Pope.
Bas¶ton (?), n. [OF. baston, F. b?ton, LL. basto. See Bastion, and cf. Baton, and 3d Batten.]
1. A staff or cudgel. [Obs.] ½To fight with blunt bastons.¸
Holland.
2. (Her.) See Baton.
3. An officer bearing a painted staff, who formerly was in attendance upon the king's court to take into custody persons committed by the court.
Mozley & W.
Bas¶yle (?), n. [Gr. ? base + ? wood. See Ïyl.] (Chem.) A positive or nonacid constituent of compound, either elementary, or, if compound, performing the functions of an element.
Bas¶yÏlous (?), a. Pertaining to, or having the nature of, a basyle; electroÐpositive; basic; Ð opposed to chlorous.
Graham.
Bat (?), n. [OE. batte, botte, AS. batt; perhaps fr. the Celtic; cf. Ir. bat, bata, stick, staff; but cf. also F. batte a beater (thing), wooden sword, battre to beat.]
1. A large stick; a club; specifically, a piece of wood with one end thicker or broader than the other, used in playing baseball, cricket, etc.
2. (Mining) Shale or bituminous shale.
Kirwan.
3. A sheet of cotton used for filling quilts or comfortables; batting.
4. A part of a brick with one whole end.
Bat bolt (Machinery), a bolt barbed or jagged at its butt or tang to make it hold the more firmly.
Knight.
Bat, v. t. [imp. & p.p. Batted (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Batting.] To strike or hit with a bat or a pole; to cudgel; to beat.
Holland.
Bat, v. i. To use a bat, as in a game of baseball.
Bat, n. [Corrupt. from OE. back, backe, balke; cf. Dan. aftenÐbakke (aften evening), Sw. nattÐbacka (natt night), Icel. le?rÐblaka (le?r leather), Icel. blaka to flutter.] (Zo”l.) One of the Cheiroptera, an order of flying mammals, in which the wings are formed by a membrane stretched between the elongated fingers, legs, and tail. The common bats are small and insectivorous. See Cheiroptera and Vampire.
Bat tick (Zo”l.), a wingless, dipterous insect of the genus Nycteribia, parasitic on bats.
Bat¶aÏble (?), a. [Abbrev. from debatable.] Disputable. [Obs.]
µ The border land between England and Scotland, being formerly a subject of contention, was called batable or debatable ground.
Bat¶ailled (?), a. Embattled. [Obs.]
Chaucer.
ØBa·tarÏdeau¶ (?),n. [F.] 1. A cofferdam.
Brande & C.
2. (Mil.) A wall built across the ditch of a fortification, with a sluice gate to regulate the height of water in the ditch on both sides of the wall.
ØBaÏta¶tas (?), ØBaÏta¶ta (?), } n. An aboriginal American name for the sweet potato (Ipom‘a batatas).
BaÏta¶viÏan (?), a. Of or pertaining to (a) the Batavi, an ancient Germanic tribe; or to (b) ?atavia or Holland; as, a Batavian legion.
Batavian Republic, the name given to Holland by the French after its conquest in 1795.
BaÏta¶viÏan, n. A native or inhabitant of Batavia or Holland. [R.]
Bancroft.
Batch (?), n. [OE. bache, bacche, fr. AS. bacan to bake; cf. G. geb„ck and D. baksel. See Bake, v. t.]
1. The quantity of bread baked at one time.
2. A quantity of anything produced at one operation; a group or collection of persons or things of the same kind; as, a batch of letters; the next batch of business. ½A new batch of Lords.¸
Lady M. W. Montagu.
Bate (?), n. [Prob. abbrev. from debate.] Strife; contention. [Obs.]
Shak.
Bate, v. t. [imp. & p.p. Bated; p. pr. & vb. n. Bating.] [From abate.] 1. To lessen by retrenching, deducting, or reducing; to abate; to beat down; to lower.
