BRAB'BLE, noun A broil; a clamorous contest; a wrangle.

BRAB'BLE, verb intransitive To clamor; to contest noisily.

BRAB'BLER, noun A clamorous, quarrelsome, noisy fellow; a wrangler.

BRAB'BLING, participle present tense Clamoring; wrangling.

BRACE, noun [Latin brachium; Gr. the arm.]

1. In architecture, a piece of timber framed in with bevel joints, to keep the building from swerving either way. It extends like an arm from the post or main timber.

2. That which holds any thing tight; a cincture or bandage. The braces of a drum are not bands.

3. A pair; a couple; as a brace of ducks. It is used of persons only in contempt, or in the style of drollery.

4. In music, a double curve at the beginning of stave.

5. A thick strap, which supports a carriage on wheels.

6. A crooked line in printing, connecting two or more words or lines; thus boll, bowl. It is used to connect triplets in poetry.

7. In marine language, a rope reeved through a block at the end of a yard, to square or traverse the yard. The name is given also to pieces of iron which are used as supports; such as of the poop lanterns, etc.

8. brace or brasse, is a foreign measure answering to our fathom.

9. Harness; warlike preparation; as we say, girded for battle.

10. Tension; tightness.

11. Braces, plural , suspenders, the straps that sustain pantaloons, etc.

12. The braces of a drum, are the cords on the sides of it, for tightening the heads and snares.

BRACE, verb transitive To draw tight; to tighten; to bind or tie close; to make tight and firm.

1. To make tense; to strain up; as, to brace a drum.

2. To furnish with braces; as, to brace a building.

3. To strengthen; to increase tension; as, to brace the nerves.

4. In marine language, to bring the yards to either side.

To brace about is to turn the yards round for the contrary tack.

To brace sharp is to cause the yards to have the smallest possible angle with the keel.

To brace to is to check or ease off the leg braces, and round-in the weather ones, to assist in tacking.

BRA'CED, participle passive Furnished with braces; drawn close and tight; made tense.

BRA'CELET, noun

1. An ornament for the wrist, worn by ladies. This ornament seems anciently to have been worn by men as well as women.

2. A piece of defensive armor for the arm.

BRA'CER, noun That which braces, binds or makes firm; a band or bandage; also, armor for the arm.

1. An astringent medicine, which gives tension or tone to any part of the body.

BRACH, noun A bitch of the hound kind.

BRACH'IAL, adjective [Latin brachium, form the Celtic braic, brac, the arm.]

Belonging to the arm; as the brachial artery.

BRACH'IATE, adjective [See Brachial.] In botany, having branches in pairs, decussated, all nearly horizontal, and each pair at right angles with the next.

BRACH'MAN

BRACHYG'RAPHER, noun [See the next word.] A writer in short hand.

BRACHYG'RAPHER, n. [See the next word.] A writer in short hand.

BRACHYG'RAPHY, noun [Gr. short, and a writing.] The art or practice of writing in shorthand; stenography.

BRACHYL'OGY, noun [Gr. short, and expression.] In rhetoric, the expressing of any thing in the most concise manner.

BRACK, noun An opening caused by the parting of any solid body; a breach; a broken part.

BRACK'EN, noun Fern. [See Brake.]

BRACK'ET, [Heb. to bend the knee; hence it signifies the knee.]

1. Among workers in timber, an angular wooden stay, in form of the knee bent, to support shelves, scaffolds and the like.

2. The cheek of a mortar carriage, made of strong plank.

3. In printing, hooks; thus, [].

BRACK'ISH, adjective [Gr. to water.] Salt, or salt in a moderate degree; it is applied to any water partially saturated with salt.

BRACK'ISHNESS, noun The quality of being brackish; saltness in a small degree.

BRACK'Y, adjective Brackish. [Not used.]

BRACTE, noun [Latin Ainswroth writes, bractea or brattea.]

In botany, a floral leaf, one of the seven fulcrums or props of plants. It differs from other leaves in shape and color, and is generally situated on the peduncle, so near the corol, as easily to be mistaken for the calyx.

In the Asiatic Researches, 4.354, this word is anglicized, and written bract.

BRAC'TEA

BRAC'TEATE, adjective [from bractea ] Furnished with bractes.

BRAC'TEATE, a. [from bractea.] Furnished with bractes.

BRAC'TED, adjective Furnished with bractes.

BRAC'TEOLATE, adjective Furnished with bracteoles.

BRAC'TEOLE, noun A little bract.

BRAD, in Sax., is broad, and occurs in names; as in Bradford, broadford.

BRAD, noun A particular kind of nail, used in floors and other work, where it is deemed proper to drive nails entirely into the wood. For this purpose, it is made without a broad head or shoulder over the shank.

BRAD'YPUS, noun The sloth, which see.

BRAG, verb intransitive [Eng. to brag ]

To boast; to display one's actions, merits or advantages ostentatiously; to tell boastful stories; followed by of; as, to brag of a good horse, or of a feat.

To brag on is vulgar; indeed the word itself is become low, and is not to be used in elegant composition.

BRAG, noun A boast, or boasting; ostentatious verbal display of one's deeds, or advantages; the thing boasted.

Spenser has used this word as an adverb for proudly.

BRAG, noun A game at cards.

BRAGGADO'CIO, noun A puffing, boasting fellow.

BRAG'GARDISM, noun Boastfulness; vain ostentation.

BRAG'GART, noun [brag and art, ard, kind.] A boaster; a vain fellow.

BRAG'GART, adjective Boastful; vainly ostentatious.

BRAG'GER, noun One who brags; a boaster.

BRAG'GET, noun A liquor made by fermenting the wort of ale and mead.

BRAG'GING, participle present tense Boasting.

BRAG'GINGLY, adverb Boastingly.

BRAG'LESS, adjective Without bragging, or ostentation. [Unusual.]

BRAG'LY, adverb Finely; so as it may be bragged of. [Not used.]

BRAH'MA, noun [Latin primus.] The chief deity of the Indian nations, considered as the creator of all things.

BRAHMAN'IC, adjective Pertaining to the Brachmans or Bramins of India.

BRAH'MIN, noun [See Brachman.]

A priest among the Hindoos and other nations of India. There are several orders of Bramins, many of whom are very corrupt in their morals; others live sequestered from the world devoted to superstition and indolence. They are the only persons who understand the Sanscrit, or ancient language of the country, in which their sacred books are written; and to them are European nations indebted for their knowledge of the language. They worship Brama, the supposed creator of the world, but have many subordinate deities.

BRAID, verb transitive [Old Eng. brede.]

1. To weave or infold three or more strands to form one.

2. To reproach. [See Upbraid.]

BRAID, noun A string, cord or other texture, formed by weaving together different strands.

1. A start.

BRAID, adjective Deceitful.

Chaucer used the Saxon word brede, to deceive. This is the figurative sense of braid

BRAIL, noun

1. A piece of leather to bind up a hawk's wing.

2. In navigation, brails are ropes passing through pulleys, on the mizen mast and yard, and fastened to the aftmost leech of the sail in different places, to truss it up close. Also, all ropes employed to haul up the bottoms, lower corners and skirts of the other great sails, for the more ready furling of them.

BRAIL, verb transitive To brail up, is to haul up into the brails, or to truss up with the brails.

BRAIN, noun [Gr. properly the fore part of the head or sinciput, also the brain ]

1. That soft whitish mass, or viscus, inclosed in the cranium or skull, in which the nerves and spinal marrow terminate, and which is supposed to be the seat of the soul or intelligent principle in man. It is divided above into a right and left hemisphere, and below into six lobes. It is composed of a cortical substance, which is external, and a medullary, which is internal. From the brain proceed nine pair of nerves, which are distributed principally to the head and neck.

2. The understanding.

3. The affections; fancy; imagination. [Unusual.]

BRAIN, verb transitive To dash out the brains; to kill by beating out the brains.

1. To conceive; to understand. [Not used.]

BRA'INISH, adjective Hot-headed; furious; as Latin cerebrosus.

BRA'INLESS, adjective Without understanding; silly; thoughtless; witless.

BRA'INPAN, noun [brain and pan.] The skull which incloses the brain.

BRA'INSICK, adjective [brain and sick.] Disordered in the understanding; giddy; thoughtless.

BRA'INSICKLY, adverb Weakly; with a disordered understanding.

BRA'INSICKNESS, noun Disorder of the understanding; giddiness; indiscretion.

BRAIT, noun Among jewelers, a rough diamond.

BRAKE, participle passive of break. [See Break.]

BRAKE, noun [Latin erica; Gr. to break.]

1. brake is a name given to fern, or rather to the female fern, a species of cryptogamian plants, of the genus Pteris, whose fructification is in lines under the margin of the leaf or frond.

2. A place overgrown with brake

3. A thicket; a place overgrown with shrubs and brambles.

4. In the U. States, a thicket of canes, as a cane-brake; but I believe used only in composition.

BRAKE, noun [See Break.] An instrument to break flax or hemp.

1. The handle or lever by which a pump is worked; that is, brac, brachium, an arm.

2. A baker's kneading trough.

3. A sharp bit, or snaffle.

4. A machine for confining refractory horses, while the smith is shoeing them.

5. That part of the carriage of a movable battery or engine which enables it to turn.

6. A large heavy harrow for breaking clods after plowing; called also a drag.

BRA'KY, adjective Full of brakes; abounding with brambles or shrubs; rough; thorny.

BRAM'A, noun The bream, a fish. [See Bream.]

BRAM'A

BRAM'BLE, noun The raspberry bush or blackberry bush; a general name of the genus rubus, of which there are several species. They are armed with prickles; hence in common language, any rough, prickly shrub.

BRAM'BLEBUSH, noun [bramble and bush.] The bramble, or a collection of brambles growing together.

BRAM'BLED, adjective Overgrown with brambles.

BRAM'BLING

BRAM'BLE, noun A bird, a species of fringilla, the mountain finch.

BRAM'IN

BRAM'IN , noun An ancient philosopher of India. The brachmans are a branch of the ancient gymnosophists, and remarkable for the severity of their lives and manners.

BRAMINEE' noun The wife of a Bramin.

BRAM'INESS

BRAMIN'ICAL, adjective Pertaining to the Bramins, or their doctrines and worship; as the Braminical system.

BRAMIN'ICAL, a. Pertaining to the Bramins, or their doctrines and worship; as the Braminical system.

BRAM'INISM, noun The religion, or system of doctrines of the Bramins.

BRAN, noun The outer coat of wheat, rye or other farinaceous grain, separated from the flour by grinding.

BRANC'ARD, noun A horse litter. [Not in use.]

BR'ANCH, noun

1. The shoot of a tree or other plant; a limb; a bough shooting from the stem, or from another branch or bough. Johnson restricts the word to a shoot from a main bough; but the definition warranted neither by etymology nor usage.

A division of a main stem, supporting the leaves and fructification.

An arm of a tree sprouting from the stem.

2. Any arm or extended part shooting or extended from the main body of a thing; as the branch of a candlestick or of an artery. Hence, from similitude, a smaller stream running into a large one, or proceeding from it. Also, the shoot of a stag's horn; an antler.

3. Any member or part of a body, or system; a distinct article; a section or subdivision; as, charity is a branch of christian duty.

