| bibliopolist | (noun) a dealer in secondhand books (especially rare or curious books) | Synonyms: bibliopole |
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| bibliotist | (noun) someone who engages in bibliotics | - |
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| bicyclist | (noun) a person who rides a bicycle | Synonyms: bicycler, biker, cyclist, wheeler |
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| bidet | (noun) a basin for washing genitals and anal area | - |
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| bigamist | (noun) someone who marries one person while already legally married to another | - |
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| bight | (noun) the middle part of a slack rope (as distinguished from its ends) | - |
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| (noun) a broad bay formed by an indentation in the shoreline | - |
| (noun) a bend or curve (especially in a coastline) | - |
| (noun) a loop in a rope | - |
| (verb) fasten with a bight | - |
| bigot | (noun) a prejudiced person who is intolerant of any opinions differing from his own | - |
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| bilingualist | (noun) a person who speaks two languages fluently | Synonyms: bilingual |
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| billet | (noun) lodging for military personnel (especially in a private home) | - |
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| (noun) a short personal letter | Synonyms: line, note, short letter |
| (verb) provide housing for (military personnel) | Synonyms: canton, quarter |
| bimetallist | (noun) an advocate of bimetallism | - |
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| biocatalyst | (noun) a biochemical catalyst such as an enzyme | - |
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| biochemist | (noun) someone with special training in biochemistry | - |
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| biologist | (noun) (biology) a scientist who studies living organisms | Synonyms: life scientist |
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| bioluminescent | (adjective) (of living organisms) emitting light | - |
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| biont | (noun) a discrete unit of living matter | - |
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| biophysicist | (noun) a physicist who applies the methods of physics to biology | - |
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| birdnest | (noun) nest where birds lay their eggs and hatch their young | Synonyms: bird's nest, bird nest |
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| (verb) gather birdnests | Synonyms: bird-nest |
| birefringent | (adjective) relating to or characterized by double refraction | - |
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| birthright | (noun) a right or privilege that you are entitled to at birth | - |
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| (noun) an inheritance coming by right of birth (especially by primogeniture) | Synonyms: patrimony |
| birthroot | (noun) trillium of eastern North America having malodorous pink to purple flowers and an astringent root used in folk medicine especially to ease childbirth | Synonyms: purple trillium, red trillium, Trillium erectum |
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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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| biscuit | (noun) small round bread leavened with baking-powder or soda | - |
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| (noun) any of various small flat sweet cakes | Synonyms: cookie, cooky |
| bisect | (verb) cut in half or cut in two | - |
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| bit | (noun) the cutting part of a drill; usually pointed and threaded and is replaceable in a brace or bitstock or drill press | - |
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| (noun) piece of metal held in horse's mouth by reins and used to control the horse while riding | - |
| (noun) the part of a key that enters a lock and lifts the tumblers | - |
| (noun) a short performance that is part of a longer program | Synonyms: act, number, routine, turn |
| (noun) a small fragment | Synonyms: snatch |
| (noun) an instance of some kind | Synonyms: piece |
| (noun) a small amount of solid food; a mouthful | Synonyms: bite, morsel |
| (noun) a small fragment of something broken off from the whole | Synonyms: chip, flake, fleck, scrap |
| (noun) a unit of measurement of information (from binary + digit); the amount of information in a system having two equiprobable states | - |
| (noun) a small piece or quantity of something | Synonyms: spot |
| (noun) an indefinitely short time | Synonyms: minute, mo, moment, second |
| bitt | (noun) a strong post (as on a wharf or quay or ship for attaching mooring lines) | Synonyms: bollard |
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| (verb) secure with a bitt | - |
| bitternut | (noun) hickory of the eastern United States having a leaves with 7 or 9 leaflets and thin-shelled very bitter nuts | Synonyms: bitter hickory, bitter pignut, bitternut hickory, Carya cordiformis, swamp hickory |
