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Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



986 words match “FAMILY”

BREEZE; BREEZE FLY n.
A fly of various species, of the family Tabanidæ, noted for buzzing about animals, and tormenting them by sucking their blood; -- called also horsefly, and gadfly. They are among the largest of two- winged or dipterous insects. The name is also given to different species of botflies. [Written also breese and brize.]…
BROADMOUTH n.
One of the Eurylaimidæ, a family of East Indian passerine birds.
BROMELIACEOUS a.
Pertaining to, or resembling, a family of endogenous and mostly epiphytic or saxicolous plants of which the genera Tillandsia and Billbergia are examples. The pineapple, though terrestrial, is also of this family.
BRONZITE n.
often having a bronzelike luster. It is a silicate of magnesia and iron, of the pyroxene family.
BROOM n.
made of the twigs of the broom. Butcher's broom, a plant (Ruscus aculeatus) of the Smilax family, used by butchers for brooms to sweep their blocks; -- called also knee holly. See Cladophyll. -- Dyer's broom, a species of mignonette (Reseda luteola), used for dyeing yellow; dyer's weed; dyer's rocket. -- Spanish broo…
BRUSH TURKEY n.
A large, edible, gregarious bird of Australia (Talegalla Lathami) of the family Megapodidæ. Also applied to several allied species of New Guinea.
BRUSSELS n.
. -- Brussels point. See Point lace. -- Brussels sprouts (Bot.), a plant of the Cabbage family, which produces, in the axils of the upright stem, numerous small green heads, or "sprouts," each a cabbage in miniature, of one or two inches in diameter; the thousand-headed cabbage. -- Brussels wire ground, a ground for…
BUCCINOID a.
Resembling the genus Buccinum, or pertaining to the Buccinidæ, a family of marine univalve shells. See Whelk, and Prosobranchiata.
BUCKWHEAT n.
A plant (Fagopyrum esculentum) of the Polygonum family, the seed of which is used for food.
BUFFALO n.
and cultus cod. -- Buffalo fish (Zoöl.), one of several large fresh-water fishes of the family Catostomidæ, of the Mississippi valley. The red-mouthed or brown (Ictiobus bubalus), the big-mouthed or black (Bubalichthys urus), and the small-mouthed (B. altus), are among the more important species used as food. -- Buf…
BUFONITE n.
r a fossil consisting of the petrified teeth and palatal bones of fishes belonging to the family of Pycnodonts (thick teeth), whose remains occur in the oölite and chalk formations; toadstone; -- so named from a notion that it was originally formed in the head of a toad.
BUGLE n.
A plant of the genus Ajuga of the Mint family, a native of the Old World. Yellow bugle, the Ajuga chamæpitys.
BUGLEWEED n.
A plant of the Mint family and genus Lycopus; esp. L. Virginicus, which has mild narcotic and astringent properties, and is sometimes used as a remedy for hemorrhage.
BULBUL n.
nonotus jocosus). The name is also applied to several other Asiatic singing birds, of the family Timaliidæ. The green bulbuls belong to the Chloropsis and allied genera. [Written also buhlbuhl.]
BUNTING n.
A bird of the genus Emberiza, or of an allied genus, related to the finches and sparrows (family Fringillidæ).
BURMAN n.
A member of the Burman family, one of the four great families Burmah; also, sometimes, any inhabitant of Burmah; a Burmese. -- a.
BUSH n.
serval. See Serval. -- Bush chat (Zoöl.), a bird of the genus Pratincola, of the Thrush family. -- Bush dog. (Zoöl.) See Potto. -- Bush hammer. See Bushhammer in the Vocabulary. -- Bush harrow (Agric.) See under Harrow. -- Bush hog (Zoöl.), a South African wild hog (Potamochoerus Africanus); -- called also bush p…
BUTTERBUR n.
A broad-leaved plant (Petasites vulgaris) of the Composite family, said to have been used in England for wrapping up pats of butter.
BUTTERNUT n.
An American tree (Juglans cinerea) of the Walnut family, and its edible fruit; -- so called from the oil contained in the latter. Sometimes called oil nut and white walnut.
BUTTONWEED n.
The name of several plants of the genera Spermacoce and Diodia, of the Madder family.
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