Part 1154

<hw>Bit"ters</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n. pl.</tt> <def>A liquor, generally spirituous in which a bitter herb, leaf, or root is steeped.</def>

<h1>Bitter spar</h1> <Xpage=149>

<hw>Bit"ter spar"</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>. <def>A common name of dolomite; -- so called because it contains magnesia, the soluble salts of which are bitter. See <er>Dolomite</er>.</def>

<h1>Bittersweet</h1> <Xpage=149>

<hw>Bit"ter*sweet`</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>a.</tt> <def>Sweet and then bitter or bitter and then sweet; esp. sweet with a bitter after taste; hence (<i>Fig</i>.), pleasant but painful.</def>

<h1>Bittersweet</h1> <Xpage=149>

<hw>Bit"ter*sweet`</hw>, <tt>n.</tt> <p><b>1.</b> <def>Anything which is bittersweet.</def>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>A kind of apple so called.</def>

<i>Gower.</i>

<p><b>3.</b> <fld>(Bot.)</fld> <sd>(a)</sd> <def>A climbing shrub, with oval coral-red berries (<spn>Solanum dulcamara</spn>); woody nightshade. The whole plant is poisonous, and has a taste at first sweetish and then bitter. The branches are the officinal <spn>dulcamara</spn>.</def> <sd>(b)</sd> <def>An American woody climber (<spn>Celastrus scandens</spn>), whose yellow capsules open late in autumn, and disclose the red aril which covers the seeds; -- also called <altname>Roxbury waxwork</altname>.</def>

<h1>Bitterweed</h1> <Xpage=149>

<hw>Bit"ter*weed`</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <fld>(Bot.)</fld> <def>A species of Ambrosia <spn>(A. artemisi\'91folia)</spn>; Roman worm wood.</def>

<i>Gray.</i>

<h1>Bitterwood</h1> <Xpage=149>

<hw>Bit"ter*wood`</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <def>A West Indian tree <spn>(Picr\'91na excelsa)</spn> from the wood of which the bitter drug Jamaica quassia is obtained.</def>

<h1>Bitterwort</h1> <Xpage=149>

<hw>Bit"ter*wort`</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <fld>(Bot.)</fld> <def>The yellow gentian (<spn>Gentiana lutea</spn>), which has a very bitter taste.</def>

<h1>Bittock</h1> <Xpage=149>

<hw>Bit"tock</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[See <er>Bit</er> a morsel.]</ety> <def>A small bit of anything, of indefinite size or quantity; a short distance.</def> <mark>[Scot.]</mark>

<i>Sir W. Scott.</i>

<h1>Bittor Bittour</h1> <Xpage=149>

<hw><hw>Bit"tor Bit"tour</hw><hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[See <er>Bittern</er>]</ety> <fld>(Zo\'94l.)</fld> <def>The bittern.</def>

<i>Dryden.</i>

<h1>Bitts</h1> <Xpage=149>

<hw>Bitts</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n. pl.</tt> <ety>[Cf. F. <ets>bitte</ets>, Icel. <ets>biti</ets>, a beam. <?/87.]</ety> <fld>(Naut.)</fld> <def>A frame of two strong timbers fixed perpendicularly in the fore part of a ship, on which to fasten the cables as the ship rides at anchor, or in warping. Other bitts are used for belaying (<i>belaying bitts</i>), for sustaining the windlass (<i>carrick bitts</i>, <i>winch bitts</i>, or <i>windlass bitts</i>), to hold the pawls of the windlass (<i>pawl bitts</i>) etc.</def>

<h1>Bitume</h1> <Xpage=149>

<hw>Bi*tume"</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[F. See <er>Bitumen</er>.]</ety> <def>Bitumen.</def> <mark>[Poetic]</mark>

<i>May.</i>