Search the Dictionary

In a less literal sense: Enveloped or shrouded in darkness; very dark or gloomy; as, a black night; the heavens black with clouds. I spy a black, suspicious, threatening cloud. Shak.

A ball of black color, esp. one used as a negative in voting; -- in this sense usually two words.

To cry, as a calf or sheep; to bleat; to make a senseless noise; to talk inconsiderately. [Low]

To prate; to babble; to rail; to make a senseless noise; to 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.

Senseless babble or boasting.

A senseless babbler or boaster. [Obs.] "I hate such blatteroons." Howell.

Destitute of the sense of seeing, either by natural defect or by deprivation; without sight. He that is strucken blind can not forget The precious treasure of his eyesight lost. Shak.

To become suffused with red in the cheeks, as from a sense of shame, modesty, or confusion; to become red from such cause, as the cheeks or face. To the nuptial bower I led her blushing like the morn. Milton. In the presence of the shameless and unblushing, the young offender is ashamed to blush. Buckminster. He would…

He that a fool doth very wisely hit, Doth very foolishly, although he smart, Not to seem senseless of the bob. Shak.

To steep or soak in warm water. [Obs.] To try whether seeds be old or new, the sense can not inform; but if you boil them in water, the new seeds will sprout sooner. Bacon. To boil down, to reduce in bulk by boiling; as, to boil down sap or sirup.

In a bad sense, too forward; taking undue liberties; over assuming or confident; lacking proper modesty or restraint; rude; impudent. Thou art too wild, too rude and bold of voice. Shak.

Versed in books; having knowledge derived from books. [Often in a disparaging sense.] Whate'er these book-learned blockheads say, Solon's the veriest fool in all the play. Dryden.

Empty talk; contemptible nonsense; trash; humbug. [Colloq.]

That upon which anything rests or is founded, in a literal or a figurative sense; foundation; groundwork.

t is also called Phyllopoda. See Phyllopoda, Cladocera. It is sometimes used in a broader sense.

A child; an offspring; -- formerly used in a good sense, but now usually in a contemptuous sense. "This brat is none of mine." Shak. "A beggar's brat." Swift. O Israel! O household of the Lord! O Abraham's brats! O brood of blessed seed! Gascoigne.

The act of breaking, in a figurative sense.

one's sleep; to break one's journey. Go, release them, Ariel; My charms I'll break, their senses I'll restore. Shak.

east; -- used in composition with qualifying words, in either a literal or a metaphorical sense; as, a single-breasted coat. The close minister is buttoned up, and the brave officer open- breasted, on these occasions. Spectator.

Also, in a wider sense, the sound caused by the friction of the outgoing breath in the throat, mouth, etc., when the glottis is wide open; aspiration; the sound expressed by the letter h.