Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary
BEAGLE — BECOMING
BEAGLE, n. [Gr. a pygmy.]
A small hound, or hunting dog. Beagles are of different sorts; as the southern beagle, shorter and less, but thicker, than the deep-mouthed hound; the fleet northern, or cat beagle, smaller, and of a finer shape than the southern. From these species united, is bred a third, still preferable; and a smaller sort is letter larger than the lap-dog.
BEAK, n. [Eng. peak, pike, etc. The sense is, a shoot, or a point, from thrusting; and this word is connected with a numerous family. See Class Bg.]
1. The bill, or nib of a bird, consisting of a horny substance, either straight or curving, and ending in a point.
2. A pointed piece of wood, fortified with brass, resembling a beak, fastened to the end of ancient gallies; intended to pierce the vessels of an enemy. In modern ships, the beak-head is a name given to the forepart of a ship, whose forecastle is square, or oblong; a circumstance common to all ships of war, which have two or more tiers of guns.
Beak or beak-head, that part of a ship, before the forecastle, which is fastened to the stem, and supported by the main knee.
3. In farriery, a little shoe, at the toe, about an inch long, turned up and fastened in upon the part of the hoof.
4. Any thing ending in a point, like a beak. This in America is more generally pronounced peak.
BEAK, v.t. Among cock fighters, to take hold with the beak.
BEAKED, a. Having a beak; ending in a point, like a beak.
BEAKER, n. A cup or glass.
BEAKIRON, n. A bickern; an iron tool, ending in a point, used by blacksmiths.
BEAL, n. [See Boil.] A pimple; a whelk; a small inflammatory tumor, a pustule.
BEAL, v.i. To gather matter; to swell and come to a head, as a pimple.
BEAM, n. [We see by the Gothic, that the word belongs to Class Bg. It properly signifies the stock or stem of a tree; that is, the fixed, firm part. See also Bam.]
1. The largest, or a principal piece in a building, that lies across the walls, and serves to support the principal rafters.
2. Any large piece of timber, long in proportion to its thickness, and squared, or hewed for use.
3. The part of a balance, from the ends of which the scales are suspended; sometimes used for the whole apparatus for weighing.
4. The part on the head of a stag, which bears the antlers, royals and tops.
5. The pole of a carriage, which runs between the horses.
6. A cylinder of wood, making part of a loom, on which weavers wind the warp before weaving; and this name is given also to the cylinder on which the cloth is rolled, as it is wove.
7. The straight part or shank of an anchor.
8. In ships, a great main cross timber, which holds the sides of a ship from falling together. The beams support the decks and orlops. The main beam is next the mainmast.
9. The main piece of a plow, in which the plow-tails are fixed, and by which it is drawn.
10. Beam compass, an instrument consisting of a square wooden or brass beam, having sliding sockets, that carry steel or pencil points; used for describing large circles, and in large projections for drawing the furniture on wall-dials.
On the beam, in navigation, signified any distance from the ship, on a line with the beams, or at right angles with the keel.
Before the beam, is an arch of the horizon between a line that crosses the ship at right angles, or the line of the beam, and that point of the compass which she steers.
Beam ends. A vessel is said to be on her beam ends, when she inclines so much on one side that her beams approach a vertical position.
Beam-feathers, in falconry, the long feathers of a hawk’s wing.
BEAM-BIRD, n. In Yorkshire, England, the petty chaps, a species of Motacilla; called in Dorsetshire, the hay-bird.
The spotted fly-catcher, a species of Muscicapa.
BEAM-TREE, n. A species of wild service.
The Crataegus Aria.
BEAM, n. A ray of light, emitted from the sun, or other luminous body.
BEAM, v.t. To send forth; to emit.
BEAM, v.i. To emit rays of light, or beams; to shine.
He beam’d, the day star of the rising age.
BEAMING, ppr. Emitting rays of light or beams.
BEAMING, n. Radiation; the emission or darting of light in rays.
1. The issuing of intellectual light; dawn; prophetic intimation; first indication.
BEAMLESS, a. Emitting no rays of light.