He must either bate the laborer's wages, or not employ or not pay him.
Locke.
2. To allow by way of abatement or deduction.
To whom he bates nothing or what he stood upon with the parliament.
South.
3. To leave out; to except. [Obs.]
Bate me the king, and, be he flesh and blood.
He lies that says it.
Beau. & Fl.
4. To remove. [Obs.]
About autumn bate the earth from about the roots of olives, and lay them bare.
Holland.
5. To deprive of. [Obs.]
When baseness is exalted, do not bate
The place its honor for the person's sake.
Herbert.
Bate, v. i. 1. To remit or retrench a part; Ð with of.
Abate thy speed, and I will bate of mine.
Dryden.
2. To waste away. [Obs.]
Shak.
Bate (?), v. t. To attack; to bait. [Obs.]
Spenser.
Bate, imp. of Bite. [Obs.]
Spenser.
Bate, v. i. [F. battre des ailes to flutter. Cf. Bait to flutter.] To flutter as a hawk; to bait. [Obs.]
Bacon.
Bate, n. (Jewish Antiq.) See 2d Bath.
Bate, n. [Cf. Sw. beta maceration, soaking, G. beize, and E. bite.] An alkaline solution consisting of the dung of certain animals; Ð employed in the preparation of hides; grainer.
Knight.
Bate, v. t. To steep in bate, as hides, in the manufacture of leather.
ØBaÏteau¶ (?), n.; pl. Bateaux (?). [F. bateau, LL. batellus, fr. battus, batus, boa, which agrees with AS. b¾t boat: cf. W. bad boat. See Boat, n.] A boat; esp. a flatÐbottomed, clumsy boat used on the Canadian lakes and rivers. [Written also, but less properly, batteau.]
Bateau bridge, a floating bridge supported by bateaux.
Bat¶ed (?), a. Reduced; lowered; restrained; as, to speak with bated breath.
Macaulay.
Bate¶ful (?), a. Exciting contention; contentious. [Obs.] ½It did bateful question frame. ¸
Sidney.
Bate¶less, a. Not to be abated. [Obs.]
Shak.
Bate¶ment (?), n. [For Abatement. See 2d Bate.] Abatement; diminution.
Moxon.
Batement light (Arch.), a window or one division of a window having vertical sides, but with the sill not horizontal, as where it follows the rake of a staircase.
Bat¶fish· (?), n. (Zo”l.) A name given to several species of fishes: (a) The Malthe vespertilio of the Atlantic coast. (b) The flying gurnard of the Atlantic (Cephalacanthus spinarella). (c) The California batfish or sting ray (Myliobatis Californicus.)
Bat¶fowl·er (?), n. One who practices or finds sport in batfowling.
Bat¶fowl·ing (?), n. [From Bat a stick.] A mode of catching birds at night, by holding a torch or other light, and beating the bush or perch where they roost. The birds, flying to the light, are caught with nets or otherwise.
Bat¶ful (?), a. [Icel. bati amelioration, batna to grow better; akin to AS. bet better. Goth. gaÏbatnan to profit. ?255. Cf. Batten, v. i., Better.] Rich; fertile. [Obs.] ½Batful valleys.¸
Drayton.
Bath (?), n.; pl. Baths (?). [AS. b‘?; akin to OS. & Icel. ba?, Sw., Dan., D., & G. bad, and perh. to G. b„hen to foment.] 1. The act of exposing the body, or part of the body, for purposes of cleanliness, comfort, health, etc., to water, vapor, hot air, or the like; as, a cold or a hot bath; a medicated bath; a steam bath; a hip bath.
2. Water or other liquid for bathing.
3. A receptacle or place where persons may immerse or wash their bodies in water.
4. A building containing an apartment or a series of apartments arranged for bathing.
Among the ancients, the public baths were of amazing extent and magnificence.
Gwilt.
