Chapter 101

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.

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.

Blis"ter*y (&?;), a. Full of blisters. Hooker.

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

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Blithe (bl), a. [AS. blðe blithe, kind; akin to Goth. bleiþs kind, Icel. blðr mild, gentle, Dan. & Sw. blid gentle, D. blijd blithe, OHG. bldi 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.

Blithe"ful (bl"fl), a. Gay; full of gayety; joyous.

Blithe"ly, adv. In a blithe manner.

Blithe"ness, n. The state of being blithe. Chaucer.

Blithe"some (-sm), a. Cheery; gay; merry.

The blithesome sounds of wassail gay. Sir W. Scott.

-- Blithe"some*ly, adv. -- Blithe"some*ness, n.

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

Bliz"zard (blz"zrd), n. [Cf. Blaze to flash. Formerly, in local use, a rattling volley; cf. "to blaze away" to fire away.] A gale of piercingly cold wind, usually accompanied with fine and blinding snow; a furious blast. [U. S.]

Bloat (blt), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bloated; p. pr. & vb. n. Bloating.] [Cf. Icel. blotna to become soft, blautr soft, wet, Sw. blöt soft, blöta to soak; akin to G. bloss bare, and AS. bleát wretched; or perh. fr. root of Eng. 5th blow. Cf. Blote.] 1. To make turgid, as with water or air; to cause a swelling of the surface of, from effusion of serum in the cellular tissue, producing a morbid enlargement, often accompanied with softness.

2. To inflate; to puff up; to make vain. Dryden.

Bloat, v. i. To grow turgid as by effusion of liquid in the cellular tissue; to puff out; to swell. Arbuthnot.

Bloat, a. Bloated. [R.] Shak.

Bloat, n. A term of contempt for a worthless, dissipated fellow. [Slang]

Bloat, v. t. To dry (herrings) in smoke. See Blote.

Bloat"ed (blt"d), p. a. Distended beyond the natural or usual size, as by the presence of water, serum, etc.; turgid; swollen; as, a bloated face. Also, puffed up with pride; pompous.

Bloat"ed*ness, n. The state of being bloated.

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

Blob (blb), n. [See Bleb.] 1. Something blunt and round; a small drop or lump of something viscid or thick; a drop; a bubble; a blister. Wright.

2. (Zoöl.) A small fresh-water fish (Uranidea Richardsoni); the miller's thumb.

Blob"ber (blb"br), n. [See Blubber, Blub.] A bubble; blubber. [Low] T. Carew.

Blobber lip, a thick, protruding lip.

His blobber lips and beetle brows commend. Dryden.

Blob"ber-lipped` (-lpt`), a. Having thick lips. "A blobber-lipped shell." Grew.

||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*ade" (&?;), n. [Cf. It. bloccata. See Block, v. t. ] 1. The shutting up of a place by troops or ships, with the purpose of preventing ingress or egress, or the reception of supplies; as, the blockade of the ports of an enemy.

Blockade is now usually applied to an investment with ships or vessels, while siege is used of an investment by land forces. To constitute a blockade, the investing power must be able to apply its force to every point of practicable access, so as to render it dangerous to attempt to enter; and there is no blockade of that port where its force can not be brought to bear. Kent.

2. An obstruction to passage.

To raise a blockade. See under Raise.

Block*ade", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Blockaded; p. pr. & vb. n. Blockading.] 1. To shut up, as a town or fortress, by investing it with troops or vessels or war for the purpose of preventing ingress or egress, or the introduction of supplies. See note under Blockade, n. "Blockaded the place by sea." Gilpin.

2. Hence, to shut in so as to prevent egress.

Till storm and driving ice blockade him there. Wordsworth.

3. To obstruct entrance to or egress from.

Huge bales of British cloth blockade the door. Pope.

Block*ad"er (&?;), n. 1. One who blockades.

2. (Naut.) A vessel employed in blockading.

Block"age (&?;), n. The act of blocking up; the state of being blocked up.

Block" book` (&?;). A book printed from engraved wooden blocks instead of movable types.

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.

Block"head`ed, a. Stupid; dull.

Block"head*ism (&?;), n. That which characterizes a blockhead; stupidity. Carlyle.

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 with 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.]

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.

Block"ing course` (&?;). (Arch.) The finishing course of a wall showing above a cornice.

