| b
|
(noun) (physics) a unit of nuclear cross section; the effective circular area that one particle presents to another as a target for an encounter |
Synonyms:
barn |
|---|
| (noun) the 2nd letter of the Roman alphabet |
Synonyms:
B |
| baa
|
(verb) cry plaintively |
Synonyms:
blat,
blate,
bleat |
|---|
| (noun) the cry made by sheep |
- |
| baas
|
(noun) South African term for `boss' |
- |
|---|
| baba
|
(noun) a small cake leavened with yeast |
- |
|---|
| babassu
|
(noun) tall feather palm of northern Brazil with hard-shelled nuts yielding valuable oil and a kind of vegetable ivory |
Synonyms:
Orbignya martiana,
Orbignya phalerata,
Orbignya spesiosa,
coco de macao,
babassu palm |
|---|
| babbitt
|
(noun) an alloy of tin with some copper and antimony; a lining for bearings that reduces friction |
Synonyms:
Babbitt metal |
|---|
| (verb) line with a Babbitt metal |
- |
| babbitting
|
(noun) lining a surface or bearing with Babbitt metal |
- |
|---|
| babble
|
(verb) utter meaningless sounds, like a baby, or utter in an incoherent way |
- |
|---|
| (verb) to talk foolishly |
Synonyms:
smatter,
blather,
blether,
blither |
| (verb) flow in an irregular current with a bubbling noise |
Synonyms:
ripple,
bubble,
guggle,
gurgle,
burble |
| (verb) divulge confidential information or secrets |
Synonyms:
peach,
sing,
spill the beans,
babble out,
blab,
blab out,
talk,
tattle,
let the cat out of the bag |
| (noun) gibberish resembling the sounds of a baby |
Synonyms:
babbling,
lallation |
| babbler
|
(noun) an obnoxious and foolish and loquacious talker |
Synonyms:
spouter,
chatterbox,
magpie,
chatterer,
prater |
|---|
| (noun) any of various insectivorous Old World birds with a loud incessant song; in some classifications considered members of the family Muscicapidae |
Synonyms:
cackler |
| babbling
|
(noun) gibberish resembling the sounds of a baby |
Synonyms:
babble,
lallation |
|---|
| babe
|
(noun) a very young child (birth to 1 year) who has not yet begun to walk or talk |
Synonyms:
baby,
infant |
|---|
| babel
|
(noun) a confusion of voices and other sounds |
- |
|---|
| babelike
|
(adjective) like a baby especially in dependence |
- |
|---|
| babiroussa
|
(noun) Indonesian wild pig with enormous curved canine teeth |
Synonyms:
Babyrousa Babyrussa,
babirusa,
babirussa |
|---|
| babirusa
|
(noun) Indonesian wild pig with enormous curved canine teeth |
Synonyms:
Babyrousa Babyrussa,
babiroussa,
babirussa |
|---|
| babirussa
|
(noun) Indonesian wild pig with enormous curved canine teeth |
Synonyms:
Babyrousa Babyrussa,
babiroussa,
babirusa |
|---|
| babka
|
(noun) a coffee cake flavored with orange rind and raisins and almonds |
- |
|---|
| baboo
|
(noun) used as a Hindi courtesy title; equivalent to English `Mr' |
Synonyms:
babu |
|---|
| baboon
|
(noun) large terrestrial monkeys having doglike muzzles |
- |
|---|
| baboonish
|
(adjective) resembling a baboon |
- |
|---|
| babu
|
(noun) used as a Hindi courtesy title; equivalent to English `Mr' |
Synonyms:
baboo |
|---|
| babushka
|
(noun) a woman's headscarf folded into a triangle and tied under the chin; worn by Russian peasant women |
- |
|---|
| baby
|
(noun) a very young child (birth to 1 year) who has not yet begun to walk or talk |
Synonyms:
infant,
babe |
|---|
| (noun) the youngest member of a group (not necessarily young) |
- |
| (noun) an immature childish person |
Synonyms:
child |
| (noun) an unborn child; a human fetus |
- |
| (noun) a very young mammal |
- |
| (noun) a project of personal concern to someone |
- |
| (verb) treat with excessive indulgence |
Synonyms:
indulge,
mollycoddle,
pamper,
spoil,
cocker,
coddle,
cosset,
featherbed |
| babygram
|
(noun) an X-ray of the entire body of an infant. |
- |
|---|
