<B>balsam woolly aphid,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an aphid of the Northern Hemisphere that is very injurious to fir trees. </DL>
<A NAME="balsamy">
<B>balsamy, </B>adjective. =balsamic.</DL>
<A NAME="balt">
<B>Balt, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a native or inhabitant of the Baltic region. </DL>
<A NAME="balter">
<B>balter, </B>transitive verb, intransitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Obsolete except Dialect.) to form into masses or lumps; clot; mat. Also, <B>bolter.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="balthasar">
<B>Balthasar, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> one of the Three Wise Men, according to legend. </DL>
<A NAME="balthazar">
<B>balthazar, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a champagne bottle containing 416 ounces, the next to the largest size. </DL>
<A NAME="baltic">
<B>Baltic, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>of or having to do with the Baltic Sea. <BR> <I>Ex. the Baltic islands, the Baltic coasts.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>of or having to do with the Baltic States. <DD><B> 3. </B>of or belonging to the Indo-European languages of the eastern Baltic region, including Lithuanian, Latvian or Lettish, and Old Prussian (now extinct). <BR> <I>Ex. Lithuanian and Latvian are the only two languages of any social importance in the Baltic branch (Henry A. Gleason, Jr.).</I> <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>the Baltic languages. <DD><B> 2. </B>the Indo-European ancestor of these languages, perhaps one member of a Balto-Slavic branch. </DL>
<A NAME="baltimorean">
<B>Baltimorean, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> a native or inhabitant of Baltimore. <DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with Baltimore or its inhabitants. </DL>
<A NAME="baltimoreclipper">
<B>Baltimore clipper,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a small clipper built in the 1800's in Baltimore, Maryland. </DL>
<A NAME="baltimoreoriole">
<B>Baltimore oriole,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a North American bird. The male has orange and black feathers and the female has brown and greenish yellow feathers. </DL>
<A NAME="baltoslavic">
<B>Balto-Slavic, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a grouping of the various Baltic and Slavic languages as one subdivision of Indo-European. It is regarded with skepticism by many modern linguists. </DL>
<A NAME="baluchi">
<B>Baluchi, </B>noun, pl. <B>-chi.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a native or inhabitant of Baluchistan. <DD><B> 2. </B>the language of Baluchistan, of the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of Indo-European. Also, <B>Balochi.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="baluchithere">
<B>baluchithere, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> any one of an extinct genus of very large, hornless mammals with long necks and heads, related to the rhinoceros. </DL>
<A NAME="balun">
<B>balun, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an electrical transmission line for coupling a line that is symmetrically grounded with one that is grounded on only one side. </DL>
<A NAME="baluster">
<B>baluster, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> one of the short posts or columns that support the railing of a staircase, balcony, or terrace. <BR><I>expr. <B>balusters,</B> </I>a balustrade. <BR> <I>Ex. He threw the keys over the balusters to the floor below.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="balustrade">
<B>balustrade, </B>noun, verb, <B>-traded,</B> <B>-trading.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> a row of balusters and the railing on them. (SYN) banister. <DD><I>v.t. </I> to provide with a balustrade or balustrades. <BR> <I>Ex. ... each house fortified with a tiny, intimate, balustraded porch (John Updike).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="balut">
<B>balut, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a Philippine dish of duck eggs about to be hatched. The eggs are boiled and served as a delicacy. </DL>
<A NAME="balzacian">
<B>Balzacian, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with Honore de Balzac, his many novels, or his style of realistically and minutely detailed and carefully documented writing. </DL>
<B>bam</B> (2), verb, <B>bammed,</B> <B>bamming,</B> noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Slang or Dialect.) <DD><I>v.t., v.i. </I> to bamboozle. <DD><I>noun </I> a hoax. </DL>
<A NAME="bambara">
<B>Bambara, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ra</B> or <B>-ras.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a member of a Negro people of western Africa. <DD><B> 2. </B>their Mandingo language. </DL>
<A NAME="bambino">
<B>bambino, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ni</B> or <B>-nos.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1a. </B>a baby. <DD><B> b. </B>a little child. <BR> <I>Ex. She needed money for six undernourished bambini (New Yorker).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>an image or picture of the infant Jesus. </DL>
<A NAME="bamboche">
<B>bamboche, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (in Haiti) an informal party. </DL>
<A NAME="bamboo">
<B>bamboo, </B>noun, pl. <B>-boos,</B> adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a woody or treelike grass with a very tall, stiff, hollow stem that has hard, thick joints. Bamboo grows in warm regions. Its stems are used for making canes, fishing poles, furniture, and even houses. The young shoots of some species are used as food. <DD><B> 2. </B>the stem of any of these plants. <DD><I>adj. </I> of bamboo; made of the stems of this plant. <BR> <I>Ex. a bamboo fishing rod.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="bamboocurtain">
