Baff (bf), v. t. & i. [Scot., prob. imitative; cf. G. baff, interj. imitating the sound of a shot.] To strike; to beat; to make a baff. [Scot. or Golf]
Baff, n. A blow; stroke; thud; specif. (Golf), a stroke in which the sole of the club hits the ground and drives the ball aloft. [Scot. or Golf]
Baf"fle, n. 1. (Engin.) (a) A deflector, as a plate or wall, so arranged across a furnace or boiler flue as to mingle the hot gases and deflect them against the substance to be heated. (b) A grating or plate across a channel or pipe conveying water, gas, or the like, by which the flow is rendered more uniform in different parts of the cross section of the stream; -- used in measuring the rate of flow, as by means of a weir.
2. (Coal Mining) A lever for operating the throttle valve of a winding engine. [Local, U. S.]
Baff"y (bf"), n. [See Baff, v. t.] (Golf) A short wooden club having a deeply concave face, seldom used.
{ ||Ba*ha"dur ||Ba*hau"dur } (?), n. [Written also bahawder.] [Hind. bahdur hero, champion.] A title of respect or honor given to European officers in East Indian state papers, and colloquially, and among the natives, to distinguished officials and other important personages.
Ba*hai" (b*h"), n.; pl. Bahais (-hz). A member of the sect of the Babis consisting of the adherents of Baha (Mirza Husain Ali, entitled "Baha 'u 'llah," or, "the Splendor of God"), the elder half brother of Mirza Yahya of Nur, who succeeded the Bab as the head of the Babists. Baha in 1863 declared himself the supreme prophet of the sect, and became its recognized head. There are upwards of 20,000 Bahais in the United States.
Ba*ha"ism (?), n. The religious tenets or practices of the Bahais.
||Bai`gnoire" (?), n. [Written also baignoir.] [F., lit., bath tub.] A box of the lowest tier in a theater. Du Maurier.
Bai"ly's beads (?). (Astron.) A row of bright spots observed in connection with total eclipses of the sun. Just before and after a total eclipse, the slender, unobscured crescent of the sun's disk appears momentarily like a row of bright spots resembling a string of beads. The phenomenon (first fully described by Francis Baily, 1774 -- 1844) is thought to be an effect of irradiation, and of inequalities of the moon's edge.
Bai*ram" (?), n. [Turk. baïrm.] Either of two Mohammedan festivals, of which one (the Lesser Bairam) is held at the close of the fast called Ramadan, and the other (the Greater Bairam) seventy days after the fast.
Bal"a*ta (?), n. [Sp., prob. fr. native name.] 1. A West Indian sapotaceous tree (Bumelia retusa).
2. The bully tree (Minusops globosa); also, its milky juice (balata gum), which when dried constitutes an elastic gum called chicle, or chicle gum.
||Ba`la`yeuse" (?), n. [F., lit., a female sweeper.] A protecting ruffle or frill, as of silk or lace, sewed close to the lower edge of a skirt on the inside.
Ball, n. (Baseball) A pitched ball, not struck at by the batsman, which fails to pass over the home base at a height not greater than the batsman's shoulder nor less than his knee.
Bal"lis*tite (?), n. [See Ballista.] (Chem.) A smokeless powder containing equal parts of soluble nitrocellulose and nitroglycerin.
Bal"lot*age (?), n. [F. ballottage.] In France, a second ballot taken after an indecisive first ballot to decide between two or several candidates.
Bal*op"ti*con (?), n. [Gr. &?; to throw + stereopticon.] See Projector, below.
||Bam*bi"no (?), n.; It. pl. -ni (#). [It.] A child or baby; specif., a representation in art of the infant Christ.
Ba*na"na so*lu"tion. A solution used as a vehicle in applying bronze pigments. In addition to acetote, benzine, and a little pyroxylin, it contains amyl acetate, which gives it the odor of bananas.
||Ban*cal" (?), n.; pl. - cales (#). [Sp., fr. banca, banco, bench. Cf. Bench.] An ornamental covering, as of carpet or leather, for a bench or form.
Ban*deau" (?), n.; pl. - deaux (#). [F.] A narrow band or fillet, as for the hair, part of a headdress, etc.
||Ban`de*ril"la (?), n. [Sp., dim. of bandera banner. See Banner, and cf. Banderole.] A barbed dart carrying a banderole which the banderillero thrusts into the neck or shoulder of the bull in a bullfight.
||Ban`de*ril*le"ro (?), n. [Sp.] One who thrusts in the banderillas in bullfighting. W. D. Howells.
