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That part of a ship's hull or bottom which is broadest and most nearly flat, and on which she would rest if aground.

eapon of infantry, in the 14th and 15th centuries. A common form of bill consisted of a broad, heavy, double-edged, hook-shaped blade, having a short pike at the back and another at the top, and attached to the end of a long staff. France had no infantry that dared to face the English bows end bills. Macaulay.…

Furnished with, or having, a bill, as a bird; -- used in composition; as, broad-billed.

zing in rhombohedrons. It is somewhat harder than lead, and rather brittle; masses show broad cleavage surfaces when broken across. It melts at 507º Fahr., being easily fused in the flame of a candle. It is found in a native state, and as a constituent of some minerals. Specific gravity 9.8. Atomic weight 207.5. Symbol…

A truck for railroad rolling stock, consisting of two ordinary axle boxes sliding in guides attached to a triangular frame; -- called also pony truck.

ooks in black letter; that is, of old books; out of date. Kemble, a black-letter man! J. Boaden.

A broad board painted black, or any black surface on which writing, drawing, or the working of mathematical problems can be done with chalk or crayons. It is much used in schools.

The broad part of an oar; also, one of the projecting arms of a screw propeller.

r's mark. Three blazes in a perpendicular line on the same tree indicating a legislative road, the single blaze a settlement or neighborhood road. Carlton. In a blaze, on fire; burning with a flame; filled with, giving, or reflecting light; excited or exasperated. -- Like blazes, furiously; rapidly. [Low] "The horses…

One who spreads reports or blazes matters abroad. "Blazers of crime." Spenser.

To cover with a thin coating of sand and fine gravel; as a road newly paved, in order that the joints between the stones may be filled.

A thin coating of sand and fine gravel over a newly paved road. See Blind, v. t., 4.

A section of a railroad where the block system is used. See Block system, below. A block of shares (Stock Exchange), a large number of shares in a stock company, sold in a lump. Bartlett. -- Block printing. (a) A mode of printing (common in China and Japan) from engraved boards by means of a sheet of paper laid on the…

A chain in which the alternate links are broad blocks connected by thin side links pivoted to the ends of the blocks, used with sprocket wheels to transmit power, as in a bicycle.

dolt; a person deficient in understanding. The bookful blockhead, ignorantly read, With loads of learned lumber in his head. Pope.

A piece of hard wood loaded at one end with lead, and used to strike the fleam into the vein. Youatt.

onsisting of a short dress, with loose trousers gathered round ankles, and (commonly) a broad-brimmed hat.

A short stick, with one end loaded, or thicker and heavier that the other, used as an offensive weapon.

A broad, flat Scottish cap of blue woolen, or one waring such cap; a Scotchman.

Having a broad, flattened front; as, the bluff bows of a ship. "Bluff visages." Irving.