Thomas Davidson

“ Bee, bē, n. a four-winged insect that makes honey: (U.S.) a gathering of persons to unite their labour for the benefit of one individual or family, or for some joint amusement or exercise, as 'a quilting bee,' 'a husking bee,' 'a spelling bee' (from the bee's habit of combined labour) .—Compound words are Bee′-flow′er, Bee′-gar′den, Bee′-house, Bee′-mas′ter.—ns. Bee′-bread, the pollen of flowers collected by bees as food for their young; Bee′-eat′er, a brightly-plumaged family of birds nearly allied to the kingfisher, which feeds on bees ”

“ Base, bās, n. that on which a thing rests: foot: bottom: foundation: support: the chief ingredient, as in dyeing and chemistry: the starting-point, in a race: the fixed goal across which the ball is struck in hockey, the fixed stations at base-ball: the point from which the operations of a campaign are conducted: a measured line serving as a basis for trigonometrical calculations: the surface on which a plane or solid figure stands: (chem.) a term applied to a compound body, generally consisting of a metal united with oxygen ”

“ Beenah, bē′na, n. a primitive form of marriage (the name taken from Ceylon) in which the man goes to live with his wife's family—he is an unimportant person in the family, and the children are not counted his, but belong to the family and kindred of the wife.
Beer, bēr, n. an alcoholic beverage made by fermentation from malted barley flavoured with hops. It was anciently distinguished from ale by being hopped; now beer is the generic name of malt liquor, including ale and porter.—ns. Beer′-en′gine, Beer′-pump, a machine for drawing beer up from the casks to the bar ”

“ Bear′-ber′ry, a trailing plant of the heath family, a species of the Arbutus; Bear′bine, a species of convolvulus, closely allied to the bindweed; Bear′-gar′den, an enclosure where bears are kept; a rude, turbulent assembly.—adj. Bear′ish, like a bear.—ns. Bear′ishness; Bear′-lead′er, a person who leads about a bear for exhibition: the tutor or governor of a youth at the university or on travel; Bear's′-breech, a common name for plants of the genus Acanthus; Bear's′-ear, a common English name for the auricula; Bear's′-foot, a species of hellebore ”

“ Bead, bēd, n. a little ball pierced for stringing, a series of which forms the rosary or paternoster, used in counting the prayers recited: any small ball of glass, amber, &c. strung in a series to form a necklace: a bead-like drop: the small knob of metal forming the front-sight of a gun—whence the Americanism, To draw a bead upon = to take aim at: (archit.) a narrow moulding with semicircular section.—v.t. to furnish with beads.—v.i. to form a bead or beads.—adj. Bead′ed, furnished with beads.—ns. ”

“ To beat a retreat, to retreat, originally to beat the drum as a signal for retreat; To beat off, to drive back; To beat out, to work out fully, to make gold or silver leaf out of solid metal; To beat the air, to fight to no purpose, or against an imaginary enemy ”

“ Basso, bas′so, n. the same as Bass (1) : also a bass singer.
Bassoon, bas-ōōn′, n. (It. fagotto) a musical wind-instrument filling an important place in the modern orchestra, of the reed species, made of maple-wood or plane-tree, its compass from B flat below the bass stave to C in the treble.—The Double bassoon (It. contrafagotto) sounds an octave lower.—n. Bassoon′ist. [It. bassone, augmentative of basso, low, from root of Base.]
Bass-viol, bās′-vī′ol, n. a musical instrument with four strings, used for playing the bass in concerted music; the violoncello. [See Bass, low, and Viol.] ”

“ Beam′-en′gine, a steam-engine which has a beam connecting the piston-rod with the crank of the wheel-shaft, as distinguished from one that has its piston-rod directly attached to the crank.—adv. Beam′ily.—n. Beam′iness.—adjs. Beam′less, without beams: emitting no rays of light; Beam′y, shining.—A beam sea, one rolling against the ship's side.—Before the beam, the bearing of any object when seen more in advance than on the beam ”

“ Beauty, bū′ti, n. a pleasing combination of qualities in a person or object: a particular grace or excellence: a beautiful person, esp. a woman, also applied collectively to the beautiful women of a special place: (pl.) ”

“ Bee′-moth, a species of moth whose larvæ are very destructive to young bees; Bees′wax, the wax secreted by bees, and used by them in constructing their cells.—v.t. to polish with beeswax.—n. Bees′wing, a filmy crust of tartar formed in port and some other wines after long keeping.—adj. Bees′winged, so old as to show beeswing.—A bee in one's bonnet, a whimsical or crazy fancy on some point. [A. S. béo; Ger. biene.] ”

“ On the port beam similarly applies to the left hand. [A.S. béam, a tree, stock of a tree, a ray of light; Ger. baum, a tree; Gr. phyma, a growth—phy-ein, to grow.]
Bean, bēn, n. the name of several kinds of leguminous plants and their seeds: applied also to the seeds of some other plants, from their bean-like form, as the Calabar bean, &c.—ns. Bean′-feast, an annual dinner given by employers to their hands, perhaps from there having been served on such occasions beans or a Bean′-goose, a species of goose said to be so called from its fondness for devouring new-sown beans ”

