Chapter 112

Bows"sen (&?;), v. t. To drench; to soak; especially, to immerse (in water believed to have curative properties). [Obs.]

There were many bowssening places, for curing of mad men. . . . If there appeared small amendment he was bowssened again and again. Carew.

Bow"string` (&?;), n. 1. The string of a bow.

2. A string used by the Turks for strangling offenders.

Bowstring bridge, a bridge formed of an arch of timber or iron, often braced, the thrust of which is resisted by a tie forming a chord of the arch. -- Bowstring girder, an arched beam strengthened by a tie connecting its two ends. -- Bowstring hemp (Bot.), the tenacious fiber of the Sanseviera Zeylanica, growing in India and Africa, from which bowstrings are made. Balfour.

Bow"string` (&?;), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bowstringed (&?;) or Bowstrung (&?;); p. pr. & vb. n. Bowstringing.] To strangle with a bowstring.

Bow"stringed` (&?;), p.a. 1. Furnished with bowstring.

2. Put to death with a bowstring; strangled.

Bow"tel (&?;), n. See Boultel.

Bow"wow` (&?;), n. An onomatopoetic name for a dog or its bark. -- a. Onomatopoetic; as, the bowwow theory of language; a bowwow word. [Jocose.]

Bow"yer (&?;), n. [From Bow, like lawyer from law.]

1. An archer; one who uses bow.

2. One who makes or sells bows.

Box (bks), n. [As. box, L. buxus, fr. Gr. &?;. See Box a case.] (Bot.) A tree or shrub, flourishing in different parts of the world. The common box (Buxus sempervirens) has two varieties, one of which, the dwarf box (B. suffruticosa), is much used for borders in gardens. The wood of the tree varieties, being very hard and smooth, is extensively used in the arts, as by turners, engravers, mathematical instrument makers, etc.

Box elder, the ash-leaved maple (Negundo aceroides), of North America. -- Box holly, the butcher's broom (Russus aculeatus). -- Box thorn, a shrub (Lycium barbarum). -- Box tree, the tree variety of the common box.

Box, n.; pl. Boxes (&?;) [As. box a small case or vessel with a cover; akin to OHG. buhsa box, G. büchse; fr. L. buxus boxwood, anything made of boxwood. See Pyx, and cf. Box a tree, Bushel.] 1. A receptacle or case of any firm material and of various shapes.

2. The quantity that a box contain.

3. A space with a few seats partitioned off in a theater, or other place of public amusement.

Laughed at by the pit, box, galleries, nay, stage. Dorset.

The boxes and the pit are sovereign judges. Dryden.

4. A chest or any receptacle for the deposit of money; as, a poor box; a contribution box.

Yet since his neighbors give, the churl unlocks, Damning the poor, his tripple-bolted box. J. Warton.

5. A small country house. "A shooting box." Wilson.

Tight boxes neatly sashed. Cowper.

6. A boxlike shed for shelter; as, a sentry box.

7. (Mach) (a) An axle box, journal box, journal bearing, or bushing. (b) A chamber or section of tube in which a valve works; the bucket of a lifting pump.

8. The driver's seat on a carriage or coach.

9. A present in a box; a present; esp. a Christmas box or gift. "A Christmas box." Dickens.

10. (Baseball) The square in which the pitcher stands.

11. (Zoöl.) A Mediterranean food fish; the bogue.

Box is much used adjectively or in composition; as box lid, box maker, box circle, etc.; also with modifying substantives; as money box, letter box, bandbox, hatbox or hat box, snuff box or snuffbox.

Box beam (Arch.), a beam made of metal plates so as to have the form of a long box. -- Box car (Railroads), a freight car covered with a roof and inclosed on the sides to protect its contents. -- Box chronometer, a ship's chronometer, mounted in gimbals, to preserve its proper position. -- Box coat, a thick overcoat for driving; sometimes with a heavy cape to carry off the rain. -- Box coupling, a metal collar uniting the ends of shafts or other parts in machinery. -- Box crab (Zoöl.), a crab of the genus Calappa, which, when at rest with the legs retracted, resembles a box. -- Box drain (Arch.), a drain constructed with upright sides, and with flat top and bottom. -- Box girder (Arch.), a box beam. -- Box groove (Metal Working), a closed groove between two rolls, formed by a collar on one roll fitting between collars on another. R. W. Raymond. -- Box metal, an alloy of copper and tin, or of zinc, lead, and antimony, for the bearings of journals, etc. -- Box plait, a plait that doubles both to the right and the left. -- Box turtle or Box tortoise (Zoöl.), a land tortoise or turtle of the genera Cistudo and Emys; -- so named because it can withdraw entirely within its shell, which can be closed by hinged joints in the lower shell. Also, humorously, an exceedingly reticent person. Emerson. -- In a box, in a perplexity or an embarrassing position; in difficulty. (Colloq.) -- In the wrong box, out of one's place; out of one's element; awkwardly situated. (Colloq.) Ridley (1554)

