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One who writes an account or history of the life of a particular person; a writer of lives, as Plutarch.

A cold north wind which prevails on the northern coasts of the Mediterranean and in Switzerland, etc.; -- nearly the same as the mistral.

A piece used in the game of chess, bearing a representation of a bishop's miter; -- formerly called archer.

A plant of the genus Mitella; miterwort. Longfellow.

To cause sharp pain, or smarting, to; to hurt or injure, in a literal or a figurative sense; as, pepper bites the mouth. "Frosts do bite the meads." Shak.

The quality or state of being bitter, sharp, or acrid, in either a literal or figurative sense; implacableness; resentfulness; severity; keenness of reproach or sarcasm; deep distress, grief, or vexation of mind. The lip that curls with bitterness. Percival. I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. Job vii. 11.…

In a less literal sense: Enveloped or shrouded in darkness; very dark or gloomy; as, a black night; the heavens black with clouds. I spy a black, suspicious, threatening cloud. Shak.

One of an old and well-known Mediterranean breed of domestic fowls with glossy black plumage, blue legs and feet, bright red comb and wattles, and white face. They are remarkable as egg layers.

Bad port wine; any commo wine of the Mediterranean; -- so called by sailors.

To make white, or whiter; to remove the color, or stains, from; to blanch; to whiten. The destruction of the coloring matters attached to the bodies to be bleached is effected either by the action of the air and light, of chlorine, or of sulphurous acid. Ure. Immortal liberty, whose look sublime Hath bleached the tyran…

To make blind, literally or figuratively; to dazzle; to deceive. [Obs.] Chaucer.

State or condition of being blind, literally or figuratively. Darwin. Color blindness, inability to distinguish certain color. See Daltonism.

To obliterate, as writing with ink; to cancel; to efface; -- generally with out; as, to blot out a word or a sentence. Often figuratively; as, to blot out offenses. One act like this blots out a thousand crimes. Dryden.

Literary; -- applied to women; -- an abbreviation of bluestocking. [Colloq.] The ladies were very blue and well informed. Thackeray. Blue asbestus. See Crocidolite. -- Blue black, of, or having, a very dark blue color, almost black. -- Blue blood. See under Blood. -- Blue buck (Zoöl.), a small South African antelope…

A literary lady; a female pedant. [Colloq.]

A Mediterranean fish (Capros aper), of the family Caproidæ; -- so called from the resemblance of the extended lips to a hog's snout.

e threpe (=call), Mars yren (=iron), Mercurie quicksilver we clepe, Saturnus lead, and Jupiter is tin, and Venus coper. Chaucer. -- Body snatcher, one who secretly removes without right or authority a dead body from a grave, vault, etc.; a resurrectionist. -- Body snatching (Law), the unauthorized removal of a dead bo…

Bog bean. See Buck bean. -- Bog bumper (bump, to make a loud noise), Bog blitter, Bog bluiter, Bog jumper, the bittern. [Prov.] -- Bog butter, a hydrocarbon of butterlike consistence found in the peat bogs of Ireland. -- Bog earth (Min.), a soil composed for the most part of silex and partially decomposed vegetable f…

ought to have come from Bohemia; in later times often applied to an adventurer in art or literature, of irregular, unconventional habits, questionable tastes, or free morals. [Modern]

Somewhat overstepping usual bounds, or conventional rules, as in art, literature, etc.; taking liberties in o composition or expression; as, the figures of an author are bold. "Bold tales." Waller. The cathedral church is a very bold work. Addison.