Bour"don (&?;), n. [F., fr. L. burdo mule, esp. one used for carrying litters. Cf. Sp. muleta a young she mule; also, crutch, prop.] A pilgrim's staff.
||Bour"don` (&?;), n. [F. See Burden a refrain.] (Mus.) (a) A drone bass, as in a bagpipe, or a hurdy-gurdy. See Burden (of a song.) (b) A kind of organ stop.
Bour*geois" (&?;), n. [From a French type founder named Bourgeois, or fr. F. bourgeois of the middle class; hence applied to an intermediate size of type between brevier and long primer: cf. G. bourgeois, borgis. Cf. Burgess.] (Print.) A size of type between long primer and brevier. See Type.
This line is printed in bourgeois type.
||Bour*geois" (&?;), n. [F., fr. bourg town; of German origin. See Burgess.] A man of middle rank in society; one of the shopkeeping class. [France.]
a. Characteristic of the middle class, as in France.
||Bour*geoi*sie", n. [F.] The French middle class, particularly such as are concerned in, or dependent on, trade.
Bour"geon (&?;), v. i. [OE. burjoun a bud, burjounen to bud, F. bourgeon a bud, bourgeonner to bud; cf. OHG. burjan to raise.] To sprout; to put forth buds; to shoot forth, as a branch.
Gayly to bourgeon and broadly to grow.
Sir W. Scott.
||Bou"ri (&?;), n. [Native name.] (Zoöl.) A mullet (Mugil capito) found in the rivers of Southern Europe and in Africa.
{ Bourn, Bourne } (&?;), n. [OE. burne, borne, AS. burna; akin to OS. brunno spring, G. born, brunnen, OHG. prunno, Goth. brunna, Icel. brunnr, and perh. to Gr. &?;. The root is prob. that of burn, v., because the source of a stream seems to issue forth bubbling and boiling from the earth. Cf. Torrent, and see Burn, v.] A stream or rivulet; a burn.
My little boat can safely pass this perilous bourn.
Spenser.
{ Bourn, Bourne } (&?;), n. [F. borne. See Bound a limit.] A bound; a boundary; a limit. Hence: Point aimed at; goal.
Where the land slopes to its watery bourn.
Cowper.
The undiscovered country, from whose bourn
No traveler returns.
Shak.
Sole bourn, sole wish, sole object of my song.
Wordsworth.
To make the doctrine . . . their intellectual bourne.
Tyndall.
Bourn"less, a. Without a bourn or limit.
Bour"non*ite (&?;), n. [Named after Count Bournon, a mineralogist.] (Min.) A mineral of a steel- gray to black color and metallic luster, occurring crystallized, often in twin crystals shaped like cogwheels (wheel ore), also massive. It is a sulphide of antimony, lead, and copper.
Bour*nous" (&?;), n. See Burnoose.
||Bour*rée (&?;), n. [F.] (Mus.) An old French dance tune in common time.
||Bourse (&?;), n. [F. bourse purse, exchange, LL. bursa, fr. Gr.&?; skin, hide, of which a purse was usually made. Cf. Purse, Burse.] An exchange, or place where merchants, bankers, etc., meet for business at certain hours; esp., the Stock Exchange of Paris.
Bouse (&?;), v. i. To drink immoderately; to carouse; to booze. See Booze.
Bouse, n. Drink, esp. alcoholic drink; also, a carouse; a booze. "A good bouse of liquor." Carlyle.
Bous"er (&?;), n. A toper; a boozer.
||Bou`stro*phe"don (&?;), n. [Gr. &?; turning like oxen in plowing; &?; to turn.] An ancient mode of writing, in alternate directions, one line from left to right, and the next from right to left (as fields are plowed), as in early Greek and Hittite.
Bou*stroph`e*don"ic (&?;), a. Relating to the boustrophedon made of writing.
Bou*stroph"ic (&?;), a. [Gr. boystro`fos ox-guiding.] Boustrophedonic.
Bousy (b"z), a. Drunken; sotted; boozy.
In his cups the bousy poet songs.
Dryden.
Bout (bout), n. [A different spelling and application of bought bend.] 1. As much of an action as is performed at one time; a going and returning, as of workmen in reaping, mowing, etc.; a turn; a round.
In notes with many a winding bout
Of linked sweetness long drawn out.
Milton.
The prince . . . has taken me in his train, so that I am in no danger of starving for this bout.
Goldsmith.
2. A conflict; contest; attempt; trial; a set-to at anything; as, a fencing bout; a drinking bout.
The gentleman will, for his honor's sake, have one bout with you; he can not by the duello avoid it.
Shak.
Bou*tade" (&?;), n. [F., fr. bouter to thrust. See Butt.] An outbreak; a caprice; a whim. [Obs.]
Boute"feu (&?;), n. [F.; bouter to thrust, put + feu fire.] An incendiary; an inciter of quarrels. [Obs.]
Animated by . . . John à Chamber, a very boutefeu, . . . they entered into open rebellion.
Bacon.
||Bou`ton`nière" (&?;), n. [F., buttonhole.] A bouquet worn in a buttonhole.
||Bouts`-ri*més" (&?;), n. pl. [F. bout end + rimé rhymed.] Words that rhyme, proposed as the ends of verses, to be filled out by the ingenuity of the person to whom they are offered.
Bo"vate (&?;), n. [LL. bovata, fr. bos, bovis, ox.] (O.Eng.Law.) An oxgang, or as much land as an ox can plow in a year; an ancient measure of land, of indefinite quantity, but usually estimated at fifteen acres.
Bo"vey coal` (&?;). (Min.) A kind of mineral coal, or brown lignite, burning with a weak flame, and generally a disagreeable odor; -- found at Bovey Tracey, Devonshire, England. It is of geological age of the oölite, and not of the true coal era.
Bo"vid (&?;), a. [L. bos, bovis, ox, cow.] (Zoöl.) Relating to that tribe of ruminant mammals of which the genus Bos is the type.
Bo"vi*form (&?;), a. [L. bos, bovis, ox + -form.] Resembling an ox in form; ox- shaped. [R.]
Bo"vine (&?;), a. [LL. bovinus, fr.L. bos, bovis, ox, cow: cf. F. bovine. See Cow.]
1. (Zoöl.) Of or pertaining to the genus Bos; relating to, or resembling, the ox or cow; oxlike; as, the bovine genus; a bovine antelope.
2. Having qualities characteristic of oxen or cows; sluggish and patient; dull; as, a bovine temperament.
The bovine gaze of gaping rustics.
W. Black.
Bow (bou), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bowed (&?;); p. pr. & vb. n. Bowing.] [OE. bowen, bogen, bugen, AS. bgan (generally v. i.); akin to D. buigen, OHG. biogan, G. biegen, beugen, Icel. boginn bent, beygja to bend, Sw. böja, Dan. böie, bugne, Coth. biugan; also to L. fugere to flee, Gr. &?;, and Skr. bhuj to bend. √88. Cf. Fugitive.]
1. To cause to deviate from straightness; to bend; to inflect; to make crooked or curved.
We bow things the contrary way, to make them come to their natural straightness.
Milton.
The whole nation bowed their necks to the worst kind of tyranny.
Prescott.
2. To exercise powerful or controlling influence over; to bend, figuratively; to turn; to incline.
Adversities do more bow men's minds to religion.
Bacon.
Not to bow and bias their opinions.
Fuller.
3. To bend or incline, as the head or body, in token of respect, gratitude, assent, homage, or condescension.
They came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him.
2 Kings ii. 15.