Chapter 127

Bush"ment (&?;), n. [OE. busshement ambush, fr. bush.] 1. A thicket; a cluster of bushes. [Obs.] Raleigh.

2. An ambuscade. [Obs.] Sir T. More.

Bush"ran`ger (&?;), n. One who roams, or hides, among the bushes; especially, in Australia, an escaped criminal living in the bush.

Bush"whack`er (&?;), n. 1. One accustomed to beat about, or travel through, bushes. [U.S.]

They were gallant bushwhackers, and hunters of raccoons by moonlight. W. Irving.

2. A guerrilla; a marauding assassin; one who pretends to be a peaceful citizen, but secretly harasses a hostile force or its sympathizers. [U.S.] Farrow.

Bush"whack`ing, n. 1. Traveling, or working a way, through bushes; pulling by the bushes, as in hauling a boat along the bushy margin of a stream. [U.S.] T. Flint.

2. The crimes or warfare of bushwhackers. [U.S.]

Bush"y (&?;), a. [From 1st Bush.] 1. Thick and spreading, like a bush. "Bushy eyebrows." Irving.

2. Full of bushes; overgrowing with shrubs.

Dingle, or bushy dell, of this wild wood. Milton.

Bus"i*ly (&?;), adv. In a busy manner.

Busi"ness (&?;), n.; pl. Businesses (&?;). [From Busy.] 1. That which busies one, or that which engages the time, attention, or labor of any one, as his principal concern or interest, whether for a longer or shorter time; constant employment; regular occupation; as, the business of life; business before pleasure.

Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business? Luke ii. 49.

2. Any particular occupation or employment engaged in for livelihood or gain, as agriculture, trade, art, or a profession. "The business of instruction." Prescott.

3. Financial dealings; buying and selling; traffic in general; mercantile transactions.

It seldom happens that men of a studious turn acquire any degree of reputation for their knowledge of business. Bp. Popteus.

4. That which one has to do or should do; special service, duty, or mission.

The daughter of the King of France, On serious business, craving quick despatch, Importunes personal conference. Shak.

What business has the tortoise among the clouds? L'Estrange.

5. Affair; concern; matter; -- used in an indefinite sense, and modified by the connected words.

It was a gentle business, and becoming The action of good women. Shak.

Bestow Your needful counsel to our business. Shak.

6. (Drama) The position, distribution, and order of persons and properties on the stage of a theater, as determined by the stage manager in rehearsal.

7. Care; anxiety; diligence. [Obs.] Chaucer.

To do one's business, to ruin one. [Colloq.] Wycherley. -- To make (a thing) one's business, to occupy one's self with a thing as a special charge or duty. [Colloq.] -- To mean business, to be earnest. [Colloq.]

Syn. -- Affairs; concern; transaction; matter; engagement; employment; calling; occupation; trade; profession; vocation; office; duty.

Busi"ness*like` (&?;), a. In the manner of one transacting business wisely and by right methods.

Busk (bsk), n. [F. busc, perh. fr. the hypothetical older form of E. bois wood, because the first busks were made of wood. See Bush, and cf. OF. busche, F. bûche, a piece or log of wood, fr. the same root.] A thin, elastic strip of metal, whalebone, wood, or other material, worn in the front of a corset.

Her long slit sleeves, stiff busk, puff verdingall, Is all that makes her thus angelical. Marston.

Busk, v. t. & i. [imp. & p. p. Busked (bskt).] [OE. busken, fr. Icel. bask to make one's self ready, rexlexive of ba to prepare, dwell. Cf. 8th Bound.] 1. To prepare; to make ready; to array; to dress. [Scot. & Old Eng.]

Busk you, busk you, my bonny, bonny bride. Hamilton.

2. To go; to direct one's course. [Obs.]

Ye might have busked you to Huntly banks. Skelton.

Busked (&?;), a. Wearing a busk. Pollok.

Bus"ket (&?;), n. [See Bosket, Bouquet.] 1. A small bush; also, a sprig or bouquet. [Obs.] Spenser.