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| bitterroot | (noun) showy succulent ground-hugging plant of Rocky Mountains regions having deep to pale pink flowers and fleshy farinaceous roots; the Montana state flower | Synonyms: Lewisia rediviva |
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| bittersweet | (adjective) tinged with sadness | - |
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| (adjective) having a taste that is a mixture of bitterness and sweetness | Synonyms: semisweet |
| (noun) twining shrub of North America having yellow capsules enclosing scarlet seeds | Synonyms: American bittersweet, Celastrus scandens, climbing bittersweet, false bittersweet, shrubby bittersweet, staff vine, waxwork |
| (noun) poisonous perennial Old World vine having violet flowers and oval coral-red berries; widespread weed in North America | Synonyms: bittersweet nightshade, climbing nightshade, deadly nightshade, poisonous nightshade, Solanum dulcamara, woody nightshade |
| bivalent | (adjective) used of homologous chromosomes associated in pairs in synapsis | Synonyms: double |
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| (adjective) having a valence of two or having two valences | Synonyms: divalent |
| blackheart | (noun) heart cherry with dark flesh and skin | Synonyms: blackheart cherry |
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| (noun) any of various diseases in which the central tissues blacken | - |
| blacklist | (noun) a list of people who are out of favor | Synonyms: black book, shitlist |
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| (verb) put on a blacklist so as to banish or cause to be boycotted | - |
| blackout | (noun) a momentary loss of consciousness | - |
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| (noun) partial or total loss of memory | Synonyms: amnesia, memory loss |
| (noun) the failure of electric power for a general region | - |
| (noun) darkness resulting from the extinction of lights (as in a city invisible to enemy aircraft) | Synonyms: brownout, dimout |
| (noun) a suspension of radio or tv broadcasting | - |
| 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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| blandishment | (noun) the act of urging by means of teasing or flattery | Synonyms: wheedling |
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| (noun) flattery intended to persuade | Synonyms: cajolery, palaver |
| blanket | (adjective) broad in scope or content | Synonyms: across-the-board, all-embracing, all-encompassing, all-inclusive, broad, encompassing, extensive, panoptic, wide |
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| (noun) bedding that keeps a person warm in bed | Synonyms: cover |
| (noun) a layer of lead surrounding the highly reactive core of a nuclear reactor | - |
| (noun) anything that covers | Synonyms: mantle |
| (verb) cover as if with a blanket | - |
| (verb) form a blanket-like cover (over) | - |
| blast | (noun) a very long fly ball | - |
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| (noun) intense adverse criticism | Synonyms: attack, fire, flack, flak |
| (noun) an explosion (as of dynamite) | - |
| (noun) a sudden very loud noise | Synonyms: bam, bang, clap, eruption |
| (noun) a highly pleasurable or exciting experience | Synonyms: good time |
| (noun) a strong current of air | Synonyms: blow, gust |
| (verb) shatter as if by explosion | Synonyms: knock down |
| (verb) shrivel or wither or mature imperfectly | - |
| (verb) criticize harshly or violently | Synonyms: crucify, pillory, savage |
| (verb) use explosives on | Synonyms: shell |
| (verb) fire a shot; release | Synonyms: shoot |
| (verb) hit with great force | Synonyms: boom, nail, smash |
| (verb) create by using explosives | Synonyms: shell |
| (verb) make with or as if with an explosion | - |
| (verb) apply a draft or strong wind to to | - |
| (verb) make a strident sound | Synonyms: blare |
| blastocyst | (noun) the blastula of a placental mammal in which some differentiation of cells has occurred | Synonyms: blastodermic vessicle |
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| blat | (verb) cry plaintively | Synonyms: baa, blate, bleat |
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| blatant | (adjective) conspicuously and offensively loud; given to vehement outcry | Synonyms: clamant, clamorous, strident, vociferous |
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| (adjective) without any attempt at concealment; completely obvious | Synonyms: blazing, conspicuous |
| bleat | (noun) the sound of sheep or goats (or any sound resembling this) | - |
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| (verb) cry plaintively | Synonyms: baa, blat, blate |
| (verb) talk whiningly | - |
| blest | (adjective) highly favored or fortunate (as e.g. by divine grace) | Synonyms: blessed |
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| blight | (noun) a state or condition being blighted | - |
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| (noun) any plant disease resulting in withering without rotting | - |
| (verb) cause to suffer a blight | Synonyms: plague |
| bloat | (noun) swelling of the rumen or intestinal tract of domestic animals caused by excessive gas | - |
