Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913 + 1828)

Page 187

Bryony

Bry"o*ny (?), n. [L. bryonia, Gr. , fr. to swell, esp. of plants.] (Bot.) The common name of several cucurbitaceous plants of the genus Bryonia. The root of B. alba (rough or white bryony) and of B. dioica is a strong, irritating cathartic. Black bryony, a plant (Tamus communis) so named from its dark glossy leaves and black root; black bindweed.

Bryophyta

Bry*oph"y*ta (?), n. pl. See Cryptogamia.

Bryozoa

Bry`o*zo"a (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. moss + animal.] (Zoöl.) A class of Molluscoidea, including minute animals which by budding form compound colonies; -- called also Polyzoa. &hand; They are often coralike in form and appearance, each small cell containing an individual zooid. Other species grow in delicate, flexible, branched forms, resembling moss, whence the name. Some are found in fresh water, but most are marine. The three principal divisions are Ectoprocta, Entoprocta, and Pterobranchia. See Cyclostoma, Chilostoma, and Phylactolema.

Bryozoan

Bry`o*zo"an (?), a. (Zoöl.) Of or pertaining to the Bryozoa. -- n. One of the Bryozoa.

Bryozoum

Bry`o*zo"um (?), n. [NL. See Bryozoa.] (Zoöl.) An individual zooid of a bryozoan coralline, of which there may be two or more kinds in a single colony. The zoœcia usually have a wreath of tentacles around the mouth, and a well developed stomach and intestinal canal; but these parts are lacking in the other zooids (Avicularia, Oœcia, etc.).

Buansuah

Bu`an*su"ah (?), n. [Native name.] (Zoöl.) The wild dog of northern India (Cuon primævus), supposed by some to be an ancestral species of the domestic dog.

Buat

Bu"at (?), n. [Scot., of uncertain origin.] A lantern; also, the moon. [Scot.] Sir W. Scott.

Bub

Bub (?), n. Strong malt liquor. [Cant] Prior.

Bub

Bub, n. [Cf. 2d Bubby.] A young brother; a little boy; -- a familiar term of address of a small boy.

Bub

Bub, v. t. [Abbrev. from Bubble.] To throw out in bubbles; to bubble. [Obs.] Sackville.

Bubale

Bu"ba*le (?), n. [Cf. F. bubale. See Buffalo, n.] (Zoöl.) A large antelope (Alcelaphus bubalis) of Egypt and the Desert of Sahara, supposed by some to be the fallow deer of the Bible.

Bubaline

Bu"ba*line (?), a. (Zoöl.) Resembling a buffalo. Bubaline antelope (Zoöl.), the bubale.

Bubble

Bub"ble (?), n. [Cf. D. bobbel, Dan. boble, Sw. bubbla. Cf. Blob, n.]

1. A thin film of liquid inflated with air or gas; as, a soap bubble; bubbles on the surface of a river.

Beads of sweat have stood upon thy brow, Like bubbles in a late disturbed stream. Shak.

2. A small quantity of air or gas within a liquid body; as, bubbles rising in champagne or aërated waters.

3. A globule of air, or globular vacuum, in a transparent solid; as, bubbles in window glass, or in a lens.

4. A small, hollow, floating bead or globe, formerly used for testing the strength of spirits.

5. The globule of air in the spirit tube of a level.

6. Anything that wants firmness or solidity; that which is more specious than real; a false show; a cheat or fraud; a delusive scheme; an empty project; a dishonest speculation; as, the South Sea bubble.

Then a soldier . . . Seeking the bubble reputation Even in the cannon's mouth. Shak.

7. A person deceived by an empty project; a gull. [Obs.] Ganny's a cheat, and I'm a bubble." Prior.

Bubble

Bub"ble, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Bubbled (); p. pr. & vb. n. Bubbling ().] [Cf. D. bobbelen, Dan. boble. See Bubble, n.]

1. To rise in bubbles, as liquids when boiling or agitated; to contain bubbles.

The milk that bubbled in the pail. Tennyson.