2. A part of a garden devoted to shrubs. [R.]

Bus"kin (&?;), n. [Prob. from OF. brossequin, or D. broosken. See Brodekin.] 1. A strong, protecting covering for the foot, coming some distance up the leg.

The hunted red deer's undressed hide Their hairy buskins well supplied. Sir W. Scott.

2. A similar covering for the foot and leg, made with very thick soles, to give an appearance of elevation to the stature; - - worn by tragic actors in ancient Greece and Rome. Used as a symbol of tragedy, or the tragic drama, as distinguished from comedy.

Great Fletcher never treads in buskins here, No greater Jonson dares in socks appear. Dryden.

Bus"kined (&?;), a. 1. Wearing buskins.

Her buskined virgins traced the dewy lawn. Pope.

2. Trodden by buskins; pertaining to tragedy. "The buskined stage." Milton.

Bus"ky (&?;), a. See Bosky, and 1st Bush, n. Shak.

Buss (&?;), n. [OE. basse, fr. L. basium; cf. G. bus (Luther), Prov. G. busserl, dim. of bus kiss, bussen to kiss, Sw. puss kiss, pussa to kiss, W. & Gael. bus lip, mouth.] A kiss; a rude or playful kiss; a smack. Shak.

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Buss (bs), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bussed (bst); p. pr. & vb. n. Bussing.] To kiss; esp. to kiss with a smack, or rudely. "Nor bussed the milking maid." Tennyson.

Kissing and bussing differ both in this, We buss our wantons, but our wives we kiss. Herrick.

Buss, n. [Cf. OF. busse, Pr. bus, LL. bussa, busa, G. büse, D. buis.] (Naut.) A small strong vessel with two masts and two cabins; -- used in the herring fishery.

The Dutch whalers and herring busses. Macaulay.

Bust (bst), n. [F. buste, fr. It. busto; cf. LL. busta, bustula, box, of the same origin as E. box a case; cf., for the change of meaning, E. chest. See Bushel.] 1. A piece of sculpture representing the upper part of the human figure, including the head, shoulders, and breast.

Ambition sighed: she found it vain to trust The faithless column, and the crumbling bust. Pope.

2. The portion of the human figure included between the head and waist, whether in statuary or in the person; the chest or thorax; the upper part of the trunk of the body.

Bus"tard (bs"trd), n. [OF. & Prov. F. bistarde, F. outarde, from L. avis tarda, lit., slow bird. Plin. 10, 22; "proximæ iis sunt, quas Hispania aves tardas appellat, Græcia 'wti`das."] (Zoöl.) A bird of the genus Otis.

The great or bearded bustard (Otis tarda) is the largest game bird in Europe. It inhabits the temperate regions of Europe and Asia, and was formerly common in Great Britain. The little bustard (O. tetrax) inhabits eastern Europe and Morocco. Many other species are known in Asia and Africa.

Bus"ter (bs"tr), n. Something huge; a roistering blade; also, a spree. [Slang, U.S.] Bartlett.

Bus"tle (bs"s'l), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Bustled (-s'ld); p. pr. & vb.n. Bustling (-slng).] [Cf. OE. buskle, perh. fr. AS. bysig busy, bysg-ian to busy + the verbal termination -le; or Icel. bustla to splash, bustle.] To move noisily; to be rudely active; to move in a way to cause agitation or disturbance; as, to bustle through a crowd.

And leave the world for me to bustle in. Shak.

Bus"tle, n. Great stir; agitation; tumult from stirring or excitement.

A strange bustle and disturbance in the world. South.

Bus"tle, n. A kind of pad or cushion worn on the back below the waist, by women, to give fullness to the skirts; -- called also bishop, and tournure.

Bus"tler (bs"slr), n. An active, stirring person.

Bus"tling (bs"slng), a. Agitated; noisy; tumultuous; characterized by confused activity; as, a bustling crowd. "A bustling wharf." Hawthorne.

||Bus"to (&?;), n.; pl. Bustoes (&?;). [It.] A bust; a statue.

