The Gutenberg Webster's Unabridged Dictionary: Section A and B
Chapter 72
Back"gam`mon (&?;), n. [Origin unknown; perhaps fr. Dan. bakke tray + E. game; or very likely the first part is from E. back, adv., and the game is so called because the men are often set back.] A game of chance and skill, played by two persons on a "board" marked off into twenty-four spaces called "points". Each player has fifteen pieces, or "men", the movements of which from point to point are determined by throwing dice. Formerly called tables.
Backgammon board , a board for playing backgammon, often made in the form of two rectangular trays hinged together, each tray containing two "tables".
Back"gam`mon, v. t. In the game of backgammon, to beat by ending the game before the loser is clear of his first "table".
Back"ground` (&?;), n. [Back, a. + ground.]
1. Ground in the rear or behind, or in the distance, as opposed to the foreground, or the ground in front.
2. (Paint.) The space which is behind and subordinate to a portrait or group of figures.
The distance in a picture is usually divided into foreground, middle distance, and background. Fairholt.
3. Anything behind, serving as a foil; as, the statue had a background of red hangings.
4. A place in obscurity or retirement, or out of sight.
I fancy there was a background of grinding and waiting before Miss Torry could produce this highly finished . . . performance. Mrs. Alexander.
A husband somewhere in the background. Thackeray.
To place in the background, to make of little consequence.
Back"hand` (&?;), n. [Back, adv. + hand.] A kind of handwriting in which the downward slope of the letters is from left to right.
Back"hand`, a. 1. Sloping from left to right; -- said of handwriting.
2. Backhanded; indirect; oblique. [R.]
Back"hand`ed, a. 1. With the hand turned backward; as, a backhanded blow.
2. Indirect; awkward; insincere; sarcastic; as, a backhanded compliment.
3. Turned back, or inclining to the left; as, backhanded letters.
Back"hand`ed*ness, n. State of being backhanded; the using of backhanded or indirect methods.
Back"hand`er (&?;), n. A backhanded blow.
Back"house` (&?;), n. [Back, a. + house.] A building behind the main building. Specifically: A privy; a necessary.
Back"ing, n. 1. The act of moving backward, or of putting or moving anything backward.
2. That which is behind, and forms the back of, anything, usually giving strength or stability.
3. Support or aid given to a person or cause.
4. (Bookbinding) The preparation of the back of a book with glue, etc., before putting on the cover.
Back"joint` (&?;), n. [Back, a. or adv. + joint.] (Arch.) A rebate or chase in masonry left to receive a permanent slab or other filling.
Back"lash` (-lsh`), n. [Back, adv. + lash.] (Mech.) The distance through which one part of connected machinery, as a wheel, piston, or screw, can be moved without moving the connected parts, resulting from looseness in fitting or from wear; also, the jarring or reflex motion caused in badly fitting machinery by irregularities in velocity or a reverse of motion.
Back"less, a. Without a back.
Back"log` (-lg`; 115), n. [Back, a. + log.] A large stick of wood, forming the back of a fire on the hearth. [U.S.]
There was first a backlog, from fifteen to four and twenty inches in diameter and five feet long, imbedded in the ashes. S. G. Goodrich.
{ Back"piece` (&?;), Back"plate` (&?;), } n. [Back, n. or a. + piece, plate.] A piece, or plate, which forms the back of anything, or which covers the back; armor for the back.
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{ Back"rack (bk"rk), Back"rag (bk"rg), } n. See Bacharach.
Backs (bks), n. pl. Among leather dealers, the thickest and stoutest tanned hides.
Back"saw` (bk"s`), n. [2d back, n. + saw.] A saw (as a tenon saw) whose blade is stiffened by an added metallic back.
Back"set` (-st`), n. [Back, adv. + set.] 1. A check; a relapse; a discouragement; a setback.
2. Whatever is thrown back in its course, as water.
Slackwater, or the backset caused by the overflow. Harper's Mag.
Back"set`, v. t. To plow again, in the fall; -- said of prairie land broken up in the spring. [Western U.S.]
Back"set"tler (-st"lr), n. [Back, a. + settler.] One living in the back or outlying districts of a community.
The English backsettlers of Leinster and Munster. Macaulay.
