Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (2nd 100 Pages). Noah Webster
and ÿmÿ, letters representing sounds having a close organic affinity to its own sound; as in Eng. bursar andÿpurser;ÿEng. ÿbear and Lat. ÿpear; Eng. silver and Ger. ÿsilber; Lat. cubitum and It. gomito; Eng. seven, Anglo-Saxon seofon, Ger. sieben, Lat. septem, Gr.?, Sanskrit saptan. The form of letter B is Roman, from Greek B (Beta), of Semitic origin. The small ÿbÿ was formed by gradual change from the capital B.
In ÿMusic, B is the nominal of the sevens tone in the model major scale ÿ(the scale of C majorÿ), or of the second tone in it's relative minor scale (that of A minorÿ)ÿ. B? stands for B flat, the tone a half step , or semitone, lower than B. In German, B stands for our B?, while our B natural is called H (pronounced h„).
Ba (?), v.i. [Cf. OF. ÿbaer to open mouth, F. baer.] To kiss. [Obs.]
Chaucer.
Baa (?), v.i. [Cf. G. b„en; an imitative word.] To cry baa, or bleat as a sheep.
He treble baas for help, but none can get.
Sir P.Sidney.
Baa (?), n.; pl.ÿBaas. [Cf. G. ÿb„.] The cry or bleating of a sheep; a bleat.
Baa¶ing, n. The bleating of a sheep.
Marryat.
Ba¶al (?), n.; Heb.pl. ÿBaalim (?). [Heb. ba'al lord.] 1. (Myth.) The supreme male divinity of the Ph?nitian and Canaanitish nations.
µ The name of this god occurs in the Old Testament and elsewhere with qualifying epithets subjoined, answering to the different ideas of his character; as, ÿBaal-berith (the Covenant Baal), Baal-zebub (Baal of the fly).
2. pl. The whole class of divinities to whom the name Baal was applied.
Judges x. 6.
Ba¶alÏism (?), n. Worship of Baal; idolatry.
Ba¶alÏist (?), Ba¶alÏite (?), } n. A worshiper of Baal; a devotee of any false religion; an idolater.
ØBa¶ba (?), n. [F.] A kind of plum cake.
Bab¶bitt (?), v.t. To line with Babbitt metal.
Bab¶bitt met·al (?). [From the inventor, Isaac Babbittÿ of Massachusetts.] A soft white alloy of variable composition (as a none parts of tin to one of copper, or of fifty parts of tin to five of antimony and one of copper) used in bearings to diminish friction.
Bab¶ble, v.i. [imp. & p.p. Babbled (?);p. pr. & vb. n. Babbling.] [Cf.LG. babbeln, D. babbelen, G. bappeln, bappern, F. babiller, It. babbolare; prob. orig., to keep saying baÿ0, imitative of a child learning to talk.]
1. To utter words indistinctly or unintelligibly; to utter inarticulate sounds; as a child babbles.
2. To talk incoherently; to utter unmeaning words.
3. To talk much; to chatter; to prate.
4. To make a continuous murmuring noise, as shallow water running over stones.
In every babbling he finds a friend.
Wordsworth.
µ Hounds are said to babble, or to be babbling, when they are too noisy after having found a good scent.
Syn. - To prate; prattle; chatter; gossip.
Bab¶ble, v.i. 1. To utter in an indistinct or incoherent way; to repeat,as words, in a childish way without understanding.
These [words] he used to babble in all companies.
Arbuthnot.
2. To disclose by too free talk, as a secret.
Bab¶ble, n. 1. Idle talk; senseless prattle; gabble;twaddle. ½This is mere moral babble.¸
Milton.
2. Inarticulate speech; constant or confused murmur.
The babble of our young children.
Darwin.
The babble of the stream.
Tennyson.
Bab¶bleÏment (?), n. Babble.
Hawthorne.
Bab¶bler (?), n. 1. An idle talker; an irrational prater;a teller of secrets.
