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To speak or arrange for beforehand; to order or engage against a future time; as, to bespeak goods, a right, or a favor. Concluding, naturally, that to gratify his avarice was to bespeak his favor. Sir W. Scott.

rong the complainant has suffered from the defendant, or a fault committed by some person against a law.

harsh; stern; virulent; as, bitter reproach. Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them. Col. iii. 19.

To vote against, by putting a black ball into a ballot box; to reject or exclude, as by voting against with black balls; to ostracize. He was blackballed at two clubs in succession. Thackeray.

A bladder growing on the root of the tongue of a horse, against the windpipe, and stopping the breath.

To utter blasphemy. He that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness. Mark iii. 29.

y, of things held in high honor: Calumny; abuse; vilification. Punished for his blasphemy against learning. Bacon.

patter. [Archaic] "The rain blattered." Jeffrey. They procured . . . preachers to blatter against me, . . . so that they had place and time to belie me shamefully. Latimer.

but does not communicate motion. Knight. -- Blind beetle, one of the insects apt to fly against people, esp. at night. -- Blind cat (Zoöl.), a species of catfish (Gronias nigrolabris), nearly destitute of eyes, living in caverns in Pennsylvania. -- Blind coal, coal that burns without flame; anthracite coal. Simmond…

o exasperate. [Obs.] The auxiliary forces of the French and English were much blooded one against another. Bacon.

the old forest laws of England, was sufficient evidence of a man's trespass in the forest against venison. Jacob.

to taint; to bring into discredit; to render stale, unsavory, or worthless. (b) To inform against. [Colloq.] How far the very custom of hearing anything spouted withers and blows upon a fine passage, may be seen in those speeches from [Shakespeare's] Henry V. which are current in the mouths of schoolboys. C. Lamb. A la…

now cultivated in tropical and warm temperate regions for its timber, and as a protection against malaria. The essential oil is beginning to be used in medicine. The timber is very useful. See Eucalyptus. -- Blue jack, Blue stone, blue vitriol; sulphate of copper. -- Blue jacket, a man-of war's man; a sailor wearing…

for the regulation and supervision of investment companies in order to protect the public against companies that do not intend to do a fair and honest business and that offer investments that do not promise a fair return; -- so called because the promises made by some investment companies are as boundless or alluring a…

To have a short, jerking motion; to play to and fro, or up and down; to play loosely against anything. "Bobbing and courtesying." Thackeray.

A play among children, in which a cherry, hung so as to bob against the mouth, is to be caught with the teeth.

hioned or a piece of soft wood covered with tarred canvas, placed on the trestletrees and against the mast, for the collars of the shrouds to rest on, to prevent chafing.

In the manner of a bolt; suddenly; straight; unbendingly. [He] came bolt up against the heavy dragoon. Thackeray. Bolt upright. (a) Perfectly upright; perpendicular; straight up; unbendingly erect. Addison. (b) On the back at full length. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Secure against the explosive force of bombs. -- n.

face of the water with a mixture of tallow, sulphur, and resin, as a temporary protection against worms, after the slime, shells, etc., have been scraped off.