projecting from the wall; generally placed over an altar; as, the baldachin in St. Peter’s., A portable canopy borne over shrines, etc., in procession. |
| baldpated | adjective | Destitute of hair on the head; baldheaded. |
| balefully | adverb | In a baleful manner; perniciously. |
| balistoid | adjective | Like a fish of the genus Balistes; of the family Balistidae. See Filefish. |
| balkingly | adverb | In a manner to balk or frustrate. |
| ballasted | imp. & past participle | of Ballast |
| ballister | noun | A crossbow. |
| ballistic | adjective | Of or pertaining to the ballista, or to the art of hurling stones or missile weapons by means of an engine., Pertaining to projection, or to a projectile. |
| ballooned | adjective | Swelled out like a balloon. |
| ballooner | noun | One who goes up in a balloon; an aeronaut. |
| balloonry | noun | The art or practice of ascending in a balloon; aeronautics. |
| balloting | present participle & vb. noun | of Ballot |
| ballotade | verb i. | A leap of a horse, as between two pillars, or upon a straight line, so that when his four feet are in the air, he shows only the shoes of his hind feet, without jerking out. |
| ballproof | adjective | Incapable of being penetrated by balls from firearms. |
| balsamine | noun | The Impatiens balsamina, or garden balsam. |
| balsamous | adjective | Having the quality of balsam; containing balsam. |
| bamboozle | verb t. | To deceive by trickery; to cajole by confusing the senses; to hoax; to mystify; to humbug. |
| bandaging | present participle & vb. noun | of Bandage |
| banderole | noun | Alt. of Bandrol |
| band fish | A small red fish of the genus Cepola; the ribbon fish. | |
| bandicoot | noun | A species of very large rat (Mus giganteus), found in India and Ceylon. It does much injury to rice fields and gardens., A ratlike marsupial animal (genus Perameles) of several species, found in Australia and Tasmania. |
| bandoleer | noun | Alt. of Bandolier |
| bandolier | noun | A broad leather belt formerly worn by soldiers over the right shoulder and across the breast under the left arm. Originally it was used for supporting the musket and twelve cases for charges, but later only as a cartridge belt., One of the leather or wooden cases in which the charges of powder were carried. |
| bandoline | noun | A glutinous pomatum for the fair. |
| baneberry | noun | A genus (Actaea) of plants, of the order Ranunculaceae, native in the north temperate zone. The red or white berries are poisonous. |
| banishing | present participle & vb. noun | of Banish |
| bank bill | In America (and formerly in England), a promissory note of a bank payable to the bearer on demand, and used as currency; a bank note., In England, a note, or a bill of exchange, of a bank, payable to order, and usually at some future specified time. Such bills are negotiable, but form, in the strict sense of the term, no part of the currency. | |
| bank book | A book kept by a depositor, in which an officer of a bank enters the debits and credits of the depositor’s account with the bank. | |
| bankeress | noun | A female banker. |
| bank note | A promissory note issued by a bank or banking company, payable to bearer on demand., Formerly, a promissory note made by a banker, or banking company, payable to a specified person at a fixed date; a bank bill. See Bank bill, 2., A promissory note payable at a bank. | |
| bannition | noun | The act of expulsion. |
| banqueted | imp. & past participle | of Banquet |
| banquette | noun | A raised way or foot bank, running along the inside of a parapet, on which musketeers stand to fire upon the enemy., A narrow window seat; a raised shelf at the back or the top of a buffet or dresser. |
| bantering | present participle & vb. noun | of Banter |
| baptismal | adjective | Pertaining to baptism; as, baptismal vows. |
| baptistry | noun | In early times, a separate building, usually polygonal, used for baptismal services. Small churches were often changed into baptisteries when larger churches were built near., A part of a church containing a font and used for baptismal services. |
| baptistic | adjective | Of or for baptism; baptismal. |
| baptizing | present participle & vb. noun | of Baptize |
| barbadian | adjective | Of or pertaining to Barbados., A native of Barbados. |
| barbadoes | noun | A West Indian island, giving its name to a disease, to a cherry, etc. |
| barbarian | noun | A foreigner., A man in a rule, savage, or uncivilized state., A person destitute of culture., A cruel, savage, brutal man; one destitute of pity or humanity., Of, or pertaining to, or resembling, barbarians; rude; uncivilized; barbarous; as, barbarian governments or nations. |
| barbarism | noun | An uncivilized state or condition; rudeness of manners; ignorance of arts, learning, and literature; barbarousness., A barbarous, cruel, or brutal action; an outrage., An offense against purity of style or language; any form of speech contrary to the pure idioms of a particular language. See Solecism. |
| barbarity | noun | The state or manner of a barbarian; lack of civilization., Cruelty; ferociousness; inhumanity., A barbarous or cruel act., Barbarism; impurity of speech. |
| barbarize | verb i. | To become barbarous., To adopt a foreign or barbarous mode of speech., To make barbarous. |
| barbarous | adjective | Being in the state of a barbarian; uncivilized; rude; peopled with barbarians; as, a barbarous people; a barbarous country., Foreign; adapted to a barbaric taste., Cruel; ferocious; inhuman; merciless., Contrary to the pure idioms of a language. |
| barbastel | noun | A European bat (Barbastellus communis), with hairy lips. |
| barbecued | imp. & past participle | of Barbecue |
| barbering | present participle & vb. noun | of Barber |
| barbotine | noun | A paste of clay used in decorating coarse pottery in relief. |
| barefaced | adjective | With the face uncovered; not masked., Without concealment; undisguised. Hence: Shameless; audacious. |
| bargained | imp. & past participle | of Bargain |
| bargainee | verb i. | The party to a contract who receives, or agrees to receive, the property sold. |
| bargainer | noun | One who makes a bargain; — sometimes in the sense of bargainor. |
