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Plates or blades of "whalebone," from two to twelve feet long, and sometimes a foot wide, which in certain whales (Balænoidea) are attached side by side along the upper jaw, and form a fringelike sieve by which the food is retained in the mouth.

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

A form of French versification, sometimes imitated in English, in which three or four rhymes recur through three stanzas of eight or ten lines each, the stanzas concluding with a refrain, and the whole poem with an envoy.

s a theatrical entertainment, or an interlude, by a number of persons, usually women. Sometimes, a scene accompanied by pantomime and dancing.

-- Canada balsam, Balsam of fir, Canada turpentine, a yellowish, viscid liquid, which, by time and exposure, becomes a transparent solid mass. It is obtained from the balm of Gilead (or balsam) fir (Abies balsamea) by breaking the vesicles upon the trunk and branches. See Balm.

or a bill of exchange, of a bank, payable to order, and usually at some future specified time. Such bills are negotiable, but form, in the strict sense of the term, no part of the currency.

equal to the interest at a given rate on the principal (face) of a bill or note from the time of discounting until it becomes due.

To treat with a banquet or sumptuous entertainment of food; to feast. Just in time to banquet The illustrious company assembled there. Coleridge.

In early times, a separate building, usually polygonal, used for baptismal services. Small churches were often changed into baptisteries when larger churches were built near.

of evil; distance bars our intercourse; the statute bars my right; the right is barred by time; a release bars the plaintiff's recovery; -- sometimes with up. He barely looked the idea in the face, and hastened to bar it in its dungeon. Hawthorne.

The pressure of one dyne per square centimeter; -- used as a unit of pressure.

To become barbarous. The Roman empire was barbarizing rapidly from the time of Trajan. De Quincey.

A piece of defensive (or, sometimes, ornamental) armor for a horse's neck, breast, and flanks; a barb. [Often in the pl.]

But just; without any excess; with nothing to spare ( of quantity, time, etc.); hence, scarcely; hardly; as, there was barely enough for all; he barely escaped.

One who makes a bargain; -- sometimes in the sense of bargainor.

by the barograph, showing graphically the variations of atmospheric pressure for a given time.

obility; originally, the possessor of a fief, who had feudal tenants under him; in modern times, in France and Germany, a nobleman next in rank below a count; in England, a nobleman of the lowest grade in the House of Lords, being next below a viscount.

A voracious pikelike, marine fish, of the genus Sphyræna, sometimes used as food.

ter; to exchange (frequently for an unworthy consideration); to traffic; to truck; -- sometimes followed by away; as, to barter away goods or honor.

Time of the festival of St. Bartholomew, August 24th. Shak.