4. Any individual of a family descending in a collateral line; any descendant from a common parent or stock.

5. Branches of a bridle, two pieces of bent iron which bear the bit, the cross chains and the curb.

6. In architecture, branches of ogives are the arches of Gothic vaults, traversing from one angle to another diagonally, and forming a cross between the other arches, which make the sides of the square, of which these arches are diagonals.

7. A warrant or commission given to a pilot.

8. A chandelier.

BR'ANCH, verb intransitive To shoot or spread in branches; to ramify, as a plant, or as horns.

1. To divide into separate parts, or subdivisions, as a mountain, a stream, or a moral subject; to ramify.

2. To speak diffusively; to make many distinctions or divisions in a discourse.

3. To have horns shooting out.

BR'ANCH, verb transitive To divide as into branches; to make subordinate divisions.

1. To adorn with needle work, representing branches, flowers, or twigs.

BR'ANCHED, participle passive Divided or spread into branches; separated into subordinate parts; adorned with branches; furnished with branches.

BR'ANCHER, noun One that shoots forth branches.

1. A young hawk when it begins to leave the nest and take to the branches.

BR'ANCHERY, noun The ramifications or ramified vessels dispersed through the pulpy part of fruit.

BR'ANCHINESS, noun Fullness of branches.

BR'ANCHING, participle present tense Shooting in branches; dividing into several subordinate parts.

BR'ANCHING, adjective Furnished with branches; shooting out branches.

BRANCHIOS'TEGOUS, adjective [Gr. gills, and a covering.]

Having gill-covers, or covered gills, as a branchiostegous fish; covering the gills, as the branchiostegous membrane. The branchiostegi are an order of fish in the Linnean system, the rays of whose fins are bony, but whose gill-covers are destitute of bony rays.

BR'ANCHLESS, adjective Destitute of branches, or shoots; without any valuable product; barren; naked.

BR'ANCHLET, noun A little branch; a twig; the subdivision of a branch.

BR'ANCHY, adjective Full of branches; having wide spreading branches.

BRAND, noun

1. A burning piece of wood; or a stick or piece of wood partly burnt, whether burning or after the fire is extinct.

2. A sword, either from brandishing, or from its glittering brightness; now obsolete, unless in poetry.

3. A thunder-bolt.

4. A mark made by burning with a hot iron, as upon a criminal, or upon a cask; a stigma; any note of infamy.

BRAND, verb transitive To burn or impress a mark with a hot iron; as, to brand a criminal, by way of punishment; or to brand a cask or any thing else, for the purpose of fixing a mark upon it.

1. To fix a mark or character of infamy, in allusion to the branding of criminals; to stigmatize as infamous; as, to brand a vice with infamy.

BRAND'ED, participle passive Marked with a hot iron; stigmatized.

BRAND'ING, participle present tense Impressing a mark with a hot iron; fixing a stigma or mark of reproach.

BRAND'-IRON

BRAND'ISH, verb transitive

1. To move or wave, as a weapon; to raise, and move in various directions; to shake or flourish; as, to brandish a sword or a cane. It often indicates threatening.

2. To play with; to flourish; as, to brandish syllogisms.

BRAND'ISHED, participle passive Raised and waved in the air with a flourish.

BRAND'ISHER, noun One who brandishes.

BRAND'ISHING, participle present tense Raising and waving in the air; flourishing.

BRAND'LING, noun A kind of worm.

BRAN'DY, noun An ardent spirit distilled from wine. The same name is now given to spirit distilled from other liquors, and in the U. States particularly to that which is distilled from cyder and peaches.

BRAN'GLE, noun [Latin frendeo.] A wrangle; a squabble; a noisy contest or dispute.

BRAN'GLE, verb intransitive To wrangle; to dispute contentiously; to squabble.

BRAN'GLEMENT, noun Wrangle; brangle.

BRAN'GLING, noun A quarrel.

BRANK, noun

1. Buckwheat, a species of polygonum; a grain cultivated mostly for beasts and poultry; but in the U. States, the flour is much used for making breakfast cakes.

2. In some parts of England and Scotland, a scolding-bridle, an instrument for correcting scolding women. It consists of a headpiece, which incloses the head of the offender, and of a sharp iron which enters the mouth and restrains the tongue.

BRANK'URSINE, noun [brank and ursus, a bear.]

Bear's-breech, or acanthus, a genus of plants of several species. The leaves of the common sort are said to have furnished the model of the Corinthian capitals.

BRAN'LIN, noun A species of fish of the salmon kind, in some places called the fingry, from five or six black lines or marks on each side resembling fingers. It is found in rapid streams.

BRAN'NY, adjective [from bran.] Having the appearance of bran; consisting of bran.

BRAN'SLE, noun A brawl, or dance. [Not used.]

BRANT, noun A species of anas or the goose kind; called also brent and brand-goose, which see.

BRANT, , adjective Steep.

BRA'SEN, adjective brazn. Made of brass. [See Brass and Brazen.]

BRA'SIER, noun brazhur. An artificer who works in brass.

1. A pan for holding coals.

BRASIL. [See Brazil.]

BR'ASS, noun

1. An alloy of copper and zink, of a yellow color; usually containing about one third of its weight of zink, but the proportions are variable. The best brass is made by cementation of calamine or the oxyd of zink with granulated copper.

2. Impudence; a brazen face.

BR'ASSE, noun The pale spotted perch, with two long teeth on each side; the lucio-perca.

BRAS'SICA, noun [Latin] Cabbage.

BR'ASSINESS, noun A quality of brass; the appearance of brass.

BR'ASSY, adjective Pertaining to brass; partaking of brass; hard as brass; having the color of brass.

1. Impudent; impudently bold.

BRAST, adjective Burst. [Not in use.]

BRAT, noun A child, so called in contempt.

1. Offspring; progeny.

BRAUL, noun Indian cloth with blue and white striped, called turbants.

BRAVA'DO, noun A boast or brag; an arrogant menace, intended to intimidate.

BRAVE, adjective

1. Courageous; bold; daring; intrepid; fearless of danger; as a brave warrior. It usually unites the sense of courage with generosity and dignity of mind; qualities often united.

The brave man will not deliberately do an injury to his fellow man.

2. Gallant; lofty; graceful; having a noble mien.

3. Magnificent; grand; as a brave place.

4. Excellent; noble; dignified. But in modern usage, it has nearly lost its application to things.

5. Gaudy; showy in dress.

BRAVE, noun A hector; a man daring beyond discretion or decency.

Hot braves like these may fight.

1. A boast; a challenge; a defiance.

BRAVE, verb transitive To defy; to challenge; to encounter with courage and fortitude, or without being moved; to set at defiance.

The ills of love I can brave

The rock that braves the tempest.

1. To carry a boasting appearance of; as, to brave that which they believe not.

BRA'VED, participle passive Defied; set at defiance; met without dismay, or being moved.

BRA'VELY, adverb Courageously; gallantly; splendidly; in a brave manner; heroically. In Spenser, finely; gaudily.

BRA'VERY, noun Courage; heroism; undaunted spirit; intrepidity; gallantry; fearlessness of danger; often united with generosity or dignity of mind which despises meanness and cruelty, and disdains to take advantage of a vanquished enemy.

The duelist, in proving his bravery shows that he thinks it suspected.

1. Splendor; magnificence; showy appearance.

The bravery of their tinkling ornaments. Isaiah 3:18.

2. Show; ostentation; fine dress.

3. Bravado; boast.

4. A showy person.

[In the last four senses, this word is nearly antiquated.]

BRA'VING, participle present tense Setting at defiance; challenging.

BRA'VO, noun A daring villain; a bandit; one who sets law at defiance; an assassin or murderer.

BRAWL, verb intransitive [Latin proelior.]

1. To quarrel noisily and indecently.

2. To speak loud and indecently.

3. To roar as water; to make a noise.

BRAWL, verb transitive To drive or beat away.

BRAWL, noun Noise; quarrel; scurrility; uproar.

1. Formerly, a kind of dance.

BRAWL'ER, noun A noisy fellow; a wrangler.

BRAWL'ING, noun The act of quarreling.

BRAWL'INGLY, adverb In a quarrelsome manner.

BRAWN, noun [Latin aprugnus, caro aprugna.]

1. The flesh of a boar, or the animal.

2. The fleshy, protuberant, muscular part of the body.

3. Bulk; muscular strength.

4. The arm, from its muscles or strength.

BRAWN'ED, adjective Brawny; strong.

BRAWN'ER, noun A boar killed for the table.

BRAWN'INESS, noun The quality of being brawny; strength; hardiness.

BRAWN'Y, adjective Musculous; fleshy; bulky; having large, strong muscles; strong.

BRAY, verb transitive

1. To pound, beat or grind small; as, to bray a fool in a mortar. Proverbs 27:22.

2. To make a harsh sound, as of an ass.

3. To make a harsh, disagreeable grating sound.

BRAY, noun The harsh sound or roar of an ass; a harsh grating sound.

1. Shelving ground.

BRAY, noun A bank or mound of earth.

BRA'YER, noun One that brays like an ass.

1. A instrument to temper ink in printing offices.

BRA'YING, participle present tense Pounding or grinding small; roaring.

BRA'YING, noun Roar; noise; clamor.

BRAZE, verb transitive To soder with brass.

1. To harden to impudence; to harden as with brass.

BRA'ZEN, adjective brazn. Made of brass; as a brazen helmet.

1. Pertaining to brass; proceeding from brass; as a brazen din.

2. Impudent; having a front like brass.

Brazen age, or age of brass, in mythology, the age which succeeded the silver age, when men had degenerated from primitive purity.

Brazen dish, among miners, is the standard by which other dishes are gauged, and is kept in the king's hall.

Brazen sea, in Jewish antiquity, a huge vessel of brass, cast on the plain of Jordan, and placed in Solomon's temple. It was ten cubits from brim to brim, five in height, thirty in circumference, and contained 3000 baths. It was designed for the priests to wash themselves in, before they performed the service of the temple.

BRA'ZEN, verb intransitive brazn. To be impudent; to bully.

BRA'ZENLY, adverb In a bold impudent manner.

BRA'ZENNESS, noun Appearance like brass. In this sense, brassiness is the more correct word.

1. Impudence; excess of assurance.

BRAZIER. [See Brasier.]

BRAZIL'

BRAZIL'-WOOD, noun brazil or brazil-wood, or braziletto, is a very heavy wood of a red color, growing in brazil and other tropical countries. It is used in manufactures for dyeing red. It is a species of Caesalpina.

BRAZILET'TO, noun The same as Brazil-wood.

BRAZIL'IAN, adjective Pertaining to Brazil; as, brazilian strand.

BREACH, noun

1. The act of breaking; or state of being broken; a rupture; a break; a gap; the space between the severed parts of a solid body parted by violence; as a breach in a garment, or in a wall.

2. The violation of a law; the violation or non-fulfillment of a contract; the non-performance of a moral duty; non-performance of duty being a breach of obligation, as well as a positive transgression or violation.

Every breach of the public engagements is hurtful to public credit.

3. An opening in a coast. [Not usual.]

4. Separation between friends by means of enmity; difference; quarrel.

5. Infraction; injury; invasion; as a breach upon kingly power.

6. Bereavement; loss of a friend and its consequent affliction.

7. A violation of the public peace, as by a riot, affray, or any tumult which is contrary to law, and destructive to the public tranquillity, is called a breach of the peace.

BREACH, verb transitive To make a breach or opening.