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| (verb) become bloated or swollen or puff up | - |
| (verb) make bloated or swollen | - |
| bloodguilt | (noun) the state of being guilty of bloodshed and murder | - |
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| bloodlust | (noun) a desire for bloodshed | - |
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| bloodroot | (noun) perennial woodland native of North America having a red root and red sap and bearing a solitary lobed leaf and white flower in early spring and having acrid emetic properties; rootstock used as a stimulant and expectorant | Synonyms: puccoon, redroot, Sanguinaria canadensis, tetterwort |
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| bloodshot | (adjective) (of an eye) reddened as a result of locally congested blood vessels; inflamed | - |
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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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| blot | (noun) an act that brings discredit to the person who does it | Synonyms: smear, smirch, spot, stain |
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| (noun) a blemish made by dirt | Synonyms: daub, slur, smear, smirch, smudge, spot |
| (verb) dry (ink) with blotting paper | - |
| (verb) make a spot or mark onto | Synonyms: blob, fleck, spot |
| blowout | (noun) a gay festivity | Synonyms: gala, gala affair, jamboree |
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| (noun) a sudden malfunction of a part or apparatus | - |
| (noun) an easy victory | Synonyms: laugher, romp, runaway, shoo-in, walkaway |
| bluebonnet | (noun) a brimless dark blue Scottish cap with a flat top and a plume on one side | Synonyms: Balmoral |
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| (noun) low-growing annual herb of southwestern United States (Texas) having silky foliage and blue flowers; a leading cause of livestock poisoning in the southwestern United States | Synonyms: buffalo clover, Lupinus subcarnosus, Texas bluebonnet |
| bluecoat | (noun) a person dressed all in blue (as a soldier or sailor) | - |
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| bluejacket | (noun) a serviceman in the navy | Synonyms: navy man, sailor, sailor boy |
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| bluepoint | (noun) small edible oyster typically from the southern shore of Long Island | Synonyms: blue point |
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| (noun) oysters originally from Long Island Sound but now from anywhere along the northeastern seacoast; usually eaten raw | Synonyms: blue point |
| blueprint | (noun) photographic print of plans or technical drawings etc. | - |
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| (noun) something intended as a guide for making something else | Synonyms: design, pattern |
| (verb) make a blueprint of | Synonyms: draft, draught |
| bluethroat | (noun) songbird of northern Europe and Asia | Synonyms: Erithacus svecicus |
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| blunt | (adjective) characterized by directness in manner or speech; without subtlety or evasion | Synonyms: candid, forthright, frank, free-spoken, outspoken, plainspoken, point-blank, straight-from-the-shoulder |
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| (adjective) used of a knife or other blade; not sharp | - |
| (adjective) having a broad or rounded end | - |
| (adjective) devoid of any qualifications or disguise or adornment | Synonyms: crude, stark |
| (verb) make less sharp | - |
| (verb) make less intense | - |
| (verb) make less lively, intense, or vigorous; impair in vigor, force, activity, or sensation | Synonyms: deaden |
| (verb) make dull or blunt | Synonyms: dull |
| (verb) make numb or insensitive | Synonyms: benumb, dull, numb |
| blurt | (verb) utter impulsively | Synonyms: blunder, blunder out, blurt out, ejaculate |
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| boast | (noun) speaking of yourself in superlatives | Synonyms: boasting, jactitation, self-praise |
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| (verb) show off | Synonyms: blow, bluster, brag, gas, gasconade, shoot a line, swash, tout, vaunt |
| (verb) wear or display in an ostentatious or proud manner | Synonyms: feature, sport |
| boat | (noun) a small vessel for travel on water | - |
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| (noun) a dish (often boat-shaped) for serving gravy or sauce | Synonyms: gravy boat, gravy holder, sauceboat |
| (verb) ride in a boat on water | - |
| bobcat | (noun) small lynx of North America | Synonyms: bay lynx, Lynx rufus |
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| bobfloat | (noun) a small float usually made of cork; attached to a fishing line | Synonyms: bob, bobber, cork |
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| bodypaint | (verb) apply paint to a body | - |
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| bogmat | (noun) having narrow flat sickle-shaped submerged fronds; North America | Synonyms: mud midget, Wolffiella gladiata |
