Webster's Unabridged Dictionary - Letter B - Page 46

Birdcall (n.) An instrument of any kind, as a whistle, used in making the sound of a birdcall.

Birdcatcher (n.) One whose employment it is to catch birds; a fowler.

Birdcatching (n.) The art, act, or occupation or catching birds or wild fowls.

Bird cherry () A shrub (Prunus Padus ) found in Northern and Central Europe. It bears small black cherries.

Birder (n.) A birdcatcher.

Bird-eyed (a.) Quick-sighted; catching a glance as one goes.

Bird fancier () One who takes pleasure in rearing or collecting rare or curious birds.

Bird fancier () One who has for sale the various kinds of birds which are kept in cages.

Birdie (n.) A pretty or dear little bird; -- a pet name.

Birdikin (n.) A young bird.

Birding (n.) Birdcatching or fowling.

Birdlet (n.) A little bird; a nestling.

Birdlike (a.) Resembling a bird.

Birdlime (n.) An extremely adhesive viscid substance, usually made of the middle bark of the holly, by boiling, fermenting, and cleansing it. When a twig is smeared with this substance it will hold small birds which may light upon it. Hence: Anything which insnares.

Birdlime (v. t.) To smear with birdlime; to catch with birdlime; to insnare.

Birdling (n.) A little bird; a nestling.

Birdman (n.) A fowler or birdcatcher.

Bird of paradise () The name of several very beautiful birds of the genus Paradisea and allied genera, inhabiting New Guinea and the adjacent islands. The males have brilliant colors, elegant plumes, and often remarkable tail feathers.

Bird pepper () A species of capsicum (Capsicum baccatum), whose small, conical, coral-red fruit is among the most piquant of all red peppers.

Bird's-beak (n.) A molding whose section is thought to resemble a beak.

Birdseed (n.) Canary seed, hemp, millet or other small seeds used for feeding caged birds.

Bird's-eye (a.) Seen from above, as if by a flying bird; embraced at a glance; hence, general; not minute, or entering into details; as, a bird's-eye view.

Bird's-eye (a.) Marked with spots resembling bird's eyes; as, bird's-eye diaper; bird's-eye maple.

Bird's-eye (n.) A plant with a small bright flower, as the Adonis or pheasant's eye, the mealy primrose (Primula farinosa), and species of Veronica, Geranium, etc.

Bird's-eye maple () See under Maple.

Bird's-foot (n.) A papilionaceous plant, the Ornithopus, having a curved, cylindrical pod tipped with a short, clawlike point.

Bird's-mouth (n.) An interior angle or notch cut across a piece of timber, for the reception of the edge of another, as that in a rafter to be laid on a plate; -- commonly called crow's-foot in the United States.

Bird's nest (n.) Alt. of Bird's-nest

Bird's-nest (n.) The nest in which a bird lays eggs and hatches her young.

Bird's-nest (n.) The nest of a small swallow (Collocalia nidifica and several allied species), of China and the neighboring countries, which is mixed with soups.

Bird's-nest (n.) An orchideous plant with matted roots, of the genus Neottia (N. nidus-avis.)

Bird's-nesting (n.) Hunting for, or taking, birds' nests or their contents.

Bird's-tongue (n.) The knotgrass (Polygonum aviculare).

Bird-witted (a.) Flighty; passing rapidly from one subject to another; not having the faculty of attention.

Birectangular (a.) Containing or having two right angles; as, a birectangular spherical triangle.

Bireme (n.) An ancient galley or vessel with two banks or tiers of oars.

Biretta (n.) Same as Berretta.

Birgander (n.) See Bergander.

Birk (n.) A birch tree.

Birk (n.) A small European minnow (Leuciscus phoxinus).

Birken (v. t.) To whip with a birch or rod.

Birken (a.) Birchen; as, birken groves.

Birkie (n.) A lively or mettlesome fellow.

Birl (v. t. & i.) To revolve or cause to revolve; to spin.

Birl (v. t. & i.) To pour (beer or wine); to ply with drink; to drink; to carouse.

Birlaw (n.) A law made by husbandmen respecting rural affairs; a rustic or local law or by-law.

Birostrate (a.) Alt. of Birostrated

Birostrated (a.) Having a double beak, or two processes resembling beaks.