BREAD, noun bred. [Gr. anything esculent. If the word signifies food in general, or that which is eaten, probably it is the Heb. and Ch., from barah, to eat or feed.]

1. A mass of dough, made by moistening and kneading the flour or meal of some species of grain, and baked in an oven, or pan.

2. Food in general.

In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread

Genesis 3:19.

Give us this day our daily bread Lord's Prayer.

3. Support of like in general; maintenance.

Is the reward of virtue, bread?

Bee-bread. [See Bee.]

Ship-bread, bread for ships; hard biscuits.

Cassada-bread. [See Cassada.]

BREAD, verb transitive To spread. [Not used.]

BREAD'-CHIPPER, noun [bread and chip.] One who chips bread; a baker's servant; an under butler.

BREAD'-CORN, noun [bread and corn.] Corn of which bread is made. This in most countries is wheat and rye; but in some countries bread is made of other grain, as of maize in some parts of America.

BREAD'EN, adjective Made of bread. [Little used.]

BREAD'LESS, adjective Without bread; destitute of food.

BREADTH, noun bredth. The measure or extent of any plain surface from side to side; a geometrical dimension, which, multiplied into the length, constitutes a surface; as, the length of a table is five feet, and the breadth three; 5x3=15 feet, the whole surface.

BREADTH'LESS, adjective Having no breadth.

BREAK, verb transitive preterit tense broke, [brake.obs.] participle passive broke or broken.

[Latin frango, fregi, n casual; Heb.to break to free or deliver, to separate.]

1. To part or divide by force and violence, as a solid substance; to rend apart; as, to break a band; to break a thread or a cable.

2. To burst or open by force.

The fountains of the earth were broke open.

3. To divide by piercing or penetrating; to burst forth; as, the light breaks through the clouds.

4. To make breaches or gaps by battering, as in a wall.

5. To destroy, crush, weaken, or impair, as the human body or constitution.

6. To sink; to appall or subdue; as, to break the spirits, or the passions.

7. To crush; to shatter; to dissipate the strength of, as of an army.

8. To weaken, or impair, as the faculties.

9. To tame; to train to obedience; to make tractable; as, to break a horse.

10. To make bankrupt.

11. To discard, dismiss or cashier; as, to break an officer.

12. To crack, to part or divide, as the skin; to open, as an aposteme.

13. To violate, as a contract or promise, either by a positive act contrary to the promise, or by neglect or non-fulfillment.

14. To infringe or violate, as a law, or any moral obligation, either by a positive act or by an omission of what is required.

15. To stop; to interrupt; to cause to cease; as, to break conversation; to break sleep.

16. To intercept; to check; to lessen the force of; as, to break a fall, or a blow.

17. To separate; to part; as, to break company of friendship.

18. To dissolve any union; sometimes with off; as, to break off a connection.

19. To cause to abandon; to reform or cause to reform; as, to break one of ill habits or practices.

20. To open as a purpose; to propound something new; to make a first disclosure of opinions; as, to break one's mind.

21. To frustrate; to prevent.

If plagues or earthquakes break not heaven's design.

22. To take away; as, to break the whole staff of bread. Psalms 105:1.

23. To stretch; to strain; to rack; as, to break one on the wheel.

To break the back, to strain or dislocate the vertebers with too heavy a burden; also, to disable one's fortune.

To break bulk, to begin to unload.

To break a deer, to cut it up at table.

To breakfast, to eat the first meal in the day, but used as a compound word.

To break ground, to plow.

To break ground, to dig; to open trenches.

To break the heart, to afflict grievously; to cause great sorrow or grief; to depress with sorrow or despair.

To break a jest, to utter a jest unexpected.

To break the neck, to dislocate the joints of the neck.

To break off, to put a sudden stop to; to interrupt; to discontinue.

BREAK off thy sins by righteousness. Daniel 4:27.

1. To sever; to divide; as, to break off a twig.

To break sheer, in marine language. When a ship at anchor is in a position to keep clear of the anchor, but is forced by wind or current out of that position, she breaks her sheer.

To break up, to dissolve or put an end to; as, to break up house-keeping.

1. To open or lay open; as, to break up a bed of earth.

2. To plow ground the first time, or after lying long unplowed; a common use in the U. States.

3. To separate; as, to break up a company.

4. To disband; as, to break up an army.

To break upon the wheel, to stretch and break the bones by torture upon the wheel.

To break wind, to give vent to wind from the body backward.

BREAK, verb intransitive To part; to separate; to divide in two; as, the ice breaks; a band breaks.

1. To burst; as, a storm or deluge breaks.

2. To burst, by dashing against something; as, a wave breaks upon a rock.

3. To open, as a tumor or aposteme.

4. To open, as the morning; to show the first light; to dawn.

5. To burst forth; to utter or exclaim.

6. To fail in trade or other occupation; to become bankrupt.

7. To decline in health and strength; to begin to lose the natural vigor.

8. To issue out with vehemence.

9. To make way with violence or suddenness; to rush; often with a particle; as, to break in; to break in upon, as calamities; to break over, as a flood; to break out, as a fire; to break forth, as light or a sound.

10. To come to an explanation.

I am to break with thee upon some affairs. [I believe, antiquated.]

11. To suffer an interruption of friendship; to fall out.

Be not afraid to break with traitors.

12. To faint, flag or pant.

My soul breaketh for longing to thy judgments. Psalms 119:20.

To break away, to disengage itself from; to rush from; also, to dissolve itself or dissipate, as fog or clouds.

To break forth, to issue out.

To break from, to disengage from; to depart abruptly, or with vehemence.

To break in, to enter by force; to enter unexpectedly; to intrude.

To break loose, to get free by force; to escape from confinement by violence; to shake off restraint.

To break off, to part; to divide; also, to desist suddenly.

To break off from, to part from with violence.

To break out, to issue forth; to discover itself by its effects, to arise or spring up; as, a fire breaks out; a sedition breaks out; a fever breaks out.

1. To appear in eruptions, as pustules; to have pustules, or an efflorescence on the skin, as a child breaks out. Hence we have freckle from the root of break

2. To throw off restraint, and become dissolute.

To break up, to dissolve itself and separate; as a company breaks up; a meeting breaks up; a fog breaks up; but more generally we say, fog, mist or clouds break away.

To break with, to part in enmity; to cease to be friends; as, to break with a friend or companion.

This verb carries with it its primitive sense of straining, parting, severing, bursting, often with violence, with the consequential senses of injury, defect and infirmity.

BREAK, noun A state of being open, or the act of separating; an opening made by force; an open place. It is the same word as brack, differently written and pronounced.

1. A pause; an interruption.

2. A line in writing or printing, noting a suspension of the sense, or a stop in the sentence.

3. In a ship, the break of the deck is the part where it terminates, and the descent on to the next deck below commences.

4. The first appearance of light in the morning; the dawn; as the break of day.

BREAKAGE, noun A breaking; also, an allowance for things broken, in transportation.

BREAKER, noun The person who breaks any thing; a violator or transgressor; as a breaker of the law.

1. A rock which breaks the waves; or the wave itself which breaks the waves; or the wave itself which breaks against a rock, a sand bank, or the shore, exhibiting a white foam.

2. A pier, mound or other solid matter, placed in a river, to break the floating ice, and prevent it from injuring a bridge below; called also ice-breaker.

3. One that breaks up ground.

4. A destroyer. Micah 2:13.

BREAK'FAST, noun brek'fast. [break and fast.]

1. The first meal in the day; or the thing eaten at the first meal.

2. A meal, or food in general.

BREAK'FAST, verb intransitive brek'fast. To eat the first meal in the day.

BREAKFAST, verb transitive brekfast. To furnish with the first meal in the morning.

BREAK'FASTING, participle present tense Eating or taking the first meal in the day.

BREAK'FASTING, noun A party at breakfast.

BREAKING, participle present tense Parting by violence; rending asunder; becoming bankrupt.

BREAKNECK, noun [break and neck.] A fall that breaks the neck; a steep place endangering the neck.

BREAKPROMISE, noun [break and promise.] One who makes a practice of breaking his promise. [Not used.]

BREAKVOW, noun [break and vow.] One who habitually breaks his vows. [Not used.]

BREAKWATER, noun [break and water.] The hull of an old vessel sunk at the entrance of a harbor, to break or diminish the force of the waves, to secure the vessels in harbor.

1. A small buoy fastened to a large one, when the rope of the latter is not long enough to reach the surface of the water.

2. A mole, at the mouth of a harbor, intended to break the force of the waves.

BREAM, noun A fish, the Cyprinus brama, an inhabitant of lakes and deep water, extremely insipid and little valued.

BREAM, verb transitive In sea language, to burn off the filth, such as grass, sea week, ooze, etc., from a ship's bottom.

BREAST, noun brest.

1. The soft, protuberant body, adhering to the thorax, which, in females, furnishes milk for infants.

His breasts are full of milk. Job 21:24.

2. The fore part of the thorax, or the fore part of the human body between the neck and the belly.

3. The part of a breast which answers to the breast in man. This, in quadrupeds, is between the fore legs, below the neck.

4. Figuratively, the heart; the conscience; the disposition of the mind; the affections; the seat of the affections and passions.

5. Formerly, the power of singing.

BREAST, verb transitive brest. To meet in front; to oppose breast to breast

BREAST'BONE, noun [breast and bone.] The bone of the breast; the sternum.

BREAST'-C'ASKET, noun [breast and casket.]

One of the largest and longest of the caskets or strings on the middle of the yard of a ship.

BREAST'DEEP, adjective Breast high; as high as the breast.

BREAST'ED, adjective Having a broad breast; having a fine voice.

BREAST'F'AST, noun [breast and fast.] A large rope to confine a ship sidewise to a wharf or key.

BREAST'HIGH, adjective [breast and high.] High as the breast.

BREAST'HOOK, noun [breast and high.] A thick piece of timber placed directly across the stem of a ship to strengthen the fore part and unite the bows on each side.

BREAST'ING, participle present tense Meeting with the breast; opposing in front.

BREAST'KNOT, noun [breast and knot.] A knot of ribins worn on the breast.

BREAST'PLATE, noun [breast and plate.]

1. Armor for the breast.

2. A strap that runs across a horse's breast.

3. In Jewish antiquity, a part of the vestment of the high priest, consisting of a folded piece of the rich embroidered stuff of which the ephod was made. It was set with twelve precious stones, on which were engraved the names of the twelve tribes.

BREAST'PLOW, noun [breast and plow.] A plow, driven by the breast, used to cut or pare turf.

BREAST'ROPE, noun [breast and rope.] In a ship, breast ropes are used to fasten the yards to the parrels, and with the parrels, to hold the yards fast to the mast; now called parrel ropes.

BREATH, noun breth.

1. The air inhaled and expelled in the respiration of animals.

2. Life.

No man has more contempt than I of breath

3. The state or power of breathing freely; opposed to a state of exhaustion from violent action; as, I am out of breath; I am scarce in breath

4. Respite; pause; time to breathe; as, let me take breath; give me some breath

5. Breeze; aid in gentle motion.

Calm and unruffled as a summer's sea,

When not a breath of wind flies o'er its surface.

6. A single respiration; as, he swears at every breath

7. An instant; the time of a single respiration; a single act.

He smiles and he frowns in a breath

8. A word.

A breath can make them, as a breath has made.

BRE'ATHABLE, adjective That may be breathed.

BREATHE, verb intransitive To respire; to inspire and expire air. Hence, to live.

