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Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary - Contents
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    BUCANEER — BULL-FEAST

    BUCANEER, BUCANIER, n. Primarily, a buccaneer is said to one who dries and smokes flesh or fish after the manner of the Indians. The name was first given to the French settlers in Haiti or Hispaniola, whose business was to hunt wild cattle and swine. It was afterwards applied to the piratical adventurers, English and French, who combined to make depredations on the Spaniards in America.

    BUCAO, n. A species of owl, in the Philippine isles, of a beautiful plumage, and size of a peacock, but remarkable for a hideous nocturnal scream.

    BUCCAL, a. [L. bucca, the cheek.] Pertaining to the cheek. The buccal glands are the small glands of the mouth, under the cheek, which secrete saliva.

    BUCCELLATION, n. [L. buccella, buccea, a mouthful.]

    The act of breaking into large pieces.NWAD BUCCELLATION.2

    BUCCINITE, n. Fossil remains or petrifactions of the shells called buccinum.

    BUCENTAUR, n. The state barge of Venice.

    BUCEPHALUS, n. An animal of the gazelle tribe, of the size of a hind.

    BUCEROS, n. The hornbill or Indian raven; a genus of birds, common in the East Indies.

    BUCHOLZITE, n. A newly discovered mineral, whose colors are white and black, appearing in spots.

    BUCK, n. Lye in which clothes are soaked in the operation of bleaching; the liquor in which clothes are washed.

    1. The cloth or clothes soaked or washed in lye.NWAD BUCK.2

    BUCK, v.t. [L. imbuo, for imbuco or imbugo, to steep, tinge, imbue.] To soak or steep in lye, a process in bleaching; to wash or steep in lye or suds.

    BUCK, n. The male of the fallow deer, of the goat, the sheep, the rabbit and hare. It is applied only to the smaller quadrupeds.

    BUCK, v.i. To copulate as bucks and does.

    BUCK-BASKET, n. [buck and basket.] A basket in which clothes are carried to the wash.

    BUCKBEAN, n. This is properly bogbean, which see.

    BUCKED, pp. Soaked in lye.

    BUCKET, n.

    1. The vessel in which water is drawn out of a well; it is nearly in the form of a pail.NWAD BUCKET.2

    2. A vessel or pail used at sea to draw water up at the side of a ship, for washing the decks, etc.NWAD BUCKET.3

    3. A vessel made of leather, nearly in the form of a pail, but narrower and deeper, used to convey water by hand for extinguishing fires.NWAD BUCKET.4

    BUCKING, ppr. Soaking in lye, in the process of bleaching; washing.

    BUCKING, n. The act or process of soaking cloth in lye for bleaching; also, the lye or liquor; a washing.

    BUCKING-STOOL, n. A washing block.

    BUCKLE, n.

    1. An instrument made of some kind of metal, for fastening together certain parts of dress, as the straps and bands, as in a harness. The forms are various, but it consists of a ring or rim with a chape and tongue.NWAD BUCKLE.2

    2. A curl, or a state of being curled or crisped, as hair.NWAD BUCKLE.3

    3. In coats of arms, a token of the surety, faith and service of the bearer.NWAD BUCKLE.4

    BUCKLE, v.t. To fasten with a buckle, or buckles.

    1. To prepare for action; a metaphor, taken from buckling on armor.NWAD BUCKLE.6

    2. To join in battle.NWAD BUCKLE.7

    3. To confine or limitNWAD BUCKLE.8

    A span buckles in his sum of age.NWAD BUCKLE.9

    BUCKLE, v.i. To bend; to bow; as, to buckle under life.

    To buckle to, to bend to; to apply with vigor; to engage with zeal.NWAD BUCKLE.11

    To buckle in, to close in; to embrace or seize the body, as in a scuffle; a popular use in America.NWAD BUCKLE.12

    To buckle with, to encounter with embrace; to join in close combat.NWAD BUCKLE.13

    BUCKLER, n. A kind of shield, or piece of defensive armor, anciently used in war. It was composed of wood, or wickers woven together, covered with skin or leather, fortified with plates of brass or other metal, and worn on the left arm. On the middle was an umbo, boss or prominence, very useful in causing stones and darts to glance off. The buckler often was four feet long, and covered the whole body.

    BUCKLER, v.t. To support; to defend. [Not used.]

    BUCKLER-THORN, n. Christ’s thorn.

    BUCKMAST, n. [buck, that is, beach, and mast.] The mast or fruit of the beach tree.

