Emily Dickinson Lexicon

buttonhole, n. [button, n. + OE hol 'hollow place'.]

Loop; eyelet; grommet; clothing notch; fastening slit; small opening on a coat lapel; [fig.] custom; habit; common presentation; ordinary display; conventional usage; normal appearance.

buy (bought), v. [OE] (webplay: acquire, day, dear, given, paying, praise, price, purchase, sell, shares, small, stock, worth).

1. Purchase; pay for (see Leviticus 25:15); [fig.] pluck; pick; select; take away; choose for one's self.
2. Cause; elicit; induce; evoke; stimulate; draw out from someone.
3. Experience; fulfill; actualize; accomplish; achieve; reach; (see Revelation 3:18).
4. Get for a price; attain in exchange for something; [fig.] accommodate; facilitate; make happen more easily.
5. Cover the costs; fulfill the covenant; honor the contract; comply with the agreement; make good on the promise; [fig.] redeem; deliver; provide salvation; (see Ruth 4:4).
6. Obtain; acquire; procure; receive; pick up; (see Isaiah 55:1).
7. Ransom; expiate; atone for; save by sacrifice; rescue from destruction.
8. Appraise; evaluate; appreciate; assign worth to.

buzz, n. [onomatopoeic] (webplay: bees, breath, wind).

1. Resonance; voiced hiss; noise of flies; [fig.] whisper; dissonance.
2. Hum; sibilant apian sound; [word play on “fuzz”] pollen; gold dust from flowers.

buzz, v. [see buzz, n.] (webplay: low, mouth, wind).

Hum; resonate; sibilate; hiss deeply; make a bee-like sound; [fig.] exhale; expire; release the breath between the tongue and the upper teeth.

by, adv. [see by, prep.]

1. Aside; apart; to the side; [fig.] there; in that place; in those circumstances.
2. Near; alongside; along the same way.
3. Onward; continuing forward; on its way.
4. Past; finished; done with.
5. Coming towards, then going away from.
6. Pass; travel through.
7. Left over; to the side.
8. Phrase. “Passer by”: person who walks along the same route; one who approaches and then goes on.
9. Phrase. “By and by”: in due time; in the course of events.

by, prep. [OE < L. am-bi, about < Gk.] (webplay: battles, “day by day”, fire, force, good, great, heaven, hour, house, land, line, live, longer, “pass by”, present, risen, rules, sea, space, “stands by”, sun, “swear by”, time, water, work, “year by year”).

1. Because of; as a result of; [agent marker for passive constructions.]
2. Employing; in use of.
3. For; according to; in the opinion of.
4. After; following in succession.
5. From the action of; with the agency of.
6. Using; through means of.
7. On; according to; as shown on.
8. Along; through.
9. As much as; in the quantity of.
10. Beside; near; next to; close to; in the proximity of.
11. In; during; at the time of.
12. In accordance with; in conjunction with; as a result of; on the basis of.
13. In increments of.
14. Upon.
15. In the course of; in the process of.
16. Contiguous to; parallel with; in contrast with.
17. Phrase. “By way of/by means of”: through; using.
18. Phrase. “By no means”: never; no way.
19. Phrase. “By far”: easily; without question.

bye, interjection.

1. Phrase. “Bye and bye”: eventually; presently; soon; in a short time after.
2. [Contraction of 'God be with you'; see good, adj.] Farewell; adieu; good going; prosperous voyage; fare thee well.

bystander (-s), n. [ME by- + OE standan.] (webplay: near).

Witness; onlooker; observer; nonparticipant; one who is near.

by-thyme, n. [ME by- + L. < Gr θύεω, to burn sacrifice.]

Herb garden; place of aromatic plants; [word play on “by-time” or “bi-time”] mortality; duality; reality; time in the past.