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

Block"like` (&?;), a. Like a block; stupid.

Block" tin` (&?;). See under Tin.

Bloe"dite (&?;), n. [From the chemist Blöde.] (Min.) A hydrous sulphate of magnesium and sodium.

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.

Blond" met`al (&?;). A variety of clay ironstone, in Staffordshire, England, used for making tools.

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

Blood (bld), n. [OE. blod, blood, AS. bld; akin to D. bloed, OHG. bluot, G. blut, Goth. blþ, Icel. blð, 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 hæmoglobin of the red blood corpuscles; hæmatocrystallin. 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; toxæmia. -- 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.

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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"bird` (bld"brd`), n. (Zoöl.) An Australian honeysucker (Myzomela sanguineolata); -- so called from the bright red color of the male bird.

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.

Blood"ed, a. Having pure blood, or a large admixture or pure blood; of approved breed; of the best stock.

Used also in composition in phrases indicating a particular condition or quality of blood; as, cold-blooded; warm- blooded.

Blood"flow`er (&?;), n. [From the color of the flower.] (Bot.) A genus of bulbous plants, natives of Southern Africa, named Hæmanthus, of the Amaryllis family. The juice of H. toxicarius is used by the Hottentots to poison their arrows.

Blood"guilt`y (&?;), a. Guilty of murder or bloodshed. "A bloodguilty life." Fairfax. -- Blood"guilt`i*ness (&?;), n. -- Blood"guilt`less, a.

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.

Blood"i*ly (&?;), adv. In a bloody manner; cruelly; with a disposition to shed blood.

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.

Blood"less, a. [AS. bl&?;dleás.] 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.

Blood"let` (&?;), v. t. [AS. bl&?;dl&?;tan; bl&?;d blood + l&?;atan to let.] bleed; to let blood. Arbuthnot.

Blood"let`ter (&?;), n. One who, or that which, lets blood; a phlebotomist.

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.

Blood" mon`ey (&?;). 1. Money paid to the next of kin of a person who has been killed by another.

2. Money obtained as the price, or at the cost, of another's life; -- said of a reward for supporting a capital charge, of money obtained for betraying a fugitive or for committing murder, or of money obtained from the sale of that which will destroy the purchaser.

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.

Blood"shed` (&?;), n. [Blood + shed] The shedding or spilling of blood; slaughter; the act of shedding human blood, or taking life, as in war, riot, or murder.

Blood"shed`der (&?;), n. One who sheds blood; a manslayer; a murderer.

Blood"shed`ding (&?;), n. Bloodshed. Shak.

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"-shot`ten (&?;), a. Bloodshot. [Obs.]

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.

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."

Blood"stroke` (&?;), n. [Cf. F. coup de sang.] Loss of sensation and motion from hemorrhage or congestion in the brain. Dunglison.

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.

Blood"thirst`y (&?;), a. Eager to shed blood; cruel; sanguinary; murderous. -- Blood"thirst`i*ness (&?;), n.

Blood"ulf (&?;), n. (Zoöl.) The European bullfinch.

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. bl&?;wte; bl&?;d blood, + wte wite, fine.] (Anc. Law) A fine or amercement paid as a composition for the shedding of blood; also, a riot wherein blood was spilled.

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 Hæmatoxylon of Jamaica, and several species of Australian Eucalyptus; also the true logwood ( Hæmatoxylon campechianum).

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 (Hæmodoraceæ), the roots of many species of which contain a red coloring matter useful in dyeing.

Blood"y (&?;), a. [AS. bldig.] 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.

Blood"y, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bloodied (&?;); p. pr. & vb. n. Bloodying.] To stain with blood. Overbury.

Blood"y*bones` (&?;), n. A terrible bugbear.

Blood"y flux` (&?;). The dysentery, a disease in which the flux or discharge from the bowels has a mixture of blood. Arbuthnot.

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.

Blood"y-mind"ed (&?;), a. Having a cruel, ferocious disposition; bloodthirsty. Dryden.

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

Bloom (&?;), n. [OE. blome, fr. Icel. bl&?;m, bl&?;mi; akin to Sw. blom, Goth. bl&?;ma, OS. bl&?;mo, D. bloem, OHG. bluomo, bluoma, G. blume; fr. the same root as AS. bl&?;wan 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.