1. To take breath; to rest from action; as, let them have time to breathe

2. To pass as air.

To whose foul mouth no wholesome air breathes in.

BREATHE, verb transitive To inhale as air into the lungs and expel it; as, to breathe vital air.

1. To inject by breathing; to infuse; followed by into.

And the Lord God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. Genesis 2:7.

2. To expire; to eject by breathing; followed by out; as, to breathe out threatening and slaughter.

3. To exercise; to keep in breath.

The greyhounds are as swift as brethed stage.

4. To inspire or blow into; to cause to sound by breathing; as, to breathe the flute.

5. To exhale; to emit as breath; as, the flowers breathe odors or perfume.

6. To utter softly or in private; as, to breathe a vow.

7. To give air or vent to; to open; as, to breathe a vein.

8. To express; to manifest.

Other articles breathe the same severe spirit.

BRE'ATHED, participle passive Inhaled and exhaled; respired; uttered.

BRE'ATHER, noun One that breathes or lives; one that utters; an inspirer, one who animates or infuses by inspiration.

BREATH'FUL, adjective breth'ful. Full of breath; full of odor.

BRE'ATHING, participle present tense Respiring; living; uttering.

1. Exhibiting to the life; as breathing paint.

BRE'ATHING, noun Respiration; the act of inhaling and exhaling air.

1. Aspiration; secret prayer.

2. Breathing-place; vent.

3. Accent; aspiration.

BRE'ATHING-PLACE, noun A pause.

1. A vent.

BREATH'LESS, adjective breth'less. Being out of breath; spent with labor or violent action.

1. Dead; as a breathless body.

BREATH'LESSNESS, noun The state of being exhausted of breath.

BREC'CIA, noun In mineralogy, an aggregate composed of angular fragments of the same mineral, or of different minerals, united by a cement, and presenting a variety of colors. Sometimes a few of the fragments are a little rounded. The varieties are the siliceous, calcarious and trap breccias.

When rounded stones and angular fragments are united by a cement, the aggregate is usually called coarse conglomerate.

BREC'CIATED, adjective Consisting of angular fragments, cemented together.

BRECH'ITE, noun A fossil allied to the Alcyons. It is cylindrical, striated, and its thick end conical, pierced with holes and crested.

BRED, participle passive of breed. Generated; produced; contrived; educated.

BREDE. noun A braid. [Not used.]

BREECH, noun brich. [See Breach and Break.] The lower part of the body behind.

1. Breeches; but rarely used in the singular.

2. The hinder part of any thing.

BREECH, verb transitive To put into breeches.

1. To whip on the breech

2. See Britch.

BREECHES, noun plural brich'es. [Low Latin braccoe.]

A garment worn by men, covering the hips and thighs. It is now a close garment; but the word formerly was used for a loose garment, now called trowsers, laxoe braccoe.

To wear the breeches is, in the wife, to usurp the authority of the husband.

BREECHING, participle present tense brich'ing. Furnishing with breeches, or with a breech. [See Britch.]

1. Whipping the breech; and as a noun, a whipping.

BREECHING, in gunnery on board of ships. [Bee Britching.]

BREED, verb transitive preterit tense and participle passive bred.

1. To generate; to engender; to hatch; to produce the young of any species of animals. I think it is never used of plants, and in animals is always applied to the mother or dam.

2. To produce within or upon the body; as, to breed teeth; to breed worms.

3. To cause; to occasion; to produce; to originate.

Intemperance and lust breed infirmities.

Ambition breeds factions.

4. To contrive; to hatch; to produce by plotting.

Had he a heart and a brain to breed it in?

5. To give birth to; to be the native place of; as, a pond breeds fish; a northern country breeds a race of stout men.

6. To educate; to instruct; to form by education; often, but unnecessarily, followed by up; as, to breed a son to an occupation; a man bred at a university. To breed up is vulgar.

7. To bring up; to nurse and foster; to take care of in infancy, and through the age of youth; to provide for, train and conduct; to instruct the mind and form the manners in youth.

To bring thee forth with pain, with care to breed

BREED, verb intransitive To produce, as a fetus; to bear and nourish, as in pregnancy; as, a female breeds with pain.

1. To be formed in the parent or dam; to be generated, or to grow, as young before birth; as, children or young breed in the matrix.

2. To have birth; to be produced; as, fish breed in rivers.

3. To be increased by a new production.

But could youth last and love still breed

4. To raise a breed; as, to choose the best species of swine to breed from.

BREED, noun A race or progeny from the same parents or stock.

1. A cast; a kind; a race of men or other animals, which have an alliance by nativity, or some distinctive qualities in common; as a breed of men in a particular country; a breed of horses or sheep. Applied to men, it is not elegant. We use race.

2. Progeny; offspring; applied to other things than animals.

3. A number produced at once, a hatch; a brood; but for this, brood is generally used.

BREE'DER, noun The female that breeds or produces, whether human or other animal.

1. The person who educates or brings up; that which brings up.

Italy and Rome have been the best breeders of worthy men.

2. That which produces.

Time is the nurse and breeder of all good.

3. One who raises a breed; one who takes care to raise a particular breed, or breeds, as of horses or cattle.

BREE'DING, participle present tense Bearing and nourishing, as a fetus; engendering; producing; educating.

BREE'DING, noun The act of generating or of producing.

1. The raising of a breed or breeds; as, the farmer attends to the breeding of sheep.

2. Nurture; education; instruction; formation of manners.

She had her breeding at my father's charge.

3. By way of eminence, manners; knowledge of ceremony; deportment or behavior in the external offices and decorums of social life. Hence good breeding is politeness, or the qualifications which constitute genteel deportment.

BREEZE, noun A genus of flies or insects, technically called Tabanus. There are many species, but the most noted is the bovinus, great horsefly, whose mouth is armed with two hooks which penetrate the skin of an animal, while with a proboscis, like a sting, it sucks the blood.

BREEZE, noun [Gr. to boil.]

1. A light wind; a gentle gale.

From land a gentle breeze arose at night.

2. A shifting wind, that blows from the sea or from the land, for a certain time, by night or by day. Such breezes are common in the tropical regions, and in a good degree regular. The wind from the sea is called a sea breeze and that from the land, a land breeze In general, the sea breeze blows in the day time, and the land breeze at night. The like breezes are common, in the summer months, in the temperate latitudes.

BREEZE, verb intransitive To blow gently; a word common among seamen.

For now the breathing airs, from ocean born,

BREEZE up the bay, and lead the lively morn.

BREE'ZELESS, adjective Motionless; destitute of breezes.

BREE'ZY, adjective Fanned with gentle winds or breezes; as the breezy shore.

1. Subject to frequent breezes.

BRE'HON, noun In Irish, a judge. In ancient times, the general laws of Ireland were called brehon laws, unwritten like the common law of England. These laws were abolished by statute of Edward III.

BRE'ISLAKITE, noun A newly discovered Vesuvian mineral, resembling a brownish or reddish brown down, which lines the small bubbles found in the lava of Scalla, and is found in cavities of the lava of Olebano; names from Breislak, a celebrated Italian naturalist.

BREME, adjective [Latin fremo.] Cruel; sharp. [Not used.]

BREN, verb transitive To burn.

BREN'NAGE, noun [from bran.] In the middle ages, a tribute or composition which tenants paid to their lord, in lieu of bran which they were obliged to furnish for his hounds.

BRENT or BRANT, adjective Steep; high.

BRENT, noun A brant, or brand-goose, a fowl with a black neck and a white collar or line round it. [See Brant.]

1. Brunt. [See Bren.]

BREST or BREAST, noun In architecture, the member of a column, more usually called torus or tore. [See Torus.]

BREST'-SUMMER, noun In Architecture, a piece in the outward part of a wooden building, into which the girders are framed. This, in the ground floor, is called a sill, and in the garret floor, a beam.

BRET, noun A local name of the turbot, called also burt or brut.

BRET'FUL, adjective Brimful.

BRETH'REN, noun plural of brother. It is used almost exclusively in solemn and scriptural language, in the place of brothers. [See Brother.]

BREVE, noun [Latin brevis.]

1. In music, a note or character of time, equivalent to two semibreves or four minims. When dotted, it is equal to three semibreves.

2. In law, a writ directed to the chancellor, judges, sheriffs or other officers, whereby a person is summoned, or attached, to answer in the king's court.

This word, in the latter sense, is more generally written brief.

BREVET', noun [from breve.] In the French customs, the grant of a favor or donation from the king, or the warrant evidencing the grant; a warrant; a brief, or commission. More particularly, a commission given to a subaltern officer, written on parchment, without seal.

1. A commission to an officer which entitles him to a rank in the army above his pay. Thus a brevit major serves as a captain and received pay as such. Such commissions were given to the officers of the American Army at the close of the war, giving them a grade of rank above that which they had held during service.

BRE'VIARY, noun [Latin breviarium, from brevis, short. See

Brief.]

1. An abridgment; a compend; an epitome.

2. A book containing the daily service of the Romish church. It is composed of matins, lauds, first, third, sixth and ninth vespers, and the compline or post communion. The Greeks also have a breviary

BRE'VIAT, noun [See Breve and Brief.] A short compend; a summary.

BRE'VIATE, verb transitive To abridge. [Not used.] [See Abbreviate.]

BRE'VIATURE, noun An abbreviation. [See Brief.]

BREVIE'R, noun A small king of printing types, in size between bourgeois and minion. It is much used in printing marginal notes.

BREV'IPED, adjective [Latin brevis, short, and pes, foot.] Having short legs, as a fowl.

BREV'IPED, noun A fowl having short legs.

BREV'ITY, noun [Latin brevitas, from brevis, short. See Brief.]

1. Shortness; applied to time; as the brevity of human life.

2. Shortness; conciseness; contraction into few words; applied to discourses or writings.

BREW, verb transitive

1. In a general sense, to boil, and mix; hence in Saxon, it signifies broth or pottage; Old. Eng. brewis.

2. In a more restricted sense, to make beer, ale or other similar liquor from malt; or to prepare a liquor from malt and hops, and in private families, from other materials, by steeping, boiling and fermentation.

3. To mingle.

BREW me a pottle of sack.

4. To contrive; to plot; as, to brew mischief.

5. To put in a state of preparation.

BREW, verb intransitive To be in a state of preparation; to be mixing, forming or collecting; as, a storm brews in the west. In this sense I do not recollect the use of the verb, in a transitive sense, and generally the participle only is used; as, a storm is brewing.

1. To perform the business of brewing or making beer; as, she can brew wash and bake.

BREW, noun The mixture formed by brewing; that which is brewed.

BREW'AGE, noun Malt liquor; drink brewed.

BREW'ED, participle passive Mixed, steeped and fermented; made by brewing.

BREW'ER, noun One whose occupation is to prepare malt liquors; one who brews.

BREW'ERY, noun A brew-house; the house and apparatus where brewing is carried on.

BREW'ING, participle present tense Preparing malt liquor.

1. In a state of mixing, forming or preparing; as, a storm is brewing

2. Contriving; preparing; as, a scheme is brewing

BREW'ING, noun The act or process of preparing liquors from malt and hops.

1. The quantity brewed at once.

2. Among seamen, a collection of black clouds portending a storm.

BREW'IS, noun Broth; pottage.

1. A piece of bread soaked in boiling fat pottage, made of salted meat.

BRIAR, [See Brier.]