5. (Chem.) A medium, as heated sand, ashes, steam, hot air, through which heat is applied to a body.
6. (Photog.) A solution in which plates or prints are immersed; also, the receptacle holding the solution.
µ Bath is used adjectively or in combination, in an obvious sense of or for baths or bathing; as, bathroom, bath tub, bath keeper.
Douche bath. See Douche. Ð Order of the Bath, a high order of British knighthood, composed of three classes, viz., knights grand cross, knights commanders, and knights companions, abbreviated thus: G. C. B., K. C. B., K. B. Ð Russian bath, a kind of vapor bath which consists in a prolonged exposure of the body to the influence of the steam of water, followed by washings and shampooings. Ð Turkish bath, a kind of bath in which a profuse perspiration is produced by hot air, after which the body is washed and shampooed. Ð Bath house, a house used for the purpose of bathing; Ð also a small house, near a bathing place, where a bather undresses and dresses.
Bath (?), n. [Heb.] A Hebrew measure containing the tenth of a homer, or five gallons and three pints, as a measure for liquids; and two pecks and five quarts, as a dry measure.
Bath (?), n. A city in the west of England, resorted to for its hot springs, which has given its name to various objects.
Bath brick, a preparation of calcareous earth, in the form of a brick, used for cleaning knives, polished metal, etc. Ð Bath chair, a kind of chair on wheels, as used by invalids at Bath. ½People walked out, or drove out, or were pushed out in their Bath chairs.¸ Dickens. Ð Bath metal, an alloy consisting of four and a half ounces of zinc and one pound of copper. Ð Bath note, a folded writing paper, 8 1/2 by 14 inches. Ð Bath stone, a species of limestone (o”lite) found near Bath, used for building.
Bathe (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Bathed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Bathing.] [OE. ba?ien, AS. ba?ian, fr. b‘? bath. See 1st Bath, and cf. Bay to bathe.] 1. To wash by immersion, as in a bath; to subject to a bath.
Chancing to bathe himself in the River Cydnus.
South.
2. To lave; to wet. ½The lake which bathed the foot of the Alban mountain.¸
T. Arnold.
3. To moisten or suffuse with a liquid.
And let us bathe our hands in C‘sar's blood.
Shak.
4. To apply water or some liquid medicament to; as, to bathe the eye with warm water or with sea water; to bathe one's forehead with camphor.
5. To surround, or envelop, as water surrounds a person immersed. ½The rosy shadows bathe me. ¸ Tennyson. ½The bright sunshine bathing all the world.¸ Longfellow.
Bathe (?), v. i. 1. To bathe one's self; to take a bath or baths. ½They bathe in summer.¸
Waller.
2. To immerse or cover one's self, as in a bath. ½To bathe in fiery floods.¸ Shak. ½Bathe in the dimples of her cheek.¸ Lloyd.
3. To bask in the sun. [Obs.]
Chaucer.
Bathe, n. The immersion of the body in water; as to take one's usual bathe.
Edin. Rev.
Bath¶er (?), n. One who bathes.
BaÏthet¶ic (?), a. Having the character of bathos. [R.]
Bath¶ing (?), n. Act of taking a bath or baths.
Bathing machine, a small room on wheels, to be driven into the water, for the convenience of bathers, who undress and dress therein.
Bath¶mism (?), n. See Vital force.
BaÏthom¶eÏter (?), n. [Gr. ? depth + Ïmeter.] An instrument for measuring depths, esp. one for taking soundings without a sounding line.
Bat¶horse· (?), n. [F. b?t packsaddle (cheval de b?t packhorse) + E. horse. See Bastard.] A horse which carries an officer's baggage during a campaign.
Ba¶thos (?), n. [Gr. ? depth, fr. ? deep.] (Rhet.) A ludicrous descent from the elevated to the low, in writing or speech; anticlimax.
