BROOM n.
g floors, etc., commonly made of the panicles or tops of broom corn, bound together or attached to a long wooden handle; -- so called because originally made of the twigs of the broom. Butcher's broom, a plant (Ruscus aculeatus) of the Smilax family, used by butchers for brooms to sweep their blocks; -- called also kne…
BROOM RAPE n.
destitute of chlorophyll, have scales instead of leaves, and spiked flowers, and grow attached to the roots of other plants, as furze, clover, flax, wild carrot, etc. The name is sometimes applied to other plants related to this genus, as Aphyllon uniflorumand A. Ludovicianum.
BROWN a.
er Holland. -- Brown paper, dark colored paper, esp. coarse wrapping paper, made of unbleached materials. -- Brown spar (Min.), a ferruginous variety of dolomite, in part identical with ankerite. -- Brown stone. See Brownstone. -- Brown stout, a strong kind of proter or malt liquor. -- Brown study, a state of ment…
BUDGE a.
Austere or stiff, like scholastics. Those budge doctors of the stoic fur. Milton. Budge bachelor, one of a company of men clothed in long gowns lined with budge, who formerly accompanied the lord mayor of London in his inaugural procession. -- Budge barrel (Mil.), a small copper-hooped barrel with only one head, the o…
BUOY n.
on of something beneath the water, as an anchor, shoal, rock, etc. Anchor buoy, a buoy attached to, or marking the position of, an anchor. -- Bell buoy, a large buoy on which a bell is mounted, to be rung by the motion of the waves. -- Breeches buoy. See under Breeches. -- Cable buoy, an empty cask employed to buoy…
BUSH n.
nus); -- called also bush pig, and water hog. -- Bush master (Zoöl.), a venomous snake (Lachesis mutus) of Guinea; -- called also surucucu. -- Bush pea (Bot.), a variety of pea that needs to be bushed. -- Bush shrike (Zoöl.), a bird of the genus Thamnophilus, and allied genera; -- called also batarg. Many species in…