Breathless - Brevet

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10. (Gr. Gram.) A mark to indicate aspiration or its absence. See Rough breathing, Smooth breathing, below.
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Coloq. Breathing place . (a) A pause. “That cæsura, or breathing place, in the midst of the verse.” Sir P. Sidney. (b) A vent. -- Coloq. Breathing time , pause; relaxation. Bp. Hall. -- Coloq. Breathing while , time sufficient for drawing breath; a short time. Shak. -- Coloq. Rough breathing (spiritus asper) (ʽ). See 2d , n. -- Coloq. Smooth breathing (spiritus lenis), a mark (') indicating the absence of the sound of h, as in 'ienai (ienai).
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Breathless (brĕthlĕs), a. 1. Spent with labor or violent action; out of breath.
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2. Not breathing; holding the breath, on account of fear, expectation, or intense interest; attended with a holding of the breath; as, breathless attention.
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But breathless, as we grow when feeling most. Byron.
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3. Dead; as, a breathless body.
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Breathlessly, adv. In a breathless manner.
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Breathlessness, n. The state of being breathless or out of breath.
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Breccia (�), n. [It., breach, pebble, fragments of stone, fr. F. brèche; of German origin. See .] (Geol.) A rock composed of angular fragments either of the same mineral or of different minerals, etc., united by a cement, and commonly presenting a variety of colors.
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Coloq. Bone breccia , a breccia containing bones, usually fragmentary. -- Coloq. Coin breccia , a breccia containing coins.
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Brecciated (�), a. Consisting of angular fragments cemented together; resembling breccia in appearance.
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The brecciated appearance of many specimens [of meteorites]. H. A. Newton.
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Bred (�), imp. & p. p. of .
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Coloq. Bred out , degenerated. “The strain of man's bred out into baboon and monkey.” Shak. -- Coloq. Bred to arms . See under . -- Coloq. Well bred . (a) Of a good family; having a good pedigree. “A gentleman well bred and of good name.” Shak. [Obs., except as applied to domestic animals.] (b) Well brought up, as shown in having good manners; cultivated; refined; polite.
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{ Brede, or Breede } (�), n. Breadth. [Obs.] Chaucer.
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Brede (�), n. [See woven cord.] A braid. [R.]
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Half lapped in glowing gauze and golden brede. Tennyson.
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Breech (brēch or brĭch; 277), n. [See .] 1. The lower part of the body behind; the buttocks.
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2. Breeches. [Obs.] Shak.
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3. The hinder part of anything; esp., the part of a cannon, or other firearm, behind the chamber.
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4. (Naut.) The external angle of knee timber, the inside of which is called the throat.
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Breech, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Breeched (�); p. pr. & vb. n. Breeching (�).] 1. To put into, or clothe with, breeches.
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A great man . . . anxious to know whether the blacksmith's youngest boy was breeched. Macaulay.
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2. To cover as with breeches. [Poetic]
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Their daggers unmannerly breeched with gore. Shak.
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3. To fit or furnish with a breech; as, to breech a gun.
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4. To whip on the breech. [Obs.]
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Had not a courteous serving man conveyed me away, whilst he went to fetch whips, I think, in my conscience, he would have breeched me. Old Play.
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5. To fasten with breeching.
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Breech action. The breech mechanism in breech-loading small arms and certain special guns, as automatic and machine guns; -- used frequently in referring to the method by which the movable barrels of breech-loading shotguns are locked, unlocked, or rotated to loading position.
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Breechblock (�), n. The movable piece which closes the breech of a breech-loading firearm, and resists the backward force of the discharge. It is withdrawn for the insertion of a cartridge, and closed again before the gun is fired.
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Breechcloth (brēchklŏth or brĭchklŏth; 115), n. A cloth worn around the breech.
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breechclout n. covering for the loins.
Syn. -- breechcloth, loincloth, G-string.
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breeched (brēcht), adj. dressed in trousers.
Syn. -- pantalooned, trousered.
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Breeches (brĭchĕz), n. pl. [OE. brech, brek, AS. brēk, pl. of brōc breech, breeches; akin to Icel. brōk breeches, ODan. brog, D. broek, G. bruch; cf. L. bracae, braccae, which is of Celtic origin. Cf. .] 1. A garment worn by men, covering the hips and thighs; smallclothes.
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His jacket was red, and his breeches were blue. Coleridge.
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2. Trousers; pantaloons. [Colloq.]
