Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BAN'TER-ER, n.

One who banters, or laughs at with pleasantry.

BAN'TER-ING, ppr.

Joking; laughing at with good humor.

BANT'LING, n. [G. bankart. Qu.]

A young child; an infant.

BAN-YAN', n. [See Banian.]

A tree in India; a species of fig.

BAP'TISM, n. [Gr. βαπτισμα, from βαπτιζω, from βαπτω, to baptize; Sp. bautizar; It. battezzare; Port. bautizar or baptizar. These seem to be from the Greek, by contraction. But the Arm. badeza, badein, may be from bath, bad, water.]

1. The application of water to a person, as a sacrament or religious ceremony, by which he is initiated into the visible church of Christ. This is usually performed by sprinkling or immersion.
2. The sufferings of Christ. Matth. xx. 22, 23.
3. So much of the Gospel as was preached by John, the Baptist. Acts xviii. Cruden.

BAP-TIS'MAL, a.

Pertaining to baptism; as, a baptismal vow.

BAP'TIST, n.

1. One who administers baptism. This appellation is appropriately given to John, the forerunner of Christ.
2. As a contraction of Anabaptist, one who denies the doctrine of infant baptism, and maintains that baptism ought to be administered only to adults by immersing the body in water.

BAP'TIST, n.

In addition to the definition given in the body of this work, it may be stated that the baptists believe the ordinance should be administered to regenerated believers only, not exclusively to adults, but to children also who give evidence of being born of the Spirit.

BAP'TIS-TER-Y, n. [L. baptisterium.]

A place where the sacrament of baptism is administered. Primitively, baptisteries were in buildings separate from the church; but in the sixth century they were taken into the church-porch, and afterwards into the church itself. Encyc.

BAP-TIS'TIC, or BAP-TIS'TIC-AL, a.

Pertaining to baptism. Bramhall.

BAP-TIST'IC-AL-LY, adv.

In a baptistical manner.

BAP-TIZ'A-BLE, a.

That may be baptized. N. E. Elders.

BAP-TIZE', v.t. [See Baptism.]

To administer the sacrament of baptism to; to christen. By some denominations of Christians, baptism is performed by plunging, or immersing the whole body in water, and this is done to none but adults. More generally the ceremony is performed by sprinkling water on the face of a person, whether an infant or an adult, and in the case of an infant, by giving him a name, in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, which is called Christening.

BAP-TIZ'ED, pp.

Having received baptism; christened.

BAP-TIZ'ER, n.

One who christens, or administers baptism.

BAP-TIZ'ING, ppr.

Administering baptism to; christening.

BAR, n. [W. bar; It. barra; Fr. barre; Sp. barra; Port. id.; It. barra; sbarra; Arm. barren, sparl; Heb. בריח; Ch. עברא. If these words are the Eng. bar, the sense is, a shoot, that which shoots, passes or is driven.]

1. A piece of wood, iron or other solid matter, long in proportion to its diameter, used for various purposes, but especially for a hinderance or obstruction; as, the bars of a fence or gate; the bar of a door or hatchway. Numb. iii. 36. Ex. xxvi. 26.
2. Any obstacle which obstructs, hinders or defends; an obstruction; a fortification. Amos i. Must I new bars to my own joy create. Dryden.
3. The shore of the sea, which restrains its waters. Job xxxviii.
4. The railing that incloses the place which counsel occupy in courts of justice. Hence the phrase, at the bar of the court, signifies in open court. Hence also licensed lawyers are called barristers; and hence the whole body of lawyers licensed in a court, are customarily called the bar. A trial at bar, in England, is a trial in the courts of Westminster, opposed to a trial at Nisi Prius, in the circuits.
5. Figuratively, any tribunal; as, the bar of public opinion. Thus the final trial of men is called the bar of God.
6. The inclosed place of a tavern, inn or coffee-house, where the landlord or his servant delivers out liquors, and waits upon customers. Addison.
7. A bank of sand, gravel or earth, forming a shoal at the mouth of a river or harbor, obstructing entrance, or rendering it difficult.
8. A rock in the sea, according to Brown; or any thing by which structure is held together, according to Johnson; used in Jonah ii.
9. Any thing laid across another, as bars in heraldry, stripes in color, and the like.
10. In the menage, the highest part of the place in a horse's mouth between the grinders and tusks, so that the part of the mouth which lies under and at the side of the bars, retains the name of the gum. Encyc. The upper part of the gums, which bears no teeth, and to which the bit is applied. Johnson.
11. In music, bars are lines drawn perpendicularly across, the lines of the staff, including between each two, a certain quantity of time, or number of beats.
12. In law a peremptory exception sufficient to destroy the plaintif's action. It is divided into a bar to common intendment, and bar special; bar temporary, and bar perpetual. Bar, to common intendment is an ordinary or general bar, which disables the declaration of the plaintif. A special bar is more than ordinary, as a fine, release, or justification. A temporary bar is that which is good for a time, but may afterward cease. A perpetual bar overthrows the action of the plaintif forever. Blackstone. Cowel.
13. A bar of gold or silver, is an ingot, lump or wedge, from the mines, run in a mold, and unwrought. A bar of iron is a long piece, wrought in the forge and hammered from a pig.
14. Among printers, the iron with a wooden handle, by which the screw of the press is turned.
15. In the African trade, a denomination of price; payment formerly being made to the Africans in iron bars. Johnson.

