Part 557

A dark slender thread of a bayou moves loiteringly northeastward into a swamp of huge cypresses. G. W. Cable.

Bay" rum" (&?;). A fragrant liquid, used for cosmetic and medicinal purposes.

The original bay rum, from the West Indies, is prepared, it is believed, by distillation from the leaves of the bayberry (Myrcia acris). The bay rum of the Pharmacopœia (spirit of myrcia) is prepared from oil of myrcia (bayberry), oil of orange peel, oil of pimento, alcohol, and water.

{ Bays, Bayze } (&?;), n. See Baize. [Obs.]

Bay" salt` (&?;). Salt which has been obtained from sea water, by evaporation in shallow pits or basins, by the heat of the sun; the large crystalline salt of commerce. Bacon. Ure.

Bay" tree`. A species of laurel. (Laurus nobilis).

Bay" win"dow (&?;). (Arch.) A window forming a bay or recess in a room, and projecting outward from the wall, either in a rectangular, polygonal, or semicircular form; -- often corruptly called a bow window.

Bay" yarn` (&?;). Woolen yarn. [Prov. Eng.] Wright.

{ Ba*zaar" Ba*zar" } (b*zär"), n. [Per. bzar market.] 1. In the East, an exchange, marketplace, or assemblage of shops where goods are exposed for sale.

2. A spacious hall or suite of rooms for the sale of goods, as at a fair.

3. A fair for the sale of fancy wares, toys, etc., commonly for a charitable object. Macaulay.

Bdel"lium (&?;), n. [L., fr. Gr. bde`llion; cf. Heb. b'dolakh bdellium (in sense 1).] 1. An unidentified substance mentioned in the Bible (Gen. ii. 12, and Num. xi. 7), variously taken to be a gum, a precious stone, or pearls, or perhaps a kind of amber found in Arabia.

2. A gum resin of reddish brown color, brought from India, Persia, and Africa.

Indian bdellium or false myrrh is an exudation from Balsamodendron Roxburghii. Other kinds are known as African, Sicilian, etc.

||Bdel*loi"de*a (&?;), n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. bde`lla leech + -oid.] (Zoöl.) The order of Annulata which includes the leeches. See Hirudinea.

Bdel*lom"e*ter (&?;), n. [Gr. bde`lla leech + -meter.] (Med.) A cupping glass to which are attached a scarificator and an exhausting syringe. Dunglison.

||Bdel`lo*mor"pha (&?;), n. [NL., fr. Gr. bde`lla leech + morfh` form.] (Zoöl.) An order of Nemertina, including the large leechlike worms (Malacobdella) often parasitic in clams.

Be (&?;), v. i. [imp. Was (&?;); p. p. Been (&?;); p. pr. & vb. n. Being.] [OE. been, beon, AS. beón to be, beóm I am; akin to OHG. bim, pim, G. bin, I am, Gael. & Ir. bu was, W. bod to be, Lith. bu-ti, O. Slav. by-ti, to be, L. fu-i I have been, fu-turus about to be, fo-re to be about to be, and perh. to fieri to become, Gr. fynai to be born, to be, Skr. bh to be. This verb is defective, and the parts lacking are supplied by verbs from other roots, is, was, which have no radical connection with be. The various forms, am, are, is, was, were, etc., are considered grammatically as parts of the verb "to be", which, with its conjugational forms, is often called the substantive verb. √97. Cf. Future, Physic.] 1. To exist actually, or in the world of fact; to have existence.

To be contents his natural desire. Pope.

To be, or not to be: that is the question. Shak.

2. To exist in a certain manner or relation, -- whether as a reality or as a product of thought; to exist as the subject of a certain predicate, that is, as having a certain attribute, or as belonging to a certain sort, or as identical with what is specified, -- a word or words for the predicate being annexed; as, to be happy; to be here; to be large, or strong; to be an animal; to be a hero; to be a nonentity; three and two are five; annihilation is the cessation of existence; that is the man.

3. To take place; to happen; as, the meeting was on Thursday.

4. To signify; to represent or symbolize; to answer to.

The field is the world. Matt. xiii. 38.

The seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches. Rev. i. 20.

The verb to be (including the forms is, was, etc.) is used in forming the passive voice of other verbs; as, John has been struck by James. It is also used with the past participle of many intransitive verbs to express a state of the subject. But have is now more commonly used as the auxiliary, though expressing a different sense; as, "Ye have come too late -- but ye are come. " "The minstrel boy to the war is gone." The present and imperfect tenses form, with the infinitive, a particular future tense, which expresses necessity, duty, or purpose; as, government is to be supported; we are to pay our just debts; the deed is to be signed to- morrow.

Have or had been, followed by to, implies movement. "I have been to Paris." Sydney Smith. "Have you been to Franchard ?" R. L. Stevenson.

Been, or ben, was anciently the plural of the indicative present. "Ye ben light of the world." Wyclif, Matt. v. 14. Afterwards be was used, as in our Bible: "They that be with us are more than they that be with them." 2 Kings vi. 16. Ben was also the old infinitive: "To ben of such power." R. of Gloucester. Be is used as a form of the present subjunctive: "But if it be a question of words and names." Acts xviii. 15. But the indicative forms, is and are, with if, are more commonly used.