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A B C D E F G H IJ K L M N O P Q R S T UV W XYZ |
backbearing | n | a piece of text leading back to another article or paper.; [direct calque of Latin]
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baddow | n | battle; camp (<ME), gouth (<OE), fight [<OE beadwe/beadu/beado]
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bakehouse | n | a shop where breads are baked and sold; bakery [extension of existing word, from compound of bake 'to cook food in an oven' & house]
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bandwain | n | campaign; []
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bane | n | a person or thing that ruins or spoils; that which causes death or destroys life; a deadly poison.; curse, nemesis, undoing [OE bana "slayer; that which destroys life; causes death, destruction, ruin or woe", as in a watery bane.]
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banestead | n | a palace where people are not meant to live owing to the extremes and harshness of the climate, such as a polar region.; hell on earth [neologism, from bane "destruction, poison, killer" and stead "place" in various applications.]
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banewave | n | a very large ocean wave caused by an underwater earthquake or volcanic explosion; tsunami.; death-wave [neologism, from bane "that which destroys life; causes death, destruction, ruin or woe" and wave "an advancing ridge or swell of liquid, as of the sea; a moving billow of water"]
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baneworm | n | a huge, winged serpent with crested head and enormous claws and teeth, and often spouting fire; dragon, Grendel [neologism, from bane "that which destroys life; causes death, destruction, ruin or woe" and worm "dragon, serpent"]
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bareback | adj | without a saddle on the back of a horse that is being ridden; [bare + back]
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barneken | adj | pregnant; [OE bearnēacen]
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barn-find | n | vintage (several decades old) ; antique (more than a hundred years old. Many vintage items and antiques are found in barns.; [barn + find]
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base | adj | purple, scarlet, crimson; [OE basu/baso]
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bearing | n, adj | Meaning 1: fertile, fecund Meaning 2: behavior Meaning 3: tolerance Meaning 4: awareness or sense of direction; Varies by meaning [OE berend]
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becall | vb | to accuse; to call upon, call forth, challenge; to call, summon; to call names, insult; [ME bicallen]
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beclip | vb | encompass; [OED]
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becloud | v | to obfuscate, or make muddled, to confuse an issue; confuse, beguile, deceive [existing rare English word, a compound of be- and cloud]
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bede | vb | pray; [OE bedian]
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bed-geld | n | a fine paid to the lord on the marriage of a vassal; [bed + geld]
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bedight | vb | to equip; [NE < ME bidighten]
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befit | vb | to be appropriate for; literally " to be fit for"; [be- + fit]
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beforemath | n | the events and situations that lead to a particualr end; antecedence, here-to-fore, foregoings [neologism & antonym of aftermath. From before and math "mowing"]
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begang | n | course, way, passage, circuit, district; undertaking, business, exercise, service; [OE begang]
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beghast | vb | to inspire, inspire; enthuse; fill with shock, awe, wonder, or amazement; [existing word; be- + ghast]
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beglide | vb | to accompany; [calque: WF begeliede, NL begeleiden, NHG begleiten]
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begetting | n | An asset or object bought or obtained, typically by a library or museum.; purchase, accession [(be + getting)]
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behote | vb | to promise, to pledge; [ME bihōten]
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bellowharp | n | accordeon; [bellow + harp]
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benim | vb | to deprive; [ME binimen]
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bereach | n | domain, range, scope, academic/technical field; [compound: NHG. Bereich, be- + reach]
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beright | vb | to entitle; [be- + right]
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beseech | vb | to implore, to plead; [NE]
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beshed | n/vb | n: distinction vb: to discriminate; [OE bescead(an)]
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besnit | vb | pollute, dishonour; [OE besnitan]
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besorrow | vb | to be sorry for, to care for, be anxious about; [OE besorgian]
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beswape | vb | persuade; [OE beswapan]
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beswike | vb | to deceive, delude, mislead; to betray, defraud, cheat; [ME biswīken]
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betighten | vb | to restrict; [calque of Latin restrictus; be- + tighten]
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betimes | adv | Def 1: within a short time(historical usage) Def 2: early Def 3: on some occasions; early, sometimes, quickly [OED (Obsolete), ME bitimes, be+times; note that this word was still in use in the 18th century.]
