| aardvark | (noun) nocturnal burrowing mammal of the grasslands of Africa that feeds on termites; sole extant representative of the order Tubulidentata | Synonyms: ant bear, anteater, Orycteropus afer |
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| abelmosk | (noun) bushy herb of tropical Asia grown for its yellow or pink to scarlet blooms that resemble the hibiscus | Synonyms: Abelmoschus moschatus, Hibiscus moschatus, musk mallow |
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| afterdeck | (noun) a deck abaft of midships | - |
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| aftershock | (noun) a tremor (or one of a series of tremors) occurring after the main shock of an earthquake | - |
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| airdock | (noun) a large structure at an airport where aircraft can be stored and maintained | Synonyms: hangar, repair shed |
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| airlock | (noun) a chamber that provides access to space where air is under pressure | Synonyms: air lock |
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| alpenstock | (noun) a stout staff with a metal point; used by mountain climbers | - |
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| amberjack | (noun) any of several amber to coppery fork-tailed warm-water carangid fishes | Synonyms: amberfish |
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| anorak | (noun) a kind of heavy jacket | Synonyms: parka, windbreaker, windcheater |
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| antiknock | (noun) any of various compounds that are added to gasoline to reduce engine knocking | - |
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| antiquark | (noun) the antiparticle of a quark | - |
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| apparatchik | (noun) a communist who was a member of the administrative system of a communist party | - |
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| (noun) a humorous but derogatory term for an official of a large organization (especially a political organization) | - |
| applejack | (noun) distilled from hard cider | - |
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| arak | (noun) any of various strong liquors distilled from the fermented sap of toddy palms or from fermented molasses | Synonyms: arrack |
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| ark | (noun) a boat built by Noah to save his family and animals from the flood | - |
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| arrack | (noun) any of various strong liquors distilled from the fermented sap of toddy palms or from fermented molasses | Synonyms: arak |
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| artwork | (noun) photographs or other visual representations in a printed publication | Synonyms: art, graphics, nontextual matter |
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| asterisk | (noun) a star-shaped character * used in printing | Synonyms: star |
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| attack | (noun) (military) an offensive against an enemy (using weapons) | Synonyms: onrush, onset, onslaught |
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| (noun) a decisive manner of beginning a musical tone or phrase | Synonyms: tone-beginning |
| (noun) the act of attacking | Synonyms: attempt |
| (noun) ideas or actions intended to deal with a problem or situation | Synonyms: approach, plan of attack |
| (noun) an offensive move in a sport or game | - |
| (noun) strong criticism | - |
| (noun) intense adverse criticism | Synonyms: blast, fire, flack, flak |
| (noun) the onset of a corrosive or destructive process (as by a chemical agent) | - |
| (noun) a sudden occurrence of an uncontrollable condition | - |
| auk | (noun) black-and-white short-necked web-footed diving bird of northern seas | - |
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| babytalk | (noun) the developing speech of a young child | Synonyms: baby talk |
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| (noun) an adult's imitation of the speech of a young child | Synonyms: baby talk, motherese |
| back | (noun) (American football) the position of a player on a football team who is stationed behind the line of scrimmage | - |
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| (noun) the side that goes last or is not normally seen | Synonyms: rear |
| (noun) a support that you can lean against while sitting | Synonyms: backrest |
| (noun) the part of a garment that covers the back of your body | - |
| (noun) the protective covering on the front, back, and spine of a book | Synonyms: binding, book binding, cover |
| (noun) the posterior part of a human (or animal) body from the neck to the end of the spine | Synonyms: dorsum |
| (noun) the series of vertebrae forming the axis of the skeleton and protecting the spinal cord | Synonyms: backbone, rachis, spinal column, spine, vertebral column |
| (noun) the part of something that is furthest from the normal viewer | Synonyms: rear |
| (noun) (football) a person who plays in the backfield | - |
| backpack | (noun) a bag carried by a strap on your back or shoulder | Synonyms: back pack, haversack, knapsack, packsack, rucksack |
