of a house; but, as it is a term of art, our common lawyers restrain it to robbing a house by night, or breaking in with an intent to rob, or do some other felony. The like offence committed by day, they call house-robbing, by a peculiar name. Coswell. What say you, father? Burglary is but a venial sin among soldiers. Dryden's Span. Friar. BU'RGOMASTER. n. s. [from burgh, and master.] One employed in the government of a city. They chuse their councils and burgomasters out of the burgeois, as in the other governments Addison. of Switzerland. BURH, is a tower; and, from that, a defence or protection: so Cwenburh is a woman ready to assist; Cuthbur, eminent for assistance. Gibson's Camden. BU'RIAL. n. s. [from To bury.] 1. The act of burying; sepulture; inter ment. Nor would we deign him burial of his men. Shakspeare. Your body I sought, and, had I found, Design'd for burial in your native ground. Dryd. 2. The act of placing any thing under earth or water. We have great lakes, both salt and fresh; we use them for burials of some natural bodies: for we find a difference of things buried in earth, Bacon. and things buried in water. 3. The church service for funerals. The office of the church is performed by the parish priest, at the time of interment, if not prohibited unto persons excommunicated, and laying violent hands on themselves, by a rubrick Ayliffe's Parergon. of the burial service. BU'RIER. n. s. [from bury.] He that buries; he that performs the act of interment. Let one spirit of the first-born Cain Reign in all bosoms, that, each heart being set On bloody courses, the rude scene may end, And darkness be the burier of the dead. Shaks. BU'RINE. n. s. [French.] A graving tool; a graver. Diet. Wit is like the graver's burine upon copper, or the corrodings of aquafortis, which engrave and indent the characters, that they can never be defaced. Government of the Tongue. To BURL. v. a. To dress cloth as fullers do. BU'RLACE. n. s. [corruptly written for burdelais.] A sort of grape. BURLE'SQUE. adj. [Fr. from burlare, Ital. to jest.] Jocular; tending to raise laughter by unnatural or unsuitable language or images. Homer, in his character of Vulcan and Thersites, in his story of Mars and Venus, in his behaviour of Irus, and in other passages, has been observed to have lapsed into the burlesque character, and to have departed from that serious air, essential to the magnificence of an epick poem. BURLESQUE. n. s. Ludicrous language or ideas; ridicule. Addison. When a man lays out a twelvemonth on the spots in the sun, however noble his speculations may be, they are very apt to fall into burlesque. Addison on Ancient Medals. To BURLESQUE. v. a. [from the adjective. To turn to ridicule. Would Homer apply the epithet divine to a modern, swineherd? if not, it is an evidence that Eumeus was a man of consequence; otherwise. Homer would burlesque his own poetry. Broome. BU'RLINESS. 7. s. [from burly.] Bulk; bluster. BU'RLY. adj. [Junius, has no etymology; Skinner imagines it to come from boorlike, clownish.] Great of size; buiky; tumid; falsely great. Steel, if thou turn thine edge, or cut not out the burly boned clown in chines of beef, ere thou sleep in thy sheath, I beseech Jove, that thou may'st be turned into hobnails. Shakspeare. It was the orator's own burly way of nonsense. Cowley. Away with all your Carthaginian state, Let vanquish'd Hannibal without doors wait, Too burly and too big to pass my narrow gate. Dryden. Her husband being a very burly man, she thought it would be less trouble for her to bring Addison. away little Cupid. To BURN. v. a. pret. and part. burned, or burnt. [bennan, Saxon.] 1. To consume with fire. Joshua. Psalms. Milton. They burnt Jericho with fire. That where she fed his amorous desires Afleshy excrescence, becoming exceeding hard, is supposed to demand extirpation, by burning away the induration, or amputating. Sharp. 2. To wound or hurt with fire or heat. Hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. Exodus. 3. To exert the qualities of heat, as by drying or scorching. O that I could but weep, to vent my passion! But this dry sorrow burns up all my tears. Dryd. To BURN. v. n. 1. To be on fire; to be kindled. A fire devoureth before them, and behind them a flame burneth; the land is as the garden. . of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness. Foel. Exodus. The mount burned with fire. The light burns blue. Is it not dead midnight? 2. To shine; to sparkle. The barge she sat in, like a burnish'd throne, Burst on the water. Shakspeare. Oh prince! oh wherefore burn your eyes? and why Ronve Is your sweet temper turn'd to fury? 3. To be inflamed with passion or desire. When I burnt in desire, to question them farther, they made themselves air, into which they vanished. Shakspeare. Tranio, I burn, I pine, I perish, Tranio, The sage, the patriot, and the hero, burn'd. Thoms. 4. To act with destructive violence: used of the passions. Shall thy wrath burn like fire? Psalms. 