BRIBE, noun

1. A price, reward, gift or favor bestowed or promised with a view to pervert the judgment, or corrupt the conduct of a judge, witness or other person. A bribe is a consideration given or promised to a person, to induce him to decide a cause, give testimony, or perform some act contrary to what he knows to be truth, justice or rectitude. It is not used in a good sense, unless in familiar language.

2. That which seduces.

Not the bribes of sordid wealth can seduce to leave these ever blooming sweets.

BRIBE, verb transitive To give or promise a reward or consideration, with a view to pervert the judgment, or corrupt the conduct. To hire for bad purposes; to purchase the decision of a judge, the testimony of a witness, or the performance of some act contrary to known truth, justice or rectitude.

1. To gain by a bribe

In familiar language, it is sometimes used in a good sense; as, to bribe a child to take a medicine. Dryden has used the word in a good sense, in solemn language; but such use is rare, and hardly legitimate.

BRI'BER, noun One who bribes, or pays for corrupt practices.

BRI'BERY, noun The act or practice of giving or taking rewards for corrupt practices; the act of paying or receiving a reward for a false judgment, or testimony, or for the performance of that which is known to be illegal, or unjust. It is applied both to him who gives, and to him who receives the compensation, but appropriately to the giver.

BRIBE'WORTHY, adjective [bribe and worthy.] Worth bribing to obtain.

BRICK, noun [Latin imbrex, a gutter-tile, from imber, a shower, which is probably a compound, of which the last syllable is from whence.]

A mass of earth, chiefly clay, first moistened and made fine by grinding or treading, then formed into a long square in a mold, dried and baked or burnt in a kiln; used in buildings and walls.

1. A loaf shaped like a brick

BRICK, verb transitive To lay or pave with bricks.

1. To imitate or counterfeit a brick wall on plaster, by smearing it with red ocher and making the joints with an edge-tool, filling them with fine plaster.

BRICK'BAT, noun [brick and bat.] A piece or fragment of a brick.

BRICK'-BUILT, adjective Built with bricks.

BRICK'-CLAY, noun [brick and clay.] Clay used or suitable for making bricks.

BRICK'DUST, noun [brick and dust.] Dust of pounded bricks.

BRICK'EARTH, noun [brick and earth.] Clay or earth used, or suitable for bricks.

BRICK'KILN, noun [brick and kiln.] A kiln, or furnace, in which bricks are baked or burnt, or a pile of bricks, laid loose, with arches underneath to receive the wood or fuel.

BRICK'LAYER, noun [brick and lay.] One whose occupation is to build with bricks; a mason.

BRICKLE, adjective [from break.] Brittle; easily broken. [Not used.]

BRICK'MAKER, noun [brick and make.] One who makes bricks, or whose occupation is to make bricks.

BRICK'WORK, noun The laying of bricks, or a wall of bricks.

BRICK'Y, adjective Full of bricks, or formed of bricks.

BRI'DAL, adjective [See Bride.] Belonging to a bride, or to a wedding; nuptial; connubial; as bridal ornaments.

BRI'DAL, noun The nuptial festival.

BRIDAL'ITY, noun Celebration of the nuptial feast. [Not used.]

BRIDE, noun

1. A woman new married.

But the name is applied to a woman at the marriage festival, before she is married, as well as after the ceremony.

2. A woman espoused, or contracted to be married. The case of Lewellyn, prince of Wales. Henry's Hist.of Britain, B.iv.ch.i., sect.2. [This is the true original sense of the word.]

BRI'DECAKE, noun [bride and cake.] The cake which is made for the guests at a wedding; called, in the U. States, wedding cake.

BRI'DECHAMBER, noun The nuptial apartment. Matthew 9:15.

BRI'DEGROOM, noun A man newly married; or a man about to be married. The passage of Shakespeare cited by Johnson proves that the last definition is just.

As are those dulcet sounds in break of day,

That creep into the dreaming bridegroom's ear,

And summon him to marriage.

BRI'DEGROOM, noun [See bridegroom ]

BRI'DEMAN, noun [bride and man.] A man who attends upon a bridegroom and bride at their marriage. I have generally heard these words pronounced bride's man and bride's maid.

BRI'DERBED, noun [bride and bed.] The marriage bed.

BRI'DERMAID, noun [bride and maid.] A woman who attends on a bride at her wedding.

BRI'DESTAKE, noun A stake or post set in the ground to dance round.

BRI'DEWELL, noun A house of correction, for the confinement of disorderly persons; so called from the palace built near St. Bride's or Bridget's well, in London, which was turned into a workhouse.

BRIDGE, noun

1. Any structure of wood, stone, brick, or iron, raised over a river, pond, or lake, for the passage of men and other animals. Among rude nations, bridges are sometimes formed of other materials; and sometimes they are formed of boats, or logs of wood lying on the water, fastened together, covered with planks, and called floating bridges. A bridge over a marsh is made of logs or other materials laid upon the surface of the earth.

Pendent or hanging bridges are not supported by posts, but by the peculiar structure of the frame, resting only on the abutments.

A draw bridge is one which is made with hinges, and may be raised or opened. Such bridges are constructed in fortifications, to hinder the passage of a ditch or moat; and over rivers, that the passage of vessels need not be interrupted.

A flying bridge is made of pontoons, light boats, hollow beams, empty casks or the like. They are made, as occasion requires, for the passage of armies.

A flying bridge is also constructed in such a manner as to move from one side of a river to the other, being made fast in the middle of the river by a cable and an anchor.

1. The upper part of the nose.

2. The part of a stringed instrument of music, over which the strings are stretched, and by which they are raised.

3. In gunnery, the two pieces of timber which go between the two transoms of a gun-carriage.

BRIDGE, verb transitive To build a bridge or bridges over; as, to bridge a river.

1. To erect bridges on; to make a passage by a bridge or bridges.

BRIDG'ED, participle passive Covered or furnished with a bridge.

BRIDG'ING, participle present tense Erecting a bridge; building a bridge over.

BRIDG'Y, adjective Full of bridges. [Not used.]

BRI'DLE, noun

1. The instrument with which a horse is governed and restrained by a rider; consisting of a head-stall, a bit, and reins, with other appendages, according to its particular form and uses.

2. A restraint; a curb; a check.

3. A short piece of cable well served, attached to a swivel on a chain, laid in a harbor, and the upper end drawn into a ship and secured to the bits. The use is to enable a ship, when moored, to veer with the wind and tide.

Bowline bridles are short legs or pieces of rope, running through iron thimbles, by which the bowline attaches to different places on the leech or edge of a large sail

BRI'DLE, verb transitive To put on a bridle; as, to bridle a horse.

1. To restrain, guide or govern; to check, curb or control; as, to bridle the passions; 'to bridle a muse.'

Bridle the excursions of youth.

BRI'DLE, verb intransitive To hold up the head, and draw in the chin.

BRI'DLED, participle passive Having a bridle on; restrained.

BRI'DLER, noun One that bridles; one that restrains and governs.

BRI'DLING, participle present tense Putting on a bridle; restraining; curbing.

1. Holding up the head, and drawing in the chin.

The bridling frown of wrinkles brows.

BRIEF, adjective [Latin brevis, when brevio, so shorten abbreviate. Brevis, in Latin, is doubtless contracted from the Gr., whence to abridge. The Greek word coincides in elements with break.]

Short; concise; it is used chiefly of language, discourses, writings and time; as a brief space, a brief review of a book. Shakespeare applies it to wars, to nature, etc. A little brief authority is authority very limited.

BRIEF, noun [In this sense the word has been received into most of the languages of Europe.]

1. An epitome; a short or concise writing. This is the general sense of the word, as explained by Zonaras on the council

of Carthage. It was thus used as early as the third century after Christ.

In modern times, an apostolical brief is a letter which the pope dispatches to a prince or other magistrate, relating to public affairs. A brief is distinguished from a bull, in being more concise, written on paper, sealed with red wax, and impressed with the seal of the fisherman or Peter in a boat. A bull is more ample, written on parchment, and sealed with lead or green wax.

2. In law, an abridgment of a client's case, made out for the instruction of council on a trial at law.

Also, a writ summoning a man to answer to any action; or any precept of the king in writing, issuing from any court, whereby he commands a thing to be done.

In Scots law, a writ issuing from the chancery, directed to any judge ordinary, commanding and authorizing that judge to call a jury to inquire into the case, and upon their verdict to pronounce sentence.

3. A letter patent, from proper authority, authorizing a public collection or charitable contribution of money for any public or private purpose.

4. A writing in general.

In music, the word, if I mistake not, is now written breve.

BRIE'FLY, adverb Concisely; in few words.

BRIE'FNESS, noun Shortness; conciseness in discourse or writing.

BRI'ER, noun

1. In a general sense, a prickly plant or shrub. Is.v.6. Judges 8:7.

2. In a limited sense, the sweet-brier and the wild-brier, species of the rose.

BRI'ERY, adjective Full of briers; rough; thorny.

BRIG, the termination of names, signifies a bridge, or perhaps, in some cases, a town, or burg.

BRIG, noun [from brigantine.] A vessel with two masts, square rigged, or rigged nearly like a ship's mainmast and foremast. The term, however, is variously applied by the mariners of different nations.

BRIGA'DE, noun A party or division of troops, or soldiers, whether cavalry or infantry, regular or militia, commanded by a brigadier. It consists of an indeterminate number of regiments, squadrons, of battalions. A brigade of horse is a body of eight or ten squadrons; of infantry, four, five, or six battalions, or regiments.

BRIGA'DE, verb transitive To form into a brigade or into brigades.

BRIGADIE'R, noun The general officer who commands a brigade, whether of horse or foot, and in rank next below a major-general.

BRIG'AND, noun A robber; a free booter; a lawless fellow who lives by plunder, or who belongs to a band of robbers.

BRIG'ANDAGE, noun Theft; robber; plunder.

BRIG'ANDINE, noun Anciently, a coat of mail. The name has ceased to be used, with the disuse of the thing. It consisted of thin jointed scales of plate, pliant and easy to the body.

BRIG'ANTINE, noun [Latin aphractum; Gr. a vessel without a deck, uncovered. It is usually derived from brigand.] [See Brig.]

BRIGHT, adjective brite. [Heb. to shine.]

1. Shining; lucid; luminous; splendid; as a bright sun or star; a bright metal.

2. Clear; transparent; as liquors.

3. Evident; clear; manifest to the mind, as light is to the eyes.

4. Resplendent with charms; as a bright beauty; the brightest fair.

5. Illuminated with science; sparkling with wit; as the brightest of men.

6. Illustrious; glorious; as the brightest period of a kingdom.

7. In popular language, ingenious; possessing an active mind.

8. Promising good or success; as bright prospects.

9. Sparkling; animated; as bright eyes.

BRIGHTEN, verb transitive britn. To make bright or brighter; to make to shine; to increase luster.

1. To make luminous by light from without, or by dispelling gloom; as, to brighten sorrow or prospects.

2. To cheer; to make gay or cheerful.

Joy brightens his crest.

3. To make illustrious, or more distinguished; as, to brighten a character.

4. To make acute or witty.

BRIGHTEN, verb intransitive britn. To grow bright, or more bright; to clear up; as, the sky brightens.

1. To become less dark or gloomy; as, our prospects brighten

BRIGHTLY, adverb britely. Splendidly; with luster.

