Blabber
Blab´ber, n. A tattler; a telltale.

Black, a. [OE. blak, AS. blaec; akin to Icel. blakkr dark, swarthy, Sw. bläck ink, Dan. blaek, OHG. blach, LG. & D. blaken to burn with a black smoke. Not akin to AS. blac, E. bleak pallid. 98.]
1. Destitute of light, or incapable of reflecting it; of the color of soot or coal; of the darkest or a very dark color, the opposite of white; characterized by such a color; as black cloth; black hair or eyes.
"O night, with hue so black!" - Shak.
2. In a less literal sense: Enveloped or shrouded in darkness; very dark or gloomy; as a black night; the heavens black with clouds.
"I spy a black, suspicious, threatening cloud." - Shak.
3. Fig.: Dismal, gloomy, or forbidding, like darkness; destitute of moral light or goodness; atrociously wicked; cruel; mournful; calamitous; horrible. "This day’s black fate." "Black villainy." "Arise, black vengeance." "Black day." "Black despair." Shak.
4. Expressing menace, or discontent; threatening; sullen; foreboding; as to regard one with black looks. Black is often used in self-explaining compound words; as black-eyed, black-faced, black-haired, black- visaged. Black act, the English statute 9 George I, which makes it a felony to appear armed in any park or warren, etc., or to hunt or steal deer, etc., with the face blackened or disguised. Subsequent acts inflicting heavy penalties for malicious injuries to cattle and machinery have been called black acts. — Black angel (Zoöl.), a fish of the West Indies and Florida ( Holacanthus tricolor), with the head and tail yellow, and the middle of the body black. — Black antimony (Chem.), the black sulphide of antimony, Sb₂S₃, used in pyrotechnics, etc. — Black bear (Zoöl.), the common American bear ( Ursus Americanus). — Black beast. See Bête noire. — Black beetle (Zoöl.), the common large cockroach ( Blatta orientalis). — Black and blue, the dark color of a bruise in the flesh, which is accompanied with a mixture of blue. "To pinch the slatterns black and blue." Hudibras. — Black bonnet (Zoöl.), the black-headed bunting ( Embriza Schœniclus) of Europe. — Black canker, a disease in turnips and other crops, produced by a species of caterpillar. — Black cat (Zoöl.), the fisher, a quadruped of North America allied to the sable, but larger. See Fisher. — Black cattle, any bovine cattle reared for slaughter, in distinction from dairy cattle. [Eng.] — Black cherry. See under Cherry. — Black cockatoo (Zoöl.), the palm cockatoo. See Cockatoo. — Black copper. Same as Melaconite. — Black currant. (Bot.) See Currant. — Black diamond. (Min.) See Carbonado. — Black draught (Med.), a cathartic medicine, composed of senna and magnesia. — Black drop (Med.), vinegar of opium; a narcotic preparation consisting essentially of a solution of opium in vinegar. — Black earth, mold; earth of a dark color. Woodward. — Black flag, the flag of a pirate, often bearing in white a skull and crossbones; a signal of defiance. — Black flea (Zoöl.), a flea beetle ( Haltica nemorum) injurious to turnips. — Black flux, a mixture of carbonate of potash and charcoal, obtained by deflagrating tartar with half its weight of niter. Brande & C. — Black fly. (Zoöl.) (a) In the United States, a small, venomous, two-winged fly of the genus Simulium of several species, exceedingly abundant and troublesome in the northern forests. The larvae are aquatic. (b) A black plant louse, as the bean aphis ( A. fabae). — Black Forest [a translation of G. Schwarzwald], a forest in Baden and Würtemburg, in Germany; a part of the ancient Hercynian forest. — Black game, or Black grouse. (Zoöl.) See Blackcock, Grouse, and Heath grouse. — Black grass (Bot.), a grasslike rush of the species Juncus Gerardi, growing on salt marshes, and making good hay. — Black gum (Bot.), an American tree, the tupelo or pepperidge. See Tupelo. — Black Hamburg (grape) (Bot.), a sweet and juicy variety of dark purple or "black" grape. — Black horse (Zoöl.), a fish of the Mississippi valley ( Cycleptus elongatus), of the sucker family; the Missouri sucker. — Black lemur (Zoöl.), the Lemurniger of Madagascar; the acoumbo of the natives. — Black list, a list of persons who are for some reason thought deserving of censure or punishment; — esp. a list of persons stigmatized as insolvent or untrustworthy, made for the protection of tradesmen or employers. See Blacklist, v. t. — Black manganese (Chem.), the black oxide of manganese, MnO₂. — Black Maria, the close wagon in which prisoners are carried to or from jail. — Black martin (Zoöl.), the chimney swift. See Swift. — Black moss (Bot.), the common so-called long moss of the southern United States. See Tillandsia. — Black oak. See under Oak. — Black ocher. See Wad. — Black pigment, a very fine, light carbonaceous substance, or lampblack, prepared chiefly for the manufacture of printers’ ink. It is obtained by burning common coal tar. — Black plate, sheet iron before it is tinned. Knight. — Black quarter, malignant anthrax with engorgement of a shoulder or quarter, etc., as of an ox. — Black rat (Zoöl.), one of the species of rats ( Mus rattus), commonly infesting houses. — Black rent. See Blackmail, n. , 3. — Black rust, a disease of wheat, in which a black, moist matter is deposited in the fissures of the grain. — Black sheep, one in a family or company who is unlike the rest, and makes trouble. — Black silver. (Min.) See under Silver. — Black and tan, black mixed or spotted with tan color or reddish brown; — used in describing certain breeds of dogs. — Black tea. See under Tea. — Black tin (Mining), tin ore (cassiterite), when dressed, stamped and washed, ready for smelting. It is in the form of a black powder, like fine sand. Knight. — Black walnut. See under Walnut. — Black warrior (Zoöl.), an American hawk ( Buteo Harlani).
Syn. — Dark; murky; pitchy; inky; somber; dusky; gloomy; swart; Cimmerian; ebon; atrocious.

Black, adv. Sullenly; threateningly; maliciously; so as to produce blackness.

Black, n.
1. That which is destitute of light or whiteness; the darkest color, or rather a destitution of all color; as a cloth has a good black.
"Black is the badge of hell, The hue of dungeons, and the suit of night." - Shak.
2. A black pigment or dye.
3. A negro; a person whose skin is of a black color, or shaded with black; esp. a member or descendant of certain African races.
4. A black garment or dress; as she wears black; pl. (Obs.) Mourning garments of a black color; funereal drapery.
"Friends weeping, and blacks, and obsequies, and the like show death terrible." - Bacon.
"That was the full time they used to wear blacks for the death of their fathers." - Sir T. North.
5. The part of a thing which is distinguished from the rest by being black.
"The black or sight of the eye." - Sir K. Digby.
6. A stain; a spot; a smooch.
"Defiling her white lawn of chastity with ugly blacks of lust." - Rowley.
Black and white, writing or print; as I must have that statement in black and white. — Blue black, a pigment of a blue black color. — Ivory black, a fine kind of animal charcoal prepared by calcining ivory or bones. When ground it is the chief ingredient of the ink used in copperplate printing. — Berlin black. See under Berlin.

Black, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Blacked; p. pr. & vb. n. Blacking.] [See Black, a. , and cf. Blacken.]
1. To make black; to blacken; to soil; to sully.
"They have their teeth blacked, both men and women, for they say a dog hath his teeth white, therefore they will black theirs." - Hakluyt.
"Sins which black thy soul." - J. Fletcher.
2. To make black and shining, as boots or a stove, by applying blacking and then polishing with a brush.

Black bass
Black" bass . (Zoöl.)
1. An edible, fresh-water fish of the United States, of the genus Micropterus. the small-mouthed kind is M. dolomiei; the large-mouthed is M. salmoides.
2. The sea bass. See Blackfish, 3.

Black death
Black" death . A pestilence which ravaged Europe and Asia in the fourteenth century.

Black Flags. An organization composed originally of Chinese rebels that had been driven into Tonkin by the suppression of the Taiping rebellion, but later increased by bands of pirates and adventurers. It took a prominent part in fighting the French during their hostilities with Anam, 1873-85.

Black friar
Black" fri•ar . (Eccl.) A friar of the Dominican order; — called also predicant and preaching friar; in France, Jacobin. also sometimes, a Benedictine.

Black Friday. Any Friday on which a public disaster has occurred, as: In England, December 6, 1745, when the news of the landing of the Pretender reached London, or May 11, 1866, when a financial panic commenced. In the United States, September 24, 1869, and September 18, 1873, on which financial panics began.

Black Hamburg
Black Ham"burg A sweet and juicy variety of European grape, of a dark purplish black color, much grown under glass in northern latitudes.

Black Hand. [A trans. of Sp. mano negra.]
1. A Spanish anarchistic society, many of the members of which were imprisoned in 1883.
2. A lawless or blackmailing secret society, esp. among Italians. [U. S.]

Black hole
Black" hole . A dungeon or dark cell in a prison; a military lock-up or guardroom; — now commonly with allusion to the cell (the Black Hole) in a fort at Calcutta, into which 146 English prisoners were thrust by the nabob Suraja Dowla on the night of June 20, 17656, and in which 123 of the prisoners died before morning from lack of air.
"A discipline of unlimited autocracy, upheld by rods, and ferules, and the black hole." - H. Spencer.

Black lead
Black• lead" . Plumbago; graphite. It leaves a blackish mark somewhat like lead. See Graphite.

Black monk
Black" monk . A Benedictine monk.

Black pudding
Black" pud"ding . A kind of sausage made of blood, suet, etc., thickened with meal.
"And fat black puddings, — proper food, For warriors that delight in blood." - Hudibras.

Black Rod
Black" Rod . (a) the usher to the Chapter of the Garter, so called from the black rod which he carries. He is of the king’s chamber, and also usher to the House of Lords. [Eng.] (b) An usher in the legislature of British colonies. Cowell.
"Committed to the custody of the Black Rod." - Macaulay.

Black salts
Black" salts . Crude potash. De Colange.

Black Spanish. One of an old and well-known Mediterranean breed of domestic fowls with glossy black plumage, blue legs and feet, bright red comb and wattles, and white face. They are remarkable as egg layers.

Black vomit
Black" vom"it . (Med.) A copious vomiting of dark-colored matter; or the substance so discharged; — one of the most fatal symptoms in yellow fever. { Black" wash• or Black´wash }, n.
1. (Med.) A lotion made by mixing calomel and lime water.
2. A wash that blackens, as opposed to whitewash; hence, figuratively, calumny.
"To remove as far as he can the modern layers of black wash, and let the man himself, fair or foul, be seen." - C. Kingsley.

Blackamoor
Black´a•moor, n. [ Black + Moor.] A negro or negress. Shak.

Black-a-vised
Black´-a-vised, a. Dark-visaged; swart.

Blackball
Black´ball, n.
1. A composition for blacking shoes, boots, etc.; also one for taking impressions of engraved work.
2. A ball of black color, esp. one used as a negative in voting; — in this sense usually two words.

Blackball
Black´ball, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Blackballed ; p. pr. & vb. n. Blackballing.]
1. To vote against, by putting a black ball into a ballot box; to reject or exclude, as by voting against with black balls; to ostracize.
"He was blackballed at two clubs in succession." - Thackeray.
2. To blacken (leather, shoes, etc.) with blacking.

Blackberry
Black´ber•ry (blak"ber•ry), n. [OE. blakberye, AS. blaecberie; blaec black + berie berry.] The fruit of several species of bramble ( Rubus); also the plant itself. Rubus fruticosus is the blackberry of England; R. villosus and R. Canadensis are the high blackberry and low blackberry of the United States. There are also other kinds.

Blackbird
Black´bird (blak"berd), n. (Zoöl.) In England, a species of thrush ( Turdus merula), a singing bird with a fin note; the merle. In America the name is given to several birds, as the Quiscalus versicolor, or crow blackbird; the Agelaeus phœniceus, or red-winged blackbird; the cowbird; the rusty grackle, etc. See Redwing.

Blackbird
Black´bird, n.
1. Among slavers and pirates, a negro or Polynesian. [Cant]
2. A native of any of the islands near Queensland; — called also Kanaka. [Australia]

Blackbirder
Black´bird•er, n. A slave ship; a slaver. [Colloq.] F. T. Bullen.

Blackbirding
Black´bird•ing, n.
1. The kidnaping of negroes or Polynesians to be sold as slaves.
2. The act or practice of collecting natives of the islands near Queensland for service on the Queensland sugar plantations. [Australia]

Blackboard
Black´board (-bord•), n. A broad board painted black, or any black surface on which writing, drawing, or the working of mathematical problems can be done with chalk or crayons. It is much used in schools.

Black-browed
Black´-browed (blak"broud•), a. Having black eyebrows. Hence: Gloomy; dismal; threatening; forbidding. Shak. Dryden.

Blackburnian warbler
Black•bur"ni•an war"bler . [Named from Mrs. Blackburn, an English lady.] (Zoöl.) A beautiful warbler of the United States ( Dendroica Blackburniae). The male is strongly marked with orange, yellow, and black on the head and neck, and has an orange-yellow breast.

Blackcap
Black´cap (-kap•), n.
1. (Zoöl.) (a) A small European song bird ( Sylvia atricapilla), with a black crown; the mock nightingale. (b) An American titmouse ( Parus atricapillus); the chickadee.
2. (Cookery) An apple roasted till black, to be served in a dish of boiled custard.
3. The black raspberry.

Blackcoat
Black´coat, n. A clergyman; — familiarly so called, as a soldier is sometimes called a redcoat or a bluecoat.

Blackcock
Black´cock, n. (Zoöl.) The male of the European black grouse ( Tetrao tetrix, Linn.); - - so called by sportsmen. The female is called gray hen. See Heath grouse.

Blackener
Black´en•er, n. One who blackens.

Black-eyed
Black´-eyed, a. Having black eyes. Dryden.

Black-eyed Susan
Black"-eyed• Su"san. (Bot.) (a) The coneflower, or yellow daisy ( Rudbeckia hirta). (b) The bladder ketmie.

Black-faced
Black´-faced, a. Having a black, dark, or gloomy face or aspect.

Blackfeet
Black´feet, n. pl. (Ethn.) A tribe of North American Indians formerly inhabiting the country from the upper Missouri River to the Saskatchewan, but now much reduced in numbers.

Blackfin
Black´fin, n. (Zoöl.) See Bluefin.

Blackfoot
Black´foot, a. Of or pertaining to the Blackfeet; as a Blackfoot Indian. — n. A Blackfoot Indian.

Blackguard
Black´guard, n. [ Black + guard.]
1. The scullions and lower menials of a court, or of a nobleman’s household, who, in a removal from one residence to another, had charge of the kitchen utensils, and being smutted by them, were jocularly called the "black guard"; also the servants and hangers-on of an army. [Obs.]
"A lousy slave, that … rode with the black guard in the duke’s carriage, ’mongst spits and dripping pans. Webster (1612)."
2. The criminals and vagrants or vagabonds of a town or community, collectively. [Obs.]
3. A person of stained or low character, esp. one who uses scurrilous language, or treats others with foul abuse; a scoundrel; a rough.
"A man whose manners and sentiments are decidedly below those of his class deserves to be called a blackguard." - Macaulay.
4. A vagrant; a bootblack; a gamin. [Obs.]

