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The prices must have been high; for a people so rich would not balk their fancy. Arbuthnot. Balk'd of his prey, the yelling monster flies, And fills the city with his hideous cries. Pope.

Is there a variance? enter but his door, Balk'd are the courts, and contest is no more.

Pope.

2. To miss any thing; to leave untouched. By grisly Pluto he doth swear,

He rent his clothes, and tore his hair,
And as he runneth here and there,
An acorn cup he greeteth;

Which soon he taketh by the stalk,
About his head he lets it walk,
Nor doth he any creature balk,

But lays on all he meeteth. Drayton's Nimphid. 3. To omit, or refuse any thing.

This was looked for at your hand, and this was balkt. Shakspeare.

4. To heap, as on a ridge. This, or something like this, seems to be intended here.

Ten thousand bold Scots, three and twenty knights,

Balk'd in their own blood, did sir Walter see On Holmedon's plains. Shakspeare. BALKERS. n. s. [In fishery.] Men who stand on a cliff, or high place on the shore, and give a sign to the men in the fishing-boats, which way the passage or shole of herrings is. Conwell.

The pilchards are pursued by a bigger fish, called a plusher, who leapeth above water and bewrayeth thern to the balker. Carew. BALL. n. s. [bol. Dan. bol, Dutch.]

Bal, diminutively Belin, the sun, or Apollo, of the Celta, was called by the ancient Gauls Abellio. What ever was round, and in particu lar the head, was called by the ancients either Bal, or Bel, and likewise Band Bill. Among the modern Persians, the head is called Pole; and the Flemings still call the head Boile. Inos is the head or poll; and wok, is to turn. Bo likewise signifies a round ball, whence borul, and bell, and ball, which the Welch term bel. By the Scotch also the head is named bbl; whence the English bill is derived, signifying the beak of a bird. Figuratively, the Phrygians and Thurians by understood

a king. Hence also, in the Syriack dialects, fai. £, and likewise a, signifies lord, and by this name also the sun; and, in some dialects, Hand', whence and H), and BA, and also,in the Celtick diminutive way of expression, EA, and B, signified the sun; and Ex, Tién, and Bexlyn, the moon. Among the Teutonicks, bol and bel have the same meaning; whence the adjective bolig, or beilig, is derived, and signifies divine or holy; and the aspiration being changed into , the Romans form their Sol. Baxter.

1. Any thing made in a round form, or approaching to round

Worms with many feet round themselves into balls under logs of timber, but not in the timder. Bacon

Ner arms they wear, nor swords and bucklers

wield,

But whirl from leathern strings huge balls of

lead.

Dryden.

Like a ball of snow tumbling down a hill, he

gathered strength as he passed.

Still unripen'd in the dewy mines,

Howel

Addison.

Within the ball a trembling water shines,
That through the crystal darts.

Such of those corpuscles as happened to com-
VOL. I.

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Those I have seen play at ball, grow extreme-
ly earnest who should have the ball.
3. A small round thing, with some par-
ticular mark, by which votes are given,
or lots cast.

Let lots decide it.
For ev'ry number'd captive put a ball
Into an urn; three only black be there,
The rest, all white, are safe.

Drydens

Minos, the strict inquisitor, appears; Round in his urn the blended balls he rowls, Absolves the just, and dooms the guilty souls.

Dryden

4. A globe; as, the ball of the earth.
Julius and Antony, those lords of all,
Low at her feet present the conquer'd ball.
Granvilles

Ye gods, what justice rules the ball?
Freedom and arts together fall.
Popes
5.Aglobe born as an ensign of sovereignty.
Hear the tragedy of a young man, that by
right ought to hold the ball of a kingdom; but,
by fortune, is made himself a ball, tossed from
misery to misery, from place to place. Baron.
6. Any part of the body that approaches
to roundness: as, the lower and swell-
ing part of the thumb; the apple of
the eye.

Be subject to no sight but mine; invisible
To every eye ball else.
Shakspeare.
To make a stern countenance, let your brow
bend so, that it may almost touch the ball of the
Peacham

eye.