ØBaÏthyb¶iÏus (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. ? deep + ? life] (Zo”l.) A name given by Prof. Huxley to a gelatinous substance found in mud dredged from the Atlantic and preserved in alcohol. He supposed that it was free living protoplasm, covering a large part of the ocean bed. It is now known that the substance is of chemical, not of organic, origin.
Bath·yÏmet¶ric (?), Bath·yÏmet¶ricÏal (?), } a. Pertaining to bathymetry; relating to the measurement of depths, especially of depths in the sea.
BaÏthym¶eÏtry (?), n. [Gr. ? depth + Ïmetry.] The art or science of sounding, or measuring depths in the sea.
Bat¶ing (?), prep. [Strictly p. pr. of Bat? to abate.] With the exception of; excepting.
We have little reason to think that they bring many ideas with them, bating some faint ideas of hunger and thirst.
Locke.
BaÏtiste¶ (?), n. [F. batiste, from the name of the alleged first maker, Baptiste of Cambrai. Littr‚.] Originally, cambric or lawn of fine linen; now applied also to cloth of similar texture made of cotton.
Bat¶let (?), n. [Bat stick + Ïlet.] A short bat for beating clothes in washing them; Ð called also batler, batling staff, batting staff.
Shak.
ØBat¶man (?), n. [Turk. batman.] A weight used in the East, varying according to the locality; in Turkey, the greater batman is about 157 pounds, the lesser only a fourth of this; at Aleppo and Smyrna, the batman is 17 pounds.
Simmonds.
Bat¶man (?), n.; pl. Batmen (?). [F. b?t packsaddle + E. man. Cf. Bathorse.] A man who has charge of a bathorse and his load.
Macaulay.
ØBaÏtoi¶deÏi (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. ? a kind of ray + Ïoid.] (Zo”l.) The division of fishes which includes the rays and skates.
Bat¶on (?), n. [F. b?ton. See Baston.] 1. A staff or truncheon, used for various purposes; as, the baton of a field marshal; the baton of a conductor in musical performances.
He held the baton of command.
Prescott.
2. (Her.) An ordinary with its ends cut off, borne sinister as a mark of bastardy, and containing one fourth in breadth of the bend sinister; Ð called also bastard bar. See Bend sinister.
BaÏtoon¶ (?), n. See Baton, and Baston.
Bat¶ print·ing (?). (Ceramics) A mode of printing on glazed ware.
ØBaÏtra¶chiÏa (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. ? belonging to a frog, fr. ? frog.] (Zo”l.) The order of amphibians which includes the frogs and toads; the Anura. Sometimes the word is used in a wider sense as equivalent to Amphibia.
BaÏtra¶chiÏan (?), a. (Zo”l.) Pertaining to the Batrachia. Ð n. One of the Batrachia.
Bat¶raÏchoid (?), a. [Batrachia + Ïoid.] (Zo”l.) Froglike. Specifically: Of or pertaining to the Batrachid‘, a family of marine fishes, including the toadfish. Some have poisonous dorsal spines.
Bat·raÏchoÏmyÏom¶aÏchy (?), n. [Gr. ?; ? frog + ? mouse + ? battle.] The battle between the frogs and mice; Ð a Greek parody on the Iliad, of uncertain authorship.
Bat·raÏchoph¶aÏgous (?), a. [Gr. ? frog + ? to eat.] Feeding on frogs.
Quart. Rev.
Bats¶man (?), n.; pl. Batsmen (?). The one who wields the bat in cricket, baseball, etc.
Bat's¶Ðwing¶ (?) or Bat¶wing, a. Shaped like a bat's wing; as, a bat'sÐwing burner.
ØBat¶ta (?), n. [Prob. through Pg. for Canarese bhatta rice in the husk.] Extra pay; esp. an extra allowance to an English officer serving in India.
Whitworth.
