Part 785

Brah`mo-so*maj" (&?;), n. [Bengalese, a worshiping assembly.] A modern reforming theistic sect among the Hindoos. [Written also Brama-samaj.]

Braid (brd), v. t. [imp. &. p. p. Braided; p. pr. & vb. n. Braiding.] [OE. braiden, breiden, to pull, reach, braid, AS. bregdan to move to and fro, to weave; akin. to Icel. bregða, D. breiden to knit, OS. bregdan to weave, OHG. brettan to brandish. Cf. Broid.]

1. To weave, interlace, or entwine together, as three or more strands or threads; to form into a braid; to plait.

Braid your locks with rosy twine. Milton.

2. To mingle, or to bring to a uniformly soft consistence, by beating, rubbing, or straining, as in some culinary operations.

3. To reproach. [Obs.] See Upbraid. Shak.

Braid (&?;), n. 1. A plait, band, or narrow fabric formed by intertwining or weaving together different strands.

A braid of hair composed of two different colors twined together. Scott.

2. A narrow fabric, as of wool, silk, or linen, used for binding, trimming, or ornamenting dresses, etc.

Braid, n. [Cf.Icel. breg&?;a to move quickly.]

1. A quick motion; a start. [Obs.] Sackville.

2. A fancy; freak; caprice. [Obs.] R. Hyrde.

Braid v. i. To start; to awake. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Braid, a. [AS. bræd, bred, deceit; akin to Icel. bragð trick, AS. bredan, bregdan, to braid, knit, (hence) to knit a net, to draw into a net, i. e., to deceive. See Braid, v. t.] Deceitful. [Obs.]

Since Frenchmen are so braid, Marry that will, I live and die a maid. Shak.

Braid"ing, n. 1. The act of making or using braids.

2. Braids, collectively; trimming.

A gentleman enveloped in mustachios, whiskers, fur collars, and braiding. Thackeray.

Brail (&?;), n. [OE. brayle furling rope, OF. braiol a band placed around the breeches, fr.F. braies, pl., breeches, fr.L. braca, bracae, breeches, a Gallic word; cf. Arm. bragez. Cf. Breeches.]

1. (Falconry) A thong of soft leather to bind up a hawk's wing.

2. pl. (Naut.) Ropes passing through pulleys, and used to haul in or up the leeches, bottoms, or corners of sails, preparatory to furling.

3. A stock at each end of a seine to keep it stretched.

Brail, v. t. (Naut.) To haul up by the brails; -- used with up; as, to brail up a sail.

Brain (&?;), n. [OE. brain, brein, AS. bragen, brægen; akin to LG. brägen, bregen, D. brein, and perh. to Gr. &?;, the upper part of head, if &?; =&?;. √95.]

1. (Anat.) The whitish mass of soft matter (the center of the nervous system, and the seat of consciousness and volition) which is inclosed in the cartilaginous or bony cranium of vertebrate animals. It is simply the anterior termination of the spinal cord, and is developed from three embryonic vesicles, whose cavities are connected with the central canal of the cord; the cavities of the vesicles become the central cavities, or ventricles, and the walls thicken unequally and become the three segments, the fore-, mid-, and hind-brain.

In the brain of man the cerebral lobes, or largest part of the forebrain, are enormously developed so as to overhang the cerebellum, the great lobe of the hindbrain, and completely cover the lobes of the midbrain. The surface of the cerebrum is divided into irregular ridges, or convolutions, separated by grooves (the so-called fissures and sulci), and the two hemispheres are connected at the bottom of the longitudinal fissure by a great transverse band of nervous matter, the corpus callosum, while the two halves of the cerebellum are connected on the under side of the brain by the bridge, or pons Varolii.

2. (Zoöl.) The anterior or cephalic ganglion in insects and other invertebrates.

3. The organ or seat of intellect; hence, the understanding. " My brain is too dull." Sir W. Scott.