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iron or a mass of wood under the end of a bridge girder, to keep the girder from resting directly on the abutment.

g distance, then curving upward to a considerable height, and finally taking a retrograde direction, so as to fall near the place from which it was thrown, or even far in the rear of it.

To push forward in a certain direction with laborious effort. They take their flight . . . boring to the west. Dryden.

A master workman or superintendent; a director or manager; a political dictator. [Slang, U. S.]

An ancient mode of writing, in alternate directions, one line from left to right, and the next from right to left (as fields are plowed), as in early Greek and Hittite.

A piece of material used to transmit, or change the direction of, weight or pressure; any one of the pieces, in a frame or truss, which divide the structure into triangular parts. It may act as a tie, or as a strut, and serves to prevent distortion of the structure, and transverse strains in its members. A boiler brace…

That which shoots forth branches; one who shows growth in various directions.

To move or wave, as a weapon; to raise and move in various directions; to shake or flourish. The quivering lance which he brandished bright. Drake.

In the direction of the breadth.

An interruption of continuity; change of direction; as, a break in a wall; a break in the deck of a ship. Specifically:

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.

Any part of a rampart or parapet which deviates from the general direction.

A casting or throwing seed in all directions, as from the hand in sowing.

To cook by direct exposure to heat over a fire, esp. upon a gridiron over coals.

A stupid fellow. -- Bull mackerel (Zoöl.), the chub mackerel. -- Bull pump (Mining), a direct single-acting pumping engine, in which the steam cylinder is placed above the pump. -- Bull snake (Zoöl.), the pine snake of the United States. -- Bull stag, a castrated bull. See Stag. -- Bull wheel, a wheel, or drum, o…

ss requiring a force of clerks; the body of officials in a department who labor under the direction of a chief.

An officer who directs and lays out the meres or boundaries for the workmen; -- called also bailiff, and barmaster. [Eng.]

To dispose of quietly or indirectly; to suppress; to smother; to shelve; as, to burke a parliamentary question. The court could not burke an inquiry, supported by such a mass of a affidavits. C. Reade.

A small weir or dam in a river to direct the stream to gaps where fish traps are placed. Knight.

. To beat about the bush, to approach anything in a round-about manner, instead of coming directly to it; -- a metaphor taken from hunting. -- Bush bean (Bot.), a variety of bean which is low and requires no support (Phaseolus vulgaris, variety nanus). See Bean, 1. -- Bush buck, or Bush goat (Zoöl.), a beautiful Sout…