With some antick bustoes in the niches. Ashmole.

Bus"y (bz"z), a. [OE. busi, bisi, AS. bysig; akin to D. bezig, LG. besig; cf. Skr. bhsh to be active, busy.] 1. Engaged in some business; hard at work (either habitually or only for the time being); occupied with serious affairs; not idle nor at leisure; as, a busy merchant.

Sir, my mistress sends you word That she is busy, and she can not come. Shak.

2. Constantly at work; diligent; active.

Busy hammers closing rivets up. Shak.

Religious motives . . . are so busy in the heart. Addison.

3. Crowded with business or activities; -- said of places and times; as, a busy street.

To-morrow is a busy day. Shak.

4. Officious; meddling; foolish active.

On meddling monkey, or on busy ape. Shak.

5. Careful; anxious. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Syn. -- Diligent; industrious; assiduous; active; occupied; engaged.

Bus"y (bz"z), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Busied (bz"zd); p. pr. & vb. n. Busying.] [AS. bysgian.] To make or keep busy; to employ; to engage or keep engaged; to occupy; as, to busy one's self with books.

Be it thy course to busy giddy minds With foreign quarrels. Shak.

Bus"y*bod`y (-bd`), n.; pl. Busybodies (-bd`z). One who officiously concerns himself with the affairs of others; a meddling person.

And not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not. 1 Tim. v. 13.

But (bt), prep., adv. & conj. [OE. bute, buten, AS. btan, without, on the outside, except, besides; pref. be- + tan outward, without, fr. t out. Primarily, btan, as well as t, is an adverb. &radic;198. See By, Out; cf. About.] 1. Except with; unless with; without. [Obs.]

So insolent that he could not go but either spurning equals or trampling on his inferiors. Fuller.

Touch not the cat but a glove. Motto of the Mackintoshes.

2. Except; besides; save.

Who can it be, ye gods! but perjured Lycon? E. Smith.

In this sense, but is often used with other particles; as, but for, without, had it not been for. "Uncreated but for love divine." Young.

3. Excepting or excluding the fact that; save that; were it not that; unless; -- elliptical, for but that.

And but my noble Moor is true of mind . . . it were enough to put him to ill thinking. Shak.

4. Otherwise than that; that not; -- commonly, after a negative, with that.

It cannot be but nature hath some director, of infinite power, to guide her in all her ways. Hooker.

There is no question but the king of Spain will reform most of the abuses. Addison.

5. Only; solely; merely.

Observe but how their own principles combat one another. Milton.

If they kill us, we shall but die. 2 Kings vii. 4.

A formidable man but to his friends. Dryden.

6. On the contrary; on the other hand; only; yet; still; however; nevertheless; more; further; -- as connective of sentences or clauses of a sentence, in a sense more or less exceptive or adversative; as, the House of Representatives passed the bill, but the Senate dissented; our wants are many, but quite of another kind.

Now abideth faith hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. 1 Cor. xiii. 13.

When pride cometh, then cometh shame; but with the lowly is wisdom. Prov. xi. 2.

All but. See under All. -- But and if, but if; an attempt on the part of King James's translators of the Bible to express the conjunctive and adversative force of the Greek &?;.

But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; . . . the lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him. Luke xii. 45, 46.

But if, unless. [Obs.] Chaucer.

But this I read, that but if remedy Thou her afford, full shortly I her dead shall see. Spenser.

Syn. -- But, However, Still. These conjunctions mark opposition in passing from one thought or topic to another. But marks the opposition with a medium degree of strength; as, this is not winter, but it is almost as cold; he requested my assistance, but I shall not aid him at present. However is weaker, and throws the opposition (as it were) into the background; as, this is not winter; it is, however, almost as cold; he required my assistance; at present, however, I shall not afford him aid. The plan, however, is still under consideration, and may yet be adopted. Still is stronger than but, and marks the opposition more emphatically; as, your arguments are weighty; still they do not convince me. See Except, However.

"The chief error with but is to use it where and is enough; an error springing from the tendency to use strong words without sufficient occasion." Bain.

