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To censure or revile the absent. They are arrant knaves, and will backbite. Shak.

Unwilling; averse; reluctant; hesitating; loath. For wiser brutes were backward to be slaves. Pope.

A house for bathing, sweating, etc.; -- also, in Turkey, a prison for slaves. [Obs.]

en African and Asiatic tree of the terebinthine family (Balsamodendron Gileadense). Its leaves yield, when bruised, a strong aromatic scent; and from this tree is obtained the balm of Gilead of the shops, or balsam of Mecca. This has a yellowish or greenish color, a warm, bitterish, aromatic taste, and a fragrant smell…

g as an open parapet, as along the edge of a balcony, terrace, bridge, staircase, or the eaves of a building.

g as an open parapet, as along the edge of a balcony, terrace, bridge, staircase, or the eaves of a building.

A slave warehouse, or an inclosure where slaves are quartered temporarily. Du Chaillu.

ound vessel or cask, of greater length than breadth, and bulging in the middle, made of staves bound with hoops, and having flat ends or heads.

An herbaceous plant of the Barberry family (Epimedium alpinum), having leaves that are bitter and said to be sudorific.

scope which operates by increased resistance when subjected to the influence of electric waves. The original form consisted of an extremely fine platinum wire loop attached to terminals and inclosed in a small glass or silver bulb. In a later variety, called the liquid barretter, wire is replace by a column of liquid i…

Having the nerves radiating from the base; -- said of leaves.

r sweet basil (Ocymum basilicum), and the bush basil, or lesser basil (O. minimum), the leaves of which are used in cookery. The name is also given to several kinds of mountain mint (Pycnanthemum). Basil thyme, a name given to the fragrant herbs Calamintha Acinos and C. Nepeta. -- Wild basil, a plant (Calamintha clino…

Prolonged at the base, as certain leaves.

a reed, and resembling a clarinet, but of much greater compass, embracing nearly four octaves.

The shore of the sea, or of a lake, which is washed by the waves; especially, a sandy or pebbly shore; the strand. Beach flea (Zoöl.), the common name of many species of amphipod Crustacea, of the family Orchestidæ, living on the sea beaches, and leaping like fleas. -- Beach grass (Bot.), a coarse grass (Ammophila aru…

A deciduous plant of warm climates, generally with fleshy leaves and flowers of a yellow or whitish yellow color, of the genus Zygophyllum.

A leguminous shrub of southern Europe, with trifoliate leaves (Anagyris foetida).

A species of hellebore (Helleborus foetidus), with digitate leaves. It has an offensive smell and acrid taste, and is a powerful emetic, cathartic, and anthelmintic.

A kind of movable dam, in one form consisting of two leaves resting against each other at the top when raised and folding down one over the other when lowered, for deepening shallow parts in a river.

A trailing plant of the heath family (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi), having leaves which are tonic and astringent, and glossy red berries of which bears are said to be fond.