Birred (imp. & p. p.) of Birr

Birring (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Birr

Birr (v. i.) To make, or move with, a whirring noise, as of wheels in motion.

Birr (n.) A whirring sound, as of a spinning wheel.

Birr (n.) A rush or impetus; force.

Birrus (n.) A coarse kind of thick woolen cloth, worn by the poor in the Middle Ages; also, a woolen cap or hood worn over the shoulders or over the head.

Birse (n.) A bristle or bristles.

Birt (n.) A fish of the turbot kind; the brill.

Birth (n.) The act or fact of coming into life, or of being born; -- generally applied to human beings; as, the birth of a son.

Birth (n.) Lineage; extraction; descent; sometimes, high birth; noble extraction.

Birth (n.) The condition to which a person is born; natural state or position; inherited disposition or tendency.

Birth (n.) The act of bringing forth; as, she had two children at a birth.

Birth (n.) That which is born; that which is produced, whether animal or vegetable.

Birth (n.) Origin; beginning; as, the birth of an empire.

Birth (n.) See Berth.

Birthday (n.) The day in which any person is born; day of origin or commencement.

Birthday (n.) The day of the month in which a person was born, in whatever succeeding year it may recur; the anniversary of one's birth.

Birthday (a.) Of or pertaining to the day of birth, or its anniversary; as, birthday gifts or festivities.

Birthdom (n.) The land of one's birth; one's inheritance.

Birthing (n.) Anything added to raise the sides of a ship.

Birthless (a.) Of mean extraction.

Birthmark (n.) Some peculiar mark or blemish on the body at birth.

Birthnight (n.) The night in which a person is born; the anniversary of that night in succeeding years.

Birthplace (n.) The town, city, or country, where a person is born; place of origin or birth, in its more general sense.

Birthright (n.) Any right, privilege, or possession to which a person is entitled by birth, such as an estate descendible by law to an heir, or civil liberty under a free constitution; esp. the rights or inheritance of the first born.

Birthroot (n.) An herbaceous plant (Trillium erectum), and its astringent rootstock, which is said to have medicinal properties.

Birthwort (n.) A genus of herbs and shrubs (Aristolochia), reputed to have medicinal properties.

Bis (adv.) Twice; -- a word showing that something is, or is to be, repeated; as a passage of music, or an item in accounts.

Bis- (pref.) A form of Bi-, sometimes used before s, c, or a vowel.

Bisa antelope () See Oryx.

Bisaccate (a.) Having two little bags, sacs, or pouches.

Biscayan (a.) Of or pertaining to Biscay in Spain.

Biscayan (n.) A native or inhabitant of Biscay.

Biscotin (n.) A confection made of flour, sugar, marmalade, and eggs; a sweet biscuit.

Biscuit (n.) A kind of unraised bread, of many varieties, plain, sweet, or fancy, formed into flat cakes, and bakes hard; as, ship biscuit.

Biscuit (n.) A small loaf or cake of bread, raised and shortened, or made light with soda or baking powder. Usually a number are baked in the same pan, forming a sheet or card.

Biscuit (n.) Earthen ware or porcelain which has undergone the first baking, before it is subjected to the glazing.

Biscuit (n.) A species of white, unglazed porcelain, in which vases, figures, and groups are formed in miniature.

Biscutate (a.) Resembling two bucklers placed side by side.

Bise (n.) A cold north wind which prevails on the northern coasts of the Mediterranean and in Switzerland, etc.; -- nearly the same as the mistral.

Bise (n.) See Bice.

Bisected (imp. & p. p.) of Bisect

Bisecting (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Bisect

Bisect (v. t.) To cut or divide into two parts.

Bisect (v. t.) To divide into two equal parts.

Bisection (n.) Division into two parts, esp. two equal parts.

Bisector (n.) One who, or that which, bisects; esp. (Geom.) a straight line which bisects an angle.

Bisectrix (n.) The line bisecting the angle between the optic axes of a biaxial crystal.

Bisegment (n.) One of tow equal parts of a line, or other magnitude.

Biseptate (a.) With two partitions or septa.

Biserial (a.) Alt. of Biseriate

Biseriate (a.) In two rows or series.

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