2. To run with a gurdling noise, as if forming bubbles; as, a bubbling stream. Pope.

3. To sing with a gurgling or warbling sound.

At mine ear Bubbled the nightingale and heeded not. Tennyson.

Bubbler

Bub"bler, v. t. To cheat; to deceive.

She has bubbled him out of his youth. Addison.

The great Locke, who was seldom outwitted by false sounds, was nevertheless bubbled here. Sterne.

Bubbler

Bub"bler (?), n.

1. One who cheats.

All the Jews, jobbers, bubblers, subscribers, projectors, etc. Pope.

2. (Zoöl.) A fish of the Ohio river; -- so called from the noise it makes.

Bubble shell

Bub"ble shell` (?). (Zoöl.) A marine univalve shell of the genus Bulla and allied genera, belonging to the Tectibranchiata.

Bubbling Jock

Bub"bling Jock` (?) (Zoöl.) The male wild turkey, the gobbler; -- so called in allusion to its notes.

Bubbly

Bub"bly (?), a. Abounding in bubbles; bubbling. Nash.

Bubby

Bub"by (b&ucr;b"b&ycr;), n. [Cf. Prov. G. b\'81bbi, or It. poppa, Pr. popa, OF. poupe, a woman's breast.] A woman's breast. [Low]

Bubby

Bub"by, n. [A corruption of brother.] Bub; -- a term of familiar or affectionate address to a small boy.

Bubo

Bu"bo (?), n.; pl. Buboes (). [LL. bubo the groin, a swelling in the groin, Gr. .] (Med.) An inflammation, with enlargement, of a limphatic gland, esp. in the groin, as in syphilis.

Bubonic

Bu*bon"ic (?), a. Of or pertaining to a bubo or buboes; characterized by buboes.

Bubonocele

Bu*bon"o*cele (?), n. [Gr. groin + tumor: cf. F. bubonoc\'8ale.] (Med.) An inguinal hernia; esp. that incomplete variety in which the hernial pouch descends only as far as the groin, forming a swelling there like a bubo.

Bubukle

Bu"bu*kle (?), n. A red pimple. [R.] Shak.

Buccal

Buc"cal (?), a. [L. bucca cheek: cf. F. buccal.] (Anat.) Of or pertaining to the mouth or cheeks.

Buccaneer

Buc`ca*neer" (?), n. [F. boucanier, fr. boucaner to smoke or broil meat and fish, to hunt wild beasts for their skins, boucan a smoking place for meat or fish, gridiron for smoking: a word of American origin.] A robber upon the sea; a pirate; -- a term applied especially to the piratical adventurers who made depredations on the Spaniards in America in the 17th and 18th centuries. [Written also bucanier.] &hand; Primarily, one who dries and smokes flesh or fish after the manner of the Indians. The name was first given to the French settlers in Hayti or Hispaniola, whose business was to hunt wild cattle and swine.

Buccaneer

Buc`ca*neer", v. i. To act the part of a buccaneer; to live as a piratical adventurer or sea robber.

Buccaneerish

Buc`ca*neer"ish, a. Like a buccaneer; piratical.

Buccinal

Buc"ci*nal (?), a. [L. bucina a crooked horn or trumpet.] Shaped or sounding like a trumpet; trumpetlike.

Buccinator

Buc`ci*na"tor (?), n. [L., a trumpeter, fr. bucinare to sound the trumpet.] (Anat.) A muscle of the cheek; -- so called from its use in blowing wind instruments.

Buccinoid

Buc"ci*noid (?), a. [Buccinum + -oid.] (Zoöl.) Resembling the genus Buccinum, or pertaining to the Buccinidæ, a family of marine univalve shells. See Whelk, and Prosobranchiata.

Buccinum

Buc"ci*num (?), n. [L., a trumpet, a trumpet shell.] (Zoöl.) A genus of large univalve mollusks abundant in the arctic seas. It includes the common whelk (B. undatum).

Bucentaur

Bu*cen"taur (?), n. [Gr. ; ox + centaur.]

