Part 31

BOTH, b[=o]th, _adj._ and _pron._ the two: the one and the other.--_conj._ as well: on the one side. [Ice. _bathi_, Ger. _beide_; A.S. _b[^a]_; cf. L. _am-bo_, Gr. _am-ph[=o]_, Sans. _ubha_, orig. _ambha_.]

BOTHER, bo_th_'[.e]r, _v.t._ to perplex or tease.--_ns._ BOTH'ER; BOTHER[=A]'TION.--_adj._ BOTH'ERSOME. [Murray notes that the word first appeared in the writings of Irish-born men, as Dr Sheridan, Swift, and Sterne. Perh. from Ir. _buaidhirt_, trouble.]

BOTHY, BOTHIE, both'i, _n._ a humble cottage or hut: a temporary house for men engaged in some common work, esp. the barely furnished quarters provided for farm-servants, generally unmarried men, in the eastern and north-eastern counties of Scotland.--The BOTHY SYSTEM is apparently economical, but is detrimental to health and to morality.

BOTON['E], BOTTONY, bot'un-i, _adj._ (_her._) having buds or knobs at the extremity, applied to a cross having each arm terminated in three buds, like trefoil. [O. Fr. See BUTTON.]

BO-TREE, b[=o]'-tr[=e], _n._ the name given in Ceylon to the Pipal or Peepul of India (_Ficus religiosa_), held sacred by the Buddhists, and planted close by every temple. [Singh. _bo_, from Pali _bodhi_, perfect knowledge.]

BOTS, BOTTS, botz, _n._ the larvae of the botfly found in the flesh and in the intestines of animals.--_n._ BOT'FLY, a family of dipterous insects, resembling the blue-bottle fly, which deposit their eggs on cattle. [Ety. unknown; hardly conn. with BITE.]

BOTTINE, bot'[=e]n, _n._ a high boot, a half-boot. [Fr., dim. of _botte_, a boot.]

BOTTLE, bot'l, _n._ a bundle of hay.--TO LOOK FOR A NEEDLE IN A BOTTLE OF HAY, to engage in a hopeless se_arch._ [O. Fr. _botel_.]

BOTTLE, bot'l, _n._ a hollow vessel for holding liquids: the contents of such a vessel: the habit of drinking.--_v.t._ to enclose in bottles.--_n._ BOTT'LE-CHART, one which purports to show the track of sealed bottles thrown from ships into the sea.--_p.adj._ BOTT'LED, enclosed in bottles: shaped or protuberant like a bottle: kept in restraint.--_ns._ BOTT'LE-GLASS, a coarse green glass used in the making of bottles; BOTT'LE-GOURD, or _False Calabash_, a climbing, musky-scented Indian annual, whose fruit is shaped like a bottle, an urn, or a club.--_adjs._ BOTT'LE-GREEN, dark green in colour, like bottle-glass.--BOTT'LE-HEAD, BOTT'LE-NOSED, having a rounded prominent head, with a short snout, as a certain genus of whale.--_ns._ BOTT'LE-HOLD'ER, one who attends upon a boxer at a prize-fight, a backer or supporter generally; BOTT'LE-IMP, an imp supposed to be confined in a bottle; BOTT'LE-WASH'ER, one whose business it is to wash out the bottles, a factotum generally.--A THREE-BOTTLE MAN, one who could drink three bottles without losing his decorum.--TO BOTTLE OFF, to draw from the cask and put into bottles; TO BOTTLE UP (one's wrath, &c.), to keep enclosed as in a bottle; TO BRING UP ON THE BOTTLE, to rear an infant artificially rather than by the breast; TO PASS THE BOTTLE, to make the drink go round; TO PASS THE BOTTLE OF SMOKE, to acquiesce in some falsehood, to make pretence. [O. Fr. _bouteille_, dim. of _botte_, a vessel for liquids--Low L. _butis_, a vessel.]