Blackguard
Black´guard, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Blackguarded; p. pr. & vb. n. Blackguarding.] To revile or abuse in scurrilous language. Southey.

Blackguard
Black´guard, a. Scurrilous; abusive; low; worthless; vicious; as blackguard language.

Blackguardism
Black´guard•ism, n. The conduct or language of a blackguard; ruffianism.

Blackguardly
Black´guard•ly, adv. & a. In the manner of or resembling a blackguard; abusive; scurrilous; ruffianly.

Blackhead
Black´head, n. (Zoöl.) The scaup duck.

Blackheart
Black´heart, n. A heart-shaped cherry with a very dark-colored skin.

Black-hearted
Black´-heart•ed, a. Having a wicked, malignant disposition; morally bad.

Blacking
Black´ing, n.
1. Any preparation for making things black; esp. one for giving a black luster to boots and shoes, or to stoves.
2. The act or process of making black.

Blackish
Black´ish, a. Somewhat black.

Black-jack
Black´-jack, n.
1. (Min.) A name given by English miners to sphalerite, or zinc blende; — called also false galena. See Blende.
2. Caramel or burnt sugar, used to color wines, spirits, ground coffee, etc.
3. A large leather vessel for beer, etc. [Obs.]
4. (Bot.) The Quercus nigra, or barren oak.
5. The ensign of a pirate.

Blackleg
Black´leg, n.
1. A notorious gambler. [Colloq.]
2. A disease among calves and sheep, characterized by a settling of gelatinous matter in the legs, and sometimes in the neck. [Eng.]

Black-letter
Black´-let•ter, a.
1. Written or printed in black letter; as a black-letter manuscript or book.
2. Given to the study of books in black letter; that is, of old books; out of date.
"Kemble, a black-letter man!" - J. Boaden.
3. Of or pertaining to the days in the calendar not marked with red letters as saints’ days. Hence: Unlucky; inauspicious.

Blacklist
Black´list, v. t. To put in a black list as deserving of suspicion, censure, or punishment; esp. to put in a list of persons stigmatized as insolvent or untrustworthy, — as tradesmen and employers do for mutual protection; as to blacklist a workman who has been discharged. See Black list, under Black, a.
"If you blacklist us, we will boycott you." - John Swinton.

Blackmail
Black´mail, n. [ Black + mail a piece of money.]
1. A certain rate of money, corn, cattle, or other thing, anciently paid, in the north of England and south of Scotland, to certain men who were allied to robbers, or moss troopers, to be by them protected from pillage. Sir W. Scott.
2. Payment of money exacted by means of intimidation; also extortion of money from a person by threats of public accusation, exposure, or censure.
3. (Eng. Law) Black rent, or rent paid in corn, flesh, or the lowest coin, a opposed to "white rent", which paid in silver. To levy blackmail, to extort money by threats, as of injury to one’s reputation.

Blackmail
Black´mail, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Blackmailed ; p. pr. & vb. n. Blackmailing.] To extort money from by exciting fears of injury other than bodily harm, as injury to reputation, distress of mind, etc.; as to blackmail a merchant by threatening to expose an alleged fraud. [U. S.]

Blackmailing
Black´mail•ing, n. The act or practice of extorting money by exciting fears of injury other than bodily harm, as injury to reputation.

Blackmoor
Black´moor, n. See Blackamoor.

Blackness
Black´ness, n. The quality or state of being black; black color; atrociousness or enormity in wickedness.
"They’re darker now than blackness." - Donne.

Blackpoll
Black´poll, n. [ Black + poll head.] (Zoöl.) A warbler of the United States ( Dendroica striata).

Blackroot
Black´root, n. (Bot.) See Colicroot.

Blacksmith
Black´smith, n. [ Black (in allusion to the color of the metal) + smith. Cf. Whitesmith.]
1. A smith who works in iron with a forge, and makes iron utensils, horseshoes, etc.
" The blacksmith may forge what he pleases." - Howell.
2. (Zoöl.) A fish of the Pacific coast ( Chromis, or Heliastes, punctipinnis), of a blackish color. { Black" snake• (snak) or Black´snake }, n. (Zoöl.) A snake of a black color, of which two species are common in the United States, the Bascanium constrictor, or racer, sometimes six feet long, and the Scotophis Alleghaniensis, seven or eight feet long. The name is also applied to various other black serpents, as Natrix atra of Jamaica.

Blacktail
Black´tail, n. [ Black + tail.]
1. (Zoöl.) A fish; the ruff or pope.
2. (Zoöl.) The black-tailed deer ( Cervus or Cariacus Columbianus) of California and Oregon; also the mule deer of the Rocky Mountains. See Mule deer.

Blackwater State
Black"wa•ter State. Nebraska; — a nickname alluding to the dark color of the water of its rivers, due to the presence of a black vegetable mold in the soil.

Blackwood
Black´wood, n. A name given to several dark-colored timbers. The East Indian black wood is from the tree Dalbergia latifolia. Balfour.

Blackwork
Black´work, n. Work wrought by blacksmiths; — so called in distinction from that wrought by whitesmiths. Knight.

Bladder
Blad´der, n. [OE. bladder, bleddre, AS. bldre, blddre; akin to Icel. blara, SW. bläddra, Dan. blaere, D. blaar, OHG. blatara the bladder in the body of animals, G. blatter blister, bustule; all fr. the same root as AS. blawan, E. blow, to puff. See Blow to puff.]
1. (Anat.) A bag or sac in animals, which serves as the receptacle of some fluid; as the urinary bladder; the gall bladder; — applied especially to the urinary bladder, either within the animal, or when taken out and inflated with air.
2. Any vesicle or blister, especially if filled with air, or a thin, watery fluid.
3. (Bot.) A distended, membranaceous pericarp.
4. Anything inflated, empty, or unsound. "To swim with bladders of philosophy." Rochester. Bladder nut, or Bladder tree (Bot.), a genus of plants ( Staphylea) with bladderlike seed pods. — Bladder pod (Bot.), a genus of low herbs ( Vesicaria) with inflated seed pods. — Bladdor senna (Bot.), a genus of shrubs ( Colutea), with membranaceous, inflated pods. — Bladder worm (Zoöl.), the larva of any species of tapeworm ( Taenia), found in the flesh or other parts of animals. See Measle, Cysticercus. — Bladder wrack (Bot.), the common black rock weed of the seacoast ( Fucus nodosus and F. vesiculosus) — called also bladder tangle. See Wrack.

Bladder
Blad´der, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Bladdered ; p. pr. & vb. n. Bladdering.]
1. To swell out like a bladder with air; to inflate. [Obs.] G. Fletcher.
2. To put up in bladders; as bladdered lard.

Blade (blad), n. [OE. blade, blad, AS. blaed leaf; akin to OS., D., Dan., & Sw. blad, Icel. blað, OHG. blat, G. blatt, and perh. to L. folium, Gr. fy•llon. The root is prob. the same as that of AS. blowan, E. blow, to blossom. See Blow to blossom, and cf. Foil leaf of metal.]
1. Properly, the leaf, or flat part of the leaf, of any plant, especially of gramineous plants. The term is sometimes applied to the spire of grasses.
"The crimson dulse … with its waving blade." - Percival.
"First the blade, then ear, after that the full corn in the ear." - Mark iv. 28.
2. The cutting part of an instrument; as the blade of a knife or a sword.
3. The broad part of an oar; also one of the projecting arms of a screw propeller.
4. The scapula or shoulder blade.
5. pl. (Arch.) The principal rafters of a roof. Weale.
6. pl. (Com.) The four large shell plates on the sides, and the five large ones of the middle, of the carapace of the sea turtle, which yield the best tortoise shell. De Colange.
7. A sharp-witted, dashing, wild, or reckless, fellow; — a word of somewhat indefinite meaning.
"He saw a turnkey in a trice Fetter a troublesome blade." - Coleridge.

Blade (blad), v. t. To furnish with a blade.

Blade, v. i. To put forth or have a blade.
"As sweet a plant, as fair a flower, is faded As ever in the Muses’ garden bladed." - P. Fletcher.

Blade, n. The flat part of the tongue immediately behind the tip, or point.
""Lower blade" implies, of course, the lower instead of the upper surface of the tongue." H. Sweet.

Bladebone
Blade´bone (-bon•), n. The scapula. See Blade, 4.

Bladefish
Blade´fish, n. (Zoöl.) A long, thin, marine fish of Europe ( Trichiurus lepturus); the ribbon fish.

Bladesmith
Blade´smith, n. A sword cutler. [Obs.]

Blady
Blad´y, a. Consisting of blades. [R.] "Blady grass." Drayton.

Blae, a. [See Blue.] Dark blue or bluish gray; lead-colored. [Scot.]

Blain (blan), n. [OE. blein, bleyn, AS. blegen; akin to Dan. blegn, D. blein; perh. fr. the same root as E. bladder. See Bladder.]
1. An inflammatory swelling or sore; a bulla, pustule, or blister.
"Blotches and blains must all his flesh emboss." - Milton.
2. (Far.) A bladder growing on the root of the tongue of a horse, against the windpipe, and stopping the breath.

Blame (blam), v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Blamed (blamd); p. pr. & vb. n. Blaming.] [OE. blamen, F. blâmer, OF. blasmer, fr. L. blasphemare to blaspheme, LL. also to blame, fr. Gr. blasfhmei^n to speak ill, to slander, to blaspheme, fr. bla•sfhmos evil speaking, perh, for blapsi•fhmos; bla•psis injury (fr. bla•ptein to injure) + fh•mh a saying, fr. fa•nai to say. Cf. Blaspheme, and see Fame.]
1. To censure; to express disapprobation of; to find fault with; to reproach.
"We have none to blame but ourselves." - Tillotson.
2. To bring reproach upon; to blemish. [Obs.]
" She … blamed her noble blood." - Spenser.
To blame, to be blamed, or deserving blame; in fault; as the conductor was to blame for the accident.
"You were to blame, I must be plain with you." - Shak.

Blame, n. [OE. blame, fr. F. blâme, OF. blasme, fr. blâmer, OF. blasmer, to blame. See Blame, v. ]
1. An expression of disapprobation fir something deemed to be wrong; imputation of fault; censure.
"Let me bear the blame forever." - Gen. xiiii. 9.
2. That which is deserving of censure or disapprobation; culpability; fault; crime; sin.
"Holy and without blame before him in love." - Eph. i. 4.
3. Hurt; injury. [Obs.] Spenser.
Syn. — Censure; reprehension; condemnation; reproach; fault; sin; crime; wrongdoing.

Blameless
Blame´less, a. Free from blame; without fault; innocent; guiltless; — sometimes followed by of.
"A bishop then must be blameless." - 1 Tim. iii. 2.
"Blameless still of arts that polish to deprave." - Mallet.
"We will be blameless of this thine oath." - Josh. ii. 17.
Syn. — Irreproachable; sinless; unblemished; inculpable. — Blameless, Spotless, Faultless, Stainless. We speak of a thing as blameless when it is free from blame, or the just imputation of fault; as a blameless life or character. The others are stronger. We speak of a thing as faultless, stainless, or spotless, only when we mean that it is absolutely without fault or blemish; as a spotless or stainless reputation; a faultless course of conduct. The last three words apply only to the general character, while blameless may be used in reverence to particular points; as in this transaction he was wholly blameless. We also apply faultless to personal appearance; as a faultless figure; which can not be done in respect to any of the other words.

Blamelessness
Blame´less•ness, n. The quality or state of being blameless; innocence.

Blamer
Blam´er, n. One who blames. Wyclif.

Blameworthy
Blame´wor•thy, a. Deserving blame; culpable; reprehensible. — Blame´wor•thi•ness, n.

Blanc, n. [F., white.]
1. A white cosmetic.
2. A white sauce of fat, broth, and vegetables, used esp. for braised meat.

Blancard
Blan´card, n. [F., fr. blanc white.] A kind of linen cloth made in Normandy, the thread of which is partly blanches before it is woven.

Blanch, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Blanched ; p. pr. & vb. n. Blanching.] [OE. blanchen, blaunchen, F. blanchir, fr. blanc white. See Blank, a. ]
1. To take the color out of, and make white; to bleach; as to blanch linen; age has blanched his hair.
2. (Gardening) To bleach by excluding the light, as the stalks or leaves of plants, by earthing them up or tying them together.
3. (Confectionery & Cookery) (a) To make white by removing the skin of, as by scalding; as to blanch almonds. (b) To whiten, as the surface of meat, by plunging into boiling water and afterwards into cold, so as to harden the surface and retain the juices.
4. To give a white luster to (silver, before stamping, in the process of coining.).
5. To cover (sheet iron) with a coating of tin.
6. Fig.: To whiten; to give a favorable appearance to; to whitewash; to palliate.
"Blanch over the blackest and most absurd things." - Tillotson.
Syn. — To Blanch, Whiten. To whiten is the generic term, denoting, to render white; as to whiten the walls of a room. Usually (though not of necessity) this is supposed to be done by placing some white coloring matter in or upon the surface of the object in question. To blanch is to whiten by the removal of coloring matter; as to blanch linen. So the cheek is blanched by fear, i. e., by the withdrawal of the blood, which leaves it white.

Blanch, v. i. To grow or become white; as his cheek blanched with fear; the rose blanches in the sun.
"[Bones] blanching on the grass." - Tennyson.

Blanch, v. t. [See Blench.]
1. To avoid, as from fear; to evade; to leave unnoticed. [Obs.]
"Ifs and ands to qualify the words of treason, whereby every man might express his malice and blanch his danger." - Bacon.
"I suppose you will not blanch Paris in your way." - Reliq. Wot.
2. To cause to turn aside or back; as to blanch a deer.

Blanch, v. i. To use evasion. [Obs.]
"Books will speak plain, when counselors blanch." - Bacon.

Blanch, n. (Mining) Ore, not in masses, but mixed with other minerals.

Blanch holding
Blanch" hold•ing . (Scots Law) A mode of tenure by the payment of a small duty in white rent (silver) or otherwise.

Blanchard lathe
Blan"chard lathe [After Thomas Blanchard, American inventor.] (Mach.) A kind of wood-turning lathe for making noncircular and irregular forms, as felloes, gun stocks, lasts, spokes, etc., after a given pattern. The pattern and work rotate on parallel spindles in the same direction with the same speed, and the work is shaped by a rapidly rotating cutter whose position is varied by the pattern acting as a cam upon a follower wheel traversing slowly along the pattern.

Blancher
Blanch´er, n. One who, or that which, blanches or whitens; esp., one who anneals and cleanses money; also a chemical preparation for this purpose.

Blancher
Blanch´er, n. One who, or that which, frightens away or turns aside. [Obs.]
"And Gynecia, a blancher, which kept the dearest deer from her." - Sir P. Sidney.
"And so even now hath he divers blanchers belonging to the market, to let and stop the light of the gospel." - Latimer.

Blanchimeter
Blanch•im´e•ter, n. [1st blanch + -meter.] An instrument for measuring the bleaching power of chloride of lime and potash; a chlorometer. Ure.

