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or scene of noise and confusion; a confused mixture of sounds, as of voices or languages. That babel of strange heathen languages. Hammond. The grinding babel of the street. R. L. Stevenson.

nder part of the body, extending from the neck to the end of the spine; in other animals, that part of the body which corresponds most nearly to such part of a human being; as, the back of a horse, fish, or lobster.

A fire started ahead of a forest or prairie fire to burn only against the wind, so that when the two fires meet both must go out for lack of fuel.

Of a Bunsen or similar air-fed burner, to light so that the flame proceeds from the internal gas jet instead of from the external jet of mixed gas and air. -- Back"-fir`ing, n.

One who, or that which, backs; especially one who backs a person or thing in a contest.

That which is behind, and forms the back of, anything, usually giving strength or stability.

slide back; to fall away; esp. to abandon gradually the faith and practice of a religion that has been professed.

In baseball, a fence, prop. at least 90 feet behind the home base, to stop the balls that pass the catcher; also, the catcher himself.

One of the somites (arthromeres) that make up the thorax of Arthropods. Packard.

hment, as a recreant knight. [Obs.] He by the heels him hung upon a tree, And baffled so, that all which passed by The picture of his punishment might see. Spenser.

One who, or that which, baffles.

y to market in a sack; as, a bag of pepper or hops; a bag of coffee. Bag and baggage, all that belongs to one. -- To give one the bag, to disappoint him. [Obs.] Bunyan.

eliver from arrest, or out of custody, on the undertaking of some other person or persons that he or they will be responsible for the appearance, at a certain day and place, of the person bailed.

That can be delivered in trust; as, bailable goods.

An officer in Scotland, whose office formerly corresponded to that of sheriff, but now corresponds to that of an English alderman.

son to another in trust, for some special purpose, upon a contract, expressed or implied, that the trust shall be faithfully executed. Blackstone.

ings; to flutter as if to fly; or to hover, as a hawk when she stoops to her prey. "Kites that bait and beat." Shak.

Having legs that bend inward at the knees.

ble. -- Balance of power. (Politics), such an adjustment of power among sovereign states that no one state is in a position to interfere with the independence of the others; international equilibrium; also, the ability ( of a state or a third party within a state) to control the relations between sovereign states or b…

belt. [Also spelt bawdrick.] A radiant baldric o'er his shoulder tied Sustained the sword that glittered at his side. Pope.