Great babblers, or talkers, are not fit for trust.
L'Estrange.
2. A hound too noisy on finding a good scent.
3. (Zo”l.) A name given to any one of family (Timalin‘) of thrushlike birds, having a chattering note.
Bab¶bleÏry (?), n. Babble. [Obs.]
Sir T. More
Babe (?), n. [Cf. Ir. bab, baban, W. baban, maban.]
1. An infant; a young child of either sex; a baby.
2. A doll for children.
Spenser.
Babe¶hood (?), n. Babyhood. [R.]
Udall.
Ba¶bel (?), n. [Heb. B¾bel, the name of the capital of Babylonia; in Genesis associated with the idea of ½confusion¸] 1. The city and tower in the land of Shinar, where the confusion of languages took place.
Therefore is the name of it called Babel.
Gen.xi.9.
2. Hence: A place or scene of noise and confusion; a confused mixture of sounds, as of voices or languages.
That babel of strange heathen languages.
Hammond.
The grinding babel of the street.
R.L.Stevenson.
Bab¶erÏy (?), n. [Perh. orig. for baboonery. Cf. Baboon, and also Babe.] Finery of a kind to please a child. [Obs.] ½Painted ÿbabery.¸
Sir P.Sidney.
Ba¶biÏan (?), Ba¶biÏon (?), n. [ See Baboon] A baboon. [Obs.]
B.Jonson.
ØBab¶ilÏlard (?), n. [F., a babbler.] (Zo”l.) The lesser whitethroat of Europe; - called also ÿbabbling warbler.
Bab¶ingÏtonÏite (?), n. [From Dr. Babbington.] (Min.) A mineral occurring in triclinic crystals approaching pyroxene in angle, and of a greenish black color.It is a silicate of iron, manganese, and lime.
ØBab·iÏrous¶sa, ØBab·iÏrus¶sa (?), n. [F. babiroussa, fr.Malay ÿb¾bÆ hog + r?sa deer.] (Zo”l.) A large hoglike quadruped (Sus, or Porcus, babirussa) of the East Indies, sometimes domesticated; the Indian hog. Its upper canine
teeth or tusks are large and recurved.
Bab¶ish (?), a. Like a babe; a childish; babyish. [R.] ½Babish imbecility.¸ Drayton. - Bab¶ishÏly, adv. - Bab¶ishÏness, n. [R.]
Bab¶ism (?), n. [From Bab (Pers.ÿbab a gate), the title assumed by the founder, Mirza Ali Mohammed.] The doctrine of a modern religious sect, which originated in Persia in 1843, being a mixture of Mohammedan, Christian,Jewish and Parsee elements.
Bab¶ist, n. A believer in Babism.
ØBab¶lah (?), n. [Cf. Per. bab?l a species of mimosa yielding gum arabic.] The ring of the fruit of several East Indian species of acacia; neb-neb. It contains gallic acid and tannin, and is used for dyeing drab.
ØBa¶boo, ØBa¶bu (?), n. [Hind. b¾b?ÿ] A Hindoo gentleman; native clerk who writes English; also, a Hindoo title answering to Mr.ÿ or Esquire.
Whitworth.
BabÏoon¶ (?), n. [OE. babewin, baboin, fr.F. babouin, or LL.ÿbabewynus. Of unknown origin; cf. D. baviaan, G. pavian, baboon, F. babin lip of ape, dogs, etc., dial. G. b„ppe mouth.] (Zo”l.) One of the Old World Quadrumana, of the genera Cynocephalus and Papio; the dog-faced ape. Baboons have dog-like muzzles and large canine teeth, cheek pouches, a short tail, and naked callosities on the buttocks. They are mostly African. See Mandrill, and Chacma, and Drill an ape.
BabÏoon¶ery (?), n. Baboonish behavior.
Marryat.
BabÏoon¶ish, a. Like a baboon.