The train whereof loose far behind her strayed,
Branched with gold and pearl, most richly wrought.
Spenser.
Branch"er (&?;), n. 1. That which shoots forth branches; one who shows growth in various directions.
2. (Falconry) A young hawk when it begins to leave the nest and take to the branches.
Branch"er*y (&?;), n. A system of branches.
||Bran"chi*a (&?;), n.; pl. Branchiæ (&?;). [L., fr. Gr. &?;, pl. of &?;.] (Anat.) A gill; a respiratory organ for breathing the air contained in water, such as many aquatic and semiaquatic animals have.
Bran"chi*al (&?;), a. (Anat.) Of or pertaining to branchiæ or gills.
Branchial arches, the bony or cartilaginous arches which support the gills on each side of the throat of fishes and amphibians. See Illustration in Appendix. -- Branchial clefts, the openings between the branchial arches through which water passes.
Bran"chi*ate (&?;), a. (Anat.) Furnished with branchiæ; as, branchiate segments.
Bran*chif"er*ous (&?;), a. (Anat.) Having gills; branchiate; as, branchiferous gastropods.
Branch"i*ness (&?;), n. Fullness of branches.
Branch"ing, a. Furnished with branches; shooting our branches; extending in a branch or branches.
Shaded with branching palm.
Milton.
Branch"ing, n. The act or state of separation into branches; division into branches; a division or branch.
The sciences, with their numerous branchings.
L. Watts.
||Bran`chi*o*gas*trop"o*da (&?;), n. pl. [NL., from Gr. &?; gill + E. gastropoda.] (Zoöl.) Those Gastropoda that breathe by branchiæ, including the Prosobranchiata and Opisthobranchiata.
Bran`chi*om"er*ism (&?;), n. [Gr. &?; gill + -mere.] (Anat.) The state of being made up of branchiate segments. R. Wiedersheim.
Bran"chi*o*pod (&?;), n. One of the Branchiopoda.
||Bran"chi*o*poda (&?;), n. pl. [Gr. &?; gill + -poda: cf. F. branchiopode.] (Zoöl.) An order of Entomostraca; -- so named from the feet of branchiopods having been supposed to perform the function of gills. It includes the fresh-water genera Branchipus, Apus, and Limnadia, and the genus Artemia found in salt lakes. It is also called Phyllopoda. See Phyllopoda, Cladocera. It is sometimes used in a broader sense.
Bran`chi*os"te*gal (&?;), a. [Gr. &?; gill + &?; to cover: cf. F. branchiostège.] (Anat.) Pertaining to the membrane covering the gills of fishes. -- n. (Anat.) A branchiostegal ray. See Illustration of Branchial arches in Appendix.
This term was formerly applied to a group of fishes having boneless branchiæ. But the arrangement was artificial, and has been rejected.
Bran`chi*os"tege (&?;), (Anat.) The branchiostegal membrane. See Illustration in Appendix.
Bran`chi*os"te*gous (&?;), a. (Anat.) Branchiostegal.
||Bran`chi*os"to*ma (&?;), n. [NL., fr., Gr. &?; gill + &?; mouth.] (Zoöl.) The lancelet. See Amphioxus.
||Bran"chi*u"ra (&?;), n. pl. [NL., fr., Gr. &?; gill + &?; tail.] (Zoöl.) A group of Entomostraca, with suctorial mouths, including species parasitic on fishes, as the carp lice (Argulus).
Branch"less (&?;), a. Destitute of branches or shoots; without any valuable product; barren; naked.
Branch"let (&?;), n. [Branch + - let.] A little branch; a twig.
Branch" pi`lot (&?;). A pilot who has a branch or commission, as from Trinity House, England, for special navigation.
Branch"y (&?;), a. Full of branches; having wide-spreading branches; consisting of branches.
Beneath thy branchy bowers of thickest gloom.
J. Scott.
Brand (&?;), n. [OE. brand, brond, AS. brand brond brand, sword, from byrnan, beornan, to burn; akin to D., Dan., Sw., & G. brand brand, Icel. brandr a brand, blade of a sword. √32. See Burn, v. t., and cf. Brandish.] 1. A burning piece of wood; or a stick or piece of wood partly burnt, whether burning or after the fire is extinct.
Snatching a live brand from a wigwam, Mason threw it on a matted roof.
Palfrey.
2. A sword, so called from its glittering or flashing brightness. [Poetic] Tennyson.
Paradise, so late their happy seat,
Waved over by that flaming brand.
Milton.
3. A mark made by burning with a hot iron, as upon a cask, to designate the quality, manufacturer, etc., of the contents, or upon an animal, to designate ownership; -- also, a mark for a similar purpose made in any other way, as with a stencil. Hence, figurately: Quality; kind; grade; as, a good brand of flour.
4. A mark put upon criminals with a hot iron. Hence: Any mark of infamy or vice; a stigma.
The brand of private vice.
Channing.