5. To be in a state of destructive commotion. The nations bleed where'er her steps she turns, The groan still deepens, and the combat burns. Pope. 6. It is used particularly of love. She burns, she raves, she dies, 't is true; But burns, and raves, and dies, for you. Addis. BURN. n. s. [from the verb.] A hurt caused by fire. We see the phlegm of vitriol is a very effectual remedy against burns. Boyle. BURNER. n. s. [from burn.] A person that burns any thing. BURNET. n.s. [pimpinella, Lat.] A plant. The even mead, that erst brought sweetly forth The freckled cowslip, burnet, and green clover. Shakspeare. BU'RNING. n. s. [from burn.] Fire; flame; state of inflammation. The mind surely, of itself, can feel none of the burnings of a fever. South. In liquid burnings, or on dry, to dwell, Is all the sad variety of hell. Dryden. BURNING. adj. [from the participle.] Vehement; powerful. These things sting him So venomously, that burning shame detains him From his Cordelia. Shakspeare. I had a glimpse of him; but he shot by me Like a young hound upon a burning scent. Dryd. BU'RNING-GLASS. n. s. [from burning and glass.] A glass which collects the rays of the sun into a narrow compass, and so increases their force. The appetite of her eye did seem to scorch me up like a burning-glass. Shakspeare. Love is of the nature of a burning-glass, which, kept still in one place, fireth; changed often, it doth nothing. Suckling. O diadem, thou centre of ambition, Where all its different lines are reconcil'd, As if thou wert the burning-glass of glory! Dryd. To BU'RNISH. v. a. [burnir, Fr.] To polish; to give a gloss to. Bacon. Mislike me not for my complexion, I've seen a snake in human form, Swift. Burnish, and make a gaudy show, Become a gen'ral, peer, and beau. To BU'RNISH. v. n. [of uncertain etymology.] To grow; to spread out. This they could do, while Saturn fill'd the throne, Ere Juno burnish'd, or young Jove was grown. To shoot, and spread, and burnish into man. Dryden. Mrs. Primley's great belly she may lace down before, but it burnishes on her hips. Congreve, BU'RNISHER. n. s. [from burnish.] 1. The person that burnishes or polishes. 2. The tool with which bookbinders give a gloss to the leaves of books: it is com monly a dog's tooth set in a stick. BURNT. The part. pass. of burn: applied to liquors, it means made hot. I find it very difficult to know, Who, to refresh th' attendants to a grave, Burnt claret first, or Naples biscuit gave. King, BURR. n. s. The lobe or lap of the ear. Dict. BURR Pump. [In a ship.] A pump by the side of a ship, into which a staff seven or eight feet long is put, having a burr or knob of wood at the end, which is drawn up by a rope fastened to the middle of it; called also a bilge pump. Harris. BU'RRAS Pipe. [With surgeons.] An instrument or vessel used to keep corroding powders in, as vitriol, precipitate. BU'RREL. n. s. A sort of pear, otherwise Harris. called the red butter pear, from its smooth, delicious, and soft pulp. Phill. BU'RREL Fly. [from bourreler, Fr. to execute, to torture.] An insect, called also oxfy, gadbee, or breeze. Dict. BU'RREL Shot. [from bourreler, to execute, and shot.] In gunnery, small bullets, nails, stones, pieces of old iron, &c. put into cases, to be discharged out of the ordnance; a sort of case-shot. Harris. BU'RROCK. n. s. A small wear or dam, where wheels are laid in a river for catching of fish. Phillips. BU'RROW, BERG, BURG, BURGH. n. s. [derived from the Saxon bung, byng, a city, tower, or castle. Gibson's Camden.] 1. A corporate town, that is not a city, but such as sends burgesses to the parliament. All places that, in former days, were called boroughs, were such as were fenced or fortified. Corvell. King of England shalt thou be proclaim'd In ev'ry burrow, as we pass along. Shakspeart. Possession of land was the original right of election among the commons; and burrows were entitled to sit, as they were possessed of certain Temple 2. The holes made in the ground by conies. tracts. When they shall see his crest up again, and the man in blood, they will out of their burrows, like conies after rain, and revel all with him. Shakspearm To BU'RROW. v. n. [from the noun.] To make holes in the ground; to mine, as conies or rabbits. Some strew sand among their corn, which, they say, prevents mice and rats burrezcing in it; because of its falling into their ears. "Mortimer, Little sinuses would form, and barrow underneath. Sharp. Dryden. BURSAR. n. s. [bursarius, Lat.] BUR 1. The treasurer of a college. 2. Students sent as exhibitioners to the universities in Scotland by each presbytery, from whom they have a small yearly allowance for four years. BURSE. n. s. [bourse, Fr. bursa, Lat. at purse; or from byrsa, Lat. the exchange of Carthage.] An exchange where merchants meet, and shops are kept; so called, because the sign of the purse was anciently set over such a place. The exchange in the Strand was termed Britain's Burse by James I. Phillips. To BURST. v. n. I burst; I have burst, or bursten. [[burzan, Saxon.] 