    BUCKRAM, n. A coarse linen cloth, stiffened with glue, used in garments to keep them in the form intended, and for wrappers to cover cloths, and other merchandize.

    BUCKRAM, a. Stiff; precise.

    BUCKRAMS, n. The same as wild garlic.

    BUCKSHORN, n. [buck and horn.] A plant, a species of Plantago, or plantain, called coronopus.

    The warted buckshorn is a species of Cochlearia, or scurvy grass.NWAD BUCKSHORN.2

    BUCKSKIN, n. The skin of a buck. As an adjective, made of leather prepared from the skin of a buck.

    BUCKSTALL, n. [buck and stall.] A toil or net to take deer.

    BUCKTHORN, n. [buck and thorn.] A genus of plants, called Rhamnus, of many species. The common purging buck-thorn grows to the height of 12 or 14 feet, and bears a black berry, which, when green, is used to dye yellow, and when ripe, green. The bark also dyes yellow. The sea buck-thorn is a genus of plants, called Hippophae.

    BUCKWHEAT, n. A plant and a species of grain; called also brank. It belongs to the genus polygonum, or knot-grass. It is cultivated as food for beasts, and the flour is much used in America for breakfast cakes.

    BUCOLIC, a. [Gr. a herdsman; pastoral; L. buculus, an ox; bucolicus, pertaining to cattle, pastoral.]

    Pastoral; relating to country affairs and to a shepherd’s life and occupation.NWAD BUCOLIC.2

    BUCOLIC, n. A pastoral poem, representing rural affairs, and the life, manners and occupation of shepherds; as the bucolics of Theocritus and Virgil.

    1. A writer of pastorals.NWAD BUCOLIC.4

    BUD, n. [Gr. to plant or beget.] A gem; the shoot of a plant; a small protuberance on the stem or branches of a plant, containing the rudiments of future leaves or a flower. It is called by botanists the hybernacle, the winter lodge or receptacle of the leaves or flowers of plants, and is an epitome of a flower, or of a shoot, which is to be unfolded the succeeding summer. It is covered with scales, which are intended to defend the inclosed rudiments from cold and other external injuries. They are of three kinds; that containing the flower; that containing the leaves; and that containing both flower and leaves.

    BUD, v.i. To put forth or produce buds or gems. Job 14:9.

    1. To put forth shoots; to grow as a bud into a flower or shoot.NWAD BUD.3

    2. To begin to grow, or to issue from a stock in the manner of a bud, as a horn.NWAD BUD.4

    3. To be in bloom, or growing like a young plant.NWAD BUD.5

    BUD, v.t. To inoculate a plant; to insert the bud of a plant under the bark of another tree, for the purpose of raising, upon any stock, a species of fruit different from that of the stock.

    BUDDED, pp. Put forth in buds; inoculated.

    BUDDHISM, n. The doctrines of the Buddhists in Asia.

    BUDDING, ppr. Putting forth buds; inoculating.

    BUDDLE, n. In mining, a large square frame of board, used in washing tin ore.

    BUDDLE, v.i. Among miners, to wash ore.

    BUDGE, v.t. To move off; to stir; to wag. In America, wag is much used as equivalent to budge; but the use of both words is vulgar.

    BUDGE, n. The dressed skin or fur of lambs.

    BUDGE, a. Brisk; jocund.

    1. Surly; stiff; formal.NWAD BUDGE.4

    BUDGE-BACHELORS, a company of men clothed in long gowns lined with lamb’s fur, who accompany the Lord Mayor of London at his inauguration.

    BUDGE-BARREL, n. A small barrel with only one head; on the other end, a piece of leather is nailed, which is drawn together upon strings like a purse. It is used for carrying powder, with a gun or mortar.

    BUDGENESS, n. Sternness; severity. [Not used.]

    BUDGER, n. One who moves or stirs from his place.

    BUDGET, n.

    1. A bag; a little sack, with its contents. Hence, a stock or store; as a budget of inventions.NWAD BUDGET.2

    2. The papers respecting the finances of the British nation.NWAD BUDGET.3

    To open the budget, to lay before a legislative body the papers of the Executive Government.NWAD BUDGET.4

    BUDGY, a. Consisting of fur. [Not used.]

    BUDLET, n. [from bud.] A little bud springing from a parent bud.

