Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BOND'-MAID, n. [bond and maid.]

A female slave, or one bound to service without wages, in opposition to a hired servant.

BOND'-MAN, n. [bond and man.]

A man slave, or one bound to service without wages. In old English law, a villain, or tenant in villenage.

BOND'-SERV-ANT, n. [bond and servant.]

A slave; one who is subjected to the authority of another, or whose person and liberty are restrained.

BOND'-SERV-ICE, n. [bond and service.]

The condition of a bond-servant; slavery.

BOND-'SLAVE, n. [bond and slave.]

A person in a state of slavery; one whose person and liberty are subjected to the authority of a master.

BONDS'-MAN, n. [bond and man.]

1. A slave. [Obs.] – Derham.
2. A surety; one who is bound, or who gives security, for another.

BONDS'-WO-MAN, or BOND'-WO-MAN, n. [bond and woman.]

A woman slave. – B. Jonson.

BON'DUC, n.

A species of Guilandina, or nickar tree, the yellow nickar, a climbing plant, a native of the West Indies, bearing a pod contaming two hard seeds of the size of a child's marble. – Encyc.

BONE, n. [Sax. ban; Sw. ben; D. been, bone or leg; Ger. bein, a leg; Dan. been, leg or bone. The sense probably is, that which is set or fixed.]

1. A firm hard substance, of a dull white color, composing some part of the frame of an animal body. The bones of an animal support all the softer parts, as the flesh and vessels. They vary in texture in different bones, and in different parts of the same bone. The long bones are compact in their middle portion, with a central cavity occupied by a network of plates and fibers, and cellular or spongy at the extremities. The flat bones are compact externally, and cellular internally. The bones in a fetus are soft and cartilaginous, but they gradually harden with age. The ends of the long bones are larger than the middle, which renders the articulations more firm, and in the fetus are distinct portions, called epiphyses. Bones are supplied with blood-vessels, and in the fetus, or in a diseased state, are very vascular. They are probably also furnished with nerves and absorbents, though less easily detected in a sound state. They are covered with a thin, strong membrane, called the periosteum, which, together with the bones, has very little sensibility in a sound state, but when inflamed, is extremely sensible. Their cells and cavities are occupied by a fatty substance, called the medulla or marrow. They consist of earthy matter rather more than half, gelatin one sixteenth, and cartilage about one third of the whole. The earthy matter gives them their solidity, and consists of phosphate of lime, with a small portion of carbonate of lime and phosphate of magnesia. – Cyc. Wistar. Thomson.
2. A piece of bone, with fragments of meat adhering to it. To be upon the bones, is to attack. [Little used, and vulgar.] To make no bones, is to make no scruple; a metaphor taken from a dog who greedily swallows meat that has no bones. – Johnson. Bones, a sort of bobbins, made of trotter bones, for weaving lace; also, dice. – Johnson.

BONE, v.t.

1. To take out bones from the flesh, as in cookery. – Johnson.
2. To put whale-bone into stays. – Ash.

BONE'ACE, n. [bone and ace.]

A game at cards, in which he who has the highest card turned up to him, wins the bone, that is, one half the stake. – Encyc.

BONE'ACHE, n.

Pain in the bones. – Shak.

BON'ED, a.

Having bones: used in composition; as, high-boned; strong-boned.

BON'ED, pp.

Deprived of bones, as in cookery.

BONE'LACE, n. [bone and lace.]

A lace made of linen thread, so called because made with bobbins of bone, or for its stiffness. [Obs.]

BONE'LESS, a.

Without bones; wanting bones; as, boneless gums. – Shak.

BONE'SET, n.

A plant, the Thorough-wort, a species of Eupatorium.

BONE'SET, v.t. [bone and set.]

To set a dislocated bone; to unite broken bones. – Wiseman.

BONE'SET-TER, n. [bone and set.]

One whose occupation is to set, and restore broken and dislocated bones.

BONE'SET-TING, n.

That branch of surgery which consists in replacing broken and luxated bones; the practice of setting bones.

BONE'-SPAV-IN, n. [bone and spavin.]

A bony excrescence, or hard swelling, on the inside of the hock of a horse's leg; usually cured by blistering and firing, or caustic blisters. – Encyc.

BO-NET'TA, n.

A sea fish. Qu. Bonito. – Herbert.

BON'FIRE, n. [Fr. bon, good, and fire.]

A fire made as an expression of public joy and exultation.

BON'GRACE, n. [Fr. bonne, and grace.]

A covering for the forehead. [Not used.]. – Beaum.

BO'NI-FORM, a.

Of a good shape.