BOTTOM, bot'um, _n._ the lowest part of anything: that on which anything rests or is founded: the sitting part of the human body: the foot of a page, &c.: low land, as in a valley: the keel of a ship, hence the vessel itself: the fundamental character of anything, as physical stamina, financial resources, &c.: the portion of a wig hanging down over the shoulder, as in 'full-bottom'--full-bottomed wig: (_Shak._) a ball of thread.--_v.t._ to found or rest upon: (_Shak._) to wind round or upon.--_adj._ BOTT'OMED.--_ns._ BOTT'OM-GLADE, a glade or open space in a bottom or valley; BOTT'OM-GRASS (_Shak._) grass growing on bottom lands.--_adj._ BOTT'OMLESS.--_n._ BOTT'OMRY, a contract by which money is borrowed on the security of a ship or bottom.--BOTTOMLESS PIT--hell.--AT BOTTOM, in reality.--FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE HEART, from the very heart.--TO BE AT THE BOTTOM OF, to be the real origin of; TO STAND ON ONE'S OWN BOTTOM, to be independent of; TO TOUCH BOTTOM, to reach the lowest point. [A.S. _botm_; Ger. _boden_; conn. with L. _fundus_, bottom, Gael. _bonn_, the sole.]

BOTTONY. See BOTON['E].

BOUDOIR, b[=oo]d'war, _n._ a lady's private room. [Fr.--_bouder_, to pout, to be sulky.]

BOUFFANT, boof'ang, _adj._ puffed out, in dressmaking. [Fr.]

BOUFFE. See OPERA-BOUFFE.

BOUGAINVILLAEA, b[=oo]g-[=a]n-vil-[=e]'a, _n._ a neotropical genus of Nyctaginaceae, frequently trained over trellises or under the roofs of greenhouses, their triplets of flowers almost concealed by rosy or purple bracts. [From the first French circumnavigator of the globe, Louis Antoine de _Bougainville_ (1729-1811).]

BOUGH, bow, _n._ a branch of a tree: the gallows. [A.S. _b['o]g_, _b['o]h_, an arm, the shoulder (Ger. _bug_, the shoulder, the bow of a ship)--A.S. _bugan_, to bend.]

BOUGHT, bawt, _pa.t._ and _pa.p._ of BUY.--BOUGHT'EN in an archaic form.

BOUGHT, bowt, _n._ a bight or bend: (_Spens._) a twist or coil: the bend of a sling in which the stone is placed. [See BIGHT.]

BOUGIE, b[=oo]'zhi, _n._ an instrument made of elastic, gum, wax, or metal, for distending contracted mucous canals, as the gullet, bowels, or urethra. [Fr. a 'wax candle,' because the instrument was orig. made of waxed linen, from _Bougie_ in Algeria.]

BOUILLABAISSE, b[=oo]-lya-b[=a]s', _n._ a Provencal kind of fish chowder, familiar through Thackeray's appreciative ballad. [Fr.]

BOUILLI, b[=oo]'-y[=e], _n._ boiled or stewed meat.--_n._ BOUILLON (b[=oo]-yong), soup. [Fr. See BOIL.]

BOULDER, b[=o]ld'[.e]r, _n._ a large stone rounded by the action of water: (_geol._) a mass of rock transported by natural agencies from its native bed.--_adj._ containing boulders.--_n._ BOULD'ER-CLAY (see TILL, 4). [Acc. to Wedgwood, from Swed. _bullra_, Dan. _buldre_, to roar like thunder, as large pebbles do.]

BOULEVARD, b[=oo]l'e-v[:a]r, _n._ a broad walk or promenade bordered with trees, originally applied to those formed upon the demolished fortifications of a town.--_n._ BOUL'EVARDIER, a frequenter of the boulevards. [Fr.--Ger. _bollwerk_. See BULWARK.]

BOULEVERSEMENT, b[=oo]l-vers-mang, _n._ an overturning. [Fr.]

BOULT, b[=o]lt, _v.t._ (_Spens._). Same as BOLT (2).