{ ||Back"sheesh`, ||Back"shish` } (&?;), n. [Pers. bakhshsh, fr. bakhshdan to give.] In Egypt and the Turkish empire, a gratuity; a "tip".
Back"side` (-sd`), n. [Back, a. + side.] The hinder part, posteriors, or rump of a person or animal.
Backside (one word) was formerly used of the rear part or side of any thing or place, but in such senses is now two words.
Back"sight` (-st`), n. [Back, adv. + sight.] (Surv.) The reading of the leveling staff in its unchanged position when the leveling instrument has been taken to a new position; a sight directed backwards to a station previously occupied. Cf. Foresight, n., 3.
Back"slide" (-sld"; 277), v. i. [imp. Backslid (&?;); p. p. Backslidden (&?;), Backslid; p. pr. & vb. n. Backsliding.] [Back, adv. + slide.] To slide back; to fall away; esp. to abandon gradually the faith and practice of a religion that has been professed.
Back"slid"er (&?;), n. One who backslides.
Back"slid"ing, a. Slipping back; falling back into sin or error; sinning.
Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord. Jer. iii. 14.
Back"slid"ing, n. The act of one who backslides; abandonment of faith or duty.
Our backslidings are many. Jer. xiv. 7.
Back"staff` (&?;), n. An instrument formerly used for taking the altitude of the heavenly bodies, but now superseded by the quadrant and sextant; -- so called because the observer turned his back to the body observed.
Back" stairs` (-stârz`) n.. Stairs in the back part of a house, as distinguished from the front stairs; hence, a private or indirect way.
{ Back"stairs`, Back"stair` }, a. Private; indirect; secret; intriguing; -- as if finding access by the back stairs.
A backstairs influence. Burke.
Female caprice and backstair influence. Trevelyan.
Back"stay` (-st`), n. [Back, a. or n. + stay.] 1. (Naut.) A rope or stay extending from the masthead to the side of a ship, slanting a little aft, to assist the shrouds in supporting the mast. [Often used in the plural.]
2. A rope or strap used to prevent excessive forward motion.
Back"ster (&?;), n. [See Baxter.] A baker. [Obs.]
Back"stitch` (&?;), n. [Back, adv. + stitch.] A stitch made by setting the needle back of the end of the last stitch, and bringing it out in front of the end.
Back"stitch`, v. t. To sew with backstitches; as, to backstitch a seam.
Back"stress (&?;), n. A female baker. [Obs.]
Back"sword` (&?;), n. [2d back, n. + sword.] 1. A sword with one sharp edge.
2. In England, a stick with a basket handle, used in rustic amusements; also, the game in which the stick is used. Also called singlestick. Halliwell.
{ Back"ward (&?;), Back"wards (&?;), } adv. [Back, adv. + -ward.] 1. With the back in advance or foremost; as, to ride backward.
2. Toward the back; toward the rear; as, to throw the arms backward.
3. On the back, or with the back downward.
Thou wilt fall backward. Shak.
4. Toward, or in, past time or events; ago.
Some reigns backward. Locke.
5. By way of reflection; reflexively. Sir J. Davies.
6. From a better to a worse state, as from honor to shame, from religion to sin.
The work went backward. Dryden.
7. In a contrary or reverse manner, way, or direction; contrarily; as, to read backwards.
We might have . . . beat them backward home. Shak.
Back"ward, a. 1. Directed to the back or rear; as, backward glances.
2. Unwilling; averse; reluctant; hesitating; loath.
For wiser brutes were backward to be slaves. Pope.
3. Not well advanced in learning; not quick of apprehension; dull; inapt; as, a backward child. "The backward learner." South.
4. Late or behindhand; as, a backward season.
5. Not advanced in civilization; undeveloped; as, the country or region is in a backward state.
6. Already past or gone; bygone. [R.]
And flies unconscious o'er each backward year. Byron.
Back"ward, n. The state behind or past. [Obs.]
In the dark backward and abysm of time. Shak.
Back"ward, v. t. To keep back; to hinder. [Obs.]
Back`war*da"tion (&?;), n. [Backward, v. t. + -ation.] (Stock Exchange) The seller's postponement of delivery of stock or shares, with the consent of the buyer, upon payment of a premium to the latter; -- also, the premium so paid. See Contango. Biddle.
Back"ward*ly (&?;), adv. 1. Reluctantly; slowly; aversely. [Obs.] Sir P. Sidney.
