Search the Dictionary

A brush of twigs for sweeping; a broom; anything which sweeps away or destroys. [Archaic or Fig.] I will sweep it with the besom of destruction. Isa. xiv. 23. The housemaid with her besom. W. Irving.

sually in the plural. Their betters would hardly be found. Hooker. For the better, in the way of improvement; so as to produce improvement. "If I have altered him anywhere for the better." Dryden.

re was some speech of marriage Betwixt myself and her. Shak. Betwixt and between, in a midway position; so-so; neither one thing nor the other. [Colloq.]

To charm; to fascinate; to please to such a degree as to take away the power of resistance; to enchant. The charms of poetry our souls bewitch. Dryden.

On the further side of; in the same direction as, and further on or away than. Beyond that flaming hill. G. Fletcher.

ing ignorant that there is a concealed bias within the spheroid, which will . . . swerve away. Sir W. Scott.

The Book by way of eminence, -- that is, the book which is made up of the writings accepted by Christians as of divine origin and authority, whether such writings be in the original language, or translated; the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments; -- sometimes in a restricted sense, the Old Testament; as, King Jam…

One who hides away books, as in a tomb. [R.] Crabb.

Pointing two ways, as leaves that grow only on opposite sides of a branch; in two vertical rows.

Bilge water. Bilge free (Naut.), stowed in such a way that the bilge is clear of everything; -- said of a cask. -- Bilge pump, a pump to draw the bilge water from the gold of a ship. -- Bilge water (Naut.), water which collects in the bilge or bottom of a ship or other vessel. It is often allowed to remain till it be…

A paper, written or printed, and posted up or given away, to advertise something, as a lecture, a play, or the sale of goods; a placard; a poster; a handbill. She put up the bill in her parlor window. Dickens.

itt the cable, in order to fasten it or to slacken it gradually, which is called veering away. Totten.

Having, or leading, two ways. Bivious theorems and Janus-faced doctrines. Sir T. Browne.

To make or render black. While the long funerals blacken all the way. Pope

ress his malice and blanch his danger. Bacon. I suppose you will not blanch Paris in your way. Reliq. Wot.

One who, or that which, frightens away or turns aside. [Obs.] And Gynecia, a blancher, which kept the dearest deer from her. Sir P. Sidney. And so even now hath he divers blanchers belonging to the market, to let and stop the light of the gospel. Latimer.

To toss in a blanket by way of punishment. We'll have our men blanket 'em i' the hall. B. Jonson.

lk; to make or accomplish by blarney. "Blarneyed the landlord." Irving. Had blarneyed his way from Long Island. S. G. Goodrich.

To be resplendent. Macaulay. To blaze away, to discharge a firearm, or to continue firing; -- said esp. of a number of persons, as a line of soldiers. Also used (fig.) of speech or action. [Colloq.]

To baffle; to disconcert; to turn away; -- also, to obstruct; to hinder. [Obs.] Ye should have somewhat blenched him therewith, yet he might and would of likelihood have gone further. Sir T. More.