BEAMY, a. Emitting rays of light; radiant; shining.
1. Resembling a beam in size and weight; massy.
2. Having horns, or antlers.
BEAN, n. A name given to several kinds of pulse, or leguminous seeds, and the plants producing them. They belong to several genera, particularly Vicia, Phaseolus and Dolichos. The varieties most usually cultivated are, the horse bean, the mazagan, the kidney bean, the cranberry bean, the lima bean, the frost bean, etc. The stalk is erect or climbing, and the fruit generally roundish, oval or flat, and of various colors.
Malacca-beans. Anacardia, the fruit of a tree growing in Malabar, and other parts of the Indies. This fruit is of a shining black color, of the shape of a heart flattened, about an inch long, terminating at one end in an obtuse point, and at the other, adhering to a wrinkles stalk. In contains, within two shells, a kernel of a sweetish taste; and betwixt the shells is lodged a thick acrid juice.
BEAN-CAPER, n. A plant, a species of zygophyllum, a native of warm climates.
BEAN-COD, n. A small fishing vessel or pilot boat, used in the rivers of Portugal. It is sharp forward, having its stem bent above into a great curve, and plated with iron.
BEAN-FED, a. Fed with beans.
BEAN-FLY, n. A beautiful fly, of a pale purple color, found on bean flowers, produced from a maggot called mida.
BEAN-GOOSE, n. A species of Anas; a migratory bird, which arrives in England in autumn, and retires to the north in summer. It is so named, from the likeness of the nail of the bill to a horse-bean.
Bean-tree of America, a name given to the Erythrina.
Kidney-Bean-tree, a name given to the Glycine.
Binding-bean tree, a name given to the Mimosa.
Bean-trefoil, the Cytisus.
BEAR, v.t. pret. bore; pp. born, borne. [L. fero, pario, porto. The primary sense is to throw out, to bring forth, or in general, to thrust or drive along.]
1. To support; to sustain; as, to bear a weight or burden.
2. To carry; to convey; to support and remove from place to place; as, “they bear him upon the shoulder;”, “the eagle beareth them on her wings.”
3. To wear; to bear as a mark of authority or distinction; as, to bear a sword, a badge, a name; to bear arms in a coat.
4. To keep afloat; as, the water bears a ship.
5. To support or sustain without sinking or yielding; to endure; as, a man can bear severe pain or calamity; or to sustain with proportionate strength, and without injury; as, a man may bear stronger food or drink.
6. To entertain; to carry in the mind; as, to bear a great love for a friend; to bear inveterate hatred to gaming.
7. To suffer; to undergo; as, to bear punishment.
8. To suffer without resentment, or interference to prevent; to have patience; as, to bear neglect or indignities.
9. To admit or be capable of; that is, to suffer or sustain without violence, injury, or change; as, to give words the most favorable interpretation they will bear.
10. To bring forth or produce, as the fruit of plants, or the young of animals; as, to bear apples; to bear children.
11. To give birth to, or be the native place of.
Here dwelt the man divine whom Samos bore.
12. To possess and use as power; to exercise; as, to bear sway.
13. To gain or win.
Some think to bear it by speaking a great word. [Not now used. The phrase now used is, to bear away.]
14. To carry on, or maintain; to have; as, to bear a part in conversation.
15. To show or exhibit; to relate; as, to bear testimony or witness. This seems to imply utterance, like the Latin fero, to relate or utter.
16. To sustain the effect, or be answerable for; as, to bear the blame.
17. To sustain, as expense; to supply the means of paying; as, to bear the charges, that is, to pay the expenses.
18. To be the object of.
Let me but bear your love, and I’ll bear your cares.
19. To behave; to act in any character; as, “hath he borne himself penitent?”
20. To remove, or to endure the effects of; and hence to give satisfaction for.
He shall bear their iniquities. Isaiah 53:11; Hebrews 9:28.
To bear the infirmities of the weak, to bear one another’s burdens, is to be charitable towards their faults, to sympathize with them, and to aid them in distress.