“ Bastion, bast′yun, n. a kind of tower at the angles of a fortification.—adj. Bast′ioned. [Fr.—O. Fr. bastir, to build.]
Bat, bat, n. a heavy stick: a flat club for striking the ball in cricket, a club for base-balls, a batsman: the clown's sword in a pantomime: a piece of brick: (slang) rate of speed, style.—v.i. to use the bat in cricket:—pr.p. bat′ting; pa.p. bat′ted.—ns. Bat′ter, Bats′man, one who wields the bat at cricket, &c.; Bat′ting, the management of a bat in playing games: cotton fibre prepared in sheets. ”

“ Bedeguar, bed′e-gar, n. a soft spongy gall found on the branches of some species of roses, esp. the sweet-brier, called also the sweet-brier sponge. [Through Fr. from Pers. and Ar. bādā-war, lit. 'wind-brought.']
Bedel, bē′dl, Bedell, be-del′, archaic forms of Beadle (q.v.) , still used at Oxford and Cambridge.
Bedesman. Same as Beadsman (q.v. under Bead) .
Bedevil, be-dev′il, v.t. to throw into confusion: to 'play the devil' with: to torment: to treat with devilish malignity.—pass. to be possessed of a devil, to be devil-rid.—n. Bedev′ilment. ”

“ Batlet, bat′let, n. a wooden mallet used by laundresses for beating clothes. [Dim. of Bat.]
Batman, bat′man, baw′man, n. a man who has charge of a bathorse. [See Bathorse.]
Baton, bat′on, Batoon, ba-toon′, n. a staff or truncheon, esp. of a policeman: a marshal's staff.—v.t. to strike with a baton.—n. Bat′on-sin′ister, a well-known heraldic indication of illegitimacy, improperly called Bar-sinister, a diminutive of a bend-sinister, not extending to the sides of the shield, so as to resemble a marshal's baton laid diagonally over the family arms from left to right. ”

“ Bed′-staff, a staff or stick formerly used about a bed, in old times a handy weapon, whence perhaps the phrase, 'in the twinkling of a bed-staff;' Bed′stead, a frame for supporting a bed; Bed′straw, the name applied to a genus of the Rubiaceæ, of which eleven species are found in England, the most familiar our Lady's Bedstraw, or Yellow Bedstraw (Galium verum) , sometimes called Cheese Rennet from its property of curdling milk; Bed′swerver (Shak.) , one who is false to his marriage vow; Bed′tick, the case in which feathers, hair, chaff, &c. are put for bedding.—adv. ”

“ Beer′y, of or affected by beer.—Beer and skittles, a phrase used vaguely for Bohemian pleasures, from a simple form supposed to be a rustic ideal.—Bitter beer = pale ale, a highly hopped beer made from the very finest selected malt and hops; Mild or Sweet ale being of greater gravity or strength, and comparatively lightly hopped; Black beer, a kind of beer made at Danzig, black and syrupy; Small beer, weak beer, hence trifling things, as in the familiar phrase, 'to think no small beer of one's self.' [A.S. béor; Ger. and Dut. bier, Ice. bjorr.] ”

“ Bed of down, or roses, any easy or comfortable place.—Lords of the Bedchamber, twelve officers in the British royal household who wait in turn upon the sovereign's person; in the reign of a queen the office is performed by ladies.—To be brought to bed, to be confined in child-birth (with of) ; To keep one's bed, to remain in bed; To lie in the bed one has made, to have to accept the consequences of one's own conduct; To make a bed, to put a bed in order after it has been used. ”

“ Bee′-glue, the soft glutinous matter by which bees fix their combs to the hive; Bee′hive, a case or box in which bees are kept, of straw-work, wood, &c.—Scotch Bee-skep.—adj. shaped like a beehive, dome-shaped.—ns. Bee′-line, the most direct road from one point to another, like the honey-laden bee's way home to the hive ”

“ Beads′woman.—adj. Bead′y, bead-like, small and bright (of eyes) : covered with beads or bubbles.—To say, tell, count one's beads, to offer a prayer. [A.S. bed, gebed, a prayer, from biddan, to pray. See Bid.]
Beadle, bēd′l, n. a mace-bearer (esp. of the 'bedels' or 'bedells,' official attendants of the Oxford and Cambridge vice-chancellors) : a petty officer of a church, college, parish, &c.: a parish officer with the power of punishing petty offenders: in Scotland, used of the 'church-officer' attending on the clergyman: (obs.) ”

“ Bastard, bas′tard, n. a child born of parents not married.—adj. born out of wedlock: not genuine: resembling, but not identical with, the species bearing the name: of abnormal shape or size: false.—n. Bas′tard-bar, a popular but inaccurate name for the baton-sinister in heraldry.—v.t. ”

“ The ety. is very obscure; the words beg and beggar first appear in the 13th century, and Dr Murray thinks the most likely derivation is from the O. Fr. begart, begard, and begar (L. beghardus = beghard) , or its synonym beguine and derivative verb beguigner, beguiner, to act the beguin. ”