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The reading of the leveling staff in its unchanged position when the leveling instrument has been taken to a new position; a sight directed backwards to a station previously occupied. Cf. Foresight, n., 3.

which is opened or closed by the fall or rise of a ball floating in water at the end of a lever. -- Ball gudgeon, a pivot of a spherical form, which permits lateral deflection of the arbor or shaft, while retaining the pivot in its socket. Knight. -- Ball lever, the lever used in a ball cock. -- Ball of the eye, the…

A mound, pile, or ridge of earth, raised above the surrounding level; hence, anything shaped like a mound or ridge of earth; as, a bank of clouds; a bank of snow. They cast up a bank against the city. 2 Sam. xx. 15.

wood, metal, or other material, long in proportion to its breadth or thickness, used as a lever and for various other purposes, but especially for a hindrance, obstruction, or fastening; as, the bars of a fence or gate; the bar of a door. Thou shalt make bars of shittim wood. Ex. xxvi. 26.

der varying conditions is a measure of the change in the atmospheric pressure. At the sea level its ordinary height is about 30 inches (760 millimeters). See Sympiesometer. Nichol. Aneroid barometer. See Aneroid barometer, under Aneroid. -- Marine barometer, a barometer with tube contracted at bottom to prevent rapid…

umulation of water-worn stones, gravel, sand, and other shore deposits, above the present level of wave action, whether actually raised by elevation of the coast, as in Norway, or left by the receding waters, as in many lake and river regions.

A heavy iron lever having an oscillating motion on a central axis, one end of which is connected with the piston rod from which it receives motion, and the other with the crank of the wheel shaft; -- called also working beam or walking beam.

A plat or level piece of ground in a garden, usually a little raised above the adjoining ground. "Beds of hyacinth and roses." Milton.

A lever whose two arms form a right angle, or nearly a right angle, having its fulcrum at the apex of the angle. It is used in bell pulls and in changing the direction of bell wires at angles of rooms, etc., and also in machinery.

g stretch of flat ground, or a kind of natural terrace, near a lake or river. Bench mark (Leveling), one of a number of marks along a line of survey, affixed to permanent objects, to show where leveling staffs were placed. -- Bench of bishops, the whole body of English prelates assembled in council. -- Bench plane, a…

Any permanent mark to which other levels may be referred. Specif. : A horizontal mark at the water's edge with reference to which the height of tides and floods may be measured.

Changed by pressure so as to be no longer straight; crooked; as, a bent pin; a bent lever.

Befitting associates or attendants. [Obs.] With such accommodation and besort As levels with her breeding. Shak.

the other. It has a saddle seat and is propelled by the rider's feet acting on cranks or levers.

The hold which the short end of a lever has upon the thing to be lifted, or the hold which one part of a machine has upon another.

hout an opening for passage or light. See Blank door or window, under Blank, a. -- Blind level (Mining), a level or drainage gallery which has a vertical shaft at each end, and acts as an inverted siphon. Knight. -- Blind nettle (Bot.), dead nettle. See Dead nettle, under Dead. -- Blind shell (Gunnery), a shell cont…

A cavern in a cliff, at the water level, opening to the air at its farther extremity, so that the waters rush in with each surge and rise in a lofty jet from the extremity.

r different liquids, and for the same liquid under different pressures. For water, at the level of the sea, barometer 30 in., it is 212 º Fahrenheit; for alcohol, 172.96º; for ether, 94.8º; for mercury, about 675º. The boiling point of water is lowered one degree Fahrenheit for about 550 feet of ascent above the level…

To sight along an object or set of objects, to see if it or they be level or in line, as in carpentry, masonry, and surveying. Knight. Joiners, etc., bone their work with two straight edges. W. M. Buchanan.

A method of leveling a line or surface by sighting along the tops of two or more straight edges, or a range of properly spaced poles. See 3d Bone, v. t.