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of the genus Diodon or the genus Tetraodon, having the power of distending its body by taking air or water into its dilatable esophagus. See Globefish, and Bur fish.

t when his four feet are in the air, he shows only the shoes of his hind feet, without jerking out.

A kind of stout walking shoe, laced in front. A man who uses his balmorals to tread on your toes. George Eliot.

olid mass. It is obtained from the balm of Gilead (or balsam) fir (Abies balsamea) by breaking the vesicles upon the trunk and branches. See Balm.

A calling together of the king's (esp. the French king's) vassals for military service; also, the body of vassals thus assembled or summoned. In present usage, in France and Prussia, the most effective part of the population liable to military duty and not in the standing army.

mber of musicians who play together upon portable musical instruments, especially those making a loud sound, as certain wind instruments (trumpets, clarinets, etc.), and drums, or cymbals.

A club bent at the lower part for striking a ball at play; a hockey stick. Johnson.

The face of the coal at which miners are working.

A promissory note issued by a bank or banking company, payable to bearer on demand.

One who conducts the business of banking; one who, individually, or as a member of a company, keeps an establishment for the deposit or loan of money, or for traffic in money, bills of exchange, etc.

A feast; a sumptuous entertainment of eating and drinking; often, a complimentary or ceremonious feast, followed by speeches.

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.

A southern name for the kingfishes of the eastern and southeastern coasts of the United States; -- also improperly called whiting.

With the feet bare; without shoes or stockings.

The alkali produced from the plant, being an impure carbonate of soda, used for making soap, glass, etc., and for bleaching purposes.

utcries. They bark, and say the Scripture maketh heretics. Tyndale. Where there is the barking of the belly, there no other commands will be heard, much less obeyed. Fuller.

A valuable grain, of the family of grasses, genus Hordeum, used for food, and for making malt, from which are prepared beer, ale, and whisky. Barley bird (Zoöl.), the siskin. -- Barley sugar, sugar boiled till it is brittle (formerly with a decoction of barley) and candied. -- Barley water, a decoction of barley, use…

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

An itinerant theatrical player who plays in barns when a theatre is lacking; hence, an inferior actor, or one who plays in the country away from the larger cities. --Barn"storm`ing, n. [Theatrical Cant]

The art or process of making barometrical measurements.