BOUN, BOWNE, bown, _v.t._ (used _refl._) to prepare one's self, to have recourse to.--_v.i._ to prepare, dress: to set out, to go to a place--(_Spens._) BOUND. [_Boun_, earlier form of _bound_--revived by Scott.]

BOUNCE, bowns, _v.i._ to jump or spring suddenly: to bound like a ball, to throw one's self about: (_obs._) to beat: to burst into or out of a room, &c.: to boast, to exaggerate.--_n._ a heavy, sudden blow: a leap or spring: a boast: a bold lie.--_adv._ and _interj._ expressing sudden movement.--_n._ BOUNC'ER, one who bounces: something big: a bully: a liar.--_adj._ BOUNC'ING, large and heavy: lusty: swaggering. [Dut. _bonzen_, to strike, from _bons_, a blow.]

BOUND, bownd, _pa.t._ and _pa.p._ of BIND, confined, bandaged: intimately connected with--'bound up in:' of books, having a cover of, as 'bound in morocco,' &c. (with _in_): under obligation or necessity to, as 'bound to win.'--_n._ BOUND'-BAIL'IFF, a sheriff's officer, so called from his bond given to the sheriff for the discharge of his duty.

BOUND, bownd, _n._ a limit or boundary: the limit of anything, as patience--'to break bounds,' to go beyond what is reasonable or allowable: (_pl._) a border-land, land generally within certain understood limits, the district.--_v.t._ to set bounds to: to limit, restrain, or surround.--_n._ BOUND'ARY, a visible limit: border: termination.--_p.adj._ BOUND'ED, restricted, cramped.--_n._ BOUND'ER, a boisterous or overbearing person.--_adj._ BOUND'LESS, having no limit: vast.--_n._ BOUND'LESSNESS. [O. Fr. _bonne_--Low L. _bodina_, of doubtful origin; cf. Bret. _bonn_, a boundary.]

BOUND, bownd, _v.i._ to spring or leap.--_n._ a spring or leap.--_p.adj._ BOUND'ING, moving forward with a bound: leaping.--BY LEAPS AND BOUNDS, by startlingly rapid stages. [Fr. _bondir_, to spring, in O. Fr. to resound--L. _bombit[=a]re_. See BOOM, the sound.]

BOUND, bownd, _adj._ ready to go--as in 'outward bound,' &c. [Ice. _b['u]inn_, pa.p of _b['u]a_, to prepare.]

BOUNDEN, bownd'n, _adj._ binding: required: obligatory. [From BIND.]

BOUNTY, bown'ti, _n._ liberality in bestowing gifts: the gift bestowed: money offered as an inducement to enter the army, or as a premium to encourage any branch of industry.--_adjs._ BOUN'TEOUS, BOUN'TIFUL, liberal in giving: generous.--_advs._ BOUN'TEOUSLY, BOUN'TIFULLY.--_ns._ BOUN'TEOUSNESS, BOUN'TIFULNESS; BOUN'TIHOOD.--LADY BOUNTIFUL, a character in Farquhar's _Beaux' Stratagem_, now used for the great lady of any district. [O. Fr. _bontet_ (_bont['e]_), goodness--L. _bonitatem_--_bonus_--good.]

BOUQUET, b[=oo]k'[=a], _n._ a bunch of flowers: a nosegay: the perfume exhaled by wine. [Fr. _bosquet_, dim. of _bois_, a wood--It. _bosco_. See BOSCAGE, BUSH.]

BOURASQUE, b[=oo]-rask', _n._ a tempest. [Fr. _bourrasque_; It. _borasco_, a storm.]

BOURBONIST, b[=oo]r'bun-ist, _n._ an adherent of the _Bourbons_, the old French royal dynasty.

BOURD, b[=oo]rd, _n._ (_Spens._) a jest, sport.--_n._ BOURD'ER (_obs._), a jester. [O. Fr. _bourde_, origin unknown.]

BOURDON, b[=oo]r'dun, _n._ the refrain of a song: a bass stop in an organ or harmonium. [See BURDEN.]