<B>Bamboo Curtain,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an imaginary wall formerly considered a dividing line, separating territory controlled by the Chinese Communists from the non-Communist world. </DL>
<A NAME="bambootelegraph">
<B>bamboo telegraph,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the means by which news and rumors are quickly spread in countries of the Orient; grapevine. See also <B>bush telegraph.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="bambooworm">
<B>bamboo worm,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a reddish annelid with a membranous collar found along the Atlantic coast between North Carolina and the Bay of Fundy. </DL>
<A NAME="bamboozle">
<B>bamboozle, </B>verb, <B>-zled,</B> <B>-zling.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to impose upon; cheat; trick. <BR> <I>Ex. The boy had been bamboozled out of his cookies by the romping puppy.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to puzzle; perplex. <BR> <I>Ex. It had never occurred to them that their high-spirited, self-confident, happy daughter would be bamboozled into muteness by the language of France (New Yorker).</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> to use trickery. noun <B>bamboozlement.</B> noun <B>bamboozler.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="bamboula">
<B>bamboula, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a primitive drum of Africa and the West Indies. <DD><B> 2. </B>a dance performed to the beat of this drum. </DL>
<A NAME="bambusaceous">
<B>bambusaceous, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>belonging to a group of grasses comprising the various species of bamboo. <DD><B> 2. </B>resembling the bamboo. </DL>
<A NAME="ban">
<B>ban</B> (1), verb, <B>banned,</B> <B>banning,</B> noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to forbid by law or authority; prohibit. <BR> <I>Ex. Swimming is banned in this lake.</I> (SYN) interdict, proscribe. <DD><B> 2. </B>to place a ban on; pronounce a curse on. (SYN) curse. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Archaic.) to place an ecclesiastical curse upon. <DD><B> 4. </B>(Archaic.) to curse. <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>the forbidding of an act or speech by authority. <BR> <I>Ex. The city has a ban on parking cars in this busy street. Opinions which are under the ban of society (John Stuart Mill).</I> (SYN) taboo, prohibition. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Archaic.) a solemn curse by the church. (SYN) excommunication, anathema. <DD><B> 3. </B>a sentence of outlawry. </DL>
<A NAME="ban">
<B>ban</B> (2), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a public proclamation or edict. <DD><B> 2. </B>in feudal times: <DD><B> a. </B>the summoning of the (French) king's vassals for war. <DD><B> b. </B>the whole body of vassals thus assembled, or liable to be summoned. </DL>
<A NAME="ban">
<B>ban</B> (3), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (formerly) the governor of certain military districts of Hungary, Slavonia, and Croatia. </DL>
<A NAME="ban">
<B>ban</B> (4), noun, pl. <B>bani.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a Romanian copper coin, worth 1/100 of a leu. </DL>
<A NAME="banal">
<B>banal, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> not new or interesting; commonplace; trite. <BR> <I>Ex. Their conversation was banal, full of uninteresting remarks, such as "nice weather" and "slow traffic today."</I> (SYN) hackneyed. adv. <B>banally.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="banality">
<B>banality, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ties.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>commonplaceness; triteness. <DD><B> 2. </B>a banal statement, idea, or remark. </DL>
<A NAME="banalize">
<B>banalize, </B>transitive verb, <B>-ized,</B> <B>-izing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to make banal; reduce to something commonplace or ordinary. <BR> <I>Ex. These traits of good character have been banalized by advertising (Scientific American).</I> noun <B>banalization.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="banana">
<B>banana, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a slightly curved, yellow or red fruit with firm, creamy flesh. Bananas are about five to eight inches long and grow in dense clusters two or three feet long. <DD><B> 2. </B>the plant which bears this fruit, a treelike tropical or subtropical plant, 10 to 25 feet high, with great long leaves. <DD><B> 3. </B>the bland flavor of this fruit. <DD><B> 4. </B>a light cream or straw color. <DD><B> 5. </B>(U.S. Slang.) a dollar. <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>bananas,</B> (U.S. Slang.) crazy; wildly excited. <BR> <I>Ex. Whoever said life is just a bowl of cherries is bananas (Earl Wilson).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="bananafamily">
<B>banana family,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a group of monocotyledonous, tropical herbs, often treelike in size and appearance, having an unbranched stem and a capsule or berry as the fruit. This family includes the banana, plantain, and traveler's-tree. </DL>
<A NAME="bananaoil">
<B>banana oil,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a colorless, inflammable liquid which smells somewhat like bananas, used in making fingernail polish and flavoring extracts and as a solvent. <DD><B> 2. </B>(U.S. Slang.) talk that is meant to impress but is obviously foolish or insincere. <BR> <I>Ex. pouring on the old banana oil.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="bananaquit">
<B>banana quit,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> any one of a genus of small, tropical American birds, allied to the creepers, that frequent flowering trees and shrubs. </DL>
