Chapter 141

Bear's"-foot` (?) , n. (Bot.) A species of hellebore ( Helleborus f\'d2tidus ), with digitate leaves. It has an offensive smell and acrid taste, and is a powerful emetic, cathartic, and anthelmintic.

Bearskin <Xpage=129>

Bear"skin` (?) , n. 1. The skin of a bear.

2. A coarse, shaggy, woolen cloth for overcoats.

3. A cap made of bearskin, esp. one worn by soldiers.

Bear's-paw <Xpage=129>

Bear's"-paw` (?) , n. (Zo\'94l.) A large bivalve shell of the East Indies ( Hippopus maculatus ), often used as an ornament.

Bearward <Xpage=129>

Bear"ward` (?) , n. [ Bear + ward a keeper.] A keeper of bears. See Bearherd . [R.]

Shak.

Beast <Xpage=129>

Beast (?) , n. [OE. best , beste , OF. beste , F. b\'88te , fr. L. bestia .] 1. Any living creature; an animal; -- including man, insects, etc. [Obs.]

Chaucer.

2. Any four-footed animal, that may be used for labor, food, or sport; as, a beast of burden .

A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast . Prov. xii. 10.

3. As opposed to man : Any irrational animal.

4. Fig.: A coarse, brutal, filthy, or degraded fellow.

5. A game at cards similar to loo. [Obs.]

Wright.

6. A penalty at beast, omber, etc. Hence: To be beasted, to be beaten at beast, omber, etc.

Beast royal , the lion. [Obs.]

Chaucer.

Syn. -- Beast , Brute . When we use these words in a figurative sense, as applicable to human beings, we think of beasts as mere animals governed by animal appetite; and of brutes as being destitute of reason or moral feeling, and governed by unrestrained passion. Hence we speak of beastly appetites; beastly indulgences, etc.; and of brutal manners; brutal inhumanity; brutal ferocity. So, also, we say of a drunkard, that he first made himself a beast , and then treated his family like a brute .

Beasthood <Xpage=129>

Beast"hood (?) , n. State or nature of a beast.

Beastings <Xpage=129>

Beast"ings (?) , n. pl. See Biestings .

Beastlihead <Xpage=129>

Beast"li*head (?) , n. [ Beastly + -head state.] Beastliness. [Obs.]

Spenser.

Beastlike <Xpage=129>

Beast"like" (?) , a. Like a beast.

Beastliness <Xpage=129>

Beast"li*ness , n. The state or quality of being beastly.

Beastly <Xpage=129>

Beast"ly (?) , a. 1. Pertaining to, or having the form, nature, or habits of, a beast.

Beastly divinities and droves of gods. Prior.

2. Characterizing the nature of a beast; contrary to the nature and dignity of man; brutal; filthy.

The beastly vice of drinking to excess. Swift.

3. Abominable; as, beastly weather . [Colloq. Eng.]

Syn. -- Bestial; brutish; irrational; sensual; degrading.

Beat <Xpage=129>

Beat (?) , v. t. [ imp. Beat ; p. p. Beat , Beaten (<?/) ; p. pr. & vb. n. Beating .] [OE. beaten , beten , AS. be\'a0tan ; akin to Icel. bauta , OHG. b<?/zan . Cf. 1st Butt , Button .] 1. To strike repeatedly; to lay repeated blows upon; as, to beat one's breast; to beat iron so as to shape it; to beat grain, in order to force out the seeds; to beat eggs and sugar; to beat a drum.

Thou shalt beat some of it [spices] very small. Ex. xxx. 36.

They did beat the gold into thin plates. Ex. xxxix. 3.

2. To punish by blows; to thrash.

3. To scour or range over in hunting, accompanied with the noise made by striking bushes, etc., for the purpose of rousing game.

To beat the woods, and rouse the bounding prey. Prior.

4. To dash against, or strike, as with water or wind.

A frozen continent . . . beat with perpetual storms. Milton.

5. To tread, as a path.

Pass awful gulfs, and beat my painful way. Blackmore.

6. To overcome in a battle, contest, strife, race, game, etc.; to vanquish or conquer; to surpass.

He beat them in a bloody battle. Prescott.

For loveliness, it would be hard to beat that. M. Arnold.

7. To cheat; to chouse; to swindle; to defraud; -- often with out . [Colloq.]

8. To exercise severely; to perplex; to trouble.

Why should any one . . . beat his head about the Latin grammar who does not intend to be a critic? Locke.

