| bacterium | (noun) (microbiology) single-celled or noncellular spherical or spiral or rod-shaped organisms lacking chlorophyll that reproduce by fission; important as pathogens and for biochemical properties; taxonomy is difficult; often considered to be plants | Synonyms: bacteria |
|---|
| bacteroid | (noun) a rodlike bacterium (especially any of the rod-shaped or branched bacteria in the root nodules of nitrogen-fixing plants) | - |
|---|
| badger | (noun) sturdy carnivorous burrowing mammal with strong claws; widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere | - |
|---|
| badgerer | (noun) someone who tries to embarrass you with gibes and questions and objections | Synonyms: heckler |
|---|
| badgering | (noun) the act of harassing someone | Synonyms: bedevilment, torment, worrying |
|---|
| baedeker | (noun) any of a series of travel guidebooks published by the German firm founded by Karl Baedeker | - |
|---|
| bagger | (noun) a machine for putting objects or substances into bags | - |
|---|
| (noun) a workman employed to pack things into containers | Synonyms: boxer, packer |
| bagpiper | (noun) someone who plays the bagpipe | Synonyms: piper |
|---|
| baker | (noun) someone who bakes bread or cake | Synonyms: bread maker |
|---|
| (noun) someone who bakes commercially | - |
| bakery | (noun) a workplace where baked goods (breads and cakes and pastries) are produced or sold | Synonyms: bakehouse, bakeshop |
|---|
| balancer | (noun) either of the rudimentary hind wings of dipterous insects; used for maintaining equilibrium during flight | Synonyms: halter, haltere |
|---|
| (noun) an acrobat who balances himself in difficult positions | - |
| balderdash | (noun) trivial nonsense | Synonyms: fiddle-faddle, piffle |
|---|
| balker | (noun) a person who refuses to comply | Synonyms: baulker, noncompliant |
|---|
| balladeer | (noun) a singer of popular ballads | Synonyms: crooner |
|---|
| ballerina | (noun) a female ballet dancer | Synonyms: danseuse |
|---|
| ballplayer | (noun) an athlete who plays baseball | Synonyms: baseball player |
|---|
| baluster | (noun) one of a number of closely spaced supports for a railing | - |
|---|
| balusters | (noun) a railing at the side of a staircase or balcony to prevent people from falling | Synonyms: balustrade, banister, bannister, handrail |
|---|
| banderilla | (noun) a decorated dart that is implanted in the neck or shoulders of the bull during a bull fight | - |
|---|
| banderillero | (noun) the bullfighter who implants decorated darts (banderillas) into the neck or shoulders of the bull during a bull fight | - |
|---|
| bandleader | (noun) the leader of a dance band | - |
|---|
| bandmaster | (noun) the conductor of a band | - |
|---|
| bandoleer | (noun) a broad cartridge belt worn over the shoulder by soldiers | Synonyms: bandolier |
|---|
| bandolier | (noun) a broad cartridge belt worn over the shoulder by soldiers | Synonyms: bandoleer |
|---|
| baneberry | (noun) a plant of the genus Actaea having acrid poisonous berries | Synonyms: cohosh, herb Christopher |
|---|
| (noun) a poisonous berry of a plant of the genus Actaea | - |
| banger | (noun) firework consisting of a small explosive charge and fuse in a heavy paper casing | Synonyms: cracker, firecracker |
|---|
| (noun) (British informal) pork sausage | - |
| banister | (noun) a railing at the side of a staircase or balcony to prevent people from falling | Synonyms: balusters, balustrade, bannister, handrail |
|---|
| banker | (noun) a financier who owns or is an executive in a bank | - |
|---|
| (noun) the person in charge of the bank in a gambling game | - |
| banner | (noun) long strip of cloth or paper used for decoration or advertising | Synonyms: streamer |
|---|
| (noun) any distinctive flag | Synonyms: standard |
| (noun) a newspaper headline that runs across the full page | Synonyms: streamer |
