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noun (plural: backbones)
- set of bones which connected make up the spine and spinal column and run down the middle of the back in vertebrate animals.
- any fundamental support, structure, or infrastructure
- Before automobiles, railroads were a of commerce.
- courage, fortitude, or strength
- He would make a good manager, if he had a little more .
| | | balsa |
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noun
- A large tree, Ochroma lagopus, native to tropical America, with wood that is very light in weight.
- The wood of this tree.
- A raft or float, used principally on the Pacific coast of South America.
| | bargeman |
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noun (bargemen)
- A member of the crew of a barge.
- A barge owner, maintainer, or captain of a barge.
- (context, nautical, slang) A nickname for a large white maggot, that frequently infested ship's biscuits; most likely a larva of Tenebroides Mauritanicus beetle.
| | bark |
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noun
- (countable) (uncountable) The exterior covering of the trunk and branches of a tree; the rind.
- (medicine) Peruvian Bark or Jesuit's bark, the bark of the cinchona from which quinine is produced.
verb
- To strip the bark from; to peel.
- To abrade or rub off any outer covering from.
- to bark one"s heel
- To girdle.
- To cover or inclose with bark, or as with bark.
- bark the roof of a hut
| | bend |
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noun
- A curve.
- There's a sharp in the road ahead.
- (nautical) Any of the various knots which join the ends of two lines.<!-- or the end of a line into some other object; (the latter are called hitch)
- Note: In naval parlance, a knot involves splicing the strands of a rope.-->
- (context, in plural, medicine, diving) (the bends) A severe condition caused by excessively quick decompression, causing bubbles of nitrogen to form in the blood; decompression sickness.
- A diver who stays deep for too long must ascend very slowly in order to prevent the bends.
- (heraldry) One of the honourable ordinary, ordinaries formed by two diagonal lines drawn from the dexter chief to the sinister base; it generally occupies a fifth part of the shield if uncharged, but if charged one third.
verb (bends, bending, bent)
- (transitive) To cause (something) to change its shape into a curve, by physical force, chemical action, or any other means.
- If you the pipe too far, it will break.
- Don"t your knees.
- (context, transitive, nautical) To tie, as in securing a line to a cleat; to shackle a chain to an anchor; make fast.
- Bend the sail to the yard.
- (context, transitive, music) To smoothly change the pitch of a note.
- You should the G sligthly sharp in the next measure.
- (context, intransitive, nautical) To swing the body when rowing.
- (intransitive) To become curved.
- Look at the trees bending in the wind.
- To bow properly, at the waist.
- (intransitive) To change direction.
- The road bends to the right
| | | bill of health |
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noun - A certificate stating whether or not there is infectious disease aboard a ship or in a port of departure, given to the ship's master to present at the next port of arrival
| | binnacle |
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noun
- (nautical) The wooden housing for a ship's compass, its corrector magnets and illuminating arrangements; the log and other equipment for measuring the ships speed is also stowed there.
| | blanket |
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noun
- A cloth, usually large, used for warmth or sleeping.
- ''The baby was cold, so his mother put a over him.
- A layer of anything.
- The city woke under a thick of fog.
- A thick rubber mat used in the offset printing process to transfer ink from the plate to the paper being printed.
- A press operator must carefully wash the whenever changing a plate.
adjective
- In general; covering or encompassing everything.
- They sought to create a solution for all situations.
| | bluff |
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noun - A high, steep bank, as by a river or the sea, or beside a ravine or plain; a cliff with a broad face.
- An act of bluffing; an expression of self-confidence for the purpose of intimidation; braggadocio; as, that is only bluff, or a bluff.
- (poker) An attempt to represent yourself as holding a stronger hand than you do.
- John's bet was a , he bet without even so much as a pair.
verb
- To make a bluff
- John bluffed by betting without even a pair.
adjective - Having a broad, flattened front; as, the bluff bows of a ship.
- Rising steeply with a flat or rounded front.
- Surly; churlish; gruff; rough.
- 1883: w:Robert Louis Stevenson, Robert Louis Stevenson, w:Treasure Island, Treasure Island
- : ...he had a , rough-and-ready face, all roughened and reddened and lined in his long travels.
- Abrupt; roughly frank; unceremonious; blunt; brusque; as, a bluff answer; a bluff manner of talking; a bluff sea captain.
| | boatman |
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noun (boatmen)
- A man in charge of a small boat.
| | boom |
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noun
- A period of prosperity or market activity
- (nautical) A spar extending the foot of a sail; a spar rigged outboard from a ship's side to which boats are secured in harbour
- A horizontal member of a crane or derrick, used for lifting.
- An abrupt, low-pitched sound, such as of an explosion. (The boom of the surf)
- A floating barrier across a harbour entrance used to obstruct the entry of an enemy
verb
- (intransitive) To be prosperous.
- Business was booming.
- (intransitive) To speak or make noise with an intense, low pitch.
| | bow |
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noun verb | | bower |
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noun
- A large nest made of grass and bright objects, used by the bower bird during courtship displays.
- A shady, leafy shelter or recess in a garden or woods
- A woman's bedroom or private apartments, especially in a medieval castle
- (literary) A picturesque country cottage, especially one that is used as a retreat
| | bowline |
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noun - (nautical) a knot tied so as to produce an eye or loop in the end of a rope; it will not slip or jam
| | brow |
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noun
- the ridge over the eyes; the eyebrow
- forehead
- the projecting upper edge of a steep place such as a hill
- (nautical) the gangway from ship to shore when a ship is lying alongside a quay
- (nautical) the hinged part of a landing craft or ferry which is lowered to form a landing platform; a ramp
| | bury |
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verb (transitive)
(buries, burying, buried)
- To ritualistically inter a corpse in a grave or tomb. (see burial)
- To place in the ground. "bury a bone"
- To hide or conceal as if by covering with earth - "she buried her face in the pillow", "buried the secret deep inside"
- To put an end to; to abandon. "They buried their argument and shook hands"
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