Search the Dictionary

A hindrance or disappointment; a check. A balk to the confidence of the bold undertaker. South.

That which destroys life, esp. poison of a deadly quality. [Obs. except in combination, as in ratsbane, henbane, etc.]

the order Ranunculaceæ, native in the north temperate zone. The red or white berries are poisonous.

Having poisonous qualities; deadly; destructive; injurious; noxious; pernicious. "Baneful hemlock." Garth. "Baneful wrath." Chapman. -- Bane"ful*ly, adv. --Bane"ful*ness, n.

The point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc., to prevent it from being easily extracted. Hence: Anything which stands out with a sharp point obliquely or crosswise to something else. "Having two barbs or points." Ascham.

Having barbed points. A dart uncommonly barbated. T. Warton.

barbed wire. Barbed wire, a wire, or a strand of twisted wires, armed with barbs or sharp points. It is used for fences.

Having short, stiff hairs, often barbed at the point. Gray.

nciple of the seesaw, in which one end rises as the other falls. Bascule bridge, a counterpoise or balanced drawbridge, which is opened by sinking the counterpoise and thus lifting the footway into the air.

The point or line from which a start is made; a starting place or a goal in various games. To their appointed base they went. Dryden.

ertaining to the Batrachidæ, a family of marine fishes, including the toadfish. Some have poisonous dorsal spines.

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 scale grow smaller as the density increases, there is no simple relation be…

A pointed instrument of the dagger kind fitted on the muzzle of a musket or rifle, so as to give the soldier increased means of offense and defense.

A small poisonous snake of North America (Elaps fulvius), banded with yellow, red, and black.

Anything projecting or ending in a point, like a beak, as a promontory of land. Carew.

Having a beak or a beaklike point; beak-shaped. "Each beaked promontory." Milton.

a line that crosses the ship at right angles, or in the direction of her beams, and that point of the compass toward which her stern is directed. -- Beam center (Mach.), the fulcrum or pin on which the working beam of an engine vibrates. -- Beam compass, an instrument consisting of a rod or beam, having sliding sock…

To be situated, as to the point of compass, with respect to something else; as, the land bears N. by E. To bear against, to approach for attack or seizure; as, a lion bears against his prey. [Obs.] -- To bear away (Naut.), to change the course of a ship, and make her run before the wind. -- To bear back, to retreat. "…

A barb or sharp point of an arrow or other instrument, projecting backward to prevent the head from being easily drawn out.

th regard to a ship's position, as on the bow, on the lee quarter, etc.; the direction or point of the compass in which an object is seen; as, the bearing of the cape was W. N. W. (b) pl.