9. (Mil.) To give the signal for, by beat of drum; to sound by beat of drum; as, to beat an alarm, a charge, a parley, a retreat; to beat the general, the reveille, the tattoo. See Alarm , Charge , Parley , etc.

To beat down , to haggle with (any one) to secure a lower price; to force down. [Colloq.] -- To beat into , to teach or instill, by repetition. -- To beat off , to repel or drive back. -- To beat out , to extend by hammering. -- To beat out of a thing, to cause to relinquish it, or give it up. "Nor can anything beat their posterity out of it to this day." South . -- To beat the dust . (Man.) (a) To take in too little ground with the fore legs, as a horse. (b) To perform curvets too precipitately or too low. -- To beat the hoof , to walk; to go on foot. -- To beat the wing , to flutter; to move with fluttering agitation. -- To beat time , to measure or regulate time in music by the motion of the hand or foot. -- To beat up , to attack suddenly; to alarm or disturb; as, to beat up an enemy's quarters.

Syn. -- To strike; pound; bang; buffet; maul; drub; thump; baste; thwack; thrash; pommel; cudgel; belabor; conquer; defeat; vanquish; overcome.

Beat <Xpage=129>

Beat , v. i. 1. To strike repeatedly; to inflict repeated blaows; to knock vigorously or loudly.

The men of the city . . . beat at the door. Judges. xix. 22.

2. To move with pulsation or throbbing.

A thousand hearts beat happily. Byron.

3. To come or act with violence; to dash or fall with force; to strike anything, as, rain, wind, and waves do .

Sees rolling tempests vainly beat below. Dryden.

They [winds] beat at the crazy casement. Longfellow.

The sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wisbed in himself to die. Jonah iv. 8.

Public envy seemeth to beat chiefly upon ministers. Bacon.

4. To be in agitation or doubt. [Poetic]

To still my beating mind. Shak .

5. (Naut.) To make progress against the wind, by sailing in a zigzag line or traverse.

6. To make a sound when struck; as, the drums beat .

7. (Mil.) To make a succession of strokes on a drum; as, the drummers beat to call soldiers to their quarters .

8. (Acoustics & Mus.) To sound with more or less rapid alternations of greater and less intensity, so as to produce a pulsating effect; -- said of instruments, tones, or vibrations, not perfectly in unison.

A beating wind (Naut.) , a wind which necessitates tacking in order to make progress. -- To beat about , to try to find; to search by various means or ways. Addison . -- To beat about the bush , to approach a subject circuitously. -- To beat up and down (Hunting) , to run first one way and then another; -- said of a stag. -- To beat up for recruits , to go diligently about in order to get helpers or participators in an enterprise.

Beat <Xpage=129>

Beat (?) , n. 1. A stroke; a blow.

He, with a careless beat , Struck out the mute creation at a heat. Dryden.

2. A recurring stroke; a throb; a pulsation; as, a beat of the heart; the beat of the pulse.

3. (Mus.) (a) The rise or fall of the hand or foot, marking the divisions of time; a division of the measure so marked. In the rhythm of music the beat is the unit. (b) A transient grace note, struck immediately before the one it is intended to ornament.

4. (Acoustics & Mus.) A sudden swelling or re\'89nforcement of a sound, recurring at regular intervals, and produced by the interference of sound waves of slightly different periods of vibrations; applied also, by analogy, to other kinds of wave motions; the pulsation or throbbing produced by the vibrating together of two tones not quite in unison. See Beat , v. i. , 8.

5. A round or course which is frequently gone over; as, a watchman's beat .

6. A place of habitual or frequent resort.

7. A cheat or swindler of the lowest grade; -- often emphasized by dead ; as, a dead beat . [Low]

Beat of drum (Mil.) , a succession of strokes varied, in different ways, for particular purposes, as to regulate a march, to call soldiers to their arms or quarters, to direct an attack, or retreat, etc. -- Beat of a watch , &or; clock , the stroke or sound made by the action of the escapement. A clock is in beat or out of beat , according as the strokes is at equal or unequal intervals.

Beat <Xpage=129>

Beat , a. Weary; tired; fatigued; exhausted. [Colloq.]

Quite beat , and very much vexed and disappointed. Dickens.

Beaten <Xpage=129>

Beat"en (?) , a. 1. Made smooth by beating or treading; worn by use. "A broad and beaten way." Milton . " Beaten gold." Shak .