| babyhood
|
(noun) the early stage of growth or development |
Synonyms:
infancy,
early childhood |
|---|
| (noun) the earliest state of immaturity |
Synonyms:
infancy |
| babyish
|
(adjective) characteristic of a baby |
- |
|---|
| babyminder
|
(noun) a person who looks after babies (usually in the person's own home) while the babys' parents are working |
Synonyms:
minder,
baby minder |
|---|
| babysit
|
(verb) take watchful responsibility for |
Synonyms:
baby-sit |
|---|
| (verb) work or act as a baby-sitter |
Synonyms:
sit,
baby-sit |
| babysitter
|
(noun) a person engaged to care for children when the parents are not home |
Synonyms:
sitter,
baby-sitter |
|---|
| babysitting
|
(noun) the work of a baby sitter; caring for children when their parents are not home |
Synonyms:
baby sitting |
|---|
| babytalk
|
(noun) an adult's imitation of the speech of a young child |
Synonyms:
motherese,
baby talk |
|---|
| (noun) the developing speech of a young child |
Synonyms:
baby talk |
| bacca
|
(noun) an indehiscent fruit derived from a single ovary having one or many seeds within a fleshy wall or pericarp: e.g. grape; tomato; cranberry |
Synonyms:
simple fruit |
|---|
| baccalaureate
|
(noun) a farewell sermon to a graduating class at their commencement ceremonies |
- |
|---|
| (noun) an academic degree conferred on someone who has successfully completed undergraduate studies |
Synonyms:
bachelor's degree |
| baccarat
|
(noun) a card game played in casinos in which two or more punters gamble against the banker; the player wins who holds 2 or 3 cards that total closest to nine |
Synonyms:
chemin de fer |
|---|
| baccate
|
(adjective) producing or bearing berries |
Synonyms:
bacciferous,
berried |
|---|
| (adjective) resembling a berry |
Synonyms:
berrylike |
| bacchanal
|
(noun) someone who engages in drinking bouts |
Synonyms:
drunken reveler,
drunken reveller,
bacchant |
|---|
| (noun) a drunken reveller; a devotee of Bacchus |
Synonyms:
bacchant |
| (noun) a wild gathering involving excessive drinking and promiscuity |
Synonyms:
riot,
debauch,
debauchery,
drunken revelry,
orgy,
saturnalia,
bacchanalia |
| (adjective) used of riotously drunken merrymaking |
Synonyms:
orgiastic,
carousing,
bacchanalian,
bacchic |
| bacchanalia
|
(noun) a wild gathering involving excessive drinking and promiscuity |
Synonyms:
riot,
debauch,
debauchery,
drunken revelry,
orgy,
saturnalia,
bacchanal |
|---|
| bacchanalian
|
(adjective) used of riotously drunken merrymaking |
Synonyms:
orgiastic,
carousing,
bacchanal,
bacchic |
|---|
| bacchant
|
(noun) someone who engages in drinking bouts |
Synonyms:
bacchanal,
drunken reveler,
drunken reveller |
|---|
| (noun) a drunken reveller; a devotee of Bacchus |
Synonyms:
bacchanal |
| (noun) (classical mythology) a priest or votary of Bacchus |
- |
| bacchante
|
(noun) (classical mythology) a priestess or votary of Bacchus |
- |
|---|
| bacchantic
|
(adjective) of or relating to or resembling a bacchanalian reveler |
- |
|---|
| bacchic
|
(adjective) used of riotously drunken merrymaking |
Synonyms:
orgiastic,
carousing,
bacchanal,
bacchanalian |
|---|
| bacciferous
|
(adjective) producing or bearing berries |
Synonyms:
baccate,
berried |
|---|
| baccivorous
|
(adjective) feeding on berries |
- |
|---|
| baccy
|
(noun) leaves of the tobacco plant dried and prepared for smoking or ingestion |
Synonyms:
tobacco |
|---|
| bach
|
(verb) lead a bachelor's existence |
Synonyms:
bachelor |
|---|
| bachelor
|
(verb) lead a bachelor's existence |
Synonyms:
bach |
|---|
| (noun) a man who has never been married |
Synonyms:
unmarried man |
| (noun) a knight of the lowest order; could display only a pennon |
Synonyms:
knight bachelor,
bachelor-at-arms |
