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A short bat for beating clothes in washing them; -- called also batler, batling staff, batting staff. Shak.

The king divided his army into three battles. Bacon. The cavalry, by way of distinction, was called the battle, and on it alone depended the fate of every action. Robertson.

, with a mixture of silver, formerly current in some parts of Germany and Switzerland. It was worth about four cents.

The fool's club. [Obs.] "A fool's bauble was a short stick with a head ornamented with an ass's ears fantastically carved upon it." Nares.

To take place; to happen; as, the meeting was on Thursday.

The shore of the sea, or of a lake, which is washed by the waves; especially, a sandy or pebbly shore; the strand. Beach flea (Zoöl.), the common name of many species of amphipod Crustacea, of the family Orchestidæ, living on the sea beaches, and leaping like fleas. -- Beach grass (Bot.), a coarse grass (Ammophila aru…

bæ. -- Florida bean (Bot.), the seed of Mucuna urens, a West Indian plant. The seeds are washed up on the Florida shore, and are often polished and made into ornaments. -- Ignatius bean, or St. Ignatius's bean (Bot.), a species of Strychnos. -- Navy bean, the common dried white bean of commerce; probably so called b…

To gain or win. [Obs.] Some think to bear it by speaking a great word. Bacon. She was . . . found not guilty, through bearing of friends and bribing of the judge. Latimer.

direction or point of the compass in which an object is seen; as, the bearing of the cape was W. N. W. (b) pl.

ing in a consistent whole. Wordsworth. The old definition of beauty, in the Roman school, was, "multitude in unity;" and there is no doubt that such is the principle of beauty. Coleridge.

er part of the face, whether forming a part of the helmet or fixed to the breastplate. It was so constructed (with joints or otherwise) that the wearer could raise or lower it to eat and drink.

To keep from motion, or stop the progress of, by the stilling of the wind; as, the fleet was becalmed.

uantity of hay, straw, leaves, or twigs. And made for him [a horse] a leafy bed. Byron. I wash, wring, brew, bake, . . . make the beds. Shak. In bed he slept not for my urging it. Shak.

eetbrier or eglantine, by a puncture from the ovipositor of a gallfly (Rhodites rosæ). It was once supposed to have medicinal properties.

ual or family; as, a quilting bee; a husking bee; a raising bee. [U. S.] The cellar . . . was dug by a bee in a single day. S. G. Goodrich.

ime when; -- sometimes with the additional idea of purpose; in order that. Before Abraham was, I am. John viii. 58. Before this treatise can become of use, two points are necessary. Swift.

or I beg leave to; as, I beg to inform you. -- To bag the question, to assume that which was to be proved in a discussion, instead of adducing the proof or sustaining the point by argument. -- To go a-begging, a figurative phrase to express the absence of demand for something which elsewhere brings a price; as, grape…

of behavior; to discipline; to handle; to restrain. [Obs.] He did behave his anger ere 't was spent. Shak.

To adjudge; to assign by authority. The second was to Triamond behight. Spenser.

t Hence: Inferior to in dignity, rank, knowledge, or excellence, or in any achievement. I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles. 2 Cor. xi. 5.