Search the Dictionary

The supreme male divinity of the Phoenician and Canaanitish nations.

Relating to bacterioscopy; as, a bacterioscopic examination.

One skilled in bacterioscopic examinations.

ication of a knowledge of bacteria for their detection and identification, as in the examination of polluted water.

so difficult as to have baffled, until within a . . . recent period, the most enlightened nations. Prescott. The mere intricacy of a question should not baffle us. Locke. Baffling wind (Naut.), one that frequently shifts from one point to another.

that no one state is in a position to interfere with the independence of the others; international equilibrium; also, the ability ( of a state or a third party within a state) to control the relations between sovereign states or between dominant parties in a state. -- Balance sheet (Bookkeeping), a paper showing the b…

That which destroys life, esp. poison of a deadly quality. [Obs. except in combination, as in ratsbane, henbane, etc.]

ariants of the Bantu plural personal prefix Aba-, as in Ba-ntu, or Aba-ntu, itself a combination of this prefix with the syllable -ntu, a person. -- Ban"tu, a.

One of a denomination of Christians who deny the validity of infant baptism and of sprinkling, and maintain that baptism should be administered to believers alone, and should be by immersion. See Anabaptist.

An international, interdenominational organization of Bible classes of young men; -- so named in allusion to the Hebrew word Berachah (Meaning blessing) occurring in 2 Chron. xx. 26 and 1 Chron. xii.

to, or resembling, barbarians; rude; uncivilized; barbarous; as, barbarian governments or nations.

Of, or from, barbarian nations; foreign; -- often with reference to barbarous nations of east. "Barbaric pearl and gold." Milton.

To sound with more or less rapid alternations of greater and less intensity, so as to produce a pulsating effect; -- said of instruments, tones, or vibrations, not perfectly in unison. A beating wind (Naut.), a wind which necessitates tacking in order to make progress. -- To beat about, to try to find; to search by va…

s's beauty. Sir P. Sidney. Against whom he had contracted some prejudice in behalf of his nation. Clarendon. In behalf of, in the interest of. -- On behalf of, on account of; on the part of.

ant literature; the humanities; -- used somewhat vaguely for literary works in which imagination and taste are predominant.

A nation or state recognized as carrying on war; a person engaged in warfare.

A kind of divination anciently practiced by means of marked arrows drawn at random from a bag or quiver, the marks on the arrows drawn being supposed to foreshow the future. Encyc. Brit.

Turn; purpose; inclination; ends. [Obs.] Farewell, poor swain; thou art not for my bend. Fletcher.

A benefit conferred; esp. a charitable donation.

Holding some office or valuable possession, in subordination to another; holding under a feudal or other superior; having a dependent and secondary possession. A feudatory or beneficiary king of England. Bacon.