To bear off, is to restrain; to keep from approach; and in seamanship, to remove to a distance; to keep clear from rubbing against any thing; as, to bear off a blow; to bear off a boat; also, to carry away; as, to bear off stolen goods.
To bear down, is to impel or urge; to overthrow or crush by force; as, to bear down an enemy.
To bear down upon, to press to overtake; to make all sail to come up with.
To bear hard, is to press or urge.
Cesar doth bear me hard.
To bear on, is to press against; also to carry forward, to press, incite or animate.
Confidence hath borne thee on.
To bear through, is to conduct or manage; as,”to bear through the consulship.” B. Jonson. Also, to maintain or support to the end; as, religion will bear us through the evils of life.
To bear out, is to maintain and support to the end; to defend to the last.
Company only can bear a man out in an ill thing.
To bear up, to support; to keep from falling.
Religious hope bears up the mind under sufferings.
To bear up, to keep afloat.
To bear a body. A color is said to bear a body in painting, when it is capable of being ground so fine, and mixed so entirely with the oil, as to seem only a very thick oil of the same color. To bear date, is to have the mark of time when written or executed; as, a letter or bond bears date, Jan. 6, 1811.
To bear a price, is to have a certain price. In common mercantile language, it often signifies or implies, to bear a good or high price.
To bear in hand, to amuse with false pretenses; to deceive.
I believe this phrase is obsolete, or never used in America.
To bear a hand, in seamanship, is to make haste, be quick.
BEAR, v.i. To suffer, as with pain.
But man is born to bear.
This is unusual in prose; and though admissible, is rendered intransitive, merely by the omission of pain, or other word expressive of evil.
1. To be patient; to endure.
I cannot, cannot bear.
2. To produce, as fruit; to be fruitful, in opposition to barrenness.
This age to blossom, and the next to bear.
Here fruit must be understood.
3. To take effect; to succeed; as, to bring matters to bear.
4. To act in any character.
Instruct me how I may bear like a true friar.
5. To be situated as to the point of compass, with respect to something else; as, the land bore E, N.E. from the ship.
6. To bear away, in navigation, is to change the course of a ship, when close hauled, or sailing with a side wind, and make her run before the wind. To bear up, is used in a like sense, from the act of bearing up the helm to the windward.
Hence, perhaps, in other cases, the expression may be used to denote tending or moving from.
7. To bear down, is to drive or tend to; to approach with a fair wind; as, the fleet bore down upon the enemy.
8. To bear in, is to run or tend towards; as, a ship bears in with the land; opposed to bear off, or keeping at a greater distance.
9. To bear up, is to tend or move towards; as, to bear up to one another; also, to be supported; to have fortitude; to be firm; not to sink; as, to bear up under afflictions.
10. To bear upon, or against, is to lean upon or against; to act on as weight or force, in any direction, as a column upon its base, or the sides of two inclining objects against each other.
11. To bear against, to approach for attack or seizure; as, “a lion bears against his prey.”
12. To bear upon, to act upon; as, the artillery bore upon the center; or to be pointed or situated so as to affect; as, to bring or plant guns so as to bear upon a fort, or a ship.
13. To bear with, to endure what is unpleasing; to be indulgent; to forbear to resent, oppose, or punish.
Reason would I should bear with you. Acts 18:14.
Shall not God avenge his elect, though he bear long with them? Luke 18:7.
BEAR, n. [L. ferus, fera, or to barbarus.]
1. A wild quadruped, of the genus Ursus. The marks of the genus are, six fore teeth in the upper jaw, alternately hollow on the inside; and six in the under jaw, the two lateral ones lobated; the dog teeth are solitary and conical; the eyes have a nictitating membrane, and the nose is prominent.
The arctos, or black bear, has his body covered with long shaggy hair. Some are found in Tartary, of a pure white color. The polar, or white bear, has a long head and neck; short, round ears; the hair long, soft, and white, tinged in some parts with yellow. He grows to a great size, the skins of some being 13 feet long. This bear lives in cold climates only, and frequently swims from one isle of ice to another.
