Thursday, December 31, 2009

Blarmy

Blarmy-n
unintelligent or insincere talk (informal)

vti
to persuade somebody with flattery (informal)

Synonyms
flattery
smooth talk

Monday, December 28, 2009

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Blanch

Blanch-v
1-(vt) to put food in boiling water for a few seconds in order to loosen the skin or kill enzymes
2-(vi) to become pale suddenly
3-(vt) to grow vegetables, especially celery and endive, in dark conditions in order to whiten the stems and improve their flavor
4-(vti) to lose color, or cause something to lose color

Synonyms
go pale
grow pale
lighten
bleach
blench

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Blackmail

Blackmail-n
1-the act of forcing somebody to pay money or do something by threatening to reveal shameful or incriminating facts about him or her.
See also greenmail
See also graymail
2-unfair threatening or incriminating of somebody, as a way of achieving a result

vt
to force somebody to pay money or do something by threatening to reveal shameful or incriminating facts about him or her

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Blackball-vt

Blackball-vt
1-to revent somebody from becoming a member of a club by voting against the person
2-to exclude somebody from a group or profession

n
1-a vote against somebody, especially somebody wanting to join a group
2-a black ball used to show a negative vote (archaic)

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Black Market

Black Market-n
a system of buying and selling officially controlled goods illegally

Bitters

Bitters-n
a slightly alcoholic liquid flavored with plant extracts and used as a mixer with certain cocktails (takes a singular verb)

npl
a bitter-tasting liquid used as a digestive aid

Bishopric

Bishopric-n
1-an area that a bishop is in charge of
2-a place where a bishop's cathedaral is situated
3-the rank or office of a bishop

Synonyms
diocese
see
district
archdiocese

Biped

Biped-n
an animal, for example, a human, with only two legs for locomotion

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Bipartite

Bipartite-adj
1-make or shared by two groups of people
2-used to describe leaves that are almost completely divided into two parts

Friday, December 11, 2009

Bipartisan

Bipartisan-adj
relating to, undertaken by, or including two political parties

Biosphere

Biosphere-n
the whole area of the Earth's surface, atmosphere, and sea that is inhabited by living things
Also called ecosphere

Binomial

Binomial-n
1-a mathematical expression made up of two terms and a plus or minus sign
2-a pair of Latin or Latinized words forming a scientific name in the classification of plants, animals, and microorganims. The first word represents the genus and the second the species

adj
relating to or consisting of tow names, especially the two elements of a scientific name, or two terms, for example, the terms of a mathematical expression

Binary Weapon

Binary Weapon-n
a chemical weapon, for example, a bomb or artillery shell, containing 2 chemicals that are harmless in isolation but combine to form a toxic compound before reaching the target
Also called binary

Binary Star

Binary Star-n
a pair of stars that revolve around their common center of mass under mutual gravitational attraction
Also called binary
Also called double star