<-- p. 125 -->
ØBat¶ta (?), n. [Hind. ba??a.] Rate of exchange; also, the discount on uncurrent coins. [India]
Bat¶taÏble (?), a. [See Batful.] Capable of culti?ation; fertile; productive; fattening. [Obs.]
Burton.
Bat¶tailÏant (?), a. [F. bataillant, p. pr. See Battle, v. i. ] [Obs.] Prepared for battle; combatant; warlike. Spenser. Ð n. A combatant.
Shelton.
Bat¶tailÏous (?), a. [OF. bataillos, fr. bataille. See Battle, n.] Arrayed for battle; fit or eager for battle; warlike. [Obs.] ½In battailous aspect.¸
Milton.
BatÏtal¶ia (?), n. [LL. battalia battle, a body of troops. See Battle, n.] 1. Order of battle; disposition or arrangement of troops (brigades, regiments, battalions, etc.), or of a naval force, for action.
A drawing up the armies in battalia.
Jer. Taylor.
2. An army in battle array; also, the main battalia or body. [Obs.]
Shak.
BatÏtal¶ion (?), n. [F. bataillon, fr. It. battaglione. See Battalia.] 1. A body of troops; esp. a body of troops or an army in battle array. ½The whole battalion views.¸
Milton.
2. (Mil.) A regiment, or two or more companies of a regiment, esp. when assembled for drill or battle.
BatÏtal¶ion (?), v. t. To form into battalions. [R.]
Bat¶tel (?), n. [Obs. form. of Battle.] (Old Eng. Law) A single combat; as, trial by battel. See Wager of battel, under Wager.
Bat¶tel, n. [Of uncertain etymology.] Provisions ordered from the buttery; also, the charges for them; Ð only in the pl., except when used adjectively. [Univ. of Oxford, Eng.]
Bat¶tel, v. i. To be supplied with provisions from the buttery. [Univ. of Oxford, Eng.]
Bat¶tel, v. t. [Cf. Batful, Batten, v. i.] To make fertile. [Obs.] ½To battel barren land.¸
Ray.
Bat¶tel, a. Fertile; fruitful; productive. [Obs.]
A battel soil for grain, for pasture good.
Fairfax.
Bat¶telÏer (?), Bat¶tler (?), n. [See 2d Battel, n.] A student at Oxford who is supplied with provisions from the buttery; formerly, one who paid for nothing but what he called for, answering nearly to a sizar at Cambridge.
Wright.
Bat¶ten (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Battened (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Battening.] [See Batful.] 1. To make fat by plenteous feeding; to fatten. ½Battening our flocks.¸
Milton.
2. To fertilize or enrich, as land.
Bat¶ten, v. i. To grow fat; to grow fat in ease and luxury; to glut one's self.
Dryden.
The pampered monarch lay battening in ease.
Garth.
Skeptics, with a taste for carrion, who batten on the hideous facts in history, Ð persecutions, inquisitions.
Emerson.
Bat¶ten, n . [F. b?ton stick, staff. See Baton.] A strip of sawed stuff, or a scantling; as, (a) pl. (Com. & Arch.) Sawed timbers about 7 by 2 1/2 inches and not less than 6 feet long. Brande & C. (b) (Naut.) A strip of wood used in fastening the edges of a tarpaulin to the deck, also around masts to prevent chafing. (c) A long, thin strip used to strengthen a part, to cover a crack, etc.
Batten door (Arch.), a door made of boards of the whole length of the door, secured by battens nailed crosswise.
Bat¶ten, v. t. To furnish or fasten with battens.
To batten down, to fasten down with battens, as the tarpaulin over the hatches of a ship during a storm.
Bat¶ten, n. [F. battant. See Batter, v. t.] The movable bar of a loom, which strikes home or closes the threads of a woof.
Bat¶tenÏing (?), n. (Arch.) Furring done with small pieces nailed directly upon the wall.
Bat¶ter (?), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Battered (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Battering.] [OE. bateren, OF. batre, F. battre, fr. LL. battere, for L. batuere to strike, beat; of unknown origin. Cf. Abate, Bate to abate.]