BRIGHTNESS, noun briteness. Splendor; luster; glitter.

1. Acuteness, applied to the faculties; sharpness of wit; as the brightness of a man's parts.

BRIGO'SE, adjective [from brigue.] Contentious. [Not used.]

BRIGUE, noun breeg. A cabal; intrigue; faction; contention. [Little used.]

BRIGUE, verb intransitive breeg. To canvass; to solicit. [Little used.]

BRILL'IANCY, noun [See Brilliant.] Splendor; glitter; great brightness.

BRILL'IANT, adjective [Eng. beryl and pearl.]

1. Sparkling with luster; glittering; as a brilliant gem; a brilliant dress.

2. Splendid; shining; as a brilliant achievement.

Washington was more solicitous to avoid fatal mistakes, than to perform brilliant exploits.

BRILL'IANT, noun A diamond of the finest cut, formed into angles, so as to refract the light, by which it is rendered more glittering.

1. In the manege, a brisk, high-spirited horse, with a stately carriage.

BRILL'IANTLY, adverb Splendidly.

BRILL'IANTNESS, noun Brilliancy; splendor; glitter.

BRILLS, noun The hair on the eyelids of a horse.

BRIM, noun

1. The rim, lip or broadborder of any vessel or other thing; as the brim of a hat, or of a vessel.

2. The upper edge of a vessel, whether broad or not; as the brim of a cup or glass.

3. The top of any liquor; the edge or that next the border at the top.

The feet of the priests were dipped in the brim of the water. Joshua 3:15.

4. The edge or brink of a fountain; the verge.

BRIM, adjective Public; well known; celebrated. [Not in use.]

BRIM, verb transitive To fill to the brim upper edge, or top.

BRIM, verb intransitive To be full to the brim

BRIM'FUL, adjective [brim and full.] Full to the top; completely full; as a glass brimful; a heart brimful of tears.

BRIM'FULNESS, noun Fulness to the top. [Not used.]

BRIM'LESS, adjective Having no brim.

BRIM'MER, noun A bowl full to the top.

BRIM'MING, adjective Full to the top or brim; as a brimming pail.

BRIM'STONE, noun Sulphur; a hard, brittle, inflammable substance, of a lemon yellow color, which has no smell, unless heated, and which becomes negatively electric by heat and friction. It is found, in great quantities, and sometimes pure, in the neighborhood of volcanoes. It is an ingredient in a variety of minerals and ores. The sulphur of commerce is procured from its natural beds, or artificially extracted from pyrites.

BRIM'STONY, adjective Full of brimstone, or containing it; resembling brimstone; sulphurous.

BRIND'ED, adjective Marked with spots; tabby; having different colors.

BRIN'DLE, noun [from brind, the root of brinded.]

The state of being brinded; spottedness.

BRIN'DLED, adjective spotted; variegated with spots of different colors.

BRINE, noun

1. Water saturated or strongly impregnated with salt, like the water of the ocean. Artificial brine is used for the preservation of the flesh of animals, fish, vegetables, etc.

2. The ocean or sea.

3. Tears, so called from their saltiness.

Leach brine is brine which drops from corned salt in drying, which is preserved to be boiled again.

BRINE, verb transitive To steep in brine as corn to prevent smut; also, to mix salt with, as to brine hay.

BRING, verb transitive

1. To fetch; to bear, convey or lead from a distant to a nearer place, or to a person; as, bring me a book from the shelf; bring me a morsel of bread. In this sense, it is opposed to carry, and it is applied to the person bearing or leading, in opposition to sending or transmitting by another.

2. To produce; to procure as a cause; to draw to.

Nothing brings a man more honor than to be invariably just.

3. To attract or draw along.

In distillation the water brings over with it another substance.

4. To cause to come; to cause to proceed from a distant place, in company, or at the same time; as, to bring a boat over a river; to bring a horse or carriage; to bring a cargo of dry goods.

5. To cause to come to a point, by moral influence; used of the mind, and implying previous remoteness, aversion, alienation, or disagreement; as, to bring the mind to assent to a proposition; or to bring a man to terms, by persuasion or argument. In this sense, it is nearly equivalent to persuade, prevail upon, or induce. The same process is effected by custom, and other causes. Habit brings us to relish things at first disagreeable; reflection brings a man to his senses, and whether the process is slow or rapid, the sense of the verb is the same. To bring to the mind any thing before and forgotten, is to recall; but the sense of bring is the same.

The primary sense is to lead, draw or cause to come; the sense of conveying or bearing is secondary.

The use of this verb is so extensive, and incorporated into so many peculiar phrases, that it is not easy to reduce its significations within any precise limits. In general, the verb bring implies motion from a place remote, either in a literal or figurative sense. It is used with various modifying words.bring back is to recall, implying previous departure, either in a literal or figurative sense.

To bring about, to bring to pass; to effect; to accomplish; to bring to the desired issue.

To bring forth is to produce, as young or fruit; also, to bring to light; that is, to make manifest; to disclose.

To bring forward, to cause to advance; to produce to view.

To bring in, to import; to introduce; to bear from remote place within a certain precinct; to place in a particular condition; to collect things dispersed; to reduce within the limits of law and government; to produce, as income, rent or revenue; to induce to join; etc.

To bring off, to bear or convey from a distant place, as to bring off men from an isle; also, to procure to be acquitted; to clear form condemnation; to cause to escape.

To bring on, to cause to begin, as to bring on an action; also, to originate or cause to exist, as to bring on a disease; also, to bear or convey from a distance, as to bring on a quantity of goods; also, to attend, or to aid in advancing, as to bring one on his way.

To bring over, to bear across, as to bring over dispatches, to bring over passengers in a boat; also, to convert by persuasion or other means; to draw to a new party; to cause to change sides, or an opinion.

To bring out, to expose; to detect; to bring to light from concealment; as, to bring out an accomplice or his crimes.

To bring under, to subdue; to repress; to restrain; to reduce to obedience; also, to bring beneath any thing.

To bring up, to nurse; to educate; to instruct; to feed and clothe; to form the manners, and furnish the mind with knowledge. The phrase may comprehend all these particulars. Also, to introduce to practice, as to bring up a fashion or ceremony; also, to cause to advance near, as to bring up forces, or the body of reserve; also, to bear or convey upwards. In navigation, to cast anchor.

To bring down, to cause to come down; also, to humble or abase, as to bring down high looks.

To bring to, in navigation, to check the course of a ship, by arranging the sails in such a manner, that they shall counteract each other, and keep her nearly stationary. She is then said to lie to. The phrase is used also in applying a rope to the capstan.

To bring by the lee, to incline so rapidly to leeward of the course, when a ship sails large, as to bring the lee side suddenly to the windward, and by laying the sails aback, expose her to the danger of oversetting.

BRING'ER, noun One who brings, or conveys to.

Bringer in, the person who introduces.

Bringer up, an instructor; one who feeds, clothes, and educates; also, one who is in the rear of an army.

BRING'ING, participle present tense Bearing to; conveying; persuading; causing to come.

BRING'ING FORTH, noun Production.

BRI'NISH, adjective [from brine.] Like brine; salt; somewhat salt; saltish.

BRI'NISHNESS, noun Saltness; the quality of being saltish.

BRINK, noun The edge, margin or border of a steep place, as of a precipice, or the bank of a river.

BRI'NY, adjective [from brine.] Pertaining to brine, or to the sea; partaking of the nature of brine; salt; as a briny taste; the briny flood.

BRISK, adjective [This word may be of the same family with frisk, and fresh, which see.]

1. Lively; active; nimble; gay; sprightly; vivacious; applied to animals; as a brisk young man; a brisk cyder.

2. Full of spirit or life; effervescing, as liquors; as brisk cyder.

3. Lively; burning freely; as a brisk fire.

4. Vivid; bright; as, a glass makes an object appear brisk [Not used.]

BRISK UP, verb transitive To make lively; to enliven; to animate.

BRISK UP, verb intransitive To come up with life and speed; to take an erect, or bold attitude.

BRISK'ET, noun The breast of an animal; or that part of the breast that lies next to the ribs. The fore part of the neck of a horse, at the shoulder down to the fore legs.

BRISK'LY, adverb Actively; vigorously; with life and spirit.

BRISK'NESS, noun Liveliness; vigor in action; quickness; gayety; vivacity; effervescence of liquors.

BRIS'TLE, noun bris'l.

1. The stiff glossy hair of swine, especially that growing on the back, used for making brushes; similar hair on other animals.

2. A species of pubescence on plants, in form of stiff roundish hair.

BRIS'TLE, verb transitive To erect in bristles; to erect in defiance or anger, like a swine; as, to bristle the crest.

1. To fix a bristle; as, to bristle a thread.

BRIS'TLE, verb intransitive To rise or stand erect; as, the hair bristles.

1. To raise the head and strut, as in anger or defiance; as, a man bristles up to another. In this sense the word is common in the U. States, but generally pronounced brustle.

BRIS'TLY, adjective bris'ly. Thick set with bristles, or with hairs like bristles; rough.

BRIT, noun A fish; probably a different orthography of bret, or burt.

BRITAN'NIC, adjective Pertaining to Britain; or in its present use, to Great Britain. It is applied almost exclusively to the title of the king; as his britannic Majesty. In the Encyclopedia, article Argo Navis, it is applied to catalogue, the britannic catalogue.

BRITCH, noun The large end of a cannon or of a musket; the club or thick part of the stock of a musket or other fire arm.

BRITCH', verb transitive To fasten with britching.

BRITCH'ING, noun A strong rope, fastened to the cascabel or pummelion of a cannon, by a thimble, and clinched to ring bolts in the ship's side, to prevent it from recoiling too much in battle.

BRITE, or BRIGHT, verb intransitive To be or become over ripe, as wheat, barley or hops. [I know not that this word is used in the U. States.]

BRIT'ISH, adjective Pertaining to Great Britain or its inhabitants. It is sometimes applied to the language of the Welsh.

BRIT'ON, noun A native of Britain.

BRIT'ON, adjective British.

BRIT'TLE, adjective [Heb. to part, to break. See Part.]

Easily broken or easily breaking short, without splinters or loose parts rent from the substance; fragile; not tough or tenacious; as brittle stone or glass.

BRIT'TLELY, adverb In a brittle manner.

BRIT'TLENESS, noun Aptness to break; fragility; opposed to toughness and tenacity.

BRIZE, noun The gad fly. [See Breeze.]

BROACH, noun

1. A spit, and in some parts of the English dominions, an awl, and a bodkin.

2. A musical instrument played by turning a handle.

3. A clasp or small utensil to fasten a vest. [See Brooch.]

4. A start of the head of a young stag.

BROACH, verb transitive

1. To spit; to pierce as with a spit.

2. To tap; to pierce, as a cask, in order to draw the liquor; hence, to let out.

3. To open, as a store. [Unusual.]

4. To utter; to give out; to publish first; to make public what was before unknown; as, to broach an opinion.

To broach to, in navigation, to incline suddenly to windward, so as to lay the sails aback and expose the vessel to the danger of oversetting.

BROACHED, participle passive Spitted; tapped; opened; uttered; first published.

BROACHER, noun A spit; one who broaches, opens or utters; a first publisher.

BROAD, adjective brawd. [Latin gradior; a root of extensive use.]

1. Wide; extended in breadth, or from side to side, as distinguished from long, or extended from end to end. It is opposed to narrow; as a broad street; a broad table.