| banneret | (noun) a knight honored for valor; entitled to display a square banner and to hold higher command | Synonyms: knight banneret, knight of the square flag |
|---|
| bannister | (noun) a railing at the side of a staircase or balcony to prevent people from falling | Synonyms: balusters, balustrade, banister, handrail |
|---|
| banter | (noun) light teasing repartee | Synonyms: backchat, give-and-take, raillery |
|---|
| baptistery | (noun) bowl for baptismal water | Synonyms: baptismal font, baptistry, font |
|---|
| barber | (noun) a hairdresser who cuts hair and shaves beards as a trade | - |
|---|
| barberry | (noun) any of numerous plants of the genus Berberis having prickly stems and yellow flowers followed by small red berries | - |
|---|
| barbershop | (noun) a shop where men can get their hair cut | - |
|---|
| bargainer | (noun) someone who purchases and maintains an inventory of goods to be sold | Synonyms: dealer, monger, trader |
|---|
| (noun) negotiator of the terms of a transaction | - |
| barkeeper | (noun) an employee who mixes and serves alcoholic drinks at a bar | Synonyms: barkeep, bartender, mixologist |
|---|
| barker | (noun) informal terms for dogs | Synonyms: bow-wow, doggie, doggy, pooch |
|---|
| (noun) someone who stands in front of a show (as at a carnival) and gives a loud colorful sales talk to potential customers | - |
| barnburner | (noun) an impressively successful event | - |
|---|
| (noun) someone who burns down a barn | - |
| barnstormer | (noun) a pilot who travels around the country giving exhibits of stunt flying and parachuting | Synonyms: stunt flier, stunt pilot |
|---|
| (noun) an actor who travels around the country presenting plays | Synonyms: play-actor, playactor, trouper |
| barometer | (noun) an instrument that measures atmospheric pressure | - |
|---|
| barrater | (noun) someone guilty of barratry | Synonyms: barrator |
|---|
| barretter | (noun) a resistor inserted into a circuit to compensate for changes (as those arising from temperature fluctuations) | Synonyms: ballast, ballast resistor |
|---|
| barrier | (noun) a structure or object that impedes free movement | - |
|---|
| (noun) any condition that makes it difficult to make progress or to achieve an objective | Synonyms: roadblock |
| (noun) anything serving to maintain separation by obstructing vision or access | - |
| barrister | (noun) a British or Canadian lawyer who speaks in the higher courts of law on behalf of either the defense or prosecution | - |
|---|
| bartender | (noun) an employee who mixes and serves alcoholic drinks at a bar | Synonyms: barkeep, barkeeper, mixologist |
|---|
| barter | (noun) an equal exchange | Synonyms: swap, swop, trade |
|---|
| barterer | (noun) a trader who exchanges goods and not money | - |
|---|
| barycenter | (noun) (astronomy) the common center of mass around which two or more bodies revolve | - |
|---|
| basketeer | (noun) an athlete who plays basketball | Synonyms: basketball player, cager |
|---|
| basketmaker | (noun) someone skilled in weaving baskets | Synonyms: basketweaver |
|---|
| basketweaver | (noun) someone skilled in weaving baskets | Synonyms: basketmaker |
|---|
| baster | (noun) a tube with a rubber bulb used to take up and release melted fat or gravy in order to moisten roasting meat | - |
|---|
| (noun) a sewer who fastens a garment with long loose stitches | Synonyms: tacker |
| (noun) a cook who bastes roasting meat with melted fat or gravy | - |
| bather | (noun) a person who travels through the water by swimming | Synonyms: natator, swimmer |
|---|
| (noun) a person who takes a bath | - |
| bathometer | (noun) an instrument that measures the depth of water | Synonyms: bathymeter |
|---|
| bathymeter | (noun) an instrument that measures the depth of water | Synonyms: bathometer |
|---|
| bathysphere | (noun) spherical deep diving apparatus (lowered by a cable) for underwater exploration | - |