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| boilersuit | (noun) a loose protective coverall or smock worn over ordinary clothing for dirty work | Synonyms: boilers suit, overall |
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| bolt | (noun) a sudden abandonment (as from a political party) | - |
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| (noun) the act of moving with great haste | Synonyms: dash |
| (noun) a screw that screws into a nut to form a fastener | - |
| (noun) the part of a lock that is engaged or withdrawn with a key | Synonyms: deadbolt |
| (noun) a sliding bar in a breech-loading firearm that ejects an empty cartridge and replaces it and closes the breech | - |
| (noun) a roll of cloth or wallpaper of a definite length | - |
| (noun) a discharge of lightning accompanied by thunder | Synonyms: bolt of lightning, thunderbolt |
| (adverb) directly | Synonyms: bang, slap, slapdash, smack |
| (adverb) in a rigid manner | Synonyms: rigidly, stiffly |
| (verb) make or roll into bolts | - |
| (verb) eat hastily without proper chewing | Synonyms: gobble |
| (verb) swallow hastily | - |
| (verb) secure or lock with a bolt | - |
| (verb) move or jump suddenly | - |
| (verb) leave suddenly and as if in a hurry | Synonyms: beetle off, bolt out, run off, run out |
| (verb) run away; usually includes taking something or somebody along | Synonyms: abscond, absquatulate, decamp, go off, make off, run off |
| bombardment | (noun) the heavy fire of artillery to saturate an area rather than hit a specific target | Synonyms: barrage, barrage fire, battery, shelling |
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| (noun) an attack by dropping bombs | Synonyms: bombing |
| (noun) the act (or an instance) of subjecting a body or substance to the impact of high-energy particles (as electrons or alpha rays) | - |
| (noun) the rapid and continuous delivery of linguistic communication (spoken or written) | Synonyms: barrage, onslaught, outpouring |
| bombast | (noun) pompous or pretentious talk or writing | Synonyms: blah, claptrap, fustian, rant |
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| bomblet | (noun) one of the smaller bombs that are released from a cluster bomb | Synonyms: cluster bomblet |
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| bombsight | (noun) a sighting device in an aircraft for aiming bombs | - |
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| bonavist | (noun) perennial twining vine of Old World tropics having trifoliate leaves and racemes of fragrant purple pea-like flowers followed by maroon pods of edible seeds; grown as an ornamental and as a vegetable on the Indian subcontinent; sometimes placed in genus Dolichos | Synonyms: Dolichos lablab, Egyptian bean, hyacinth bean, Indian bean, Lablab purpureus |
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| bonelet | (noun) a small bone; especially one in the middle ear | Synonyms: ossicle, ossiculum |
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| boneset | (noun) perennial herb of southeastern United States having white-rayed flower heads; formerly used as in folk medicine | Synonyms: agueweed, Eupatorium perfoliatum, thoroughwort |
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| (noun) European herb having small white, pink or purple flowers; naturalized as a weed in North America | Synonyms: common comfrey, Symphytum officinale |
| bonnet | (noun) a hat tied under the chin | Synonyms: poke bonnet |
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| (noun) protective covering consisting of a metal part that covers the engine | Synonyms: cowl, cowling, hood |
| (verb) dress in a bonnet | - |
| booklet | (noun) a small book usually having a paper cover | Synonyms: brochure, folder, leaflet, pamphlet |
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| boost | (noun) the act of giving hope or support to someone | Synonyms: encouragement |
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| (noun) the act of giving a push | - |
| (noun) an increase in cost | Synonyms: cost increase, hike, rise |
| (verb) increase or raise | Synonyms: advance, supercharge |
| (verb) give a boost to; be beneficial to | - |
| (verb) push or shove upward, as if from below or behind | - |
| (verb) increase | Synonyms: hike, hike up |
| (verb) contribute to the progress or growth of | Synonyms: advance, encourage, further, promote |
| boot | (noun) the act of delivering a blow with the foot | Synonyms: kick, kicking |
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| (noun) a form of foot torture in which the feet are encased in iron and slowly crushed | - |
| (noun) footwear that covers the whole foot and lower leg | - |
| (noun) compartment in an automobile that carries luggage or shopping or tools | Synonyms: automobile trunk, luggage compartment, trunk |
| (noun) an instrument of torture that is used to heat or crush the foot and leg | Synonyms: iron boot, iron heel, the boot |
| (noun) protective casing for something that resembles a leg | - |
| (noun) the swift release of a store of affective force | Synonyms: bang, charge, flush, kick, rush, thrill |
| (verb) cause to load (an operating system) and start the initial processes | Synonyms: bring up, reboot |
| (verb) kick; give a boot to | - |