| bachelorette
|
(noun) a young unmarried woman who lives alone |
Synonyms:
bachelor girl |
|---|
| bachelorhood
|
(noun) the time of a man's life prior to marriage |
- |
|---|
| (noun) the state of being an unmarried man |
- |
| bacillar
|
(adjective) formed like a bacillus |
Synonyms:
rod-shaped,
bacillary,
bacilliform,
baculiform |
|---|
| (adjective) relating to or produced by or containing bacilli |
Synonyms:
bacillary |
| bacillary
|
(adjective) formed like a bacillus |
Synonyms:
rod-shaped,
bacillar,
bacilliform,
baculiform |
|---|
| (adjective) relating to or produced by or containing bacilli |
Synonyms:
bacillar |
| bacilliform
|
(adjective) formed like a bacillus |
Synonyms:
rod-shaped,
bacillar,
bacillary,
baculiform |
|---|
| bacillus
|
(noun) aerobic rod-shaped spore-producing bacterium; often occurring in chainlike formations; found primarily in soil |
Synonyms:
B |
|---|
| bacitracin
|
(noun) a polypeptide antibiotic of known chemical structure effective against several types of Gram-positive organisms; usually applied locally |
- |
|---|
| back
|
(noun) the posterior part of a human (or animal) body from the neck to the end of the spine |
Synonyms:
dorsum |
|---|
| (noun) the side that goes last or is not normally seen |
Synonyms:
rear |
| (noun) the part of something that is furthest from the normal viewer |
Synonyms:
rear |
| (noun) (football) a person who plays in the backfield |
- |
| (noun) the series of vertebrae forming the axis of the skeleton and protecting the spinal cord |
Synonyms:
backbone,
spine,
rachis,
spinal column,
vertebral column |
| (noun) the protective covering on the front, back, and spine of a book |
Synonyms:
cover,
binding,
book binding |
| (noun) the part of a garment that covers the back of your body |
- |
| (noun) a support that you can lean against while sitting |
Synonyms:
backrest |
| (noun) (American football) the position of a player on a football team who is stationed behind the line of scrimmage |
- |
| (verb) be behind; approve of |
Synonyms:
support,
indorse,
plump for,
plunk for,
endorse |
| (verb) travel backward |
- |
| (verb) give support or one's approval to |
Synonyms:
indorse,
endorse,
second |
| (verb) cause to travel backward |
- |
| (verb) support financial backing for |
- |
| (verb) be in back of |
- |
| (verb) place a bet on |
Synonyms:
punt,
gage,
game,
stake,
bet on |
| (verb) shift to a counterclockwise direction |
- |
| (verb) establish as valid or genuine |
Synonyms:
back up |
| (verb) strengthen by providing with a back or backing |
- |
| (adverb) in or to or toward a former location |
- |
| (adverb) at or to or toward the back or rear |
Synonyms:
rearward,
rearwards,
backward,
backwards |
| (adverb) in or to or toward an original condition |
- |
| (adverb) in or to or toward a past time |
Synonyms:
backward |
| (adverb) in reply |
- |
| (adverb) in repayment or retaliation |
- |
| (adjective) related to or located at the back |
- |
| (adjective) located at or near the back of an animal |
Synonyms:
hind,
hinder |
| (adjective) of an earlier date |
- |
| backache
|
(noun) an ache localized in the back |
- |
|---|
| backband
|
(noun) a broad band that passes over the back of a horse and supports the shafts of a vehicle |
- |
|---|
| backbeat
|
(noun) a loud steady beat |
- |
|---|
| backbench
|
(noun) any of the seats occupied by backbenchers in the House of Commons |
- |
|---|
| backbencher
|
(noun) a member of the House of Commons who is not a party leader |
- |
|---|
| backbend
|
(noun) an acrobatic feat in which the trunk is bent backward from a standing position until the hands touch the floor |
- |
|---|
| backbite
|
(verb) say mean things |
Synonyms:
bitch |
|---|
| backbiter
|
