Part 869

Bun"kum (&?;), n. See Buncombe.

Bunn (&?;), n. See Bun.

Bun"nian (&?;), n. See Bunyon.

Bun"ny (&?;), n. (Mining) A great collection of ore without any vein coming into it or going out from it.

Bun"ny, n. A pet name for a rabbit or a squirrel.

{ ||Bu`no*don"ta (&?;), Bu"no*donts (&?;), } n. pl. [NL. bunodonta, fr. Gr. &?; hill, heap + &?;, &?;, a tooth.] (Zoöl.) A division of the herbivorous mammals including the hogs and hippopotami; -- so called because the teeth are tuberculated.

{ Bun"sen's bat"ter*y (&?;), Bun"sen's burn`er } (&?;). See under Battery, and Burner.

Bunt (&?;), n. (Bot.) A fungus (Ustilago fœtida) which affects the ear of cereals, filling the grains with a fetid dust; -- also called pepperbrand.

Bunt, n. [Cf. Sw. bunt bundle, Dan. bundt, G. bund, E. bundle.] (Naut.) The middle part, cavity, or belly of a sail; the part of a furled sail which is at the center of the yard. Totten.

Bunt, v. i. (Naut.) To swell out; as, the sail bunts.

Bunt, v. t. & i. To strike or push with the horns or head; to butt; as, the ram bunted the boy.

Bun"ter (&?;), n. A woman who picks up rags in the streets; hence, a low, vulgar woman.

Her . . . daughters, like bunters in stuff gowns. Goldsmith.

Bun"ting (&?;), n. [Scot. buntlin, corn-buntlin, OE. bunting, buntyle; of unknown origin.] (Zoöl.) A bird of the genus Emberiza, or of an allied genus, related to the finches and sparrows (family Fringillidæ).

Among European species are the common or corn bunting (Emberiza miliaria); the ortolan (E. hortulana); the cirl (E. cirlus); and the black-headed (Granitivora melanocephala). American species are the bay-winged or grass (Poöcætes or Poœcetes gramineus); the black- throated (Spiza Americana); the towhee bunting or chewink (Pipilo); the snow bunting (Plectrophanax nivalis); the rice bunting or bobolink, and others. See Ortolan, Chewick, Snow bunting, Lark bunting.

{ Bun"ting, Bun"tine } (&?;), n. [Prov. E. bunting sifting flour, OE. bonten to sift, hence prob. the material used for that purpose.] A thin woolen stuff, used chiefly for flags, colors, and ships' signals.

Bunt"line (&?;), n. [2d bunt + line.] (Naut.) One of the ropes toggled to the footrope of a sail, used to haul up to the yard the body of the sail when taking it in. Totten.

{ Bun"yon, Bun"ion } (&?;), n. [Cf. Prov. E. bunny a small swelling, fr. OF. bugne, It. bugna, bugnone. See Bun.] (Med.) An enlargement and inflammation of a small membranous sac (one of the bursæ muscosæ), usually occurring on the first joint of the great toe.

Buoy (&?;), n. [D. boei buoy, fetter, fr. OF. boie, buie, chain, fetter, F. bouée a buoy, from L. boia. "Boiae genus vinculorum tam ferreae quam ligneae." Festus. So called because chained to its place.] (Naut.) A float; esp. a floating object moored to the bottom, to mark a channel or to point out the position of something beneath the water, as an anchor, shoal, rock, etc.

Anchor buoy, a buoy attached to, or marking the position of, an anchor. -- Bell buoy, a large buoy on which a bell is mounted, to be rung by the motion of the waves. -- Breeches buoy. See under Breeches. -- Cable buoy, an empty cask employed to buoy up the cable in rocky anchorage. -- Can buoy, a hollow buoy made of sheet or boiler iron, usually conical or pear-shaped. -- Life buoy, a float intended to support persons who have fallen into the water, until a boat can be dispatched to save them. -- Nut or Nun buoy, a buoy large in the middle, and tapering nearly to a point at each end. -- To stream the buoy, to let the anchor buoy fall by the ship's side into the water, before letting go the anchor. -- Whistling buoy, a buoy fitted with a whistle that is blown by the action of the waves.

Buoy, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Buoyed (&?;); p. pr. & vb. n. Buoying.] 1. To keep from sinking in a fluid, as in water or air; to keep afloat; -- with up.

2. To support or sustain; to preserve from sinking into ruin or despondency.

Those old prejudices, which buoy up the ponderous mass of his nobility, wealth, and title. Burke.

3. To fix buoys to; to mark by a buoy or by buoys; as, to buoy an anchor; to buoy or buoy off a channel.

Not one rock near the surface was discovered which was not buoyed by this floating weed. Darwin.

Buoy, v. i. To float; to rise like a buoy. "Rising merit will buoy up at last." Pope.

Buoy"age (&?;), n. Buoys, taken collectively; a series of buoys, as for the guidance of vessels into or out of port; the providing of buoys.

Buoy"ance (&?;), n. Buoyancy. [R.]