2. The name of two constellations in the northern hemisphere, called the greater and lesser bear. In the tail of the lesser bear is the pole star.
BEAR-CLOTH, BEARING-CLOTH, n. A cloth in which a new born child is covered when carried to church to be baptized.
BEAR-BAITING, n. The sport of baiting bears with dogs.
BEAR-BERRY, n. A plant, a species of Arbutus.
BEAR-BIND, n. A species of bind weed, or Convolvulus.
BEAR’S-BREECH, n. Brank-ursine or Acanthus, a genus of plants.
BEAR’S EAR, n. The trivial name of primula auricula.
BEAR’S EAR SANICLE, n. A species of Cortusa.
BEAR-FLY, An insect.
BEAR’S FOOT, n. A plant, a species of hellebore.
BEAR-GARDEN, n. A place where bears are kept for diversion.
BEAR-GARDEN, a. Rude; turbulent; as bear-garden sport.
BEAR-WHELP, n. The whelp of a bear.
BEAR’S WORT, n. A plant.
BEARD, n. berd. [L. barba.]
1. The hair that grows on the chin, lips and adjacent parts of the face, chiefly of male adults; hence a mark of virility. A gray beard, long beard and reverend beard, are terms for old age.
2. Beard is sometimes used for the face, and to do a thing to a man’s beard, is to do it in defiance, or to his face.
3. The awn or sharp prickles on the ears of corn. But more technically, parallel hairs or a tuft of stiff hairs terminating the leaves of plants, a species of pubescence. By some authors the name is given to the lower lip of a ringent corol.
4. A barb or sharp point of an arrow, or other instrument, bent backward from the end to prevent its being easily drawn out.
5. The beard or chuck of a horse, is that part which bears the curb of a bridle, underneath the lower mandible and above the chin.
6. The rays of a comet, emitted towards that part of the heaven to which its proper motion seems to direct it.
7. The threads or hairs of an oyster, muscle or similar shell-fish, by which they fasten themselves to stones.
8. In insects, two small, oblong, fleshy bodies, placed just above the trunk, as in gnats, moths and butterflies.
BEARD, v.t. berd. To take by the beard; to seize, pluck, or pull the beard, in contempt or anger.
1. To oppose to the face; to set at defiance.
I have been bearded by boys.
BEARDED, a. berd’ed. Having a beard, as a man. Having parallel hairs or tufts of hair, as the leaves of plants.
1. Barbed or jagged, as an arrow.
BEARDED, pp. berd’ed. Taken by the beard; opposed to the face.
BEARD-GRASS, n. A plant, the Andropogon.
BEARDING, ppr. berd’ing. Taking by the beard; opposing to the face.
BEARDLESS, a. berd’less. Without a beard; young; not having arrived to manhood. In botany, not having a tuft of hairs.
BEARDLESSNESS, n. The state or quality of being destitute of beard.
BEARER, n. [See Bear.] One who bears, sustains, or carries; a carrier, especially of a corpse to the grave.
1. One who wears any thing, as a badge or sword.
2. A tree or plant that yields its fruit; as a good bearer.
3. In architecture, a post or brick wall between the ends of a piece of timber, to support it. In general, any thing that supports another thing.
4. In heraldry, a figure in an achievement, placed by the side of a shield, and seeming to support it; generally the figure of a beast. The figure of a human creature for a like purpose is called a tenant.
BEARHERD, n. [bear and herd.] A man that tends bears.
BEARING, ppr. Supporting; carrying; producing.
BEARING, n. Gesture; mien; behavior.
I know him by his bearing [Unusual.]
1. The situation of an object, with respect of another object, by which it is supposed to have a connection with it or influence upon it, or to be influenced by it.
But of this frame, the bearings and the ties.
2. In architecture, the space between the two fixed extremes of a piece of timber, or between one extreme and a supporter.
