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A piece, or plate which forms the back of anything, or which covers the back; armor for the back.

Perversely; ill.[Obs.] And does he think so backwardly of me Shak.

A person given to idle observation of everything, with wonder or astonishment; a credulous or gossipy idler.

Something characteristic; a mark; a token. Sweet mercy is nobility's true badge. Shak.

o repel and baffle them all. South. Calculations 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.

A sack or pouch, used for holding anything; as, a bag of meal or of money.

A trifle; a thing of no importance. Rich trifles, serious bagatelles. Prior.

The act of putting anything into, or as into, a bag.

A house for bathing, sweating, etc.; -- also, in Turkey, a prison for slaves. [Obs.]

Custody; keeping. [Obs.] Silly Faunus now within their bail. Spenser.

The space immediately within the outer wall of a castle or fortress. [Obs.]

Originally, a person put in charge of something especially, a chief officer, magistrate, or keeper, as of a county, town, hundred, or castle; one to whom power Abbott. Lausanne is under the canton of Berne, governed by a bailiff sent every three years from the senate. Addison.

The precincts within which a bailiff has jurisdiction; the limits of a bailiff's authority.

Anything which allures; a lure; enticement; temptation. Fairfax.

To dry or harden (anything) by subjecting to heat, as, to bake bricks; the sun bakes the ground.

A paragraph describing something wonderful, used to fill out a newspaper column; -- an allusion to the miracle of Balaam's ass speaking. Numb. xxii. 30. [Cant] Balaam basket or box (Print.), the receptacle for rejected articles. Blackw. Mag.

er side; as, the balance of an account. " A balance at the banker's. " Thackeray. I still think the balance of probabilities leans towards the account given in the text. J. Peile.

Evil; an evil, pernicious influence; something causing great injury. [Now chiefly poetic]

ll. Balk line (Billiards), a line across a billiard table near one end, marking a limit within which the cue balls are placed in beginning a game; also, a line around the table, parallel to the sides, used in playing a particular game, called the balk line game.

he dark terrestrial ball. Addison. Ball and socket joint, a joint in which a ball moves within a socket, so as to admit of motion in every direction within certain limits. -- Ball bearings, a mechanical device for lessening the friction of axle bearings by means of small loose metal balls. -- Ball cartridge, a cartri…