Box, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Boxed (&?;); p. pr. & vb. n. Boxing.]

1. To inclose in a box.

2. To furnish with boxes, as a wheel.

3. (Arch.) To inclose with boarding, lathing, etc., so as to bring to a required form.

To box a tree, to make an incision or hole in a tree for the purpose of procuring the sap. -- To box off, to divide into tight compartments. -- To box up. (a) To put into a box in order to save; as, he had boxed up twelve score pounds. (b) To confine; as, to be boxed up in narrow quarters.

Box, n. [Cf.Dan. baske to slap, bask slap, blow. Cf. Pash.] A blow on the head or ear with the hand.

A good-humored box on the ear. W. Irving.

Box, v. i. To fight with the fist; to combat with, or as with, the hand or fist; to spar.

Box, v. t. To strike with the hand or fist, especially to strike on the ear, or on the side of the head.

Box, v. t. [Cf.Sp. boxar, now spelt bojar.] To boxhaul.

To box off (Naut.), to turn the head of a vessel either way by bracing the headyards aback. -- To box the compass (Naut.), to name the thirty-two points of the compass in their order.

Box"ber`ry (&?;), n. (Bot.) The wintergreen. (Gaultheria procumbens). [Local, U.S.]

<! p. 173 !>

Box"en (bks"'n), a. Made of boxwood; pertaining to, or resembling, the box (Buxus). [R.]

The faded hue of sapless boxen leaves. Dryden.

Box"er (bks"r), n. One who packs boxes.

Box"er, n. One who boxes; a pugilist.

Box"fish` (&?;), n. (Zoöl.) The trunkfish.

Box"haul` (&?;), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Boxhauled (&?;).] (Naut.) To put (a vessel) on the other tack by veering her short round on her heel; -- so called from the circumstance of bracing the head yards abox (i. e., sharp aback, on the wind). Totten.

Box"haul`ing, n. (Naut.) A method of going from one tack to another. See Boxhaul.

Box"ing, n. 1. The act of inclosing (anything) in a box, as for storage or transportation.

2. Material used in making boxes or casings.

3. Any boxlike inclosure or recess; a casing.

4. (Arch.) The external case of thin material used to bring any member to a required form.

Box"ing, n. The act of fighting with the fist; a combat with the fist; sparring. Blackstone.

Boxing glove, a large padded mitten or glove used in sparring for exercise or amusement.

Box"-i`ron (&?;), n. A hollow smoothing iron containing a heater within.

Box"keep`er (&?;), n. An attendant at a theater who has charge of the boxes.

Box"thorn` (&?;), n. (Bot.) A plant of the genus Lycium, esp. Lycium barbarum.

Box"wood` (&?;), n. The wood of the box (Buxus).

Boy (&?;), n. [Cf. D. boef, Fries. boi, boy; akin to G. bube, Icel. bofi rouge.] A male child, from birth to the age of puberty; a lad; hence, a son.

My only boy fell by the side of great Dundee. Sir W. Scott.

Boy is often used as a term of comradeship, as in college, or in the army or navy. In the plural used colloquially of members of an associaton, fraternity, or party.

Boy bishop, a boy (usually a chorister) elected bishop, in old Christian sports, and invested with robes and other insignia. He practiced a kind of mimicry of the ceremonies in which the bishop usually officiated. -- The Old Boy, the Devil. [Slang] -- Yellow boys, guineas. [Slang, Eng.] -- Boy's love, a popular English name of Southernwood (Artemisia abrotonum); -- called also lad's love. -- Boy's play, childish amusements; anything trifling.

Boy, v. t. To act as a boy; -- in allusion to the former practice of boys acting women's parts on the stage.