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| backtalk | (noun) an impudent or insolent rejoinder | Synonyms: back talk, lip, mouth, sass, sassing |
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| bailiwick | (noun) a branch of knowledge | Synonyms: discipline, field, field of study, study, subject, subject area, subject field |
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| (noun) the area over which a bailiff has jurisdiction | - |
| baldrick | (noun) a wide (ornamented) belt worn over the right shoulder to support a sword or bugle by the left hip | Synonyms: baldric |
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| balk | (noun) an illegal pitching motion while runners are on base | - |
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| (noun) one of several parallel sloping beams that support a roof | Synonyms: baulk, rafter |
| (noun) something immaterial that interferes with or delays action or progress | Synonyms: baulk, check, deterrent, handicap, hinderance, hindrance, impediment |
| (noun) the area on a billiard table behind the balkline | Synonyms: baulk |
| ballcock | (noun) floating ball that controls level in a water tank | Synonyms: ball cock |
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| ballock | (noun) one of the two male reproductive glands that produce spermatozoa and secrete androgens | Synonyms: ball, bollock, egg, nut, orchis, testicle, testis |
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| ballpark | (noun) a facility in which ball games are played (especially baseball games) | Synonyms: park |
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| (noun) near to the scope or range of something | Synonyms: approximate range |
| bank | (noun) a flight maneuver; aircraft tips laterally about its longitudinal axis (especially in turning) | - |
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| (noun) a building in which the business of banking is transacted | Synonyms: bank building |
| (noun) a container (usually with a slot in the top) for keeping money at home | Synonyms: coin bank, money box, savings bank |
| (noun) a financial institution that accepts deposits and channels the money into lending activities | Synonyms: banking company, banking concern, depository financial institution |
| (noun) an arrangement of similar objects in a row or in tiers | - |
| (noun) a long ridge or pile | - |
| (noun) sloping land (especially the slope beside a body of water) | - |
| (noun) a slope in the turn of a road or track; the outside is higher than the inside in order to reduce the effects of centrifugal force | Synonyms: camber, cant |
| (noun) a supply or stock held in reserve for future use (especially in emergencies) | - |
| (noun) the funds held by a gambling house or the dealer in some gambling games | - |
| bankbook | (noun) a record of deposits and withdrawals and interest held by depositors at certain banks | Synonyms: passbook |
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| bannock | (noun) a flat bread made of oat or barley flour; common in New England and Scotland | - |
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| bark | (noun) a sailing ship with 3 (or more) masts | Synonyms: barque |
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| (noun) the sound made by a dog | - |
| (noun) a noise resembling the bark of a dog | - |
| (noun) tough protective covering of the woody stems and roots of trees and other woody plants | - |
| barmbrack | (noun) a rich currant cake or bun | - |
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| barrack | (noun) a building or group of buildings used to house military personnel | - |
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| basilisk | (noun) small crested arboreal lizard able to run on its hind legs; of tropical America | - |
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| (noun) ancient brass cannon | - |
| (noun) (classical mythology) a serpent (or lizard or dragon) able to kill with its breath or glance | - |
| bassarisk | (noun) raccoon-like omnivorous mammal of Mexico and the southwestern United States having a long bushy tail with black and white rings | Synonyms: Bassariscus astutus, cacomistle, cacomixle, civet cat, coon cat, miner's cat, raccoon fox, ring-tailed cat, ringtail |
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| batik | (noun) a dyed fabric; a removable wax is used where the dye is not wanted | - |
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| baulk | (noun) one of several parallel sloping beams that support a roof | Synonyms: balk, rafter |
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| (noun) something immaterial that interferes with or delays action or progress | Synonyms: balk, check, deterrent, handicap, hinderance, hindrance, impediment |
| (noun) the area on a billiard table behind the balkline | Synonyms: balk |
| beadwork | (noun) a beaded molding for edging or decorating furniture | Synonyms: astragal, bead, beading |
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| (noun) ornamentation with beads | Synonyms: beading |
| beak | (noun) horny projecting mouth of a bird | Synonyms: bill, neb, nib, pecker |
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| (noun) beaklike mouth of animals other than birds (e.g., turtles) | - |
| (noun) informal terms for the nose | Synonyms: honker, hooter, nozzle, schnoz, schnozzle, snoot, snout |
