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That which is used for steadying anything; ballast.

Anything that heals or that mitigates pain. "Balm for each ill." Mrs. Hemans. Balm cricket (Zoöl.), the European cicada. Tennyson. -- Balm of Gilead (Bot.), a small evergreen African and Asiatic tree of the terebinthine family (Balsamodendron Gileadense). Its leaves yield, when bruised, a strong aromatic scent; and fr…

Having the qualities of balm; odoriferous; aromatic; assuaging; soothing; refreshing; mild. "The balmy breeze." Tickell. Tired nature's sweet restorer, balmy sleep ! Young.

A bathing room. Sir T. Browne.

The act of bathing. [R.]

A treatise on baths; the science of bathing.

Anything that heals, soothes, or restores. Was not the people's blessing a balsam to thy blood Tennyson. Balsam apple (Bot.), an East Indian plant ( Momordica balsamina), of the gourd family, with red or orange-yellow cucumber-shaped fruit of the size of a walnut, used as a vulnerary, and in liniments and poultices. -…

Having the qualities of balsam; containing, or resembling, balsam; soft; mitigative; soothing; restorative.

Something commonplace, hackneyed, or trivial; the commonplace, in speech. The highest things were thus brought down to the banalities of discourse. J. Morley.

A fillet, strap, or any narrow ligament with which a thing is encircled, or fastened, or by which a number of things are tied, bound together, or confined; a fetter. Every one's bands were loosed. Acis xvi 26.

Something resembling a bandage; that which is bound over or round something to cover, strengthen, or compress it; a ligature. Zeal too had a place among the rest, with a bandage over her eyes. Addison.

A light box of pasteboard or thin wood, usually cylindrical, for holding ruffs (the bands of the 17th century), collars, caps, bonnets, etc.

To beat or thump, or to cause ( something) to hit or strike against another object, in such a way as to make a loud noise; as, to bang a drum or a piano; to bang a door (against the doorpost or casing) in shutting it.

A mound, pile, or ridge of earth, raised above the surrounding level; hence, anything shaped like a mound or ridge of earth; as, a bank of clouds; a bank of snow. They cast up a bank against the city. 2 Sam. xx. 15.

Destitute of, or wholly wanting (something once possessed, or something one should possess). "Bankrupt in gratitude." Sheridan. Bankrupt law, a law by which the property of a person who is unable or unwilling to pay his debts may be taken and distributed to his creditors, and by which a person who has made a full surre…

The territory without the walls, but within the legal limits, of a town or city. Brande & C.

To address playful good-natured ridicule to, -- the person addressed, or something pertaining to him, being the subject of the jesting; to rally; as, he bantered me about my credulity. Hag-ridden by my own fancy all night, and then bantered on my haggard looks the next day. W. Irving.

Anything which obstructs, hinders, or prevents; an obstruction; a barrier. Must I new bars to my own joy create Dryden.

ackward in an arrow, fishhook, etc., to prevent it from being easily extracted. Hence: Anything which stands out with a sharp point obliquely or crosswise to something else. "Having two barbs or points." Ascham.

Cruel; ferocious; inhuman; merciless. By their barbarous usage he died within a few days, to the grief of all that knew him. Clarendon.