Part 74

Black"bird*er (?), n. A slave ship; a slaver. [Colloq.] F. T. Bullen.

Black"bird*ing, n. 1. The kidnaping of negroes or Polynesians to be sold as slaves.

2. The act or practice of collecting natives of the islands near Queensland for service on the Queensland sugar plantations. [Australia]

Black"-eyed` Su"san. (Bot.) (a) The coneflower, or yellow daisy (Rudbeckia hirta). (b) The bladder ketmie.

Black Flags. An organization composed originally of Chinese rebels that had been driven into Tonkin by the suppression of the Taiping rebellion, but later increased by bands of pirates and adventurers. It took a prominent part in fighting the French during their hostilities with Anam, 1873-85.

Black Friday. Any Friday on which a public disaster has occurred, as: In England, December 6, 1745, when the news of the landing of the Pretender reached London, or May 11, 1866, when a financial panic commenced. In the United States, September 24, 1869, and September 18, 1873, on which financial panics began.

Black Ham"burg (?). A sweet and juicy variety of European grape, of a dark purplish black color, much grown under glass in northern latitudes.

Black Hand. [A trans. of Sp. mano negra.] 1. A Spanish anarchistic society, many of the members of which were imprisoned in 1883.

2. A lawless or blackmailing secret society, esp. among Italians. [U. S.]

Black Spanish. One of an old and well-known Mediterranean breed of domestic fowls with glossy black plumage, blue legs and feet, bright red comb and wattles, and white face. They are remarkable as egg layers.

Black"wa`ter State. Nebraska; -- a nickname alluding to the dark color of the water of its rivers, due to the presence of a black vegetable mold in the soil.

Blade, n. The flat part of the tongue immediately behind the tip, or point.

"Lower blade" implies, of course, the lower instead of the upper surface of the tongue.

H. Sweet.

||Blanc (?), n. [F., white.] 1. A white cosmetic.

2. A white sauce of fat, broth, and vegetables, used esp. for braised meat.

Blan"chard lathe (?). [After Thomas Blanchard, American inventor.] (Mach.) A kind of wood-turning lathe for making noncircular and irregular forms, as felloes, gun stocks, lasts, spokes, etc., after a given pattern. The pattern and work rotate on parallel spindles in the same direction with the same speed, and the work is shaped by a rapidly rotating cutter whose position is varied by the pattern acting as a cam upon a follower wheel traversing slowly along the pattern.

Blan"ket clause`. (Law) A clause, as in a blanket mortgage or policy, that includes a group or class of things, rather than a number mentioned individually and having the burden, loss, or the like, apportioned among them.

{ Blanket mortgage or policy }. One that covers a group or class of things or properties instead of one or more things mentioned individually, as where a mortgage secures various debts as a group, or subjects a group or class of different pieces of property to one general lien.

Blanket stitch. A buttonhole stitch worked wide apart on the edge of material, as blankets, too thick to hem.

Blast lamp. A lamp provided with some arrangement for intensifying combustion by means of a blast.

Blath"er (bl"r), v. i. & t. [imp. & p. p. Blathered (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Blathering.] [Written also blether.] [Icel. blaðra. Cf. Blatherskite.] To talk foolishly, or nonsensically. G. Eliot.

Blath"er, n. [Written also blether.] Voluble, foolish, or nonsensical talk; -- often in the pl. Hall Caine.

Blaz"er (?), n. 1. Anything that blazes or glows, as with heat or flame.

2. A light jacket, usually of wool or silk and of a bright color, for wear at tennis, cricket, or other sport.

3. The dish used when cooking directly over the flame of a chafing-dish lamp, or the coals of a brasier.

||Bleph`a*ri"tis (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. &?; eyelid + -ilis.] (Med.) Inflammation of the eyelids. -- Bleph`a*rit"ic (#), a.

Blet (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Bletted (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Bletting.] To decay internally when overripe; -- said of fruit.