BOURDON, b[=oo]r'dun, _n._ (_obs._) a pilgrim's staff: a club. [Fr.--Low L. _burdon-em_, a mule.]

BOURG, burg, _n._ Same as BURGH, BOROUGH.

BOURGEOIS, bur-jois', _n._ a kind of printing type, larger than brevier and smaller than longprimer. [Fr.--perh. from the name of the typefounder.]

BOURGEOISIE, b[=oo]rzh'waw-z[=e], _n._ the middle class of citizens, esp. traders. [From Fr. _bourgeois_, a citizen, often taken as a typical word for the mercantile middle class--used also adjectively, like such in manners or ways of thinking.]

BOURGEON, bur'jun, _v.i._ to put forth sprouts or buds: to grow. [Fr. _bourgeon_, a bud, shoot.]

BOURIGNIAN, b[=oo]r-in'yan, _adj._ of or pertaining to Antoinette _Bourignon_ (1616-80), a religious visionary who made religion consist in inward emotion, not in knowledge or practice.--BOURIGN'IANISM was strong in Scotland about the beginning of the 18th century, and ministers at ordination renounced it down till 1889.

BOURLAW. See BYRLAW.

BOURN, BOURNE, b[=o]rn, or b[=oo]rn, _n._ a boundary, a limit, or goal: (_Keats_) domain. [Fr. _borne_, a limit. See BOUND (2).]

BOURN, BOURNE. See BURN (1).

BOURSE, b[=oo]rs, _n._ an exchange where merchants meet for business. [Fr. _bourse_. See PURSE.]

BOURTREE, b[=oo]r'tr[=e], _n._ the elder-tree--also BOUN'TREE.--_n._ BOUR'TREE-GUN, a pop-gun made of a piece of its wood by taking out the pith. [_Scot._; ety. unknown.]

BOUSE, BOOZE, BOOSE, b[=oo]z, _v.i._ to drink deeply.--_n._ a drinking bout.--_adj._ BOUS'ING, drinking.--_n._ BOUS'INGKEN, a low drinking-shop.--_adj._ BOUS'Y, inclined to bouse: drunken. [Dut. _buysen_, to drink deeply--_buis_, a tube or flask; allied to BOX.]

BOUSTROPHEDON, bow-strof-[=e]'don, _adj._ and _adv._ written ploughwise, alternately from right to left and from left to right--a form of alphabetic writing intermediate between the oldest Greek inscriptions (from right to left, as in Semitic scripts) and the more convenient method of left to right (from 7th century). [Gr.; _bou-strophos_, ox-turning.]

BOUT, bowt, _n._ a turn, trial, or round: an attempt: a contest or trial--a fencing bout, or a continued fit of drinking. [Doublet of BIGHT; from root of BOW, to bend.]

BOUTADE, b[=oo]-tad', _n._ a sudden outburst. [Fr.; _bouter_, to thrust.]

BOUTS-RIM['E]S, b[=oo]-r[=e]-m[=a]', _n.pl._ rhyming words given out by some one of a party as the endings of a stanza, the others having to fill up the lines as best they may. [Fr.]

BOVINE, b[=o]'v[=i]n, _adj._ pertaining to cattle. [L. _bos_, _bovis_, Gr. _bous_, an ox or cow.]

BOVRIL, bov'ril, _n._ a registered trade-mark applied to a special meat extract. [Coined from Gr. _bous_, _bovis_, an ox, and _vril_, the electric fluid represented as the one common origin of the forces in matter, in Lytton's novel _The Coming Race_, 1871.]

BOW, bow, _v.i._ to bend the body in saluting a person, acknowledging a compliment, &c.: to submit.--_v.t._ to bend or incline downwards, to crush down (with _down_, _to_, _in_ or _out_, _up_ or _down_).--_n._ a bending of the body in saluting a person.--_adj._ BOW'-BACKED, crook-backed.--A BOWING ACQUAINTANCE, a slight acquaintance.--TO MAKE ONE'S BOW, to retire ceremoniously, to leave the stage. [A.S. _b['u]gan_, to bend; akin to L. _fug-[)e]re_, to flee, to yield.]

