<B>bitterroot, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a small plant with thick, edible roots and showy, pink or white flowers, found in the northern Rocky Mountains. It belongs to the purslane family. Bitterroot is the state flower of Montana. </DL>
<A NAME="bitterrot">
<B>bitter rot,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a disease of apples, pears, grapes, and other fruits, caused by a fungus related to the group that causes anthracnose. </DL>
<A NAME="bitters">
<B>bitters, </B>noun pl.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a liquid in which a bitter herb, bark, or root has been steeped. Bitters are used to flavor certain cocktails or foods, and sometimes as medicine. <DD><B> 2. </B>a bitter, dark beer. <DD><B> 3. </B>bitter medicines generally, such as quinine. </DL>
<A NAME="bittersweet">
<B>bittersweet, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a climbing plant with purple, blue, or white flowers and small, poisonous, scarlet berries; woody nightshade. It belongs to the nightshade family. <DD><B> 2. </B>a climbing shrub of North America with greenish flowers and orange seed cases that open and show red seeds; false bittersweet. It belongs to the staff-tree family. <DD><B> 3. </B>sweetness and bitterness mixed. <BR> <I>Ex. (Figurative.) 'Tis something like Love, a kinde of bittersweet (Owen Feltham).</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>Chinese red. <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>sweet and bitter mixed. <BR> <I>Ex. bittersweet chocolate.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) pleasant and painful at once. <BR> <I>Ex. The movie had a bittersweet ending which left her uncertain whether to laugh or cry. It awakes all the fountains of bittersweet memory (George Brimley).</I> noun <B>bittersweetness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="bitterweed">
<B>bitterweed, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> ragweed, horseweed, or any one of various other plants containing a bitter principle. </DL>
<A NAME="bitterwort">
<B>bitterwort, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> any one of various species of gentian. </DL>
<A NAME="bittock">
<B>bittock, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Scottish.) a little bit. </DL>
<A NAME="bitty">
<B>bitty, </B>adjective, <B>-tier,</B> <B>-tiest.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>very small; tiny. <BR> <I>Ex. A little bitty incentive won't do (Harper's).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>consisting of bits and pieces; disconnected; fragmentary. <BR> <I>Ex. Conversation was bitty and irresolute (Punch).</I> noun <B>bittiness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="bitumastic">
<B>bitumastic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or designating an asphaltic substance used for coating metal structures to protect them from corrosion. </DL>
<A NAME="bitumen">
<B>bitumen, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>any one of a number of minerals that will burn, such as asphalt, petroleum, and naphtha. <DD><B> 2. </B>a pigment used in oil painting, made of asphalt ground in a drying oil, which gives a rich brown, transparent surface. </DL>
<A NAME="bituminize">
<B>bituminize, </B>transitive verb, <B>-nized,</B> <B>-nizing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>to convert into bitumen. <DD><B> 2. </B>to treat with bitumen. noun <B>bituminization.</B> </DL>
<B>bituminous, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>containing or made with bitumen. <DD><B> 2. </B>like bitumen. </DL>
<A NAME="bituminouscoal">
<B>bituminous coal,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> coal that burns with much smoke and a yellow flame; soft coal; black coal. The volatile matter in bituminous coal constitutes more than 18 per cent. </DL>
<A NAME="bituminoussand">
bituminous sand =tar sand.</DL>
<A NAME="bitypic">
<B>bitypic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> consisting of two types only (of a genus containing but two species). </DL>
<A NAME="biune">
<B>biune, </B>adjective. =biunial.</DL>
<A NAME="biunial">
<B>biunial, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having or consisting of two combined in one. </DL>
<A NAME="biurate">
<B>biurate, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Chemistry.) an acid salt of uric acid. </DL>
<A NAME="biuret">
<B>biuret, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Chemistry.) a compound formed by heating urea. </DL>
<A NAME="biurettest">
<B>biuret test,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the red or reddish-violet color which is produced when sodium hydroxide and a dilute solution of copper sulfate are added to a solution containing a protein. </DL>
<A NAME="bivalence">
<B>bivalence, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> bivalent quality or condition. </DL>
<A NAME="bivalency">
<B>bivalency, </B>noun. =bivalence.</DL>
<A NAME="bivalent">
<B>bivalent, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1a. </B>having a valence of 2; divalent. <DD><B> b. </B>having two valences, as bismuth. <DD><B> 2. </B>double (applied to a pair of homologous chromosomes when united in synapsis). <DD><I>noun </I> a bivalent pair of chromosomes. </DL>
<A NAME="bivalve">
<B>bivalve, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>any mollusk whose shell consists of two parts hinged together so that it will open and shut like a book; lamellibranch; pelecypod. Oysters and clams are bivalves. <DD><B> 2. </B>a seed capsule that splits in two halves, such as a pod of a pea. <DD><I>adj. </I> having two parts hinged together. </DL>
<A NAME="bivalved">
<B>bivalved, </B>adjective. =bivalvular.</DL>
<A NAME="bivalvular">
<B>bivalvular, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>having two valves. <DD><B> 2. </B>of or having to do with bivalves. </DL>
<A NAME="bivariate">
<B>bivariate, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> involving two variates. </DL>
<A NAME="bivouac">
<B>bivouac, </B>noun, verb, <B>-acked,</B> <B>-acking.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>an outdoor camp usually without tents or with very small tents. <BR> <I>Ex. The soldiers made a bivouac for the night in the field.</I> (SYN) encampment. <DD><B> 2. </B>the site of such an encampment. <DD><I>v.i. </I> to camp outdoors usually without tents or with very small tents. <BR> <I>Ex. They bivouacked there until morning.</I> (SYN) encamp. </DL>
<A NAME="bivouacker">
<B>bivouacker, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who bivouacs. </DL>
<A NAME="biwa">
<B>biwa, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a Japanese stringed instrument resembling a lute. </DL>
<A NAME="biweekly">
<B>biweekly, </B>adjective, adverb, noun, pl. <B>-lies.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>happening or appearing once every two weeks. <BR> <I>Ex. The magazine is a biweekly publication.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>happening or appearing twice a week; semiweekly. <BR> <I>Ex. The teachers have biweekly conferences on Mondays and Fridays.</I> <DD><I>adv. </I> <B>1. </B>once every two weeks. <BR> <I>Ex. The group meets biweekly.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>twice a week; semiweekly. <DD><I>noun </I> a newspaper or magazine published biweekly. </DL>
<A NAME="biyearly">
<B>biyearly, </B>adjective, adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>happening twice a year. <BR> <I>Ex. The grandchildren make a biyearly visit to their grandparents.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>every two years. <BR> <I>Ex. Some comets have a biyearly orbit of the sun.</I> (SYN) biannual. <DD><I>adv. </I> twice a year. <BR> <I>Ex. Many businesses pay taxes biyearly.</I> (SYN) biannually. </DL>
<B>bizarre, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> strikingly odd or queer in appearance or style; fantastic; grotesque. <BR> <I>Ex. The frost made bizarre patterns on the windowpanes.</I> adv. <B>bizarrely.</B> </DL>