1. To break, or fly open; to suffer a violent disruption. So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. Prov. It is ready to burst like new bottles. Th' egg, that soon Job. Bursting with kindly rapture, forth disclos'd The callow young. 2. To fly asunder, Milton. Yet am I thankful; if my heart were great, 'T would burst at this. Shakspeare. 3. To break away; to spring. 4. To come suddenly. A resolved villain, Pope. Whose bowels suddenly burst out; the king If the worlds In worlds inclos'd should on his senses burst, He would abhorrent turn. 5. To come with violence. Thomson. Well didst thou, Richard, to suppress thy Young spring protrudes the bursting gems. 6. To begin an action violently or suddenly. She burst into tears, and wrung her hands. Arbuthnot. To BURST. v. a. To break suddenly; to make a quick and violent disruption. My breast I'll burst with straining of my courage, 1 And from my shoulders crack my arms asunder, Shakspeare. He fasten'd on my neck, and bellow'd out Shakspeare. As if he would burst heav'n. I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and Jeremiah. will burst thy bonds. Moses saith also, the fountains of the great abyss were burst asunder, to make the deluge; and what means this abyss, and the bursting of it, if restrained to Judea? what appearance is there of this disruption there? Burnet's Theory. If the juices of an animal body were, so as by the mixture of the opposites, to cause an ebullition, they would burst the vessels. Arbuthnot. Sacred to ridicule his whole life long, And the sad burthen of some merry song. Pope. BURTON. n. s. [In a ship.] A small tackle to be fastened any where at pleasure, consisting of two single pullies, for hoistPhillips. ing small things in or out. BURY. n.s. [from bung, Sax.] Adwellingplace a termination still added to the names of several places; as, Aldermanbury, St. Edmond's Bury; sometimes Phillips. written bery. BU'RY. n. s. [corrupted from borough.] It is his nature to dig himself buries, as the coney doth; which he doth with very great celeGrew. rity. To BURY. v. a. [bynigean, Saxon.] 1. To inter; to put into a grave. When he lies along, After your way his tale pronounc'd, shall bury Shakspeare. 'His reasons with his body." 2. To inter, with the rites and ceremonies of sepulture. 4. To place one thing within another. A tearing groan did break The name of Antony; it was divided › Between her heart and lips; she render'd life, Shakspeare. Thy name so bury'd in her." BU'RYING-PLACE.n.s. A place appointed for the sepulture of dead bodies. The place was formerly a church-yard, and has still several marks in it of graves and bury Spectator. ing-places. BUSH. n. s. [bois, French.] I. A thick shrub. Eft thro' the thick they heard one rudely rush; The roses bushing round About her glow'd, half stooping to support Each flower of tender stalk. A gushing fountain broke Milton. Around it; and above, for ever green, The busbing alders form'd a shady scene. Pope. BU'SHEL. n. s. [boisseau, Fr. bussellus, low Lat.] 1. A measure containing eight gallons; a strike. His reasons are as two grains of wheat hid in two bushels of chaff: you shall seek all day ere you find them; and when you have them, they are not worth the search. Shakspeare. 2. It is used, in common language, indefinitely for a large quantity. The worthies of antiquity bought the rarest pictures with bushels of gold, without counting the weight or the number of pieces. Dryden. 3. Bushels of a cart-wheel. Irons within the hole of the nave, to preserve it from wearing. [from bouche, Fr. a mouth.] Dict. BU'SHINESS. n. s. [from bushy.] The quality of being bushy. BU'SHMENT. n. s. [from bush.] A thicket; a cluster of bushes. Princes thought how they might discharge the earth of woods, briars, bushments, and waters, to make it more habitable and fertile. Raleigh. B'USHY. adj. [from bush.] 1. Thick; full of small branches, not high. The gentle shepherd sat beside a spring, All in the shadow of a bushy brier. Spenser. Generally the cutting away of boughs and suckers, at the root and body, doth make trees grow high; and, contrariwise, the polling and cutting of the top, make them spread and grow bushy. Bacon. 2. Thick like a bush. Statues of this god, with a thick bushy beard, are still many of them extant in Rome. Addison. 3. Full of bushes. The kids with pleasure browse the busby plain; The show'rs are grateful to the swelling grain. Dryden. BU'SILESS. adj. [from busy.] At leisure; without business; unemployed. The sweet thoughts do even refresh my labour, Most busiless when I do it. Shakspeare. BU'SILY. adv. [from busy.] 1. With an air of importance; with an air of hurry. 2. Curiously; importunately. Or if too busily they will enquire Into a victory, which we disdain, Then let them know, the Belgians did retire Before the patron saint of injur'd Spain. Dryd. BU'SINESS. n. s. [from busy.] 1. Employment; multiplicity of affairs. Must business thee from hence remove? Oh! that's the worst disease of love. Donne. 