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Coloq. Breeches buoy , in the life-saving service, a pair of canvas breeches depending from an annular or beltlike life buoy which is usually of cork. This contrivance, inclosing the person to be rescued, is hung by short ropes from a block which runs upon the hawser stretched from the ship to the shore, and is drawn to land by hauling lines. -- Coloq. Breeches pipe , a forked pipe forming two branches united at one end. -- Coloq. Knee breeches , breeches coming to the knee, and buckled or fastened there; smallclothes. -- Coloq. To wear the breeches , to usurp the authority of the husband; -- said of a wife. [Colloq.]
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Breeching (�), n. 1. A whipping on the breech, or the act of whipping on the breech.
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I view the prince with Aristarchus' eyes,
Whose looks were as a breeching to a boy. Marlowe.
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2. That part of a harness which passes round the breech of a horse, enabling him to hold back a vehicle.
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3. (Naut.) A strong rope rove through the cascabel of a cannon and secured to ringbolts in the ship's side, to limit the recoil of the gun when it is discharged.
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4. The sheet iron casing at the end of boilers to convey the smoke from the flues to the smokestack.
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Breechloader (�), n. A firearm which receives its load at the breech.
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For cavalry, the revolver and breechloader will supersede the saber. Rep. Sec. War (1860).
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Breech-loading, a. Receiving the charge at the breech instead of at the muzzle.
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{ Breech pin (�), Breech screw } (�). A strong iron or steel plug screwed into the breech of a musket or other firearm, to close the bottom of the bore.
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Breech sight (�). A device attached to the breech of a firearm, to guide the eye, in conjunction with the front sight, in taking aim.
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Breed (�), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bred (�); p. pr. & vb. n. Breeding.] [OE. breden, AS. brēdan to nourish, cherish, keep warm, from brōd brood; akin to D. broeden to brood, OHG. bruoten, G. brüten. See .] 1. To produce as offspring; to bring forth; to bear; to procreate; to generate; to beget; to hatch.
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Yet every mother breeds not sons alike. Shak.
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If the sun breed maggots in a dead dog. Shak.
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2. To take care of in infancy, and through the age of youth; to bring up; to nurse and foster.
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To bring thee forth with pain, with care to breed. Dryden.
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Born and bred on the verge of the wilderness. Everett.
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3. To educate; to instruct; to form by education; to train; -- sometimes followed by up.
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But no care was taken to breed him a Protestant. Bp. Burnet.
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His farm may not remove his children too far from him, or the trade he breeds them up in. Locke.
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4. To engender; to cause; to occasion; to originate; to produce; as, to breed a storm; to breed disease.
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Lest the place
And my quaint habits breed astonishment. Milton.
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5. To give birth to; to be the native place of; as, a pond breeds fish; a northern country breeds stout men.
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6. To raise, as any kind of stock.
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7. To produce or obtain by any natural process. [Obs.]
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Children would breed their teeth with less danger. Locke.
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Syn. -- To engender; generate; beget; produce; hatch; originate; bring up; nourish; train; instruct.
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Breed, v. i. 1. To bear and nourish young; to reproduce or multiply itself; to be pregnant.
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That they breed abundantly in the earth. Gen. viii. 17.
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The mother had never bred before. Carpenter.
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Ant. Is your gold and silver ewes and rams?
Shy. I can not tell. I make it breed as fast. Shak.
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2. To be formed in the parent or dam; to be generated, or to grow, as young before birth.
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3. To have birth; to be produced or multiplied.
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Heavens rain grace
On that which breeds between them. Shak.
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4. To raise a breed; to get progeny.
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The kind of animal which you wish to breed from. Gardner.
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Coloq. To breed in and in , to breed from animals of the same stock that are closely related.
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Breed, n. 1. A race or variety of men or other animals (or of plants), perpetuating its special or distinctive characteristics by inheritance.
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Twice fifteen thousand hearts of England's breed. Shak.
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Greyhounds of the best breed. Carpenter.
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2. Class; sort; kind; -- of men, things, or qualities.
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Are these the breed of wits so wondered at? Shak.
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This courtesy is not of the right breed. Shak.
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3. A number produced at once; a brood. [Obs.]
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☞ Breed is usually applied to domestic animals; species or variety to wild animals and to plants; and race to men.
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Breedbate (�), n. One who breeds or originates quarrels. [Obs.] “No telltale nor no breedbate.” Shak.
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Breeder (�), n. 1. One who, or that which, breeds, produces, brings up, etc.
