Emily Dickinson Lexicon

bulwark, n. [poss. Scandinavian.]

Bastion; rampart; wooden fortification; defense wall made of trees; palisade that protects a place from invasion; (see Deuteronomy 20:20).

bumble, n. [see bomb, n. and boom, v.]

Hum; buzz; drone; whirr; repetitive noise; low vibrating sound; [fig.] chant; spell; incantation; enchantment.

bumblebee (bumble bee, bumble bees, bumble bee's), n. [see bumble, n. and bee, n.] (webplay: named).

1. Buzzing insect sound; vibrating apis noise; [fig.] chanting; humming; droning voice; nature's music.
2. Flying insect; pollen-collecting apis that makes honey.
3. Humblebee; species of the apis insect.

bun, n. [OE.]

Muffin; small cake; sweet roll; piece of bread; gift of pastry.

bundle (-s), n. [prob. Germanic; see bind, v.]

1. Packet; roll; package; small wrapped parcel; [fig.] item; thing; mass; object; affair; matter.
2. Load; burden; weight; cargo; freight; encumbrance; [metaphor] cross; trial; tribulation; [fig.] life; carcass; mortal body.
3. Pack; knapsack; things; collection of stuff; belongings fastened together for carrying; [metaphor] concern; worry; [fig.] being; character; identity; person; self; spirit; soul; existence; (see 1 Samuel 25:29).

bung, n.

Plug; cork; stopper; closing for the mouth of a cask; [fig.] phellem; coagulation; clotting agent; protective tissue; hemorrhage prevention.

Bunker Hill, proper n. [Bunker < OFr bon quer, good heart; see also hill, n.]

Mound in Charleston, Massachusetts; knoll named for early American settler George Bunker; location of bloodiest Revolutionary War battle, actually Breed's Hill; place where many soldiers died (see ED letters); [fig.] cemetery; graveyard; resting place.

buoyant, adj. [Sp. or OFr.]

Rising; brimming; overflowing; lightweight; springing up; [fig.] vital; animating; sustaining; life-giving; bearing up.

bur (burr, burs), n. [Danish 'burdock'.] (webplay: seeds, sweetbread).

1. Seed pod; chestnut husk.
2. Pine cone; deciduous spike; female catkin of an evergreen.
3. Sticker; thorn; goat-head; prickly weed; rough husk; dry flower head; [onomatapoeia; word play with “burrrr”] shiver; shudder; trembling; tremor; chill.
4. Stubble; chaff; straw; remains of the harvest.
5. Pod; shell; cod; case; capsule; [fig.] head; skull.

burden, n. [OE.] (webplay: borne).

1. Load; weight; labor; work; difficulty; encumbrance; toil of carrying something heavy; [fig.] duty; responsibility; (see Matthew 11:30).
2. Effort; exertion; trouble; inconvenience; [fig.] refrain; chorus; under song; bass part; bird call; musical accompaniment; recurrent verse of a song.
3. Travail; sorrow; cross; [fig.] guilt; sin; grief; sorrow; (see Galatians 6:2).