2. An affair. In this sense it has a plural. Bestow Your needful counsel to our businesses, Which crave the instant use. Shakspeare. 3. The subject of business; the affair or obiect that engages the care. You are so much the business of our souls, that while you are in sight we can neither look nor think on any else; there are no eyes for other beauties. Dryden. The great business of the senses being to take notice of what hurts or advantages the body. Locke. 4. Serious engagement: in opposition to trivial transactions. 5. I never knew one, who made it his business to lash the faults of other writers, that was not guilty of greater himself. Addison. He had business enough upon his hands, and was only a poet by accident. Prior. When diversion is made the business and study of life, though the actions chosen be in themselves innocent, the excess will render them criminal.. Rogers Right of action. What business has the tortoise among the clouds? L'Estrange. 6. A point; a matter of question; something to be examined or considered. Fitness to govern, is a perplexed business; some men, some nations, excel inthe one ability, some in the other. Bacon. 7. Something to be transacted. 8. They were far from the Zidonians, and had no business with any one. Judges. Something required to be done. To those people that dwell under or near the equator, this spring would be most pestilent; as for those countries that are nearer the poles, in which number are our own and the most considerable nations of the world, a perpetual spring will not do their business; they must have longer days, a nearer approach of the sun. Bentley. 9. To do one's business. To kill, destroy, or ruin him. BUSK. n. s. [busque, Fr.] A piece of stee! or whalebone, worn by women to strengthen their stays. Off with that happy busk which I envy, That still can be and still can stand so nigh. Donne. BU'SKIN. n. s. [broseken, Dutch.] 1. A kind of half boot; a shoe which comes to the midleg. The foot was dressed in a short pair of velvet buskins; in some places open, to shew the fairness of the skin. Sidney. Sometimes Diana he her takes to be, But misseth bow, and shafts, and buskins to her knee. Spenser. There is a kind of rusticity in all those pompous verses; somewhat of a holiday shepherd, strutting in his country buskins. 2. A kind of high shoe worn by the Dryden. Yonder walls, that partly front your town, Yond towers, whose wanton tops do buss the clouds, Must kiss their feet. Shakspeare. Go to them, with this bonnet in thy hand, Thy knee bussing the stones; for in such business, Action is eloquence. Shakspeare. BUST. n. s. [busto, Ital.] A statue representing a man to his breast. Agrippa, or Caligula, is a common coin, but a very extraordinary bust; and a Tiberius a rare coin, but a common bust. Addison on Italy. Ambition sigh'd: she found it vain to trust The faithless column, and the crumbling bust. BU'SY. adj. [byrgian, Sax. It is pronounced as bissy, or bizzy.] 1. Employed with earnestness. My mistress sends you word that she is busy, and cannot come. Shakspeare. 2. Bustling; active; meddling. The next thing which she waking looks upon, The coming spring would first appear, Waller. All written since that time, seem to have little more than events we are glad to know, or the controversy of opinions, wherein the busy world has been so much employed. Temple. Religious motives and instincts are so busy in the heart of every reasonable creature, that no man would hope to govern a society, without regard to those principles. Addison. 3. Troublesome; vexatiously importunate or intensive. The christians, sometimes valiantly receiving the enemy, and sometimes charging them again, repulsed the proud enemy, still busy with them. Knolles's History of the Turks. To Bu'sy. v. a. [from the noun.] To employ; to engage; to make or keep busy. He in great passion all this while did dwell; More busying his quick eyes her face to view, Than his dull ears to hear what she did tell. Fairy Queen. The pleasure which I took at my friend's .pleasure herein, idly busied me thus to express the same. Carew's Survey. Be it thy course to busy giddy minds With foreign quarrels. Shakspeare. While they were busied to lay the foundations, their buildings were overthrown by an earthquake, and many thousands of the Jews were overwhelmed. Raleigh. The points which busied the devotion of the first ages, and the curiosity of the latter. Decay of Piety. The ideas it is busied about should be natural and congenial ones, which it had in itself. Locke. The learning and disputes of the schools have been much busied about genus and species. Locke. For the rest, it must be owned, he does not busy himself by entering deep into any party, but rather spends his time in acts of hospitality. Swift. BU'SYBODY. n. s. [from busy and body.] A vain, meddling, and fantastical person. |