| (noun) a beaklike, tapering tip on certain plant structures | - |
| beanstalk | (noun) stem of a bean plant | - |
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| beatnik | (noun) a member of the beat generation; a nonconformist in dress and behavior | Synonyms: beat |
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| beck | (noun) a beckoning gesture | - |
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| bedrock | (noun) principles from which other truths can be derived | Synonyms: basic principle, basics, fundamental principle, fundamentals |
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| (noun) solid unweathered rock lying beneath surface deposits of soil | - |
| beefsteak | (noun) a beef steak usually cooked by broiling | - |
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| benchmark | (noun) a standard by which something can be measured or judged | - |
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| (noun) a surveyor's mark on a permanent object of predetermined position and elevation used as a reference point | Synonyms: bench mark |
| benedick | (noun) a newly married man (especially one who has long been a bachelor) | Synonyms: benedict |
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| berk | (noun) a stupid person who is easy to take advantage of | - |
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| berserk | (noun) one of the ancient Norse warriors legendary for working themselves into a frenzy before a battle and fighting with reckless savagery and insane fury | Synonyms: berserker |
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| billhook | (noun) a cutting tool with a sharp edge | Synonyms: bill |
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| billystick | (noun) a short stout club used primarily by policemen | Synonyms: baton, billy, billy club, nightstick, truncheon |
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| bioattack | (noun) the use of bacteria or viruses or toxins to destroy men and animals or food | Synonyms: biologic attack, biological attack, biological warfare, BW |
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| biofeedback | (noun) a training program in which a person is given information about physiological processes (heart rate or blood pressure) that is not normally available with the goal of gaining conscious control of them | - |
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| birchbark | (noun) a canoe made with the bark of a birch tree | Synonyms: birch bark, birchbark canoe |
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| birthmark | (noun) a blemish on the skin that is formed before birth | Synonyms: nevus |
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| bismark | (noun) a raised doughnut filled with jelly or jam | Synonyms: Berlin doughnut, jelly doughnut |
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| bispak | (noun) A sexually promiscuous Indonesian woman | - |
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| bitok | (noun) a Russian dish made with patties of ground meat (mixed with onions and bread and milk) and served with a sauce of sour cream | - |
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| bitstock | (noun) a carpenter's tool having a crank handle for turning and a socket to hold a bit for boring | Synonyms: brace |
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| black | (noun) black clothing (worn as a sign of mourning) | - |
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| (noun) (board games) the darker pieces | - |
| (noun) the quality or state of the achromatic color of least lightness (bearing the least resemblance to white) | Synonyms: blackness, inkiness |
| (noun) total absence of light | Synonyms: blackness, lightlessness, pitch blackness, total darkness |
| blackbuck | (noun) common Indian antelope with a dark back and spiral horns | Synonyms: Antilope cervicapra, black buck |
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| blackcock | (noun) male black grouse | Synonyms: black cock |
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| blackjack | (noun) a gambling game using cards; the object is to hold cards having a higher count than those dealt to the banker up to but not exceeding 21 | Synonyms: twenty-one, vingt-et-un |
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| (noun) a piece of metal covered by leather with a flexible handle; used for hitting people | Synonyms: cosh, sap |
| (noun) a flag usually bearing a white skull and crossbones on a black background; indicates a pirate ship | Synonyms: black flag, Jolly Roger, pirate flag |
| (noun) a common scrubby deciduous tree of central and southeastern United States having dark bark and broad three-lobed (club-shaped) leaves; tends to form dense thickets | Synonyms: blackjack oak, jack oak, Quercus marilandica |
| bladderwrack | (noun) a common rockweed used in preparing kelp and as manure | Synonyms: black rockweed, bladder fucus, Fucus vesiculosus, tang |
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| (noun) similar to and found with black rockweed | Synonyms: Ascophyllum nodosum |
| blank | (noun) a cartridge containing an explosive charge but no bullet | Synonyms: blank shell, dummy |
