Emily Dickinson Lexicon

bud (-s), n. [ME.] (webplay: bloom, flower, grow, plant, stem, winter).

1. Blossom; colorful petals; (see Isaiah 18:5).
2. Spring; time of unfolding; month when plants sprout; season of renewal.
3. Sprout; shoot; kernel; [fig.] genesis; emergence; coming forth; (see Isaiah 61:11).
4. Top part of a flower; head of a blossoming plant.
5. Pod; casque; floral hip.
6. Gem; hybernacle; closed blossom.
7. Flag; banner; standard; pennant; ensign; colors; beacon.

Buenos Ayre, proper n. [Sp. 'good air', 'favorable winds' < Ciudad da la Santísima Trinidad y puerto de nuestra señora la virgen Maria de los buenos aires.]

Argentina's capital; wealthy port; European-style city on the southeastern coast of South America; center of expansive economic growth and land acquisition in the mid-1800s; [metonymy] Argentina; Great Britain's sixth dominion.

bugle (-s), n. [OFr < L. búculus < bov-is 'ox'.]

1. Musician; trumpeter; brass player; [fig.] singing bird.
2. Trumpet; cornet; military signal horn.
3. Blast; loud sound; musical noise; burst of air through an instrument.

build (builded, building, builds, built), v. [OE < bold 'construct a dwelling'.] (webplay: air, art, barn, edifice, erecting, firmness, form, God, hopes, house, mason, raise, rest, settle, support, together, wall).

1. Form; shape; fashion; pile up; [fig.] cultivate.
2. Make a nest; prepare a safe place for a baby.
3. Provide; furnish; render; supply; put up; [fig.] augment.
4. Construct; erect; frame; make; establish; put together; (see 1 Kings 6:15).
5. Create; design; [fig.] intend; designate.

builder, n. [see build, n.] (webplay: art, form, together).

Journeyman; architect; master craftsman; professional wood-worker; expert in construction; highly skilled artisan; [fig.] lord; supervisor; overseer; inspector; higher power; divine being (see Hebrews 11:10).

bulb, n. [L. < Gk. 'onion, bulbous root'.]

1. Root ball; plant node; underground organic structure; round mass from which flowers rise and bloom; subterranean vegetation nugget that sprouts in the spring; [fig.] physical body in the resurrection.
2. Cell; vital organ; essential body part; [fig.] tone; note; strain; tune; melody; phrase of a song; musical instrument.

bulk, n. [poss. from ON.]

Load; mass; material; substance; cargo; hull of a ship; [fig.] body; carcass.

bullet (-s), n. [Fr. boulette, little ball.]

1. Trauma; gunshot wound; combat injury; [fig.] mark of bravery; sign of courage; token of valor.
2. Shot; metal pellet; ball of iron; piece of lead; projectile from a gun; fatal missile fired from a weapon.

bulletin (-s), n. [It. and Fr. 'little bullet'; see bullet, n.]

Message; account; publication; tidings; intelligence; written word; public announcement; bank note; financial statement; documentation of health status from a doctor; paper program for a church service; official report of happenings; printed notice of current events; [fig.] revelation; inspiration; scripture; holy writ.

bullion, n. [Anglo Fr. < Fr. < L. 'boil,' 'melt'.]

Plate; ingot; bar; ore not yet stamped into coins; lump of smelted metal not yet completely refined; [fig.] reward; payment; wage; compensation; recompense; remuneration.