    We have a criterion to distinguish one bud from another, or the parent bud from the numerous budlets which are its offspring.NWAD BUDLET.2

    BUFF, n. [contracted from buffalo, or buffskin.]

    1. Buffskin; a sort of leather, prepared from the skin of the buffalo, dressed with oil, like shammy. It is used for making bandoliers, belts, pouches, gloves and other articles. The skins of oxen, elks and other animals, dressed in like manner, are also called buffs.NWAD BUFF.2

    2. A military coat made of buff-skin or similar leather.NWAD BUFF.3

    3. The color of buff; a light yellow.NWAD BUFF.4

    4. A yellow viscid substance formed on the surface of blood drawn in inflammatory diseases.NWAD BUFF.5

    BUFF, v.t. To strike. [See Buffet.]

    BUFFALO, n. [L. bubalus.] The Bubalus, a species of the bovine genus, originally from India, but now found in most of the warmer countries of the Eastern Continent. It is larger and less docile than the common ox, and is fond of marshy places and rivers. The name is also applied to wild oxen in general, and particularly to the Bison of North America. [See Bison.]

    BUFFEL, n. Buffel’s head duck, anas bucephala, a bird with a short blue bill, and a head whose apparent size is greatly increased by the fullness of its feathers, found in winter in the rivers of Carolina.

    BUFFET, n. A cupboard, or set of shelves, for plates, glass, china and other like furniture. It was formerly and is still in some parts of the country, an apartment erected on one side of a room; but in more fashionable houses, it has been laid aside, and a side board substituted, which is now considered as the buffet. But as far as my knowledge extends, the name has become, in a great measure, obsolete, except among the common people, by whom it is pronounced bofat.

    BUFFET, n. A blow with the fist; a box on the ear or face; a slap.

    BUFFET, v.t. To strike with the hand or fist; to box; to beat.

    They spit in his face and buffetted him. Matthew 26:67.NWAD BUFFET.4

    1. To beat in contention; to contend against; as, to buffet the billows.NWAD BUFFET.5

    BUFFET, v.i. To exercise or play at boxing.

    BUFFETED, pp. Struck; beaten. 1 Corinthians 4:11; 1 Peter 2:20.

    BUFFETER, n. One who buffets; a boxer.

    BUFFETING, ppr. Striking with the hand; boxing; contending against.

    BUFFETING, n. A striking with the hand.

    1. Contention; attack; opposition.NWAD BUFFETING.3

    He seems to have been a plant of slow growth, but formed for duration, and fitted to endure the buffetings of the rudest storm.NWAD BUFFETING.4

    BUFFIN, n. A sort of coarse stuff; as, buffin gowns.

    BUFFLE, n. The buffalo.

    BUFFLE, v.i. To puzzle; to be at a loss.

    This is probably the same word as baffle.NWAD BUFFLE.3

    BUFFLE-HEAD, n. [buffle and head.] One who has a large head.

    BUFFLE-HEADED, a. Having a large head, like a buffalo; dull; stupid; foolish.

    BUFFON, n. The Numidian crane, an African fowl.

    BUFFOON, n.

    1. A man who makes a practice of amusing others by low tricks, antic gestures and posture, jokes and other vulgar pleasantries. A droll; a mimic.NWAD BUFFOON.2

    2. He that uses indecent raillery.NWAD BUFFOON.3

    BUFFOON, v.t. To make ridiculous.

    BUFFOONERY, n. The arts and practices of a buffoon; low jests; ridiculous pranks; vulgar tricks and postures.

    Dryden has placed the accent improperly on the first syllable.NWAD BUFFOONERY.2

    BUFFOONING, n. Buffoonery.

    BUFFOONISH, a. Like a buffoon; consisting in low jests or gesture.

    BUFFOONISM, n. The practices of a buffoon.

    BUFFOON-LIKE, a. Resembling a buffoon.

    BUFFOONLY, a. Consisting of low vulgar tricks. [Little used.]

    BUFONITE, n. [L. bufo, a toad.] Toadstone, or fossil-teeth of the anarrhicas or sea-wolf, formerly much esteemed for its imaginary virtues and worn in rings. It was named from an opinion that it was found in the head of a toad.

    BUG, n. In common language, the name of a vast multitude of insects, which infest houses and plants. In zoology, this word is applied to the insects arranged under the genus Cimex, of which several hundred species are described. Bugs belong to the order of hemipters. They are furnished with a rostrum or beak, with antennae longer than the thorax, and the winds are folded together crosswise. The back is flat, the throat margined, and the feet are formed for running. Some species have no wings. The house-bug, or bed-bug, is a troublesome and disgusting insect.

