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ng of Zacharias at the birth of John the Baptist (Luke i. 68); -- so named from the first word of the Latin version.

strip; -- with of before the person or thing taken away. Madam, you have bereft me of all words. Shak. Bereft of him who taught me how to sing. Tickell.

To improve or ameliorate; to increase the good qualities of. Love betters what is best. Wordsworth. He thought to better his circumstances. Thackeray.

inating; bewitchment; charm; fascination. There is a certain bewitchery or fascination in words. South.

To offer in words; to declare, as a wish, a greeting, a threat, or defiance, etc.; as, to bid one welcome; to bid good morning, farewell, etc. Neither bid him God speed. 2. John 10. He bids defiance to the gaping crowd. Granrille.

A trinket; a jewel; -- a word applied to anything small and of elegant workmanship.

A rapier; a sword; so named from Bilbao, in Spain. Shak.

A word, syllable, or root, consisting of two letters.

Nonsense; vain words. B. Jonson.

The bell, or boom, of the bittern The bittern's hollow bill was heard. Wordsworth.

nnel leading out from a river; -- sometimes called an anabranch. This is the sense of the word as used in the Public Works Department; but the term has also been locally applied to mere back-waters forming stagnant pools and to certain water channels arising from a source.

Scomberesox saurus). (c) The Tetrapturus albidus, a large oceanic species related to the swordfish; the spearfish. (d) The American fresh-water garpike (Lepidosteus osseus).

Fig.: A girl; a maiden. And by my word! the bonny bird In danger shall not tarry. Campbell. Arabian bird, the phenix. -- Bird of Jove, the eagle. -- Bird of Juno, the peacock. -- Bird louse (Zoöl.), a wingless insect of the group Mallophaga, of which the genera and species are very numerous and mostly parasitic upon…

Twice; -- a word showing that something is, or is to be, repeated; as a passage of music, or an item in accounts.

ball of black color, esp. one used as a negative in voting; -- in this sense usually two words.

The cutting part of an instrument; as, the blade of a knife or a sword.

A sword cutler. [Obs.]

To avoid, as from fear; to evade; to leave unnoticed. [Obs.] Ifs and ands to qualify the words of treason, whereby every man might express his malice and blanch his danger. Bacon. I suppose you will not blanch Paris in your way. Reliq. Wot.

To flatter with kind words or affectionate actions; to caress; to cajole.

The act of blandishing; a word or act expressive of affection or kindness, and tending to win the heart; soft words and artful caresses; cajolery; allurement. Cowering low with blandishment. Milton. Attacked by royal smiles, by female blandishments. Macaulay.