Part 615

Ber*mu"da grass` (&?;). (Bot.) A kind of grass (Cynodon Dactylon) esteemed for pasture in the Southern United States. It is a native of Southern Europe, but is now wide-spread in warm countries; -- called also scutch grass, and in Bermuda, devil grass.

Ber"na*cle (&?;), n. See Barnacle.

Ber"na fly` (&?;). (Zoöl.) A Brazilian dipterous insect of the genus Trypeta, which lays its eggs in the nostrils or in wounds of man and beast, where the larvæ do great injury.

Ber"nar*dine (&?;), a. Of or pertaining to St. Bernard of Clairvaux, or to the Cistercian monks. -- n. A Cistercian monk.

Ber*nese" (&?;), a. Pertaining to the city or canton of Bern, in Switzerland, or to its inhabitants. -- n. sing. & pl. A native or natives of Bern.

Ber"ni*cle (&?;), n. [OE. bernak, bernacle; cf. OF. bernac; prob. fr. LL. bernacula for hibernicula, bernicula, fr. Hibernia; the birds coming from Hibernia or Ireland. Cf. 1st Barnacle.] A bernicle goose. [Written also barnacle.]

Bernicle goose (Zoöl.), a goose (Branta leucopsis), of Arctic Europe and America. It was formerly believed that it hatched from the cirripeds of the sea (Lepas), which were, therefore, called barnacles, goose barnacles, or Anatifers. The name is also applied to other related species. See Anatifa and Cirripedia.

Ber*nouse" (&?;), n. Same as Burnoose.

Be*rob" (&?;), v. t. To rob; to plunder. [Obs.]

||Ber"o*e (&?;), n. [L. Beroe, one of the Oceanidæ Gr. &?;: cf. F. beroé.] (Zoöl.) A small, oval, transparent jellyfish, belonging to the Ctenophora.

Ber*ret"ta (&?;), n. [It., fr. LL. birrettum, berretum, a cap, dim. of L. birrus, birrum, a cloak to keep off rain, cf. Gr. &?; tawny, red: cf. Sp. birreta, Pg. barrete, and E. Barret.] A square cap worn by ecclesiastics of the Roman Catholic Church. A cardinal's berretta is scarlet; that worn by other clerics is black, except that a bishop's is lined with green. [Also spelt beretta, biretta, etc.]

Ber"ried (&?;), a. Furnished with berries; consisting of a berry; baccate; as, a berried shrub.

Ber"ry (&?;), n.; pl. Berries. [OE. berie, AS. berie, berige; akin to D. bes, G. beere, OS. and OHG. beri, Icel. ber, Sw. bär, Goth. basi, and perh. Skr. bhas to eat.] 1. Any small fleshy fruit, as the strawberry, mulberry, huckleberry, etc.

2. (Bot.) A small fruit that is pulpy or succulent throughout, having seeds loosely imbedded in the pulp, as the currant, grape, blueberry.

3. The coffee bean.

4. One of the ova or eggs of a fish. Travis.

In berry, containing ova or spawn.

Ber"ry, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Berried (&?;); p. pr. & vb. n. Berrying.] To bear or produce berries.

Ber"ry, n. [AS. beorh. See Barrow a hill.] A mound; a hillock. W. Browne.

Ber"ry*ing, n. A seeking for or gathering of berries, esp. of such as grow wild.

{ Ber"serk (&?;), Ber"serk*er (&?;), } n. [Icel. berserkr.] 1. (Scand. Myth.) One of a class of legendary heroes, who fought frenzied by intoxicating liquors, and naked, regardless of wounds. Longfellow.

2. One who fights as if frenzied, like a Berserker.

Bers"tle (&?;), n. See Bristle. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Berth (&?;), n. [From the root of bear to produce, like birth nativity. See Birth.] [Also written birth.]

1. (Naut.) (a) Convenient sea room. (b) A room in which a number of the officers or ship's company mess and reside. (c) The place where a ship lies when she is at anchor, or at a wharf.

2. An allotted place; an appointment; situation or employment. "He has a good berth." Totten.

3. A place in a ship to sleep in; a long box or shelf on the side of a cabin or stateroom, or of a railway car, for sleeping in.

Berth deck, the deck next below the lower gun deck. Ham. Nav. Encyc. -- To give (the land or any object) a wide berth, to keep at a distance from it.