| bachelorhood | (noun) the state of being an unmarried man | - |
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| (noun) the time of a man's life prior to marriage | - |
| bacilliform | (adjective) formed like a bacillus | Synonyms: bacillar, bacillary, baculiform, rod-shaped |
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| backdoor | (noun) a secret or underhand means of access (to a place or a position) | Synonyms: back door |
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| (noun) an entrance at the rear of a building | Synonyms: back door, back entrance |
| (noun) an undocumented way to get access to a computer system or the data it contains | Synonyms: back door |
| backsword | (noun) a sword with only one cutting edge | - |
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| (noun) a stick used instead of a sword for fencing | Synonyms: fencing stick, singlestick |
| bacteriochlorophyll | (noun) a substance in photosensitive bacteria that is related to but different from chlorophyll of higher plants | - |
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| baculiform | (adjective) formed like a bacillus | Synonyms: bacillar, bacillary, bacilliform, rod-shaped |
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| bailor | (noun) the person who delivers personal property (goods or money) in trust to the bailee in a bailment | - |
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| balmoral | (noun) a sturdy laced walking shoe | - |
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| barleycorn | (noun) a grain of barley | Synonyms: barley |
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| (noun) a grain of barley | - |
| barndoor | (noun) an opaque adjustable flap on a lamp fixture; used in photography to cut off light from particular areas | - |
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| barnstorm | (verb) tour the country making political speeches, giving lectures, or presenting plays | - |
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| (verb) appear at county fairs and carnivals as a stunt flier and parachute jumper | - |
| barnstormer | (noun) a pilot who travels around the country giving exhibits of stunt flying and parachuting | Synonyms: stunt flier, stunt pilot |
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| (noun) an actor who travels around the country presenting plays | Synonyms: play-actor, playactor, trouper |
| baroreceptor | (noun) a sensory receptor that responds to pressure | - |
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| barrator | (noun) someone guilty of barratry | Synonyms: barrater |
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| barrenwort | (noun) slow-growing creeping plant with semi-evergreen leaves on erect wiry stems; used as ground cover | Synonyms: bishop's hat, Epimedium grandiflorum |
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| baseborn | (adjective) illegitimate | Synonyms: base |
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| (adjective) of low birth or station (`base' is archaic in this sense) | Synonyms: base, humble, lowly |
| basidiospore | (noun) a sexually produced fungal spore borne on a basidium | - |
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| basidiosporous | (adjective) of or relating to or characterized by spores produced by basidia | - |
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| battledore | (noun) an ancient racket game | Synonyms: battledore and shuttlecock |
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| (noun) a light long-handled racket used by badminton players | Synonyms: badminton racket, badminton racquet |
| beadwork | (noun) a beaded molding for edging or decorating furniture | Synonyms: astragal, bead, beading |
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| (noun) ornamentation with beads | Synonyms: beading |
| beaugregory | (noun) a blue and yellow damselfish of Bermuda and Florida and the West Indies | Synonyms: Pomacentrus leucostictus |
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| bedsore | (noun) a chronic ulcer of the skin caused by prolonged pressure on it (as in bedridden patients) | Synonyms: decubitus ulcer, pressure sore |
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| before | (adverb) at or in the front | Synonyms: ahead, in front |
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| (adverb) earlier in time; previously | Synonyms: earlier |
| beforehand | (adjective) being ahead of time or need | Synonyms: advance |
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| (adverb) ahead of time; in anticipation | Synonyms: ahead, in advance |
| behavior | (noun) manner of acting or controlling yourself | Synonyms: behaviour, conduct, doings |
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| (noun) (psychology) the aggregate of the responses or reactions or movements made by an organism in any situation | Synonyms: behaviour |
| (noun) (behavioral attributes) the way a person behaves toward other people | Synonyms: behaviour, conduct, demeanor, demeanour, deportment |
| (noun) the action or reaction of something (as a machine or substance) under specified circumstances | Synonyms: behaviour |
| behavioral | (adjective) of or relating to behavior | Synonyms: behavioural |
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| behaviorism | (noun) an approach to psychology that emphasizes observable measurable behavior | Synonyms: behavioristic psychology, behaviourism, behaviouristic psychology |
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| behaviorist | (adjective) of or relating to behaviorism | Synonyms: behavioristic, behaviourist, behaviouristic |
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| (noun) a psychologist who subscribes to behaviorism | Synonyms: behaviourist |
| behavioristic | (adjective) of or relating to behaviorism | Synonyms: behaviorist, behaviourist, behaviouristic |
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| belabor | (verb) attack verbally with harsh criticism | Synonyms: belabour |
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| (verb) beat soundly | Synonyms: belabour |
| (verb) to work at or to absurd length | Synonyms: belabour |
| bellwort | (noun) any of various plants of the genus Uvularia having yellowish drooping bell-shaped flowers | Synonyms: merry bells, wild oats |
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| benedictory | (adjective) expressing benediction | Synonyms: benedictive |
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| benefactor | (noun) a person who helps people or institutions (especially with financial help) | Synonyms: helper |
