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nt or accounts; as, to audit the accounts of a treasure, or of parties who have a suit depending in court.

supposed to be of electrical origin. This species of light usually appears in streams, ascending toward the zenith from a dusky line or bank, a few degrees above the northern horizon; when reaching south beyond the zenith, it forms what is called the corona, about a spot in the heavens toward which the dipping needle p…

Not voluntary; not depending on the will; mechanical; as, automatic movements or functions. Unconscious or automatic reasoning. H. Spenser. Automatic arts, such economic arts or manufacture as are carried on by self-acting machinery. Ure.

In human beings, the hinder part of the body, extending from the neck to the end of the spine; in other animals, that part of the body which corresponds most nearly to such part of a human being; as, the back of a horse, fish, or lobster.

ion in the cylinder of a gas or oil engine during the exhaust or the compression stroke, tending to drive the piston in a direction reverse to that in which it should travel; also, an explosion in the exhaust passages of such ah engine.

In the game of backgammon, to beat by ending the game before the loser is clear of his first "table".

A rope or stay extending from the masthead to the side of a ship, slanting a little aft, to assist the shrouds in supporting the mast. [ Often used in the plural.]

brium. -- Balance valve, a valve whose surfaces are so arranged that the fluid pressure tending to seat, and that tending to unseat the valve, are nearly in equilibrium; esp., a puppet valve which is made to operate easily by the admission of steam to both sides. See Puppet valve. -- Hydrostatic balance. See under Hy…

A fish of the genus Diodon or the genus Tetraodon, having the power of distending its body by taking air or water into its dilatable esophagus. See Globefish, and Bur fish.

The art or practice of ascending in a balloon; aëronautics.

A pecuniary mulct or penalty laid upon a delinquent for offending against a ban; as, a mulct paid to a bishop by one guilty of sacrilege or other crimes. Ban of the empire (German Hist.), an imperial interdict by which political rights and privileges, as those of a prince, city, or district, were taken away.…

A trader who secretes himself, or does certain other acts tending to defraud his creditors. Blackstone.

A hair or bristle ending in a double hook.

A goblin, in the shape of a large dog, portending misfortune. [Also written barguest.]

Tending or proceeding away from the base; as, a basifugal growth.

Anything projecting or ending in a point, like a beak, as a promontory of land. Carew.

Act of befriending. [R.]

r originates something; the first cause; origin; source. I am . . . the beginning and the ending. Rev. i. 8.

Pertaining, or tending, to war; of or relating to belligerents; as, a belligerent tone; belligerent rights.

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