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She was a great breeder. Dr. A. Carlyle.
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Italy and Rome have been the best breeders of worthy men. Ascham.
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2. A cause. “The breeder of my sorrow.” Shak.
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Breeding (�), n. 1. The act or process of generating or bearing.
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2. The raising or improving of any kind of domestic animals; as, farmers should pay attention to breeding.
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3. Nurture; education; formation of manners.
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She had her breeding at my father's charge. Shak.
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4. Deportment or behavior in the external offices and decorums of social life; manners; knowledge of, or training in, the ceremonies, or polite observances of society.
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Delicacy of breeding, or that polite deference and respect which civility obliges us either to express or counterfeit towards the persons with whom we converse. Hume.
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5. Descent; pedigree; extraction. [Obs.]
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Honest gentlemen, I know not your breeding. Shak.
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Coloq. Close breeding , Coloq. In and in breeding , breeding from a male and female from the same parentage. -- Coloq. Cross breeding , breeding from a male and female of different lineage. -- Coloq. Good breeding , politeness; genteel deportment.
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Syn. -- Education; instruction; nurture; training; manners. See .
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Breeze (�), Breeze fly (�), n. [OE. brese, AS. briósa; perh. akin to OHG. brimissa, G. breme, bremse, D. brems, which are akin to G. brummen to growl, buzz, grumble, L. fremere to murmur; cf. G. brausen, Sw. brusa, Dan. bruse, to roar, rush.] (Zoöl.) A fly of various species, of the family Tabanidæ, noted for buzzing about animals, and tormenting them by sucking their blood; -- called also horsefly, and gadfly. They are among the largest of two-winged or dipterous insects. The name is also given to different species of botflies. [Written also breese and brize.]
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Breeze, n. [F. brise; akin to It. brezza breeze, Sp. briza, brisa, a breeze from northeast, Pg. briza northeast wind; of uncertain origin; cf. F. bise, Pr. bisa, OHG. bisa, north wind, Arm. biz northeast wind.] 1. A light, gentle wind; a fresh, soft-blowing wind.
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Into a gradual calm the breezes sink. Wordsworth.
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2. An excited or ruffed state of feeling; a flurry of excitement; a disturbance; a quarrel; as, the discovery produced a breeze. [Colloq.]
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Coloq. Land breeze , a wind blowing from the land, generally at night. -- Coloq. Sea breeze , a breeze or wind blowing, generally in the daytime, from the sea.
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Breeze (�), n. [F. braise cinders, live coals. See .] 1. Refuse left in the process of making coke or burning charcoal.
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2. (Brickmaking) Refuse coal, coal ashes, and cinders, used in the burning of bricks.
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Breeze, v. i. To blow gently. [R.] J. Barlow.
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Coloq. To breeze up (Naut.), to blow with increasing freshness.
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Breezeless, a. Motionless; destitute of breezes.
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A stagnant, breezeless air becalms my soul. Shenstone.
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Breeziness (�), n. State of being breezy.
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Breezy (�), a. 1. Characterized by, or having, breezes; airy. “A breezy day in May.” Coleridge.
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'Mid lawns and shades by breezy rivulets fanned. Wordsworth.
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2. Fresh; brisk; full of life. [Colloq.]
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Bregma (�), n. [Gr. � the front part of the head: cf. F. bregma.] (Anat.) The point of junction of the coronal and sagittal sutures of the skull.
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Bregmatic (�), a. (Anat.) Pertaining to the bregma.
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Brehon (�), n. [Ir. breitheamh judge.] An ancient Irish or Scotch judge.
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Coloq. Brehon laws , the ancient Irish laws, -- unwritten, like the common law of England. They were abolished by statute of Edward III.
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Brelan (?), n. [F.] (Card Playing) (a) A French gambling game somewhat like poker. (b) In French games, a pair royal, or triplet.
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Brelan carre (?). [F. carré square.] (Card Playing) In French games, a double pair royal.
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Brelan favori (?). [F. favori favorite.] (Card Playing) In French games, a pair royal composed of 2 cards in the hand and the card turned.
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Breloque (?), n. [F.] A seal or charm for a watch chain. “His chains and breloques.” Thackeray.
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Breme (brēm), a. [OE. breme, brime, fierce, impetuous, glorious, AS. brēme, brȳme, famous. Cf. , a.] 1. Fierce; sharp; severe; cruel. [Obs.] Spenser.
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From the septentrion cold, in the breme freezing air. Drayton.
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2. Famous; renowned; well known. Wright.
