Search the Dictionary

er, in which hides are steeped in tanning. -- Bark stove (Hort.), a glazed structure for keeping tropical plants, having a bed of tanner's bark (called a bark bed) or other fermentable matter which produces a moist heat.

A fence or railing to mark the limits of a place, or to keep back a crowd. No sooner were the barriers opened, than he paced into the lists. Sir W. Scott.

A barkeeper.

To beat with a stick; to cudgel. One man was basted by the keeper for carrying some people over on his back through the waters. Pepys.

To keep repeating needlessly; to iterate. Sir T. Herbert.

A person who keeps a house of prostitution, or procures women for a lewd purpose; a procurer or procuress; a lewd person; -- usually applied to a woman.

An inclosure with mud or stone walls, for keeping cattle; a fortified inclosure. [Obs.] Spenser.

A bank or dam to keep back water.

the ship steers. -- On the beam , in a line with the beams, or at right angled with the keel. -- On the weather beam, on the side of a ship which faces the wind. -- To be on her beam ends, to incline, as a vessel, so much on one side that her beams approach a vertical position.

To corroborate; to confirm. -- To bear up, to support; to keep from falling or sinking. "Religious hope bears up the mind under sufferings." Addison.

A short rein looped over the check hook or the hames to keep the horse's head up; -- called in the United States a checkrein.

wooden ring attached to the suspension ropes at the bottom, functionally analogous to the keel of a ship.

A keeper of bears. See Bearherd. [R.] Shak.

To keep from motion, or stop the progress of, by the stilling of the wind; as, the fleet was becalmed.

Anciently, a post or pin on each side of the bed to keep the clothes from falling off. See Bedstaff. Brewer.

One who keeps bees.

The second crust formed in port and some other wines after long keeping. It consists of pure, shining scales of tartar, supposed to resemble the wing of a bee.

A vow; a promise. [Obs.] The time is come that I should send it her, if I keep the behest that I have made. Paston.

d for a great variety of purposes; as, with the air pump, and for holding gases, also for keeping the dust from articles exposed to view.

and foothooks bolted to them. Also, the frames or ribs that form the ship's body from the keel to the top of the sides; as, the midship bend.