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A coarse cloth of linen or hemp, stiffened with size or glue, used in garments to keep them in the form intended, and for wrappers to cover merchandise.

A general name applied to various insects belonging to the Hemiptera; as, the squash bug; the chinch bug, etc.

which has mild narcotic and astringent properties, and is sometimes used as a remedy for hemorrhage.

ion; the majority; as, the bulk of a debt. The bulk of the people must labor, Burke told them, "to obtain what by labor can be obtained." J. Morley.

tain the bulk or size of goods, in order to fix the amount of freight or dues payable on them.

h a rise. See 4th Bear, n., 5. Bull baiting, the practice of baiting bulls, or rendering them furious, as by setting dogs to attack them. -- John Bull, a humorous name for the English, collectively; also, an Englishman. "Good-looking young John Bull." W. D.Howells. -- To take the bull by the horns, to grapple with a…

es of the order Sapotaceæ, as Dipholis nigra and species of Sapota and Mimusops. Most of them yield a substance closely resembling gutta-percha.

A kind of swindling game or scheme, by means of cards or by a sham lottery. [Written also bunco.] Bunko steerer, a person employed as a decoy in bunko. [Slang, U.S.]

o support persons who have fallen into the water, until a boat can be dispatched to save them. -- Nut or Nun buoy, a buoy large in the middle, and tapering nearly to a point at each end. -- To stream the buoy, to let the anchor buoy fall by the ship's side into the water, before letting go the anchor. -- Whistling b…

The verse repeated in a song, or the return of the theme at the end of each stanza; the chorus; refrain. Hence: That which is often repeated or which is dwelt upon; the main topic; as, the burden of a prayer. I would sing my song without a burden. Shak.

A coarse fabric, made of jute or hemp, used for bagging; also, a finer variety of similar material, used for curtains, etc. [Written also burlaps.]

oxygen. To burn, To burn together, as two surfaces of metal (Engin.), to fuse and unite them by pouring over them a quantity of the same metal in a liquid state. -- To burn a bowl (Game of Bowls), to displace it accidentally, the bowl so displaced being said to be burned. -- To burn daylight, to light candles before…

The part of a lamp, gas fixture, etc., where the flame is produced. Bunsen's burner (Chem.), a kind of burner, invented by Professor Bunsen of Heidelberg, consisting of a straight tube, four or five inches in length, having small holes for the entrance of air at the bottom. Illuminating gas being also admitted at the b…

Consuming; intense; inflaming; exciting; vehement; powerful; as, burning zeal. Like a young hound upon a burning scent. Dryden. Burning bush (Bot.), an ornamental shrub (Euonymus atropurpureus), bearing a crimson berry.

called from their habit of burying small dead animals by digging away the earth beneath them. The larvæ feed upon decaying flesh, and are useful scavengers. -- To bury the hatchet, to lay aside the instruments of war, and make peace; -- a phrase used in allusion to the custom observed by the North American Indians, o…

flat ends, or edges, of a piece of iron or steel, or of separate pieces, without having them overlap. See Weld. -- Full butt, headfirst with full force. [Colloq.] "The corporal . . . ran full butt at the lieutenant." Marryat.

tance resembling butter in degree of consistence, or other qualities, especially, in old chemistry, the chloridess, as butter of antimony, sesquichloride of antimony; also, certain concrete fat oils remaining nearly solid at ordinary temperatures, as butter of cacao, vegetable butter, shea butter. Butter and eggs (Bot.…

Apt to let things fall, or to let them slip away; slippery; careless.

lose to; along with; as, come and sit by me. By foundation or by shady rivulet He sought them both. Milton.

n the valves of certain bivalve mollusks, as the Pinna and Mytilus, by which they attach themselves to rocks, etc.