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| (noun) a piece of material ready to be made into something | - |
| (noun) a blank gap or missing part | Synonyms: lacuna |
| (noun) a blank character used to separate successive words in writing or printing | Synonyms: space |
| blink | (noun) a reflex that closes and opens the eyes rapidly | Synonyms: blinking, eye blink, nictation, nictitation, wink, winking |
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| block | (noun) the act of obstructing or deflecting someone's movements | Synonyms: blocking |
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| (noun) a solid piece of something (usually having flat rectangular sides) | - |
| (noun) an obstruction in a pipe or tube | Synonyms: blockage, closure, occlusion, stop, stoppage |
| (noun) a simple machine consisting of a wheel with a groove in which a rope can run to change the direction or point of application of a force applied to the rope | Synonyms: pulley-block, pulley, pulley block |
| (noun) a metal casting containing the cylinders and cooling ducts of an engine | Synonyms: cylinder block, engine block |
| (noun) a platform from which an auctioneer sells | Synonyms: auction block |
| (noun) housing in a large building that is divided into separate units | - |
| (noun) an inability to remember or think of something you normally can do; often caused by emotional tension | Synonyms: mental block |
| (noun) a number or quantity of related things dealt with as a unit | - |
| (noun) a rectangular area in a city surrounded by streets and usually containing several buildings | Synonyms: city block |
| (noun) (computer science) a sector or group of sectors that function as the smallest data unit permitted | - |
| (noun) a three-dimensional shape with six square or rectangular sides | Synonyms: cube |
| bloodstock | (noun) thoroughbred horses (collectively) | - |
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| blowback | (noun) Blowback is a system of operation for self-loading firearms that obtains energy from the motion of the cartridge case as it is pushed to the rear by expanding gases created by the ignition of the propellant charge. | - |
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| (noun) misinformation resulting from the recirculation into the source country of disinformation previously planted abroad by that country's intelligence service | - |
| (noun) the backward escape of gases and unburned gunpowder after a gun is fired | Synonyms: backfire |
| bluetick | (noun) a very fast American hound; white mottled with bluish grey | - |
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| boardwalk | (noun) a walkway made of wooden boards; usually at seaside | - |
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| bobbysock | (noun) a sock that reaches just above the ankle | Synonyms: anklet, anklets, bobbysocks |
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| bobolink | (noun) migratory American songbird | Synonyms: Dolichonyx oryzivorus, reedbird, ricebird |
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| bock | (noun) a very strong lager traditionally brewed in the fall and aged through the winter for consumption in the spring | Synonyms: bock beer |
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| bodywork | (noun) the work of making or repairing vehicle bodies | - |
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| (noun) the exterior body of a motor vehicle | - |
| bollock | (noun) a pulley-block at the head of a topmast | Synonyms: bullock block |
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| (noun) one of the two male reproductive glands that produce spermatozoa and secrete androgens | Synonyms: ball, ballock, egg, nut, orchis, testicle, testis |
| book | (noun) physical objects consisting of a number of pages bound together | Synonyms: volume |
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| (noun) a number of sheets (ticket or stamps etc.) bound together on one edge | - |
| (noun) a written work or composition that has been published (printed on pages bound together) | - |
| (noun) a written version of a play or other dramatic composition; used in preparing for a performance | Synonyms: playscript, script |
| (noun) a compilation of the known facts regarding something or someone | Synonyms: record, record book |
| (noun) a major division of a long written composition | - |
| (noun) a collection of rules or prescribed standards on the basis of which decisions are made | Synonyms: rule book |
| (noun) a collection of playing cards satisfying the rules of a card game | - |
| (noun) a record in which commercial accounts are recorded | Synonyms: account book, book of account, ledger, leger |
| bookmark | (noun) a marker (a piece of paper or ribbon) placed between the pages of a book to mark the reader's place | Synonyms: bookmarker |
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| bootblack | (noun) a person who polishes shoes and boots | Synonyms: shoeblack |
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| bootjack | (noun) has V-shaped notch for pulling off boots | - |
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| bosk | (noun) a small wooded area | - |
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| bottleneck | (noun) the narrow part of a bottle near the top | - |