Blancmange
Blanc•mange´, n. [F. blancmanger, lit. white food; blanc white + manger to eat.] (Cookery) A preparation for desserts, etc., made from isinglass, sea moss, cornstarch, or other gelatinous or starchy substance, with mild, usually sweetened and flavored, and shaped in a mold.

Blancmanger
Blanc•man´ger, n. [F. See Blancmange.] A sort of fricassee with white sauce, variously made of capon, fish, etc. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Blandation
Blan•da´tion, n. [Cf. L. blanditia, blandities, fr. blandus. See Bland.] Flattery. [Obs.]

Blandise
Blan´dise, v. i. [Same word as Blandish.] To blandish any one. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Blandishment
Blan´dish•ment, n. [Cf. OF. blandissement.] The act of blandishing; a word or act expressive of affection or kindness, and tending to win the heart; soft words and artful caresses; cajolery; allurement.
"Cowering low with blandishment." - Milton.
"Attacked by royal smiles, by female blandishments." - Macaulay.

Blandly
Bland´ly, adv. In a bland manner; mildly; suavely.

Blandness
Bland´ness, n. The state or quality of being bland.

Blank, a. [OE. blank, blonc, blaunc, blaunche, fr. F. blanc, fem. blanche, fr. OHG. blanch shining, bright, white, G. blank; akin to E. blink, cf. also AS. blanc white. 98. See Blink, and cf. 1st Blanch.]
1. Of a white or pale color; without color.
"To the blank moon Her office they prescribed." - Milton.
2. Free from writing, printing, or marks; having an empty space to be filled in with some special writing; — said of checks, official documents, etc.; as blank paper; a blank check; a blank ballot.
3. Utterly confounded or discomfited.
"Adam … astonied stood, and blank." - Milton.
4. Empty; void; without result; fruitless; as a blank space; a blank day.
5. Lacking characteristics which give variety; as a blank desert; a blank wall; destitute of interests, affections, hopes, etc.; as to live a blank existence; destitute of sensations; as blank unconsciousness.
6. Lacking animation and intelligence, or their associated characteristics, as expression of face, look, etc.; expressionless; vacant. "Blank and horror-stricken faces." C. Kingsley.
"The blank … glance of a half returned consciousness." - G. Eliot.
7. Absolute; downright; unmixed; as blank terror. Blank bar (Law), a plea put in to oblige the plaintiff in an action of trespass to assign the certain place where the trespass was committed; — called also common bar. — Blank cartridge, a cartridge containing no ball. — Blank deed. See Deed. — Blank door, or Blank window (Arch.), a depression in a wall of the size of a door or window, either for symmetrical effect, or for the more convenient insertion of a door or window at a future time, should it be needed. — Blank indorsement (Law), an indorsement which omits the name of the person in whose favor it is made; it is usually made by simply writing the name of the indorser on the back of the bill. — Blank line (Print.), a vacant space of the breadth of a line, on a printed page; a line of quadrats. — Blank tire (Mech.), a tire without a flange. — Blank tooling. See Blind tooling, under Blind. — Blank verse. See under Verse. — Blank wall, a wall in which there is no opening; a dead wall.

Blank, n.
1. Any void space; a void space on paper, or in any written instrument; an interval void of consciousness, action, result, etc; a void.
"I can not write a paper full, I used to do; and yet I will not forgive a blank of half an inch from you." - Swift.
"From this time there ensues a long blank in the history of French legislation." - Hallam.
"I was ill. I can’t tell how long — it was a blank." - G. Eliot.
2. A lot by which nothing is gained; a ticket in a lottery on which no prize is indicated.
"In Fortune’s lottery lies A heap of blanks, like this, for one small prize." - Dryden.
3. A paper unwritten; a paper without marks or characters a blank ballot; — especially, a paper on which are to be inserted designated items of information, for which spaces are left vacant; a bland form.
"The freemen signified their approbation by an inscribed vote, and their dissent by a blank." - Palfrey.
4. A paper containing the substance of a legal instrument, as a deed, release, writ, or execution, with spaces left to be filled with names, date, descriptions, etc.
5. The point aimed at in a target, marked with a white spot; hence, the object to which anything is directed.
"Let me still remain The true blank of thine eye." - Shak.
6. Aim; shot; range. [Obs.]
"I have stood … within the blank of his displeasure For my free speech." - Shak.
7. A kind of base silver money, first coined in England by Henry V., and worth about 8 pence; also a French coin of the seventeenth century, worth about 4 pence. Nares.
8. (Mech.) A piece of metal prepared to be made into something by a further operation, as a coin, screw, nuts.
9. (Dominoes) A piece or division of a piece, without spots; as the "double blank"; the "six blank." In blank, with an essential portion to be supplied by another; as to make out a check in blank.

Blank, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Blanked ; p. pr. & vb. n. Blanking.] [Cf. 3d Blanch.]
1. To make void; to annul. [Obs.] Spenser.
2. To blanch; to make blank; to damp the spirits of; to dispirit or confuse. [Obs.]
"Each opposite that blanks the face of joy." - Shak.

Blanket stitch. A buttonhole stitch worked wide apart on the edge of material, as blankets, too thick to hem.

Blanketing
Blan´ket•ing, n.
1. Cloth for blankets.
2. The act or punishment of tossing in a blanket.
"That affair of the blanketing happened to thee for the fault thou wast guilty of." - Smollett.

Blankly
Blank´ly, adv.
1. In a blank manner; without expression; vacuously; as to stare blankly. G. Eliot.
2. Directly; flatly; point blank. De Quincey.

Blankness
Blank´ness, n. The state of being blank.

Blanquette
Blan•quette´, n. [F. blanquette, from blanc white.] (Cookery) A white fricassee.

Blanquillo
Blan•quil´lo, n. [Sp. blanquillo whitish.] (Zoöl.) A large fish of Florida and the W. Indies ( Caulolatilus chrysops). It is red, marked with yellow.

Blare, v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Blared ; p. pr. & vb. n. Blaring.] [OE. blaren, bloren, to cry, woop; cf. G. plärren to bleat, D. blaren to bleat, cry, weep. Prob. an imitative word, but cf. also E. blast. Cf. Blore.] To sound loudly and somewhat harshly. "The trumpet blared." Tennyson.

Blare, v. t. To cause to sound like the blare of a trumpet; to proclaim loudly.
"To blare its own interpretation." - Tennyson.

Blare, n. The harsh noise of a trumpet; a loud and somewhat harsh noise, like the blast of a trumpet; a roar or bellowing.
"With blare of bugle, clamor of men." - Tennyson.
"His ears are stunned with the thunder’s blare." - J. R. Drake.

Blarney
Blar´ney (blär"ny), n. [ Blarney, a village and castle near Cork.] Smooth, wheedling talk; flattery. [Colloq.] Blarney stone, a stone in Blarney castle, Ireland, said to make those who kiss it proficient in the use of blarney.

Blarney
Blar´ney, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Blarneyed (-nid); p. pr. & vb. n. Blarneying.] To influence by blarney; to wheedle with smooth talk; to make or accomplish by blarney. "Blarneyed the landlord." Irving.
"Had blarneyed his way from Long Island." - S. G. Goodrich.

Blaspheme
Blas•pheme´ (blas•fem"), v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Blasphemed (-femd"); p. pr. & vb. n. Blaspheming.] [OE. blasfemen, L. blasphemare, fr. Gr. blasfhmei^n: cf. F. blasphemer. See Blame, v. ]
1. To speak of, or address, with impious irreverence; to revile impiously (anything sacred); as to blaspheme the Holy Spirit.
"So Dagon shall be magnified, and God, Besides whom is no god, compared with idols, Disglorified, blasphemed, and had in scorn." - Milton.
"How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge thyself on all those who thus continually blaspheme thy great and all-glorious name?" - Dr. W. Beveridge.
2. Figuratively, of persons and things not religiously sacred, but held in high honor: To calumniate; to revile; to abuse.
"You do blaspheme the good in mocking me." - Shak.
"Those who from our labors heap their board, Blaspheme their feeder and forget their lord." - Pope.

Blaspheme
Blas•pheme´, v. i. To utter blasphemy.
"He that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness." - Mark iii. 29.

Blasphemer
Blas•phem´er, n. One who blasphemes.
"And each blasphemer quite escape the rod, Because the insult’s not on man, but God ?" - Pope.

Blasphemous
Blas´phe•mous, a. [L. blasphemus, Gr. .] Speaking or writing blasphemy; uttering or exhibiting anything impiously irreverent; profane; as a blasphemous person; containing blasphemy; as a blasphemous book; a blasphemous caricature. "Blasphemous publications." Porteus.
"Nor from the Holy One of Heaven Refrained his tongue blasphemous." - Milton.
Formerly this word was accented on the second syllable, as in the above example.

Blasphemously
Blas´phe•mous•ly, adv. In a blasphemous manner.

Blasphemy
Blas´phe•my, n. [L. blasphemia, Gr. : cf. OF. blasphemie.]
1. An indignity offered to God in words, writing, or signs; impiously irreverent words or signs addressed to, or used in reference to, God; speaking evil of God; also the act of claiming the attributes or prerogatives of deity. When used generally in statutes or at common law, blasphemy is the use of irreverent words or signs in reference to the Supreme Being in such a way as to produce scandal or provoke violence.
2. Figuratively, of things held in high honor: Calumny; abuse; vilification.
"Punished for his blasphemy against learning." - Bacon.

Blast (blast), n. [AS. blaest a puff of wind, a blowing; akin to Icel. blastr, OHG. blast, and fr. a verb akin to Icel. blasa to blow, OHG. blâsan, Goth. blesan (in comp.); all prob. from the same root as E. blow. See Blow to eject air.]
1. A violent gust of wind.
"And see where surly Winter passes off, Far to the north, and calls his ruffian blasts; His blasts obey, and quit the howling hill." - Thomson.
2. A forcible stream of air from an orifice, as from a bellows, the mouth, etc. Hence: The continuous blowing to which one charge of ore or metal is subjected in a furnace; as to melt so many tons of iron at a blast. The terms hot blast and cold blast are employed to designate whether the current is heated or not heated before entering the furnace. A blast furnace is said to be in blast while it is in operation, and out of blast when not in use.
3. The exhaust steam from and engine, driving a column of air out of a boiler chimney, and thus creating an intense draught through the fire; also any draught produced by the blast.
4. The sound made by blowing a wind instrument; strictly, the sound produces at one breath.
"One blast upon his bugle horn Were worth a thousand men." - Sir W. Scott.
"The blast of triumph o’er thy grave." - Bryant.
5. A sudden, pernicious effect, as if by a noxious wind, especially on animals and plants; a blight.
"By the blast of God they perish." - Job iv. 9.
"Virtue preserved from fell destruction’s blast." - Shak.
6. The act of rending, or attempting to rend, heavy masses of rock, earth, etc., by the explosion of gunpowder, dynamite, etc.; also the charge used for this purpose. "Large blasts are often used." Tomlinson.
7. A flatulent disease of sheep. Blast furnace, a furnace, usually a shaft furnace for smelting ores, into which air is forced by pressure. — Blast hole, a hole in the bottom of a pump stock through which water enters. — Blast nozzle, a fixed or variable orifice in the delivery end of a blast pipe; — called also blast orifice. — In full blast, in complete operation; in a state of great activity. See Blast, n. , 2. [Colloq.]

Blast, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Blasted; p. pr. & vb. n. Blasting.]
1. To injure, as by a noxious wind; to cause to wither; to stop or check the growth of, and prevent from fruit-bearing, by some pernicious influence; to blight; to shrivel.
"Seven thin ears, and blasted with the east wind." - Gen. xii. 6.
2. Hence, to affect with some sudden violence, plague, calamity, or blighting influence, which destroys or causes to fail; to visit with a curse; to curse; to ruin; as to blast pride, hopes, or character.
"I’ll cross it, though it blast me." - Shak.
"Blasted with excess of light." - T. Gray.
3. To confound by a loud blast or din.
"Trumpeters, With brazen din blast you the city’s ear." - Shak.
4. To rend open by any explosive agent, as gunpowder, dynamite, etc.; to shatter; as to blast rocks.

Blast, v. i.
1. To be blighted or withered; as the bud blasted in the blossom.
2. To blow; to blow on a trumpet. [Obs.]
"Toke his blake trumpe faste And gan to puffen and to blaste." - Chaucer.

Blast lamp. A lamp provided with some arrangement for intensifying combustion by means of a blast.

Blast pipe
Blast" pipe . The exhaust pipe of a steam engine, or any pipe delivering steam or air, when so constructed as to cause a blast.

Blasted
Blast´ed, a.
1. Blighted; withered.
"Upon this blasted heath." Shak.
2. Confounded; accursed; detestable.
"Some of her own blasted gypsies." - Sir W. Scott.
3. Rent open by an explosive.
"The blasted quarry thunders, heard remote." - Wordsworth.

Blastema
Blas•te´ma, n. ; pl. Blastemata . [Gr. bud, sprout.] (Biol.) The structureless, protoplasmic tissue of the embryo; the primitive basis of an organ yet unformed, from which it grows.

Blastemal
Blas•te´mal, a. (Biol.) Relating to the blastema; rudimentary.

Blastematic
Blas•te•mat´ic, a. (Biol.) Connected with, or proceeding from, the blastema; blastemal.

Blaster
Blast´er, n. One who, or that which, blasts or destroys.

Blastide
Blas´tide, n. [Gr. sprout, fr. to grow.] (Biol.) A small, clear space in the segments of the ovum, the precursor of the nucleus.

Blasting
Blast´ing, n.
1. A blast; destruction by a blast, or by some pernicious cause.
"I have smitten you with blasting and mildew." - Amos iv. 9.
2. The act or process of one who, or that which, blasts; the business of one who blasts.

Blastment
Blast´ment, n. A sudden stroke or injury produced by some destructive cause. [Obs.] Shak.

Blastocarpous
Blas•to•car´pous, a. [Gr. sprout, germ + fruit.] (Bot.) Germinating inside the pericarp, as the mangrove. Brande & C.

Blastocœle
Blas"to•cœle, n. [Gr. blasto•s sprout + koi^los hollow.] (Biol.) The cavity of the blastosphere, or segmentation cavity.

Blastocyst
Blas´to•cyst, n. [Gr. blasto•s sprout + E. cyst.] (Biol.) The germinal vesicle.

Blastoderm
Blas´to•derm, n. [Gr. blasto•s sprout + E. derm.] (Biol.) The germinal membrane in an ovum, from which the embryo is developed. { Blas•to•der•mat´ic, Blas•to•der´mic } a. Of or pertaining to the blastoderm.

Blastogenesis
Blas•to•gen´e•sis, n. [Gr. blasto•s sprout + E. genesis.] (Biol.) Multiplication or increase by gemmation or budding.

Blastoid
Blas´toid, n. (Zoöl.) One of the Blastoidea.

Blastoidea
Blas•toid´e•a, n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. blasto•s sprout + -oid.] (Zoöl.) One of the divisions of Crinoidea found fossil in paleozoic rocks; pentremites. They are so named on account of their budlike form.

Blastomere
Blas´to•mere, n. [Gr. blasto•s sprout + -mere.] (Biol.) One of the segments first formed by the division of the ovum. Balfour. { Blas•toph´o•ral, Blas•to•phor´ic } a. Relating to the blastophore.