1. A fabulous monster, half ox, half man.

2. [It. bucentoro.] The state barge of Venice, used by the doge in the ceremony of espousing the Adriatic.

Buceros

Bu"ce*ros (?), n. [Gr. horned like an ox; ox + horn.] (Zoöl.) A genus of large perching birds; the hornbills.

Bucholzite

Buch"ol*zite (?), n. [So called from Bucholz, a German chemist.] (Min.) Same as Fibrolite.

Buchu

Bu"chu (?), n. (Bot.) A South African shrub (Barosma) with small leaves that are dotted with oil dlands; also, the leaves themselves, which are used in medicine for diseases of the urinary organs, etc. Several species furnish the leaves.

Buck

Buck (?), n. [Akin to LG. b\'81ke, Dan. byg, Sw. byk, G. bauche: cf. It. bucato, Prov. Sp. bugada, F. buée.]

1. Lye or suds in which cloth is soaked in the operation of bleaching, or in which clothes are washed.

2. The cloth or clothes soaked or washed. [Obs.] Shak.

Buck

Buck, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bucked (#); p. pr. & vb. n. Bucking.] [OE. bouken; akin to LG. b\'81ken, Dan. byge, Sw. byka, G. bauchen, beuchen; cf. OF. buer. Cf. the preceding noun.]

1. To soak, steep, or boil, in lye or suds; -- a process in bleaching.

2. To wash (clothes) in lye or suds, or, in later usage, by beating them on stones in running water.

3. (Mining) To break up or pulverize, as ores.

Buck

Buck, n. [OE. buk, bucke, AS. bucca, bua, he-goat; akin to D. bok, OHG. pocch, G. bock, Ir. boc, W. bwch, Corn. byk; cf. Zend bza, Skr. bukka. √256. Cf. Butcher, n.]

1. The male of deer, especially fallow deer and antelopes, or of goats, sheep, hares, and rabbits. &hand; A male fallow deer is called a fawn in his first year; a pricket in his second; a sorel in his third; a sore in his fourth; a buck of the first head in his fifth; and a great buck in his sixth. The female of the fallow deer is termed a doe. The male of the red deer is termed a stag or hart and not a buck, and the female is called a hind. Brande & C.

2. A gay, dashing young fellow; a fop; a dandy.

The leading bucks of the day. Thackeray.

3. A male Indian or negro. [Colloq. U.S.] &hand; The word buck is much used in composition for the names of antelopes; as, bush buck, spring buck. Blue buck. See under Blue. -- Water buck, a South African variety of antelope (Kobus ellipsiprymnus). See Illust. of Antelope.

Buck

Buck (?), v. i.
1. To copulate, as bucks and does.
2. To spring with quick plunging leaps, descending with the fore legs rigid and the head held as low down as possible; -- said of a vicious horse or mule.
Buck
Buck, v. t.
1. (Mil.) To subject to a mode of punishment which consists in tying the wrists together, passing the arms over the bent knees, and putting a stick across the arms and in the angle formed by the knees.
2. To throw by bucking. See Buck, v. i., 2.

The brute that he was riding had nearly bucked him out of the saddle. W. E. Norris.

Buck

Buck, n. A frame on which firewood is sawed; a sawhorse; a sawbuck. Buck saw, a saw set in a frame and used for sawing wood on a sawhorse.

Buck

Buck, n. [See Beech, n.] The beech tree. [Scot.] Buck mast, the mast or fruit of the beech tree. Johnson.

Buck-basket

Buck"-bas`ket (?), n. [See 1st Buck.] A basket in which clothes are carried to the wash. Shak.

Buck bean

Buck" bean` (?). (Bot.) A plant (Menyanthes trifoliata) which grows in moist and boggy places, having racems of white or reddish flowers and intensely bitter leaves, sometimes used in medicine; marsh trefoil; -- called also bog bean.

Buckboard

Buck"board` (?), n. A four-wheeled vehicle, having a long elastic board or frame resting on the bolsters or axletrees, and a seat or seats placed transversely upon it; -- called also buck wagon.

