Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BLOAT'ING, ppr.

Swelling; inflating.

BLOB'BER, n. [Ir. plub, or pluibin, from swelling, pushing out, as in bleb, blubber; W. llwb, a bulging out. Qu. bulb, by transposition. See Blubber.]

A bubble; pronounced by the common people in America, blabber. It is a legitimate word, but not elegant. – Carew.

BLOB'BER-LIP, n. [blobber and lip.]

A thick lip. – Dryden.

BLOB'BER-LIP-PED, a.

Having thick lips. – L'Estrange.

BLOCK, n. [D. blok; Ger. block; Fr. bloc; W. ploc, from lloc, a mound; plociaw, to block, to plug; Russ. placha, a block. The primary sense is, set, fixed, or a mass.]

1. A heavy piece of timber or wood, usually with one plain surface; or it is rectangular, and rather thick than long.
2. Any mass of matter with an extended surface; as, a block of marble, a piece rough from the quarry.
3. A massy body, solid and heavy; a mass of wood, iron, or other metal, with at least one plain surface, such as artificers use.
4. The wood on which criminals are beheaded.
5. Any obstruction, or cause of obstruction; a stop; hindrance; obstacle.
6. A piece of wood in which a pulley runs; used also for the pulley, or the block itself, and the sheaves, or wheels.
7. A blockhead; a stupid fellow.
8. Among cutters in wood, a form made of hard wood, on which they cut figures in relief with knives, chisels, &c. – Encyc.
9. In falconry, the perch whereon a bird of prey is kept. – Encyc.

BLOCK, v.t. [Fr. bloquer; Port. and Sp. bloquear; It. bloccare.]

To inclose or shut up, so as to hinder egress or passage; to stop up; to obstruct by placing obstacles in the way; often followed by up; as, to block up a town, or a road.

BLOCK-ADE', n. [L. bloccato; Port. bloqueado, blocked up; Sp. bloqueo; Fr. blocus.]

The siege of a place, formed by surrounding it with hostile troops or ships, or by posting them at all the avenues, to prevent escape, and hinder supplies of provisions and ammunition from entering, with a view to compel a surrender, by hunger and want, without regular attacks. To constitute a blockade, the investing power must be able to supply its force to every point of practicable access, so as to render it dangerous to attempt to enter; and there is no blockade of that port, where its force can not be brought to bear. – Kent's Commentaries.

BLOCK-ADE', v.t.

To shut up a town or fortress, by posting troops at all the avenues, to compel the garrison or inhabitants to surrender by means of hunger and want, without regular attacks; also, to station ships of war to obstruct all intercourse with a town or nation.

BLOCK-AD'ED, pp.

Shut up or inclosed by an enemy.

BLOCK-AD'ING, ppr.

Besieging by a blockade.

BLOCK'HEAD, n. [block and head.]

A stupid fellow; a dolt; a person deficient in understanding.

BLOCK'HEAD-ED, a.

Stupid; dull. – Shak.

BLOCK'HEAD-LY, a.

Like a blockhead.

BLOCK'HOUSE, n. [block and house.]

A house or fortress, erected to block up a pass, and defend against the entrance of an enemy.

BLOCK'ISH, a.

Stupid; dull; deficient in understanding. – Shak.

BLOCK'ISH-LY, adv.

In a stupid manner. – Harmer.

BLOCK'ISH-NESS, n.

Stupidity; dullness.

BLOCK'LIKE, a.

like a block; stupid. – Hakewill.

BLOCK'-TIN, n. [block and tin.]

Tin which is pure, unmixed, and unwrought. – Johnson. Ash.

BLO'MA-RY, n. [See Bloom, a mass of iron.]

The first forge through which iron passes, after it is melted from the ore.

BLOND'-LACE, n.

Lace made of silk.

BLONK'ET, a.

Gray. [Not used.] – Spenser.

BLOOD, n. [Sax. blod; Sw. and Dan. blod; Ger. blut, blood; bluten, to bleed; D. bloed, blood; bloeden, to bleed; allied perhaps to Gr. βλυζω.]

1. The fluid which circulates through the arteries and veins of the human body, and of other animals, which is essential to the preservation of life. This fluid is generally red. If the blood of an animal is not red, such animal is called exsanguious, or white-blooded; the blood being white, or white tinged with blue.
2. Kindred; relation by natural descent from a common ancestor; consanguinity. God hath made of one blood, all nations of the earth. – Acts xvii. Hence the word is used for a child; a family; a kindred; descent; lineage; progeny; descendants, &c.
3. Royal lineage; blood royal; as, a prince of the blood.
4. Honorable birth; high extraction; as, a gentleman of blood. – Shak.
5. Life. Shall I not require his blood at your hands? – 2 Sam. iv.
6. Slaughter; murder, or bloodshedding. I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu. – Hosea i. The voice of thy brother's blood crieth to me from the ground. – Gen. iv.
7. Guilt and punishment. Your blood be upon your own heads. – Acts xviii.
8. Fleshly nature; the carnal part of man, as opposed to the spiritual nature, or divine life. Who were born, not of flesh and blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. – John i.
9. Man, or human wisdom, or reason. Flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my father who is in heaven. – Matth. xvi.
10. A sacramental symbol of the blood of Christ. This is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for the remission of sins. – Matth. xxvi.
11. The death and sufferings of Christ. Being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. – Rom v. 9. Eph. i.
12. The price of blood; that which is obtained by shedding blood, and seizing goods. Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood. – Hab. ii. Acts i.
13. Temper of mind; state of the passions; but in this sense, accompanied with cold or warm, or other qualifying word. Thus to commit an act in cold blood, is to do it deliberately, and without sudden passion. Warm blood denotes a temper inflamed or irritated; to warm or heat the blood, is to excite the passions.
14. A hot spark; a man of fire or spirit; a rake.
15. The juice of any thing, especially if red; as, “the blood of grapes.” – Gen. xlix. Whole blood. In law, a kinsman of the whole blood is one who descends from the same couple of ancestors; of the half blood, one who descends from either of them singly, by a second marriage. – Encyc.

BLOOD, v.t.

1. To let blood; to bleed by opening a vein.
2. To stain with blood. – Addison. Dryden.
3. To enter; to inure to blood, as a hound. – Spenser.
4. To heat the blood; to exasperate. [Unusual.] – Bacon.

BLOOD-BE-SPOT'TED, a.

Spotted with blood. – Shak.