BOW, b[=o], _n._ a piece of elastic wood or other material for shooting arrows, bent by means of a string stretched between its two ends: anything of a bent or curved shape, as the rainbow: the instrument by which the strings of a violin are sounded: a ring of metal forming a handle: a knot composed of one or of two loops and two ends (_single bow_, _double bow_), a looped knot of ribbons, a necktie or the like, so tied.--_adj._ BOW'BENT (_Milton_), bent like a bow.--_n._ BOW'-BOY, a boy archer: (_Shak._) Cupid.--_n.pl._ BOW'-COM'PASSES, compasses, one leg of which slides on a bow or curved plate of metal to steady its motion: a small pair of compasses for describing circles with ink or pencil.--_adj._ BOWED.--_ns._ BOW'-HAND, in archery, the left hand, the one by which the bow is held: (_mus._) the right hand, the one that draws the bow; BOW'-LEG, a leg crooked like a bow.--_adj._ BOW'-LEGGED, having crooked legs.--_ns._ BOW'LINE, a rope from the weather side of the square sails (to which it is fastened by _bridles_) to the larboard or starboard bow, to keep the sail close to the wind; BOW'MAN, an archer; BOW'SHOT, the distance to which an arrow can be shot from a bow; BOW'STRING, the string by which a bow is drawn: a string with which the Turks strangled offenders; BOW'-WIN'DOW, a bent or semicircular window.--_adj._ BOW'-WIN'DOWED (_slang_), pot-bellied.--_n._ BOW'YER (_obs._), a bowman: a maker of bows.--BOWLINE KNOT, a simple but secure knot, used in fastening the bowline bridles to the cringles.--ON THE BOW HAND, wide of the mark.--TO DRAW THE LONG BOW, to make extravagant statements; TO HAVE TWO (or more) STRINGS TO ONE'S BOW, to have other alternatives. [A.S. _boga_; cog. with Ger. _bogen_.]

BOW, bow, _n._ the general name for the stem and forepart of a ship, or that which cuts the water--often used in _pl._, the ship being considered to have starboard and port bows, meeting at the stem.--_ns._ BOW'ER, BOW'ER-ANCH'OR, an anchor at the bow or forepart of a ship--usually two, the _best-bower_ and the _small-bower_; BOW'-OAR, the oar nearest the bow.--A BOLD, or BLUFF, BOW, a broad bow; A LEAN BOW, a narrow one.--ON THE BOW, within 45deg of the point right ahead.

BOWDLERISE, bowd'l[.e]r-[=i]z, _v.t._ to expurgate a book or writing, to remove indelicate words or phrases, esp. to do so unnecessarily.--_ns._ BOWDLERIS[=A]'TION; BOWD'LERISER; BOWD'LERISM. [From Dr T. _Bowdler_ (1754-1825), who published an expurgated Shakespeare in ten volumes in 1818.]

BOWELS, bow'elz, _n.pl._ the interior parts of the body, the entrails, the intestines: the interior part of anything: (_fig._) the heart, pity, tenderness (the emotions being supposed to be seated in the bowels--_B._ and _Shak._).--_v.t._ BOW'EL, to take out the bowels. [O. Fr. _boel_--L. _botellus_, a sausage, also an intestine.]

BOWER, bow'[.e]r, _n._ a shady enclosure or recess in a garden, an arbour: an inner apartment, esp. the private room of a lady, a boudoir.--_n._ BOW'ER-BIRD, an Australian bird of the Starling family, remarkable for its habit of making bower-like erections ornamented with gay feathers, shells, &c.--_adj._ BOW'ERY, containing bowers: shady. [A.S. _b['u]r_, a chamber; Scot, _byre_--root A.S. _b['u]an_, to dwell.]

BOWER, bow'[.e]r, _n._ the name in euchre for the two highest cards, the knave of trumps, and the other knave of the same colour, the _right_ and _left_ bower respectively. [Ger. _bauer_, peasant.]

