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which case it divides the curve into two symmetrical portions, as in the parabola, which has one such axis, the ellipse, which has two, or the circle, which has an infinite number. The two axes of the ellipse are the major axis and the minor axis, and the two axes of the hyperbola are the transverse axis and the conju…

strips of worsted chenille so colored as to produce a pattern on a stout jute backing. It has a fine soft pile. So called from Axminster, England, where it was formerly (1755 -- 1835) made.

l of Bacchus; relating to or given to reveling and drunkenness. Even bacchanalian madness has its charms. Cowper.

A man of any age who has not been married. As merry and mellow an old bachelor as ever followed a hound. W. Irving.

erating backward; as, back action. Back charges, charges brought forward after an account has been made up. -- Back filling (Arch.), the mass of materials used in filling up the space between two walls, or between the inner and outer faces of a wall, or upon the haunches of an arch or vault. -- Back pressure. (Steam…

two persons on a "board" marked off into twenty-four spaces called "points". Each player has fifteen pieces, or "men", the movements of which from point to point are determined by throwing dice. Formerly called tables. Backgammon board , a board for playing backgammon, often made in the form of two rectangular trays h…

A rebate or chase in masonry left to receive a permanent slab or other filling.

The reading of the leveling staff in its unchanged position when the leveling instrument has been taken to a new position; a sight directed backwards to a station previously occupied. Cf. Foresight, n., 3.

e back; to fall away; esp. to abandon gradually the faith and practice of a religion that has been professed.

One who has charge of the baggage at a railway station or upon a line of public travel. [U.S.]

The person to whom goods are committed in trust, and who has a temporary possession and a qualified property in them, for the purposes of the trust. Blackstone.

The precincts within which a bailiff has jurisdiction; the limits of a bailiff's authority.

A child. [Scot. & Prov. Eng.] Has he not well provided for the bairn ! Beau. & Fl.

A light or hasty luncheon. Bait bug (Zoöl), a crustacean of the genus Hippa found burrowing in sandy beaches. See Anomura.

pular kind of narrative poem, adapted for recitation or singing; as, the ballad of Chevy Chase; esp., a sentimental or romantic poem in short stanzas.

A spider which has the habit of rising into the air. Many kinds ( esp. species of Lycosa) do this while young by ejecting threads of silk until the force of the wind upon them carries the spider aloft.

An officer who has charge of a ballot box. [Obs.] Harrington.

and from this tree is obtained the balm of Gilead of the shops, or balsam of Mecca. This has a yellowish or greenish color, a warm, bitterish, aromatic taste, and a fragrant smell. It is valued as an unguent and cosmetic by the Turks. The fragrant herb Dracocephalum Canariense is familiarly called balm of Gilead, and…

To give and receive reciprocally; to exchange. "To bandy hasty words." Shak.

cal instrument having a head and neck like the guitar, and its body like a tambourine. It has five strings, and is played with the fingers and hands.