Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BAY, v.i. [Fr. aboyer; It. baiare, to bark.]

1. To bark, as a dog at his game. – Spenser.
2. To encompass, or inclose, from bay. We now use embay. – Shak.

BAY, v.t.

To bark at; to follow with barking. – Shak.

BAY'ARD, n. [bay and ard, kind.]

1. A bay horse. – Philips.
2. An unmannerly beholder. – B. Jonson.

BAY'ARD-LY, a.

Blind; stupid. – Taylor.

BAY'-BER-RY, n.

The fruit of the bay-tree or Laurus nobilis. Sometimes this name is incorrectly applied to the fruit of Myrica cerifera; and often also to the plant itself.

BAY'ED, a.

Having bays, as a building.

BAY'O-NET, n. [Fr. baïonette; Sp. bayoneta; It. baionetta; so called, it is said, because the first bayonets were made at Bayonne. – Vieyra's Portugese Dict.]

A short pointed instrument of iron, or broad dagger, formerly with a handle fitted to the bore of a gun, where it was inserted for use, after the soldier had fired; but now made with an iron handle and ring which go over the muzzle of the piece, so that the soldier fires with his bayonet fixed. – Encyc.

BAY'O-NET, v.t.

1. To stab with a bayonet.
2. To compel or drive by the bayonet. – Burke.

BAY'OU, n. [Fr. boyau, a gulf.]

In Louisiana, the outlet of a lake; a channel for water.

BAYS, or BAYZE, n.

See BAIZ.

BAY'-SALT, n.

A salt which crystalizes or receives its consistence from the heat of the sun or action of the air. It forms in pits or basins, and from this circumstance receives its denomination. It appears first in a slight incrustation upon the surface of the water, which may be sea water, or any other water in which salt is dissolved. This crust thickens and hardens, till the crystalization is perfected, which takes place in eight, ten, or fifteen days. – Encyc. Chambers.

BAY-WIN'DOW, n.

A window jutting out from the wall, as in shops.

BAY'-YARN, n.

A denomination sometimes used promiscuously with woolen yarn. – Chambers.

BA-ZAR', n. [Per. بَازَاْر bazar; Russ, bazari, a market.]

Among the Turks and Persians, an exchange, market-place or place where goods are exposed to sale. Some bazars are open, others are covered with lofty ceilings or domes, pierced to give light. The bazar at Tauris will contain 30,000 men. – Encyc.

BAZ'AT, or BAZ'A, n.

A long, fine spun cotton from Jerusalem, whence it is called Jerusalem cotton. – Encyc.

BDEL'LIUM, n. [del'yum; L.; Gr. βδελλιον; Syr. Ch. and Heb. בדלח. Bochart and Parkhurst translate it, pearl. Gen. ii. But it is doubtful whether the bdellium of the Scripture is that now used.]

A gummy resinous juice, produced by a tree in the East Indies, of which we have no satisfactory account. It is brought from the East Indies and from Arabia, in pieces of different sizes and figures, externally of a dark reddish brown, internally clear and not unlike to glue. To the taste is slightly bitterish and pungent; its odor is agreeable. In the mouth, it becomes soft and sticks to the teeth; on a red hot iron, it readily catches flame and burns with a crackling noise. It is used as a perfume and a medicine, being a weak deobstruent. – Encyc.

BE, prep. [BE-.]

A prefix, as in because, before, beset, bedeck, is the same word as by; Sax. be, big; Goth. bi. It is common to the English, Saxon, Gothic, German, Dutch, Danish and Swedish languages. It occurs probably in the Russian, but is written po, as it is in possideo, and a few other words in the Latin. It denotes nearness, closeness, about, on, at, from some root signifying to pass or to press. [See By.] That this word is the Shemitic ב, used as a prefix, is certain, not only from its general applications, which may be seen by comparing the uses of the word, in the Hebrew for instance, with those in the Saxon; but from its use in particular phrases particularly in its use before the name of the Supreme Being in swearing. Hence we find that ב is not from בה nor from בית, as Parkhurst supposes, but is an abbreviation of big, which is used in the Saxon, bigspell, a proverb, a by-word; bigstandan, to stand by.

BE, v.i. [substantive verb; ppr. being; pp. been. Sax. beon, to be. G. bin, bist; D. ben; Pers. نُوَدْن bodan, to be, San. bhu; and W. bôd, byzu, bydiaw. The sense is, to stand, remain or be fixed; hence, to continue. This verb is defective, and its defects are supplied by verbs from other roots, am, is, was, were, which have no radical connection with be. The case is the same with the substantive verb in most languages.]

1. To be fixed; to exist; to have a real state or existence, for a longer or shorter time. Let this mind be in you, which was in Christ Jesus. – Phil. ii. To be, contents his natural desire. – Pope.
2. To be made to be; to become. And they twain shall be one flesh. – Matth. xix. Jer. xxxii.
3. To remain. Let the garment be as it was made.
4. To be present in a place. Where was I at the time? When will you be at my house?
5. To have a particular manner of being or happening; as, how is this affair? how was it? what were the circumstances? This verb is used as an auxiliary in forming the tenses of other verbs, and particularly in giving to them the passive form; as, he has been disturbed. It forms, with the infinitive, a particular future tense, which often expresses duty, necessity or purpose; as, government is to be supported; we are to pay our just debts. Let be is to omit, or leave untouched; to let alone. Let be, said he, my prey. – Dryden.

BEACH, n. [Qu. Russ. bok, coast.]

The shore of the sea, or of a lake, which is washed by the tide and waves; the strand. It may be sometimes used for the shore of large rivers.

BEACH'ED, a.

Exposed to the waves; washed by the tide and waves; also, driven on a beach.

BEACH'Y, a.

Having a beach or beaches. – Shak.

BEA'CON, n. [be'ekn; W. pigwn, a beacon, cone, or turret, from pig, a point. See Pike. Sax. beacen, becen, a signal; D. baak, baaken; Ger. bake.]

1. A signal erected on a long pole, upon an eminence, consisting of a pitch barrel, or some combustible matter, to be fired at night, or to cause a smoke by day, to notify the approach of an enemy.
2. A light-house; a house erected on a point of land, or other place on the sea-coast, with lamps which burn at night, to direct navigators, and preserve vessels from running upon rocks, sand banks, or the shore. In general, a beacon may be any light or mark intended for direction and security against danger.
3. Figuratively, that which gives notice of danger.

BEA'CON-AGE, n.

Money paid for the maintenance of a beacon. – Encyc. Ash.

BEA'CON-ED, a.

Having a beacon.

BEAD, n. [Ger. bethe, a bead; supposed from beten, biddan, to pray, from the use of beads in Catholic countries; Sax. bead, a praying. In Spanish and Portuguese, the word answering to count is used for a bead.]

1. A little perforated ball, to be strung on a thread, and worn about the neck, for ornament. A string of beads is called a necklace. Beads are made of gold, pearl, amber, steel, garnet, coral, diamond, crystal, pastes, glasses, &c. The Romanists use strings of beads in rehearsing their prayers. Hence the phrase, to tell beads, and to be at one's beads, is to be at prayer. – Encyc. Johnson.
2. Any small globular body hence the glass globules, used in traffick with savages, and sold in strings, are called beads; also a bubble on spirit.
3. In architecture, a round molding, commonly made upon the edge of a piece of stuff, in the Corinthian and Roman orders, cut or carved in short embossments, like beads in necklaces. – Encyc. Bidding of beads, is a charge given by a priest to his parishioners, to repeat certain pater-nosters upon their beads for a departed soul. – Bailey.