2. Vanquished; conquered; baffled.

3. Exhausted; tired out.

4. Become common or trite; as, a beaten phrase . [Obs.]

5. Tried; practiced. [Obs.]

Beau. & Fl.

Beater <Xpage=129>

Beat"er (?) , n. 1. One who, or that which, beats.

2. A person who beats up game for the hunters.

Black.

Beath <Xpage=129>

Beath (?) , v. t. [AS. be<?/ian to foment.] To bathe; also, to dry or heat, as unseasoned wood. [Obs.]

Spenser.

Beatific, Beatifical <Xpage=129>

Be`a*tif"ic (?) , Be`a*tif"ic*al (?) , a. [Cf. F. b\'82atifique , L. beatificus . See Beatify .] Having the power to impart or complete blissful enjoyment; blissful. "The beatific vision." South . -- Be`a*tif"ic*al*ly , adv.

Beatificate <Xpage=129>

Be`a*tif"i*cate (?) , v. t. To beatify. [Obs.]

Fuller.

Beatification <Xpage=129>

Be*at`i*fi*ca"tion (?) , n. [Cf. F. b\'82atification .] The act of beatifying, or the state of being beatified; esp., in the R. C. Church, the act or process of ascertaining and declaring that a deceased person is one of "the blessed," or has attained the second degree of sanctity, -- usually a stage in the process of canonization. "The beatification of his spirit."

Jer. Taylor.

Beatify <Xpage=129>

Be*at"i*fy (?) , v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Beatified (<?/); p. pr. & vb. n. Beatifying .] [L. beatificare ; beatus happy (fr. beare to bless, akin to bonus good) + facere to make: cf. F. b\'82atifier . See Bounty .] 1. To pronounce or regard as happy, or supremely blessed, or as conferring happiness.

The common conceits and phrases that beatify wealth. Barrow.

2. To make happy; to bless with the completion of celestial enjoyment. " Beatified spirits."

Dryden.

3. (R. C. Ch.) To ascertain and declare, by a public process and decree, that a deceased person is one of "the blessed" and is to be reverenced as such, though not canonized.

Beating <Xpage=129>

Beat"ing (?) , n. 1. The act of striking or giving blows; punishment or chastisement by blows.

2. Pulsation; throbbing; as, the beating of the heart .

3. (Acoustics & Mus.) Pulsative sounds. See Beat , n.

4. (Naut.) The process of sailing against the wind by tacks in zigzag direction.

Beatitude <Xpage=129>

Be*at"i*tude (?) , n. [L. beatitudo : cf. F. b\'82atitude . See Beatify .] 1. Felicity of the highest kind; consummate bliss.

2. Any one of the nine declarations (called the Beatitudes ), made in the Sermon on the Mount ( Matt. v. 3-12 ), with regard to the blessedness of those who are distinguished by certain specified virtues.

3. (R. C. Ch.) Beatification.

Milman.

Syn. -- Blessedness; felicity; happiness.

Beau <Xpage=129>

Beau (?) , n. ; pl. F. Beaux (E. pron. b<?/z ), E. Beaus (#) . [F., a fop, fr. beau fine, beautiful, fr. L. bellus pretty, fine, for bonulus , dim. of bonus good. See Bounty , and cf. Belle , Beauty .] 1. A man who takes great care to dress in the latest fashion; a dandy.

2. A man who escorts, or pays attentions to, a lady; an escort; a lover.

Beaucatcher <Xpage=129>

Beau"catch`er (?) , n. A small flat curl worn on the temple by women. [Humorous]

Beaufet <Xpage=129>

Beau"fet (?) , n. [See Buffet .] A niche, cupboard, or sideboard for plate, china, glass, etc.; a buffet.

A beaufet . . . filled with gold and silver vessels. Prescott.

Beaufin <Xpage=129>

Beau"fin (?) , n. See Biffin .

Wright.

Beau ideal <Xpage=129>

Beau" i*de"al (?) . [F. beau beautiful + id\'82al ideal.] A conception or image of consummate beauty, moral or physical, formed in the mind, free from all the deformities, defects, and blemishes seen in actual existence; an ideal or faultless standard or model.

Beauish <Xpage=129>

Beau"ish (?) , n. Like a beau; characteristic of a beau; foppish; fine. "A beauish young spark."

Byrom.

Beau monde <Xpage=129>

Beau` monde" (?) . [F. beau fine + monde world.] The fashionable world; people of fashion and gayety.

