Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary

BLINKARD — BLOW

BLINKARD, n. [blink and ard, kind.] A person who blinks or has bad eyes; that which twinkles, or glances, as a dim star, which appears and disappears.

BLINKING, ppr. Winking; twinkling.

BLISS, n. The highest degree of happiness; blessedness; felicity; used of felicity in general, when of an exalted kind, but appropriately, of heavenly joys.

BLISSFUL, a. Full ofjoy and felicity; happy in the highest degree.

BLISSFULLY, adv. In a blissful manner.

BLISSFULNESS, n. Exalted happiness; felicity; fullness ofjoy.

BLISSLESS, a. Destitute of bliss.

BLISSOM, v.i. To be lustful; to caterwaul. [Little used.]

BLISTER, n.

1. A pustule; a thin bladder on the skin, containing watery matter or serum, whether occasioned by a burn, or other injury, or by a vesicatory. It is formed by raising the cuticle.

2. Any tumor made by the separation of the film or skin, as on plants; or by the swelling of the substance at the surface, as on steel.

3. A vesicatory; a plaster of flies, or other matter, applied to raise a vesicle.

BLISTER, v.t. To rise in blisters.

BLISTER, v.t. To raise a blister, by any hurt, burn or violent action upon the skin; to raise a blister by a medical application, or vesicatory.

1. To raise tumors on iron bars in a furnace, in the process of converting iron into steel.

BLISTERED, pp. Having blisters or tumors.

BLISTERING, ppr. Raising a blister; applying a blistering plaster, or vesicatory.

BLITE, n. [L. blitum.] A genus of plants, called strawberry spinach.

1. A species of amaranth, or flower gentle.

BLITHE, a. [L. loetus; Eng. glad. See Bliss and Glad.]

Gay; merry; joyous; sprightly; mirthful.

For that fair female troop thou sawest, that seemed

Of goddesses, so blithe, so smooth, so gay.

BLITHEFUL, a. Gay; full of gayeta.

BLITHELY, adv. In a gay, joyful manner.

BLITHENESS, n. Gayety; sprightliness; the quality of being blithe.

BLITHESOME, a. Gay; merry; cheerful.

BLITHESOMENESS, n. The quality of being blithesome; gayety.

BLOAT, v.t. [This word may be allied to bladder, from the sense of inflating, swelling.]

1. To swell or make turgid, as with air; to inflate; to puff up; hence, to make vain; followed by up, but without necessity. To bloat up with praise is less elegant than to bloat with praise.

2. To swell or make turgid with water, or other means; as a bloated limb. It is used to denote a morbid enlargement, often accompanied with softness.

BLOAT, v.i. To grow turgid; to dilate.

BLOAT, a. Swelled; turgid. [Not used.]

BLOATED, pp. Swelled; grown turgid; inflated.

BLOATEDNESS, n. A turgid state; turgidness; dilation from inflation, debility, or any morbid cause.

BLOATING, ppr. Swelling; inflating.

BLOBBER, n. A bubble; pronounced by the common people in America, blubber, It is a legitimate word, but not elegant.

BLOBBERLLIP, n. [blobber and lip.] A thick lip.

BLOBBERLIPPED, a. Having thick lips.

BLOCK, n.

1. A heavy piece of timber or wood, usually with one plain surface; or it is rectangular, and rather thick than long.

2. Any mass of matter with an extended surface; as a block of marble, a piece rough from the quarry.

3. A massy body, solid and heavy; a mass of wood, iron, or other metal, with at least one plain surface, such as artificers use.

4. The wood on which criminals are beheaded.

5. Any obstruction, or cause of obstruction; a stop; hindrance; obstacle.

6. A piece of wood in which a pulley runs; used also for the pulley, or the block itself and the sheaves, or wheels.

7. A blockhead; a stupid fellow.

8. Among cutters in wood, a form made of hard wood, on which they cut figures in relief with knives, chisels, etc.

9. In falconry, the perch whereon a bird of prey is kept.

BLOCK, v.t. To inclose or shut up, so as to hinder egress or passage; to stop up; to obstruct, by placing obstacles in the way; often followed by up; as, to block up a town, or a road.