3. In navigation, the situation of a distant object, with regard to a ship’s position, as on the bow, on the lee quarter, etc. Also, an arch of the horizon intercepted between the nearest meridian and any distant object, either discovered by the eye and referred to a point on the compass, or resulting from sinical proportion.
4. In heraldry, bearings are the coats of arms or figures of armories, by which the nobility and gentry are distinguished from common persons.
BEARISH, a. Partaking of the qualities of a bear.
BEARLIKE, a. Resembling a bear.
BEARN, n. A child. In Scotland, bairn.
BEARWARD, n. A keeper of bears.
BEAST, n. [L. bestia. See Boisterous.]
1. Any four footed animal, which may be used for labor, food or sport; distinguished from fowls, insects, fishes and man; as beasts of burden, beasts of the chase, beasts of the forest. It is usually applied to large animals.
2. Opposed to man, it signifies any irrational animal, as in the phrase “man and beast.” So wild beast.
3. Figuratively, a brutal man; a person rude, coarse, filthy, or acting in a manner unworthy of a rational creature.
4. A game at cards. Hence to beast.
BEASTISH, a. Like a beast; brutal.
BEASTLIKE, a. Like a beast; brutal.
BEASTLINESS, n. [from beastly.] Brutality; coarseness, vulgarity; filthiness; a practice contrary to the rules of humanity.
BEASTLY, a. Like a beast; brutal; coarse; filthy; contrary to the nature and dignity of man.
1. Having the form or nature of a beast.
BEAT, v.t. pret. beat; pp. beat, beaten. [L. batuo. See Abate.]
1. To strike repeatedly; to lay on repeated blows, with a stick, with the hand or fist, or with any instrument, and for any cause, just or unjust, or for punishment. Luke 12:45; Deuteronomy 25:2, 3.
2. To strike an instrument of music; to play on, as a drum.
3. To break, bruise, comminute, or pulverize by beating or pounding, as pepper or spices. Exodus 30:36.
4. To extend by beating, as gold or other malleable substance; or to hammer into any form; to forge. Exodus 39:3.
5. To strike bushes, to shake by beating, or to make a noise to rouse game.
6. To thresh; to force out corn from the husk by blows.
7. To break, mix or agitate by beating; as, to beat an egg with any other thing.
8. To dash or strike, as water; to strike or brush, as wind.
9. To tread, as a path.
10. To overcome in a battle, contest or strife; to vanquish or conquer; as, one beats another at play.
Phrrhus beat the Carthaginians at sea.
11. To harass; to exercise severely; to overlabor; as, to beat the brains about logic.
To beat down, to break, destroy, throw down, by beating or battering, as a wall.
Also, to press down or lay flat, as by treading, by a current of water, by violent wind, etc.
Also, to lower the price by importunity or argument.
Also, to depress or crush; as, to bet down opposition.
Also, to sink or lessen the price or value.
Usury beats down the price of land.
To beat back, to compel to retire or return.
To beat into, to teach or instill, by repetition of instruction.
To beat up, to attack suddenly; to alarm or disturb; as, to beat up an enemy’s quarters.
To beat the wing, to flutter; to move with fluttering agitation.
To beat off, to repel or drive back.
To beat the hoof, to walk; to go on foot.
To beat time, to measure or regulate time in music by the motion of the hand or foot.
In the manerge, a horse beats the dust, when at each motion he does not take in ground enough with his fore legs; and at curvets, when he does them too precipitately, or too low. He beats upon a walk, when he walks too short.
To beat out, to extend by hammering. In popular use, to be beat out, is to be extremely fatigued; to have the strength exhausted by labor or exertion.
BEAT, v.i. To more with pulsation, as the pulse beats; or to throb, as the heart beats.
1. To dash with force, as a storm, flood, passion, etc.; as, the tempest beats against the house.
2. To knock at a door. Judges 19:22.
3. To fluctuate; to be in agitation.
To beat about, to try to find; to search by various means or ways.
To beat upon, to act upon with violence.
Also, to speak frequently; to enforce by repetition.
To beat up for soldiers, is to go about to enlist men into the army.