2. Wide; extensive; vast; as the broad expanse of ocean.

3. Large; as a broad mixture of falsehood.

4. Open; clear; not covered, confined or concealed; as in broad sunshine.

5. Gross; coarse; as broad mirth; broad nonsense.

6. Plain; tending to obscenity; as a broad comment.

7. Bold; not delicate; not reserved; as broad words.

8. Comprehensive.

It may be urged that the words in the constitution are broad enough to include the case.

BROAD as long, equal upon the whole.

BROADEN, verb intransitive brawd'n. To grow broad. [Unusual.]

BROAD'ISH, adjective Rather broad.

BROADLY, adverb In a broad manner.

BROADNESS, noun Breadth; extent from side to side; coarseness; grossness; fulsomeness.

BROCA'DE, noun Silk stuff, variegated with gold and silver, or raised and enriched with flowers, foliage and other ornaments.

BROCA'DED, adjective Woven or worked, as brocade, with gold and silver.

1. Drest in brocade.

BRO'CAGE, noun [See Broke, Broker.]

1. The premium or commission of a broker; the gain or profit derived from transacting business for other men, as brokers, either in a good or bad sense.

2. The hire given for any unlawful office.

3. The trade of a broker; a dealing in old things.

4. The business of a broker; the transactions of commercial business, as buying and selling, for other men. [See Broke, Broker.]

5. The act of pimping.

BRO'CATEL,

BROCATEL'LO, noun A calcarious stone or species of marble, composed of fragments of four colors, white, gray, yellow and red.

1. A kind of coarse brocade, used chiefly for tapestry. Newman says it is made of hemp and silk.

BROCATEL'LO, n. A calcarious stone or species of marble, composed of fragments of four colors, white, gray, yellow and red.

BROC'COLI, noun A variety of cabbage or Brassica.

BROCHE, the true, but not the common orthography of broach.

BROCK, noun A badger; an animal of the genus Ursus, found in the northern parts of Europe and Asia. The Russians call it barsuk.

In Ir. brech is a wolf, a wild savage and a badger.

BROCK'ET, noun [See Brock.] A red deer two years old. Bailey writes this brock or brocket The French write it brocard.

BRO'DEKIN, noun A buskin or half boot.

BROG'GLE, verb intransitive To fish for eels. [Not used.]

BROGUE, noun brog.

1. A shoe. 'Clouted brogues.' in Shakespeare, signify shoes whose soles are studded with nails, or clouts.

2. A cant word for a corrupt dialect or manner of pronunciation.

3. Brogues is used by Shenstone for breeches, from the Irish brog.

BROID, verb transitive To braid. [See Braid.]

BROID'ER, verb transitive To adorn with figures of needle work.

A robe, a broidered coat, and a girdle.

BROID'ERER, noun One that embroiders.

BROID'ERY, noun Embroidery; ornamental needle work wrought upon cloth. [See Embroider.]

BROIL, noun A tumult; a noisy quarrel; contention; discord, either between individuals or in the state.

BROIL, verb transitive To agitate with heat; to dress or cook over coals, before the fire; but more generally upon a gridiron over coals.

BROIL, verb intransitive To be subjected to the action of heat, like meat over the fire; to be greatly heated or to sweat with heat.

Where have you been broiling?

BROIL'ED, participle passive Agitated or dressed by heat.

BROIL'ER, noun One that excites broils; that which dresses by broiling.

BROIL'ING, participle present tense Agitating by heat; sweating.

BROKE, verb transitive [Latin fruor, for frucor, whence fructus, fruit. See Practice.]

To transact business for another in trade; to act as agent in buying and selling, and other commercial business; to transact business by an agent. [This word is little used, at least in America; and English writers seem to have used it in a low sense.]

BROKE, preterit tense and participle passive of break.

BRO'KEN, participle passive of break. bro'kn. Parted by violence; rent asunder; infirm; made bankrupt.

BRO'KENLY, adverb In a broken interrupted manner; without a regular series.

BRO'KENNESS, noun A state of being broken; unevenness.

1. Contrition; as brokenness of heart.

BRO'KENWIND, noun [break and wind.] A disease in horses, often accompanied with a preternatural enlargement of the lungs and heart, which disables them from bearing fatigue.

BRO'KENWINDED, adjective Having short breath, as a horse.

BRO'KER, noun [from broke.]

1. An agent or negotiator, who is employed by merchants to make and conclude bargains for them for a fee or rate per cent., or who transacts other business for his employers.

Brokers are of several kings.

1. Exchange-brokers, who make and conclude bargains for others in matters of money or merchandize, learn the rate of exchange and notify their employers.

2. Stock-brokers, who are employed to buy and sell shares in the stocks, whether of the public funds, of banks or of other corporations.

3. Pawn-brokers, who make it their business to lend money upon pawns, that is, property deposited in pledge.

4. Insurance-brokers, whose business is to procure the insurance of vessels at sea or bound on a voyage.

In the U. States, the business of a stockbroker and an insurance-broker is often or generally carried on by the same person.

2. One who deals in old household goods.

3. A pimp or procurer.

BRO'KERAGE, noun The fee, reward or commission given or charged for transacting business as a broker.

BRO'KERLY, adjective Mean; servile.

BRO'KERY, noun The business of a broker. [Not used.]

BRO'KING, participle present tense Transacting business as a broker; practiced by brokers.

BROME, noun [Gr. foetor.] A liquid of a deep red-brown color, very volatile, and having an ill smell, obtained from the mother-water of salt-works, and from the lixivia of the ashes of sea plants, by treating these solutions with chlorine. It has three times the density of water.

BRONCH'IAL, adjective [Gr. the wind-pipe.] Belong to the bronchia, or ramifications of the wind-pipe in the lungs.

The bronchial arteries are branches of the superior descending aorta accompanying the bronchia, or branches of the trachea.

Bronchial glands, glands at the division of the bronchia.

BRONCH'IC, adjective The same as bronchial.

BRONCH'OCELE, noun [Gr. the wind-pipe, and, a tumor.]

An enlarged thyroid gland; a tumor on the fore part of the neck, called goiter; the Derbyshire neck.

BRONCHOT'OMY, noun [Gr. the wind-pipe, and, a cutting.]

An incision into the wind pipe or larynx, between the rings; called also tracheotomy.

BROND, noun A sword. [See Brand.]

BRONTOL'OGY, noun [Gr. thunder, and discourse.]

A discourse or dissertation upon thunder, containing an explanation of its causes and phenomena.

BRONZ,

BRONZE, noun

1. A compound of copper and tin, to which other metallic substances are sometimes added, especially zink. It is brittle, hard, and sonorous, and used for statues, bells and cannon, the proportions of the respective ingredients being varied to suit the particular purposes.

2. A color prepared for the purpose of imitating bronze, of two kinds, the yellow and the red. The yellow is made of fine copper-dust; the red, of copper-dust with a little pulverized red ocher.

3. Among antiquaries, any figure of men, beasts, urns, or other piece of sculpture, which the ancients made of bronze.

4. Any statue or bust cast of bronze, whether original or a copy of an antique.

5. Among medalists, any copper medal.

BRONZE, verb transitive To imitate bronze, by means of copper-dust or leaf fastened on the outside, as gold-leaf in gilding.

1. To harden, or make like brass.

BRONZE, n.

BRONZ'ING, participle present tense Imitating bronze.

BRONZ'ING, noun The act or art of imitating bronze, by means of copper-dust or leaf.

BRONZ'ITE, noun [from bronze.] A mineral, called by Hauy diallage metalloide, nearly allied to Labrador hornblend, or hyperstene. It has a yellowish brown color and semi-metallic luster, approaching to that of bronze.

Bronzite is regarded by Cleaveland as a subspecies of diallage.

BROOCH, noun broche.

1. An ornamental utensil for fastening the vest, or the bosom of a shirt, as formerly used in America. It is usually made of silver, often round, with a tongue crossing its diameter, sometimes with two tongues. It formerly was used in England, as it was in America, and is still in the highlands of Scotland.

2. A jewel.

3. With painters, a painting all of one color.

BROOCH, verb transitive To adorn or furnish with brooches or jewels.

BROOD, verb intransitive

1. To sit on and cover, as a fowl on her eggs for the purpose of warming them and hatching chickens, or as a hen over her chickens, to warm and protect them.

2. To sit on; to spread over, as with wings; as, to sit brooding over the vast abyss.

3. To remain a long time in anxiety or solicitous thought; to have the mind uninterruptedly dwell a long time on a subject; as, the miser broods over his gold.

4. To mature any thing with care.

BROOD, verb transitive To sit over, cover and cherish; as, a hen broods her chickens.

1. To cherish.

You'll brood your sorrows on a throne.

BROOD, noun Offspring; progeny; formerly used of human beings in elegant works, and we have brother, from this word; but it is now more generally used in contempt.

1. A hatch; the young birds hatched at once; as a brood of chickens or of ducks.

2. That which is bred; species generated; that which is produced.

Lybia's broods of poison.

3. The act of covering the eggs, or of brooding. [Unusual.]

BROOD'ED, participle passive Covered with the wings; cherished.

BROOD'ING, ppr. Sitting on; covering and warming; dwelling on with anxiety.

BROOD'Y, adjective In a state of sitting on eggs for hatching; inclined to sit. [Unusual.]

BROOK, noun [Gr. to rain, to pour, to flow.] A small natural stream of water, or a current flowing from a spring or fountain less than a river. In some parts of America, run is used in a like sense; but run is also applied to larger streams than brook

BROOK, verb transitive [Gr. to eat, to grind the teeth.] Literally, to chew or digest, as the Fr. digerir. Hence,

To bear; to endure; to support; as, young men cannot brook restraint.

BROOK'-LIME, noun [brook and lime.] A plant, a species of Veronica, called becabunga, with blue flowers in loose lateral spikes.

BROOK'-MINT, noun The water mint.

BROOK'-WEED, noun A plant, water pimpernel, the Samolus.

BROOK'Y, adjective Abounding with brooks.

BROOM, noun

1. A plant of several species, called dyer's weed, being used by dyers to give a yellow color, dyer's broom green wood, or wood waxen, dwarf broom all belonging to the genus Genista. broom rape is Orobanche, and with large purple flowers, Lathroea.

Spanish broom is a species of Spartium, and Butcher's broom is the Ruscus.

2. A besom, or brush with a long handle for sweeping floors; so called from being originally made of the broom-plant. In America, brooms are made of the tops of broom-corn, or of some species of wood splintered, chiefly ash. The latter species of broom is furnished by the natives of the country. The original broom made of shrubs or twigs, is still used in stables.

BROOM. [See Bream.]

BROOMING, a ship. [See Bream.]

BROOM'LAND, noun [broom and land.] Land producing broom.

BROOM'RAPE, noun [See Broom.]

BROOM'STAFF

BROOM'STICK, noun [See Staff and Stick.] The staff or handle of a broom.

BROOM'STICK, n. [See Staff and Stick.] The staff or handle of a broom.

BROOM'Y, adjective Full of broom; containing broom.

BROTH, noun brauth.

1. Liquor in which flesh is boiled and macerated, usually with rice and herbs, or some ingredient to give it a better relish.

2. In America, the word is often applied to foaming water, and especially to a mixture of snow and water in the highways which is called snow-broth.

BROTH'EL, noun [A dialectical orthography of bordel, which see.]