Blastophore
Blas´to•phore, n. [Gr. blasto•s sprout + to bear.] (Biol.) That portion of the spermatospore which is not converted into spermatoblasts, but carries them.

Blastopore
Blas´to•pore, n. [Gr. blasto•s sprout + E. pore.] (Biol.) The pore or opening leading into the cavity of invagination, or archenteron. [See Illust. of Invagination.] Balfour.

Blastule
Blas´tule, n. (Biol.) Same as Blastula.

Blat, v. i. To cry, as a calf or sheep; to bleat; to make a senseless noise; to talk inconsiderately. [Low]

Blat, v. t. To utter inconsiderately. [Low]
"If I have anything on my mind, I have to blat it right out." - W. D. Howells.

Blatancy
Bla´tan•cy, n. Blatant quality.

Blatant
Bla´tant, a. [Cf. Bleat.] Bellowing, as a calf; bawling; brawling; clamoring; disagreeably clamorous; sounding loudly and harshly. "Harsh and blatant tone." R. H. Dana.
"A monster, which the blatant beast men call." - Spenser.
"Glory, that blatant word, which haunts some military minds like the bray of the trumpet." - W. Irving.

Blather
Blath´er (blath"er), v. i. & t. [ imp. & p. p. Blathered p. pr. & vb. n. Blathering.] [Written also blether.] [Icel. blaðra. Cf. Blatherskite.] To talk foolishly, or nonsensically. G. Eliot.

Blather
Blath´er, n. [Written also blether.] Voluble, foolish, or nonsensical talk; — often in the pl. Hall Caine.

Blatherskite
Blath´er•skite, n. A blustering, talkative fellow. [Local slang, U. S.] Barllett.

Blatter
Blat´ter, v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Blattered .] [L. blaterare to babble: cf. F. blaterer to bleat.] To prate; to babble; to rail; to make a senseless noise; to patter. [Archaic] "The rain blattered." Jeffrey.
"They procured … preachers to blatter against me, … so that they had place and time to belie me shamefully." - Latimer.

Blatterer
Blat´ter•er, n. One who blatters; a babbler; a noisy, blustering boaster.

Blattering
Blat´ter•ing, n. Senseless babble or boasting.

Blatteroon
Blat•ter•oon´, n. [L. blatero, -onis.] A senseless babbler or boaster. [Obs.] "I hate such blatteroons." Howell.

Blaubok
Blau´bok, n. [D. blauwbok.] (Zoöl.) The blue buck. See Blue buck, under Blue.

Blazing
Blaz´ing, a. Burning with a blaze; as a blazing fire; blazing torches. Sir W. Scott.Blazing star. (a) A comet. [Obs.] (b) A brilliant center of attraction. (c) (Bot.) A name given to several plants; as to Chamaelirium luteum of the Lily family; Liatris squarrosa; and Aletris farinosa, called also colicroot and star grass.

Blazon
Bla´zon, n. [OE. blason, blasoun, shield, fr. F. blason coat of arms, OF. shield, from the root of AS. blaese blaze, i. e., luster, splendor, MHG. blas torch See Blaze, n. ]
1. A shield. [Obs.]
2. An heraldic shield; a coat of arms, or a bearing on a coat of arms; armorial bearings.
"Their blazon o’er his towers displayed." - Sir W. Scott.
3. The art or act of describing or depicting heraldic bearings in the proper language or manner. Peacham.
4. Ostentatious display, either by words or other means; publication; show; description; record.
"Obtrude the blazon of their exploits upon the company." - Collier.
"Thy tongue, thy face, thy limbs, actions, and spirit, Do give thee fivefold blazon." - Shak.

Blazon
Bla´zon, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Blazoned ; p. pr. & vb. n. Blazoning .] [From blazon, n.; confused with 4th blaze: cf. F. blasonner.]
1. To depict in colors; to display; to exhibit conspicuously; to publish or make public far and wide.
"Thyself thou blazon’st." - Shak.
"There pride sits blazoned on th’ unmeaning brow." - Trumbull.
"To blazon his own worthless name." - Cowper.
2. To deck; to embellish; to adorn.
"She blazons in dread smiles her hideous form." - Garth.
3. (Her.) To describe in proper terms (the figures of heraldic devices); also to delineate (armorial bearings); to emblazon.
"The coat of, arms, which I am not herald enough to blazon into English." - Addison.

Blazon
Bla´zon, v. i. To shine; to be conspicuous. [R.]

Blazoner
Bla´zon•er, n. One who gives publicity, proclaims, or blazons; esp., one who blazons coats of arms; a herald. Burke.

Blazonment
Bla´zon•ment (bla"z’n•m ent), n. The act of blazoning; blazoning; emblazonment.

Blazonry
Bla´zon•ry, n.
1. Same as Blazon, 3.
"The principles of blazonry." - Peacham.
2. A coat of arms; an armorial bearing or bearings.
"The blazonry of Argyle." - Lord Dufferin.
3. Artistic representation or display.

Bleaberry
Blea´ber•ry, n. (Bot.) See Blaeberry.

Bleached, a. Whitened; make white.
"Let their bleached bones, and blood’s unbleaching stain, Long mark the battlefield with hideous awe." - Byron.

Bleacher
Bleach´er, n. One who whitens, or whose occupation is to whiten, by bleaching.

Bleachery
Bleach´er•y, n. ; pl. Bleacheries . A place or an establishment where bleaching is done.

Bleaching
Bleach´ing, n. The act or process of whitening, by removing color or stains; esp. the process of whitening fabrics by chemical agents. Ure. Bleaching powder, a powder for bleaching, consisting of chloride of lime, or some other chemical or chemicals.

Bleak, a. [OE. blac, bleyke, bleche, AS. blac, blc, pale, wan; akin to Icel. bleikr, Sw. blek, Dan. bleg, OS. blk, D. bleek, OHG. pleih, G. bleich; all from the root of AS. blican to shine; akin to OHG. blichen to shine; cf. L. flagrare to burn, Gr. to burn, shine, Skr. bhraj to shine, and E. flame. 98. Cf. Bleach, Blink, Flame.]
1. Without color; pale; pallid. [Obs.]
"When she came out she looked as pale and as bleak as one that were laid out dead." - Foxe.
2. Desolate and exposed; swept by cold winds.
"Wastes too bleak to rear The common growth of earth, the foodful ear." - Wordsworth.
"At daybreak, on the bleak sea beach." - Longfellow.
3. Cold and cutting; cheerless; as a bleak blast. — Bleak´ish, a. — Bleak´ly, adv. — Bleak´ness, n.

Bleak, n. [From Bleak, a. , cf. Blay.] (Zoöl.) A small European river fish ( Leuciscus alburnus), of the family Cyprinidae; the blay. [Written also blick.] The silvery pigment lining the scales of the bleak is used in the manufacture of artificial pearls. Baird.

Blear, a. [See Blear, v. ]
1. Dim or sore with water or rheum; — said of the eyes.
"His blear eyes ran in gutters to his chin." - Dryden.
2. Causing or caused by dimness of sight; dim.
"Power to cheat the eye with blear illusion." - Milton.

Blear, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Bleared ; p. pr. & vb. n. Blearing.] [OE. bleren; cf. Dan. plire to blink, Sw. plira to twinkle, wink, LG. plieren; perh. from the same root as E. blink. See Blink, and cf. Blur.] To make somewhat sore or watery, as the eyes; to dim, or blur, as the sight. Figuratively: To obscure (mental or moral perception); to blind; to hoodwink.
"That tickling rheums Should ever tease the lungs and blear the sight." - Cowper.
To blear the eye of, to deceive; to impose upon. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Bleareye
Blear´eye, n. (Med.) A disease of the eyelids, consisting in chronic inflammation of the margins, with a gummy secretion of sebaceous matter. Dunglison.

Blear-eyed
Blear´-eyed, a.
1. Having sore eyes; having the eyes dim with rheum; dim- sighted.
"The blear-eyed Crispin." - Drant.
2. Lacking in perception or penetration; short- sighted; as a blear-eyed bigot.

Bleareyedness
Blear´eyed•ness, n. The state of being blear-eyed.

Bleary
Blear´y, a. Somewhat blear.

Bleat, v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Bleated; p. pr. & vb. n. Bleating.] [OE. bleten, AS. bltan; akin to D. blaten, bleeten, OHG. blazan, plazan; prob. of imitative origin.] To make the noise of, or one like that of, a sheep; to cry like a sheep or calf.
"Then suddenly was heard along the main, To low the ox, to bleat the woolly train." - Pope
"The ewe that will not hear her lamb when it baas will never answer a calf when he bleats." - Shak.

Bleat, n. A plaintive cry of, or like that of, a sheep.
"The bleat of fleecy sheep. Chapman’s Homer."

Bleater
Bleat´er, n. One who bleats; a sheep.
"In cold, stiff soils the bleaters oft complain Of gouty ails." - Dyer.

Bleating
Bleat´ing, a. Crying as a sheep does.
"Then came the shepherd back with his bleating flocks from the seaside." - Longfellow.

Bleating
Bleat´ing, n. The cry of, or as of, a sheep. Chapman.

Bleb, n. [Prov. E. bleb, bleib, blob, bubble, blister. This word belongs to the root of blub, blubber, blabber, and perh. blow to puff.] A large vesicle or bulla, usually containing a serous fluid; a blister; a bubble, as in water, glass, etc.
"Arsenic abounds with air blebs." - Kirwan.

Blebby
Bleb´by, a. Containing blebs, or characterized by blebs; as blebby glass. { Bleck, Blek }, v. t. To blacken; also to defile. [Obs. or Dial.] Wyclif.

Bled, imp. & p. p. of Bleed.

Bleed, v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Bled ; p. pr. & vb. n. Bleeding.] [OE. bleden, AS. bldan, fr. bld blood; akin to Sw. blöda, Dan. blöde, D. bloeden, G. bluten. See Blood.]
1. To emit blood; to lose blood; to run with blood, by whatever means; as the arm bleeds; the wound bled freely; to bleed at the nose.
2. To withdraw blood from the body; to let blood; as Dr. A. bleeds in fevers.
3. To lose or shed one’s blood, as in case of a violent death or severe wounds; to die by violence. "Caesar must bleed." Shak.
"The lamb thy riot dooms to bleed to-day." - Pope.
4. To issue forth, or drop, as blood from an incision.
"For me the balm shall bleed." - Pope.
5. To lose sap, gum, or juice; as a tree or a vine bleeds when tapped or wounded.
6. To pay or lose money; to have money drawn or extorted; as to bleed freely for a cause. [Colloq.] To make the heart bleed, to cause extreme pain, as from sympathy or pity.

Bleed, v. t.
1. To let blood from; to take or draw blood from, as by opening a vein.
2. To lose, as blood; to emit or let drop, as sap.
"A decaying pine of stately size, bleeding amber." - H. Miller.
3. To draw money from (one); to induce to pay; as they bled him freely for this fund. [Colloq.]

Bleeder
Bleed´er, n. (Med.) (a) One who, or that which, draws blood. (b) One in whom slight wounds give rise to profuse or uncontrollable bleeding.

Bleeding
Bleed´ing, a. Emitting, or appearing to emit, blood or sap, etc.; also expressing anguish or compassion.

Bleeding
Bleed´ing, n. A running or issuing of blood, as from the nose or a wound; a hemorrhage; the operation of letting blood, as in surgery; a drawing or running of sap from a tree or plant.

Blemish
Blem´ish, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Blemished ; p. pr. & vb. n. Blemishing.] [OE. blemissen, blemishen, OF. blemir, blesmir, to strike, injure, soil, F. blêmir to grow pale, fr. OF. bleme, blesme, pale, wan, F. blême, prob. fr. Icel blaman the livid color of a wound, fr. blar blue; akin to E. blue. OF. blemir properly signifies to beat one (black and) blue, and to render blue or dirty. See Blue.]
1. To mark with deformity; to injure or impair, as anything which is well formed, or excellent; to mar, or make defective, either the body or mind.
"Sin is a soil which blemisheth the beauty of thy soul." - Brathwait.
2. To tarnish, as reputation or character; to defame.
"There had nothing passed between us that might blemish reputation." - Oldys.

Blemish
Blem´ish, n. ; pl. Blemishes . Any mark of deformity or injury, whether physical or moral; anything that diminishes beauty, or renders imperfect that which is otherwise well formed; that which impairs reputation.
"He shall take two he lambs without blemish, and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish." - Lev. xiv. 10.
"The reliefs of an envious man are those little blemishes and imperfections that discover themselves in an illustrious character." - Spectator.
Syn. — Spot; speck; flaw; deformity; stain; defect; fault; taint; reproach; dishonor; imputation; disgrace.

Blemishless
Blem´ish•less, a. Without blemish; spotless.
"A life in all so blemishless." - Feltham.

Blemishment
Blem´ish•ment, n. The state of being blemished; blemish; disgrace; damage; impairment.
"For dread of blame and honor’s blemishment." - Spenser.

Blench, v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Blenched ; p. pr. & vb. n. Blenching.] [OE. blenchen to blench, elude, deceive, AS. blencan to deceive; akin to Icel. blekkja to impose upon. Prop. a causative of blink to make to wink, to deceive. See Blink, and cf. 3d Blanch.]
1. To shrink; to start back; to draw back, from lack of courage or resolution; to flinch; to quail.
"Blench not at thy chosen lot." - Bryant.
"This painful, heroic task he undertook, and never blenched from its fulfillment." - Jeffrey.
2. To fly off; to turn aside. [Obs.]
"Though sometimes you do blench from this to that." - Shak.

Blench, v. t.
1. To baffle; to disconcert; to turn away; — also to obstruct; to hinder. [Obs.]
"Ye should have somewhat blenched him therewith, yet he might and would of likelihood have gone further." - Sir T. More.
2. To draw back from; to deny from fear. [Obs.]
"He now blenched what before he affirmed." - Evelyn.

Blench, n. A looking aside or askance. [Obs.]
"These blenches gave my heart another youth." - Shak.

Blench, v. i. & t. [See 1st Blanch.] To grow or make pale. Barbour.

Blending
Blend´ing, n.
1. The act of mingling.
2. (Paint.) The method of laying on different tints so that they may mingle together while wet, and shade into each other insensibly. Weale.

Blendous
Blend´ous, a. Pertaining to, consisting of, or containing, blende.

Blendwater
Blend´wa•ter, n. A distemper incident to cattle, in which their livers are affected. Crabb.

Blenheim spaniel
Blen"heim span"iel . [So called from Blenheim House, the seat of the duke of Marlborough, in England.] A small variety of spaniel, kept as a pet.

Blenk, v. i. To blink; to shine; to look. [Obs.] { Blen´ni•oid, Blen´ni•id } a. [ Blenny + -oid] (Zoöl.) Of, pertaining to, or resembling, the blennies.

Blennogenous
Blen•nog´e•nous, a. [Gr. mucus + -genous.] Generating mucus.

Blennorrhea
Blen•nor•rhe´a, n. [Gr. mucus + to flow.] (Med.) (a) An inordinate secretion and discharge of mucus. (b) Gonorrhea. Dunglison.

