Emily Dickinson Lexicon

brought, v. [see bring, v.]

brow (-s), n. [OE 'eye-lashes,' 'eyelids,' 'eyebrows,' 'forehead'.] (webplay: bound, eye, forehead, hair, hill).

1. Field; yard; garden; meadow; woods; forest; place of natural beauty; [personification] forehead; top of the head; (NW cites Shakespeare in the entry for “BROW'BOUND … Crowned; having the head encircled as with a diadem” (see Coriolanus 2.2.98).
2. Top; highest point; [metonymy] head; upper end of the human body.
3. Hairline; ridge above the eye; [fig.] line; edge; boundary; brink; border.
4. Forehead; ridges above the eyes; place on the front of the head above the eyebrows; [fig.] mind; intellect; sophistication; cultural refinement; social achievement.
5. Curve; arch; half-circle; [fig.] edge of a crater; shadowy feature on the surface of earth's satellite.
6. Face; visage; countenance.
7. Rise; incline; prominence; rolling slope; [fig.] curving skyline; arching horizon (see Luke 4:29).

brown, adj. [OE] (webplay: deep, dusky, redness).

1. Tree-colored; color of dead leaves in autumn; hue of declining vegetation in the fall season; mixture of red, black, and yellow.
2. Earth-colored; hue of dirt; [fig.] ripe; mature; ready to harvest.
3. Dark; twilit; benighted; crepuscular; [fig.] gloomy; serious; grim; dismal; cheerless; funereal.
4. Not blue, green, or hazel colored; darker-colored iris; [fig.] sad; hopeless; lonely; pitiful; unhappy; lackluster; without light.

brown, n. [see brown, adj.]

1. Dark material; earth-colored fabric; [fig.] dusky-colored feathers.
2. Earth; dirt; soil; humus; ground; matter; [fig.] nature; mortality; earthly experience.

bruise (-s), n. [OE brýsan 'to crush.'] (webplay: heavy).

1. Contusion; wound; injury from beating; trauma from striking; black-and-blue mark from a blunt instrument; (see Isaiah 1:6).
2. Pain; hurt; anguish; agony; suffering; [fig.] incurable disease; terminal illness; (see Jeremiah 30:12).

brush, n. [ME < OFr < L. 'brushwood'.] (webplay: dust, painters).

Painting instrument; artist's tool; thin straight handle with a tip of fine hairs for applying wet color; [fig.] reflex; involuntary reaction; spiritual influence rather than physical.

brush (-ed), v. [Fr. see brush, n.] (webplay: dust, passing, trees, wind).

1. Sweep; move across; [fig.] scrub; scour; cleanse; polish; set in order; remove impurities.
2. Graze; skim; touch lightly in passing; [fig.] sense; feel; perceive; tangibly experience.
3. Shoo; dismiss; send away; set aside.

Brussels, proper n. [Dutch broek, marsh, wetlands.]

Belgium's capital; city known for carpets, rugs, lace; center of a textile industry; [fig.] woven goods; fine linen; worsted yarn floor-covering; silken ground of lace; wool carpet with stiff linen backing.

Bryant (-'s), proper n. [Celtic, possibly 'strong, in a position of dignity'.]

William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878); 19^th century New England poet; writer who often used natural images in his poetry; (see ED letters).

bubble (-s), n. [ME] (webplay: rising, run, water).

1. Globule; suds; foam; spume; air-pocket; round particle; [fig.] sunset hue; spot of color; patch of cloud.
2. Gurgle; [fig.] death rattle; suffocating in fluids.
3. Bladder; blister; cyst; wen; vesicle of water; soft receptacle filled with air; [fig.] fleeting thing; ephemeral object.
4. Burp; belch; eruct; flatulence; gassy sound; [fig.] blip; echo; reverberation.