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To change from one quarter to another by a course opposite to that of the sun; -- used of the wind.

Whatever is thrown back in its course, as water. Slackwater, or the backset caused by the overflow. Harper's Mag.

Water turned back in its course by an obstruction, an opposing current , or the flow of the tide, as in a sewer or river channel, or across a river bar.

commonplace, in speech. The highest things were thus brought down to the banalities of discourse. J. Morley.

The margin of a watercourse; the rising ground bordering a lake, river, or sea, or forming the edge of a cutting, or other hollow. Tiber trembled underneath her banks. Shak.

A dessert; a course of sweetmeats; a sweetmeat or sweetmeats. [Obs.] We'll dine in the great room, but let the music And banquet be prepared here. Massinger.

bstruct; to prevent; to prohibit; as, to bar the entrance of evil; distance bars our intercourse; the statute bars my right; the right is barred by time; a release bars the plaintiff's recovery; -- sometimes with up. He barely looked the idea in the face, and hastened to bar it in its dungeon. Hawthorne.…

An artificial bar or obstruction placed in a river or water course to increase the depth of water; as, the barrages of the Nile.

A ravine caused by heavy rains or a watercourse. [Texas & N. Mex.]

infield. Altern base. See under Altern. -- Attic base. (Arch.) See under Attic. -- Base course. (Arch.) (a) The first or lower course of a foundation wall, made of large stones of a mass of concrete; -- called also foundation course. (b) The architectural member forming the transition between the basement and the wal…

Illicit intercourse; fornication. Shak.

seizure; as, a lion bears against his prey. [Obs.] -- To bear away (Naut.), to change the course of a ship, and make her run before the wind. -- To bear back, to retreat. "Bearing back from the blows of their sable antagonist." Sir W. Scott. -- To bear down upon (Naut.), to approach from the windward side; as, the fl…

A round or course which is frequently gone over; as, a watchman's beat.

The bottom of a watercourse, or of any body of water; as, the bed of a river. So sinks the daystar in the ocean bed. Milton.

f an action; to enter upon or commence something new, as a new form or state of being, or course of action; to take the first step; to start. "Tears began to flow." Dryden. When I begin, I will also make an end. 1 Sam. iii. 12.

ything; commencement of an action, state, or space of time; entrance into being or upon a course; the first act, effort, or state of a succession of acts or states. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Gen. i. 1.

long planes. -- Bench show, an exhibition of dogs. -- Bench table (Arch.), a projecting course at the base of a building, or round a pillar, sufficient to form a seat.

irect; to incline. "Bend thine ear to supplication." Milton. Towards Coventry bend we our course. Shak. Bending her eyes . . . upon her parent. Sir W. Scott.

Particular direction or tendency; flexion; course. Bents and turns of the matter. Locke.

Aside from; out of the regular course or order of; in a state of deviation from; out of. [You] have done enough To put him quite beside his patience. Shak.