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The noise made by the bittern.

empty cask employed to buoy up the cable in rocky anchorage. -- Can buoy, a hollow buoy made of sheet or boiler iron, usually conical or pear-shaped. -- Life buoy, a float intended to support persons who have fallen into the water, until a boat can be dispatched to save them. -- Nut or Nun buoy, a buoy large in the…

A chest of drawers for clothes, especially when made as an ornamental piece of furniture. [U.S.] Bureau system. See Bureaucracy. -- Bureau Veritas, an institution, in the interest of maritime underwriters, for the survey and rating of vessels all over the world. It was founded in Belgium in 1828, removed to Paris in 1…

A richly flavored wine, mostly red, made in Burgundy, France. Burgundy pitch, a resinous substance prepared from the exudation of the Norway spruce (Abies excelsa) by melting in hot water and straining through cloth. The genuine Burgundy pitch, supposed to have been first prepared in Burgundy, is rare, but there are ma…

o glorious burial slowly borne. Tennyson. Burial case, a form of coffin, usually of iron, made to close air- tight, for the preservation of a dead body. -- Burial ground, a piece of ground selected and set apart for a place of buriials, and consecrated to such use by religious ceremonies. -- Burial place, any place w…

The cutting tool of an engraver on metal, used in line engraving. It is made of tempered steel, one end being ground off obliquely so as to produce a sharp point, and the other end inserted in a handle; a graver; also, the similarly shaped tool used by workers in marble.

An overgrown knot, or an excrescence, on a tree; also, veneer made from such excrescences.

A coarse fabric, made of jute or hemp, used for bagging; also, a finer variety of similar material, used for curtains, etc. [Written also burlaps.]

A shelter; esp. a hole in the ground made by certain animals, as rabbits, for shelter and habitation.

To exert force or pressure by which something is made suddenly to give way; to break through obstacles or limitations; hence, to appear suddenly and unexpecedly or unaccountably, or to depart in such manner; -- usually with some qualifying adverb or preposition, as forth, out, away, into, upon, through, etc. Tears, suc…

A similar covering for the foot and leg, made with very thick soles, to give an appearance of elevation to the stature; -- worn by tragic actors in ancient Greece and Rome. Used as a symbol of tragedy, or the tragic drama, as distinguished from comedy. Great Fletcher never treads in buskins here, No greater Jonson dare…

, joining end to end without overlapping, as planks. -- Butt weld (Mech.), a butt joint, made by welding together the flat ends, or edges, of a piece of iron or steel, or of separate pieces, without having them overlap. See Weld. -- Full butt, headfirst with full force. [Colloq.] "The corporal . . . ran full butt at…

A disk of bone, wood, or other material, which is made into a button by covering it with cloth. [Written also buttonmould.] Fossil buttonmolds, joints of encrinites. See Encrinite.

To make a low, continuous, humming or sibilant sound, like that made by bees with their wings. Hence: To utter a murmuring sound; to speak with a low, humming voice. Like a wasp is buzzed, and stung him. Longfellow. However these disturbers of our peace Buzz in the people's ears. Shak.

aid of; through; through the act or agency of; as, a city is destroyed by fire; profit is made by commerce; to take by force.

A local or subordinate law; a private law or regulation made by a corporation for its own government. There was likewise a law to restrain the by-laws, or ordinances of corporations. Bacon. The law or institution; to which are added two by-laws, as a comment upon the general law. Addison.

A run made upon a missed ball; as, to steal a bye. T. Hughes. By the bye, in passing; by way of digression; apropos to the matter in hand. [Written also by the by.]

Made of silk; having a silky or flaxlike appearance. Coles.

of considerable length, used to retain a vessel at anchor, and for other purposes. It is made of hemp, of steel wire, or of iron links.

A small line made of spun yarn, to bind or worm cables, seize tackles, etc.