BACK a.
ing backward; as, back action. Back charges, charges brought forward after an account has been made up. -- Back filling (Arch.), the mass of materials used in filling up the space between two walls, or between the inner and outer faces of a wall, or upon the haunches of an arch or vault. -- Back pressure. (Steam Engi…
BACON n.
and sides of a pig salted and smoked; formerly, the flesh of a pig salted or fresh. Bacon beetle (Zoöl.), a beetle (Dermestes lardarius) which, especially in the larval state, feeds upon bacon, woolens, furs, etc. See Dermestes. -- To save one's bacon, to save one's self or property from harm or less. [Colloq.]…
BAD LANDS n.
especially in the western United States, where horizontal strata (Tertiary deposits) have been often eroded into fantastic forms, and much intersected by canons, and where lack of wood, water, and forage increases the difficulty of traversing the country, whence the name, first given by the Canadian French, Mauvaises T…
BARLEY n.
ly of grasses, genus Hordeum, used for food, and for making malt, from which are prepared beer, ale, and whisky. Barley bird (Zoöl.), the siskin. -- Barley sugar, sugar boiled till it is brittle (formerly with a decoction of barley) and candied. -- Barley water, a decoction of barley, used in medicine, as a nutritive…
BARON n.
A husband; as, baron and feme, husband and wife. [R.] Cowell. Baron of beef, two sirloins not cut asunder at the backbone. -- Barons of the Cinque Ports, formerly members of the House of Commons, elected by the seven Cinque Ports, two for each port. -- Baron of the exchequer, the judges of the Court of Exchequer, one…