In seamanship, to beat, is to make progress against the direction of the wind, by sailing in a zigzag line or traverse.
With hunters, a stag beats up and down, when he runs first one way and then another.
BEAT, n. A stroke; a striking; a blow, whether with the hand, or with a weapon.
1. A pulsation; as the beat of the pulse.
2. The rise or fall of the hand or foot, in regulating the divisions of time in music.
3. A transient grace-note in music, struck immediately before the note it is intended to ornament.
In the military art, the beat of drum, is a succession of strokes varied, in different ways, for particular purposes; as to regulate a march to call soldiers to their arms or quarters, to direct an attack or retreat, etc.
The beat of a watch or clock, is the stroke made by the fangs or pallets of the spindle of the balance, or of the pads in a royal pendulum.
BEAT, BEATEN, pp. Struck; dashed against; pressed or laid down; hammered; pounded; vanquished; make smooth by treading; worn by use; tracked.
BEATER, n. One who beats, or strikes; one whose occupation is to hammer metals.
1. An instrument for pounding, or comminuting substances.
BEATER-UP, n. One who beats for game; a sportsman’s term.
BEATH, v.t. To bathe. [Not in use.]
BEATIFIC, BEATIFICAL, a. [L. beatus, blessed, from beo, to bless, and facio, to make. See Beatify.]
That has the power to bless or make happy, or the power to complete blissful enjoyment; used only of heavenly fruition after death; as beatific vision.
BEATIFICALLY, adv. In such a manner as to complete happiness.
BEATIFICATION, n. In the Romish church, an act of the Pope by which he declares a person beatifies or blessed after death. This is the first step towards canonization, or the raising of one to the dignity of a saint. No person can be beatified till 50 years after his death. All certificates or attestations of his virtues and miracles are examined by the congregation of rites, and this examination continues often for years; after which his Holiness decrees the beatification, and the corpse and relics of the intended saint are exposed to the veneration of all good christians.
BEATIFY, v.t. [L. beatus, happy, from beo, to bless, and facio, to make.]
1. To make happy; to bless with the completion of celestial enjoyment.
2. In the Romish church, to declare, by a decree or public act, that a person is received into heaven, and is to be reverenced as blessed, though not canonized.
BEATING, ppr. Laying on blows; striking; dashing against; conquering; pounding; sailing against the direction of the wind; etc.
BEATING, n. The act of striking or giving blows; punishment or chastisement by blows.
The beating of flax and hemp is an operation which renders them more soft and pliable. For this purpose, they are made into rolls and laid in a trough, where they are beat, till no roughness or hardness can be felt.
In book binding, beating is performed by laying the book in quires or sheets folded, on a block, and beating it with a heavy broad-faced hammer. On this operation the elegance of the binding and the easy opening of the book chiefly depend.
Beating the wind, was a practice in the ancient trial by combat. If one of the combatants did not appear on the field, the other was to beat the wind, by making flourishes with his weapons; by which he was entitled to the advantages of a conqueror.
Beatings, in music, the regular pulsative swellings of sound, produced in an organ by pipes of the same key, when not in unison, and their vibrations not simultaneous or coincident.
BEATITUDE, n. [L. beatitudo, from beatus, beo. See Beatify.]
1. Blessedness; felicity of the highest kind; consummate bliss; used of the joys of heaven.
2. The declaration of blessedness made by our Savior to particular virtues.
BEAU, n. bo. plu. beaux, boze. [L. bellus.]
A man of dress; a fine, gay man; one whose great care is to deck his person. In familiar language, a man who attends a lady.
BEAUISH, a. bo’ish. Like a beau; foppish; fine.
BEAU-MONDE, n. bomond’. The fashionable world; people of fashion and gaiety.
BEAUTEOUS, a. bu’teous. [See Beauty.] Very fair; elegant in form; pleasing to the sight; beautiful; very handsome. It expresses a greater degree of beauty than handsome, and is chiefly used in poetry.