    BUG, BUGBEAR, n. A frightful object; a walking specter; any thing imaginary that is considered as frightful.

    BUGBEAR, v.t. To alarm or frighten with idle phantoms.

    BUGEE, n. A species of monkey found in India, of a beaver color.

    BUGELUGEY, n. A large species of lizard, four feet long.

    BUGGER, n. One guilty of the crime against nature. A vile wretch; a term of reproach.

    BUGGERY, n. The unnatural and detestable crime of carnal intercourse of man or woman with a beast; or of human beings unnaturally with each other.

    BUGGINESS, n. [from buggy.] The state of being infected with bugs.

    BUGGY, a. [from bug.] Abounding with bugs.

    BUGLE, BUGLE-HORN, n. A hunting horn.

    1. A military instrument of music.NWAD BUGLE.2

    BUGLE, n. A shining bead of black glass.

    BUGLE, n. [L. bugula, or bugillo.] A genus of plants, Ajuga, of several species.

    BUGLE, n. [L. buculus, an ox.] A sort of wild ox.

    BUGLE-WEED, n. A plant, the lycopus virginicus, valued as a remedy for haemoptysis, or spitting of blood.

    BUGLOSS, n. [L. buglossus; Gr. an ox, and tongue.]

    A genus of plants, called alkanet; in botany, anchusa.NWAD BUGLOSS.2

    The small wild bugloss, is the Asperugo.NWAD BUGLOSS.3

    The viper’s bugloss, is the Echium.NWAD BUGLOSS.4

    BUGWORT, n. A plant, the Cimicifuga.

    BUHRSTONE, n. A subspecies of silex or quartz, occurring in amorphous masses, partly compact, but containing many irregular cavities. It is used for mill-stones.

    This word is often written burr-stone.NWAD BUHRSTONE.2

    BUILD, BILD, v.t. bild; pret. built; pp. built, pronounced bilt. The regular pret. and pp. builded, is sometimes used.

    1. To frame, construct, and raise, as an edifice or fabric of almost any kind, as a house, barn, shop, ship or vessel, a wall, or other structure of art; to unite materials into a regular structure for use or convenience.NWAD BUILD.2

    2. To raise by art; to frame or shape into a particular form; as, to build up a head dress in a cone.NWAD BUILD.3

    3. To raise any thing on a support or foundation; as, to build our hopes on air.NWAD BUILD.4

    4. In scripture, to increase and strengthen; to cement and knit together; to settle or establish and preserve. Acts 20:32; Ephesians 2:22; 1 Samuel 2:35.NWAD BUILD.5

    BUILD, v.i. bild. To exercise the art, or practice the business of building.

    To build, to plant, whatever you intend.NWAD BUILD.7

    1. To construct, rest or depend on as a foundation; as, to build on the opinions of others.NWAD BUILD.8

    BUILDER, n. bild’er. One who builds; one whose occupation is to build; an architect, a ship-wright, a mason, etc.

    1. A creator.NWAD BUILDER.2

    Whose builder and maker is God. Hebrews 11:10.NWAD BUILDER.3

    BUILDING, ppr. bild’ing. Framing and erecting; resting on.

    BUILDING, n. bild’ing. A fabric or edifice constructed for use or convenience, as a house, a church, a shop, etc.

    BUILT, pp. bilt. Framed and raised; constructed.

    BUILT, n. bilt. Form; shape; general figure of a structure; as the built of a ship.

    1. Species of building.NWAD BUILT.3

    BUL, n. The common flounder.

    BULB, n. [L. bulbus, a bulb or round root.] A round body, applied to many objects. But in botany, it is appropriately a bud formed under ground, upon or near the roots of certain herbaceous plants, which are hence called bulbous plants, as the tulip, onion and lily. The bulb under ground is what the bud is upon the stem or branches, a hybernacle or winter receptacle of a future plant, containing the plant in embryo, covered with a bark or rind, generally consisting of scales placed over each other, to defend the tender rudiments of the plant from cold and other external injuries. A bulb is scaly in the lily, solid in the tulip, coated in the onion, and jointed in the tuberous moschatel.

    BULB, v.i. To bulb out is to project or be protuberant. [Little used.]

    BULBACEOUS, a. Bulbous. [I believe, not used.]

    BULBED, a. Round headed.

