BEKISS, be-kis', _v.t._ to cover with kisses.
BEKNAVE, be-n[=a]v', _v.t._ to call or treat as a knave.
BEKNOWN, b[=e]-n[=o]n', _p.adj._ known, acquainted.
BELABOUR, be-l[=a]'bur, _v.t._ to beat soundly.
BEL-ACCOYLE, bel-ak-koil', _n._ (_Spens._) favourable or kind reception.
[O. Fr. _bel acoil_, fair welcome. See ACCOIL.]
BELACE, be-l[=a]s', _v.t._ to adorn with lace.
BELAMOUR, bel'a-m[=oo]r, _n._ (_Spens._) a gallant: a fair lady: a kind of
flower. [Fr. _bel amour_, fair love.]
BELAMY, bel'a-mi, _n._ (_Spens._) a good or intimate friend. [Fr. _bel
ami_, fair friend.]
BELATE, be-l[=a]t', _v.t._ to make late: to retard:--_pr.p._ bel[=a]t'ing;
_pa.p._ bel[=a]t'ed.--_p.adj._ BEL[=A]T'ED, made too late: out of date:
benighted.--_n._ BEL[=A]T'EDNESS.
BELAUD, be-lawd', _v.t._ to laud or praise highly.
[Illustration]
BELAY, be-l[=a]', _v.t._ (_naut._) to fasten a running rope by coiling it
round a cleat or BELAY'ING-PIN: to make fast: (_Spens._) to lay ornament
round anything.--BELAY THERE (_naut. slang_), hold! that is enough. [A.S.
_belecgan_; Ger. _belegen_, Dut. _beleggen_. See LAY.]
BELCH, belch, belsh, _v.t._ to void wind from the stomach by the mouth: to
eject violently: to cast up, as of the smoke from a volcano or a
cannon.--_n._ eructation. [A.S. _bealcian_; Dut. _balken_.]
BELCHER, bel'sher, _n._ a neckerchief with dark-blue ground, mottled with
white spots, each having a dark-blue spot in the centre. [From Jim
_Belcher_, a famous English boxer.]
BELDAM, BELDAME, bel'dam, _n._ an old woman, esp. an ugly one: a hag, a
furious woman: (_obs._) a grandmother. [Formed from _dam_, mother, and
_bel-_, expressing relationship. Cf. _belsire_.]
BELEAGUER, be-l[=e]g'[.e]r, _v.t._ to lay siege to.--_n._ BELEAG'UERMENT.
[Dut. _belegeren_, to besiege--_be_, and _leger_, camp. See LEAGUER.]
BELEE, be-l[=e]', _v.t._ (_Shak._) to place on the lee-side of.
BELEMNITE, bel'em-n[=i]t, _n._ a fossil pointed like a dart, being the
internal shell of a genus of cephalopods, formerly known as _Thunder-bolt_,
_Thunder-stone_, _Elf-bolt_. [Gr. _belemnit[=e]s_--_belemnon_, a dart.]
BELFRY, bel'fri, _n._ the part of a steeple or tower in which bells are
hung: a bell-tower, sometimes standing apart: a movable wooden tower, used
in the Middle Ages in attacking a fortification.--_adj._ BEL'FRIED, having
a belfry. [Orig. and properly a watch-tower, from O. Fr. _berfroi_--Mid.
High Ger. _berchfrit_--_frid_, _frit_, a tower, _bergan_, to protect.]
BELGARD, bel-gärd', _n._ (_Spens._) fair or kind looks. [It. _bel guardo_,
lovely look.]
BELGIAN, bel'ji-an, _adj._ belonging to _Belgium_, a country of
Europe.--_n._ a native of Belgium.
BELGIC, bel'jik, _adj._ pertaining to the _Belgæ_ who anciently possessed
Belgium, or to _Belgium_. [L. _Belgicus_--_Belgæ_, the Belgians.]
BELGRAVIAN, bel-gr[=a]'vi-an, _adj._ belonging to _Belgravia_ (a
fashionable part of London), or to fashionable life: aristocratic.
BELIAL, b[=e]l'yal, _n._ a name for the devil, and, in Milton, for one of
the fallen angels. Not a proper name in Old Test. [Heb. _b'li-ya`al_,
_b'li_, without _ya`al_, usefulness.]
BELIE, be-l[=i]', _v.t._ to give the lie to: to speak falsely of: to
present in a false character: to counterfeit: to be false to: falsify:
(_Shak._) to fill with lies:--_pr.p._ bely'ing; _pa.p._ bel[=i]ed'. [A.S.
_be_, and LIE.]
BELIEVE, be-l[=e]v', _v.t._ to regard as true: to trust in.--_v.i._ to be
firmly persuaded of anything: to exercise faith (with _in_, _on_): to think
or suppose.--_n._ BELIEF', persuasion of the truth of anything: faith: the
opinion or doctrine believed: intuition, natural judgment (as used by some
philosophers).--_adjs._ BELIEF'LESS; BELIEV'ABLE, that may be
believed.--_n._ BELIEV'ER, one who believes: a professor of
Christianity.--_p.adj._ BELIEV'ING, trustful.--_adv._ BELIEV'INGLY.--THE
BELIEF (_arch._), the Apostles' Creed.--TO MAKE BELIEVE, to pretend. [M. E.
_bileven_--_bi-_, _be-_, and _leven_. Murray says that _believe_ is an
erroneous spelling of the 17th century, prob. after _relieve_. The A.S.
form _geléfan_ survived to the 14th century; the present compound, which
superseded it, appears in the 12th century.]