BEAUTEOUSLY, adv. bu’teously. In a beauteous manner; in a manner pleasing to the sight; beautifully.
BEAUTEOUSNESS, n. bu’teousness. The state or quality of being beauteous; beauty.
BEAUTIFIER, n. bu’tifier. He or that which makes beautiful.
BEAUTIFUL, a. bu’tiful. [beauty and full.]
1. Elegant in form, fair, having the form that pleases the eye. It expresses more than handsome.
A beautiful woman is one of the most attractive objects in all nature’s works.
A circle is more beautiful than a square; a square is more beautiful than a parallelogram.
2. Having the qualities which constitute beauty, or that which pleases the senses other than the sight; as a beautiful sound.
BEAUTIFULLY, adv. bu’tifully. In a beautiful manner.
BEAUTIFULNESS, n. bu’tifulness. Elegance of form; beauty; the quality of being beautiful.
BEAUTIFY, v.t. bu’tify. [beauty and L. facio.]
To make or render beautiful; to adorn; to deck; to grace; to add beauty to; to embellish.
BEAUTIFY, v.i. bu’tify. To become beautiful; to advance in beauty.
BEAUTY, n. bu’ty.
1. An assemblage of graces, or an assemblage of properties in the form of the person or any other object, which pleases the eye. In the person, due proportion or symmetry of parts constitutes the most essential property to which we annex the term beauty. In the face, the regularity and symmetry of the features, the color of the skin, the expression of the eye, are among the principal properties which constitute beauty. But as it is hardly possible to define all the properties which constitute beauty, we may observe in general, that beauty consists in whatever pleases the eye of the beholder, whether in the human body, in a tree, in a landscape, or in any other object.
Beauty is intrinsic, and perceived by the eye at first view, or relative, to perceive which the aid of the understanding and reflection is requisite. Thus, the beauty of a machine is not perceived, till we understand its uses, and adaptation to its purpose. This is called the beauty of utility. By any easy transition, the word beauty is used to express what is pleasing to the other senses, or to the understanding. Thus we say, the beauty of a thought, of a remark, of sound, etc.
So beauty, armed with virtue, bows the soul
With a commanding, but a sweet control.
2. A particular grace, feature or ornament; any particular thing which is beautiful and pleasing; as the beauties of nature.
3. A particular excellence, or a part which surpasses in excellence that with which it is united; as the beauties of an author.
4. A beautiful person, In scripture, the chief dignity or ornament. 2 Samuel 1:19.
5. In the arts, symmetry of parts; harmony; justness of composition.
6. Joy and gladness. Isaiah 61:3. Order, prosperity, peace, holiness, Ezekiel 16:13, 14.
BEAUTY, v.t. bu’ty. To adorn; to beautify or embellish. Obs.
BEAUTY-SPOT, n. bu’ty-spot. A patch; a foil, a spot placed on the face to heighten beauty.
BEAUTY-WANING, a. Declining in beauty.
BEAVER, n. [L. fiber.]
1. An amphibious quadruped, of the genus Castor. It has short ears, a blunt nose, small fore feet, large hind feet, with a flat ovate tail. It is remarkable for its ingenuity in construction its lodges or habitations, and from this animal is obtained the castor of the shops, which is taken from cods or bags in the groin. Its fur, which is mostly of a chestnut brown, is the material of the best hats.
2. The fur of the beaver, and a hat made of the fur; also, a part of a helmet that covers the face.
BEAVERED, a. Covered with or wearing a beaver.
BEBLEED, v.t. [be and bleed.] To make bloody. Obs.
BEBLOOD, BEBLOODY, v.t. [be and blood.] To make bloody. Obs.
BEBLOT, v.t. [be and blot.] To blot; to stain. Obs.
BEBLUBBERED, a. [be and blubber.] Foul or swelled with weeping.
BECABUNGA, n. Brooklime speedwell; veronica becabunga; a plant common in ditches and shallow streams.
BECAFI-CO, n. [See Beak.] A fig-pecker; a bird like a nightingale which feeds on figs and grapes.