Blenny
Blen´ny, n. ; pl. Blennies . [L. blennius, blendius, blendea, Gr., fr. slime, mucus.] (Zoöl.) A marine fish of the genus Blennius or family Blenniidae; — so called from its coating of mucus. The species are numerous.

Blent, imp. & p. p. of Blend to mingle. Mingled; mixed; blended; also polluted; stained.
"Rider and horse, friend, foe, in one red burial blent." - Byron.

Blent, imp. & p. p. of Blend to blind. Blinded. Also ( Chaucer), 3d sing. pres. Blindeth. [Obs.]

Blesbok
Bles´bok, n. [D., fr. bles a white spot on the forehead + bok buck.] (Zoöl.) A South African antelope ( Alcelaphus albifrons), having a large white spot on the forehead.

Bless, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Blessed or Blest; p. pr. & vb. n. Blessing.] [OE. blessien, bletsen, AS. bletsian, bledsian, bloedsian, fr. bld blood; prob. originally to consecrate by sprinkling with blood. See Blood.]
1. To make or pronounce holy; to consecrate
"And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it." - Gen. ii. 3.
2. To make happy, blithesome, or joyous; to confer prosperity or happiness upon; to grant divine favor to.
"The quality of mercy is … twice blest; It blesseth him that gives and him that takes." - Shak.
"It hath pleased thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may continue forever before thee. 1 Chron. xvii. 27 (R. V. )"
3. To express a wish or prayer for the happiness of; to invoke a blessing upon; — applied to persons.
"Bless them which persecute you." - Rom. xii. 14.
4. To invoke or confer beneficial attributes or qualities upon; to invoke or confer a blessing on, — as on food.
"Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them." - Luke ix. 16.
5. To make the sign of the cross upon; to cross (one’s self). [Archaic] Holinshed.
6. To guard; to keep; to protect. [Obs.]
7. To praise, or glorify; to extol for excellences.
"Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name." - Ps. ciii. 1.
8. To esteem or account happy; to felicitate.
"The nations shall bless themselves in him." - Jer. iv. 3.
9. To wave; to brandish. [Obs.]
"And burning blades about their heads do bless." - Spenser.
"Round his armed head his trenchant blade he blest." - Fairfax.
This is an old sense of the word, supposed by Johnson, Nares, and others, to have been derived from the old rite of blessing a field by directing the hands to all parts of it. "In drawing [their bow] some fetch such a compass as though they would turn about and bless all the field." Ascham. Bless me!Bless us! an exclamation of surprise. Milton. — To bless from, to secure, defend, or preserve from. "Bless me from marrying a usurer." Shak.
"To bless the doors from nightly harm." - Milton.
— To bless with, To be blessed with, to favor or endow with; to be favored or endowed with; as God blesses us with health; we are blessed with happiness.

Blessed thistle
Bless"ed this"tle . See under Thistle.

Blessedness
Bless´ed•ness, n. The state of being blessed; happiness; felicity; bliss; heavenly joys; the favor of God.
"The assurance of a future blessedness." - Tillotson.
Single blessedness, the unmarried state. "Grows, lives, and dies in single blessedness." Shak.
Syn. — Delight; beatitude; ecstasy. See Happiness.

Blessing
Bless´ing, n. [AS. bletsung. See Bless, v. t.]
1. The act of one who blesses.
2. A declaration of divine favor, or an invocation imploring divine favor on some or something; a benediction; a wish of happiness pronounces.
"This is the blessing, where with Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel." - Deut. xxxiii. 1.
3. A means of happiness; that which promotes prosperity and welfare; a beneficent gift.
"Nature’s full blessings would be well dispensed." - Milton.
4. (Bib.) A gift. [A Hebraism] Gen. xxxiii. 11.
5. Grateful praise or worship.

Blet, n. [F. blet, blette, a., soft from over ripeness.] A form of decay in fruit which is overripe.

Blet, v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Bletted p. pr. & vb. n. Bletting.] To decay internally when overripe; — said of fruit.

Bletting
Blet´ting, n. A form of decay seen in fleshy, overripe fruit. Lindley.

Blew, imp. of Blow.

Bleynte
Bleyn´te, imp. of Blench. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Blight (blit), v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Blighted; p. pr. & vb. n. Blighting.] [Perh. contr. from AS. blicettan to glitter, fr. the same root as E. bleak. The meaning "to blight" comes in that case from to glitter, hence, to be white or pale, grow pale, make pale, bleach. Cf. Bleach, Bleak.]
1. To affect with blight; to blast; to prevent the growth and fertility of.
"[This vapor] blasts vegetables, blights corn and fruit, and is sometimes injurious even to man." - Woodward.
2. Hence: To destroy the happiness of; to ruin; to mar essentially; to frustrate; as to blight one’s prospects.
"Seared in heart and lone and blighted." - Byron.

Blight, v. i. To be affected by blight; to blast; as this vine never blights.

Blight, n.
1. Mildew; decay; anything nipping or blasting; — applied as a general name to various injuries or diseases of plants, causing the whole or a part to wither, whether occasioned by insects, fungi, or atmospheric influences.
2. The act of blighting, or the state of being blighted; a withering or mildewing, or a stoppage of growth in the whole or a part of a plant, etc.
3. That which frustrates one’s plans or withers one’s hopes; that which impairs or destroys.
"A blight seemed to have fallen over our fortunes." - Disraeli.
4. (Zoöl.) A downy species of aphis, or plant louse, destructive to fruit trees, infesting both the roots and branches; — also applied to several other injurious insects.
5. pl. A rashlike eruption on the human skin. [U. S.]

Blighting
Blight´ing, a. Causing blight.

Blightingly
Blight´ing•ly, adv. So as to cause blight. { Blim´bi, Blim´bing }, n. See Bilimbi, etc.

Blind, a. [AS.; akin to D., G., OS., Sw., & Dan. blind, Icel. blindr, Goth. blinds; of uncertain origin.]
1. Destitute of the sense of seeing, either by natural defect or by deprivation; without sight.
"He that is strucken blind can not forget The precious treasure of his eyesight lost." - Shak.
2. Not having the faculty of discernment; destitute of intellectual light; unable or unwilling to understand or judge; as authors are blind to their own defects.
"But hard be hardened, blind be blinded more, That they may stumble on, and deeper fall." - Milton.
3. Undiscerning; undiscriminating; inconsiderate.
"This plan is recommended neither to blind approbation nor to blind reprobation." - Jay.
4. Having such a state or condition as a thing would have to a person who is blind; not well marked or easily discernible; hidden; unseen; concealed; as a blind path; a blind ditch.
5. Involved; intricate; not easily followed or traced.
"The blind mazes of this tangled wood." - Milton.
6. Having no openings for light or passage; as a blind wall; open only at one end; as a blind alley; a blind gut.
7. Unintelligible, or not easily intelligible; as a blind passage in a book; illegible; as blind writing.
8. (Hort.) Abortive; failing to produce flowers or fruit; as blind buds; blind flowers. Blind alley, an alley closed at one end; a cul- de-sac. — Blind axle, an axle which turns but does not communicate motion. Knight. — Blind beetle, one of the insects apt to fly against people, esp. at night. — Blind cat (Zoöl.), a species of catfish ( Gronias nigrolabris), nearly destitute of eyes, living in caverns in Pennsylvania. — Blind coal, coal that burns without flame; anthracite coal. Simmonds. - - Blind door, Blind window, an imitation of a door or window, without an opening for passage or light. See Blank door or window, under Blank, a. — Blind level (Mining), a level or drainage gallery which has a vertical shaft at each end, and acts as an inverted siphon. Knight. — Blind nettle (Bot.), dead nettle. See Dead nettle, under Dead. — Blind shell (Gunnery), a shell containing no charge, or one that does not explode. — Blind side, the side which is most easily assailed; a weak or unguarded side; the side on which one is least able or disposed to see danger. Swift. — Blind snake (Zoöl.), a small, harmless, burrowing snake, of the family Typhlopidae, with rudimentary eyes. — Blind spot (Anat.), the point in the retina of the eye where the optic nerve enters, and which is insensible to light. — Blind tooling, in bookbinding and leather work, the indented impression of heated tools, without gilding; — called also blank tooling, and blind blocking. — Blind wall, a wall without an opening; a blank wall.

Blind, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Blinded; p. pr. & vb. n. Blinding.]
1. To make blind; to deprive of sight or discernment. "To blind the truth and me." Tennyson.
"A blind guide is certainly a great mischief; but a guide that blinds those whom he should lead is … a much greater." - South.
2. To deprive partially of vision; to make vision difficult for and painful to; to dazzle.
"Her beauty all the rest did blind." - P. Fletcher.
3. To darken; to obscure to the eye or understanding; to conceal; to deceive.
"Such darkness blinds the sky." - Dryden.
"The state of the controversy between us he endeavored, with all his art, to blind and confound." - Stillingfleet.
4. To cover with a thin coating of sand and fine gravel; as a road newly paved, in order that the joints between the stones may be filled.

Blind, n.
1. Something to hinder sight or keep out light; a screen; a cover; esp. a hinged screen or shutter for a window; a blinder for a horse.
2. Something to mislead the eye or the understanding, or to conceal some covert deed or design; a subterfuge.
3. [Cf. F. blindes, p., fr. G. blende, fr. blenden to blind, fr. blind blind.] (Mil.) A blindage. See Blindage.
4. A halting place. [Obs.] Dryden. { Blind, Blinde }, n. See Blende.

Blindage
Blind´age, n. [Cf. F. blindage.] (Mil.) A cover or protection for an advanced trench or approach, formed of fascines and earth supported by a framework.

Blinder
Blind´er, n.
1. One who, or that which, blinds.
2. (Saddlery) One of the leather screens on a bridle, to hinder a horse from seeing objects at the side; a blinker.

Blindfish
Blind´fish, n. A small fish ( Amblyopsis spelaeus) destitute of eyes, found in the waters of the Mammoth Cave, in Kentucky. Related fishes from other caves take the same name.

Blindfold
Blind´fold, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Blindfolded; p. pr. & vb. n. Blindfolding.] [OE. blindfolden, blindfelden, blindfellen; AS. blind blind + prob. fellan, fyllan, to fell, strike down.] To cover the eyes of, as with a bandage; to hinder from seeing.
"And when they had blindfolded him, they struck him on the face." - Luke xxii. 64.

Blindfold
Blind´fold, a. Having the eyes covered; blinded; having the mental eye darkened. Hence: Heedless; reckless; as blindfold zeal; blindfold fury.
"Fate’s blindfold reign the atheist loudly owns." - Dryden.

Blinding
Blind´ing, a. Making blind or as if blind; depriving of sight or of understanding; obscuring; as blinding tears; blinding snow.

Blinding
Blind´ing, n. A thin coating of sand and fine gravel over a newly paved road. See Blind, v. t., 4.

Blindman’s buff
Blind"man’s buff" . [See Buff a buffet.] A play in which one person is blindfolded, and tries to catch some one of the company and tell who it is.
"Surely he fancies I play at blindman’s buff with him, for he thinks I never have my eyes open." - Stillingfleet.

Blindness
Blind´ness, n. State or condition of being blind, literally or figuratively. Darwin. Color blindness, inability to distinguish certain color. See Daltonism.

Blindworm
Blind´worm, n. (Zoöl.) A small, burrowing, snakelike, limbless lizard ( Anguis fragilis), with minute eyes, popularly believed to be blind; the slowworm; — formerly a name for the adder.
"Newts and blindworms do no wrong." - Shak.

Blink, v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Blinked ; p. pr. & vb. n. Blinking.] [OE. blenken; akin to dan. blinke, Sw. blinka, G. blinken to shine, glance, wink, twinkle, D. blinken to shine; and prob. to D. blikken to glance, twinkle, G. blicken to look, glance, AS. bli can to shine, E. bleak. rad.98. See Bleak; cf. 1st Blench.]
1. To wink; to twinkle with, or as with, the eye.
"One eye was blinking, and one leg was lame." - Pope
2. To see with the eyes half shut, or indistinctly and with frequent winking, as a person with weak eyes.
"Show me thy chink, to blink through with mine eyne." - Shak.
3. To shine, esp. with intermittent light; to twinkle; to flicker; to glimmer, as a lamp.
"The dew was falling fast, the stars began to blink." - Wordsworth.
"The sun blinked fair on pool and stream ." - Sir W. Scott.
4. To turn slightly sour, as beer, mild, etc.

Blink, v. t.
1. To shut out of sight; to avoid, or purposely evade; to shirk; as to blink the question.
2. To trick; to deceive. [Scot.] Jamieson.

Blink, n. [OE. blink. See Blink, v. i. ]
1. A glimpse or glance.
"This is the first blink that ever I had of him." - Bp. Hall.
2. Gleam; glimmer; sparkle. Sir W. Scott.
"Not a blink of light was there." - Wordsworth.
3. (Naut.) The dazzling whiteness about the horizon caused by the reflection of light from fields of ice at sea; ice blink.
4. pl. [Cf. Blencher.] (Sporting) Boughs cast where deer are to pass, to turn or check them. [Prov. Eng.]

Blinkard
Blink´ard, n. [ Blind + - ard.]
1. One who blinks with, or as with, weak eyes.
"Among the blind the one-eyed blinkard reigns." - Marvell.
2. That which twinkles or glances, as a dim star, which appears and disappears. Hakewill.

Blinker
Blink´er, n.
1. One who, or that which, blinks.
2. A blinder for horses; a flap of leather on a horse’s bridle to prevent him from seeing objects as his side hence, whatever obstructs sight or discernment.
"Nor bigots who but one way see, through blinkers of authority." - M. Green.
3. pl. A kind of goggles, used to protect the eyes form glare, etc.

Blink-eyed
Blink´-eyed, a. Habitually winking. Marlowe.

Blirt, n. (Naut.) A gust of wind and rain. Ham. Nav. Encyc.

Bliss (blis), n. ; pl. Blisses (blis"ez). [OE. blis, blisse, AS. blis, bliðs, fr. bliðe blithe. See Blithe.] Orig., blithesomeness; gladness; now, the highest degree of happiness; blessedness; exalted felicity; heavenly joy.
"An then at last our bliss Full and perfect is." - Milton.
Syn. — Blessedness; felicity; beatitude; happiness; joy; enjoyment. See Happiness.

Blissless
Bliss´less, a. Destitute of bliss. Sir P. Sidney.

Blissom
Blis´som, v. i. [For blithesome: but cf. also Icel. blsma of a goat at heat.] To be lustful; to be lascivious. [Obs.]

Blissom
Blis´som, a. Lascivious; also in heat; — said of ewes.

Blister
Blis´ter, n. [OE.; akin to OD. bluyster, fr. the same root as blast, bladder, blow. See Blow to eject wind.]
1. A vesicle of the skin, containing watery matter or serum, whether occasioned by a burn or other injury, or by a vesicatory; a collection of serous fluid causing a bladderlike elevation of the cuticle.
"And painful blisters swelled my tender hands." - Grainger.
2. Any elevation made by the separation of the film or skin, as on plants; or by the swelling of the substance at the surface, as on steel.
3. A vesicatory; a plaster of Spanish flies, or other matter, applied to raise a blister. Dunglison. Blister beetle, a beetle used to raise blisters, esp. the Lytta (or Cantharis) vesicatoria, called Cantharis or Spanish fly by druggists. See Cantharis. — Blister fly, a blister beetle. — Blister plaster, a plaster designed to raise a blister; — usually made of Spanish flies. — Blister steel, crude steel formed from wrought iron by cementation; - - so called because of its blistered surface. Called also blistered steel. — Blood blister. See under Blood.