7. The skin spread over a hollow piece of wood, stuffed with hair or wool, which the printers dip in ink, to spread it on the letters.

BALL. n. s. [bal, Fr. from balare, low Lat. from Raxxiv, to dance] An entertainment of dancing, at which the preparations are made at the expence of some particular person.

If golden sconces hang not on the walls, To light the costly suppers and the balls. Dryd. He would make no extraordinary figure at a ball; but I can assure the ladies, for their consolation, that he has writ better verses on the sex, than any man.

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BALLAD-SINGER. n. s. [from ballad and sing.] One whose employment is to sing ballads in the streets..

No sooner 'gan he raise his tuneful song, But lads and lasses round about him throng. Not ballad-singer, plac'd above the crowd, Sings with a note so shrilling, sweet, and loud. Gay.

BA'LLAST. n. s. [ballaste, Dutch.] 1. Something put at the bottom of the ship, to keep it steady to the centre of gravity.

There must be middle counsellors to keep things steady for, without that ballast, the ship will roul too much.

Bacon.

As for the ascent of a submarine vessel, this may be easily contrived, if there be some great weight at the bottom of the ship, being part of its ballast; which, by some cord within, may be loosened from it. Wilkins.

As, when empty barks on billows float, With sandy ballast sailors trim the boat; So bees bear gravel stones, whose poising weight Steers thro' the whistling winds their steady flight. Dryden.

2. That which is used to make any thing steady.

Why should he sink where nothing seem'd to press?

His lading little, and his ballast less. Swift. To BAʼLLAST. v. a. [from the noun.] 1. To put weight at the bottom of a ship, in order to keep her steady.

If this be so ballasted, as to be of equal weight with the like magnitude of water, it will be moveable. Wilkins.

2. To keep any thing steady.

While thus to ballast love I thought, And so more steddily t' have gone, I saw I had love's pinnace overfraught. Donne.

Now you have given me virtue for my guide, And with true honour ballasted my pride. Dryd. BALLETTE. n. s. [ballette, Fr.] A dance

in which some history is represented. BA'LYARDS. n. s. [from ball, and yard or stick to push it with.] A play at which a ball is driven by the end of a stick: now corruptly called billiards.

With dice, with cards, with balyard's much unfit,

And shuttlecocksmisseeming manly wit. Spenser. BALLISTER. See BALUSTRE.

BALLON.

BALLOON,

n.s. [ballon, Fr.]

1. A large round short-necked vessel used in chymistry.

2. [In architecture.] A ball or globe placed on the top of a pillar. a. In fireworks.] A ball of pasteboard, stuffed with combustible matter, which when fired, mounts to a considerable height in the air, and then bursts into bright sparks of fire, resembling stars. BALLOT, n. s. [ballote, Fr.]

1. A little ball or ticket used in giving votes, being put privately into a box or

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Thy balm wash'd off wherewith thou wast anointed. Shakspeare. 3. Any thingthat soothes or mitigates pain. You were conducted to a gentle bath, And balms apply'd to you.

Shakspeare. Your praise's argument, balm of your age, Dearest and best. Shakspeare. A tender smile, our sorrow's only balm. Young. BALM. n. s. [melissa, Lat.] The BALM Mint. S name of a plant.

The species are, 1. Garden balm. 2. Garden balm, with yellow variegated flowers. 3. Stinking Roman balm, with softer hairy leaves. Miller. BALM of Gilead.

1. The juice drawn from the balsam tree, by making incisions in its bark. Its colour is first white, soon after green; but, when it comes to be old, it is of the colour of honey. The smell of it is agreeable, and very penetrating; the taste of it bitter, sharp, and astringent. As little issues from the plant by incision, the balm sold by the merchants is made of the wood and green branches of the tree, distilled by fire, which is generally adulterated with turpentine.

Calmet.