[Illustration]

BOWIE-KNIFE, b[=o]'i-n[=i]f, _n._ a dagger-knife with a blade about twelve inches long, carried in the southern states of America--so named from its inventor, Colonel _Bowie_.

BOWL, b[=o]l, _n._ a wooden ball used for rolling along the ground.--_v.t._ and _v.i._ to play at bowls: to roll along like a bowl: to throw a ball, as in cricket.--_ns._ BOWL'ER, one who plays at bowls: one who bowls the ball in cricket; BOWL'ING, the act of playing at bowls, or of throwing a ball, as in cricket; BOWL'ING-AL'LEY, a long narrow covered place for bowling; BOWL'ING-GREEN, a green or grassy plat kept smooth for bowling. [Fr. _boule_--L. _bulla_.]

BOWL, b[=o]l, _n._ a basin for domestic use, esp. of earthenware or porcelain, nearly hemispherical in shape: a large punch-bowl, for brewing punch in: a round drinking-cup, rather wide than deep--hence 'the bowl,' 'the flowing bowl,' as synonyms for conviviality; the round hollow part of anything. [A.S. _bolla_. See BOLE.]

BOWLDER, b[=o]ld'[.e]r, _n._ Same as BOULDER.

BOWSE. Same as BOUSE.

BOWSPRIT, b[=o]'sprit, _n._ a strong spar projecting over the stem-head or bows of a sailing-ship, and also of a steamship when her stem is of the curved or cutwater description. [Dut. _boegspriet_.]

BOX, boks, _n._ a tree remarkable for the hardness and smoothness of its wood--also BOX-TREE (_Shak._): a case or receptacle for holding anything: the contents of a box: a small house or lodge, as a _shooting-box_, &c.: in a theatre, a small enclosure with several seats--_the boxes_ = their occupants, the ladies: an old square pew or similar enclosure, as a _sentry-box_, _signal-box_, &c.: the driver's seat on a carriage: the case in which the ship's compass is kept.--_v.t._ to put into or furnish with boxes: (_slang_) to overturn a watchman in his box.--_ns._ BOX'-BED, a kind of bed once common in Scotch cottages, having its ends, sides, and roof of wood, and capable of being closed in front by two sliding panels; BOX'-DAY, one of the Court of Session vacation days when papers ordered to be deposited in court must be lodged.--_adj._ BOX'EN, made of or like boxwood.--_ns._ BOX'ING-DAY, in England, the day after Christmas, when boxes or presents are given; BOX'-[=I]'RON, a hollow smoothing-iron which is heated by a heater put into it; BOX'-KEEP'ER, an attendant who opens the doors of boxes at theatres or other places of public amusement; BOX'-LOBB'Y, the lobby leading to the boxes in a theatre; BOX'WOOD, wood of the box-tree.--IN THE WRONG BOX, in a false position, in a scrape.--TO BE IN A BOX, to be in a fix; TO BOX HARRY, to take a beefsteak, mutton-chop, or bacon and eggs with tea or ale, instead of the regulation dinner of the commercial traveller; TO BOX THE COMPASS, to name the 32 points in their order and backwards, hence to make a complete roundabout in any opinion. [A.S. _box_--L. _buxus_--Gr. _pyxos_, the tree, _pyxis_, a box.]

BOX, boks, _n._ a blow on the head or ear with the hand.--_v.t._ to strike with the hand or fist.--_v.i._ to fight with the fists.--_ns._ BOX'ER; BOX'ING, the act of fighting with the fists: a combat with the fists; BOX'ING-GLOVE, a padded glove worn in boxing.

BOXHAUL, boks'hawl, _v.t._ to veer a ship sharp round on her heel, by putting the helm a-lee, bracing the head-yards flat aback, and hauling to windward the head-sheets.

