BE

To exist actually, or in the world of fact; to have ex To be contents his natural desire. Pope. To be, or not to be: that is the question. Shak.

To exist in a certain manner or relation, -- whether as a reality or as a product of thought; to exist as the subject of a certain predicate, that is, as having a certain attribute, or as belonging to a certain sort, or as identical with what is specified, -- a word or words for the predicate being annexed; as, to be happy; to be here; to be large, or strong; to be an animal; to be a hero; to be a nonentity; three and two are five; annihilation is the cessation of existence; that is the man.

To take place; to happen; as, the meeting was on Thursday.

To signify; to represent or symbolize; to answer to. The field is the world. Matt. xiii. 38. The seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches. Rev. i. 20.

A prefix, originally the same word as by; joined with verbs, it serves: (a) To intensify the meaning; as, bespatter, bestir. (b) To render an intransitive verb transitive; as, befall (to fall upon); bespeak (to speak for). (c) To make the action of a verb particular or definite; as, beget (to get as offspring); beset (to set around).