But (&?;), n. [Cf. But, prep., adv. & conj.] The outer apartment or kitchen of a two-roomed house; -- opposed to ben, the inner room. [Scot.]

But, n. [See 1st But.] 1. A limit; a boundary.

2. The end; esp. the larger or thicker end, or the blunt, in distinction from the sharp, end. See 1st Butt.

But end, the larger or thicker end; as, the but end of a log; the but end of a musket. See Butt, n.

But, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Butted; p. pr. & vb. n. Butting.] See Butt, v., and Abut, v.

Bu"tane (&?;), n. [L. butyrum butter. See Butter.] (Chem.) An inflammable gaseous hydrocarbon, C4H10, of the marsh gas, or paraffin, series.

Butch"er (&?;), n. [OE. bochere, bochier, OF. bochier, F. boucher, orig., slaughterer of buck goats, fr. OF. boc, F. bouc, a buck goat; of German or Celtic origin. See Buck the animal.] 1. One who slaughters animals, or dresses their flesh for market; one whose occupation it is to kill animals for food.

2. A slaughterer; one who kills in large numbers, or with unusual cruelty; one who causes needless loss of life, as in battle. "Butcher of an innocent child." Shak.

Butcher bird (Zoöl.), a species of shrike of the genus Lanius.

The Lanius excubitor is the common butcher bird of Europe. In England, the bearded tit is sometimes called the lesser butcher bird. The American species are L.borealis, or northern butcher bird, and L. Ludovicianus or loggerhead shrike. The name butcher bird is derived from its habit of suspending its prey impaled upon thorns, after killing it.

Butcher's meat, such flesh of animals slaughtered for food as is sold for that purpose by butchers, as beef, mutton, lamb, and pork.

Butch"er, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Butchered (&?;); p. pr. & vb. n. Butchering.] 1. To kill or slaughter (animals) for food, or for market; as, to butcher hogs.

2. To murder, or kill, especially in an unusually bloody or barbarous manner. Macaulay.

[Ithocles] was murdered, rather butchered. Ford.

Butch"er*ing, n. 1. The business of a butcher.

2. The act of slaughtering; the act of killing cruelly and needlessly.

That dreadful butchering of one another. Addison.

Butch"er*li*ness (&?;), n. Butchery quality.

Butch"er*ly, a. Like a butcher; without compunction; savage; bloody; inhuman; fell. "The victim of a butcherly murder." D. Webster.

What stratagems, how fell, how butcherly, This deadly quarrel daily doth beget! Shak.

Butch"er's broom` (&?;). (Bot.) A genus of plants (Ruscus); esp. R. aculeatus, which has large red berries and leaflike branches. See Cladophyll.

Butch"er*y (&?;), n. [OE. bocherie shambles, fr. F. boucherie. See Butcher, n.] 1. The business of a butcher. [Obs.]

2. Murder or manslaughter, esp. when committed with unusual barbarity; great or cruel slaughter. Shak.

The perpetration of human butchery. Prescott.

3. A slaughterhouse; the shambles; a place where blood is shed. [Obs.]

Like as an ox is hanged in the butchery. Fabyan.

Syn. -- Murder; slaughter; carnage. See Massacre.

But"ler (&?;), n. [OE. boteler, F. bouteillier a bottle-bearer, a cupbearer, fr. LL. buticularius, fr. buticula bottle. See Bottle a hollow vessel.] An officer in a king's or a nobleman's household, whose principal business it is to take charge of the liquors, plate, etc.; the head servant in a large house.

The butler and the baker of the king of Egypt. Gen. xl. 5.

Your wine locked up, your butler strolled abroad. Pope.

But"ler*age (&?;), n. (O. Eng. Law) A duty of two shillings on every tun of wine imported into England by merchant strangers; -- so called because paid to the king's butler for the king. Blackstone.

But"ler*ship, n. The office of a butler.

But"ment (&?;), n. [Abbreviation of Abutment.] 1. (Arch.) A buttress of an arch; the supporter, or that part which joins it to the upright pier.

