Favorite Words — The Letter B |
| B |
| Go to any of the following websites to look up any of the words below you are interested in knowing more about: Macmillan, Howjsay, Merriam-Webster, The Free Dictionary by Farlex, and Cambridge Dictionary. |
| bacchanal (bak’ e nal) — drunken or riotous celebration; reveler
backronym — word re-interpreted as an acronym (back+acronym); in a backronym, an expansion is invented to treat an existing word as an acronym. For example, some believe that the word NEWS is an acronym for North, East, West, and South (in actuality, the word is coined from ‘new’ as in What’s new?) banana republic — politically unstable country with an economy dependent upon the exportation of a limited-resource product, such as bananas or minerals. band’width — numerical difference between the upper and lower frequencies of an electromagnetic radiation band, esp. an assigned range of radio frequencies belit’tle bel’icose — warlike in manner or temperament; pugnacious Belle Époque (a.polk’) — era of artistic & cultural refinement in a society, esp. France begin of 20th C belles-lettres (bel.let’ra) — light stylish writings, usu. on literary or intellectual subj. bell jar — glass vessel used to protect and display fragile objects (Plath) belu’ga — large sturgeon of the Black and Caspian seas, whose roe is processed into caviar bel’vedere — structure such as a summer house situated to command a view bends — decompression sickness; nitrogen bubbles in the blood and tissues after a rapid reduction in the surrounding pressure; pain in joints and abdomen bemuse’ Ben Day dots — adding a tone to a printed image by imposing a transparent sheet of dots or other patterns on the image at some stage of photo repro process benedic’tion — blessing ben’efaction — gift or deed benefic’iary benev’olent benig’nant — favorable; beneficial ben’ison — blessing benumb’ berate’ berceuse (ber.suz’) — lullaby bereft’ berm beseech’ besiege (ba.sej’) besmirch’ besotted — strongly infatuated; smitten; head over heels bespeak’ bestir’ bestow’ beset’ bete noire (bet nwar’) — one that is particularly disliked or that is to be avoided (black beast) betroth’ bewail’ bibelot (bee’ba.low) — fr., trinket, decorative object; a small object of curiosity, beauty, or rarity; a miniature book biblioclast’ — destroyer or mutilator of books bibliognost’ — someone with deep knowledge of books; one who possesses an encyclopedia knowledge of books bibliophile’ — lover of books bibliopole’ — person behind the booth at book fairs; dealer in rare books bibliotash – one who caches or hoards books bib’ulous — given to or marked by the consumption of alcoholic drink: a bibulous evening. Very absorbent, as paper or soil. bice blue/green — moderate blue/green bide bi’furcate — divide into two parts bien sûr – (fr.) of course bilateral — two sides bile — bitterness of temper bil’ious — having a peevish disposition billet doux (bil.a.doo’) — love letter bil’lingsgate — foul, abusive language (fish market in London) bird’s eye maple; bird’s nest fern, bird’s foot violet birl — spinning a floating log by rotating with one’s feet; birling: loggers’ game bipar’tite — having or consisting of two parts bissex’tile — adj./noun, leap year bittersweet bivouac (biv’oo.ak) — temporary encampment blanch — to cause to pale blan’dish — flatter/cajole blar’ney stone — imparts powers of eloquence and persuasion; blarney: smooth/flattering talk, deceptive blas’phemous blat’ant blithe (bliiithe) (spirit) — carefree and lighthearted bliss — ecstasy blot’to — intoxicated blue chip — valuable asset or property blun’der blus’tery boatswain (bo’sen) — warrant officer in charge of ship’s rigging, anchors, cables, and deck crew boda’cious — audacious in a way considered admirable bode bod’ice bod’kin — a small pointed instrument used to pierce cloth or leather, long hairpin bo’gey — one OVER par bol’lard — thick post boi’lerplate — journalistic material, formulaic bollito misto (bo.le’to mis’to) — mixture of veg and various meats cooked in a broth and usu. served with mustard-fruit sauce (It.) bol’ster — to buoy up bombard’ bombast’ic — pompous speech or writing bo’na fide — sincere; in good faith bon mot (bon mo’) — clever saying; witticism bonhomie’ — pleasant and affable disposition bon ton’ — high society; the proper things to do; sophisticated manner of style bon vivant — (bon ve.van’) one with refined taste for food and drink bonan’za bor.bo.ryg’mus — rumbling noise of gas moving through the intestines bos’quet — small grove or thicket botryoid’al – shaped like a bunch of grapes bouffant (boo.fant’) puffed-out, full boun’tiful bo’vine — of or resembling a cow bowd’lerize — to expurgate, a book for ex., prudishly; to modify by skewing content Boyle’s Law — principle that at a constant temp. the volume of a confined ideal gas varies inversely with its pressure bra’cer — stimulating drink braise — to cook by browning in fast, then simmering in a small quantity of liquid in a covered container bran’dish — to wave or flourish a weapon menacingly brash — hasty and unthinking; impetuous brass tacks — essential facts; basics brava’do — defiant or swaggering behavior brawl bra’zen brazier (bra’zher) — cooking device consisting of a charcoal or electric heating source over which food is grilled breadth bricolage’ — something made or put together using whatever materials happen to be available. brev’ity brim’stone — fiery or passionate rhetoric brin’dled — tawny or grayish with streaks or spots of a darker color brine — water of a sea or ocean brink’manship — practice of seeking advantage by pushing a highly dangerous situation to the limit brio (bre’o) — vigor brobdingnag’ian — immense, enormous (country in Gulliver’s Travels, where everything is enormous) bro’gan — heavy ankle-high work shoe brou’haha — uproar; hubbub bruit — to spread news of, repeat bru’mal — occurring in winter brume — fog or mist brusque — abrupt or curt behavior bulkhead — An upright partition or wall dividing a ship into compartments that help protect it by adding structural rigidity and preventing the spread of leaks, water, or fire. bump’tious — crudely or loudly assertive; pushy buoy’ant — able to recover quickly; resilient bur’geon — begin to grow or blossom bur’sar — treasurer bustier (boos.teeyay’) — formfitting sleeveless and usu. strapless woman’s top by’product — secondary result; side effect by’stander
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