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fission and by spores. Certain species are active agents in fermentation, while others appear to be the cause of certain infectious diseases. See Bacillus.

Reaping peas, beans, wheat, etc., with a chopping stroke. [Eng.]

A title of respect or honor given to European officers in East Indian state papers, and colloquially, and among the natives, to distinguished officials and other important personages.

undertaking of some other person or persons that he or they will be responsible for the appearance, at a certain day and place, of the person bailed.

A bond or obligation given by a prisoner and his surety, to insure the prisoner's appearance in court, at the return of the writ.

st before and after a total eclipse, the slender, unobscured crescent of the sun's disk appears momentarily like a row of bright spots resembling a string of beads. The phenomenon (first fully described by Francis Baily, 1774 -- 1844) is thought to be an effect of irradiation, and of inequalities of the moon's edge.…

rful, used to fill out a newspaper column; -- an allusion to the miracle of Balaam's ass speaking. Numb. xxii. 30. [Cant] Balaam basket or box (Print.), the receptacle for rejected articles. Blackw. Mag.

To fluctuate between motives which appear of equal force; to waver; to hesitate. He would not balance or err in the determination of his choice. Locke.

d. Bald buzzard (Zoöl.), the fishhawk or osprey. -- Bald coot (Zoöl.), a name of the European coot (Fulica atra), alluding to the bare patch on the front of the head.

The most beautiful and beloved of the gods; the god of peace; the son of Odin and Freya. [Written also Baldur.]

s or that mitigates pain. "Balm for each ill." Mrs. Hemans. Balm cricket (Zoöl.), the European cicada. Tennyson. -- Balm of Gilead (Bot.), a small evergreen African and Asiatic tree of the terebinthine family (Balsamodendron Gileadense). Its leaves yield, when bruised, a strong aromatic scent; and from this tree is ob…

. Bank beaver (Zoöl.), the otter. [Local, U.S.] -- Bank swallow, a small American and European swallow (Clivicola riparia) that nests in a hole which it excavates in a bank.

A kind of flag attached to a spear or pike by a crosspiece, and used by a chief as his standard in battle. Hang out our banners on the outward walls. Shak.

A supernatural being supposed by the Irish and Scotch peasantry to warn a family of the speedy death of one of its members, by wailing or singing in a mournful voice under the windows of the house.

To jest about; to ridicule in speaking of, as some trait, habit, characteristic, and the like. [Archaic] If they banter your regularity, order, and love of study, banter in return their neglect of them. Chatham.

nish with barbs, or with that which will hold or hurt like barbs, as an arrow, fishhook, spear, etc. But rattling storm of arrows barbed with fire. Milton.

[Historical] Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me.

rbarian nations; foreign; -- often with reference to barbarous nations of east. "Barbaric pearl and gold." Milton.

A European bat (Barbastellus communis), with hairy lips.

A large fresh-water fish ( Barbus vulgaris) found in many European rivers. Its upper jaw is furnished with four barbels.