2. (Masonry) The mass of stone or solid work at the end of a bridge, by which the extreme arches are sustained, or by which the end of a bridge without arches is supported.

Butment cheek (Carp.), the part of a mortised timber surrounding the mortise, and against which the shoulders of the tenon bear. Knight.

{ Butt, But } (&?;), n. [F. but butt, aim (cf. butte knoll), or bout, OF. bot, end, extremity, fr. boter, buter, to push, butt, strike, F. bouter; of German origin; cf. OHG. bzan, akin to E. beat. See Beat, v. t.] 1. A limit; a bound; a goal; the extreme bound; the end.

Here is my journey's end, here my butt And very sea mark of my utmost sail. Shak.

As applied to land, the word is nearly synonymous with mete, and signifies properly the end line or boundary; the abuttal.

2. The thicker end of anything. See But.

3. A mark to be shot at; a target. Sir W. Scott.

The groom his fellow groom at butts defies, And bends his bow, and levels with his eyes. Dryden.

4. A person at whom ridicule, jest, or contempt is directed; as, the butt of the company.

I played a sentence or two at my butt, which I thought very smart. Addison.

5. A push, thrust, or sudden blow, given by the head of an animal; as, the butt of a ram.

6. A thrust in fencing.

To prove who gave the fairer butt, John shows the chalk on Robert's coat. Prior.

7. A piece of land left unplowed at the end of a field.

The hay was growing upon headlands and butts in cornfields. Burrill.

8. (Mech.) (a) A joint where the ends of two objects come squarely together without scarfing or chamfering; -- also called butt joint. (b) The end of a connecting rod or other like piece, to which the boxing is attached by the strap, cotter, and gib. (c) The portion of a half-coupling fastened to the end of a hose.

9. (Shipbuilding) The joint where two planks in a strake meet.

10. (Carp.) A kind of hinge used in hanging doors, etc.; -- so named because fastened on the edge of the door, which butts against the casing, instead of on its face, like the strap hinge; also called butt hinge.

11. (Leather Trade) The thickest and stoutest part of tanned oxhides, used for soles of boots, harness, trunks.

12. The hut or shelter of the person who attends to the targets in rifle practice.

Butt chain (Saddlery), a short chain attached to the end of a tug. -- Butt end. The thicker end of anything. See But end, under 2d But.

Amen; and make me die a good old man! That's the butt end of a mother's blessing. Shak.

A butt's length, the ordinary distance from the place of shooting to the butt, or mark. -- Butts and bounds (Conveyancing), abuttals and boundaries. In lands of the ordinary rectangular shape, butts are the lines at the ends (F. bouts), and bounds are those on the sides, or sidings, as they were formerly termed. Burrill. -- Bead and butt. See under Bead. -- Butt and butt, joining end to end without overlapping, as planks. -- Butt weld (Mech.), a butt joint, made by welding together the flat ends, or edges, of a piece of iron or steel, or of separate pieces, without having them overlap. See Weld. -- Full butt, headfirst with full force. [Colloq.] "The corporal . . . ran full butt at the lieutenant." Marryat.

Butt, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Butted; p. pr. & vb. n. Butting.] [OE. butten, OF. boter to push, F. bouter. See Butt an end, and cf. Boutade.] 1. To join at the butt, end, or outward extremity; to terminate; to be bounded; to abut. [Written also but.]

And Barnsdale there doth butt on Don's well-watered ground. Drayton.

2. To thrust the head forward; to strike by thrusting the head forward, as an ox or a ram. [See Butt, n.]

A snow-white steer before thine altar led, Butts with his threatening brows. Dryden.

Butt, v. t. To strike by thrusting the head against; to strike with the head.

Two harmless lambs are butting one the other. Sir H. Wotton.

Butt, n. [F. botte, boute, LL. butta. Cf. Bottle a hollow vessel.] A large cask or vessel for wine or beer. It contains two hogsheads.

A wine butt contains 126 wine gallons (= 105 imperial gallons, nearly); a beer butt 108 ale gallons (= about 110 imperial gallons).