BOY, boy, _n._ a male child: a lad: a young man generally, used for 'man' in Ireland and elsewhere: (_Shak._) a camp-follower: (_obs._) knave: a native servant in South India, China, a male negro slave or native labourer in the South Seas.--_v.t._ to play the boy.--_n._ BOY'HOOD.--_adj._ BOY'ISH.--_adv._ BOY'ISHLY.--_n._ BOY'ISHNESS.--BOY'S LOVE, a popular name for southernwood; BOY'S PLAY, trifling. [M. E. _boi_, _boy_; Fris. _boi_; Dut. _boef_, Ger. _bube_.]

BOYAR, boy'[:a]r, _n._ an order of the old Russian aristocracy, holding the chief military and civil offices prior to the reforms of Peter the Great.

BOYCOTT, boy'kot, _v.t._ to shut out from all social and commercial intercourse--a kind of secular excommunication. [From Captain _Boycott_ of County Mayo, who was so treated by his neighbours in Dec. 1880.]

BRABBLE, brab'bl, _v.i._ to babble or clamour: to brawl or wrangle.--_n._ (_Shak._) a clamorous contest, a brawl: a quibble. [Dut. _brabbelen_, to stammer, to jabber.]

BRACCIO, brach'yo, _n._ an Italian measure of length, varying from half a yard to a yard:--_pl._ BRACCIA (brach-ya). [It., an arm.]

[Illustration]

BRACE, br[=a]s, _n._ anything that draws together and holds tightly: a bandage: a pair or couple: an instrument of wood or iron used by carpenters and metal-workers for turning boring tools: in printing, a mark connecting two or more words or lines (}): (_pl._) straps for supporting the trousers: ropes for squaring or traversing horizontally the yards of a ship.--_v.t._ to tighten or strengthen, to give firmness to.--_adj._ BRAC'ING, giving strength or tone. [O. Fr. _brace_ (Fr. _bras_), the arm, power--L. _brachium_, Gr. _brachi[=o]n_, the arm, as holding together.]

BRACE, br[=a]s, _v.t._ (_Spens._) to embrace, encompass.

BRACELET, br[=a]s'let, _n._ an ornament for the wrist. [Fr.; dim. of O. Fr. _brac_. See BRACE.]

BRACH, brach, _n._ a dog for the chase, a bitch-hound. [O. Fr. _brachet_, pl. _brach[`e]s_, dim. of _brac_--Low L. _bracco_, of Teut. origin.]

BRACHIAL, brak'i-al, _adj._ belonging to the arm.--BRACHIAL ARTERY, the great arterial trunk supplying the upper extremity between the armpit and the elbow--the direct continuation of the axillary artery. [See BRACE.]

BRACHIOPODA, brak-i-op'o-da, BRACHIOPODS, brak'i-o-pods, _n.pl._ a class of shelled animals having certain affinities with worms and with Polyzoa, but less with molluscs, provided with two long arm-like processes arising from the sides of the mouth, probably respiratory, and certainly serving to waft little food particles to the mouth. [Gr. _brachi[=o]n_, an arm, and _pous_, _pod-os_, a foot.]

BRACHYCEPHALIC, brak-i-sef-al'ik (also sef'-), BRACHYCEPHALOUS, brak-i-sef'al-us, _adj._ short-headed, applied in ethnology to skulls of which the breadth is at least four-fifths of the length--opp. to _Dolichocephalic_.

BRACHYPTEROUS, brak-ip't[.e]r-us, _adj._ lit. short-winged: having wings which, when folded, do not reach to the base of the tail. [Gr. _brachys_, short, _pteron_, a wing.]

BRACK, brak, _n._ a flaw in cloth. [See BREAK.]

BRACKEN, brak'en, _n._ fern. [See BRAKE.]

BRACKET, brak'et, _n._ a support for something fastened to a wall, the ornamental metal pipe bearing gas-lamps, &c.: (_pl._) in printing, the marks [ ] used to enclose one or more words: one of the side pieces of a gun-carriage, supporting the trunnions.--_v.t._ to support by brackets: to enclose by brackets: to group two names, as in an honour list, implying equality. [Fr. _braguette_; Sp. _bragueta_--L. _braca_, _bracae_, breeches.]