|---|
| batter | (noun) a liquid or semiliquid mixture, as of flour, eggs, and milk, used in cooking | - |
|---|
| (noun) (baseball) a ballplayer who is batting | Synonyms: batsman, hitter, slugger |
| battercake | (noun) a flat cake of thin batter fried on both sides on a griddle | Synonyms: flannel-cake, flannel cake, flapcake, flapjack, griddlecake, hot cake, hotcake, pancake |
|---|
| battering | (noun) the act of subjecting to strong attack | Synonyms: banging |
|---|
| battery | (noun) an assault in which the assailant makes physical contact | Synonyms: assault and battery |
|---|
| (noun) the heavy fire of artillery to saturate an area rather than hit a specific target | Synonyms: barrage, barrage fire, bombardment, shelling |
| (noun) a device that produces electricity; may have several primary or secondary cells arranged in parallel or series | Synonyms: electric battery |
| (noun) a series of stamps operated in one mortar for crushing ores | Synonyms: stamp battery |
| (noun) a collection of related things intended for use together | - |
| (noun) group of guns or missile launchers operated together at one place | - |
| (noun) a unit composed of the pitcher and catcher | - |
| battler | (noun) someone who fights (or is fighting) | Synonyms: belligerent, combatant, fighter, scrapper |
|---|
| baulker | (noun) a person who refuses to comply | Synonyms: balker, noncompliant |
|---|
| bawler | (noun) someone who communicates vocally in a very loud voice | Synonyms: bellower, roarer, screamer, screecher, shouter, yeller |
|---|
| (noun) a loud weeper | - |
| bayberry | (noun) West Indian tree; source of bay rum | Synonyms: bay-rum tree, Jamaica bayberry, Pimenta acris, wild cinnamon |
|---|
| (noun) deciduous aromatic shrub of eastern North America with grey-green wax-coated berries | Synonyms: candleberry, Myrica pensylvanica, swamp candleberry, waxberry |
| beachcomber | (noun) a vagrant living on a beach | - |
|---|
| beaker | (noun) a cup (usually without a handle) | - |
|---|
| (noun) a flatbottomed jar made of glass or plastic; used for chemistry | - |
| beaner | (noun) a baseball deliberately thrown at the batter's head | Synonyms: beanball |
|---|
| bearberry | (noun) chiefly evergreen subshrubs of northern to Arctic areas | - |
|---|
| (noun) deciduous shrub of southeastern and central United States | Synonyms: Ilex decidua, possum haw, winterberry |
| (noun) shrubby tree of the Pacific coast of the United States; yields cascara sagrada | Synonyms: bearwood, cascara buckthorn, chittamwood, chittimwood, Rhamnus purshianus |
| bearer | (noun) a messenger who bears or presents | - |
|---|
| (noun) one of the mourners carrying the coffin at a funeral | Synonyms: pallbearer |
| (noun) the person who is in possession of a check or note or bond or document of title that is endorsed to him or to whoever holds it | Synonyms: holder |
| (noun) someone whose employment involves carrying something | Synonyms: carrier, toter |
| beater | (noun) an implement for beating | - |
|---|
| (noun) a worker who rouses wild game from under cover for a hunter | - |
| beaver | (noun) large semiaquatic rodent with webbed hind feet and a broad flat tail; construct complex dams and underwater lodges | - |
|---|
| (noun) a hat made with the fur of a beaver (or similar material) | Synonyms: castor |
| (noun) a movable piece of armor on a medieval helmet used to protect the lower face | - |
| (noun) a man's hat with a tall crown; usually covered with silk or with beaver fur | Synonyms: dress hat, high hat, opera hat, silk hat, stovepipe, top hat, topper |
| (noun) a full beard | - |
| (noun) the soft brown fur of the beaver | Synonyms: beaver fur |
| bedchamber | (noun) a room used primarily for sleeping | Synonyms: bedroom, chamber, sleeping accommodation, sleeping room |
|---|
| bedcover | (noun) decorative cover for a bed | Synonyms: bed cover, bed covering, bedspread, counterpane, spread |
