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A blow on the head or ear with the hand. A good-humored box on the ear. W. Irving.

by veering her short round on her heel; -- so called from the circumstance of bracing the head yards abox (i. e., sharp aback, on the wind). Totten.

and transverse strains in its members. A boiler brace is a diagonal stay, connecting the head with the shell.

Having the skull short in proportion to its breadth; shortheaded; -- in distinction from dolichocephalic.

The state or condition of being brachycephalic; shortness of head.

A thin nail, usually small, with a slight projection at the top on one side instead of a head; also, a small wire nail, with a flat circular head; sometimes, a small, tapering, square-bodied finishing nail, with a countersunk head.

Hot-headed; furious. [R.] Shak.

To hold up and toss the head; -- applied to horses as spurning the bit. [Scot. & Prov. Eng.]

trument formerly used for correcting scolding women. It was an iron frame surrounding the head and having a triangular piece entering the mouth of the scold.

Without bread; destitude of food. Plump peers and breadless bards alike are dull. P. Whitehead.

tly, as a storm. The clouds are still above; and, while I speak, A second deluge o'er our head may break. Shak.

st as defensive armor. Before his old rusty breastplate could be scoured, and his cracked headpiece mended. Swift.

Stop; pause; delay. You shake the head at so long a breathing. Shak.

The head gear with which a horse is governed and restrained, consisting of a headstall, a bit, and reins, with other appendages.

instruction of counsel in a trial at law. This word is applied also to a statement of the heads or points of a law argument. It was not without some reference to it that I perused many a brief. Sir J. Stephen.

light; shedding or having much light; shining; luminous; not dark. The sun was bright o'erhead. Longfellow. The earth was dark, but the heavens were bright. Drake. The public places were as bright as at noonday. Macaulay.

To rise or stand erect, like bristles. His hair did bristle upon his head. Sir W. Scott.

A spitlike start, on the head of a young stag.

bers on the eastern coast of the United States, in autumn; - - called also bluebill, blackhead, raft duck, and scaup duck. See Scaup duck.

rassica oleracea) of many varieties, resembling the cauliflower. The "curd," or flowering head, is the part used for food.