Part 493

Bac*te`ri*os"co*py (-s"k*p), n. [Bacterium + -scopy.] (Biol.) The application of a knowledge of bacteria for their detection and identification, as in the examination of polluted water.

Bac*te"ri*um (&?;), n.; pl. Bacteria (&?;). [NL., fr. Gr. bakth`rion, bak`tron, a staff: cf. F. bactérie.] (Biol.) A microscopic vegetable organism, belonging to the class Algæ, usually in the form of a jointed rodlike filament, and found in putrefying organic infusions. Bacteria are destitute of chlorophyll, and are the smallest of microscopic organisms. They are very widely diffused in nature, and multiply with marvelous rapidity, both by fission and by spores. Certain species are active agents in fermentation, while others appear to be the cause of certain infectious diseases. See Bacillus.

{ Bac"te*roid (&?;), Bac`te*roid"al (&?;), } a. [Bacterium + -oid.] (Biol.) Resembling bacteria; as, bacteroid particles.

Bac"tri*an (&?;), a. Of or pertaining to Bactria in Asia. -- n. A native of Bactria.

Bactrian camel, the two-humped camel.

Bac"ule (&?;), n. [F.] (Fort.) See Bascule.

Bac"u*line (&?;), a. [L. baculum staff.] Of or pertaining to the rod or punishment with the rod.

Bac"u*lite (&?;), n. [L. baculum stick, staff; cf. F. baculite.] (Paleon.) A cephalopod of the extinct genus Baculites, found fossil in the Cretaceous rocks. It is like an uncoiled ammonite.

Bac`u*lom"e*try (&?;), n. [L. baculum staff + -metry.] Measurement of distance or altitude by a staff or staffs.

Bad (bd), imp. of Bid. Bade. [Obs.] Dryden.

Bad (bd), a. [Compar. Worse (wûs); superl. Worst (wûst).] [Probably fr. AS. bæddel hermaphrodite; cf. bædling effeminate fellow.] Wanting good qualities, whether physical or moral; injurious, hurtful, inconvenient, offensive, painful, unfavorable, or defective, either physically or morally; evil; vicious; wicked; -- the opposite of good; as, a bad man; bad conduct; bad habits; bad soil; bad air; bad health; a bad crop; bad news.

Sometimes used substantively.

The strong antipathy of good to bad. Pope.

Syn. -- Pernicious; deleterious; noxious; baneful; injurious; hurtful; evil; vile; wretched; corrupt; wicked; vicious; imperfect.

Bad"der (&?;), compar. of Bad, a. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Bad"der*locks (&?;), n. [Perh. for Balderlocks, fr. Balder the Scandinavian deity.] (Bot.) A large black seaweed (Alaria esculenta) sometimes eaten in Europe; -- also called murlins, honeyware, and henware.

Bad"dish, a. Somewhat bad; inferior. Jeffrey.

Bade (bd). A form of the past tense of Bid.

Badge (&?;), n. [LL. bagea, bagia, sign, prob. of German origin; cf. AS. beág, beáh, bracelet, collar, crown, OS. bg- in comp., AS. bgan to bow, bend, G. biegen. See Bow to bend.] 1. A distinctive mark, token, sign, or cognizance, worn on the person; as, the badge of a society; the badge of a policeman. "Tax gatherers, recognized by their official badges." Prescott.

2. Something characteristic; a mark; a token.

Sweet mercy is nobility's true badge. Shak.

3. (Naut.) A carved ornament on the stern of a vessel, containing a window or the representation of one.

Badge (&?;), v. t. To mark or distinguish with a badge.

Badge"less, a. Having no badge. Bp. Hall.

Badg"er (&?;), n. [Of uncertain origin; perh. fr. an old verb badge to lay up provisions to sell again.] An itinerant licensed dealer in commodities used for food; a hawker; a huckster; -- formerly applied especially to one who bought grain in one place and sold it in another. [Now dialectic, Eng.]

Badg"er, n. [OE. bageard, prob. fr. badge + -ard, in reference to the white mark on its forehead. See Badge, n.] 1. A carnivorous quadruped of the genus Meles or of an allied genus. It is a burrowing animal, with short, thick legs, and long claws on the fore feet. One species (M. vulgaris), called also brock, inhabits the north of Europe and Asia; another species (Taxidea Americana or Labradorica) inhabits the northern parts of North America. See Teledu.

2. A brush made of badgers' hair, used by artists.

Badger dog. (Zoöl.) See Dachshund.