    BULBIFEROUS, a. Producing bulbs; as bulbiferous stems.

    BULBOUS, a. Containing bulbs or a bulb; growing from bulbs; round or roundish.

    1. Containing a knob, or protuberant part; swelling out; presenting rounded elevations.NWAD BULBOUS.2

    BULCHIN, n. A young male calf.

    BULGE, n. A different orthography of bilge. The bilge or protuberant part of a cask; protuberance.

    BULGE, v.i. To swell out; to be protuberant.

    1. To bilge as a ship. [See Bilge.]NWAD BULGE.3

    BULGING, ppr. or a. Swelling out; bilging. As an adjective, protuberant.

    BULIMY, n. [Gr. great, and hunger.] A voracious appetite; a disease in which the patient has a perpetual and insatiable appetite for food, and often faints, if not indulged. It is attended with various symptoms; sometimes with heartburn; sometimes with vomiting or convulsion.

    BULK, n.

    1. Magnitude of material substance; whole dimensions; size of a thing; as an ox or a ship of great bulk.NWAD BULK.2

    2. The gross; the majority; the main mass or body; as the bulk of a debt; the bulk of a nation.NWAD BULK.3

    3. Main fabric.NWAD BULK.4

    4. The whole content of a ship’s hood for the stowage of goods.NWAD BULK.5

    5. A part of a building jutting out.NWAD BULK.6

    To break bulk, in seamen’s language, is to begin to unload.NWAD BULK.7

    Laden in bulk, having the cargo loose in the hold, or not inclosed in boxes, bales or casks.NWAD BULK.8

    BULK-HEAD, n. [bulk and head.] A partition in a ship made with boards, to form separate apartments.

    BULKINESS, n. Greatness in bulk, size or stature.

    BULKY, a. Large; of great dimensions; of great size.

    BULL, n.

    1. The male of the Bos, or bovine genus of quadrupeds, of which cow is the female.NWAD BULL.2

    2. In a scriptural sense, an enemy, powerful, fierce and violent.NWAD BULL.3

    Many bulls have compassed me. Psalms.NWAD BULL.4

    3. Taurus, one of the twelve signs of the zodiac.NWAD BULL.5

    BULL, n. [L. bulla, a boss, and an ornament worn on a child’s neck. This name was given to the seal which was appended to the edicts and briefs of the Pope, and in process of time, applied to the edict itself.]

    1. A letter, edict or rescript of the Pope, published or transmitted to the churches over which he is head, containing some decree, order or decision. It is used chiefly in matters of justice or of grace. If the former, the lead or seal is hung by a hempen cord; if the latter, by a silken thread. The lead or bull is impressed on one side with the heads of St. Peter and St. Paul; on the other with the name of the Pope and the year of his pontificate. The writing is in the old, round Gothic letter; and the instrument has about it a cross with some text of scripture, or religious motto.NWAD BULL.7

    The Golden Bull, so called from its golden seal, is an edict or imperial constitution, made by the Emperor Charles V., containing the fundamental law of the German Empire.NWAD BULL.8

    Leaden Bulls were sent by the Emperors of Constantinople to patriarchs and princes; and by the grandees of the Empire of France, Sicily, etc., and by patriarchs and bishops.NWAD BULL.9

    Waxen bulls were in frequent use with the Greek Emperors, who thus sealed letters to their relations.NWAD BULL.10

    1. A blunder or contradiction.NWAD BULL.11

    BULL, a prefix, signifies a bull, or large, or having a large head.

    BULL-BAITING, n. [bull and bait.] The practice of baiting or exciting bulls with dogs.

    BULL-BEEF, n. [bull and beef.] The flesh of a bull; coarse beef.

    BULL-BEGGAR, n. [bull and beggar.] Something terrible, or frightful.

    BULL-CALF, n. [bull and calf.] A male calf; a stupid fellow.

    BULL-DOG, n. [bull and dog.] A species of dog of a particular form and of remarkable courage; so named probably from being employed in baiting bulls, or from the size of the head.

    BULL’S-EYE, n. [bull and eye.] Among seamen, a piece of wood in the form of a ring, answering the purpose of a thimble.

    1. Aldebaran, a star of the first magnitude in the constellation Taurus.NWAD BULLS-EYE.2

    2. A small obscure cloud, ruddy in the middle, portending a great storm.NWAD BULLS-EYE.3

    BULL-FACED, a. Having a large face.

    BULL-FEAST, n. [See Bull-fight.]

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