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in 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 representation of a grotesque scene from common or rustic life.

A pecuniary mulct or penalty laid upon a delinquent for offending against a ban; as, a mulct paid to a bishop by one guilty of sacrilege or other crimes. Ban of the empire (German Hist.), an imperial interdict by which political rights and privileges, as those of a prince, city, or district, were taken away.…

The regular term of a court of law, or the full court sitting to hear arguments upon questions of law, as distinguished from a sitting at Nisi Prius, or a court held for jury trials. See Banc. Burrill.

t 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.

es Dupré, and Diaz. Associated with them are certain painters of animals, as Troyon and Jaque, and of peasant life, as Millet and Jules Breton.

ssel, having the foremast square-rigged, and the others schooner-rigged. [Spelled also barquentine, barkantine, etc.] See Illust. in Append.

rn owl (Zoöl.), an owl of Europe and America (Aluco flammeus, or Strix flammea), which frequents barns and other buildings. -- Barn swallow (Zoöl.), the common American swallow (Hirundo horreorum), which attaches its nest of mud to the beams and rafters of barns.

See Baroque.

Cowell. Baron of beef, two sirloins not cut asunder at the backbone. -- Barons of the Cinque Ports, formerly members of the House of Commons, elected by the seven Cinque Ports, two for each port. -- Baron of the exchequer, the judges of the Court of Exchequer, one of the three ancient courts of England, now abolished…

To trade or exchange in the way of barter; to exchange (frequently for an unworthy consideration); to traffic; to truck; -- sometimes followed by away; as, to barter away goods or honor.

, with grains of magnetic or titanic iron, and also bottle- green particles of olivine frequently disseminated.

who sings, or the instrument which plays, base. [Now commonly written bass.] The trebles squeak for fear, the bases roar. Dryden.

Of or pertaining to the bone in the base of the cranium, frequently forming a part of the occipital in the adult, but usually distinct in the young. -- n.

Pertaining to the country, people, or language of Biscay; Basque [Obs.] Sir T. Browne.

to have been invented at Venice. Some dress, some dance, some play, not to forget Your piquet parties, and your dear basset. Rowe.

Batavian legion. Batavian Republic, the name given to Holland by the French after its conquest in 1795.

Exciting contention; contentious. [Obs.] "It did bateful question frame. " Sidney.

length of a line of troops or part of a work. -- Battery en écharpe, one that plays obliquely. -- Battery gun, a gun capable of firing a number, of shots simultaneously or successively without stopping to load. -- Battery wagon, a wagon employed to transport the tools and materials for repair of the carriages, etc.…

ide by 213 ft. long, covered with embroidery representing the incidents of William the Conqueror's expedition to England, preserved in the town museum of Bayeux in Normandy. It is probably of the 11th century, and is attributed by tradition to Matilda, the Conqueror's wife.