Ban`jo*rine" (?), n. [From banjore banjo. See Banjo.] (Music.) A kind of banjo, with a short neck, tuned a fourth higher than the common banjo; -- popularly so called.
Bank, n. A group or series of objects arranged near together; as, a bank of electric lamps, etc.
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Bank, n. (Aëronautics) The lateral inclination of an aëroplane as it rounds a curve; as, a bank of 45° is easy; a bank of 90° is dangerous.
Bank, v. i. (Aëronautics) To tilt sidewise in rounding a curve; -- said of a flying machine, an aërocurve, or the like.
Bank discount. A sum equal to the interest at a given rate on the principal (face) of a bill or note from the time of discounting until it becomes due.
Ban*quette" (?), n. A bench or seat for passengers on the top of a diligence or other public vehicle.
My brother-in-law . . . took refuge in the banquette.
Mrs. Howe.
{ Bans"shee, Ban"shie (?) }, n. [Gael. bean-shith fairy; Gael. & Ir. bean woman + Gael. sith fairy.] (Celtic Folklore) A supernatural being supposed to warn a family of the approaching death of one of its members, by wailing or singing in a mournful voice.
Ban"tu (?), n. A member of one of the great family of Negroid tribes occupying equatorial and southern Africa. These tribes include, as important divisions, the Kafirs, Damaras, Bechuanas, and many tribes whose names begin with Aba- , Ama-, Ba-, Ma-, Wa-, variants of the Bantu plural personal prefix Aba-, as in Ba-ntu, or Aba-ntu, itself a combination of this prefix with the syllable -ntu, a person. -- Ban"tu, a.
||Ban"zai" (?), interj. [Jap. banzai, banzei, ten thousand years, forever.] Lit., May you live ten thousand years; -- used in salutation of the emperor and as a battle cry. [Japan]
Ba*ra"ca (?), n. An international, interdenominational organization of Bible classes of young men; -- so named in allusion to the Hebrew word Berachah (Meaning blessing) occurring in 2 Chron. xx. 26 and 1 Chron. xii.
Bar"ad (?), n. [Gr. &?; weight.] (Physics) The pressure of one dyne per square centimeter; -- used as a unit of pressure.
{ Bar`æs*the`si*om"e*ter, Bar`es*the`si*om"e*ter (?) }, n. [Gr. &?; weight + æsthesiometer.] (Physiol.) An instrument for determining the delicacy of the sense of pressure. -- Bar`æs*the`si*o*met"ric, Bar`es*the`si*o*met"ric (#), a.
Bar`a*the"a (?), n. A soft fabric with a kind of basket weave and a diapered pattern.
Bar"ber, n. (Meteor.) A storm accompanied by driving ice spicules formed from sea water, esp. one occurring on the Gulf of St. Lawrence; -- so named from the cutting ice spicules. [Canada]
{ Bar`bi`zon", or Bar`bi`son", school (?) }. (Painting) A French school of the middle of the 19th century centering in the village of Barbizon near the forest of Fontainebleau. Its members went straight to nature in disregard of academic tradition, treating their subjects faithfully and with poetic feeling for color, light, and atmosphere. It is exemplified, esp. in landscapes, by Corot, Rousseau, Daubigny, Jules Dupré, and Diaz. Associated with them are certain painters of animals, as Troyon and Jaque, and of peasant life, as Millet and Jules Breton.
||Bar*di"glio (?), n. [It.] An Italian marble of which the principal varieties occur in the neighborhood of Carrara and in Corsica. It commonly shows a dark gray or bluish ground traversed by veins.
Barn"burn`er (?), n. [So called in allusion to the fable of the man who burned his barn in order to rid it of rats.] A member of the radical section of the Democratic party in New York, about the middle of the 19th century, which was hostile to extension of slavery, public debts, corporate privileges, etc., and supported Van Buren against Cass for president in 1848; -- opposed to Hunker. [Political Cant, U. S.]