It seems to me, that the zori of Gilead, which we render in our Bible by the word balm, was not the same with the balsam of Mecca, but only a better sort of turpentine, then in use for the cure of wounds and other diseases. Prideaux. 2. A plant remarkable for the strong balsamic scent which its leaves emit, upon being bruised; whence some have supposed, erroneously, that the balm of Gilead was taken from this plant. Miller. To BALM. v. a. [from balm.]

1. To anoint with balm,, or with any thing medicinal.

Baim his foul head with warm distilled waters, And burn sweet wood. Shakspeare. 2. To soothe; to mitigate; to assuage. Opprest nature sleeps: This rest might yet have balm'd thy senses.

BAʼLMY. adj. [from balm.] 1. Having the qualities of balm.

Shakspeart

Soft on the flow'ry herb I found me laid, In balmy sweat, which with his beams the sun Soon dry'd. Milton

2. Producing balm.

Let India boast her groves, nor envy we The weeping amber, and the balmy tree.Poje 3. toothing; soft; mild,

,

Come, Desdemona, 't is the soldiers life
To have their balmy slumbers wak'd with strife.
Shakspeare.

Such visions hourly pass before my sight,
Which from
my eyes their balmy slumbers frights
Dryden.

4. Fragrant; odoriferous.

Those rich perfumes which from the happy shore

The winds upon their balmy wings convey'd, Whose guilty sweetness first the world betray'd. Dryden. Dryden.

First Eurus to the rising morn is sent, The regions of the balmy continent. 5. Mitigating; assuasive.

Oh balmy breath, that dothalmost persuade Justice to break her sword! Shakspeare. BALNEARY. 2. s. [balnearium, Lat.] A bathing-room.

The balnearies, and bathing-places, he exposeth unto the summer setting. Brown. BALNEA'TION. n. s. [from balneum, Lat. a bath.] The act of bathing.

As the head may be disturbed by the skin, it may the same way be relieved, as is observable in balneations, and fomentations of that part. Brown's Vulgar Errours. Ba'LNEATORY. adj. [balnearius, Lat.] Belonging to a bath or stove. BA'LOTADE. n. s. The leap of a horse, so that when his fore-feet are in the air, he shews nothing but the shoes of his hinder-feet, without yerking out. A balotade differs from a capriole; for when a horse works at caprioles, he yerks out his hinder legs with all his force. Farrier's Dict. n. s. [balsamum, Lat.] Ointment; unguent; an unctuous application thicker than oil, and softer than salve.

BA'LSAM. n.

Christ's blood our balsam; if that cure us here, Him, when our judge, we shall not find severe. Denham.

BA'LSAM Apple. [momordica, Lat.] An annual Indian plant.

BA'LSAM Tree. A shrub which scarce grows taller than the pomegranate tree; the blossoms are like small stars, very fragrant; whence spring out little pointed pods, inclosing a fruit like an almond, called carpobalsamum, as the wood is called xylebalsamum, and the juice opobal samum. Calmet. BALSA'MICAL. adj. [from bulsam.] BALSA'MICK. Having the qualities of balsam; unctuous; mitigating; soft; mild; oily.

If there be a wound in my leg, the vital energy of my soul thrusts out the balsamical humour of my blood to heal it. Hale.

The aliment of such as have fresh wounds ought to be such as keeps the humours from putrefaction, and renders them oily and balsamick. Arbuthnot

BALUSTER. n. s. [according to Du Cange, from balaustrium, low Lat. a bathingplace.] A small column or pilaster, from an inch and three quarters to four inches square or diameter. Their dimensions and forms are various; they

are frequently adorned with mouldings; they are placed with rails on stairs, and in the fronts of galleries in churches.

This should first have been planched over, and railed about with balusters. Carew.

BALUSTRADE. n. 5. [from baluster.] An assemblage of one or more rows of little turned pillars, called balusters, fixed upon a terrace, or the top of a building, for separating one part from another. BAM, BEAM, being initials in the name of any place, usually imply it to have been woody; from the Saxon beam, which we use in the same sense to this day. Gibsons

BAMBOO'. n. s. An Indian plant of the reed kind. It has several shoots much larger than our ordinary reeds, which are knotty, and separated from space, to space by joints. The bamboo is much larger than the sugar-cane.

To BAMBOOZLE. v.a. [a cant word not
used in pure or in grave writings.] To
deceive; to impose upon; to confound.
After Nick had bamboozled about the money,
John called for counters.
Arbuthnots
BAMBOOZLER. n. s. [from bamboozle.]
A tricking fellow; a cheat.

There are a set of fellows they call banterers and bamboozlers, that play such tricks. Arbuthnots BAN. n. s. [ban, Teut. a publick proclaination, as of proscription, interdic tion, excommunication, publick sale.] 1. Publick notice given of any thing, whereby any thing is publickly commanded or forbidden. This word we uɛe especially in the publishing matrimonial contracts in the church, before marriage, to the end that if any man can say against the intention of the parties, either in respect of kindred or otherwise, they may take their exception in time. And, in the canon law, banne sunt proclamationes sponsi ecclesiis fieri solita.

sponsa in Cowell

I bar it in the interest of my wife; "T is she is subcontracted to this lord, And I her husband contradict your bans. Shak. To draw her neck into the bans. Hudibras. 2. A curse; excommunication.

Thou mixture rank of midnight weeds collected, With Hecate's ban thrice blasted, thrice infected. Hamlet

A great oversight it was of St. Peter that he did not accurse Nero, whereby the pope might have got all; yet what need of such a ban, since friar Vincent could tell Atabalipa, that kingdoms were the pope's ? Raleigh, 3. Interdiction.

Bold deed to eye' The sacred fruit, sacred to abstinence; Much more to taste it, under han to touch. Milt. 4. Ban of the Empire; a publick censure by which the privileges of any German prince are suspended.

He proceeded so far by treaty, that he was proffered to have the imperial ban taken off Altapinus, upon submission. Howell

To BAN. v. a. [bannen, Dutch; to curse.]

To curse; to execrate.

Shall we think that it baneth the work which,

they leave behind them, or taketh away the use thereof? 寡 Hooker.

It is uncertain whether this word, in the foregoing sense, is to be deduced from ban, to curse; or bane, to poison. In thy closet pent up, rue my shame, And ban our enemies, both mine and thine. Shak. Before these Moors went a Numidian priest, bellowing out charms, and casting scrowls of paper on each side, wherein he cursed and banned the christians. Knolles.

BANA'NA Tree. A species of plantain. BAND.n .n. s. [bende, Dutch; band, Saxon.] 1. A tie; a bandage; that by which one thing is joined to another.

You shall find the band, that seems to tie their friendship together, will be the very strangler of their amity. Shakspeare. 2. A chain by which any animal is kept in restraint. This is now usually spelt, less properly, bond.

So wild a beast, so tame ytaught to be, And buxom to his bands, is joy to see. Hub. Ta. Since you deny him entrance, he demands His wife, whom cruelly you hold in band. Dryd. 3. Any means of union or connexion between persons.

Shakspeare.

Here's eight that must take hands, To join in Hymen's bands. 4. Something worn about the neck; a ncckcloth. It is now restrained to a neckcloth of particular form, worn by clergymen, lawyers, and students in colleges.

For his mind I do not care;
That's a toy that I could spare:
Let his title be but great,

His cloaths rich, and band sit neat. Ben Jonson.
He took his lodging at the mansion-house of a
taylor's widow, who washes, and can clear-
starch his bands.
Audison.

5. Any thing bound round another.

In old statues of stone in cellars, the feet of them being bound with leaden bands, it appeared that the lead did swell. Bacon.

6. [In architecture.] Any flat low mem ber or moulding, called also fascia, face, or plinth.

7. A company of soldiers.

And, good my lord of Somerset, unite Your troops of horsemen with his bands of foot. Shakspeare. 8. A company of persons joined together in any common design.

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers. Shakspeare. The queen, in white array before her band, Saluting took her rival by the hand. Dryden. On a sudden, methought, this select "band sprang forward, with a resolution to climb the ascent, and follow the call of that heavenly muTatler. sick.

