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ches depending from an annular or beltlike life buoy which is usually of cork. This contrivance, inclosing the person to be rescued, is hung by short ropes from a block which runs upon the hawser stretched from the ship to the shore, and is drawn to land by hauling lines. -- Breeches pipe, a forked pipe forming two br…

ums of social life; manners; knowledge of, or training in, the ceremonies, or polite observances of society. Delicacy of breeding, or that polite deference and respect which civility obliges us either to express or counterfeit towards the persons with whom we converse. Hume.

ctrine and fellowship, intermediate between the High Church party and the Low Church, or evangelical, party. The term has been applied to otherbodies of men holding liberal or comprehensive views of Christian doctrine and fellowship. Side by side with these various shades of High and Low Church, another party of a diff…

Broken ground. (a) (Mil.) Rough or uneven ground; as, the troops were retarded in their advance by broken ground. (b) Ground recently opened with the plow. -- Broken line (Geom.), the straight lines which join a number of given points taken in some specified order. -- Broken meat, fragments of meat or other food. --…

A contrivance consisting of a slat of wood tied to the end of a thong or string, with which the slat is whirled so as to cause an intermittent roaring noise. It is used as a toy, and among some races in certain religious rites.

The act of striking the stern of the boat in advance with the prow of the boat following. [Eng.]

-- applied to the custom of a man and woman, especially lovers, thus sleeping. Bartlett. Van Corlear stopped occasionally in the villages to eat pumpkin pies, dance at country frolics, and bundle with the Yankee lasses. W. Irving.

he Bible to express the conjunctive and adversative force of the Greek But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; . . . the lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him. Luke xii. 45, 46. But if, unless. [Obs.] Chaucer. But this I read, that but if remedy Thou her affo…

d, whose principal business it is to take charge of the liquors, plate, etc.; the head servant in a large house. The butler and the baker of the king of Egypt. Gen. xl. 5. Your wine locked up, your butler strolled abroad. Pope.

A boy servant, or page, -- in allusion to the buttons on his livry. [Colloq.] Dickens.

Private end or interest; secret purpose; selfish advantage. [Written also bye-end.] "Profit or some other by-end." L'Estrange.

Self-interest; private advantage. Atterbury.

A chair, litter, or other contrivance fitted to the back or pack saddle of a mule for carrying travelers in mountainous districts, or for the transportation of the sick and wounded of an army.

A species of inferior carpet imported from the Levant. McElrath.

et -- Cadmean letters. Cadmean victory, a victory that damages the victors as much as the vanquished; probably referring to the battle in which the soldiers who sprang from the dragon's teeth sown by Cadmus slew each other.

A caravan of travelers; a military supply train or government caravan; a string of pack horses.

A garment worn throughout the Levant, consisting of a long gown with sleeves reaching below the hands. It is generally fastened by a belt or sash.

A light skiff or rowboat used on the Bosporus; also, a Levantine vessel of larger size.

rriage. The baroness in a calash capable of holding herself, her two children, and her servants. W. Irving.

it was found. If it did, it indicates an unprecedented antiquity for human beings of an advanced type.