Emily Dickinson Lexicon

bill, n². [ME bille, written document, note of charges.] (webplay: account, paid).

Payment; settlement; statement; tab; reckoning; recompense of debt; [fig.] finish; resolution; termination; conclusion; (see Luke 16:6-7).

billion, adj. [Fr.]

Many; countless; innumerable number of; extremely great number of; one thousand million (1,000,000,000).

billow (-s, -'s), n. [Danish bolge, a swell.] (webplay: sea, wave, wind).

1. Curl; bulge; current; swell on the ocean; running ridge of sea water; (see Jonah 2:3).
2. Swell; surge; puff; undulation; sweeping force; wave in something other than water.
3. Tumult; upheaval; movement; turmoil; slow but powerful motion.

bin, n. [OE binn.]

1. Manger; crib; rectangular feed box; [sound play with “Ben-” in “Benefit”] boon; goods; blessing.
2. Receptacle; grain storage; repository for the harvest.

bind (-s, bound), v. [OE bindan.]

1. Tie; fasten; attach; secure; [fig.] control; maintain; govern; regulate; (see Job 28:11).
2. Abash; confound; shackle; confine; hinder; limit; muzzle; silence; put restrictions on; deprive of liberty; take away the freedom of (see Ezekiel 3:25); [in music] place a curved line between repeated notes to show continuance of sound.

bindless, adj. [see bind, v.; Franklin var. reads “findless”.]

Free; endless; untied; illimitable; limitless; boundless; without cohesion.

biographer, n. [see biography, n.]

Recorder; scribe; life story author; personal history writer; [fig.] witness; judge; accuser; one who incriminates; giver of a true account.

biography, n. [L. biographia > Gr. 'life' + 'write'.] (webplay: history).

Account; inscription; record; evidence; true testimony.

bird (-s, -'s), n. [ME byrd.] (webplay: bear, break, catch, flying, forth, name, small).

1. Fowl; winged creature; warm-blooded vertebrate with feathers; member of the class Aves.
2. Mortal being; transitory creature; [fig.] angel; spirit; essence of a dead loved one.
3. Quick-moving creature; [fig.] feeling; emotion; sentiment; affection.
4. Nestling; hatchling; chick; baby fowl; [fig.] child; offspring.
5. Far-flying creature; [fig.] explorer; navigator; sailor; mariner.
6. Singing creature; [metaphor] poet; minstrel; author of lyric verse.
7. Nesting creature; [metonymy] melody; song; tune; [fig.] happiness; hope; joy; good tidings.
8. Whistler; [fig.] informer; reporter; gossiper; messenger; secret-bearer; tattle-tale.
9. Creature used in sacrifices and offerings; [fig.] Savior; Christ; (see Leviticus 12:8).
10. Communicative creature; [fig.] thought; idea; intelligence.
11. Phrase. “Patriarch's bird”: Noah's dove; the dove that Noah sent forth from the Ark to look for land after the flood (see Genesis 8:8-12).
12. Phrase. “Blue Bird”: [see bluebird, n.]
13. Phrase. “Humming Bird”: [see hummingbird, n.]

birdling, n. [see bird, n.]

Hatchling; nestling; young bird; [fig] spirit of deceased person; departed loved one.