Bucker

Buck"er (?), n. (Mining)

1. One who bucks ore.

2. A broad-headed hammer used in bucking ore.

Bucker

Buck"er, n. A horse or mule that bucks.

Bucket

Buck"et (?), n. [OE. boket; cf. AS. buc pitcher, or Corn. buket tub.]

1. A vessel for drawing up water from a well, or for catching, holding, or carrying water, sap, or other liquids.

The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket, The moss-covered bucket, which hung in the well. Wordsworth.

2. A vessel (as a tub or scoop) for hoisting and conveying coal, ore, grain, etc.

3. (Mach.) One of the receptacles on the rim of a water wheel into which the water rushes, causing the wheel to revolve; also, a float of a paddle wheel.

4. The valved piston of a lifting pump. Fire bucket, a bucket for carrying water to put out fires. -- To kick the bucket, to die. [Low]

Bucket shop

Buck"et shop` (?). An office or a place where facilities are given for betting small sums on current prices of stocks, petroleum, etc. [Slang, U.S.]

Buckety

Buck"et*y (?), n. [A corruption of buckwheat.] Paste used by weavers to dress their webs. Buchanan.

Buckeye

Buck"eye` (?), n.

1. (Bot.) A name given to several American trees and shrubs of the same genus (æsculus) as the horse chestnut. The Ohio buckeye, ∨ Fetid buckeye, is æsculus glabra. -- Red buckeye is æ. Pavia. -- Small buckeye is æ. paviflora. -- Sweet buckeye, ∨ Yellow buckeye, is æ. flava.

2. A cant name for a native in Ohio. [U.S.] Buckeye State, Ohio; -- so called because buckeye trees abound there.

Buck-eyed

Buck"-eyed` (?), a. Having bad or speckled eyes. A buck-eyed horse." James White.

Buckhound

Buck"hound` (?), n. A hound for hunting deer. Master of the buckhounds, an officer in the royal household. [Eng.]

Buckie

Buck"ie (?), n. (Zoöl.) A large spiral marine shell, esp. the common whelk. See Buccinum. [Scot.] Deil's buckie, a perverse, refractory youngster. [Slang] <-- sic. deil = devil. See deil. -->

Bucking

Buck"ing, n.

1. The act or process of soaking or boiling cloth in an alkaline liquid in the operation of bleaching; also, the liquid used. Tomlinson.

2. A washing.

3. The process of breaking up or pulverizing ores. Bucking iron (Mining), a broad-faced hammer, used in bucking or breaking up ores. -- Bucking kier (Manuf.), a large circular boiler, or kier, used in bleaching. -- Bucking stool, a washing block.

Buckish

Buck"ish, a. Dandified; foppish.

Buckle

Buc"kle (?), n. [OE. bocle buckle, boss of a shield, OF. bocle, F. boucle, boss of a shield, ring, fr. L. buccula a little cheek or mouth, dim. of bucca cheek; this boss or knob resembling a cheek.]

1. A device, usually of metal, consisting of a frame with one more movable tongues or catches, used for fastening things together, as parts of dress or harness, by means of a strap passing through the frame and pierced by the tongue.

2. A distortion bulge, bend, or kink, as in a saw blade or a plate of sheet metal. Knight.

3. A curl of hair, esp. a kind of crisp curl formerly worn; also, the state of being curled.

Earlocks in tight buckles on each side of a lantern face. W. Irving.

Lets his wig lie in buckle for a whole half year. Addison.

4. A contorted expression, as of the face. [R.]

'Gainst nature armed by gravity, His features too in buckle see. Churchill.

Buckle

Buc"kle (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Buckled (#); p. pr. & vb. n. Buckling.] [OE. boclen, F. boucler. See Buckle, n.]

1. To fasten or confine with a buckle or buckles; as, to buckle a harness.

2. To bend; to cause to kink, or to become distorted.

3. To prepare for action; to apply with vigor and earnestness; -- generally used reflexively<-- buckle down -->.

Cartwright buckled himself to the employment. Fuller.

4. To join in marriage. [Scot.] Sir W. Scott.