BECALM, v.t. becam. [be calm. See Calm.]
1. To still; to make quiet; to appease; to stop, or repress motion in a body; used of the elements and of the passions; as, to becalm the ocean, or the mind. But calm is generally used.
2. To intercept the current of wind, so as to prevent motion; to keep from motion for want of wind; as, highlands becalm a ship.
BECALMED, pp. becamed. Quieted; appeased.
1. a. Hindered from motion or progress by a calm; as a ship becalmed.
BECALMING, ppr. becaming. Appeasing; keeping from motion or progress.
BECALMING, n. becaming. A calm at sea.
BECAME, pret. of become [See Become.]
BECAUSE, becauz’ a compound word. [See By and Cause.]
By cause, or by the cause; on this account; for the cause which is explained in the next proposition; for the reason next explained. Thus, I fled, because I was afraid, is to be thus resolved; I fled, by the cause, for the cause, which is mentioned in the next affirmation, viz. I was afraid. Hence, cause being a noun, because may be regularly followed by of.
The spirit is life, because of righteousness.
Because of these cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.
BECHARM, v.t. [be and charm.] To charm; to captivate.
BECHANCE, v.i. [be, by, and chance.] To befall; to happen to.
BECHIC, n. [Gr. a cough.] A medicine for relieving coughs, synonymous with pectoral, which is now the term mostly used.
BECK, n. A small brook. Gray. Heb. a brook or rivulet; in the sense of flowing, as tears, weeping. Genesis 32:23. It is obsolete in English, but is found in the names of towns situated near streams, as in Walbeck; but is more frequent in names on the continent, as in Griesbach, etc.
BECK, n. A nod of the head; a significant nod, intended to be understood by some person, especially as a sign of command.
BECK, v.i. To nod or make a sign with the head.
BECK, v.t. To call by a nod; to intimate a command to; to notify by a motion of the head.
BECKED, pp. Called or notified by a nod.
BECKET, n. A thing used in ships to confine loose ropes, tackles or spars; as a large hook, a rope, with an eye at one end, or a wooden bracket.
BECKING, ppr. Nodding significantly; directing by a nod.
BECKON, v.t. bek’n. [See Beck.]
To make a sign to another, by nodding, winking, or a motion of the hand or finger, etc., intended as a hint or intimation. Acts 19:33.
BECKON, v.t. bek’n. To make a significant sign to.
BECKONED, pp. Having a sign made to.
BECKONING, ppr. Making a significant sign, as a hint.
BECLIP, v.t. To embrace. [Not in use.]
BECLOUD, v.t. [See Cloud.] To cloud; to obscure; to dim.
BECOME, v.i. becum’. pret. became, pp. become.
1. To pass from one state to another; to enter into some state or condition, by a change from another state or condition, or by assuming or receiving new properties or qualities, additional matter, or a new character; as, a cion becomes a tree.
The Lord God breathed into his nostrils the breath of like and man became a living soul.
To the Jew, I became a Jew.
2. To become of, usually with what preceding; to be the fate of; to be the end of; to be the final or subsequent condition; as, what will become of our commerce? what will become of us?
In the present tense, it applies to place as well as condition. What has become of my friend? that is, where is he? as well as, what is his condition? Where is he become? used by Shakespeare and Spenser, is obsolete; but this is the sense in Saxon, where has he fallen?
BECOME, v.t. In general, to suit or be suitable; to be congruous; to befit; to accord with, in character or circumstances; to be worthy of, decent or proper. It is used in the same sense applied to persons or things.
If I become not a cart as well as another man.
This use of the word however is less frequent, the verb usually expressing the suitableness of things, to persons or to other things; as, a robe becomes a prince.
It becomes not a cart as well as another man.
BECOMING, ppr. but used rarely or never except as an adjective. Fit; suitable; congruous; proper; graceful; belonging to the character, or adapted to circumstances; as, he speaks with becoming boldness; a dress is very becoming.
Some writers formerly used of, after this word.
Such discourses as are becoming of them.
But this use is inelegant or improper.