2. Perversely; ill. [Obs.]
And does he think so backwardly of me? Shak.
Back"ward*ness, n. The state of being backward.
Back"wash` (&?;), v. t. To clean the oil from (wool) after combing. Ash.
Back"wa`ter (&?;), n. [Back, a. or adv. + -water.] 1. Water turned back in its course by an obstruction, an opposing current, or the flow of the tide, as in a sewer or river channel, or across a river bar.
2. An accumulation of water overflowing the low lands, caused by an obstruction.
3. Water thrown back by the turning of a waterwheel, or by the paddle wheels of a steamer.
Back"woods" (&?;), n. pl. [Back, a. + woods.] The forests or partly cleared grounds on the frontiers.
Back"woods"man (&?;), n.; pl. Backwoodsmen (&?;). A man living in the forest in or beyond the new settlements, especially on the western frontiers of the older portions of the United States. Fisher Ames.
Back"worm` (&?;), n. [2d back, n. + worm.] A disease of hawks. See Filanders. Wright.
Ba"con (&?;), n. [OF. bacon, fr. OHG. bacho, bahho, flitch of bacon, ham; akin to E. back. Cf. Back the back side.] The back and sides of a pig salted and smoked; formerly, the flesh of a pig salted or fresh.
Bacon beetle (Zoöl.), a beetle (Dermestes lardarius) which, especially in the larval state, feeds upon bacon, woolens, furs, etc. See Dermestes. -- To save one's bacon, to save one's self or property from harm or loss. [Colloq.]
Ba*co"ni*an (&?;), a. Of or pertaining to Lord Bacon, or to his system of philosophy.
Baconian method, the inductive method. See Induction.
Bac*te"ri*a (&?;), n. pl. See Bacterium.
Bac*te"ri*al (&?;), a. (Biol.) Of or pertaining to bacteria.
Bac*te"ri*ci`dal (&?;), a. Destructive of bacteria.
Bac*te"ri*cide (bk*t"r*sd), n. [Bacterium + L. caedere to kill] (Biol.) Same as Germicide.
Bac*te"ri*o*log`ic*al (bk*t`r**lj"*kal), a. Of or pertaining to bacteriology; as, bacteriological studies.
Bac*te"ri*ol`o*gist, n. One skilled in bacteriology.
Bac*te"ri*ol`o*gy (&?;), n. [Bacterium + -logy.] (Biol.) The science relating to bacteria.
Bac*te`ri*o*scop"ic (&?;), a. (Biol.) Relating to bacterioscopy; as, a bacterioscopic examination.
Bac*te`ri*os"co*pist (&?;), n. (Biol.) One skilled in bacterioscopic examinations.
Bac*te`ri*os"co*py (-s"k*p), n. [Bacterium + -scopy.] (Biol.) The application of a knowledge of bacteria for their detection and identification, as in the examination of polluted water.
Bac*te"ri*um (&?;), n.; pl. Bacteria (&?;). [NL., fr. Gr. bakth`rion, bak`tron, a staff: cf. F. bactérie.] (Biol.) A microscopic vegetable organism, belonging to the class Algæ, usually in the form of a jointed rodlike filament, and found in putrefying organic infusions. Bacteria are destitute of chlorophyll, and are the smallest of microscopic organisms. They are very widely diffused in nature, and multiply with marvelous rapidity, both by fission and by spores. Certain species are active agents in fermentation, while others appear to be the cause of certain infectious diseases. See Bacillus.
{ Bac"te*roid (&?;), Bac`te*roid"al (&?;), } a. [Bacterium + -oid.] (Biol.) Resembling bacteria; as, bacteroid particles.
Bac"tri*an (&?;), a. Of or pertaining to Bactria in Asia. -- n. A native of Bactria.
Bactrian camel, the two-humped camel.
Bac"ule (&?;), n. [F.] (Fort.) See Bascule.
Bac"u*line (&?;), a. [L. baculum staff.] Of or pertaining to the rod or punishment with the rod.
Bac"u*lite (&?;), n. [L. baculum stick, staff; cf. F. baculite.] (Paleon.) A cephalopod of the extinct genus Baculites, found fossil in the Cretaceous rocks. It is like an uncoiled ammonite.