| bargainor | noun | One who makes a bargain, or contracts with another; esp., one who sells, or contracts to sell, property to another. |
| barkbound | adjective | Prevented from growing, by having the bark too firm or close. |
| barkeeper | noun | One who keeps or tends a bar for the sale of liquors. |
| barmaster | noun | Formerly, a local judge among miners; now, an officer of the barmote. |
| barmcloth | noun | Apron. |
| barmecide | noun | One who proffers some illusory advantage or benefit. Also used as an adj.: Barmecidal. |
| barnabite | noun | A member of a religious order, named from St. Barnabas. |
| barograph | noun | An instrument for recording automatically the variations of atmospheric pressure. |
| barometer | noun | An instrument for determining the weight or pressure of the atmosphere, and hence for judging of the probable changes of weather, or for ascertaining the height of any ascent. |
| barometry | noun | The art or process of making barometrical measurements. |
| baronetcy | noun | The rank or patent of a baronet. |
| baroscope | noun | Any instrument showing the changes in the weight of the atmosphere; also, less appropriately, any instrument that indicates -or foreshadows changes of the weather, as a deep vial of liquid holding in suspension some substance which rises and falls with atmospheric changes. |
| barouchet | noun | A kind of light barouche. |
| barracoon | noun | A slave warehouse, or an inclosure where slaves are quartered temporarily. |
| barracuda | noun | Alt. of Barracouata |
| barrelled | of Barrel, Having a barrel; — used in composition; as, a double-barreled gun. | |
| barreling | present participle & vb. noun | of Barrel |
| barricade | noun | A fortification, made in haste, of trees, earth, palisades, wagons, or anything that will obstruct the progress or attack of an enemy. It is usually an obstruction formed in streets to block an enemy’s access., Any bar, obstruction, or means of defense., To fortify or close with a barricade or with barricades; to stop up, as a passage; to obstruct; as, the workmen barricaded the streets of Paris. |
| barricado | noun & verb t. | See Barricade. |
| barrigudo | noun | A large, dark-colored, South American monkey, of the genus Lagothrix, having a long prehensile tail. |
| barrister | noun | Counselor at law; a counsel admitted to plead at the bar, and undertake the public trial of causes, as distinguished from an attorney or solicitor. See Attorney. |
| barrowist | noun | A follower of Henry Barrowe, one of the founders of Independency or Congregationalism in England. Barrowe was executed for nonconformity in 1953. |
| bartender | noun | A barkeeper. |
| bartering | present participle & vb. noun | of Barter |
| baryphony | noun | Difficulty of speech. |
| basaltoid | adjective | Formed like basalt; basaltiform. |
| baseboard | noun | A board, or other woodwork, carried round the walls of a room and touching the floor, to form a base and protect the plastering; — also called washboard (in England), mopboard, and scrubboard. |
| base viol | See Bass viol. | |
| bashfully | adverb | In a bashful manner. |
| basifugal | noun | Tending or proceeding away from the base; as, a basifugal growth. |
| basihyoid | noun | The central tongue bone. |
| basilical | adjective | Royal; kingly; also, basilican., Pertaining to certain parts, anciently supposed to have a specially important function in the animal economy, as the middle vein of the right arm. |
| basilicas | plural | of Basilica |
| basilican | adjective | Of, relating to, or resembling, a basilica; basilical. |
| basilicok | noun | The basilisk. |
| basilicon | noun | An ointment composed of wax, pitch, resin, and olive oil, lard, or other fatty substance. |
| basketful | noun | As much as a basket will contain. |
| bass drum | The largest of the different kinds of drums, having two heads, and emitting a deep, grave sound. See Bass, a. | |
| basseting | present participle & vb. noun | of Basset, The upward direction of a vein in a mine; the emergence of a stratum at the surface. |
| bass horn | A modification of the bassoon, much deeper in tone. | |
| bass viol | A stringed instrument of the viol family, used for playing bass. See 3d Bass, n., and Violoncello. | |
| bastardly | adjective | Bastardlike; baseborn; spurious; corrupt., In the manner of a bastard; spuriously. |
| bastinade | noun | See Bastinado, n., To bastinado. |
| bastinado | noun | A blow with a stick or cudgel., A sound beating with a stick or cudgel. Specifically: A form of punishment among the Turks, Chinese, and others, consisting in beating an offender on the soles of his feet., To beat with a stick or cudgel, especially on the soles of the feet. |
| bastioned | adjective | Furnished with a bastion; having bastions. |
| batailled | adjective | Embattled. |
| batardeau | noun | A cofferdam., A wall built across the ditch of a fortification, with a sluice gate to regulate the height of water in the ditch on both sides of the wall. |
| batfowler | noun | One who practices or finds sport in batfowling. |
| bathybius | noun | A name given by Prof. Huxley to a gelatinous substance found in mud dredged from the Atlantic and preserved in alcohol. He supposed that it was free living protoplasm, covering a large part of the ocean bed. It is now known that the substance is of chemical, not of organic, origin. |
| batrachia | noun pl. | The order of amphibians which includes the frogs and toads; the Anura. Sometimes the word is used in a wider sense as equivalent to Amphibia. |
| battalion | noun | A body of troops; esp. a body of troops or an army in battle array., A regiment, or two or more companies of a regiment, esp. when assembled for drill or battle., To form into battalions. |
| battening | present participle & vb. noun | of Batten, Furring done with small pieces nailed directly upon the wall. |
| battering | present participle & vb. noun | of Batter |
| batteries | plural | of Battery |
| battle-ax | noun | Alt. of Battle-axe |
| battology | noun | A needless repetition of words in speaking or writing. |
| bawdiness | noun | Obscenity; lewdness. |
| bayoneted | imp. & past participle | of Bayonet |