I shall see Some squeaking Cleopatra boy my greatness. Shak.

{ Bo*yar" (&?;), Bo*yard" (&?;), } n. [Russ. boiárin'.] A member of a Russian aristocratic order abolished by Peter the Great. Also, one of a privileged class in Roumania.

English writers sometimes call Russian landed proprietors boyars.

||Boy"au (&?;), n.; pl. Boyaux or Boyaus (&?;). [F. boyau gut, a long and narrow place, and (of trenches) a branch. See Bowel.] (Fort.) A winding or zigzag trench forming a path or communication from one siegework to another, to a magazine, etc.

Boy"cott` (&?;), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Boycotted; p. pr. & vb. n. Boycotting.] [From Captain Boycott, a land agent in Mayo, Ireland, so treated in 1880.] To combine against (a landlord, tradesman, employer, or other person), to withhold social or business relations from him, and to deter others from holding such relations; to subject to a boycott.

Boy"cott, n. The process, fact, or pressure of boycotting; a combining to withhold or prevent dealing or social intercourse with a tradesman, employer, etc.; social and business interdiction for the purpose of coercion.

Boy"cott`er (&?;), n. A participant in boycotting.

Boy"cott*ism (&?;), n. Methods of boycotters.

Boy"de*kin (&?;), n. A dagger; a bodkin. [Obs.]

Boy"er (&?;), n. [D. boeijer; -- so called because these vessels were employed for laying the boeijen, or buoys: cf. F. boyer. See Buoy.] (Naut.) A Flemish sloop with a castle at each end. Sir W. Raleigh.

Boy"hood (&?;), n. [Boy + - hood.] The state of being a boy; the time during which one is a boy. Hood.

Boy"ish, a. Resembling a boy in a manners or opinions; belonging to a boy; childish; trifling; puerile.

A boyish, odd conceit. Baillie.

Boy"ish*ly, adv. In a boyish manner; like a boy.

Boy"ish*ness, n. The manners or behavior of a boy.

Boy"ism (&?;), n. 1. Boyhood. [Obs.] T. Warton.

2. The nature of a boy; childishness. Dryden.

Boyle's" law` (&?;). See under Law.

||Bo"za (&?;), n. [See Bosa.] An acidulated fermented drink of the Arabs and Egyptians, made from millet seed and various astringent substances; also, an intoxicating beverage made from hemp seed, darnel meal, and water. [Written also bosa, bozah, bouza.]

Bra*bant"ine (&?;), a. Pertaining to Brabant, an ancient province of the Netherlands.

Brab"ble (&?;), v. i. [D. brabbelen to talk confusedly. &?;95. Cf. Blab, Babble.] To clamor; to contest noisily. [R.]

Brab"ble, n. A broil; a noisy contest; a wrangle.

This petty brabble will undo us all. Shak.

Brab"ble*ment (&?;), n. A brabble. [R.] Holland.

Brab"bler (&?;), n. A clamorous, quarrelsome, noisy fellow; a wrangler. [R] Shak.

Brac"cate (&?;), a. [L. bracatus wearing breeches, fr. bracae breeches.] (Zoöl.) Furnished with feathers which conceal the feet.

Brace (&?;), n. [OF. brace, brasse, the two arms, embrace, fathom, F. brasse fathom, fr. L. bracchia the arms (stretched out), pl. of bracchium arm; cf. Gr. &?;.] 1. That which holds anything tightly or supports it firmly; a bandage or a prop.

2. A cord, ligament, or rod, for producing or maintaining tension, as a cord on the side of a drum.

The little bones of the ear drum do in straining and relaxing it as the braces of the war drum do in that. Derham.

3. The state of being braced or tight; tension.

The laxness of the tympanum, when it has lost its brace or tension. Holder.

4. (Arch. & Engin.) A piece of material used to transmit, or change the direction of, weight or pressure; any one of the pieces, in a frame or truss, which divide the structure into triangular parts. It may act as a tie, or as a strut, and serves to prevent distortion of the structure, and transverse strains in its members. A boiler brace is a diagonal stay, connecting the head with the shell.

5. (Print.) A vertical curved line connecting two or more words or lines, which are to be taken together; thus, boll, bowl; or, in music, used to connect staves.

