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The bottom of anything, considered as its support, or that on which something rests for support; the foundation; as, the base of a statue. "The base of mighty mountains." Prescott.

A combining form, especially in anatomical and botanical words, to indicate the base or position at or near a base; forming a base; as, basibranchials, the most ventral of the cartilages or bones of the branchial arches; basicranial, situated at the base of the cranium; basifacial, basitemporal, etc.…

ch of a fortification, with a sluice gate to regulate the height of water in the ditch on both sides of the wall.

A boat; esp. a flat-bottomed, clumsy boat used on the Canadian lakes and rivers. [Written also, but less properly, batteau.] Bateau bridge, a floating bridge supported by bateaux.

ghter than water, sinks to 0º in a 10 per cent salt solution and to 10º in pure water. In both cases the graduation, based on the distance between these fundamental points, is continued along the stem as far as desired. Since all the degrees on a Baumé scale are thus equal in length, while those on a specific- gravity…

he family Orchestidæ, living on the sea beaches, and leaping like fleas. -- Beach grass (Bot.), a coarse grass (Ammophila arundinacea), growing on the sandy shores of lakes and seas, which, by its interlaced running rootstocks, binds the sand together, and resists the encroachment of the waves. -- Beach wagon, a ligh…

outh like a beak; rostrate. Beaked whale (Zoöl.), a cetacean of the genus Hyperoodon; the bottlehead whale.

the larval state destroys beans. The American species in Bruchus fabæ. -- Florida bean (Bot.), the seed of Mucuna urens, a West Indian plant. The seeds are washed up on the Florida shore, and are often polished and made into ornaments. -- Ignatius bean, or St. Ignatius's bean (Bot.), a species of Strychnos. -- Navy…

An imposition; a trick. [Obs.] Chaucer. Beard grass (Bot.), a coarse, perennial grass of different species of the genus Andropogon. -- To one's beard, to one's face; in open defiance.

In a balloon, the braced wooden ring attached to the suspension ropes at the bottom, functionally analogous to the keel of a ship.

sp. gr. 1.00, and the 30º-point to sp. gr. 0.85. From these points the scale is extended both ways, all the degrees being of equal length.

The bottom of a watercourse, or of any body of water; as, the bed of a river. So sinks the daystar in the ocean bed. Milton.

eats the honeybee, as the European flycatcher, and the American kingbird. -- Bee flower (Bot.), an orchidaceous plant of the genus Ophrys (O. apifera), whose flowers have some resemblance to bees, flies, and other insects. -- Bee fly (Zoöl.), a two winged fly of the family Bombyliidæ. Some species, in the larval stat…

(Bot.) See Larkspur.

An African bird of the genus Buphaga, which feeds on the larvæ of botflies hatched under the skin of oxen, antelopes, etc. Two species are known.

A glass vessel, varying in size, open at the bottom and closed at the top like a bell, and having a knob or handle at the top for lifting it. It is used for a great variety of purposes; as, with the air pump, and for holding gases, also for keeping the dust from articles exposed to view.

A woman excelling both in beauty and goodness; a fair maid. [Obs.] Spenser.

The form of instituting an abbot, answering to the consecration of a bishop. Ayliffe.

A reedlike grass; a stalk of stiff, coarse grass. His spear a bent, both stiff and strong. Drayton.

The bottom of the sea, esp. of the deep oceans; hence (Bot. & Zoöl.), the fauna and flora of the sea bottom; -- opposed to plankton.