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[Written also brim and brimme.]
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{ Bren (�), Brenne (�), } v. t. & i. [imp. & p. p. Brent (�); p. pr. & vb. n. Brenning.] [See .] To burn. [Obs.] Chaucer.
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Consuming fire brent his shearing house or stall. W. Browne.
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Bren, n. Bran. [Obs.] Chaucer.
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Brennage (�), n. [OF. brenage; cf. LL. brennagium, brenagium. See .] (Old Eng. Law) A tribute which tenants paid to their lord, in lieu of bran, which they were obliged to furnish for his hounds.
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Brenningly, adv. Burningly; ardently. [Obs.]
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brenschluss, n. [German: end of burning.] (Rocketry) the time at which the engines of a rocket stop firing; the termination of the firing of the rocket engines, whether due to intentional shutdown of the engines or exhaustion of the fuel. This term was used mostly in the early days of rocketry when only one firing sequence occurred for rockets, which were used as ballistic missiles or for experiments in rocketry or atmospheric science.
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{ Brent (�), Brant } (�), a. [AS. brant; akin to Dan. brat, Icel. brattr, steep.] 1. Steep; high. [Obs.]
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Grapes grow on the brant rocks so wonderfully that ye will marvel how any man dare climb up to them. Ascham.
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2. Smooth; unwrinkled. [Scot.]
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Your bonnie brow was brent. Burns.
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Brent, imp. & p. p. of . Burnt. [Obs.]
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Brent, n. [Cf. .] A brant. See .
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Brequet chain (�). A watch-guard.
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Brere (�), n. A brier. [Archaic] Chaucer.
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Brest (�), 3d sing. pr. for Bursteth. [Obs.]
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{ Brest, Breast } (�), n. (Arch.) A torus. [Obs.]
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Breste (�), v. t. & i. [imp. Brast; p. p. Brusten, Borsten, Bursten.] To burst. [Obs.] Chaucer.
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Brestsummer (�), n. See .
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Bret (�), n. (Zoöl.) See .
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Bretful (�), a. [OE. also brerdful, fr. brerd top, brim, AS. brerd.] Brimful. [Obs.] Chaucer.
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Brethren (�), n.; pl. of .
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☞ This form of the plural is used, for the most part, in solemn address, and in speaking of religious sects or fraternities, or their members.
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Breton (�), a. [F. breton.] Of or relating to Brittany, or Bretagne, in France. -- n. A native or inhabitant of Brittany, or Bretagne, in France; also, the ancient language of Brittany; Armorican.
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Brett (�), n. Same as .
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Brettice (�), n.; pl. Brettices (�). [OE. bretasce, bretage, parapet, OF. bretesche wooden tower, F. bretèche, LL. breteschia, bertresca, prob. fr. OHG. bret, G. brett board; akin to E. board. See , n., and cf. .] The wooden boarding used in supporting the roofs and walls of coal mines. See .
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Bretwalda (�), n. [AS. Bretwalda, br�ten walda, a powerful ruler.] (Eng. Hist.) The official title applied to that one of the Anglo-Saxon chieftains who was chosen by the other chiefs to lead them in their warfare against the British tribes. Brande & C.
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Bretzel (�), n. [G.] See .
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Breve (brēv), n. [It. & (in sense 2) LL. breve, fr. L. brevis short. See .] 1. (Mus.) A note or character of time, equivalent to two semibreves or four minims. When dotted, it is equal to three semibreves. It was formerly of a square figure (as thus: � ), but is now made oval, with a line perpendicular to the staff on each of its sides; -- formerly much used for choir service. Moore.
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2. (Law) Any writ or precept under seal, issued out of any court.
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3. (Print.) A curved mark [˘] used commonly to indicate the short quantity of a vowel.
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4. (Zoöl.) The great ant thrush of Sumatra (Pitta gigas), which has a very short tail.
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Brevet (br�vĕt; 277), n. [F. brevet, LL. brevetum, fr. L. brevis short. See .] 1. A warrant from the government, granting a privilege, title, or dignity. [French usage].
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2. (Mil.) A commission giving an officer higher rank than that for which he receives pay; an honorary promotion of an officer.
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☞ In the United States army, rank by brevet is conferred, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, for “gallant actions or meritorious services.” A brevet rank gives no right of command in the particular corps to which the officer brevetted belongs, and can be exercised only by special assignment of the President, or on court martial, and detachments composed of different corps, with pay of the brevet rank when on such duty.
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