6. (Naut.) A rope reeved through a block at the end of a yard, by which the yard is moved horizontally; also, a rudder gudgeon.

7. (Mech.) A curved instrument or handle of iron or wood, for holding and turning bits, etc.; a bitstock.

8. A pair; a couple; as, a brace of ducks; now rarely applied to persons, except familiarly or with some contempt. "A brace of greyhounds." Shak.

He is said to have shot . . . fifty brace of pheasants. Addison.

A brace of brethren, both bishops, both eminent for learning and religion, now appeared in the church. Fuller.

But you, my brace of lords. Shak.

9. pl. Straps or bands to sustain trousers; suspenders.

I embroidered for you a beautiful pair of braces. Thackeray.

10. Harness; warlike preparation. [Obs.]

For that it stands not in such warlike brace. Shak.

11. Armor for the arm; vantbrace.

12. (Mining) The mouth of a shaft. [Cornwall]

Angle brace. See under Angle.

Brace (&?;), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Braced (&?;); p. pr. & vb. n. Bracing.] 1. To furnish with braces; to support; to prop; as, to brace a beam in a building.

2. To draw tight; to tighten; to put in a state of tension; to strain; to strengthen; as, to brace the nerves.

And welcome war to brace her drums. Campbell.

3. To bind or tie closely; to fasten tightly.

The women of China, by bracing and binding them from their infancy, have very little feet. Locke.

Some who spurs had first braced on. Sir W. Scott.

4. To place in a position for resisting pressure; to hold firmly; as, he braced himself against the crowd.

A sturdy lance in his right hand he braced. Fairfax.

5. (Naut.) To move around by means of braces; as, to brace the yards.

To brace about (Naut.), to turn (a yard) round for the contrary tack. -- To brace a yard (Naut.), to move it horizontally by means of a brace. -- To brace in (Naut.), to turn (a yard) by hauling in the weather brace. -- To brace one's self, to call up one's energies. "He braced himself for an effort which he was little able to make." J. D. Forbes. -- To brace to (Naut.), to turn (a yard) by checking or easing off the lee brace, and hauling in the weather one, to assist in tacking. -- To brace up (Naut.), to bring (a yard) nearer the direction of the keel by hauling in the lee brace. -- To brace up sharp (Naut.), to turn (a yard) as far forward as the rigging will permit.

Brace, v. i. To get tone or vigor; to rouse one's energies; -- with up. [Colloq.]

Brace"let (&?;), n. [F. bracelet, dim. of OF. bracel armlet, prop. little arm, dim. of bras arm, fr. L. bracchium. See Brace, n.] 1. An ornamental band or ring, for the wrist or the arm; in modern times, an ornament encircling the wrist, worn by women or girls.

2. A piece of defensive armor for the arm. Johnson.

Bra"cer (&?;), n. 1. That which braces, binds, or makes firm; a band or bandage.

2. A covering to protect the arm of the bowman from the vibration of the string; also, a brassart. Chaucer.

3. A medicine, as an astringent or a tonic, which gives tension or tone to any part of the body. Johnson.

Brach (brk), n. [OE. brache a kind of scenting hound or setting dog, OF. brache, F. braque, fr. OHG. braccho, G. bracke; possibly akin to E. fragrant, fr. L. fragrare to smell.] A bitch of the hound kind. Shak.

||Brach*el"y*tra (&?;), n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. (&?;) short + &?; a covering.] (Zoöl.) A group of beetles having short elytra, as the rove beetles.

||Brach"i*a (&?;), n. pl. See Brachium.

Brach"i*al (&?;) or (&?;), a. [L. brachialis (bracch-), from bracchium (bracch-) arm: cf. F. brachial.] 1. (Anat.) Pertaining or belonging to the arm; as, the brachial artery; the brachial nerve.

2. Of the nature of an arm; resembling an arm.

||Brach`i*a"ta (&?;), n. pl. [See Brachiate.] (Zoöl.) A division of the Crinoidea, including those furnished with long jointed arms. See Crinoidea.

Brach"i*ate (&?;), a. [L. brachiatus (bracch-) with boughs or branches like arms, from brackium (bracch-) arm.] (Bot.) Having branches in pairs, decussated, all nearly horizontal, and each pair at right angles with the next, as in the maple and lilac.