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| bettor | (noun) someone who bets | Synonyms: better, punter, wagerer |
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| bichloride | (noun) a compound containing two chlorine atoms per molecule | Synonyms: dichloride |
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| bicolor | (adjective) having two colors | Synonyms: bichrome, bicolored, bicolour, bicoloured, dichromatic |
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| bicolored | (adjective) having two colors | Synonyms: bichrome, bicolor, bicolour, bicoloured, dichromatic |
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| bicorn | (adjective) having two horns or horn-shaped parts | Synonyms: bicornate, bicorned, bicornuate, bicornuous |
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| (noun) a cocked hat with the brim turned up to form two points | Synonyms: bicorne |
| bicornate | (adjective) having two horns or horn-shaped parts | Synonyms: bicorn, bicorned, bicornuate, bicornuous |
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| bicorne | (noun) a cocked hat with the brim turned up to form two points | Synonyms: bicorn |
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| bicorned | (adjective) having two horns or horn-shaped parts | Synonyms: bicorn, bicornate, bicornuate, bicornuous |
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| bicornuate | (adjective) having two horns or horn-shaped parts | Synonyms: bicorn, bicornate, bicorned, bicornuous |
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| bicornuous | (adjective) having two horns or horn-shaped parts | Synonyms: bicorn, bicornate, bicorned, bicornuate |
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| biform | (adjective) having or combining two forms | - |
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| bighorn | (noun) wild sheep of mountainous regions of western North America having massive curled horns | Synonyms: bighorn sheep, cimarron, Ovis canadensis, Rocky Mountain bighorn, Rocky Mountain sheep |
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| bimorphemic | (adjective) consisting of two morphemes | - |
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| bimotored | (adjective) having two motors | - |
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| bioremediation | (noun) the act of treating waste or pollutants by the use of microorganisms (as bacteria) that can break down the undesirable substances | - |
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| (noun) the branch of biotechnology that uses biological process to overcome environmental problems | - |
| bioterrorism | (noun) terrorism using the weapons of biological warfare | Synonyms: biological terrorism |
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| birthwort | (noun) creeping plant having curving flowers thought to resemble fetuses; native to Europe; naturalized Great Britain and eastern North America | Synonyms: Aristolochia clematitis |
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| blackamoor | (noun) a person with dark skin who comes from Africa (or whose ancestors came from Africa) | Synonyms: Black person |
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| blackthorn | (noun) erect and almost thornless American hawthorn with somewhat pear-shaped berries | Synonyms: Crataegus calpodendron, Crataegus tomentosa, pear haw, pear hawthorn |
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| (noun) a thorny Eurasian bush with plumlike fruits | Synonyms: Prunus spinosa, sloe |
| bladderwort | (noun) any of numerous aquatic carnivorous plants of the genus Utricularia some of whose leaves are modified as small urn-shaped bladders that trap minute aquatic animals | - |
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| blameworthiness | (noun) a state of guilt | Synonyms: culpability, culpableness |
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| blameworthy | (adjective) deserving blame or censure as being wrong or evil or injurious | Synonyms: blamable, blameable, blameful, censurable, culpable |
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| blastoporal | (adjective) of or relating to a blastopore | Synonyms: blastoporic |
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| blastopore | (noun) the opening into the archenteron | - |
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| blastoporic | (adjective) of or relating to a blastopore | Synonyms: blastoporal |
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| blindworm | (noun) small burrowing legless European lizard with tiny eyes; popularly believed to be blind | Synonyms: Anguis fragilis, slowworm |
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| (noun) any of the small slender limbless burrowing wormlike amphibians of the order Gymnophiona; inhabit moist soil in tropical regions | Synonyms: caecilian |
| bloodworm | (noun) a segmented marine worm with bright red body; often used for bait | - |
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| bloodwort | (noun) any of various plants of the family Haemodoraceae; roots contain a deep red coloring matter | - |
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| blowtorch | (noun) a burner that mixes air and gas to produce a very hot flame | Synonyms: blowlamp, torch |
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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 | - |
| bollworm | (noun) any of various moth caterpillars that destroy cotton bolls | - |
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| bookstore | (noun) a shop where books are sold | Synonyms: bookshop, bookstall |
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| bookworm | (noun) someone who spends a great deal of time reading | - |
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| (noun) a person who pays more attention to formal rules and book learning than they merit | Synonyms: pedant, scholastic |
| boor | (noun) a crude uncouth ill-bred person lacking culture or refinement | Synonyms: barbarian, churl, Goth, peasant, tike, tyke |
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| boorish | (adjective) ill-mannered and coarse and contemptible in behavior or appearance | Synonyms: loutish, neandertal, neanderthal, oafish, swinish |
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| boorishly | (adverb) like a boor | - |
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| boorishness | (noun) inelegance by virtue of being an uncouth boor | Synonyms: uncouthness |
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| (noun) the manner of a rude or insensitive person | - |
| boracic | (adjective) of or relating to or derived from or containing boron | Synonyms: boric |