1. To beat with successive blows; to beat repeatedly and with violence, so as to bruise, shatter, or demolish; as, to batter a wall or rampart.
2. To wear or impair as if by beating or by hard usage. ½Each battered jade.¸
Pope.
3. (Metallurgy) To flatten (metal) by hammering, so as to compress it inwardly and spread it outwardly.
Bat¶ter, n. [OE. batere, batire; cf. OF. bateure, bature, a beating. See Batter, v. t.] 1. A semiÐliquid mixture of several ingredients, as, flour, eggs, milk, etc., beaten together and used in cookery.
King.
2. Paste of clay or loam.
Holland.
3. (Printing) A bruise on the face of a plate or of type in the form.
Bat¶ter, n. 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.
Bat¶ter, v. i. (Arch.) To slope gently backward.
Bat¶ter, n. One who wields a bat; a batsman.
Bat¶terÏer (?), n. One who, or that which, batters.
Bat¶terÏingÐram· (?), n. 1. (Mil.) An engine used in ancient times to beat down the walls of besieged places.
µ It was a large beam, with a head of iron, which was sometimes made to resemble the head of a ram. It was suspended by ropes t a beam supported by posts, and so balanced as to swing backward and forward, and was impelled by men against the wall.
Grose.
2. A blacksmith's hammer, suspended, and worked horizontally.
Bat¶terÏing train· (?). (Mil.) A train of artillery for siege operations.
Bat¶terÏy (?), n.; pl. Batteries (?). [F. batterie, fr. battre. See Batter, v. t.] 1. The act of battering or beating.
2. (Law) The unlawful beating of another. It includes every willful, angry and violent, or negligent touching of another's person or clothes, or anything attached to his person or held by him.
3. (Mil.) (a) Any place where cannon or mortars are mounted, for attack or defense. (b) Two or more pieces of artillery in the field. (c) A company or division of artillery, including the gunners, guns, horses, and all equipments. In the United States, a battery of flying artillery consists usually of six guns.
Barbette battery. See Barbette. Ð Battery d'enfilade, or Enfilading battery, one that sweeps the whole length of a line of troops or part of a work. Ð Battery en ‚charpe, one that plays obliquely. Ð Battery gun, a gun capable of firing a number, of shots simultaneously or successively without stopping to load. Ð Battery wagon, a wagon employed to transport the tools and materials for repair of the carriages, etc., of the battery. Ð In battery, projecting, as a gun, into an embrasure or over a parapet in readiness for firing. Ð Masked battery, a battery artificially concealed until required to open upon the enemy. Ð Out of battery, or From battery, withdrawn, as a gun, to a position for loading.
4. (Elec.) (a) A number of coated jars (Leyden jars) so connected that they may be charged and discharged simultaneously. (b) An apparatus for generating voltaic electricity.
µ In the trough battery, copper and zinc plates, connected in pairs, divide the trough into cells, which are filled with an acid or oxidizing liquid; the effect is exhibited when wires connected with the two endÐplates are brought together. In Daniell's battery, the metals are zinc and copper, the former in dilute sulphuric acid, or a solution of sulphate of zinc, the latter in a saturated solution of sulphate of copper. A modification of this is the common gravity battery, so called from the automatic action of the two fluids, which are separated by their specific gravities. In Grove's battery, platinum is the metal used with zinc; two fluids are used, one of them in a porous cell surrounded by the other. In Bunsen's or the carbon battery, the carbon of gas coke is substituted for the platinum of Grove's. In Leclanch‚'s battery, the elements are zinc in a solution of ammonium chloride, and gas carbon surrounded with manganese dioxide in a porous cell. A secondary battery is a battery which usually has the two plates of the same kind, generally of lead, in dilute sulphuric acid, and which, when traversed by an electric current, becomes charged, and is then capable of giving a current of itself for a time, owing to chemical changes produced by the charging current. A storage battery is a kind of secondary battery used for accumulating and storing the energy of electrical charges or currents, usually by means of chemical work done by them; an accumulator.