Bac`u*lom"e*try (&?;), n. [L. baculum staff + -metry.] Measurement of distance or altitude by a staff or staffs.
Bad (bd), imp. of Bid. Bade. [Obs.] Dryden.
Bad (bd), a. [Compar. Worse (wûs); superl. Worst (wûst).] [Probably fr. AS. bæddel hermaphrodite; cf. bædling effeminate fellow.] Wanting good qualities, whether physical or moral; injurious, hurtful, inconvenient, offensive, painful, unfavorable, or defective, either physically or morally; evil; vicious; wicked; -- the opposite of good; as, a bad man; bad conduct; bad habits; bad soil; bad air; bad health; a bad crop; bad news.
Sometimes used substantively.
The strong antipathy of good to bad. Pope.
Syn. -- Pernicious; deleterious; noxious; baneful; injurious; hurtful; evil; vile; wretched; corrupt; wicked; vicious; imperfect.
Bad"der (&?;), compar. of Bad, a. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Bad"der*locks (&?;), n. [Perh. for Balderlocks, fr. Balder the Scandinavian deity.] (Bot.) A large black seaweed (Alaria esculenta) sometimes eaten in Europe; -- also called murlins, honeyware, and henware.
Bad"dish, a. Somewhat bad; inferior. Jeffrey.
Bade (bd). A form of the past tense of Bid.
Badge (&?;), n. [LL. bagea, bagia, sign, prob. of German origin; cf. AS. beág, beáh, bracelet, collar, crown, OS. bg- in comp., AS. bgan to bow, bend, G. biegen. See Bow to bend.] 1. A distinctive mark, token, sign, or cognizance, worn on the person; as, the badge of a society; the badge of a policeman. "Tax gatherers, recognized by their official badges." Prescott.
2. Something characteristic; a mark; a token.
Sweet mercy is nobility's true badge. Shak.
3. (Naut.) A carved ornament on the stern of a vessel, containing a window or the representation of one.
Badge (&?;), v. t. To mark or distinguish with a badge.
Badge"less, a. Having no badge. Bp. Hall.
Badg"er (&?;), n. [Of uncertain origin; perh. fr. an old verb badge to lay up provisions to sell again.] An itinerant licensed dealer in commodities used for food; a hawker; a huckster; -- formerly applied especially to one who bought grain in one place and sold it in another. [Now dialectic, Eng.]
Badg"er, n. [OE. bageard, prob. fr. badge + -ard, in reference to the white mark on its forehead. See Badge, n.] 1. A carnivorous quadruped of the genus Meles or of an allied genus. It is a burrowing animal, with short, thick legs, and long claws on the fore feet. One species (M. vulgaris), called also brock, inhabits the north of Europe and Asia; another species (Taxidea Americana or Labradorica) inhabits the northern parts of North America. See Teledu.
2. A brush made of badgers' hair, used by artists.
Badger dog. (Zoöl.) See Dachshund.
Badg"er, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Badgered (&?;); p. pr. & vb. n. Badgering.] [For sense 1, see 2d Badger; for 2, see 1st Badger.] 1. To tease or annoy, as a badger when baited; to worry or irritate persistently.
2. To beat down; to cheapen; to barter; to bargain.
Badg"er*er (&?;), n. 1. One who badgers.
2. A kind of dog used in badger baiting.
Badg"er*ing, n. 1. The act of one who badgers.
2. The practice of buying wheat and other kinds of food in one place and selling them in another for a profit. [Prov. Eng.]
Badg"er-legged` (&?;), a. Having legs of unequal length, as the badger was thought to have. Shak.
||Bad`i*a"ga (bd`"g or bd*yä"g), n. [Russ. badiaga.] (Zoöl.) A fresh-water sponge (Spongilla), common in the north of Europe, the powder of which is used to take away the livid marks of bruises.
||Ba"di*an (&?;), n. [F. badiane, fr. Per. bdin anise.] (Bot.) An evergreen Chinese shrub of the Magnolia family (Illicium anisatum), and its aromatic seeds; Chinese anise; star anise.
Ba*di"geon (b*dj"n), n. [F.] A cement or paste (as of plaster and freestone, or of sawdust and glue or lime) used by sculptors, builders, and workers in wood or stone, to fill holes, cover defects, or finish a surface.
||Ba`di`nage" (&?;), n. [F., fr. badiner to joke, OF. to trifle, be silly, fr. badin silly.] Playful raillery; banter. "He . . . indulged himself only in an elegant badinage." Warburton.