|---|
| bedder | (noun) an ornamental plant suitable for planting in a flowerbed | Synonyms: bedding plant |
|---|
| bedsitter | (noun) a furnished sitting room with sleeping accommodations (and some plumbing) | Synonyms: bedsit, bedsitting room |
|---|
| bedwetter | (noun) someone suffering from enuresis; someone who urinates while asleep in bed | Synonyms: bed wetter, wetter |
|---|
| beefburger | (noun) a sandwich consisting of a fried cake of minced beef served on a bun, often with other ingredients | Synonyms: burger, hamburger |
|---|
| beefeater | (noun) officer in the (ceremonial) bodyguard of the British monarch | Synonyms: yeoman, yeoman of the guard |
|---|
| beekeeper | (noun) a farmer who keeps bees for their honey | Synonyms: apiarist, apiculturist |
|---|
| beeper | (noun) an electronic device that generates a series of beeps when the person carrying it is being paged | Synonyms: pager |
|---|
| beer | (noun) a general name for alcoholic beverages made by fermenting a cereal (or mixture of cereals) flavored with hops | - |
|---|
| begetter | (noun) a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father) | Synonyms: father, male parent |
|---|
| beginner | (noun) someone new to a field or activity | Synonyms: initiate, novice, tiro, tyro |
|---|
| (noun) a person who founds or establishes some institution | Synonyms: father, founder, founding father |
| beguiler | (noun) a person who charms others (usually by personal attractiveness) | Synonyms: charmer |
|---|
| (noun) someone who leads you to believe something that is not true | Synonyms: cheat, cheater, deceiver, slicker, trickster |
| beholder | (noun) a person who becomes aware (of things or events) through the senses | Synonyms: observer, perceiver, percipient |
|---|
| beleaguering | (noun) the action of an armed force that surrounds a fortified place and isolates it while continuing to attack | Synonyms: besieging, military blockade, siege |
|---|
| belieber | (noun) A fan of Justin Bieber | - |
|---|
| believer | (noun) a person who has religious faith | Synonyms: worshiper, worshipper |
|---|
| (noun) a supporter who accepts something as true | Synonyms: truster |
| bellflower | (noun) any of various plants of the genus Campanula having blue or white bell-shaped flowers | Synonyms: campanula |
|---|
| belligerence | (noun) a natural disposition to be hostile | Synonyms: aggressiveness, pugnacity |
|---|
| (noun) hostile or warlike attitude or nature | Synonyms: belligerency |
| belligerency | (noun) fighting; acts of overt warfare | Synonyms: hostilities |
|---|
| (noun) hostile or warlike attitude or nature | Synonyms: belligerence |
| belligerent | (noun) someone who fights (or is fighting) | Synonyms: battler, combatant, fighter, scrapper |
|---|
| bellower | (noun) someone who communicates vocally in a very loud voice | Synonyms: bawler, roarer, screamer, screecher, shouter, yeller |
|---|
| bellwether | (noun) sheep that leads the herd often wearing a bell | - |
|---|
| (noun) someone who assumes leadership of a movement or activity | - |
| bellyacher | (noun) a person given to excessive complaints and crying and whining | Synonyms: complainer, crybaby, grumbler, moaner, sniveller, squawker, whiner |
|---|
| belvedere | (noun) a gazebo sited to command a fine view | - |
|---|
| (noun) densely branched Eurasian plant; foliage turns purple-red in autumn | Synonyms: Bassia scoparia, burning bush, fire-bush, fire bush, Kochia scoparia, summer cypress |
| bender | (noun) revelry in drinking; a merry drinking party | Synonyms: booze-up, carousal, carouse, toot |
|---|
| (noun) a pitch of a baseball that is thrown with spin so that its path curves as it approaches the batter | Synonyms: breaking ball, curve, curve ball |
| (noun) a tool for bending | - |
| berating | (noun) a severe rebuke | Synonyms: blowing up |
|---|