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A backward slope in the face of a wall or of a bank; receding slope. Batter rule, an instrument consisting of a rule or frame, and a plumb line, by which the batter or slope of a wall is regulated in building.

An instrument, with a handle and a flat part covered with parchment or crossed with catgut, used to strike a shuttlecock in play; also, the play of battledoor and shuttlecock.

A pointed instrument of the dagger kind fitted on the muzzle of a musket or rifle, so as to give the soldier increased means of offense and defense.

fulcrum or pin on which the working beam of an engine vibrates. -- Beam compass, an instrument consisting of a rod or beam, having sliding sockets that carry steel or pencil points; -- used for drawing or describing large circles. -- Beam engine, a steam engine having a working beam to transmit power, in distinction…

A barb or sharp point of an arrow or other instrument, projecting backward to prevent the head from being easily drawn out.

ations of greater and less intensity, so as to produce a pulsating effect; -- said of instruments, tones, or vibrations, not perfectly in unison. A beating wind (Naut.), a wind which necessitates tacking in order to make progress. -- To beat about, to try to find; to search by various means or ways. Addison. -- To be…

An instrument for tightening the parts of a bedstead.

An instrument, utensil, or machine, which, by alternate expansion and contraction, or by rise and fall of the top, draws in air through a valve and expels it through a tube for various purposes, as blowing fires, ventilating mines, or filling the pipes of an organ with wind. Bellows camera, in photography, a form of ca…

An instrument used for bending.

A vocal or instrumental composition of a soft tranquil character, having a lulling effect; a cradle song.

An instrument consisting of two rules or arms, jointed together at one end, and opening to any angle, for adjusting the surfaces of work to the same or a given inclination; -- called also a bevel square. Gwilt.

An instrument or weapon with two prongs.

ifilar suspension; a bifilar balance. Bifilar micrometer (often called a bifilar), an instrument form measuring minute distances or angles by means of two very minute threads (usually spider lines), one of which, at least, is movable; -- more commonly called a filar micrometer.

A cutting instrument, with hook-shaped point, and fitted with a handle; -- used in pruning, etc.; a billhook. When short, called a hand bill, when long, a hedge bill.

An instrument combining a cinematograph and a phonograph so that the moving figures on the screen are accompanied by the appropriate sounds.

An instrument of any kind, as a whistle, used in making the sound of a birdcall.

A surgical instrument consisting of a slender knife, either straight or curved, generally used by introducing it beneath the part to be divided, and cutting towards the surface.

The cutting part of an instrument; as, the blade of a knife or a sword.

An instrument for measuring the bleaching power of chloride of lime and potash; a chlorometer. Ure.

Any void space; a void space on paper, or in any written instrument; an interval void of consciousness, action, result, etc; a void. I can not write a paper full, I used to do; and yet I will not forgive a blank of half an inch from you. Swift. From this time there ensues a long blank in the history of French legislati…