Part 573

His distant friends, he beckons near. Dryden.

It beckons you to go away with it. Shak.

Beck"on, n. A sign made without words; a beck. "At the first beckon." Bolingbroke.

Be*clap (&?;), v. t. [OE. biclappen.] To catch; to grasp; to insnare. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Be*clip" (&?;), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Beclipped (&?;).] [AS. beclyppan; pref. be + clyppan to embrace.] To embrace; to surround. [Obs.] Wyclif.

Be*cloud" (&?;), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Beclouded; p. pr. & vb. n. Beclouding.] To cause obscurity or dimness to; to dim; to cloud.

If thou becloud the sunshine of thine eye. Quarles.

Be*come" (&?;), v. i. [imp. Became (&?;); p. p. Become; p. pr. & vb. n. Becoming.] [OE. bicumen, becumen, AS. becuman to come to, to happen; akin to D. bekomen, OHG.a piquëman, Goth. biquiman to come upon, G. bekommen to get, suit. See Be-, and Come.] 1. To pass from one state to another; to enter into some state or condition, by a change from another state, or by assuming or receiving new properties or qualities, additional matter, or a new character.

The Lord God . . . breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. Gen. ii. 7.

That error now which is become my crime. Milton.

2. To come; to get. [Obs.]

But, madam, where is Warwick then become! Shak.

To become of, to be the present state or place of; to be the fate of; to be the end of; to be the final or subsequent condition of.

What is then become of so huge a multitude? Sir W. Raleigh.

Be*come", v. t. To suit or be suitable to; to be congruous with; to befit; to accord with, in character or circumstances; to be worthy of, or proper for; to cause to appear well; -- said of persons and things.

It becomes me so to speak of so excellent a poet. Dryden.

I have known persons so anxious to have their dress become them, as to convert it, at length, into their proper self, and thus actually to become the dress. Coleridge.

Be*com"ed (&?;), a. Proper; decorous. [Obs.]

And gave him what becomed love I might. Shak.

Be*com"ing, a. Appropriate or fit; congruous; suitable; graceful; befitting.

A low and becoming tone. Thackeray.

Formerly sometimes followed by of.

Such discourses as are becoming of them. Dryden.

Syn. -- Seemly; comely; decorous; decent; proper.

Be*com"ing, n. That which is becoming or appropriate. [Obs.]

Be*com"ing*ly, adv. In a becoming manner.

Be*com"ing*ness, n. The quality of being becoming, appropriate, or fit; congruity; fitness.

The becomingness of human nature. Grew.