balderdash 
balderdash (biU'<U>r-dash), . [First in sense 1 ; 
of obscure origin, appar. dial, or slang: ac- 
cording to one conjecture, < Dan. balder, noise, 
clatter (from a verb repr. by Sw. dial, baJtra, 
Norw. baldra, bellow, prattle, = Icel. ren. bal- 
drast, ballrast, clatter; cf. D. LG. balderen, roar, 
thunder), + (lush, repr. Dan. daxke, slap, flap: 
see dash. But the word may be merely one of 
the numerous popular formations, of no defi- 
nite elements, so freely made in the Elizabethan 
period.] If. A jumbled mixture of frothy li- 
quors. 
To drink such balderdash or bonny-clabber. 
B. JitHxon, New Inn, i. 2. 
2. Senseless prate ; an unmeaning or nonsen- 
sical jumble of words ; trashy talk or writing. 
I heard him charge this publication with ribaldry, scur- 
rility, billingsgate, anil liaUerdath. 
Home Tooke., Trial, p. 25. 
= Syn. 2. See prattle, n. 
balderdash (bal'der-dash), r. t. [< balderdaxli, 
.] To jumble and adulterate (liquors) ; hence, 
to mix with inferior ingredients; adulterate: 
with with before the adulterant: as, to balder- 
dash wine with cider. [Rare.] 
The wine-merchants of Nice brew and balderdash and 
even mix it with pigeon's dung and quicklime. 
Smollett, Travels, xix. 
Balder 's-brae, . See Balder-brae. 
bald-faced (bald'fast), . Having a white face 
or white on the face: said of animals: as, a 
bald-faced stag. 
baldhead (bald'hed), n. 1. A man bald on the 
head. 2 Ki. ii. 23. 2. The name of a breed of 
domestic pigeons. 3. A name of the fruit- 
crows (Cotingida:) of South America, of the 
genus Gymnocephalus. G. calvus is the capu- 
chin baldhead. 
bald-headed (bald'hed"ed), a. Having a bald 
head Bald-headed eagle. See eagle. 
baldicoot (bal'di-kot), n. [Also baldecoot, bald- 
coot, < bald 1 + coot; the syllable -'- is mean- 
ingless.] 1. The common coot, Fidica atra. 
Hence 2. Figuratively, a monk, on account 
of his somber raiment and shaven crown. 
Princesses that . . . demean themselves to hob and 
nob with these black baldicoots. 
Kingsley, Saint's Tragedy, iii. 4. 
baldly (bald'li), adv. So as to be bald, in any 
sense of that word. 
baldmoney (bald'mun"i), n. [Early mod. E. 
also baldimonie, baudmoney, etc., < ME. bald- 
wony, baldemoyn, baldemoyne, baldemoin, an 
early name of gentian; origin unknown.] If. 
A name of various species of gentian. 2. A 
name for the mew or spignel, an umbelliferous 
plant of Europe, Meum athamanticum. 
baldness (bald'nes), n. [< ME. ballednesse ; < 
bold 1 + -ness.'] The state or quality of being 
bald, (a) Lack of hair or natural covering on the head 
or top ; absence or loss of hair. (6) Deficiency of appro- 
priate ornament, as in writing ; meanness or inelegance ; 
want of ornament : as, baldness of style. 
Baldness of allusion and barbarity of versification. 
T. Warton, Hist. Eng. Poetry, III. 74. 
baldpate (bald'pat), n. 1. A person with a 
baldhead. 
Come hither, goodman baldpate. 
Skak., M. forM., v. i. 
2. In ornith., a kind of duck with white on the 
head ; a widgeon, Mareca penelope and M. ameri- 
cana. See cut under widgeon. 
baldpate, bald-pated (bald'pat, -parted ), a. 
Lacking hair on the pate ; shorn of hair. 
You bald-pated, lying rascal. Shaff , M. for M., v. 1. 
baldrib (bald'rib), n. 1. A joint of pork cut 
from nearer the rump than the spare-rib, and 
consisting of a rib from which the fat has been 
removed. 
Baldrib, griskin, chine, or chop. 
Southey, To A. Cunningham. 
Hence 2. Figuratively, a lean, lanky person. 
[Rare.] 
Faith, thou art such a spring baldrib, all the mistresses 
in the town will never get thee up. Hiddleton. 
baldric (bal'drik), . [Formerly also baudriek, 
etc., < ME. baiidrik, bawdrik, bauderik, etc., 
earlier baitdry, < OF. baudrei, baldrei, baldret 
(later baudroy and, with added suffix, battdrier) 
= Pr. baudrat (ML. baldringus), appar. < MHG. 
balderich, a girdle, perhaps < OHG. balz = E. 
belt, < L. balteus: see belt.} 1. A belt, or an 
ornament resembling a belt. 
A palmer's amice wrapt him round 
With a wrought Spanish baldrick bound 
Scoff, L. of L. M., ii. 19. 
In particular (at) A belt worn round the waist, as the 
Roman cingulum, or military belt. ((>) A jeweled orna- 
ment worn round the neck by both ladies and gentlemen 
in the sixteenth century. It. Mvrrii. (ct) Figuratively 
428 
the zodiac, fipnvifr. (d) A belt worn over the right or 
left shoulder, crossing the body diagonally to the waist or 
1,,-lim- it, either simply as an ornament or to suspend a 
swunl, da^urr, or horn. Such belts, in medieval and Re- 
naissance times, were sometimes richly decorated and 
garnished with bells, precious stones, etc. 
Athwart his brest a baultlrick brave he ware 
That shind, like twinkling stars, with stones most pretious 
rare. Spenser, F. Q., I. vii. 29. 
And from his blazon 'd baldric slung 
A mighty silver bugle hium. 
Tennyson, Lady of Shalott, iii. 
2f. The leather thong or gear by which the clap- 
per of a church-bell was formerly suspended. 
In the earliest accounts the baldricks of the bells are 
always referred to eo nomine, but later on they are called 
"leathers." N. and Q., 7th ser., II. 495. 
Also spelled baldrick. 
baldric-wise (bal'drik-wi/.), adv. [< baldric + 
ime' 2 .] After the manner of a baldric; over 
one shoulder and hanging down to the waist, 
balductumt, n. [Also balducktum, < ML. bal- 
ducta, curd, hot milk curdled with ale or wine, 
a posset.] Balderdash; trash. 
Baldwin bit. See bifl-. 
name for a bald-headed person. [Colloq.] 
bale 1 (bal), n. [< ME. bale, balwe, balw, baluw, 
balu, etc., < AS. balu, bealu, bealo (bealw-, bea- 
low-) = OS. balu = OFries. balu- t bale- (in comp.) 
= OHG. 6<zto = Icel. 667 (not in mod. G. Sw. 
Dan.), evil, calamity; prop. neut. of the adj. 
found only in AS. balu, bealu (balw-, bealw-) 
MLG. bal- (in comp.), Goth, balws (in comp. 
and deriv.), evil, dire.] Evil; woe; calamity; 
misery ; that which causes ruin, destruction, or 
sorrow. [Long obsolete until recently revived 
in poetry. It occurs especially in alliterative 
antithesis to boot or bliss.] 
For now this day thou art my bale, 
My boote when thou shold bee. 
Robin Hood, in Percy's Reliques. 
Yett still he strove to cloke his inward bale. 
Spenser, F. Q., I. ix. 10. 
Brought hither from their homes to work our bale. 
Southey. 
A touch, and bliss is turned to bale. 
C. