Emily Dickinson Lexicon

bondage, n. [ME < Fr.; see bond, n.] (webplay: imprisonment).

Slavery; captivity; serfdom; servitude; forced service; lack of freedom; (see Isaiah 14:3).

bone, n. [OE bán.] (webplay: animal, body, cells, color, covered, dog, dull, easily, fatty, firm, flesh, marrow, meat, nerves, portion, solidity, substance, swallows).

1. Material frame; physical portion; tangible part; corporeal segment of a human being; (see Isaiah 58:11).
2. Core; root; heart; inner part; [fig.] soul; source of intuition.
3. Dry skeleton unit; dead osseous tissue; [fig.] part; piece; rigid portion.
4. Remains; skeletons; corpses; dead body parts; [fig.] mortality; death; (see Genesis 50:25).
5. Vital skeleton unit; living osseous tissue; hard organic interior structure; [fig.] aid; inner support; sustaining structure; (see Job 4:14).

bonnet (-s), n. [ME < OFr chapel de bonet, hat or cap, < med. L.] (webplay: distant, faces, foot, forehead, head, rows, sides, small, way, winds, worn).

1. Head-covering; woman's hat; feminine cap; [fig.] petal; blossom; flower.
2. Cap; peak; top; crest; pinnacle; highest point; [fig.] snow-capped mountain.
3. Head-dress; fancy veil; [fig.] colorful clouds; (see Isaiah 3:20).
4. Crown; diadem; [fig.] bird's head.
5. Headstone; grave marker.
6. Zenith; upper track; higher path; highest point.

bonnie, adj. [Poss. < Fr. bon, good < L. bonus.]

Good; dear; beloved; precious; blessed.

Bonnie Doon, proper n. [see bonnie, adj., boon, n., and Doon, proper n.]

Phrase. “Bonnie Doon”: poem; lyric; valentine; Celtic folk song; (see “The Banks o' Doon” by Robert Burns); [fig.] flower; blossom; good deed; kind act; fine gift.

book (-s), n. [OE bóc.] (webplay: beech-tree, learning, literary, reading, registering, remembrance, volume).

1. Tome; written work; published literary composition; [fig.] piece of knowledge; compilation of wisdom; [biographical] copy of Emerson's poems that Dickinson received from Benjamin Newton.
2. Author; writer from the past.
3. Biography; life story; personal history; [fig.] immortality; eternal life.
4. Imprint; mail-order catalog; periodical that advertises products for sale, such as Tiffany's Blue Book or the Montgomery Ward catalog of Chicago.
5. Scripture; scroll; sacred record; (see Luke 4:20).
6. Holy Bible; Old and New Testament; scriptural anthology that begins with Genesis and ends with Revelations; [fig.] summer; warm season; time of year; [metaphor] poem; creation; creative work.
7. Record; registry; account; chronicle; hotel sign-in; volume for guests; [fig.] tree; home; resting place.
8. Volume; novel; printed text; set of printed sheets of paper bound together.
9. Phrase. “the Wise Book”: the Bible, the holy scriptures; the Old and the New Testaments.
10. Phrase. “an Old fashioned Book”: the book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Bible (see Revelation 7:16); the book of Isaiah in the Old Testament of the Bible (see Isaiah 49:10).

boom (booming), v. [Imitative origin.]

Hum; buzz; roar; make a deep resonant sound; [sense play] move rapidly; rush forward; [word play] sail; push off with stinger as a spar; [fig.] flourish; thrive; prosper.

boon, n. [OE bén, prayer.]

1. Opportunity; privilege; advantage; prerogative.
2. Blessing; gift; present; gratuity; good thing; favor granted graciously.
3. Meal; feast; repast; feeding; serving of food; [fig.] act of charity.
4. Fulfillment; resolution; result of an entreaty; reply to a request; response to a petition; answer to prayer.

Boon, Daniel, proper n. [see Boone, Daniel, proper n. and ED letters.]

Boone, Daniel, proper n. [see boon, n. and Daniel, proper n.]

Daniel Boone (1735-1820); American folk hero; frontiersman known for his pioneering of the Ohio valley; [fig.] explorer; adventurer.