Search the Dictionary

Weight; heaviness; as, a woman of much avoirdupois. [Colloq.] Avoirdupois weight, a system of weights by which coarser commodities are weighed, such as hay, grain, butter, sugar, tea.

ngle or point of divergence between the upper side of a branch, leaf, or petiole, and the stem or branch from which it springs. Gray.

, on which it revolves, or may be supposed to revolve; a line passing through a body or system around which the parts are symmetrically arranged.

Of or pertaining to Lord Bacon, or to his system of philosophy. Baconian method, the inductive method. See Induction.

e open accounts of a business, the debit and credit balances footing up equally, if the system of accounts be complete and the balances correctly taken. -- Balance thermometer, a thermometer mounted as a balance so that the movement of the mercurial column changes the indication of the tube. With the aid of electrical…

The act of voting by balls or written or printed ballots or tickets; the system of voting secretly by balls or by tickets. The insufficiency of the ballot. Dickens.

The system of bards; the learning and maxims of bards.

The number from which a mathematical table is constructed; as, the base of a system of logarithms.

To lie in warmth; to be exposed to genial heat. Basks in the glare, and stems the tepid wave. Goldsmith.

raduation, based on the distance between these fundamental points, is continued along the stem as far as desired. Since all the degrees on a Baumé scale are thus equal in length, while those on a specific- gravity scale grow smaller as the density increases, there is no simple relation between degrees Bé. and Sp. gr. H…

That part of a ship, before the forecastle, which is fastened to the stem, and supported by the main knee.

The principal stem or horn of a stag or other deer, which bears the antlers, or branches.

A genus of slender herbs, usually with square stems, whorled leaves, and small white flowers. Our Lady's bedstraw, which has yellow flowers, is Galium verum. -- White bedstraw is G. mollugo.

That which restrains or confines as a girdle. He cannot buckle his distempered cause Within the belt of rule. Shak.

,a.Of or relating to Bishop Berkeley or his system of idealism; as, Berkeleian philosophy. -- Berke"ley*ism, n.

To give an anchorage to, or a place to lie at; to place in a berth; as, she was berthed stem to stern with the Adelaide.

blindly attached to some creed, opinion practice, or ritual; unreasonably devoted to a system or party, and illiberal toward the opinions of others. "Bigoted to strife." Byron.

Of or relating to, or using, a double metallic standard (as gold and silver) for a system of coins or currency.

ment, or of two compounds performing the function of elements. -- Binary logarithms, a system of logarithms devised by Euler for facilitating musical calculations, in which 1 is logarithm of 2, instead of 10, as in the common logarithms, and the modulus 1.442695 instead of .43429448. -- Binary measure (Mus.), measure…

Any twining or climbing plant or stem, esp. a hop vine; a bine.