Blister
Blis´ter, v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Blistered ; p. pr. & vb. n. Blistering.] To be affected with a blister or blisters; to have a blister form on.
"Let my tongue blister." - Shak.

Blister
Blis´ter, v. t.
1. To raise a blister or blisters upon.
"My hands were blistered." - Franklin.
2. To give pain to, or to injure, as if by a blister.
"This tyrant, whose sole name blisters our tongue." - Shak.

Blistery
Blis´ter•y, a. Full of blisters. Hooker.

Blite (blit), n. [L. blitum, Gr. bli•ton.] (Bot.) A genus of herbs ( Blitum>) with a fleshy calyx. Blitum capitatum is the strawberry blite.

Blithe (blith), a. [AS. bliðe blithe, kind; akin to Goth. bleiþs kind, Icel. bliðr mild, gentle, Dan. & Sw. blid gentle, D. blijd blithe, OHG. blidi kind, blithe.] Gay; merry; sprightly; joyous; glad; cheerful; as a blithe spirit.
"The blithe sounds of festal music." - Prescott.
"A daughter fair, So buxom, blithe, and debonair." - Milton.

Blitheful
Blithe´ful (blith"ful), a. Gay; full of gayety; joyous.

Blithely
Blithe´ly, adv. In a blithe manner.

Blitheness
Blithe´ness, n. The state of being blithe. Chaucer.

Blithesome
Blithe´some (-sum), a. Cheery; gay; merry.
"The blithesome sounds of wassail gay." - Sir W. Scott.
— Blithe´some•ly, adv. — Blithe´some•ness, n.

Blive (bliv), adv. [A contraction of Belive.] Quickly; forthwith. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Bloatedness
Bloat´ed•ness, n. The state of being bloated.

Bloater
Bloat´er (-er), n. [See Bloat, Blote.] The common herring, esp. when of large size, smoked, and half dried; — called also bloat herring.

Blocage
Blo•cage´, n. [F.] (Arch.) The roughest and cheapest sort of rubblework, in masonry.

Block, n. [OE. blok; cf. F. bloc (fr. OHG.), D. & Dan. blok, Sw. & G. block, OHG. bloch. There is also an OHG. bloch, biloh; bi by + the same root as that of E. lock. Cf. Block, v. t., Blockade, and see Lock.]
1. A piece of wood more or less bulky; a solid mass of wood, stone, etc., usually with one or more plane, or approximately plane, faces; as a block on which a butcher chops his meat; a block by which to mount a horse; children’s playing blocks, etc.
"Now all our neighbors’ chimneys smoke, And Christmas blocks are burning." - Wither.
"All her labor was but as a block Left in the quarry." - Tennyson.
2. The solid piece of wood on which condemned persons lay their necks when they are beheaded.
"Noble heads which have been brought to the block." - E. Everett.
3. The wooden mold on which hats, bonnets, etc., are shaped. Hence: The pattern or shape of a hat.
"He wears his faith but as the fashion of his hat; it ever changes with the next block." - Shak.
4. A large or long building divided into separate houses or shops, or a number of houses or shops built in contact with each other so as to form one building; a row of houses or shops.
5. A square, or portion of a city inclosed by streets, whether occupied by buildings or not.
"The new city was laid out in rectangular blocks, each block containing thirty building lots. Such an average block, comprising 282 houses and covering nine acres of ground, exists in Oxford Street." - Lond. Quart. Rev.
6. A grooved pulley or sheave incased in a frame or shell which is provided with a hook, eye, or strap, by which it may be attached to an object. It is used to change the direction of motion, as in raising a heavy object that can not be conveniently reached, and also when two or more such sheaves are compounded, to change the rate of motion, or to exert increased force; — used especially in the rigging of ships, and in tackles.
7. (Falconry) The perch on which a bird of prey is kept.
8. Any obstruction, or cause of obstruction; a stop; a hindrance; an obstacle; as a block in the way.
9. A piece of box or other wood for engravers’ work.
10. (Print.) A piece of hard wood (as mahogany or cherry) on which a stereotype or electrotype plate is mounted to make it type high.
11. A blockhead; a stupid fellow; a dolt. [Obs.]
"What a block art thou !" - Shak.
12. A section of a railroad where the block system is used. See Block system, below. A block of shares (Stock Exchange), a large number of shares in a stock company, sold in a lump. Bartlett. — Block printing. (a) A mode of printing (common in China and Japan) from engraved boards by means of a sheet of paper laid on the linked surface and rubbed with a brush. S. W. Williams. (b) A method of printing cotton cloth and paper hangings with colors, by pressing them upon an engraved surface coated with coloring matter. — Block system on railways, a system by which the track is divided into sections of three or four miles, and trains are so run by the guidance of electric signals that no train enters a section or block before the preceding train has left it.

Block, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Blocked ; p. pr. & vb. n. Blocking.] [Cf. F. bloquer, fr. bloc block. See Block, n. ]
1. To obstruct so as to prevent passage or progress; to prevent passage from, through, or into, by obstructing the way; — used both of persons and things; — often followed by up; as to block up a road or harbor.
"With moles … would block the port." - Rowe.
"A city … besieged and blocked about." - Milton.
2. To secure or support by means of blocks; to secure, as two boards at their angles of intersection, by pieces of wood glued to each.
3. To shape on, or stamp with, a block; as to block a hat. To block out, to begin to reduce to shape; to mark out roughly; to lay out; as to block out a plan.

Block, n.
1. In Australia, one of the large lots into which public land, when opened to settlers, is divided by the government surveyors.
2. (Cricket) (a) The position of a player or bat when guarding the wicket. (b) A block hole. (c) The popping crease. [R.] Back blocks, Australian pastoral country which is remote from the seacoast or from a river.

Block book
Block" book . A book printed from engraved wooden blocks instead of movable types.

Block chain. (Mach.) A chain in which the alternate links are broad blocks connected by thin side links pivoted to the ends of the blocks, used with sprocket wheels to transmit power, as in a bicycle.

Block signal. (Railroads) One of the danger signals or safety signals which guide the movement of trains in a block system. The signal is often so coupled with a switch that act of opening or closing the switch operates the signal also.

Block system. (Railroads) A system by which the track is divided into short sections, as of three or four miles, and trains are so run by the guidance of electric, or combined electric and pneumatic, signals that no train enters a section or block until the preceding train has left it, as in absolute blocking, or that a train may be allowed to follow another into a block as long as it proceeds with excessive caution, as in permissive blocking.

Block tin
Block" tin . See under Tin.

Blockage
Block´age, n. The act of blocking up; the state of being blocked up.

Blockhead
Block´head, n. [ Block + head.] A stupid fellow; a dolt; a person deficient in understanding.
"The bookful blockhead, ignorantly read, With loads of learned lumber in his head." - Pope.

Blockheaded
Block´head•ed, a. Stupid; dull.

Blockheadism
Block´head•ism, n. That which characterizes a blockhead; stupidity. Carlyle.

Blockhouse
Block´house, n. [ Block + house: cf. G. blockhaus.]
1. (Mil.) An edifice or structure of heavy timbers or logs for military defense, having its sides loopholed for musketry, and often an upper story projecting over the lower, or so placed upon it as to have its sides make an angle wit the sides of the lower story, thus enabling the defenders to fire downward, and in all directions; — formerly much used in America and Germany.
2. A house of squared logs. [West. & South. U. S.]

Blocking
Block´ing, n.
1. The act of obstructing, supporting, shaping, or stamping with a block or blocks.
2. Blocks used to support (a building, etc.) temporarily.

Blocking course
Block"ing course . (Arch.) The finishing course of a wall showing above a cornice.

Blockish
Block´ish, a. Like a block; deficient in understanding; stupid; dull. "Blockish Ajax." Shak. — Block´ish•ly, adv. — Block´ish•ness, n.

Blocklike
Block´like, a. Like a block; stupid.

Bloedite
Bloe´dite, n. [From the chemist Blöde.] (Min.) A hydrous sulphate of magnesium and sodium.

Blolly
Blol´ly, n. (Bot.) (a) A shrub or small tree of southern Florida and the West Indies ( Pisonia obtusata) with smooth oval leaves and a hard, 10-ribbed fruit. (b) The rubiaceous shrub Chicocca racemosa, of the same region.

Blomary
Blom´a•ry, n. See Bloomery. { Blonc´ket, Blon´ket }, a. [OF. blanquet whitish, dim. of blanc white. Cf. Blanket.] Gray; bluish gray. [Obs.]
"Our bloncket liveries been all too sad." - Spenser.
{ Blond, Blonde }, a. [F., fair, light, of uncertain origin; cf. AS. blonden-feax gray-haired, old, prop. blended-haired, as a mixture of white and brown or black. See Blend, v. t. ] Of a fair color; light- colored; as blond hair; a blond complexion.

Blonde, n. [F.]
1. A person of very fair complexion, with light hair and light blue eyes. [Written also blond.]
2. [So called from its color.] A kind of silk lace originally of the color of raw silk, now sometimes dyed; — called also blond lace.

Blondness
Blond´ness, n. The state of being blond. G. Eliot.

Blood (blud), n. [OE. blod, blood, AS. blod; akin to D. bloed, OHG. bluot, G. blut, Goth. bloþ, Icel. bloð, Sw. & Dan. blod; prob. fr. the same root as E. blow to bloom. See Blow to bloom.]
1. The fluid which circulates in the principal vascular system of animals, carrying nourishment to all parts of the body, and bringing away waste products to be excreted. See under Arterial. The blood consists of a liquid, the plasma, containing minute particles, the blood corpuscles. In the invertebrate animals it is usually nearly colorless, and contains only one kind of corpuscles; but in all vertebrates, except Amphioxus, it contains some colorless corpuscles, with many more which are red and give the blood its uniformly red color. See Corpuscle, Plasma.
2. Relationship by descent from a common ancestor; consanguinity; kinship.
"To share the blood of Saxon royalty." - Sir W. Scott.
"A friend of our own blood." - Waller.
Half blood (Law), relationship through only one parent. — Whole blood, relationship through both father and mother. In American Law, blood includes both half blood, and whole blood. Bouvier. Peters.
3. Descent; lineage; especially, honorable birth; the highest royal lineage.
"Give us a prince of blood, a son of Priam." - Shak.
"I am a gentleman of blood and breeding." - Shak.
4. (Stock Breeding) Descent from parents of recognized breed; excellence or purity of breed. In stock breeding half blood is descent showing one half only of pure breed. Blue blood, full blood, or warm blood, is the same as blood.
5. The fleshy nature of man.
"Nor gives it satisfaction to our blood." - Shak.
6. The shedding of blood; the taking of life, murder; manslaughter; destruction.
"So wills the fierce, avenging sprite, Till blood for blood atones." - Hood.
7. A bloodthirsty or murderous disposition. [R.]
"He was a thing of blood, whose every motion Was timed with dying cries." - Shak.
8. Temper of mind; disposition; state of the passions; — as if the blood were the seat of emotions.
"When you perceive his blood inclined to mirth." - Shak.
Often, in this sense, accompanied with bad, cold, warm, or other qualifying word. Thus, to commit an act in cold blood, is to do it deliberately, and without sudden passion; to do it in bad blood, is to do it in anger. Warm blood denotes a temper inflamed or irritated. To warm or heat the blood is to excite the passions. Qualified by up, excited feeling or passion is signified; as my blood was up.
9. A man of fire or spirit; a fiery spark; a gay, showy man; a rake.
"Seest thou not … how giddily ’a turns about all the hot bloods between fourteen and five and thirty?" - Shak.
"It was the morning costume of a dandy or blood." - Thackeray.
10. The juice of anything, especially if red.
"He washed … his clothes in the blood of grapes." - Gen. xiix. 11.
Blood is often used as an adjective, and as the first part of self-explaining compound words; as blood-bespotted, blood- bought, blood-curdling, blood-dyed, blood-red, blood-spilling, blood-stained, blood-warm, blood- won. Blood baptism (Eccl. Hist.), the martyrdom of those who had not been baptized. They were considered as baptized in blood, and this was regarded as a full substitute for literal baptism. — Blood blister, a blister or bleb containing blood or bloody serum, usually caused by an injury. — Blood brother, brother by blood or birth. — Blood clam (Zoöl.), a bivalve mollusk of the genus Arca and allied genera, esp. Argina pexata of the American coast. So named from the color of its flesh. — Blood corpuscle. See Corpuscle. — Blood crystal (Physiol.), one of the crystals formed by the separation in a crystalline form of the haemoglobin of the red blood corpuscles; haematocrystallin. All blood does not yield blood crystals. — Blood heat, heat equal to the temperature of human blood, or about 98½ ° Fahr. — Blood horse, a horse whose blood or lineage is derived from the purest and most highly prized origin or stock. — Blood money. See in the Vocabulary. — Blood orange, an orange with dark red pulp. — Blood poisoning (Med.), a morbid state of the blood caused by the introduction of poisonous or infective matters from without, or the absorption or retention of such as are produced in the body itself; toxaemia. — Blood pudding, a pudding made of blood and other materials. — Blood relation, one connected by blood or descent. — Blood spavin. See under Spavin. — Blood vessel. See in the Vocabulary. — Blue blood, the blood of noble or aristocratic families, which, according to a Spanish prover, has in it a tinge of blue; — hence, a member of an old and aristocratic family. — Flesh and blood. (a) A blood relation, esp. a child. (b) Human nature. — In blood (Hunting), in a state of perfect health and vigor. Shak. — To let blood. See under Let. — Prince of the blood, the son of a sovereign, or the issue of a royal family. The sons, brothers, and uncles of the sovereign are styled princes of the blood royal; and the daughters, sisters, and aunts are princesses of the blood royal.

Blood, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Blooded; p. pr. & vb. n. Blooding.]
1. To bleed. [Obs.] Cowper.
2. To stain, smear or wet, with blood. [Archaic]
"Reach out their spears afar, And blood their points." - Dryden.
3. To give (hounds or soldiers) a first taste or sight of blood, as in hunting or war.
"It was most important too that his troops should be blooded." - Macaulay.
4. To heat the blood of; to exasperate. [Obs.]
"The auxiliary forces of the French and English were much blooded one against another." - Bacon.

Blood vessel
Blood" ves•sel . (Anat.) Any vessel or canal in which blood circulates in an animal, as an artery or vein. { Blood´wite•, Blood´wit• } n. [AS. blwite; bld blood, + wite wite, fine.] (Anc. Law) A fine or amercement paid as a composition for the shedding of blood; also a riot wherein blood was spilled.

Bloodbird
Blood´bird (blud"berd•), n. (Zoöl.) An Australian honeysucker ( Myzomela sanguineolata); — so called from the bright red color of the male bird.

Blood-boltered
Blood´-bol•tered, a. [ Blood + Prov. E. bolter to mat in tufts. Cf. Balter.] Having the hair matted with clotted blood. [Obs. & R.]
"The blood-boltered Banquo smiles upon me." - Shak.