(noun) one who attacks the reputation of another by slander or libel |
Synonyms:
maligner,
defamer,
slanderer,
vilifier,
traducer,
libeler |
|---|
| backblast
|
(noun) backfire from a recoilless weapon |
Synonyms:
back-blast |
|---|
| backboard
|
(noun) a raised vertical board with basket attached; used to play basketball |
Synonyms:
basketball backboard |
|---|
| (noun) a board used to support the back of someone or something |
- |
| backbone
|
(noun) a central cohesive source of support and stability |
Synonyms:
mainstay,
keystone,
anchor,
linchpin,
lynchpin |
|---|
| (noun) fortitude and determination |
Synonyms:
gumption,
grit,
sand,
moxie,
guts |
| (noun) the series of vertebrae forming the axis of the skeleton and protecting the spinal cord |
Synonyms:
back,
spine,
rachis,
spinal column,
vertebral column |
| (noun) the part of a book's cover that encloses the inner side of the book's pages and that faces outward when the book is shelved |
Synonyms:
spine |
| (noun) the part of a network that connects other networks together |
- |
| backbreaking
|
(adjective) characterized by effort to the point of exhaustion; especially physical effort |
Synonyms:
hard,
heavy,
punishing,
operose,
grueling,
gruelling,
arduous,
toilsome,
laborious |
|---|
| backchat
|
(noun) light teasing repartee |
Synonyms:
give-and-take,
raillery,
banter |
|---|
| backcloth
|
(noun) scenery hung at back of stage |
Synonyms:
background,
backdrop |
|---|
| backcross
|
(verb) mate a hybrid of the first generation with one of its parents |
- |
|---|
| backdate
|
(verb) make effective from an earlier date |
- |
|---|
| backdoor
|
(noun) an undocumented way to get access to a computer system or the data it contains |
Synonyms:
back door |
|---|
| (noun) an entrance at the rear of a building |
Synonyms:
back door,
back entrance |
| (noun) a secret or underhand means of access (to a place or a position) |
Synonyms:
back door |
| backdown
|
(noun) a retraction of a previously held position |
Synonyms:
withdrawal,
climb-down |
|---|
| backdrop
|
(noun) scenery hung at back of stage |
Synonyms:
background,
backcloth |
|---|
| backed
|
(adjective) having a back or backing, usually of a specified type |
- |
|---|
| (adjective) used of film that is coated on the side opposite the emulsion with a substance to absorb light |
- |
| backer
|
(noun) someone who provides financial support for some venture |
Synonyms:
angel |
|---|
| backfield
|
(noun) the offensive football players who line up behind the linemen |
- |
|---|
| backfire
|
(noun) the backward escape of gases and unburned gunpowder after a gun is fired |
Synonyms:
blowback |
|---|
| (noun) a loud noise made by the explosion of fuel in the manifold or exhaust of an internal combustion engine |
- |
| (noun) a fire that is set intentionally in order to slow an approaching forest fire or grassfire by clearing a burned area in its path |
- |
| (noun) a miscalculation that recoils on its maker |
Synonyms:
boomerang |
| (verb) come back to the originator of an action with an undesired effect |
Synonyms:
recoil,
backlash |
| (verb) emit a loud noise as a result of undergoing a backfire |
- |
| (verb) set a controlled fire to halt an advancing forest to prairie fire |
- |
| backflow
|
(noun) a flow that returns toward its source |
Synonyms:
backflowing |
|---|
| backflowing
|
(noun) a flow that returns toward its source |
Synonyms:
backflow |
|---|
| backgammon
|
(noun) a board game for two players; pieces move according to throws of the dice |
- |
|---|
| background
|
(noun) a person's social heritage: previous experience or training |
- |
|---|
| (noun) the part of a scene (or picture) that lies behind objects in the foreground |
Synonyms:
ground |