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betoken | vb | to indicate, to signify, to portend; [CED]
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bewarp | vb | to pervert; [OE beweorpan]
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biddle | n | announcer, warrant officer, constable, bailiff, beadle; [ME bidel]
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billwhite | adj | pure in heart, virtuous; kind, gentle; [ME bilewhīt]
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birl | vb | to carouse; [MW; <ME birlen <OE byrelian]
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birth-death room | n (calque) | a special room in every house of the Mosuo folk inhabiting the border areas of Yunnan & Sichuan provinces in western China. It is the room in which they begin their life at birth and to which they return at the end of their life to lie in wait for their funeral.; [birth + death + room]
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birthend | n | nativity; [birth + -end]
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bitter earth | n | in chemistry, an alkaline earth, now recognized as oxide of magnesium; magnesium []
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black earth | n | of urban decay during times of unsustainable numbers of refugees taking sanctuary within the walls of a besieged town. It originates from decaying buildings, contaminated agricultural soils, the accumulation of human and animal waste indicating continuing activity alongside the collapse of civic control.; []
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bleeding edge | phr | something too new and untested to be considered reliable or to have an assurance of safety. fig. such place where such things exist, 'as the 'bleeding edge' of drone technology.' cf. 'cutting edge.'; cutting edge [OE]
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bleeter | vb | to talk aimlessly; [Doric]
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blissburst | n | a sudden feeling or surge of perect happiness or great joy. A burst of bliss.; [bliss + burst]
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bloom | n | lump of metal; metal (widened meaning); [ME blōme < OE blōma]
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bloomcole | n | cauliflower; [bloom + cole, calque of NHG Blumenkohl]
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Blootmonth | n(p) | the eleventh month of the year, so called because the heathen Anglo-Saxons sacrificed cattle to their gods; November [OE Blōtmōnaþ]
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boardstone | n | a kind of metamorphic stone formed from shale; slate ['board' + 'stone']
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boneset | n | a set of bones; skeleton [bone + set]
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bookcraft | n | creative writing of recognized artistic value, the humanistic study of written work; literature [OE bóccræft]
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bookly | adj | literary; [NE]
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booksmell | n | the smell of a paper book; [book + smell]
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book-whisperer | n | one who encourages the love of books and reading in children; [book + whisper + -er]
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boot hale | vb | to plunder, pillage; [boot "advantage" + hale "to acquire"]
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boroughman | n | townsman, citizen; [OE burhman]
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boroughsitter | n | city-dweller, citizen; [OE burhsittend]
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boundness | n | binding, obligation; [OE gebundennes]
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brain-drop | n | puzzle, riddle, conundrum; riddle [O.E]
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brambling | n | a winter visitor to Britain that breeds in northern parts of Eurasia; [OED]
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brath | n | impetuousity, violence, ire; [dialectal, C15th-16th Northern dialects, from OE braþþe < ME:braþ & ON:brað]
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breem | adj | celebrated, illustrious, splendid; vigorous, fierce, savage, ferocious, tempestuous; [ME brēme]
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brock | n | a small mammal of the kind Meles meles, with black and white stripes on its head; badger [dialectal, from OE brocc < Celtic]
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brook | vb | to use, enjoy; [OED]
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brownfield | n | an abandoned, contaminated industrial site; atterground [neologism; brown + field]
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brotherneve | n | fraternal grandnephew; []
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brothernift | n | fraternal grandniece; []
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brotherson | n | fraternal nephew; [OE broþorsunu]
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brown shift | n | the politicising of German theatre under the Nazis; []
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burn | n | coat of mail, hauberk, corslet; [OE byrne]
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by-gone | adj | that has gone-by; things that are passed; deceased; arrears; the past(rare)
synonyms=former, past, happened; [a putting together of OE words: by & gone]
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byspel | n | parable, fable, proverb; [ME bīspel ⁊ OE bigspell]
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bytonguely | adj | dialectal; [by- + tongue + -ly]
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