Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BEEF'-WIT-TED, a. [beef and wit.]

Dull in intellects; stupid; heavy-headed. – Shak.

BEE'-GAR-DEN, n. [bee and garden.]

A garden, or inclosure to set bee-hives in. – Johnson.

BEE'-GLUE, n. [bee and glue.]

A soft, unctuous matter with which bees cement the combs to the hives, and close up the cells; called also propolis. – Encyc.

BEE'-HIVE, n. [bee and hive.]

A case, box, or other hollow vessel, which serves as a habitation for bees. Hives are made of various materials, as of boards, the hollow trunk of a tree, and withes of straw, or of glass.

BEELD, n. [Sax. behlydan, to cover.]

Protection; refuge. [Not in use.] – Fairfax.

BE-EL'ZE-BUB, n.

A prince of devils. [The word signifies the deity of flies.]

BEE'-MAS-TER, n. [bee and master.]

One who keeps bees. – Mortimer.

BEE'MOL, n.

In music, a half-note. – Bacon.

BEEN, n.

A fretted stringed instrument of music of the guitar kind, having nineteen frets; used in India. – As. Researches.

BEEN, pp. [Sax. beon.]

Participle perfect of be; pronounced bin. In old authors, it is also the present tense plural of be.

BEER, n. [W. bir; Fr. biere; Arm. byer, bir, ber; D. and Ger. bier; It. birra.]

1. A spirituous liquor made from any farinaceous grain; but generally from barley, which is first malted and ground, and its fermentable substance extracted by hot water. This extract or infusion is evaporated by boiling in caldrons, and hops or some other plant of an agreeable bitterness added. The liquor is then suffered to ferment in vats. Beer is of different degrees of strength, and is denominated small-beer, ale, porter, brown stout, &c., according to its strength, or other peculiar qualities. – Encyc.
2. Beer is a name given in America to fermenting liquors made of various other materials; and when a decoction of the roots of plants forms part of the composition, it is called spring-beer, from the season in which it is made. There is also root-beer.

BEER'-BAR-REL, n.

A barrel for holding beer.

BEER'-HOUSE, n.

A house where malt liquors are sold; an ale-house.

BEEST'INGS, n.

See BIESTINGS.

BEET, n. [D. biet; Ger. beete; It. bietola; W. betysen; L. beta; Fr. bette.]

A plant of the genus Beta. The species cultivated in gardens are the cicla and vulgaris, or white and red beet. There are many varieties; some with long taper roots, and others with flat roots, like turneps. The root furnishes a large portion of sugar, which is manufactured in France on a great scale. – Cyc.

BEE'TLE, n. [Sax. bitl, or bytl, a mallet; betel, the insect, beetle.]

1. A heavy mallet or wooden hammer, used to drive wedges, beat pavements, &c.; called also a stamper, or rammer.
2. In zoology, the popular name of a genus of insects, the Scarabæus, of many species. The generic characters are, clavated antennæ, fissile longitudinally, legs frequently dentated, and wings which have hard cases, or sheaths. The bones of these insects are placed externally, and their muscles within. They are of different sizes, from that of a pin's head, to that of a man's fist. Some are produced in a month, and go through their existence in a year; in others, four years are required to produce them, and they live as winged insects a year more. They have various names, as the May-bug, the dorr-beetle, the cock-chaffer, the tumble-dung, the elephant-beetle, &c. The latter, found in South America, is the largest species, being four inches long. – Encyc.

BEE'TLE, v.i. [bee'tl.]

To jut; to be prominent; to hang or extend out; as, a cliff that beetles over its base. – Shak.

BEE'TLE-BROW, n. [beetle and brow.]

A prominent brow. – Shak.

BEE'TLE-BROW-ED, a.

Having prominent brows. – Swift.

BEE'TLE-HEAD, n. [beetle and head.]

A stupid fellow. – Scot.

BEE'TLE-HEAD-ED, a.

Having a head like a beetle; dull; stupid. – Shak.

BEE'TLE-STOCK, n. [beetle and stock.]

The handle of a beetle. – Spenser.

BEET'LING, ppr.

Jutting; being prominent; standing out from the main body. – Thomson.

BEET'RAVE, or BEET'RAD-ISH, n.

A kind of beet, used for salad. – Ash.

BEEVES, n. [plur. of beef.]

Cattle; quadrupeds of the bovine genus, called in England, black cattle.