Brach`i*og"a*noid (&?;), n. One of the Brachioganoidei.

||Brach`i*o*ga*noid"e*i (&?;), n. pl. [NL., from L. brachium (bracch-) arm + NL. ganoidei.] (Zoöl.) An order of ganoid fishes of which the bichir of Africa is a living example. See Crossopterygii.

||Brach`i*o*la"ri*a (&?;), n. pl. [NL., fr. L. brachiolum (bracch-), dim. of brachium (bracch-) arm.] (Zoöl.) A peculiar early larval stage of certain starfishes, having a bilateral structure, and swimming by means of bands of vibrating cilia.

Brach"i*o*pod (&?;), n. [Cf.F. brachiopode.] (Zoöl.) One of the Brachiopoda, or its shell.

||Brach`i*op"o*da (&?;), n. [NL., from Gr. &?; arm + -poda.] (Zoöl.) A class of Molluscoidea having a symmetrical bivalve shell, often attached by a fleshy peduncle.

Within the shell is a pair of "arms," often long and spirally coiled, bearing rows of ciliated tentacles by which a current of water is made to flow into the mantle cavity, bringing the microscopic food to the mouth between the bases of the arms. The shell is both opened and closed by special muscles. They form two orders; Lyopoma, in which the shell is thin, and without a distinct hinge, as in Lingula; and Arthropoma, in which the firm calcareous shell has a regular hinge, as in Rhynchonella. See Arthropomata.

||Brach"i*um (&?;), n.; pl. Bracchia (&?;). [L. brachium or bracchium, arm.] (Anat.) The upper arm; the segment of the fore limb between the shoulder and the elbow.

Brach"man (&?;), n. [L. Brachmanae, pl., Gr. &?;.] See Brahman. [Obs.]

Brach`y*cat`a*lec"tic (&?;), n. [Gr. &?;; brachy`s short + &?; to leave off; cf. &?; incomplete.] (Gr. & Last. Pros.) A verse wanting two syllables at its termination.

{ Brach`y*ce*phal"ic (&?;), Brach`y*ceph"a*lous (&?;) }, a. [Gr. brachy`s short + &?; head.] (Anat.) Having the skull short in proportion to its breadth; shortheaded; -- in distinction from dolichocephalic.

{ Brach`y*ceph"a*ly (&?;), Brach`y*ceph"a*lism (&?;) }, n. [Cf. F. Brachycéphalie] . (Anat.) The state or condition of being brachycephalic; shortness of head.

Bra*chyc"er*al (&?;), a. [Gr. brachy`s short + &?; horn.] (Zoöl.) Having short antennæ, as certain insects.

Brach`y*di*ag"o*nal (&?;), a. [Gr. brachy`s short + E. diagonal.] Pertaining to the shorter diagonal, as of a rhombic prism.

Brachydiagonal axis, the shorter lateral axis of an orthorhombic crystal.

Brach`y*di*ag"o*nal, n. The shorter of the diagonals in a rhombic prism.

Brach`y*dome (&?;), n. [Gr. brachy`s short + E. dome.] (Crystallog.) A dome parallel to the shorter lateral axis. See Dome.

Bra*chyg"ra*pher (&?;), n. A writer in short hand; a stenographer.

He asked the brachygrapher whether he wrote the notes of the sermon. Gayton.

Bra*chyg"ra*phy (&?;), n. [Gr. brachy`s short + -graphy: cf. F. brachygraphie.] Stenography. B. Jonson.

Bra*chyl"o*gy (&?;), n. [Gr. &?; : brachy`s short + &?; discourse: cf. F. brachylogie.] (Rhet.) Conciseness of expression; brevity.

Brach`y*pin"a*coid (&?;), n. [Gr. brachy`s short + E. pinacoid.] (Crytallog.) A plane of an orthorhombic crystal which is parallel both to the vertical axis and to the shorter lateral (brachydiagonal) axis.

||Bra*chyp"te*ra (&?;), n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. &?; short-winged; brachy`s short + &?; feather, wing.] (Zoöl.) A group of Coleoptera having short wings; the rove beetles.

||Bra*chyp"te*res (&?;), n.pl. [NL. See Brachyptera. ] (Zoöl.) A group of birds, including auks, divers, and penguins.

Bra*chyp"ter*ous (&?;), a. [Gr. &?; : cf. F. brachyptère.] (Zoöl.) Having short wings.