Strait the three bands prepare in arms to join, Each band the number of the sacred Nine. Pope. To BAND. v. a. [from band.]

1. To unite together into one body, or troop.

The bishop, and the duke of Glo'ster's men,
Have fill'd their pockets full of pebble stones,
And banding themselves in contrary parts,
Do pelt at one another's pates. Shakspeare.

Some of the boys banded themselves as for the major, and others for the king, who, after six day's skirmishing, at last made a composition, and departed.

Carew

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2.

Zeal too had a place among the rest, with a bandage over her eyes; though one would not have expected to have seen her represented in Adlison.

snow.

Cords were fastened by hooks to my bandages, which the workmen had girt round my neck. Gulliver.

It is used, in surgery, for the fillet or roller wrapped over a wounded member; and, sometimes, for the act or practice of applying bandages. BANDBOX. n. s. [from band and box.] A slight box used for bands, and other things of small weight.

My friends are surprised to find two bandboxes among my books, till I let them see that they are lined with deep erudition. Addison

With empty bandbox she delights to range, And feigns a distant errand from the 'Change. Gay's Trivia. BANDELET. n. s. [bandelet, Fr. in architecture.] Any little band, flat moulding, or fillet.

BANDIT. n. s. [bandito, Ital.] A man outlawed..

No savage fierce, bandit, or mountaineer, Will dare to soil her virgin purity.

Milton

No bandit fierce, no tyrant mad with pride, No cavern'd hermit, rests self satisfy'd. Pope BANDITTO. n. s. in the plural banditti. [bandito, Ital.]

A Roman sworder, and banditto slave, Murder'd sweet Tully. Shakspeare. BANDOG. n. s. [from ban or band, and dog. The original of this word is very doubtful. Caius, De Canibus Britannicis, derives it from band, that is, a dog chained up. Skinner inclines to deduce it from bana, a murderer. May it not come from ban, a curse, as we say a curst cur; or rather from baund, swelled or large, a Danish word; from which, in some counties, they call a great nut a ban-nut?] A kind of large dog.

The time of night when Troy was set on fire, The time when screech-owls cry, and bandeg howl. Shakspeare's Henry V1.

Or privy, or pert, if any bin, BANDOLEERS. n. s. [bandouliers, Fr.] We havegreat bandogs willtear their skin. Spens

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Small wooden cases covered with lea ther, each of them containing powder that is a sufficient charge for a musket BANDROL. n. s. [banderol, Fr.] A little flag or streamer; the little fringed silk flag that hangs on a trumpet. BANDY. n. s. [from bander, Fr.] A club turned round at bottom, for striking & ball at play. To BANDY. v. a. [probably from bandy, the instrument with which they strike

balls at play, which, when crooked, is , named from the term bander; as, bander un art, to string or bend a bow.] 1. To beat to and fro, or from one to anothér.

They do cunningly, from one hand to another, bandy the service like a tennis ball. Spenser. And like a ball bandy'd 'twixt pride and wit, Rather than yield, both sides the prize will quit. Denbam.

What from the tropicks can the earth repel? What vigorous arm, what repercussive blow, Bandies the mighty globe still to and fro?

Blackmore.

2. To exchange; to give and take reciprocally. Do

you bandy looks with me, you rascal? Shak. 'Tis not in thee

To grudge my pleasures, to cut off my train, To bandy hasty words. Shakspeare.

3. To agitate; to toss about.

This hath been so bandied amongst us, that one can hardly miss books of this kind. Locke. Ever since men have been united into govern

ments, the endeavours after universal monarchy have been bandied among them. Srift. Let not obvious and known truth, or some of the most plain and certain propositions, be bandied about in a disputation.

Walls.

To BANDY. v. n. To contend, as at some game in which each strives to drive the ball his own way.

No simple man that sees This factious bandying of their favourites, But that he doth presage some ill event. Shaksp. A valiant son-in-law thou shalt enjoy ; One fit to bandy with thy lawless sous, To ruffle in the commonwealth.