Prior.

Beaupere <Xpage=129>

Beau"pere` (?) , n. [F. beau p\'82re ; beau fair + p\'82re father.] 1. A father. [Obs.]

Wyclif.

2. A companion. [Obs.]

Spenser.

Beauseant <Xpage=129>

Beau`se`ant" (?) , n. [F. beauc\'82ant .] The black and white standard of the Knights Templars.

Beauship <Xpage=129>

Beau"ship (?) , n. The state of being a beau; the personality of a beau. [Jocular]

Dryden.

Beauteous <Xpage=129>

Beau"te*ous (?) , a. Full of beauty; beautiful; very handsome. [Mostly poetic] -- Beau"te*ous*ly , adv. -- Beau"te*ous*ness , n.

Beautied <Xpage=129>

Beau"tied (?) , p. a. Beautiful; embellished. [Poetic]

Shak.

Beautifier <Xpage=129>

Beau"ti*fi`er (?) , n. One who, or that which, beautifies or makes beautiful.

Beautiful <Xpage=129>

Beau"ti*ful (?) , a. Having the qualities which constitute beauty; pleasing to the sight or the mind.

A circle is more beautiful than a square; a square is more beautiful than a parallelogram. Lord Kames.

Syn. -- Handsome; elegant; lovely; fair; charming; graceful; pretty; delightful. See Fine .

-- Beau"ti*ful*ly , adv. -- Beau"ti*ful*ness , n.

Beautify <Xpage=129>

Beau"ti*fy (?) , v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Beautified (<?/); p. pr. & vb. n. Beautifying .] [ Beauty + -fy .] To make or render beautiful; to add beauty to; to adorn; to deck; to grace; to embellish.

The arts that beautify and polish life. Burke.

Syn. -- To adorn; grace; ornament; deck; decorate.

Beautify <Xpage=129>

Beau"ti*fy , v. i. To become beautiful; to advance in beauty.

Addison.

Beautiless <Xpage=129>

Beau"ti*less , a. Destitute of beauty.

Hammond.

Beauty <Xpage=129>

Beau"ty (?) , n. ; pl. Beautie s (#) . [OE. beaute , beute , OF. beaut\'82 , biaut\'82 , Pr. beltat , F. beaut\'82 , fr. an assumed LL. bellitas , from L. bellus pretty. See Beau .]

1. An assemblage or graces or properties pleasing to the eye, the ear, the intellect, the \'91sthetic faculty, or the moral sense.

Beauty consists of a certain composition of color and figure, causing delight in the beholder. Locke.

The production of beauty by a multiplicity of symmetrical parts uniting in a consistent whole. Wordsworth.

The old definition of beauty , in the Roman school, was, "multitude in unity;" and there is no doubt that such is the principle of beauty . Coleridge.

2. A particular grace, feature, ornament, or excellence; anything beautiful; as, the beauties of nature .

3. A beautiful person, esp. a beautiful woman.

All the admired beauties of Verona. Shak.

4. Prevailing style or taste; rage; fashion. [Obs.]

She stained her hair yellow, which was then the beauty . Jer. Taylor.

Beauty spot , a patch or spot placed on the face with intent to heighten beauty by contrast.

Beaux <Xpage=129>

Beaux (?) , n. , pl. of Beau .

Beauxite <Xpage=129>

Beaux"ite (?) , n. (Min.) See Bauxite .

Beaver <Xpage=129>

Bea"ver (?) , n. [OE. bever , AS. beofer , befer ; akin to D. bever , OHG. bibar , G. biber , Sw. b\'84fver , Dan. b\'91ver , Lith. bebru , Russ. bobr' , Gael. beabhar , Corn. befer , L. fiber , and Skr. babhrus large ichneumon; also as an adj., brown , the animal being probably named from its color. <?/253. See Brown .]

1. (Zo\'94l.) An amphibious rodent, of the genus Castor .

&hand; It has palmated hind feet, and a broad, flat tail. It is remarkable for its ingenuity in constructing its valued for its fur, and for the material called castor , obtained from two small bags in the groin of the animal. The European species is Castor fiber , and the American is generally considered a variety of this, although sometimes called Castor Canadensis .

2. The fur of the beaver.

3. A hat, formerly made of the fur of the beaver, but now usually of silk.

A brown beaver slouched over his eyes. Prescott.

4. Beaver cloth, a heavy felted woolen cloth, used chiefly for making overcoats.