| borscht | (noun) a Russian or Polish soup usually containing beet juice as a foundation | Synonyms: borsch, borsh, borshch, borsht, bortsch |
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| borsht | (noun) a Russian or Polish soup usually containing beet juice as a foundation | Synonyms: borsch, borscht, borsh, borshch, bortsch |
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| bot | (noun) botfly larva; typically develops inside the body of a horse or sheep or human | - |
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| botanist | (noun) a biologist specializing in the study of plants | Synonyms: phytologist, plant scientist |
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| bottommost | (adjective) farthest down | Synonyms: lowermost, nethermost |
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| bouffant | (adjective) being puffed out; used of hair style or clothing | Synonyms: puffy |
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| (noun) a woman's hairstyle in which the hair gives a puffy appearance | - |
| bouquet | (noun) an arrangement of flowers that is usually given as a present | Synonyms: corsage, nosegay, posy |
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| (noun) a pleasingly sweet olfactory property | Synonyms: fragrance, fragrancy, redolence, sweetness |
| bout | (noun) an occasion for excessive eating or drinking | Synonyms: binge, bust, tear |
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| (noun) a contest or fight (especially between boxers or wrestlers) | - |
| (noun) (sports) a division of a game during which one team is on the offensive | Synonyms: round, turn |
| (noun) a period of illness | - |
| bowfront | (adjective) having an outward curving front | - |
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| bowknot | (noun) a knot with two loops and loose ends; used to tie shoelaces | Synonyms: bow |
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| bowsprit | (noun) a spar projecting from the bow of a vessel | - |
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| boycott | (noun) a group's refusal to have commercial dealings with some organization in protest against its policies | - |
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| (verb) refuse to sponsor; refuse to do business with | - |
| bracelet | (noun) jewelry worn around the wrist for decoration | Synonyms: bangle |
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| (noun) a band of cloth or leather or metal links attached to a wristwatch and wrapped around the wrist | Synonyms: watch bracelet, watchband, watchstrap, wristband |
| bracket | (noun) a support projecting from a wall (as to hold a shelf) | Synonyms: wall bracket |
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| (noun) either of two punctuation marks ([ or ]) used to enclose textual material | Synonyms: square bracket |
| (noun) either of two punctuation marks (`<' or `>') used in computer programming and sometimes used to enclose textual material | Synonyms: angle bracket |
| (noun) a category falling within certain defined limits | - |
| (verb) classify or group | - |
| (verb) place into brackets | Synonyms: bracket out |
| (verb) support with brackets | - |
| bract | (noun) a modified leaf or leaflike part just below and protecting an inflorescence | - |
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| bractlet | (noun) a small bract | Synonyms: bracteole |
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| braggart | (adjective) exhibiting self-importance | Synonyms: big, boastful, bragging, braggy, cock-a-hoop, crowing, self-aggrandising, self-aggrandizing |
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| (noun) a very boastful and talkative person | Synonyms: blowhard, boaster, bragger, line-shooter, vaunter |
| branchlet | (noun) a small branch or division of a branch (especially a terminal division); usually applied to branches of the current or preceding year | Synonyms: sprig, twig |
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| brant | (noun) small dark geese that breed in the north and migrate southward | Synonyms: brant goose, brent, brent goose |
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| brat | (noun) a very troublesome child | Synonyms: holy terror, little terror, terror |
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| (noun) a small pork sausage | Synonyms: bratwurst |
| bratwurst | (noun) a small pork sausage | Synonyms: brat |
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| breadbasket | (noun) a basket for serving bread | - |
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| (noun) an enlarged and muscular saclike organ of the alimentary canal; the principal organ of digestion | Synonyms: stomach, tum, tummy |
| (noun) a geographic region serving as the principal source of grain | - |
| breadfruit | (noun) a large round seedless or seeded fruit with a texture like bread; eaten boiled or baked or roasted or ground into flour; the roasted seeds resemble chestnuts | - |
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| (noun) native to Pacific islands and having edible fruit with a texture like bread | Synonyms: Artocarpus altilis, Artocarpus communis, breadfruit tree |