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From a better to a worse state, as from honor to shame, from religion to sin. The work went backward. Dryden.

A variety of snuff perfumed with bergamot. The better hand . . . gives the nose its bergamot. Cowper .

Berlin black, a black varnish, drying with almost a dead surface; -- used for coating the better kinds of ironware. Ure. -- Berlin blue, Prussian blue. Ure. -- Berlin green, a complex cyanide of iron, used as a green dye, and similar to Prussian blue. -- Berlin iron, a very fusible variety of cast iron, from which f…

To get the better of. [Colloq.]

An early form of Better. [Obs.] To go bet, to go fast; to hurry. [Obs.] Chaucer.

To better; to mend. See Beete. [Obs.] Chaucer.

One who bets; a better. Addison.

r; to show beauty and freshness, as of flowers; to give promise, as by or with flowers. A better country blooms to view, Beneath a brighter sky. Logan.

spreads rapidly. It is valuable as a pasture grass, as it endures both winter and drought better than other kinds, and is very nutritious.

of Admiralty; a board of trade; a board of directors, trustees, commissioners, etc. Both better acquainted with affairs than any other who sat then at that board. Clarendon. We may judge from their letters to the board. Porteus.

Given to reading; fond of study; better acquainted with books than with men; learned from books. "A bookish man." Addison. "Bookish skill." Bp. Hall.

ately, esp. alcoholic liquor; to tipple. [Written also bouse, and boose.] Landor. This is better than boozing in public houses. H. R. Haweis.

ber of C. Braziliensis and C. crista. This is often distinguished as Braziletto , but the better kind is also frequently so named.

oiled; thin or simple soup. I am sure by your unprejudiced discourses that you love broth better than soup. Addison.

be a corruption of the Tartar name for North China (Khitai, the country of the Khitans.) Better fifty years of Europe than a cycle of Cathay. Tennyson.

To claim as due; to demand as a right. Challenge better terms. Addison.

To be altered; to undergo variation; as, men sometimes change for the better. For I am Lord, I change not. Mal. iii. 6.

Money; cash. [Cant] "To leave his chink to better hands." Somerville.

The act or process of making clear. The better clearing of this point. South.

To break into small pieces, as ore, so as to sort out its better portions. Raymond.