Part 546

2. "The Bastille", formerly a castle or fortress in Paris, used as a prison, especially for political offenders; hence, a rhetorical name for a prison.

Bas`ti*nade" (&?;), n. See Bastinado, n.

Bas`ti*nade", v. t. To bastinado. [Archaic]

Bas`ti*na"do (&?;), n.; pl. Bastinadoes (&?;). [Sp. bastonada (cf. F. bastonnade), fr. baston (cf. F. bâton) a stick or staff. See Baston.]

1. A blow with a stick or cudgel.

2. A sound beating with a stick or cudgel. Specifically: A form of punishment among the Turks, Chinese, and others, consisting in beating an offender on the soles of his feet.

Bas`ti*na"do, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bastinadoed (&?;); p. pr. & vb. n. Bastinadoing.] To beat with a stick or cudgel, especially on the soles of the feet.

Bas"tion (bs"chn; 106), n. [F. bastion (cf. It. bastione), fr. LL. bastire to build (cf. F. bâtir, It. bastire), perh. from the idea of support for a weight, and akin to Gr. basta`zein to lift, carry, and to E. baston, baton.] (Fort.) A work projecting outward from the main inclosure of a fortification, consisting of two faces and two flanks, and so constructed that it is able to defend by a flanking fire the adjacent curtain, or wall which extends from one bastion to another. Two adjacent bastions are connected by the curtain, which joins the flank of one with the adjacent flank of the other. The distance between the flanks of a bastion is called the gorge. A lunette is a detached bastion. See Ravelin.

Bas"tioned (&?;), a. Furnished with a bastion; having bastions.

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Bas"to (bs"t), n. [Sp.] The ace of clubs in quadrille and omber. Pope.

Bas"ton (bs"tn), n. [OF. baston, F. bâton, LL. basto. See Bastion, and cf. Baton, and 3d Batten.]

1. A staff or cudgel. [Obs.] "To fight with blunt bastons." Holland.

2. (Her.) See Baton.

3. An officer bearing a painted staff, who formerly was in attendance upon the king's court to take into custody persons committed by the court. Mozley & W.

Bas"yle (bs"l or bs"l), n. [Gr. ba`sis base + "y`lh wood. See -yl.] (Chem.) A positive or nonacid constituent of a compound, either elementary, or, if compound, performing the functions of an element.

Bas"y*lous (&?;), a. Pertaining to, or having the nature of, a basyle; electro-positive; basic; -- opposed to chlorous. Graham.

Bat (bt), n. [OE. batte, botte, AS. batt; perhaps fr. the Celtic; cf. Ir. bat, bata, stick, staff; but cf. also F. batte a beater (thing), wooden sword, battre to beat.]

1. A large stick; a club; specifically, a piece of wood with one end thicker or broader than the other, used in playing baseball, cricket, etc.

2. (Mining) Shale or bituminous shale. Kirwan.

3. A sheet of cotton used for filling quilts or comfortables; batting.

4. A part of a brick with one whole end.

Bat bolt (Machinery), a bolt barbed or jagged at its butt or tang to make it hold the more firmly. Knight.

Bat, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Batted (bt"td); p. pr. & vb. n. Batting.] To strike or hit with a bat or a pole; to cudgel; to beat. Holland.

Bat, v. i. To use a bat, as in a game of baseball.

Bat, n. [Corrupt. from OE. back, backe, balke; cf. Dan. aften-bakke (aften evening), Sw. natt-backa (natt night), Icel. leðr- blaka (leðr leather), Icel. blaka to flutter.] (Zoöl.) One of the Cheiroptera, an order of flying mammals, in which the wings are formed by a membrane stretched between the elongated fingers, legs, and tail. The common bats are small and insectivorous. See Cheiroptera and Vampire.

Silent bats in drowsy clusters cling.

Goldsmith.