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beloid: shaped like an arrow The only interesting word in this group. Greek "belos" = dart
bema: raised part of an Eastern church containing the altar
benet: exorcist
bergamask: country dance
besom: curler's broom
bezel: oblique side or face of a cut gem
bibelot: trinket; miniature book of elegant design
bibliolatry: worship of the Bible or other books
bibliophily: love or fondness for books or reading
bibulous: addicted to alcohol
bidenticulate: having two teeth
bigential: consisting of two races, genera, or subspecies
bilious: ill-tempered; very unpleasant
binate: doubled; coupled
biocenosis: state of association of creatures in a certain region
biolith: rock formed by living creatures
biotope: region of uniform environment and types of organisms
birostrate: double-beaked
bistoury: narrow surgical knife
biverbal: relating to two words; having a double sense
blandiloquence: complimentary speech; flattery
blauwbok: extinct bluish-coloured antelope of southern Africa
blennophobia: fear of slime
blissom: subject to or having strong sexual desires
blype: piece of skin that peels off after a sunburn
bodach: old man; churl; goblin or spectre
boethetic: helpful, curative
bolide: large meteor that bursts; a fireball
boman: well dressed criminal
bombous: convex; rounded
bonify: to improve or ameliorate
boopic: ox-eyed
bordure: border surrounding a heraldic shield
boschveldt: bush country; wilderness
bot: larva of a botfly that infests horses
bouillotte: card game resembling poker
bourdon: drone bass of a bagpipe or organ
bowery: seedy or run-down district of a city I have never heard this used. The Bowery,
a part of New York City, became notorious for petty crime. There was even a song about it.
The name is derived from Dutch word meaning farm.
bow[er[y 7b/4!r c, b/4rc8
n.,
pl. 3er[ies 5Du bouwerij, farm < bouer, boer, farmer: see BOOR6 a farm or plantation of an early Dutch settler of New York
the Bowery a street in New York City, or the surrounding district, center of cheap hotels, bars, etc.
braccate: having feathered legs or feet
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besom: curler's broom
Surely a besom has uses other than brushing the ice to guide heavy stones? Hansel and Gretel's family might have used one. Wouldn't any old collection of tied-up sticks on a pole qualify?
I disapprove of giving one instance as a "definition." (I know, Bill, you're not offering this as a list of definitions, just reproducing the Spelling Bee collection - it's their presentation I'm grumbling about.)
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bowery: seedy or run-down district of a city I have never heard this used. The Bowery, a part of New York City, became notorious for petty crime. There was even a song about it.
the Bowery: a street in New York City, or the surrounding district, center of cheap hotels, bars, etc.from http://www.melodylane.net/bowery.html: The Bowery From The Show "A Trip To Chinatown" Words by Charles H. Hoyt Music by Percy Gaunt (1892) I'm working on getting the words. All I know by heart is one verse and the chorus:"...Someone said two dollars, I said three. He emptied the box and he gave it to me. "Isaid the box, not the socks," said he. I'll never go there any more." CHORUS: Oh the Bowery, the Bowery, They do such things and they say such things On the Bowery, the Bowery, I'll never go there any more." You get the idea of cheap merchandise and underhanded shenannigans.
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Dear of troy; please give us an update on The Bowery.
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Here's a start:
THE BOWERY
Oh, the night that I struck New York
I went out for a quiet walk,
Folks who were on to the city say
better by far that I take Broadway
But I was out to enjoy the sights
there was the Bowery ablaze with lights,
I had one of the Devil's own night
I'll never go there anymore. (Refrain)
The Bow'ry, the Bow'ry
They say such things,
And they do strange things,
On the Bow'ry, the Bow'ry
I'll never go there anymore.
The Bow'ry, the Bow'ry
They say such things,
And they do strange things,
On the Bow'ry, the Bow'ry
I'll never go there anymore.
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Surely a besom has uses other than brushing the ice to guide heavy stones?
Besom is, as far as I know, the standard Scots English word for broom. I suspect the only time you're going to run into the word, outside of Scots English dialect uses, is going to be in the sport of curling, hence…
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>I disapprove of giving one instance as a "definition."
you must detest the Official Scrabble® Players Dictionary.
the thing to remember about these specialized glossaries* is that they're not intended to be used for looking up definitions, but merely to provide some validation, or maybe just context, for spellings. the OSPD includes this disclaimer:
It is important to remember that The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary was edited soley with this limited purpose [a guide to settle challenges] in mind. It is not intended to serve as a general dictionary of English; thus, such important features of general dictionaries as definitions of multipile senses, pronunciation respellings, etymologies, and usage labels are omitted.
*the specialized field in this case being spelling itself
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wofa: Surely a besom has uses other than brushing the ice to guide heavy stones?
Faldage: Besom is, as far as I know, the standard Scots English word for broom. I suspect the only time you're going to run into the word, outside of Scots English dialect uses, is going to be in the sport of curling, hence…
Technically, I believe a broom is one with the bristles on a brush attached to a pole, while a besom, as wofa pointed out, is one where a bundle of twigs is tied or otherwise attached around a pole. In this sense it's by no means confined to Scots English.
Bingley
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I've thought for a long time that a besom was a broom that had been fashioned in a more conical shape than a flat broom. And what the heck is a curler here?
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