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he top of a parapet, and not through embrasures. -- Barbette gun, or Barbette battery, a single gun, or a number of guns, mounted in barbette, or partially protected by a parapet or turret. -- Barbette carriage, a gun carriage which elevates guns sufficiently to be in barbette. [See Illust. of Casemate.]…

A professional poet and singer, as among the ancient Celts, whose occupation was to compose and sing verses in honor of the heroic achievements of princes and brave men.

On the bare back of a horse, without using a saddle; as, to ride bareback.

water flows into a vertical tube and gushes from apertures in hollow horizontal arms, causing the machine to revolve on its axis.

Foam rising upon beer, or other malt liquors, when fermenting, and used as leaven in making bread and in brewing; yeast. Shak.

A post sunk in the ground to receive the bars closing a passage into a field.

The act of closing the doors of a schoolroom against a schoolmaster; -- a boyish mode of rebellion in schools. Swift.

A low, or deep, sound. (Mus.) (a) The lowest part; the deepest male voice. (b) One who sings, or the instrument which plays, base. [Now commonly written bass.] The trebles squeak for fear, the bases roar. Dryden.

ground floor, collectively. Basement membrane (Anat.), a delicate membrane composed of a single layer of flat cells, forming the substratum upon which, in many organs, the epithelioid cells are disposed.

ent provided in the houses of persons of importance, where assemblies were held for dispensing justice; and hence, any large hall used for this purpose.

A fabulous serpent, or dragon. The ancients alleged that its hissing would drive away all other serpents, and that its breath, and even its look, was fatal. See Cockatrice. Make me not sighted like the basilisk. Shak.

The pedestal of a column, pillar, or statue. [Obs.] If no basis bear my rising name. Pope.

One who sings, or the instrument which plays, bass. [Written also base.] Thorough bass. See Thorough bass.

The bass or lowest part; as, to sing basso.

The act of exposing the body, or part of the body, for purposes of cleanliness, comfort, health, etc., to water, vapor, hot air, or the like; as, a cold or a hot bath; a medicated bath; a steam bath; a hip bath.

A single combat; as, trial by battel. See Wager of battel, under Wager.

To emit beams of light. He beamed, the daystar of the rising age. Trumbull.

Any single emblem or charge in an escutcheon or coat of arms -- commonly in the pl. A carriage covered with armorial bearings. Thackeray.

hunting, accompanied with the noise made by striking bushes, etc., for the purpose of rousing game. To beat the woods, and rouse the bounding prey. Prior.

Having the qualities which constitute beauty; pleasing to the sight or the mind. A circle is more beautiful than a square; a square is more beautiful than a parallelogram. Lord Kames.