BRACKISH, brak'ish, _adj._ saltish: applied to water mixed with salt or with sea-water.--_n._ BRACK'ISHNESS. [Dut. _brak_, brackish; prob. the same as _brak_, refuse.]

BRACT, brakt, _n._ an irregularly developed leaf at the base of the flower-stalk.--_adjs._ BRAC'TEAL, BRAC'TEATE, BRACT'ED, BRAC'TEOLATE.--_n._ BRAC'TEOLE, a little bract at the base of the stalk of a single flower which is itself on a main stalk supporting several flowers.--_adj._ BRACT'LESS, destitute of bracts. [L. _bractea_, a thin plate of metal, gold-leaf.]

BRAD, brad, _n._ a small nail having a slight projection at the top on one side instead of a head.--_n._ BRAD'AWL, an awl to pierce holes. [Scot. _brod_, an instrument for pricking with; Ice. _broddr_, a pointed piece of iron.]

BRADYPEPTIC, brad-i-pep'tik, _adj._ slow of digestion. [Gr. _bradys_, slow, and PEPTIC.]

BRAE, br[=a], _n._ (_Scot._) the slope above a river bank, a hill-slope. [Scand. _br['a]_.]

BRAG, brag, _v.i._ to boast or bluster:--_pr.p._ brag'ging; _pa.p._ bragged.--_n._ a boast or boasting: the thing boasted of: a game at cards, very like poker.--_adj._ BRAG'GING.--_advs._ BRAG'GINGLY, BRAG'LY (_Spens._). [Most prob. Celt.; cf. W. _bragio_, to boast; Ir. _bragaim_. The Fr. _braguer_, to brag, and _bragard_, a braggart, are not the parents of the Eng. word.]

BRAGGADOCIO, brag-a-d[=o]'shi-o, _n._ and _adj._ a braggart or boaster: empty boasting. [From _Braggadochio_, a boastful character in Spenser's _Faerie Queene_.]

BRAGGART, brag'art, _adj._ boastful.--_n._ a vain boaster.--_n._ BRAGG'ARDISM (_Shak._), boastfulness. [Fr. _bragard_, vain, bragging; prob. of Celt. origin; Diez prefers Scand., and quotes Sw. _brak_, Dan. _brag_, &c.]

BRAHMAN, br[:a]'man, BRAHMIN, br[:a]'min, _n._ a person of the highest or priestly caste among the Hindus.--_adjs._ BRAHMAN'IC, -AL, BRAHMIN'IC, -AL, BRAH'MINEE, appropriated to the Brahmans.--_ns._ BRAH'MANISM, BRAH'MINISM, one of the religions of India, the worship of Brahma. [From _Brahma_, the supreme post-Vedic Hindu deity.]

BRAID, br[=a]d, _v.t._ to plait or entwine.--_n._ cord, or other texture made by plaiting.--_p.adj._ BRAID'ED, plaited, embroidered, trimmed with braid.--_n._ BRAID'ING, the act of making braids: embroidery with braid. [A.S. _bregdan_; Ice. _bregdha_, to weave.]

BRAID, br[=a]d, _adj._ (_Shak._) dissembling, deceitful. [A.S. _braegd_, falsehood, from _bregdan_, _braegd_, to weave.]

BRAID, br[=a]d, _v.t._ (_Shak._) to upbraid, to reproach. [Prob. from _Abraid_, or BRAID (1).]

BRAIDISM, br[=a]d'ism, _n._ mesmerism or hypnotism. [From Dr James _Braid_, who practised it about 1842.]

BRAIL, br[=a]l, _n._ a piece of leather to bind up a hawk's wing: (_pl._) the feathers about a hawk's rump: (_naut._) one of the ropes used to truss up a sail.--_v.t._ to haul in, as a sail, by pulling upon the brails. [O. Fr. _brail_--L. _bracale_, a waist-belt for holding up the breeches--_bracae_.]