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| (noun) a narrowing that reduces the flow through a channel | Synonyms: chokepoint, constriction |
| breadstick | (noun) a crisp stick-shaped roll; often served with soup | Synonyms: bread-stick |
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| break | (noun) the act of breaking something | Synonyms: breakage, breaking |
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| (noun) an act of delaying or interrupting the continuity | Synonyms: disruption, gap, interruption |
| (noun) a sudden dash | - |
| (noun) the opening shot that scatters the balls in billiards or pool | - |
| (noun) an escape from jail | Synonyms: breakout, gaolbreak, jailbreak, prison-breaking, prisonbreak |
| (noun) a pause from doing something (as work) | Synonyms: recess, respite, time out |
| (noun) any frame in which a bowler fails to make a strike or spare | Synonyms: open frame |
| (noun) (tennis) a score consisting of winning a game when your opponent was serving | Synonyms: break of serve |
| (noun) some abrupt occurrence that interrupts an ongoing activity | Synonyms: interruption |
| (noun) an unexpected piece of good luck | Synonyms: good luck, happy chance |
| (noun) the occurrence of breaking | - |
| (noun) a personal or social separation (as between opposing factions) | Synonyms: breach, falling out, rift, rupture, severance |
| (noun) an abrupt change in the tone or register of the voice (as at puberty or due to emotion) | - |
| (noun) (geology) a crack in the earth's crust resulting from the displacement of one side with respect to the other | Synonyms: fault, faulting, fracture, geological fault, shift |
| (noun) breaking of hard tissue such as bone | Synonyms: fracture |
| (noun) a time interval during which there is a temporary cessation of something | Synonyms: intermission, interruption, pause, suspension |
| breastwork | (noun) fortification consisting of a low wall | Synonyms: parapet |
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| breechblock | (noun) a metal block in breech-loading firearms that is withdrawn to insert a cartridge and replaced to close the breech before firing | Synonyms: breech closer |
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| brick | (noun) rectangular block of clay baked by the sun or in a kiln; used as a building or paving material | - |
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| (noun) a good fellow; helpful and trustworthy | - |
| brickwork | (noun) masonry done with bricks and mortar | - |
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| bridgework | (noun) a denture anchored to teeth on either side of missing teeth | Synonyms: bridge |
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| brink | (noun) the limit beyond which something happens or changes | Synonyms: verge |
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| (noun) the edge of a steep place | - |
| (noun) a region marking a boundary | Synonyms: threshold, verge |
| brook | (noun) a natural stream of water smaller than a river (and often a tributary of a river) | Synonyms: creek |
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| broomstick | (noun) the handle of a broom | Synonyms: broom handle |
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| brushwork | (noun) an artist's distinctive technique of applying paint with a brush | - |
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| buck | (noun) mature male of various mammals (especially deer or antelope) | - |
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| (noun) a framework for holding wood that is being sawed | Synonyms: horse, sawbuck, sawhorse |
| (noun) a gymnastic horse without pommels and with one end elongated; used lengthwise for vaulting | Synonyms: long horse, vaulting horse |
| (noun) a piece of paper money worth one dollar | Synonyms: clam, dollar, dollar bill, one dollar bill |
| bulk | (noun) the property of something that is great in magnitude | Synonyms: mass, volume |
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| (noun) the property resulting from being or relating to the greater in number of two parts; the main part | Synonyms: majority |
| (noun) the property possessed by a large mass | - |
| bullock | (noun) castrated bull | Synonyms: steer |
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| (noun) young bull | - |
| bulwark | (noun) a protective structure of stone or concrete; extends from shore into the water to prevent a beach from washing away | Synonyms: breakwater, groin, groyne, jetty, mole, seawall |
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| (noun) an embankment built around a space for defensive purposes | Synonyms: rampart, wall |
| (noun) a fencelike structure around a deck | - |
| bunk | (noun) a bed on a ship or train; usually in tiers | Synonyms: berth, built in bed |
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| (noun) a rough bed (as at a campsite) | - |
| (noun) beds built one above the other | Synonyms: bunk bed |
| (noun) a long trough for feeding cattle | Synonyms: feed bunk |
| (noun) unacceptable behavior (especially ludicrously false statements) | Synonyms: buncombe, bunkum, guff, hogwash, rot |
| (noun) a message that seems to convey no meaning | Synonyms: hokum, meaninglessness, nonsense, nonsensicality |