Search the Dictionary

The god of wine, son of Jupiter and Semele.

A kind of wine made at Bacharach on the Rhine.

horses, that some one of all the other horses, collectively designated "the field", will win. -- To back the oars, to row backward with the oars. -- To back a rope, to put on a preventer. -- To back the sails, to arrange them so as to cause the ship to move astern. -- To back up, to support; to sustain; as, to bac…

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.

fty mountains on the north side compose the granitic axis, or backbone of the country. Darwin. We have now come to the backbone of our subject. Earle.

ifteen pieces, or "men", the movements of which from point to point are determined by throwing dice. Formerly called tables. Backgammon board , a board for playing backgammon, often made in the form of two rectangular trays hinged together, each tray containing two "tables".

An accumulation of water overflowing the low lands, caused by an obstruction.

A carved ornament on the stern of a vessel, containing a window or the representation of one.

A carnivorous quadruped of the genus Meles or of an allied genus. It is a burrowing animal, with short, thick legs, and long claws on the fore feet. One species (M. vulgaris), called also brock, inhabits the north of Europe and Asia; another species (Taxidea Americana or Labradorica) inhabits the northern parts of Nort…

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.

Frustrating; discomfiting; disconcerting; as, baffling currents, winds, tasks. -- Bafflingly, adv. -- Bafflingness, n.

ggage. The baronet's baggage on the roof of the coach. Thackeray. We saw our baggage following below. Johnson.

A musical wind instrument, now used chiefly in the Highlands of Scotland.

A light or hasty luncheon. Bait bug (Zoöl), a crustacean of the genus Hippa found burrowing in sandy beaches. See Anomura.

tates or between dominant parties in a state. -- Balance sheet (Bookkeeping), a paper showing the balances of the open accounts of a business, the debit and credit balances footing up equally, if the system of accounts be complete and the balances correctly taken. -- Balance thermometer, a thermometer mounted as a ba…

he act or result of balancing or adjusting; equipoise; even adjustment of forces. [R.] Darwin.

In Diptera, the rudimentary posterior wing.

y resting on brackets or consoles, and inclosed by a parapet; as, a balcony in front of a window. Also, a projecting gallery in places of amusement; as, the balcony in a theater.

A worthless mixture, especially of liquors. Indeed beer, by a mixture of wine, hath lost both name and nature, and is called balderdash. Taylor (Drink and Welcome).

Any round or roundish body or mass; a sphere or globe; as, a ball of twine; a ball of snow.