Search the Dictionary

Surrounded; furnished; beset; environed (as in woe-begone). [Obs.] Gower. Chaucer.

A collection of small houses surrounded by a wall and occupied by a community of Beguines.

To place under the lee, or unfavorably to the wind. Shak.

one, called the phragmocone, prolonged, on one side, into a delicate concave blade; the thunderstone. It is the internal shell of a cephalopod related to the sepia, and belonging to an extinct family. The belemnites are found in rocks of the Jurassic and Cretaceous ages. -- Bel*em*nit"ic, a.

all the mysteries of the Christian religion, in distinction from a catechumen, or one yet under instruction.

The under part of the body of animals, corresponding to the human belly. Underneath the belly of their steeds. Shak.

A band that passes under the belly of a horse and holds the saddle or harness in place; a girth.

Under, or lower in place; beneath not so high; as, below the moon; below the knee. Shak.

To mangle; to tear asunder. [R.] Beaumont.

Lower in place, with something directly over or on; under; underneath; hence, at the foot of. "Beneath the mount." Ex. xxxii. 19. Beneath a rude and nameless stone he lies. Pope.

Holding some office or valuable possession, in subordination to another; holding under a feudal or other superior; having a dependent and secondary possession. A feudatory or beneficiary king of England. Bacon.

omplishments. [R.] "The benefits of your own country." Shak. Benefit of clergy. (Law) See under Clergy.

The spicebush (Lindera benzoin). Flowers of benzoin, benzoic acid. See under Benzoic.

See Coma Berenices, under Coma.

To rob; to plunder. [Obs.]

e or distinct from; in addition to; other than; else than. See Beside, prep., 3, and Syn. under Beside. Besides your cheer, you shall have sport. Shak.

the best of our ability. At best, in the utmost degree or extent applicable to the case; under the most favorable circumstances; as, life is at best very short. -- For best, finally. [Obs.] "Those constitutions . . . are now established for best, and not to be mended." Milton. -- To get the best of, to gain an advan…

To lead astray, as a maiden; to seduce (as under promise of marriage) and then abandon.

ect; as, upon better acquaintance; a better knowledge of the subject. All the better. See under All, adv. -- Better half, an expression used to designate one's wife. My dear, my better half (said he), I find I must now leave thee. Sir P. Sidney. -- To be better off, to be in a better condition. -- Had better. (See un…

l. -- Between ourselves, Between you and me, Between themselves, in confidence; with the understanding that the matter is not to be communicated to others.