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| borage | (noun) an herb whose leaves are used to flavor sauces and punches; young leaves can be eaten in salads or cooked | - |
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| (noun) hairy blue-flowered European annual herb long used in herbal medicine and eaten raw as salad greens or cooked like spinach | Synonyms: Borago officinalis, tailwort |
| borate | (noun) a salt or ester of boric acid | - |
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| borated | (adjective) mixed or impregnated with borax | - |
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| borax | (noun) an ore of boron consisting of hydrated sodium borate; used as a flux or cleansing agent | - |
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| bordelaise | (noun) brown sauce with beef marrow and red wine | - |
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| bordello | (noun) a building where prostitutes are available | Synonyms: bagnio, bawdyhouse, brothel, cathouse, house of ill repute, house of prostitution, sporting house, whorehouse |
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| border | (noun) a strip forming the outer edge of something | - |
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| (noun) a decorative recessed or relieved surface on an edge | Synonyms: molding, moulding |
| (noun) a line that indicates a boundary | Synonyms: borderline, boundary line, delimitation, mete |
| (noun) the boundary of a surface | Synonyms: edge |
| (noun) the boundary line or the area immediately inside the boundary | Synonyms: margin, perimeter |
| (verb) lie adjacent to another or share a boundary | Synonyms: abut, adjoin, butt, butt against, butt on, edge, march |
| (verb) extend on all sides of simultaneously; encircle | Synonyms: environ, ring, skirt, surround |
| (verb) enclose in or as if in a frame | Synonyms: frame, frame in |
| (verb) provide with a border or edge | Synonyms: edge |
| (verb) form the boundary of; be contiguous to | Synonyms: bound |
| bordered | (adjective) having a border especially of a specified kind; sometimes used as a combining term | - |
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| borderer | (noun) an inhabitant of a border area (especially the border between Scotland and England) | - |
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| borderland | (noun) district consisting of the area on either side of a border or boundary of a country or an area | Synonyms: border district, march, marchland |
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| borderline | (adjective) of questionable or minimal quality | Synonyms: marginal |
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| (noun) a line that indicates a boundary | Synonyms: border, boundary line, delimitation, mete |
| bore | (noun) a hole or passage made by a drill; usually made for exploratory purposes | Synonyms: bore-hole, drill hole |
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| (noun) diameter of a tube or gun barrel | Synonyms: caliber, calibre, gauge |
| (noun) a high wave (often dangerous) caused by tidal flow (as by colliding tidal currents or in a narrow estuary) | Synonyms: aegir, eager, eagre, tidal bore |
| (noun) a person who evokes boredom | Synonyms: dullard |
| (verb) make a hole, especially with a pointed power or hand tool | Synonyms: drill |
| (verb) cause to be bored | Synonyms: tire |
| boreal | (adjective) toward or located in the north | - |
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| (adjective) relating to or marked by qualities associated with the north wind | - |
| (adjective) comprising or throughout far northern regions | Synonyms: circumboreal |
| boreas | (noun) a wind that blows from the north | Synonyms: north wind, norther, northerly |
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| borecole | (noun) a hardy cabbage with coarse curly leaves that do not form a head | Synonyms: Brassica oleracea acephala, cole, colewort, kail, kale |
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| bored | (adjective) tired of the world | Synonyms: world-weary |
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| (adjective) uninterested because of frequent exposure or indulgence | Synonyms: blase |
| boredom | (noun) the feeling of being bored by something tedious | Synonyms: ennui, tedium |
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| borer | (noun) any of various insects or larvae or mollusks that bore into wood | Synonyms: woodborer |
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| (noun) a drill for penetrating rock | Synonyms: bore bit, rock drill, stone drill |
| boric | (adjective) of or relating to or derived from or containing boron | Synonyms: boracic |
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| boring | (adjective) so lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness | Synonyms: deadening, dull, ho-hum, irksome, slow, tedious, tiresome, wearisome |
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| (noun) the act of drilling a hole in the earth in the hope of producing petroleum | Synonyms: drilling, oil production |
| (noun) the act of drilling | Synonyms: drilling |
| boringly | (adverb) in a tedious manner | Synonyms: tediously, tiresomely |
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| boringness | (noun) extreme dullness; lacking spirit or interest | Synonyms: dreariness, insipidity, insipidness |
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| born | (adjective) brought into existence | - |
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| (adjective) being talented through inherited qualities | Synonyms: innate, natural |
| bornite | (noun) a mineral consisting of sulfides of copper and iron that is found in copper deposits | Synonyms: peacock ore |
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| boron | (noun) a trivalent metalloid element; occurs both in a hard black crystal and in the form of a yellow or brown powder | Synonyms: atomic number 5, B |
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| boronic | (adjective) of or relating to boron | - |
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| borosilicate | (noun) a salt of boric and silicic acids | - |
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| borough | (noun) one of the administrative divisions of a large city | - |
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| (noun) an English town that forms the constituency of a member of parliament | - |
| borrelia | (noun) cause of e.g. European and African relapsing fever | - |
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