5. A number of similar machines or devices in position; an apparatus consisting of a set of similar parts; as, a battery of boilers, of retorts, condensers, etc.
6. (Metallurgy) A series of stamps operated by one motive power, for crushing ores containing the precious metals.
Knight.
7. The box in which the stamps for crushing ore play up and down.
8. (Baseball) The pitcher and catcher together.
Bat¶ting (?), n. 1. The act of one who bats; the management of a bat in playing games of ball.
Mason.
2. Cotton in sheets, prepared for use in making quilts, etc.; as, cotton batting.
Bat¶tle (?), a. Fertile. See Battel, a. [Obs.]
Bat¶tle, n. [OE. bataille, bataile, F. bataille battle, OF., battle, battalion, fr. L. battalia, battualia, the fighting and fencing exercises of soldiers and gladiators, fr. batuere to strike, beat. Cf. Battalia, 1st Battel, and see Batter, v. t. ] 1. A general action, fight, or encounter, in which all the divisions of an army are or may be engaged; an engagement; a combat.
2. A struggle; a contest; as, the battle of life.
The whole intellectual battle that had at its center the best poem of the best poet of that day.
H. Morley.
3. A division of an army; a battalion. [Obs.]
The king divided his army into three battles.
Bacon.
The cavalry, by way of distinction, was called the battle, and on it alone depended the fate of every action.
Robertson.
4. The main body, as distinct from the van and rear; battalia. [Obs.]
Hayward.
µ Battle is used adjectively or as the first part of a selfÐexplaining compound; as, battle brand, a ½brand¸ or sword used in battle; battle cry; battlefield; battle ground; battlearray; battle song.
Battle piece, a painting, or a musical composition, representing a battle. Ð Battle royal. (a) A fight between several gamecocks, where the one that stands longest is the victor. Grose. (b) A contest with fists or cudgels in which more than two are engaged; a mˆl‚e. Thackeray. Ð Drawn battle, one in which neither party gains the victory. Ð To give battle, to attack an enemy. Ð To join battle, to meet the attack; to engage in battle. Ð Pitched battle, one in which the armies are previously drawn up in form, with a regular disposition of the forces. Ð Wager of battle. See under Wager, n.
Syn. Ð Conflict; encounter; contest; action. Battle, Combat, Fight, Engagement. These words agree in denoting a close encounter between contending parties. Fight is a word of less dignity than the others. Except in poetry, it is more naturally applied to the encounter of a few individuals, and more commonly an accidental one; as, a street fight. A combat is a close encounter, whether between few or many, and is usually premeditated. A battle is commonly more general and prolonged. An engagement supposes large numbers on each side, engaged or intermingled in the conflict.
Bat¶tle (?), v. i. [imp. & p.p. Battled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Battling.] [F. batailler, fr. bataille. See Battle, n.] To join in battle; to contend in fight; as, to battle over theories.
To meet in arms, and battle in the plain.
Prior.
Bat¶tle, v. t. To assail in battle; to fight.
Bat¶tleÐax· Bat¶tleÐaxe· } (?), n. (Mil.) A kind of broadax formerly used as an offensive weapon.
Bat¶tled (?), p. p. Embattled. [Poetic]
Tennyson.
Bat¶tleÏdoor· (?), n. [OE. batyldour. A corrupted form of uncertain origin; cf. Sp. batallador a great combatant, he who has fought many battles, Pg. batalhador, Pr. batalhador, warrior, soldier, fr. L. battalia; or cf. Pr. batedor batlet, fr. batre to beat, fr. L. batuere. See Battle, n.] 1. 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.
2. [OE. battleder.] A child's hornbook. [Obs.]
Halliwell.