Bad" lands" (&?;). Barren regions, especially in the western United States, where horizontal strata (Tertiary deposits) have been often eroded into fantastic forms, and much intersected by cañons, and where lack of wood, water, and forage increases the difficulty of traversing the country, whence the name, first given by the Canadian French, Mauvaises Terres (bad lands).
Bad"ly, adv. In a bad manner; poorly; not well; unskillfully; imperfectly; unfortunately; grievously; so as to cause harm; disagreeably; seriously.
Badly is often used colloquially for very much or very greatly, with words signifying to want or need.
Bad"min*ton (&?;), n. [From the name of the seat of the Duke of Beaufort in England.] 1. A game, similar to lawn tennis, played with shuttlecocks.
2. A preparation of claret, spiced and sweetened.
Bad"ness, n. The state of being bad.
||Bæ"no*mere (&?;), n. [Gr. bai`nein to walk + -mere.] (Zoöl.) One of the somites (arthromeres) that make up the thorax of Arthropods. Packard.
Bæ"no*pod (&?;), n. [Gr. bai`nein to walk + -pod.] (Zoöl.) One of the thoracic legs of Arthropods.
||Bæ"no*some (&?;), n. [Gr. bai`nein to walk + -some body.] (Zoöl.) The thorax of Arthropods. Packard.
Baff (bf), n. A blow; a stroke. [Scot.] H. Miller.
Baf"fle (bf"f'l), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Baffled (-f'ld); p. pr. & vb. n. Baffling (-flng).] [Cf. Lowland Scotch bauchle to treat contemptuously, bauch tasteless, abashed, jaded, Icel. bgr uneasy, poor, or bgr, n., struggle, bægja to push, treat harshly, OF. beffler, beffer, to mock, deceive, dial. G. bäppe mouth, beffen to bark, chide.]
1. To cause to undergo a disgraceful punishment, as a recreant knight. [Obs.]
He by the heels him hung upon a tree, And baffled so, that all which passed by The picture of his punishment might see. Spenser.
2. To check by shifts and turns; to elude; to foil.
The art that baffles time's tyrannic claim. Cowper.
3. To check by perplexing; to disconcert, frustrate, or defeat; to thwart. "A baffled purpose." De Quincey.
A suitable scripture ready to repel and baffle them all. South.
Calculations so difficult as to have baffled, until within a . . . recent period, the most enlightened nations. Prescott.
The mere intricacy of a question should not baffle us. Locke.
Baffling wind (Naut.), one that frequently shifts from one point to another.
Syn. -- To balk; thwart; foil; frustrate; defeat.
Baf"fle, v. i. 1. To practice deceit. [Obs.] Barrow.
2. To struggle against in vain; as, a ship baffles with the winds. [R.]
Baf"fle, n. A defeat by artifice, shifts, and turns; discomfiture. [R.] "A baffle to philosophy." South.
Baf"fle*ment (bf"f'l*ment), n. The process or act of baffling, or of being baffled; frustration; check.
Baf"fler (bf"flr), n. One who, or that which, baffles.
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Baf"fling (bf"flng), a. Frustrating; discomfiting; disconcerting; as, baffling currents, winds, tasks. -- Baff"ling*ly, adv. -- Baff"ling*ness, n.
Baft (bft). n. Same as Bafta.
Baf"ta (bf"t), n. [Cf. Per. baft woven, wrought.] A coarse stuff, usually of cotton, originally made in India. Also, an imitation of this fabric made for export.
Bag (bg), n. [OE. bagge; cf. Icel. baggi, and also OF. bague, bundle, LL. baga.] 1. A sack or pouch, used for holding anything; as, a bag of meal or of money.
2. A sac, or dependent gland, in animal bodies, containing some fluid or other substance; as, the bag of poison in the mouth of some serpents; the bag of a cow.
3. A sort of silken purse formerly tied about men's hair behind, by way of ornament. [Obs.]
4. The quantity of game bagged.
5. (Com.) A certain quantity of a commodity, such as it is customary to carry to market in a sack; as, a bag of pepper or hops; a bag of coffee.
