Part 553

Bat"tle, v. t. To assail in battle; to fight.

{ Bat"tle-ax` Bat"tle-axe` } (-ks`), n. (Mil.) A kind of broadax formerly used as an offensive weapon.

Bat"tled (&?;), p. p. Embattled. [Poetic] Tennyson.

Bat"tle*door` (&?;), n. [OE. batyldour. A corrupted form of uncertain origin; cf. Sp. batallador a great combatant, he who has fought many battles, Pg. batalhador, Pr. batalhador, warrior, soldier, fr. L. battalia; or cf. Pr. batedor batlet, fr. batre to beat, fr. L. batuere. See Battle, n.] 1. An instrument, with a handle and a flat part covered with parchment or crossed with catgut, used to strike a shuttlecock in play; also, the play of battledoor and shuttlecock.

2. [OE. battleder.] A child's hornbook. [Obs.] Halliwell.

Bat"tle*ment (-ment), n. [OE. batelment; cf. OF. bataillement combat, fr. batailler, also OF. bastillier, bateillier, to fortify. Cf. Battle, n., Bastile, Bastion.] (Arch.) (a) One of the solid upright parts of a parapet in ancient fortifications. (b) pl. The whole parapet, consisting of alternate solids and open spaces. At first purely a military feature, afterwards copied on a smaller scale with decorative features, as for churches.

Bat"tle*ment*ed (-mnt*d), a. Having battlements.

A battlemented portal. Sir W. Scott.

Bat*tol"o*gist (&?;), n. One who battologizes.

Bat*tol"o*gize (bt*tl"l*jz), v. t. To keep repeating needlessly; to iterate. Sir T. Herbert.

Bat*tol"o*gy (-j), n. [F. battologie, fr. Gr. battologi`a; ba`ttos; a stammerer + lo`gos; speech.] A needless repetition of words in speaking or writing. Milton.

Bat"ton (&?;), n. See Batten, and Baton.

||Bat"tue` (&?;), n. [F. battue, fr. battre to beat. See Batter, v. t., and cf. Battuta.] (Hunting) (a) The act of beating the woods, bushes, etc., for game. (b) The game itself. (c) The wanton slaughter of game. Howitt.

||Bat`ture" (&?;), n. [F., fr. battre to beat.] An elevated river bed or sea bed.

||Bat*tu"ta (&?;), n. [It. battuta, fr. battere to beat.] (Mus.) The measuring of time by beating.

Bat"ty (bt"t), a. Belonging to, or resembling, a bat. "Batty wings." Shak.

Bat"ule (bt"l or b*tl"), n. A springboard in a circus or gymnasium; -- called also batule board.

||Batz (bäts), n.; pl. Batzen (&?;). [Ger. batz, batze, batzen, a coin bearing the image of a bear, Ger. bätz, betz, bear.] A small copper coin, with a mixture of silver, formerly current in some parts of Germany and Switzerland. It was worth about four cents.

Bau*bee" (&?;), n. Same as Bawbee.

Bau"ble (b"b'l), n. [Cf. OF. baubel a child's plaything, F. babiole, It. babbola, LL. baubellum gem, jewel, L. babulus, a baburrus, foolish.] 1. A trifling piece of finery; a gewgaw; that which is gay and showy without real value; a cheap, showy plaything.

The ineffective bauble of an Indian pagod. Sheridan.

2. The fool's club. [Obs.] "A fool's bauble was a short stick with a head ornamented with an ass's ears fantastically carved upon it." Nares.

Bau"bling (&?;), a. See Bawbling. [Obs.]

Bau"de*kin (&?;), n. [OE. bawdekin rich silk stuff, OF. baudequin. See Baldachin.] The richest kind of stuff used in garments in the Middle Ages, the web being gold, and the woof silk, with embroidery: -- made originally at Bagdad. [Spelt also baudkin, baudkyn, bawdekin, and baldakin.] Nares.

Bau"drick (&?;), n. A belt. See Baldric.

{ Bauk, Baulk } (&?;), n. & v. See Balk.

Baun"scheidt*ism (&?;), n. [From the introducer, a German named Baunscheidt.] (Med.) A form of acupuncture, followed by the rubbing of the part with a stimulating fluid.

{ Baux"ite, Beaux"ite } (&?;), n. [F., fr. Baux or Beaux, near Arles.] (Min.) A ferruginous hydrate of alumina. It is largely used in the preparation of aluminium and alumina, and for the lining of furnaces which are exposed to intense heat.