BLOCKADE, n. The siege of a place, formed by surrounding it with hostile troops or ships, or by posting them at all the avenues, to prevent escape, and hinder supplies of provisions and ammunition from entering, with a view to compel a surrender, by hunger and want, without regular attacks.

To constitute a blockade, the investing power must be able to apply its force to every point of practicable access, so as to render it dangerous to attempt to enter; and there is no blockade of that port, where its force cannot be brought to bear.

BLOCKADE, v.t. To shut up a town or fortress, by posting troops at all the avenues, to compel the garrison or inhabitants to surrender by means of hunger and want, without regular attacks; also, to station ships of war to obstruct all intercourse with a town or nation.

BLOCKADED, pp. Shut up or inclosed by an enemy.

BLOCKADING, ppr. Besieging by a blockade.

BLOCKHEAD, n. [block and head.] A stupid fellow; a dolt; a person deficient in understanding.

BLOCKHEADED, a. Stupid; dull.

BLOCKHEADLY, a. Like a blockhead.

BLOCKHOUSE, n. [block and house.] A house or fortress, erected to block up a pass, and defend against the entrance of an enemy.

BLOCKISH, a. Stupid; dull; deficient in understanding.

BLOCKISHLY, adv. In a stupid manner.

BLOCKISHNESS, n. Stupidity; dullness.

BLOCKLIKE, a. Like a block; stupid.

BLOCK-TIN, n. [block and tin.] Tin which is pure, unmixed, and unwrought.

BLOMARY, n. [See Bloom, a mass if iron.] The first forge through which iron passes, after it is melted from the ore.

BLONKET, a. Gray. [Not used.]

BLOOD, n.

1. The fluid which circulates through the arteries and veins of the human body, and of other animals, which is essential to the preservation of life. This fluid is generally red. If the blood of an animal is not red, such animal is called exsanguious, or white-blooded; the blood being white, or white tinged with blue.

2. Kindred; relation by natural descent from a common ancestor; consanguinity.

God hath made of one blood, all nations of the earth. Acts 17:26.

3. Royal lineage; blood royal; as a prince of the blood.

4. Honorable birth; high extraction; as a gentleman of blood.

5. Life.

Shall I not require his blood at your hands? 2 Samuel 4:11.

6. Slaughter; murder, or bloodshedding.

I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu. Hosea 1:4.

The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth to me from the ground. Genesis 4:10.

7. Guilt, and punishment.

Your blood be upon your own heads. Acts 18:6.

8. Fleshly nature; the carnal part of man; as opposed to spiritual nature, or divine life.

Who were born, not of flesh and blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1:13.

9. Man, or human wisdom, or reason.

Flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven. Matthew 16:17.

10. A sacramental symbol of the blood of Christ.

This is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for the remission of sins. Matthew 26:28.

11. The death and sufferings of Christ.

Being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. Romans 5:9.

12. The price of blood; that which is obtained by shedding blood, and seizing goods.

Wo to him that buildeth a town with blood. Habakkuk 2:12; Acts 1:19.

13. Temper of mind; state of the passions; but in this sense, accompanied with cold or warm, or other qualifying word. Thus to commit an act in cold blood, is to do it deliberately, and without sudden passion. Warm blood denotes a temper inflamed or irritated; to warm or head the blood, is to excite the passions.

14. A hot spark; a man of fire or spirit; a rake.

15. The juice of any thing, especially if red; as, “the blood of grapes.” Genesis 49:11.

Whole blood. In law, a kinsman of the whole blood is one who descends from the same couple of ancestors; of the half blood, one who descends from either of them singly, by a second marriage.

BLOOD, v.t. To let blood; to bleed by opening a vein.

1. To stain with blood.

2. To enter; to inure to blood; as a hound.

3. To heat the blood; to exasperate. [Unusual.]

BLOOD-BESPOTTED, a. Spotted with blood.