Barn"storm`er (?), n. [Barn + storm, v.] An itinerant theatrical player who plays in barns when a theatre is lacking; hence, an inferior actor, or one who plays in the country away from the larger cities. -- Barn"storm`ing, n. [Theatrical Cant]
Bar`o*cy`clon*om"e*ter (?), n. [Gr. &?; weight + cyclone + -meter.] (Meteorol.) An aneroid barometer for use with accompanying graphic diagrams and printed directions designed to aid mariners to interpret the indications of the barometer so as to determine the existence of a violent storm at a distance of several hundred miles.
Bar"o*gram (?), n. [Gr. &?; weight + -gram.] (Meteor.) A tracing, usually made by the barograph, showing graphically the variations of atmospheric pressure for a given time.
||Ba*rong" (?), n. [Native name.] A kind of cutting weapon with a thick back and thin razorlike edge, used by the Moros of the Philippine Islands.
Ba*roque" (?), a. Irregular in form; -- said esp. of a pearl.
Bar`o*ther"mo*graph (?), n. [Gr. &?; weight + thermograph.] An instrument for recording both pressure and temperature, as of the atmosphere.
Bar`ra*cu"da (?), n. [Native name.] Any of several voracious pikelike marine fishes allied to the gray mullets, constituting the genus Sphyræna and family Sphyrænidæ. The great barracuda (S. barracuda) of the West Indies, Florida, etc., is often six feet or more long, and as dangerous as a shark. In Cuba its flesh is reputed to be poisonous. S. Argentea of the Pacific coast and S. sphyræna of Europe are smaller species, and are used as food.
Bar`ra*mun"di (?), n. [Written also barramunda.] [Native name.] (Zoöl.) (a) A remarkable Australian fresh-water ganoid fish of the genus Ceratodus. (b) An Australian river fish (Osteoglossum Leichhardtii).
Bar"rel proc"ess. (Metal.) A process of extracting gold or silver by treating the ore in a revolving barrel, or drum, with mercury, chlorine, cyanide solution, or other reagent.
Bar"ret*ter (?), n. [OF. bareter to exchange. Cf. Barter.] (Wireless Teleg.) A thermal cymoscope which operates by increased resistance when subjected to the influence of electric waves. The original form consisted of an extremely fine platinum wire loop attached to terminals and inclosed in a small glass or silver bulb. In a later variety, called the liquid barretter, wire is replace by a column of liquid in a very fine capillary tube.
||Bar"ri*o (?), n.; pl. Barrios (#). [Sp.] In Spain and countries colonized by Spain, a village, ward, or district outside a town or city to whose jurisdiction it belongs.
Bar"y*sphere (?), n. [Gr. &?; heavy + sphere.] (Geol.) The heavy interior portion of the earth, within the lithosphere.
Bash (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bashed; p. pr. & vb. n. Bashing.] [Perh. of imitative origin; or cf. Dan. baske to strike, bask a blow, Sw. basa to beat, bas a beating.] To strike heavily; to beat; to crush. [Prov. Eng. & Scot.] Hall Caine.
Bash her open with a rock.
Kipling.
Ba"sic proc"ess. (Iron Metal.) A Bessemer or open-hearth steel-making process in which a lining that is basic, or not siliceous, is used, and additions of basic material are made to the molten charge during treatment. Opposed to acid process, above. Called also Thomas process.
Basic slag. A by-product from the manufacture of steel by the basic process, used as a fertilizer. It is rich in lime and contains 14 to 20 per cent of phosphoric acid. Called also Thomas slag, phosphatic slag, and odorless phosphate.
Basic steel. Steel produced by the basic process.
||Ba*sid`i*o*my*ce"tes (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. NL. & E. basidium + Gr. &?;, &?;, fungus.] (Bot.) A large subdivision of fungi coördinate with the Ascomycetes, characterized by having the spores borne on a basidium. It embraces those fungi best known to the public, such as mushrooms, toadstools, etc.
Bas"ket ball`. A game, usually played indoors, in which two parties of players contest with each other to toss a large inflated ball into opposite goals resembling baskets.
Bas"set horn`. (Mus.) The corno di bassetto.
Ba*su"tos (?), n. pl.; sing. Basuto (&?;). (Ethnol.) A warlike South African people of the Bantu stock, divided into many tribes, subject to the English. They formerly practiced cannibalism, but have now adopted many European customs.
||Bat (?), n. [Siamese.] Same as Tical, n., 1.