BAR, v.t.

1. To fasten with a bar; as, to bar a door or gate.
2. To hinder; to obstruct; to prevent; as, to bar the entrance of evil.
3. To prevent; to exclude; to hinder; to make impracticable; as, the distance between us bars our intercourse. In this sense, the phrase is often varied, thus: the distance bars me from his aid, or bars him from my aid.
4. To prohibit; to restrain or exclude by express or implied prohibition; as, the statute bars my right; the law bars the use of poisoned weapons.
5. To obstruct, prevent or hinder by any moral obstacle; as, the right is barred by time, or by statute; a release bars the plaintif's recovery.
6. To except; to exclude by exception; as, I bar to-night. Shak.
7. To cross with stripes of a different color.
8. To bar a rein, in farriery, is an operation upon the legs of a horse, or other parts, to stop malignant humors. This is done by opening the skin above a vein, disengaging it and tying it both above and below, and striking between the two ligatures. Johnson.
9. To adorn with trappings; a contraction of barb. [See Barb.] Drayton. Haywood.

BARB, n. [L. barba; W. barv; Corn. bar; Arm. baro. This is beard, with a different ending. The sense may be, that which shoots out.]

1. Beard, or that which resembles it; or grows in the place of it; as the barb of a fish, the smaller claws of the polypus, &c. Johnson. Coxe.
2. The down, or pubes, covering the surface of some plants; or rather, a tuft or bunch of strong hairs terminating leaves. Linnæus. Milne.
3. Anciently, armor for horses; formerly, barbe or barde. Hayward.
4. A common name of the Barbary pigeon, a bird of a black or dun color. Dict. of Nat. Hist.
5. A horse from Barbary, of which it seems to be a contraction.
6. The points that stand backward in an arrow, fish-hook or other instrument for piercing, intended to prevent its being extracted.
7. In botany, a straight process armed with teeth pointing backward like the sting of a bee. This is one sort of pubescence. Martyn.

BARB, v.t.

1. To shave; to dress the beard. [Obs.] Shak.
2. To furnish with barbs, as an arrow, fish-hook, spear, or other instrument.
3. To put armor on a horse. Milton.

BAR'BA-CAN, n. [Fr. barbacane; Sp. barbacana; It. barbacane. Qu. a projecting work.]

1. A fortification or outer defense to a city or castle, consisting of an elevation of earth about three feet high, along the foot of the rampart. Encyc. Johnson. Sp. Dict.
2. A fortress at the end of a bridge, or at the outlet of a city, having a double wall with towers. Encyc.
3. An opening in the wall of a fortress through which guns are leveled and fired upon an enemy. Johnson. Encyc. The French use the word also for an aperture in a wall to let in or drain off water; and the Spaniards, for a low wall round a church-yard. Fr. and Sp. Dict.

BAR-BA'DI-AN, n.

An inhabitant of Barbadoes.

BAR-BA'DOES-CHER-RY, n.

The Malpighia, a tree growing in the West Indies, fifteen feet high, and producing a pleasant tart fruit. Johnson.

BAR-BA'DOES-TAR, n.

A mineral fluid, of the nature of the thicker fluid bitumens, of a nauseous bitterish taste, a very strong disagreeable smell, viscid, of a brown, black or reddish color; it easily melts, and burns with much smoke, but is not soluble in ardent spirits. It contains a portion of acid of amber. It trickles down the sides of mountains in some parts of America, and sometimes is found on the surface of the waters. It is recommended in coughs and disorders of the breast and lungs. Encyc. Nicholson.

BAR-BA'RI-AN, a.

1. Belonging to savages; rude; uncivilized. Pope.
2. Cruel; inhuman.