A house of lewdness; a house appropriated to the purposes of prostitution; a bawdy house; a stew.

BROTH'ELER, noun One that frequents brothels.

BROTH'ELRY, noun Lewdness; obscenity.

BROTHER, noun plural brothers or brethren. [Latin frater.]

1. A human male born of the same father and mother. A male by one of the parents only is called a half-brother, or brother of the half blood.

2. Any one closely united; an associate; as a band of brothers.

3. One that resembles another in manners.

He that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster. Proverbs 18:9.

In scripture, the term brother is applied to a kinsman by blood more remote that a son of the same parents; as in the case of Abraham and Lot, Jacob and Laban. Persons of the same profession call each other brother as judges, clergymen, professors of religion, members of societies united in a common cause, monks and the like.

Kings give to each other the title of brother address their congregations by the title of brethren. In a more general sense, brother or brethren is used for man in general; all men being children of the same primitive ancestors, and forming one race of beings.

BROTHER-german is a brother by the father's and mother's side, in contradistinction to a uterine brother or by the mother only.

BROTH'ERHOOD, noun [brother and hood.] The state or quality of being a brother.

1. An association of men for any purpose, as a society of monks; a fraternity.

2. A class of men of the same kind, profession, or occupation.

BROTH'ERLESS, adjective Without a brother.

BROTH'ERLIKE, adjective Becoming a brother.

BROTH'ERLOVE, noun Brotherly affection.

BROTH'ERLY, adjective Pertaining to brothers; such as is natural for brothers; becoming brothers; kind; affectionate; as brotherly love.

Shakespeare uses this word as an adverb. 'I speak but brotherly ' But the use is not authorized.

BROUGHT, preterit tense and participle present tense of bring; pronounced braut. [See Bring.]

BROW, noun [Latin palpebra.. It is probably contracted from brg, and signifies an edge, border or projection.]

1. The prominent ridge over the eye, forming an arch above the orbit. The skin of this arch or ridge is moved by muscles, which contract it in a frown and elevate it in joy or surprise. Hence, to know the brows, is to frown.

2. The hair that covers the brow forming an arch, called the eye brow

3. The forehead. Hence, the general air of the countenance.

4. The edge of a steep place, as the brink of a river or precipice; as the brow of a hill.

5. A fringe of coppice, adjoining to the hedge of a field.

BROW, verb transitive To bound; to limit; to form the edge or border of.

BROWN'-ANTLER, noun [brow and antler.] The first start that grows on a deer's head.

1. The branch of a deer's horn next the tail.

BROW'-BEAT, verb intransitive [brow and beat.] To depress or bear down with haughty, stern looks, or with arrogant speech and dogmatic assertions; or in general to bear down by impudence.

BROW'BEATEN, participle passive Overborne by impudence.

BROW'BEATING, participle present tense Overbearing with severe brows, stern looks, or positive assertions.

BROW'BEATING, noun A bearing down with stern looks, supercilious manners, or confident assertions.

BROW'BOUND, adjective [brow and bound.] Crowned; having the head encircled as with a diadem.

BROW'LESS, adjective Without shame.

BROW'-POST, noun [brow and post.] Among builders, a beam that goes across a building.

BROW'-SICK, adjective [brow and sick.] Dejected; hanging the head. [Not used.]

BROWN, adjective Dusky; of a dark or dusky color, inclining to redness; but the shades are various, as Spanish brown London brown clove brown tawny brown brown results from a mixture of red, black and yellow.

BROWN, verb transitive To make brown or dusky.

A trembling twilight o'er the welkin moves,

BROWNs the dim void, and darkens deep the groves.

BROWN'-BILL, noun [brown and bill.] A weapon formerly used by the English foot soldiers. The origin of the name is not stated; but from it brown musket is said to have derived its appellation.

BROWN'ISH, adjective Somewhat brown; inclined to brown.

BROWN'ISM, noun The doctrines or religious creed of the Brownists, who maintained that any body of professing Christians united under one pastor, or communing together, constitute a church independent of any other.

BROWN'IST, noun A follower of Robert Brown, a puritan, or dissenter from the Church of England, who left England with his congregation and settled at Middleburgh in Zealand. He was the head of a party of Independents in Church government.

BROWN'NESS, noun A brown color.

BROWN'Y, adjective Brown. [Not used.]

BROWSE, verb transitive s as z. [Gr. to eat or browse; food, but probably these words may be from sprouts.]

To eat the ends of branches of trees and shrubs or the young shoots, as cattle, or deer.

BROWSE, verb intransitive s as z. To feed on the tender branches or shoots of shrubs and trees, as cattle, sheep and goats.

BROWSE, noun brows. The tender branches or twigs of trees and shrubs, fit for the food of cattle and other animals.

BROWS'ING, participle present tense s as z. Feeding on branches, shrubs, or shoots of trees.

BRU'CIA,

BRU'CINE, noun A new vegetable alkali, extracted from the bark of the false angustura.

BRU'CINE, n. A new vegetable alkali, extracted from the bark of the false angustura.

BRU'CITE, noun A mineral, the chondrodite of Berzelius, which sometimes occurs in grains or imperfect crystals, sometimes in four-sided prisms with rhombic bases. It is so named from the late Dr. Bruce, a distinguished mineralogist of New York.

BRUISE, verb transitive s as z. To crush by beating or pounding with an instrument not edged or pointed. When applied to animal flesh or to vegetables, a bruise is a contusion that impairs the natural solidity and texture of the part, but often without breaking the skin. When applied to minerals and similar substances, it signifies to break them, and often to reduce them to a coarse powder.

BRUISE, noun A contusion; a hurt upon the flesh of animals, upon plants or other bodies, with a blunt or heavy instrument.

BRUISED, participle passive Crushed; hurt or broken by a blunt or heavy instrument.

BRUISER, noun A concave tool for grinding the specula of telescopes.

1. In vulgar language, a boxer.

BRUISEWORT, noun [bruise and wort.] A plant; comfrey.

BRUISING, participle present tense Crushing; breaking or wounding by a blunt or heavy instrument.

BRUISING, noun In popular language, a beating or boxing.

BRUIT, noun Report; rumor; fame.

BRUIT, verb transitive To report; to noise abroad.

BRUM'A

BRU'MAL, noun [Latin bruma winter, brumalis.] Belonging to the winter.

BRUME, noun Mist; fog; vapors. [Little used.]

BRUN, BURN, noun A river or stream.

BRUNET',

BRUNETTE, noun A woman with a brown or dark complexion.

BRUNETTE, n. A woman with a brown or dark complexion.

BRUN'ION, noun A sort of fruit between a plum and a peach.

Brunswick green. An ammoniaco-muriate of copper, used for paper hangings and in oil painting.

BRUNT, noun

1. The heat, or utmost violence of an onset; the strength or violence of any contention; as the brunt of a battle.

2. The force of a blow; violence; shock of any kind.

3. A sudden effort.

BRUSH, noun

1. An instrument for cleaning any thing of dust and dirt by light rubbing, as floors, furniture, boots, etc. Brushes originally were made of shrubs or small branches of trees tied together, and such are yet used for coarse purposes. But the materials most used are bristles set in wood. Painters use a small brush to lay colors on their large pieces. Silversmiths use a wire brush for scrubbing silver, copper or brass, in order to gilding; and there is a method of staining leather by rubbing the color on the skin with a brush

2. Branches of trees lopped off; brushwood; a sense common in the U. States.

3. The small trees and shrubs of a wood; or a thicket of small trees.

4. A skirmish; a slight encounter; also, an assault; a shock, or rude treatment, from collision; as we say a scouring, a rub.

5. In electricity, the luminous appearance of electric matter issuing in diverging rays from a point.

6. A tail; as the brush of a fox.

BRUSH, verb transitive To sweep or rub with a brush; as, to brush a hat.

1. To strike as with a brush; to strike lightly, by passing over the surface, without injury, or impression; as, to brush the arm in passing; to brush the briny flood.

2. To paint with a brush; hence, to brush up is often used for cleansing in general.

3. With off, to remove by brushing, as to brush off dust; also, to carry away by an act like that of brushing, or by passing over lightly, as by wind.

4. To move as a brush; to pass over with a light contact.

BRUSH, verb intransitive To move nimbly in haste; to move so lightly as scarcely to be perceived; as, to brush by.

1. To move or skim over, with a slight contact, or without much impression.

BRUSH'ED, participle passive Rubbed with a brush; struck lightly.

BRUSH'ER, noun One who brushes.

BRUSH'ING, participle present tense Sweeping or rubbing with a brush; striking gently; moving nimbly in haste; skimming over lightly.

BRUSH'ING, adjective Brisk; light; as a brushing gallop.

BRUSH'LIKE, adjective [brush and like.] Resembling a brush.

BRUSH'WOOD, noun [brush and wood.] Brush; a thicket or coppice of small trees and shrubs; also, branches of trees cut off.

BRUSH'Y, adjective Resembling a brush; rough; shaggy; having long hair.

BRUSK, adjective Rude; rough.

BRUS'TLE, verb intransitive brus'l. To crackle; to make a small crackling noise; to rustle, as a silk garment; to vapor, as a bully.

BRUS'TLING, participle present tense Crackling; rustling; vaporing.

BRUT, verb intransitive To browse. [Not in use.]

BRU'TAL, adjective [See Brute.] Pertaining to a brute; as brutal nature.

1. Savage; cruel; inhuman; brutish; unfeeling like a brute; merciless; as brutal courage; brutal manners.

BRUTAL'ITY, noun Inhumanity; savageness; churlishness; insensibility to pity or shame.

BRU'TALIZE, verb transitive To make brutal, churlish or inhuman.

All cruel punishments brutalize the heart.

BRU'TALIZE, verb intransitive To become brutal, inhuman, or coarse and beastly.

BRU'TALLY, adverb Cruelly; inhumanly; in a coarse, churlish, or brutal manner.

BRUTE, adjective [Latin brutus, senseless, irrational.]

1. Senseless; unconscious; as the brute earth.

2. Irrational; ferine; as a brute beast.

3. Bestial; in common with beasts; as brute violence.

4. Rough; uncivilized; insensible; as a brute philosopher.

BRUTE, noun A beast; any animal destitute of reason, and of course the word comprehends all animals except man, but is applied mostly to the larger beasts.

1. A brutal person; a savage in heart or manners; a low bred, unfeeling man.

BRUTE, verb transitive for bruit, to report. [Not used.]

BRU'TELY, adverb In a rude manner.

BRU'TENESS, noun Brutality.

BRU'TIFY, verb transitive To make a person a brute; to make senseless, stupid or unfeeling.

BRU'TISH, adjective Like a brute or beast; as a brutish form.

1. Insensible; stupid; as brutish men.

2. Unfeeling; savage; ferocious; brutal.

3. Gross; carnal; bestial.

4. Ignorant; uncivilized; untaught.

BRU'TISHLY, adverb In the manner of a brute; grossly; irrationally; stupidly; savagely.

BRU'TISHNESS, noun Stupidity; insensibility; brutality; savageness; the qualities of a brute.

BRUTISM, noun The nature or characteristic qualitites or actions of a brute; extreme stupidity or beastly vulgarity.

BRY'ONY, noun [Latin bryonia.] White jalap; a genus of plants of several species. The root of the rough or white bryony is a strong irritating cathartic.

Black-bryony is a genus of plants, called Tamus.