Bag and baggage, all that belongs to one. -- To give one the bag, to disappoint him. [Obs.] Bunyan.
Bag, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bagged (bgd); p. pr. & vb. n. Bagging] 1. To put into a bag; as, to bag hops.
2. To seize, capture, or entrap; as, to bag an army; to bag game.
3. To furnish or load with a bag or with a well filled bag.
A bee bagged with his honeyed venom. Dryden.
Bag, v. i. 1. To swell or hang down like a full bag; as, the skin bags from containing morbid matter.
2. To swell with arrogance. [Obs.] Chaucer.
3. To become pregnant. [Obs.] Warner. (Alb. Eng.).
||Ba*gasse" (&?;), n. [F.] Sugar cane, as it comes crushed from the mill. It is then dried and used as fuel. Also extended to the refuse of beetroot sugar.
||Bag`a*telle" (bg`*tl"), n. [F., fr. It. bagatella; cf. Prov. It. bagata trifle, OF. bague, Pr. bagua, bundle. See Bag, n.] 1. A trifle; a thing of no importance.
Rich trifles, serious bagatelles. Prior.
2. A game played on an oblong board, having, at one end, cups or arches into or through which balls are to be driven by a rod held in the hand of the player.
Bag"gage (bg"gj), n. [F. bagage, from OF. bague bundle. In senses 6 and 7 cf. F. bagasse a prostitute. See Bag, n.] 1. The clothes, tents, utensils, and provisions of an army.
"The term itself is made to apply chiefly to articles of clothing and to small personal effects." Farrow.
2. The trunks, valises, satchels, etc., which a traveler carries with him on a journey; luggage.
The baronet's baggage on the roof of the coach. Thackeray.
We saw our baggage following below. Johnson.
The English usually call this luggage.
3. Purulent matter. [Obs.] Barrough.
4. Trashy talk. [Obs.] Ascham.
5. A man of bad character. [Obs.] Holland.
6. A woman of loose morals; a prostitute.
A disreputable, daring, laughing, painted French baggage. Thackeray.
7. A romping, saucy girl. [Playful] Goldsmith.
Bag"gage mas`ter (&?;). One who has charge of the baggage at a railway station or upon a line of public travel. [U.S.]
Bag"ga*ger (&?;), n. One who takes care of baggage; a camp follower. [Obs.] Sir W. Raleigh.
||Bag"ga*la (&?;), n. [Ar. "fem. of baghl a mule." Balfour.] (Naut.) A two-masted Arab or Indian trading vessel, used in the Indian Ocean.
Bag"gi*ly (&?;), adv. In a loose, baggy way.
Bag"ging, n. 1. Cloth or other material for bags.
2. The act of putting anything into, or as into, a bag.
3. The act of swelling; swelling.
Bag"ging, n. [Etymol. uncertain.] Reaping peas, beans, wheat, etc., with a chopping stroke. [Eng.]
Bag"gy (&?;), a. Resembling a bag; loose or puffed out, or pendent, like a bag; flabby; as, baggy trousers; baggy cheeks.
Bag"man (&?;), n.; pl. Bagmen (&?;). A commercial traveler; one employed to solicit orders for manufacturers and tradesmen. Thackeray.
Bag" net` (nt`). A bag-shaped net for catching fish.
Bagn"io (&?;), n. [It. bagno, fr. L. balneum. Cf. Bain.] 1. A house for bathing, sweating, etc.; -- also, in Turkey, a prison for slaves. [Obs.]
2. A brothel; a stew; a house of prostitution.
Bag"pipe (&?;), n. A musical wind instrument, now used chiefly in the Highlands of Scotland.
It consists of a leather bag, which receives the air by a tube that is stopped by a valve; and three sounding pipes, into which the air is pressed by the performer. Two of these pipes produce fixed tones, namely, the bass, or key tone, and its fifth, and form together what is called the drone; the third, or chanter, gives the melody.
Bag"pipe, v. t. To make to look like a bagpipe.
To bagpipe the mizzen (Naut.), to lay it aback by bringing the sheet to the mizzen rigging. Totten.
Bag"pip`er (&?;), n. One who plays on a bagpipe; a piper. Shak.
Bag"reef` (&?;), n. [Bag + reef.] (Naut.) The lower reef of fore and aft sails; also, the upper reef of topsails. Ham. Nav. Encyc.