Butt, n. (Zoöl.) The common English flounder.

||Butte (&?;), n. [F. See Butt a bound.] A detached low mountain, or high rising abruptly from the general level of the surrounding plain; -- applied to peculiar elevations in the Rocky Mountain region.

The creek . . . passes by two remarkable buttes of red conglomerate. Ruxton.

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But"ter (bt"tr), n. [OE. botere, butter, AS. butere, fr. L. butyrum, Gr. boy`tyron; either fr. boy`s ox, cow + tyro`s cheese; or, perhaps, of Scythian origin. Cf. Cow.] 1. An oily, unctuous substance obtained from cream or milk by churning.

2. Any substance resembling butter in degree of consistence, or other qualities, especially, in old chemistry, the chlorides, as butter of antimony, sesquichloride of antimony; also, certain concrete fat oils remaining nearly solid at ordinary temperatures, as butter of cacao, vegetable butter, shea butter.

Butter and eggs (Bot.), a name given to several plants having flowers of two shades of yellow, as Narcissus incomparabilis, and in the United States to the toadflax (Linaria vulgaris). -- Butter boat, a small vessel for holding melted butter at table. -- Butter flower, the buttercup, a yellow flower. -- Butter print, a piece of carved wood used to mark pats of butter; -- called also butter stamp. Locke. -- Butter tooth, either of the two middle incisors of the upper jaw. -- Butter tree (Bot.), a tree of the genus Bassia, the seeds of which yield a substance closely resembling butter. The butter tree of India is the B. butyracea; that of Africa is the Shea tree (B. Parkii). See Shea tree. -- Butter trier, a tool used in sampling butter. -- Butter wife, a woman who makes or sells butter; -- called also butter woman. [Obs. or Archaic]

But"ter, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Buttered (&?;); p. pr. & vb. n. Buttering.] 1. To cover or spread with butter.

I know what's what. I know on which side My bread is buttered. Ford.

2. To increase, as stakes, at every throw or every game. [Cant] Johnson.

Butt"er (&?;), n. One who, or that which, butts.

But"ter*ball` (&?;), n. (Zoöl.) The buffel duck.

But"ter*bird` (&?;), n. (Zoöl.) The rice bunting or bobolink; -- so called in the island of Jamaica.

But"ter*bump` (&?;), n. [OE. buttur the bittern + 5th bump.] (Zoöl.) The European bittern. Johnson.

But"ter*bur` (&?;), n. (Bot.) A broad-leaved plant (Petasites vulgaris) of the Composite family, said to have been used in England for wrapping up pats of butter.

But"ter*cup` (&?;), n. (Bot.) A plant of the genus Ranunculus, or crowfoot, particularly R. bulbosus, with bright yellow flowers; -- called also butterflower, golden cup, and kingcup. It is the cuckoobud of Shakespeare.

But"ter-fin`gered (&?;), a. Apt to let things fall, or to let them slip away; slippery; careless.

But"ter*fish` (&?;), n. (Zoöl.) A name given to several different fishes, in allusion to their slippery coating of mucus, as the Stromateus triacanthus of the Atlantic coast, the Epinephelus punctatus of the southern coast, the rock eel, and the kelpfish of New Zealand.

But"ter*fly` (&?;), n.; pl. Butterflies (&?;). [Perh. from the color of a yellow species. AS. buter-flge, buttor-fleóge; cf. G. butterfliege, D. botervlieg. See Butter, and Fly.] (Zoöl.) A general name for the numerous species of diurnal Lepidoptera. [See Illust. under Aphrodite.]

Asclepias butterfly. See under Asclepias. -- Butterfly fish (Zoöl.), the ocellated blenny (Blennius ocellaris) of Europe. See Blenny. The term is also applied to the flying gurnard. -- Butterfly shell (Zoöl.), a shell of the genus Voluta. -- Butterfly valve (Mech.), a kind of double clack valve, consisting of two semicircular clappers or wings hinged to a cross rib in the pump bucket. When open it somewhat resembles a butterfly in shape.