Part 571

4. Prevailing style or taste; rage; fashion. [Obs.]

She stained her hair yellow, which was then the beauty. Jer. Taylor.

Beauty spot, a patch or spot placed on the face with intent to heighten beauty by contrast.

Beaux (&?;), n., pl. of Beau.

Beaux"ite (&?;), n. (Min.) See Bauxite.

Bea"ver (&?;), n. [OE. bever, AS. beofer, befer; akin to D. bever, OHG. bibar, G. biber, Sw. bäfver, Dan. bæver, Lith. bebru, Russ. bobr', Gael. beabhar, Corn. befer, L. fiber, and Skr. babhrus large ichneumon; also as an adj., brown, the animal being probably named from its color. √253. See Brown.]

1. (Zoöl.) An amphibious rodent, of the genus Castor.

It has palmated hind feet, and a broad, flat tail. It is remarkable for its ingenuity in constructing its lodges or "houses,\' and dams across streams. It is valued for its fur, and for the material called castor, obtained from two small bags in the groin of the animal. The European species is Castor fiber, and the American is generally considered a variety of this, although sometimes called Castor Canadensis.

2. The fur of the beaver.

3. A hat, formerly made of the fur of the beaver, but now usually of silk.

A brown beaver slouched over his eyes. Prescott.

4. Beaver cloth, a heavy felted woolen cloth, used chiefly for making overcoats.

Beaver rat (Zoöl.), an aquatic ratlike quadruped of Tasmania (Hydromys chrysogaster). -- Beaver skin, the furry skin of the beaver. -- Bank beaver. See under 1st Bank.

Bea"ver, n. [OE. baviere, bauier, beavoir, bever; fr. F. bavière, fr. bave slaver, drivel, foam, OF., prattle, drivel, perh. orig. an imitative word. Bavière, according to Cotgrave, is the bib put before a (slavering) child.] That piece of armor which protected the lower part of the face, whether forming a part of the helmet or fixed to the breastplate. It was so constructed (with joints or otherwise) that the wearer could raise or lower it to eat and drink.

Bea"vered (&?;), a. Covered with, or wearing, a beaver or hat. "His beavered brow." Pope.

Bea"ver*teen (&?;), n. A kind of fustian made of coarse twilled cotton, shorn after dyeing. Simmonds.

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{ Be*bee"rine, or Be*bi"rine } (b*b"rn or -rn), n. (Chem.) An alkaloid got from the bark of the bebeeru, or green heart of Guiana (Nectandra Rodiœi). It is a tonic, antiperiodic, and febrifuge, and is used in medicine as a substitute for quinine. [Written also bibirine.]

Be*bleed" (&?;), v. t. To make bloody; to stain with blood. [Obs.] Chaucer.

{ Be*blood" (&?;), Be*blood"y } (&?;), v. t. To make bloody; to stain with blood. [Obs.] Sheldon.

Be*blot" (&?;), v. t. To blot; to stain. Chaucer.

Be*blub"ber (&?;), v. t. To make swollen and disfigured or sullied by weeping; as, her eyes or cheeks were beblubbered.

Be*calm" (&?;), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Becalmed (&?;); p. pr. & vb. n. Becalming.] 1. To render calm or quiet; to calm; to still; to appease.

Soft whispering airs . . . becalm the mind. Philips.

2. To keep from motion, or stop the progress of, by the stilling of the wind; as, the fleet was becalmed.

Be*came" (&?;), imp. of Become.

||Bec"ard (&?;), n. (Zoöl.) A South American bird of the flycatcher family. (Tityra inquisetor).

Be*cause" (&?;), conj. [OE. bycause; by + cause.] 1. By or for the cause that; on this account that; for the reason that. Milton.