Shakspeare. Could set up grandee against grandee, To squander time away, and bandy; Made lords and commoners lay sieges To one another's privileges.

Hudibras.

After all the bandying attempts of resolution, it is as much a question as ever. Glanville. BANDYLEG. n. 5. [from bander, Fr.] A crooked leg.

Swift.

He tells aloud your greatest failing, Nor makes a scruple to expose Your bandyleg or crooked nose. BANDYLEGGED. n. s. [from bandyleg.] Having crooked legs.

The Ethiopians had an one-eyed bandylegged prince; such a person would have made but an odd figure. Collier.

BANE. n. s. [bana, Sax. a murderer.] 1. Poison.

Begone, or else let me. "T is bane to draw The same air with thee. Ben Jonson. All good to me becomes Bane; and in heav'n much worse would be my Milton.

state.

They with speed

Their course through thickest constellations held, Spreading their bane.

Milton.

Thus am I doubly arm'd; my death and life, My bane and antidote, are both before me: This, in a moment, brings me to an end; But that informs me I shall never die. Addison. 2. That which destroys; mischief; ruin. Insolency must be represt, or it will be the bane of the christian religion. Hooker.

I will not be afraid of death and bane, Till Birnam forest come to Dunsinane. Shaksp. Suffices that to me strength is my bane, And proves the source of all my miseries. Milt. So entertain'd those odorous sweets the fiend, Who came their bane. Milton.

Who can omit the Gracchi, who declare. The Scipios worth, those thunderbolts of war, The double bane of Carthage? Dryden. False religion is, in its nature, the greatest bane and destruction to government in the world. South.

To BANE. v. a. [from the noun.] To poison.

What if my house be troubled with a rat, And I be pleas'd to give ten thousand ducats To have it ban'd? Shakspeare.

BA'NEFUL. adj. [from bane and full.]

1. Poisonous.

For voyaging to learn the direful art, To taint with deadly drugs the barbed dart; Observant of the gods, and sternly just, Ilus refus'd t'impart the baneful trust. 2. Destructive.

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Pope.

The silver eagle too is sent before, Which I do hope will prove to them as baneful As thou conceiv'st it to the commonwealth. Ben Jonson.

The nightly wolf is baneful to the fold, Storms to the wheat, to buds the bitter cold. Dryden.

BA'NEFULNESS. n. s. [from baneful.] Poisonousness; destructiveness. Ba'NEWORT. n. s. [from bane and wort.] A plant, the same with deadly nightshade.

To BANG. v. a. [vengolen, Dutch.] 1. To beat; to thump; to cudgel: a low and familiar word.

One receiving from them some affronts, met with them handsomely, and banged them to good purpose. Horvel. He having got some iron out of the earth, put it into his servants hands to fence with, and bang one another. Locke.

Formerly I was to be banged because I was too strong, and now because I am too weak, to resist; I am to be brought down when too rich, and oppressed when too poor. Arbuthnot

2. To handle roughly; to treat with violence, in general.

The desperate tempest hath sobang'd the Turks, That their designment halts. Shakspeare.

You should accost her with jests fire-new from the mint; you should have banged the youth into dumbness. Shakspeare. BANG. n. s. [from the verb.] A blow; a thump; a stroke: a low word.

I am a bachelor.-That 's to say, they are fools that marry; you'll bear me a bang for that. Shakspeare.

With many a stifftwack, many a bang, Hard crabtree and old iron rang. Hudibras. I heard several bangs or buffets, as I thought, given to the eagle that held the ring of my box in his 'beak. Gulliver. To BANGLE. v. a. To waste by little and little; to squander carelessly: a word now used only in conversation.

If we bangle away the legacy of peace left us by Christ, it is a sign of our want of regard for him. Duty of Man,

To BA'NISH. v. a. [banir, Fr. banio, low Lat. probably from ban, Teut. an outlawry, or prescription.]

1. To condemn to leave his own country. Oh, fare thee well!

Those evils thou repeat'st upon thyself
Have banish'd me from Scotland.

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Shakspeare.

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