Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BENT, n.

1. The state of being curving, crooked, or inclined from a straight line; flexure; curvity.
2. Declivity; as, the bent of a hill. [Unusual.] Dryden.
3. Inclination; disposition; a leaning or bias of mind; propensity; as, the bent of the mind or will; the bent of a people toward an object. This may be natural or artificial, occasional or habitual, with indefinite degrees of strength.
4. Flexion; tendency; particular direction; as, the bents and turns of a subject. Locke.
5. Application of the mind; a bending of the mind in study or investigation. Locke.

BENT, pp. [of Bend.]

Incurvated; inflected; inclined; prone to or having a fixed propensity; determined. Bent on, having a fixed inclination; resolved or determined on.

BENT'ING-TIME, n.

The time when pigeons feed on bents, before peas are ripe. Johnson. Dryden.

BE-NUM', or BE-NUMB', v.t. [Sax. beniman, benyman, pp. benumen, to seize, of be and niman, Sax. and Goth., to take or seize. This root is retained in withernam. It is to be observed that b after m in numb, thumb, dumb, &c., is an arbitrary addition of modern writers.]

1. To make torpid; to deprive of sensation; as, a hand or foot benumbed by cold.
2. To stupefy; to render inactive; as, to benumb the senses. Dryden.

BE-NUMB'MENT, n.

Act of benumbing. Kirby.

BE-NUM'MED, pp.

Rendered torpid; deprived of sensation; stupefied.

BE-NUM'MED-NESS, n.

Destitution of feeling. Smith.

BE-NUM'MING, ppr.

Depriving of sensation; stupefying.

BEN'ZO-ATE, n. [See Benzoin.]

A salt formed by the union of the benzoic acid with any salifiable base.

BEN-ZO'IC, a.

Pertaining to benzoin. Benzoic acid, or flowers of benzoin, is a peculiar vegetable acid, obtained from benzoin and other balsams, by sublimation or decoction. It is a fine light white matter in small needles; its taste pungent and bitterish, and its odor slightly aromatic. Thomson.

BEN-ZOIN', or BEN'JA-MIN, n.

Gum benjamin; a concrete resinous juice flowing from the Styrax Benzoin, a tree of Sumatra, &c. It is properly a balsam, as it yields benzoic acid. It flows from incisions made in the stem or branches. It is solid and brittle, sometimes in yellowish white tears; joined together by a brown substance, and sometimes of a uniform brown substance like resin. It has little taste, but its smell, especially when rubbed or heated, is extremely fragrant and agreeable. It is chiefly used in cosmetics and perfumes. Encyc. Thomson.

BEN'ZULE, n. [Benzoin and υλη, principle.]

A compound of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, regarded as the base of benzoic acid.

BE-PAINT', v.t. [be and paint.]

To paint; to cover with paint. [Little used.] Shak.

BE-PALE', v.t. [be and pale.]

To make pale. [Not in use.] Carew.

BE-PINCH', v.t. [be and pinch.]

To mark with pinches.

BE-PINCH'ED, or BE-PINCHT', pp.

Marked with pinches. Chapman.

BE-PLAIT'ED, a.

Plaited. Mrs. Butler.

BE-POW'DER, v.t. [be and powder.]

To powder; to sprinkle or cover with powder.

BE-PRAISE', v.t. [be and praise.]

To praise greatly or extravagantly. Goldsmith.

BE-PUCK'ER-ED, a.

Puckered.

BE-PUFF'ED, a.

Puffed.

BE-PUR'PLE, v.t. [be and purple.]

To tinge or dye with a purple color.

BE-QUEATH', v.t. [Sax. becwæthan; be and cwethan, to say; cwid, a saying, opinion, will, testament; cythan, to testify; Eng. quoth.]

To give or leave by will; to devise some species of property by testament; as, to bequeath an estate or a legacy.

BE-QUEATH'ED, pp.

Given or left by will.

BE-QUEATH'ER, n.

One who bequeaths.