Bloodflower
Blood´flow•er, n. [From the color of the flower.] (Bot.) A genus of bulbous plants, natives of Southern Africa, named Haemanthus, of the Amaryllis family. The juice of H. toxicarius is used by the Hottentots to poison their arrows.

Bloodguilty
Blood´guilt•y, a. Guilty of murder or bloodshed. "A bloodguilty life." Fairfax. — Blood´guilt•i•ness, n. — Blood´guilt•less, a.

Bloodhound
Blood´hound, n. A breed of large and powerful dogs, with long, smooth, and pendulous ears, and remarkable for acuteness of smell. It is employed to recover game or prey which has escaped wounded from a hunter, and for tracking criminals. Formerly it was used for pursuing runaway slaves. Other varieties of dog are often used for the same purpose and go by the same name. The Cuban bloodhound is said to be a variety of the mastiff.

Bloodily
Blood´i•ly, adv. In a bloody manner; cruelly; with a disposition to shed blood.

Bloodiness
Blood´i•ness, n.
1. The state of being bloody.
2. Disposition to shed blood; bloodthirstiness.
"All that bloodiness and savage cruelty which was in our nature." - Holland.

Bloodless
Blood´less, a. [AS. bldleás.]
1. Destitute of blood, or apparently so; as bloodless cheeks; lifeless; dead.
"The bloodless carcass of my Hector sold." - Dryden.
2. Not attended with shedding of blood, or slaughter; as a bloodless victory. Froude.
3. Without spirit or activity.
"Thou bloodless remnant of that royal blood !" - Shak.
— Blood´less•ly, adv. — Blood´less•ness, n.

Bloodlet
Blood´let, v. t. [AS. bldltan; bld blood + latan to let.] bleed; to let blood. Arbuthnot.

Bloodletter
Blood´let•ter, n. One who, or that which, lets blood; a phlebotomist.

Bloodletting
Blood´let•ting, n. (Med.) The act or process of letting blood or bleeding, as by opening a vein or artery, or by cupping or leeches; — esp. applied to venesection.

Bloodroot
Blood´root, n. (Bot.) A plant ( Sanguinaria Canadensis), with a red root and red sap, and bearing a pretty, white flower in early spring; — called also puccoon, redroot, bloodwort, tetterwort, turmeric, and Indian paint. It has acrid emetic properties, and the rootstock is used as a stimulant expectorant. See Sanguinaria. In England the name is given to the tormentil, once used as a remedy for dysentery.

Bloodshedder
Blood´shed•der, n. One who sheds blood; a manslayer; a murderer.

Bloodshedding
Blood´shed•ding, n. Bloodshed. Shak.

Bloodshot
Blood´shot, a. [ Blood + shot, p. p. of shoot to variegate.] Red and inflamed; suffused with blood, or having the vessels turgid with blood, as when the conjunctiva is inflamed or irritated.
"His eyes were bloodshot, … and his hair disheveled." - Dickens.

Blood-shotten
Blood´-shot•ten, a. Bloodshot. [Obs.]

Bloodstick
Blood´stick´, n. (Far.) A piece of hard wood loaded at one end with lead, and used to strike the fleam into the vein. Youatt.

Bloodstone
Blood´stone, n. (Min.) (a) A green siliceous stone sprinkled with red jasper, as if with blood; hence the name; — called also heliotrope. (b) Hematite, an ore of iron yielding a blood red powder or "streak."

Bloodstroke
Blood´stroke, n. [Cf. F. coup de sang.] Loss of sensation and motion from hemorrhage or congestion in the brain. Dunglison.

Bloodsucker
Blood´suck•er, n.
1. (Zoöl.) Any animal that sucks blood; esp., the leech ( Hirudo medicinalis), and related species.
2. One who sheds blood; a cruel, bloodthirsty man; one guilty of bloodshed; a murderer. [Obs.] Shak.
3. A hard and exacting master, landlord, or money lender; an extortioner.

Bloodthirsty
Blood´thirst•y, a. Eager to shed blood; cruel; sanguinary; murderous. — Blood´thirst•i•ness, n.

Bloodulf
Blood´ulf, n. (Zoöl.) The European bullfinch.

Bloodwood
Blood´wood, n. (Bot.) A tree having the wood or the sap of the color of blood. Norfolk Island bloodwood is a euphorbiaceous tree ( Baloghia lucida), from which the sap is collected for use as a plant. Various other trees have the name, chiefly on account of the color of the wood, as Gordonia Haematoxylon of Jamaica, and several species of Australian Eucalyptus; also the true logwood ( Haematoxylon campechianum).

Bloodwort
Blood´wort, n. (Bot.) A plant, Rumex sanguineus, or bloody-veined dock. The name is applied also to bloodroot ( Sanguinaria Canadensis), and to an extensive order of plants ( Haemodoraceae), the roots of many species of which contain a red coloring matter useful in dyeing.

Bloody
Blood´y, a. [AS. blodig.]
1. Containing or resembling blood; of the nature of blood; as bloody excretions; bloody sweat.
2. Smeared or stained with blood; as bloody hands; a bloody handkerchief.
3. Given, or tending, to the shedding of blood; having a cruel, savage disposition; murderous; cruel.
"Some bloody passion shakes your very frame." - Shak.
4. Attended with, or involving, bloodshed; sanguinary; esp., marked by great slaughter or cruelty; as a bloody battle.
5. Infamous; contemptible; — variously used for mere emphasis or as a low epithet. [Vulgar] Thackeray.

Bloody
Blood´y, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Bloodied ; p. pr. & vb. n. Bloodying.] To stain with blood. Overbury.

Bloody hand
Blood"y hand .
1. A hand stained with the blood of a deer, which, in the old forest laws of England, was sufficient evidence of a man’s trespass in the forest against venison. Jacob.
2. (Her.) A red hand, as in the arms of Ulster, which is now the distinguishing mark of a baronet of the United Kingdom.

Bloody sweat
Blood"y sweat . A sweat accompanied by a discharge of blood; a disease, called sweating sickness, formerly prevalent in England and other countries.

Bloodybones
Blood´y•bones, n. A terrible bugbear.

Bloody-minded
Blood´y-mind´ed, a. Having a cruel, ferocious disposition; bloodthirsty. Dryden.

Bloom, n. [OE. blome, fr. Icel. blm, blmi; akin to Sw. blom, Goth. blma, OS. blmo, D. bloem, OHG. bluomo, bluoma, G. blume; fr. the same root as AS. blwan to blow, blossom. See Blow to bloom, and cf. Blossom.]
1. A blossom; the flower of a plant; an expanded bud; flowers, collectively.
"The rich blooms of the tropics." - Prescott.
2. The opening of flowers in general; the state of blossoming or of having the flowers open; as the cherry trees are in bloom. "Sight of vernal bloom." Milton.
3. A state or time of beauty, freshness, and vigor; an opening to higher perfection, analogous to that of buds into blossoms; as the bloom of youth.
"Every successive mother has transmitted a fainter bloom, a more delicate and briefer beauty." - Hawthorne.
4. The delicate, powdery coating upon certain growing or newly-gathered fruits or leaves, as on grapes, plums, etc. Hence: Anything giving an appearance of attractive freshness; a flush; a glow.
"A new, fresh, brilliant world, with all the bloom upon it." - Thackeray.
5. The clouded appearance which varnish sometimes takes upon the surface of a picture.
6. A yellowish deposit or powdery coating which appears on well-tanned leather. Knight.
7. (Min.) A popular term for a bright-hued variety of some minerals; as the rose-red cobalt bloom.

Bloom, v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Bloomed ; p. pr. & vb. n. Blooming.]
1. To produce or yield blossoms; to blossom; to flower or be in flower.
"A flower which once In Paradise, fast by the tree of life, Began to bloom." - Milton.
2. To be in a state of healthful, growing youth and vigor; to show beauty and freshness, as of flowers; to give promise, as by or with flowers.
"A better country blooms to view,"
"Beneath a brighter sky." - Logan.

Bloom, v. t.
1. To cause to blossom; to make flourish. [R.]
"Charitable affection bloomed them." - Hooker.
2. To bestow a bloom upon; to make blooming or radiant. [R.] Milton.
"While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day." - Keats.

Bloom, n. [AS. blma a mass or lump, isenes blma a lump or wedge of iron.] (Metal.) (a) A mass of wrought iron from the Catalan forge or from the puddling furnace, deprived of its dross, and shaped usually in the form of an oblong block by shingling. (b) A large bar of steel formed directly from an ingot by hammering or rolling, being a preliminary shape for further working.

Bloomary
Bloom´a•ry, n. See Bloomery.

Bloomery
Bloom´er•y, n. (Manuf.) A furnace and forge in which wrought iron in the form of blooms is made directly from the ore, or (more rarely) from cast iron.

Blooming
Bloom´ing, n. (Metal.) The process of making blooms from the ore or from cast iron.

Blooming
Bloom´ing, a.
1. Opening in blossoms; flowering.
2. Thriving in health, beauty, and vigor; indicating the freshness and beauties of youth or health.

Bloomingly
Bloom´ing•ly, adv. In a blooming manner.

Bloomingness
Bloom´ing•ness, n. A blooming condition.

Bloomless
Bloom´less, a. Without bloom or flowers. Shelley.

Bloomy
Bloom´y, a.
1. Full of bloom; flowery; flourishing with the vigor of youth; as a bloomy spray.
"But all the bloomy flush of life is fled." - Goldsmith.
2. Covered with bloom, as fruit. Dryden.

Blooth, n. Bloom; a blossoming. [Prov. Eng.]
"All that blooth means heavy autumn work for him and his hands." - T. Hardy.

Blore, n. [Perh. a variant of blare, v. i.; or cf. Gael. & Ir. blor a loud noise.] The act of blowing; a roaring wind; a blast. [Obs.]
"A most tempestuous blore." - Chapman.

Blosmy
Blos´my, a. Blossomy. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Blossom
Blos´som (blos"sum), n. [OE. blosme, blostme, AS. blosma, blostma, blossom; akin to D. bloesem, L. fios, and E. flower; from the root of E. blow to blossom. See Blow to blossom, and cf. Bloom a blossom.]
1. The flower of a plant, or the essential organs of reproduction, with their appendages; florescence; bloom; the flowers of a plant, collectively; as the blossoms and fruit of a tree; an apple tree in blossom. The term has been applied by some botanists, and is also applied in common usage, to the corolla. It is more commonly used than flower or bloom, when we have reference to the fruit which is to succeed. Thus we use flowers when we speak of plants cultivated for ornament, and bloom in a more general sense, as of flowers in general, or in reference to the beauty of flowers.
"Blossoms flaunting in the eye of day." - Longfellow.
2. A blooming period or stage of development; something lovely that gives rich promise.
"In the blossom of my youth." - Massinger.
3. The color of a horse that has white hairs intermixed with sorrel and bay hairs; — otherwise called peach color. In blossom, having the blossoms open; in bloom.

Blossom
Blos´som, v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Blossomed ; p. pr. & vb. n. Blossoming.] [AS. blstmian. See Blossom, n. ]
1. To put forth blossoms or flowers; to bloom; to blow; to flower.
"The moving whisper of huge trees that branched And blossomed." - Tennyson.
2. To flourish and prosper.
"Israel shall blossom and bud, and full the face of the world with fruit." - Isa. xxvii. 6.

Blossomy
Blos´som•y, a. Full of blossoms; flowery.

Blot, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Blotted ; p. pr. & vb. n. Blotting.] [Cf. Dan. plette. See 3d Blot.]
1. To spot, stain, or bespatter, as with ink.
"The brief was writ and blotted all with gore." - Gascoigne.
2. To impair; to damage; to mar; to soil.
"It blots thy beauty, as frosts do bite the meads." - Shak.
3. To stain with infamy; to disgrace.
"Blot not thy innocence with guiltless blood." - Rowe.
4. To obliterate, as writing with ink; to cancel; to efface; — generally with out; as to blot out a word or a sentence. Often figuratively; as to blot out offenses.
"One act like this blots out a thousand crimes." - Dryden.
5. To obscure; to eclipse; to shadow.
"He sung how earth blots the moon’s gilded wane." - Cowley.
6. To dry, as writing, with blotting paper.
Syn. — To obliterate; expunge; erase; efface; cancel; tarnish; disgrace; blur; sully; smear; smutch.

Blot, v. i. To take a blot; as this paper blots easily.

Blot, n. [Cf. Icel. blettr, Dan. plet.]
1. A spot or stain, as of ink on paper; a blur. "Inky blots and rotten parchment bonds." Shak.
2. An obliteration of something written or printed; an erasure. Dryden.
3. A spot on reputation; a stain; a disgrace; a reproach; a blemish.
"This deadly blot in thy digressing son." - Shak.

Blot, n. [Cf. Dan. blot bare, naked, Sw. blott, d. bloot, G. bloss, and perh. E. bloat.]
1. (Backgammon) (a) An exposure of a single man to be taken up. (b) A single man left on a point, exposed to be taken up.
"He is too great a master of his art to make a blot which may be so easily hit." - Dryden.
2. A weak point; a failing; an exposed point or mark.

Blotch, n. [Cf. OE. blacche in blacchepot blacking pot, akin to black, as bleach is akin to bleak. See Black, a. , or cf. Blot a spot.]
1. A blot or spot, as of color or of ink; especially a large or irregular spot. Also Fig.; as a moral blotch.
"Spots and blotches … some red, others yellow." - Harvey.
2. (Med.) A large pustule, or a coarse eruption.
"Foul scurf and blotches him defile." - Thomson.

Blotchy
Blotch´y, a. Having blotches.

Blote, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Bloted; p. pr. & vb. n. Bloting.] [Cf. Sw. blöt-fisk soaked fish, fr. blöta to soak. See 1st Bloat.] To cure, as herrings, by salting and smoking them; to bloat. [Obs.]

Blotter
Blot´ter (blot"ter), n.
1. One who, or that which, blots; esp. a device for absorbing superfluous ink.
2. (Com.) A wastebook, in which entries of transactions are made as they take place.

Blottesque
Blot•tesque´ (blot•tesk"), a. (Painting) Characterized by blots or heavy touches; coarsely depicted; wanting in delineation. Ruskin.

Blotting paper
Blot"ting pa•per (pa•per). A kind of thick, bibulous, unsized paper, used to absorb superfluous ink from freshly written manuscript, and thus prevent blots.

Blouse (blouz; F. blooz), n. [F. blouse. Of unknown origin.] A light, loose over-garment, like a smock frock, worn especially by workingmen in France; also a loose coat of any material, as the undress uniform coat of the United States army.

Blow (blo), v. i. [ imp. Blew (blu); p. p. Blown (blon); p. pr. & vb. n. Blowing.] [OE. blowen, AS. blowan to blossom; akin to OS. blojan, D. bloeijen, OHG. pluojan, MHG. blüejen, G. blühen, L. florere to flourish, OIr. blath blossom. Cf. Blow to puff, Flourish.] To flower; to blossom; to bloom.
"How blows the citron grove." - Milton.

Blow, v. t. To cause to blossom; to put forth (blossoms or flowers).
"The odorous banks, that blow Flowers of more mingled hue." - Milton.

