BROTHER n.
y some common tie or interest, as of rank, profession, membership in a society, toil, suffering, etc.; -- used among judges, clergymen, monks, physicians, lawers, professors of religion, etc. "A brother of your order." Shak. We few, we happy few, we band of brothers, For he to-day that sheds his blood with me Shall be…
BUFF a.
other thick and elastic material, worn by soldiers in the 17th century as a defensive covering. -- Buff jerkin, originally, a leather waistcoat; afterward, one of cloth of a buff color. [Obs.] Nares. -- Buff stick (Mech.), a strip of wood covered with buff leather, used in polishing.
BUFFALO n.
, a species of short, sweet grass (Buchloë dactyloides), from two to four inches high, covering the prairies on which the buffaloes, or bisons, feed. [U.S.] -- Buffalo nut (Bot.), the oily and drupelike fruit of an American shrub (Pyrularia oleifera); also, the shrub itself; oilnut. -- Buffalo robe, the skin of the bi…
BULL n.
ect such a rise. See 4th Bear, n., 5. Bull baiting, the practice of baiting bulls, or rendering them furious, as by setting dogs to attack them. -- John Bull, a humorous name for the English, collectively; also, an Englishman. "Good-looking young John Bull." W. D.Howells. -- To take the bull by the horns, to grapple…
BUOY n.
t can be dispatched to save them. -- Nut or Nun buoy, a buoy large in the middle, and tapering nearly to a point at each end. -- To stream the buoy, to let the anchor buoy fall by the ship's side into the water, before letting go the anchor. -- Whistling buoy, a buoy fitted with a whistle that is blown by the action…
BURN v.
. Shak. -- To burn one's fingers, to get one's self into unexpected trouble, as by interfering the concerns of others, speculation, etc. -- To burn out, to destroy or obliterate by burning. "Must you with hot irons burn out mine eyes" Shak. -- To be burned out, to suffer loss by fire, as the burning of one's house,…
BURNT p.
the sun. Burnt ear, a black, powdery fungus which destroys grain. See Smut. -- Burnt offering, something offered and burnt on an altar, as an atonement for sin; a sacrifice. The offerings of the Jews were a clean animal, as an ox, a calf, a goat, or a sheep; or some vegetable substance, as bread, or ears of wheat or…