BLOOD-BOLTERED, a. [blood and bolter.] Sprinkled with blood. [Not used.]

BLOOD-CONSUMING, a. Wasting the blood.

BLOODED, pp. Bled; stained with blood; inured to blood.

BLOOD-FLOWER, n. [blood and flower.] Haemanthus, a genus of plants, natives of the Cape of Good Hope.

BLOOD-FROZEN, a. Having the blood chilled.

BLOODGUILTINESS, n. [blood and guilt.] The guilt or crime of shedding blood. Psalm 51:14.

BLOOD-HOT, a. [blood and hot.] As warm as blood in its natural temperature.

BLOOD-HOUND, n. [blood and hound.] A species of canis or dog, with long, smooth and pendulous ears, remarkable for the acuteness of its smell, and employed to recover game which had escaped wounded from the hunter, by tracing the lost animal by the blood it had spilt; whence the name of the dog.

BLOODILY, adv. In a bloody manner; cruelly; with a disposition to shed blood.

BLOODINESS, n. The state of being bloody; disposition to shed blood.

BLOODING, ppr. Letting blood; staining with blood; inuring to blood, as a hound.

BLOODLESS, a. Without blood; dead.

1. Without shedding of blood or slaughter; as a bloodless victory.

2. Without spirit or activity.

BLOOD-LET, v.t. To bleed; to let blood.

BLOOD-LETTER, n. One who lets blood, as in diseases; a phlebotomist.

BLOODLETTING, n. [blood and let.] The act of letting blood, or bleeding by opening a vein.

BLOODPUDDING, n. [blood and pudding.] A pudding made with blood and other materials.

BLOOD-RED, n. Red as blood.

BLOOD-ROOT, n. A plant so named from its color; a species of sanguinaria, called also puccoon, turmeric and red root.

BLOODSHED, n. [blood and shed.] The shedding or spilling of blood; slaughter; waste of life; the crime of shedding blood.

BLOODSHEDDER, n. One who sheds blood; a murderer.

BLOODSHEDDING, n. The shedding of blood; the crime of shedding blood.

BLOODSHOT, a. [blood and shoot.] Red and inflamed by a turgid state of the blood vessels, as in diseases of the eye.

BLOODSNAKE, n. A species of snake, the haemorrhus.

BLOOD-SPAVIN, n. [blood and spavin.] A dilatation of the vein that runs along the inside of the hock of a horse, forming a soft swelling.

BLOOD-STAINED, a. Stained with blood; also, guilty of murder.

BLOODSTONE, n. [blood and stone.] A stone, imagined, if worn as an amulet, to be a good preventive of bleeding at the nose. [See Hematite.]

BLOOD-SUCKER, n. [blood and suck.] Any animal that sucks blood, as a leech, a fly, etc. A cruel man; a murderer.

BLOOD-SUCKING, a. That sucks or draws blood.

BLOOD-THIRSTY, a. [blood and thirst.] Desirous to shed blood; murderous.

BLOOD-VESSEL, n. [blood and vessel.] Any vessel in which blood circulates in an animal body; an artery or a vein.

BLOOD-WARM, a. Warm as blood; luke warm.

BLOOD-WITE, n. [blood and wite, a fine or penalty.]

In ancient law, a fine or amercement, paid as a composition for the shedding of blood.

BLOOD-WOOD, n. [blood and wood.] A name given to log-wood, from its color.

BLOOD-WORT, n. [blood and wort.] A plant, a species of Rumex.

BLOODY, a. Stained with blood.

1. Cruel; murderous; given to the shedding of blood; or having a cruel, savage disposition; applied to animals.

2. Attended with bloodshed; marked by cruelty; applied to things; as a bloody battle.

BLOODY, v.t. To stain with blood.

BLOODY, adv. Very; as bloody sick, bloody drunk. [This is very vulgar.]

BLOODY-EYED, a. Having bloody or cruel eyes.