| (noun) information that is essential to understanding a situation or problem |
Synonyms:
background knowledge |
| (noun) extraneous signals that can be confused with the phenomenon to be observed or measured |
Synonyms:
background signal |
| (noun) relatively unimportant or inconspicuous accompanying situation |
- |
| (noun) the state of the environment in which a situation exists |
Synonyms:
setting,
scope |
| (noun) (computer science) the area of the screen in graphical user interfaces against which icons and windows appear |
Synonyms:
desktop,
screen background |
| (noun) scenery hung at back of stage |
Synonyms:
backcloth,
backdrop |
| (verb) understate the importance or quality of |
Synonyms:
downplay,
play down |
| backgrounder
|
(noun) a press conference or interview in which a government official explains to reporters the background of an action or policy |
- |
|---|
| backgrounding
|
(noun) the execution of low priority programs while higher priority programs are not using the processing system |
Synonyms:
background processing |
|---|
| backhand
|
(noun) a return made with the back of the hand facing the direction of the stroke |
Synonyms:
backhand shot,
backhand stroke |
|---|
| (adjective) (of racket strokes) made across the body with back of hand facing direction of stroke |
Synonyms:
backhanded |
| (adjective) (of handwriting) having the letters slanting backward |
Synonyms:
left-slanting |
| (verb) hit a tennis ball backhand |
- |
| backhanded
|
(adjective) (of racket strokes) made across the body with back of hand facing direction of stroke |
Synonyms:
backhand |
|---|
| (adjective) roundabout or ambiguous |
- |
| backhander
|
(noun) a backhanded blow |
- |
|---|
| backhoe
|
(noun) an excavator whose shovel bucket is attached to a hinged boom and is drawn backward to move earth |
- |
|---|
| backing
|
(noun) the act of providing approval and support |
Synonyms:
patronage,
championship,
backup |
|---|
| (noun) something forming a back that is added for strengthening |
Synonyms:
mount |
| (noun) financial resources provided to make some project possible |
Synonyms:
support,
funding,
financial backing,
financial support |
| backlash
|
(noun) a movement back from an impact |
Synonyms:
repercussion,
rebound,
recoil |
|---|
| (noun) an adverse reaction to some political or social occurrence |
- |
| (verb) come back to the originator of an action with an undesired effect |
Synonyms:
recoil,
backfire |
| backless
|
(adjective) lacking a back |
- |
|---|
| backlighting
|
(noun) lighting from behind |
- |
|---|
| backlog
|
(noun) an accumulation of jobs not done or materials not processed that are yet to be dealt with (especially unfilled customer orders for products or services) |
- |
|---|
| (noun) the large log at the back of a hearth fire |
- |
| (noun) something kept back or saved for future use or a special purpose |
Synonyms:
reserve,
stockpile |
| (verb) accumulate and create a backlog |
- |
| backmost
|
(adjective) located farthest to the rear |
Synonyms:
rearmost,
hindermost,
hindmost |
|---|
| backpack
|
(verb) hike with a backpack |
Synonyms:
pack |
|---|
| (noun) a bag carried by a strap on your back or shoulder |
Synonyms:
rucksack,
haversack,
packsack,
knapsack,
back pack |
| backpacker
|
(noun) a hiker who wears a backpack |
Synonyms:
packer |
|---|
| backpacking
|
(noun) carrying something in a pack on the back |
Synonyms:
packing |
|---|
| backpedal
|
(verb) pedal backwards on a bicycle |
- |
|---|
| (verb) step backwards, in boxing |
- |
| (verb) modify one's opinion, make it less strong |
- |
| backplate
|
(noun) plate armor protecting the back; worn as part of a cuirass |
- |
|---|
| backrest
|
(noun) a support that you can lean against while sitting |
Synonyms:
back |
|---|