Blow, n. (Bot.) A blossom; a flower; also a state of blossoming; a mass of blossoms. "Such a blow of tulips." Tatler.

Blow, n. [OE. blaw, blowe; cf. OHG. bliuwan, pliuwan, to beat, G. bläuen, Goth. bliggwan.]
1. A forcible stroke with the hand, fist, or some instrument, as a rod, a club, an ax, or a sword.
"Well struck ! there was blow for blow." - Shak.
2. A sudden or forcible act or effort; an assault.
"A vigorous blow might win [Hanno’s camp]." - T. Arnold.
3. The infliction of evil; a sudden calamity; something which produces mental, physical, or financial suffering or loss (esp. when sudden); a buffet.
"A most poor man, made tame to fortune’s blows." - Shak.
At a blow, suddenly; at one effort; by a single vigorous act. "They lose a province at a blow." Dryden. — To come to blows, to engage in combat; to fight; - - said of individuals, armies, and nations.
Syn. — Stroke; knock; shock; misfortune.

Blow, v. i. [ imp. Blew (blu); p. p. Blown (blon); p. pr. & vb. n. Blowing.] [OE. blawen, blowen, AS. blawan to blow, as wind; akin to OHG. plajan, G. blähen, to blow up, swell, L. flare to blow, Gr. ’ekflai•nein to spout out, and to E. bladder, blast, inflate, etc., and perh. blow to bloom.]
1. To produce a current of air; to move, as air, esp. to move rapidly or with power; as the wind blows.
"Hark how it rains and blows !" - Walton.
2. To send forth a forcible current of air, as from the mouth or from a pair of bellows.
3. To breathe hard or quick; to pant; to puff.
"Here is Mistress Page at the door, sweating and blowing." - Shak.
4. To sound on being blown into, as a trumpet.
"There let the pealing organ blow." - Milton.
5. To spout water, etc., from the blowholes, as a whale.
6. To be carried or moved by the wind; as the dust blows in from the street.
"The grass blows from their graves to thy own." - M. Arnold.
7. To talk loudly; to boast; to storm. [Colloq.]
"You blow behind my back, but dare not say anything to my face." - Bartlett.
To blow hot and cold (a saying derived from a fable of AEsop’s), to favor a thing at one time and treat it coldly at another; or to appear both to favor and to oppose. — To blow off, to let steam escape through a passage provided for the purpose; as the engine or steamer is blowing off. — To blow out. (a) To be driven out by the expansive force of a gas or vapor; as a steam cock or valve sometimes blows out. (b) To talk violently or abusively. [Low] — To blow over, to pass away without effect; to cease, or be dissipated; as the storm and the clouds have blown over. — To blow up, to be torn to pieces and thrown into the air as by an explosion of powder or gas or the expansive force of steam; to burst; to explode; as a powder mill or steam boiler blows up. "The enemy’s magazines blew up." Tatler.

Blow, v. t.
1. To force a current of air upon with the mouth, or by other means; as to blow the fire.
2. To drive by a current air; to impel; as the tempest blew the ship ashore.
"Off at sea northeast winds blow Sabean odors from the spicy shore." - Milton.
3. To cause air to pass through by the action of the mouth, or otherwise; to cause to sound, as a wind instrument; as to blow a trumpet; to blow an organ.
"Hath she no husband That will take pains to blow a horn before her?" - Shak.
"Boy, blow the pipe until the bubble rise, Then cast it off to float upon the skies." - Parnell.
4. To clear of contents by forcing air through; as to blow an egg; to blow one’s nose.
5. To burst, shatter, or destroy by an explosion; - - usually with up, down, open, or similar adverb; as to blow up a building.
6. To spread by report; to publish; to disclose.
"Through the court his courtesy was blown." - Dryden.
"His language does his knowledge blow." - Whiting.
7. To form by inflation; to swell by injecting air; as to blow bubbles; to blow glass.
8. To inflate, as with pride; to puff up.
"Look how imagination blows him." - Shak.
9. To put out of breath; to cause to blow from fatigue; as to blow a horse. Sir W. Scott.
10. To deposit eggs or larvae upon, or in (meat, etc.).
"To suffer The flesh fly blow my mouth." - Shak.
To blow great guns, to blow furiously and with roaring blasts; — said of the wind at sea or along the coast. — To blow off, to empty (a boiler) of water through the blow-off pipe, while under steam pressure; also to eject (steam, water, sediment, etc.) from a boiler. — To blow one’s own trumpet, to vaunt one’s own exploits, or sound one’s own praises. — To blow out, to extinguish by a current of air, as a candle. — To blow up. (a) To fill with air; to swell; as to blow up a bladder or bubble. (b) To inflate, as with pride, self-conceit, etc.; to puff up; as to blow one up with flattery. "Blown up with high conceits engendering pride." Milton. (c) To excite; as to blow up a contention. (d) To burst, to raise into the air, or to scatter, by an explosion; as to blow up a fort. (e) To scold violently; as to blow up a person for some offense. [Colloq.]
"I have blown him up well — nobody can say I wink at what he does." - G. Eliot.
— To blow upon. (a) To blast; to taint; to bring into discredit; to render stale, unsavory, or worthless. (b) To inform against. [Colloq.]
"How far the very custom of hearing anything spouted withers and blows upon a fine passage, may be seen in those speeches from [Shakespeare’s] Henry V. which are current in the mouths of schoolboys." - C. Lamb.
"A lady’s maid whose character had been blown upon. Macaulay. "

Blow, n.
1. A blowing, esp., a violent blowing of the wind; a gale; as a heavy blow came on, and the ship put back to port.
2. The act of forcing air from the mouth, or through or from some instrument; as to give a hard blow on a whistle or horn; to give the fire a blow with the bellows.
3. The spouting of a whale.
4. (Metal.) A single heat or operation of the Bessemer converter. Raymond.
5. An egg, or a larva, deposited by a fly on or in flesh, or the act of depositing it. Chapman.

Blow valve
Blow" valve . (Mach.) See Snifting valve.

Blower
Blow´er, n.
1. One who, or that which, blows.
2. (Mech.) A device for producing a current of air; as: (a) A metal plate temporarily placed before the upper part of a grate or open fire. (b) A machine for producing an artificial blast or current of air by pressure, as for increasing the draft of a furnace, ventilating a building or shaft, cleansing gram, etc.
3. A blowing out or excessive discharge of gas from a hole or fissure in a mine.
4. The whale; — so called by seamen, from the circumstance of its spouting up a column of water.
5. (Zoöl.) A small fish of the Atlantic coast ( Tetrodon turgidus); the puffer.
6. A braggart, or loud talker. [Slang] Bartlett.

Blowfly
Blow´fly, n. (Zoöl.) Any species of fly of the genus Musca that deposits its eggs or young larvae (called flyblows and maggots) upon meat or other animal products.

Blowgun
Blow´gun, n. A tube, as of cane or reed, sometimes twelve feet long, through which an arrow or other projectile may be impelled by the force of the breath. It is a weapon much used by certain Indians of America and the West Indies; — called also blowpipe, and blowtube. See Sumpitan.

Blown, p. p. & a.
1. Swollen; inflated; distended; puffed up, as cattle when gorged with green food which develops gas.
2. Stale; worthless.
3. Out of breath; tired; exhausted. "Their horses much blown." Sir W. Scott.
4. Covered with the eggs and larvae of flies; fly blown.

Blown, p. p. & a. Opened; in blossom or having blossomed, as a flower. Shak.

Blow-off
Blow´-off, n.
1. A blowing off steam, water, etc.; — also adj. as a blow-off cock or pipe.
2. An outburst of temper or excitement. [Colloq.]

Blow-out
Blow´-out, n. The cleaning of the flues of a boiler from scale, etc., by a blast of steam.

Blowpipe
Blow´pipe, n.
1. A tube for directing a jet of air into a fire or into the flame of a lamp or candle, so as to concentrate the heat on some object. It is called a mouth blowpipe when used with the mouth; but for both chemical and industrial purposes, it is often worked by a bellows or other contrivance. The common mouth blowpipe is a tapering tube with a very small orifice at the end to be inserted in the flame. The oxyhydrogen blowpipe, invented by Dr. Hare in 1801, is an instrument in which oxygen and hydrogen, taken from separate reservoirs, in the proportions of two volumes of hydrogen to one of oxygen, are burned in a jet, under pressure. It gives a heat that will consume the diamond, fuse platinum, and dissipate in vapor, or in gaseous forms, most known substances.
2. A blowgun; a blowtube. Blowpipe analysis (Chem.), analysis by means of the blowpipe. — Blowpipe reaction (Chem.), the characteristic behavior of a substance subjected to a test by means of the blowpipe.

Blowpoint
Blow´point, n. A child’s game. [Obs.]

Blowse, n. See Blowze.

Blowy
Blow´y, a. Windy; as blowy weather; a blowy upland.

Blowze, n. [Prob. from the same root as blush.] A ruddy, fat-faced woman; a wench. [Obs.] Shak.

Blowzed, a. Having high color from exposure to the weather; ruddy-faced; blowzy; disordered.
"Huge women blowzed with health and wind." - Tennyson.

Blowzy
Blowz´y, a. Coarse and ruddy- faced; fat and ruddy; high colored; frowzy.

Blub, v. t. & i. [Cf. Bleb, Blob.] To swell; to puff out, as with weeping. [Obs.]

Blubbered
Blub´bered, p. p. & a. Swollen; turgid; as a blubbered lip. Spenser.

Blubbering
Blub´ber•ing, n. The act of weeping noisily.
"He spake well save that his blubbering interrupted him." - Winthrop.

Blubbery
Blub´ber•y, a.
1. Swollen; protuberant.
2. Like blubber; gelatinous and quivering; as a blubbery mass.

Blucher
Blu´cher (blu"ker), n. A kind of half boot, named from the Prussian general Blücher. Thackeray.

Bludgeon
Bludg´eon, n. [Cf. Ir. blocan a little block, Gael. plocan a mallet, W. plocyn, dim. of ploc block; or perh. connected with E. blow a stroke. Cf. Block, Blow a stroke.] A short stick, with one end loaded, or thicker and heavier that the other, used as an offensive weapon.

Blue grass
Blue" grass . (Bot.) A species of grass ( Poa compressa) with bluish green stems, valuable in thin gravelly soils; wire grass. Kentucky blue grass, a species of grass ( Poa pratensis) which has running rootstocks and spreads rapidly. It is valuable as a pasture grass, as it endures both winter and drought better than other kinds, and is very nutritious.

Blue Hen State. The State of Delaware; — a popular sobriquet. It is said, though the story lacks proof, to have taken its origin from the insistence of a Delaware Revolutionary captain, named Caldwell, that no cock could be truly game unless the mother was a blue hen, whence Blue Hen’s Chickens came to be a nickname for the people of Delaware.

Blue jay
Blue" jay . (Zoöl.) The common jay of the United States ( Cyanocitta, or Cyanura, cristata). The predominant color is bright blue.

Blueback
Blue´back, n. (Zoöl.) (a) A trout ( Salmo oquassa) inhabiting some of the lakes of Maine. (b) A salmon ( Oncorhynchus nerka) of the Columbia River and northward. (c) An American river herring ( Clupea aestivalis), closely allied to the alewife.

Bluebeard
Blue´beard, n. The hero of a mediaeval French nursery legend, who, leaving home, enjoined his young wife not to open a certain room in his castle. She entered it, and found the murdered bodies of his former wives. — Also used adjectively of a subject which it is forbidden to investigate.
"The Bluebeard chamber of his mind, into which no eye but his own must look." - Carlyle.

Bluebell
Blue´bell, n. (Bot.) (a) A plant of the genus Campanula, especially the Campanula rotundifolia, which bears blue bell-shaped flowers; the harebell. (b) A plant of the genus Scilla ( Scilla nutans).

Blueberry
Blue´berry, n. [Cf. Blaeberry.] (Bot.) The berry of several species of Vaccinium, an ericaceous genus, differing from the American huckleberries in containing numerous minute seeds instead of ten nutlets. The commonest species are V. Pennsylvanicum and V. vacillans. V. corymbosum is the tall blueberry.

Bluebreast
Blue´breast, n. (Zoöl.) A small European bird; the blue-throated warbler.

Bluecap
Blue´cap, n.
1. (Zoöl.) (a) The bluepoll. (b) The blue bonnet or blue titmouse.
2. A Scot; a Scotchman; — so named from wearing a blue bonnet. [Poetic] Shak.

Bluecoat
Blue´coat, n. One dressed in blue, as a soldier, a sailor, a beadle, etc.

Blue-eye
Blue´-eye, n. (Zoöl.) The blue-cheeked honeysucker of Australia.

Blue-eyed
Blue´-eyed, a. Having blue eyes.

Blue-eyed grass (Bot.) a grasslike plant ( Sisyrinchium anceps), with small flowers of a delicate blue color.

Bluefin
Blue´fin, n. (Zoöl.) A species of whitefish ( Coregonus nigripinnis) found in Lake Michigan.

Bluefish
Blue´fish, n. (Zoöl.)
1. A large voracious fish ( Pomatomus saitatrix), of the family Carangidae, valued as a food fish, and widely distributed on the American coast. On the New Jersey and Rhode Island coast it is called the horse mackerel, in Virginia saltwater tailor, or skipjack.
2. A West Indian fish ( Platyglossus radiatus), of the family Labridae. The name is applied locally to other species of fishes; as the cunner, sea bass, squeteague, etc.

Bluegown
Blue´gown, n. One of a class of paupers or pensioners, or licensed beggars, in Scotland, to whim annually on the king’s birthday were distributed certain alms, including a blue gown; a beadsman.

Blue-grass State. The Sate of Kentucky; — a nickname alluding to the blue-grass region, where fine horses are bred.

Blue-john
Blue´-john, n. A name given to fluor spar in Derbyshire, where it is used for ornamental purposes.

Bluely
Blue´ly, adv. With a blue color. Swift.

Blueness
Blue´ness, n. The quality of being blue; a blue color. Boyle.

Bluenose
Blue´nose, n. A nickname for a Nova Scotian.

Bluenose
Blue´nose, n. A Nova Scotian; also a Nova Scotian ship called also Blue´nos•er )a Nova Scotian potato etc.

Bluepoll
Blue´poll, n. [ Blue + poll head.] (Zoöl.) A kind of salmon ( Salmo Cambricus) found in Wales.

Blueprint
Blue´print. See under Print.

Bluestocking
Blue´stock•ing, n.
1. A literary lady; a female pedant. [Colloq.] As explained in Boswell’s "Life of Dr. Johnson", this term is derived from the name given to certain meetings held by ladies, in Johnson’s time, for conversation with distinguished literary men. An eminent attendant of these assemblies was a Mr. Stillingfleet, who always wore blue stockings. He was so much distinguished for his conversational powers that his absence at any time was felt to be a great loss, so that the remark became common, "We can do nothing without the blue stockings." Hence these meetings were sportively called bluestocking clubs, and the ladies who attended them, bluestockings.
2. (Zoöl.) The American avocet ( Recurvirostra Americana).

Bluestockingism
Blue´stock•ing•ism, n. The character or manner of a bluestocking; female pedantry. [Colloq.]