BLOODY-FACED, a. Having a bloody face or appearance.

BLOODY-FLUX, n. [blood and flux.] The dysentery, a disease in which the discharges from the bowels have a mixture of blood.

BLOODY-HAND, n. [blood and hand.] A hand stained with the blood of a deer, which, in the old forest laws of England, was sufficient evidence of a man’s trespass in the forest against venison.

BLOODY-HUNTING, a. Hunting for blood.

BLOODY-MINDED, a. [blood and mind.] Having a cruel, ferocious disposition; barbarous; inclined to shed blood.

BLOODY-RED, a. Having the color blood.

BLOODY-SCEPTERED, a. Having a scepter obtained by blood or slaughter.

BLOODY-SWEAT, n. [blood and sweat.] A sweat, accompanied by a discharge of blood; also a disease, called sweating sickness, which formerly prevailed in England and other countries.

BLOOM, n.

1. Blossom; the flower of a plant; an expanded bud.

While opening blooms diffuse their sweets around.

2. The opening of flowers in general; flowers open, or in a state of blossoming; as, the trees are clothed with bloom.

3. The state of youth, resembling that of blossoms; a state of opening manhood, life, beauty, and vigor; a state of health and growth, promising higher perfection; as the bloom of youth.

4. The blue color upon plums and grapes newly gathered.

BLOOM, v.i. To produce or yield blossoms; to flower.

1. To be in a state of healthful, growing youth and vigor; to show the beauty of youth; as blooming graces.

BLOOM, v.t. To put forth as blossoms.

Charitable affection bloomed them. [Not in use.]

BLOOM, n. [L. plumbum, lead, properly a lump.]

A mass of iron that has passed the blomary, or undergone the first hammering.

BLOOMING, ppr. Opening in blossoms; flowering; thriving in the health, beauty, and vigor of youth; showing the beauties of youth.

His blooming laurels graced the muse’s seat.

BLOOMINGLY, adv. In a blooming manner.

BLOOMY, a. Full of bloom; flowery; flourishing with the vigor of youth; as a bloomy spray; bloomy beauties.

BLORE, n. [This is a different orthography of blare, which see.]

The act of blowing; a blast. [Not used.]

BLOSSOM, n. [Gr. a bud, probably from the same root.]

1. The flower or corol of a plant; a general term, applicable to every species of tree or plant, but more generally used than flower or bloom, when we have reference to the fruit which is to succeed. Thus we use flowers, when we speak of shrubs cultivated for ornament; and bloom, in a more general sense, as flowers in general, or in reference to the beauty of flowers.

2. This word is used to denote the color of a horse, that has his hair white, but intermixed with sorrel and bay hairs; otherwise, peach-colored.

BLOSSOM, v.i. To put forth blossoms or flowers; to bloom; to blow; to flower.

1. To flourish and prosper.

The desert shall blossom as the rose. Isaiah 35:1.

BLOSSOMING, ppr. Putting forth flowers; blowing.

BLOSSOMING, n. The blowing or flowering of plants.

BLOT, v.t. [L. litura, [whence lituro, oblitero.] without the prefix.]

1. To spot with ink; to stain or bespatter with ink; as, to blot a paper.

2. To obliterate writing or letters with ink, so as to render the characters invisible, or not distinguishable; generally with out; as, to blot out a word or a sentence.

3. To efface; to erase; to cause to be unseen, or forgotten; to destroy; as, to blot out a crime, or the remembrance of any thing.

4. To stain with infamy; to tarnish;; to disgrace; to disfigure.

Blot not thy innocence with guiltless blood.

5. To darken

He sung how earth blots the moon’s gilded wane.

6. In scripture, to blot one out of the book of life, is to reject him from the number of those who are to be saved. To blot out a name, a person or a nation, is to destroy the person or nation; to exterminate or consume. To blot out sins, is to forgive them. Sins are compared to debts, which are recorded in God’s book of remembrance, and when paid, are crossed or cancelled.