Bat¶tleÏment (?), n. [OE. batelment; cf. OF. bataillement combat, fr. batailler, also OF. bastillier, bateillier, to fortify. Cf. Battle, n., Bastile, Bastion.] (Arch.) (a) One of the solid upright parts of a parapet in ancient fortifications. (b) pl. The whole parapet, consisting of alternate solids and open spaces. At first purely a military feature, afterwards copied on a smaller scale with decorative features, as for churches.
Bat¶tleÏmentÏed (?), a. Having battlements.
A battlemented portal.
Sir W. Scott.
BatÏtol¶oÏgist (?), n. One who battologizes.
BatÏtol¶oÏgize (?), v. t. To keep repeating needlessly; to iterate.
Sir T. Herbert.
BatÏtol¶oÏgy (?), n. [F. battologie, fr. Gr. ?; ? a stammerer + ? speech.] A needless repetition of words in speaking or writing.
Milton.
Bat¶ton (?), n. See Batten, and Baton.
ØBat¶tue· (?), n. [F. battue, fr. battre to beat. See Batter, v. t., and cf. Battuta.] (Hunting) (a) The act of beating the woods, bushes, etc., for game. (b) The game itself. (c) The wanton slaughter of game.
Howitt.
ØBat·ture¶ (?), n. [F., fr. battre to beat. ] An elevated river bed or sea bed.
ØBatÏtu¶ta (?), n. [It. battuta, fr. battere to beat.] (Mus.) The measuring of time by beating.
Bat¶ty (?), a. Belonging to, or resembling, a bat. ½Batty wings.¸
Shak.
Bat¶ule (?), n. A springboard in a circus or gymnasium; Ð called also batule board.
ØBatz (?), n.; pl. Batzen (?). [Ger. batz, batze, batzen, a coin bearing the image of a bear, Ger. b„tz, betz, bear.] A small copper coin, with a mixture of silver, formerly current in some parts of Germany and Switzerland. It was worth about four cents.
BauÏbee¶ (?), n. Same as Bawbee.
Bau¶ble (?), n. [Cf. OF. baubel a child's plaything, F. babiole, It. babbola, LL. baubellum gem, jewel, L. babulus,a baburrus, foolish.] 1. A trifling piece of finery; a gewgaw; that which is gay and showy without real value; a cheap, showy plaything.
The ineffective bauble of an Indian pagod.
Sheridan.
2. The fool's club. [Obs.] ½A fool's bauble was a short stick with a head ornamented with an ass's ears fantastically carved upon it.¸
Nares.
Bau¶bling (?), a. See Bawbling. [Obs.]
Bau¶deÏkin (?), n. [OE. bawdekin rich silk stuff, OF. baudequin. See Baldachin.] The richest kind of stuff used in garments in the Middle Ages, the web being gold, and the woof silk, with embroidery : Ð made originally at Bagdad. [Spelt also baudkin, baudkyn, bawdekin, and baldakin.]
Nares.
Bau¶drick (?), n. A belt. See Baldric.
Bauk, Baulk (?), n. & v. See Balk.
Baun¶scheidtÏism (?), n. [From the introducer, a German named Baunscheidt.] (Med.) A form of acupuncture, followed by the rubbing of the part with a stimulating fluid.
Baux¶ite, Beaux¶ite (?), n. [F., fr. Baux or Beaux, near Arles.] (Min.) A ferruginous hydrate of alumina. It is largely used in the preparation of aluminium and alumina, and for the lining of furnaces which are exposed to intense heat.
BaÏva¶riÏan (?), a. Of or pertaining to Bavaria. Ð n. A native or an inhabitant of Bavaria.
Bavarian cream. See under Cream.
Bav¶aÏroy (?), n. [F. Bavarois Bavarian.] A kind of cloak or surtout. [Obs.]
Johnson.
Let the looped bavaroy the fop embrace.
Gay.
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