Emily Dickinson Lexicon

battery (batteries), n. [Fr.] (webplay: enemy's shot).

Bombardment; assault; beating of drums; signal of attack; parapet for guns; platform for weapons.

battle (-s, -'s), n. [OFr < L.] (webplay: attack, between, bodies, land, men, turn).

1. Dispute; fight; strife; encounter between enemies; contention between two or more parties.
2. Military conflict; confrontation in war; direct combat between armies; (see 2 Samuel 19:10).
3. Inner struggle; mental strain.
4. Life-threatening experience; encounter with death.
5. Phrase [see Burgoyne, proper n.] “Battle of Burgoyne”: bloody skirmish in the U.S. War of Independence; conflict named for the British general John Burgoyne; [fig.] colorful sundown; red sky at dusk.

battlement (-s), n. [OFr] (webplay: wall).

1. Parapet; castle tower; top edge of a high wall; highest part of a fortress (see Jeremiah 5:10); [fig.] sanctuary in heaven.
2. Barrier; structure to prevent entry; [fig.] obstacle; deterrent; stumbling block.
3. City wall; outer urban fortification; enclosure for defending a community (see Joshua 2:15; Acts 9:23-25); [fig.] crisis; predicament; precipice; precarious situation.

bauble, n. [OFr 'child's toy'; NW has an entry for BAWBLE.]

Gew-gaw; toy; trifle; trinket; cheap gem; inexpensive jewelry; piece of finery; show piece; [fig.] blossom; flower.

bay (-s), n.

² [Fr. < late L. baia.] (webplay: sea, smaller). Gulf; harbor; sound; wide marine opening; indentation of the sea into the land; place for launching ships; [fig.] afterlife; passage between life, death, and the next life; distance that separates mortality from eternity.

bay (-s), n. [Fr. bai < L. badius, horse color.]

Reddish-brown horse; magical animal that pulled a coach in the Cinderella fairy tale.

bayonet (-'s), n. [Fr. < It. Bayonne; or OFr bayon, arrow, cross-bow shaft; or Sp. bayona, shift; or It. bajonetta, little joker.]

Stabbing weapon; sharp instrument attached to the barrel of a soldiers' gun; short dagger on a rifle used for hand to hand combat; [metonomy] military force; willingness to fight for freedom.

bazaar, n. [It. < Turkish < Persian.]

Fair; mercantile; emporium; oriental exchange site with stalls; large market place in the eastern style; place for buying and selling goods; sale of articles to raise money for a charity; [fig.] sunrise; sunset; eastern horizon.

be (-en, -ing), v. [OE bé-on, become, come to be; see also are, is, was, were, and related forms.] (webplay: abide, abideth, affair, Christ, circumstances, closeness, condition, duty, endowed, existence, existing, expresses, flesh, future, give, God, happening, honor, house, human, immaterial, Jesus, law, leave, live, made, man, manner, mortal, motion, nearness, omit, pay, place, present, purpose, race, remain, sensation, spirit, state, shorter, string, superior, time, untouched, verb).

1. [Used to form an imperative sentence] stay; remain; keep yourself.
2. [Subjunctive main verb] is; become; progress until.
3. [Imperative] live; endure; exist.
4. [Used with a present participle to form the future or conditional tense.]
5. [Used with the past participle to form the passive voice.]
6. [Passive] continue; persevere; persist.
7. [Imperative] sojourn; tarry; visit; occupy a place.
8. [Subjunctive; used to link a subject to a predicate adjective so that the predicate describes the subject.]
9. [Modal + “be” infinitive] occur; happen; arise; take place; come to pass.
10. [Used to express the subjunctive; used to form literary or archaic expressions.]
11. [Used with a present participle to form the progressive tense.]

beach, n. [Origin unknown; NW says < Russ. bok, coast.] (webplay: sea).

Coast; strand; sea-margin; shore of a lake; stretch of land contiguous to the ocean; [fig.] earth; mortal life.