BLOT, n. A spot or stain on paper, usually applied to ink.

1. An obliteration of something written or printed.

2. A spot in reputation; a stain, a disgrace; a reproach; a blemish.

3. Censure; scorn; reproach.

He that rebuketh the wicked getteth a blot. Proverbs 9:7.

4. In backgammon, when a single man lies open to be taken up.

BLOTCH, n. A pustule upon the skin; an eruption, usually of a large kind.

BLOTCH, v.t. To blacken.

BLOTE, v.t. [The affinities of this word are not clearly ascertained.]

To dry and smoke; as, to blote herrings.

BLOTED, pp. Smoked and dried.

BLOTTED, pp. Stained; spotted; erased.

BLOTTER, n. In counting houses, a waste book.

BLOTTING, ppr. Spotting with ink; obliterating; staining.

BLOW, n. [This probably is a contracted word, and the primary sense must be, to strike, thrust, push, or throw, that is, to drive. I have not found it in the cognate dialects. If g or other palatal letter is lost, it corresponds in elements with the L. plaga fligo; Eng. flog.]

1. The act of striking; more generally the stroke; a violent application of the hand, fist, or an instrument to an object.

2. The fatal stroke; a stroke that kills; hence, death.

3. An act of hostility; as, the nation which strikes the first blow. Hence, to come to blows, is to engage in combat, whether by individuals, armies, fleets or nations; and when by nations, it is war.

4. A sudden calamity; a sudden or severe evil. In like manner, plaga in Latin gives rise to the Eng. plague.

5. A single act; a sudden event; as, to gain or lose a province at a blow, or by one blow.

At a stroke is used in like manner.

6. An ovum or egg deposited by a fly, on flesh or other substance, called a fly-blow.

BLOW, v.t. pret. blew; pp. blown. [L. flo, to blow. This word probably is from the same root as bloom, blossom, blow, a flower.]

1. To make a current of air; to move as air; as, the wind blows. Often used with it; as, it blows a gale.

2. To pant; to puff; to breathe hard or quick.

Here is Mrs. Page at the door, sweating and blowing.

3. To breathe; as, to blow hot and cold.

4. To sound with being blown, as a horn or trumpet.

5. To flower; to blossom; to bloom; as plants.

How blows the citron grove.

To blow over, to pass away without effect; to cease or be dissipated; as, the storm or the clouds are blown over.

To blow up, to rise in the air; also, to be broken and scattered by the explosion of gunpowder.

BLOW, v.t. To throw or drive a current of air upon; as, to blow the fire; also, to fan.

1. To drive by a current of air; to impel; as, the tempest blew the ship ashore.

2. To breathe upon, for the purpose of warming; as, to blow the fingers in a cold day.

3. To sound a wind instrument; as, blow the trumpet.

4. To spread by report.

And through the court his courtesy was blown.

5. To deposit eggs, as flies.

6. To form bubbles by blowing.

7. To swell and inflate, as veal; a practice of butchers.

8. To form glass into a particular shape by the breath, as in glass manufactories.

9. To melt tin, after being first burnt to destroy the mundic.

To blow away, to dissipate; to scatter with wind.

To blow down, to prostrate by wind.

To blow off, to shave down by wind, as to blow off fruit from trees; to drive from land, as to blow off a ship.

To blow out, to extinguish by a current of air, as a candle.

To blow up, to fill with air; to swell; as, to blow up a bladder or a bubble.

10. To inflate; to puff up; as, to blow up one with flattery.

11. To kindle; as, to blow up a contention.

12. To burst, to raise into the air, or to scatter, by the explosion of gunpowder. Figuratively, to scatter or bring to naught suddenly; as, to blow up a scheme.

To blow upon, to make stale; as, to blow upon an author’s works.

BLOW, n. A flower; a blossom. This word is in general use in the U. States, and legitimate. In the Tatler, it is used for blossoms in general, as we use blowth.

1. Among seamen, a gale of wind. This also is a legitimate word, in general use in the U. States.