Bra*chys"to*chrone (&?;), n. [Incorrect for brachistochrone, fr. Gr. bra`chistos shortest (superl. of brachy`s short) + &?; time : cf. F. brachistochrone. ] (Math.) A curve, in which a body, starting from a given point, and descending solely by the force of gravity, will reach another given point in a shorter time than it could by any other path. This curve of quickest descent, as it is sometimes called, is, in a vacuum, the same as the cycloid.

Brach"y*ty`pous (&?;), a. [Gr. &?; short + &?; stamp, form.] (Min.) Of a short form.

||Brach`y*u"ra (&?;), n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. brachy`s short + &?; tail.] (Zoöl.) A group of decapod Crustacea, including the common crabs, characterized by a small and short abdomen, which is bent up beneath the large cephalo-thorax. [Also spelt Brachyoura.] See Crab, and Illustration in Appendix.

{ Brach`y*u"ral (&?;), Brach`y*u"rous (&?;) }, a. [Cf. F. brachyure.] (Zoöl.) Of or pertaining to the Brachyura.

Brach`y*u"ran (&?;), n. One of the Brachyura.

Bra"cing (&?;), a. Imparting strength or tone; strengthening; invigorating; as, a bracing north wind.

Bra"cing (&?;), n. 1. The act of strengthening, supporting, or propping, with a brace or braces; the state of being braced.

2. (Engin.) Any system of braces; braces, collectively; as, the bracing of a truss.

<! p. 174 !>

Brack (brk), n. [Cf.D. braak, Dan. bræk, a breaking, Sw. & Icel. brak a crackling, creaking. Cf. Breach.] An opening caused by the parting of any solid body; a crack or breach; a flaw.

Stain or brack in her sweet reputation. J. Fletcher.

Brack, n. [D. brak, adj., salt; cf. LG. wrak refuse, G. brack.] Salt or brackish water. [Obs.] Drayton.

Brack"en (&?;), n. [OE. braken, AS. bracce. See 2d Brake, n.] A brake or fern. Sir W. Scott.

Brack"et (&?;), n. [Cf.OF. braguette codpiece, F. brayette, Sp. bragueta, also a projecting mold in architecture; dim. fr.L. bracae breeches; cf. also, OF. bracon beam, prop, support; of unknown origin. Cf. Breeches.]

1. (Arch.) An architectural member, plain or ornamental, projecting from a wall or pier, to support weight falling outside of the same; also, a decorative feature seeming to discharge such an office.

This is the more general word. See Brace, Cantalever, Console, Corbel, Strut.

2. (Engin. & Mech.) A piece or combination of pieces, usually triangular in general shape, projecting from, or fastened to, a wall, or other surface, to support heavy bodies or to strengthen angles.

3. (Naut.) A shot, crooked timber, resembling a knee, used as a support.

4. (Mil.) The cheek or side of an ordnance carriage.

5. (Print.) One of two characters [], used to inclose a reference, explanation, or note, or a part to be excluded from a sentence, to indicate an interpolation, to rectify a mistake, or to supply an omission, and for certain other purposes; -- called also crotchet.

6. A gas fixture or lamp holder projecting from the face of a wall, column, or the like.

Bracket light, a gas fixture or a lamp attached to a wall, column, etc.

Brack"et, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bracketed; p. pr. & vb. n. Bracketing] To place within brackets; to connect by brackets; to furnish with brackets.

Brack"et*ing, n. (Arch.) A series or group of brackets; brackets, collectively.

Brack"ish (&?;), a. [See Brack salt water.] Saltish, or salt in a moderate degree, as water in saline soil.

Springs in deserts found seem sweet, all brackish though they be. Byron.

Brack"ish*ness, n. The quality or state of being brackish, or somewhat salt.

Brack"y (&?;), a. Brackish. Drayton.

Bract (&?;), n. [See Bractea.] (Bot.) (a) A leaf, usually smaller than the true leaves of a plant, from the axil of which a flower stalk arises. (b) Any modified leaf, or scale, on a flower stalk or at the base of a flower.

Bracts are often inconspicuous, but sometimes large and showy, or highly colored, as in many cactaceous plants. The spathes of aroid plants are conspicuous forms of bracts.

||Brac"te*a (&?;), n. [L., a thin plate of metal or wood, gold foil.] (Bot.) A bract.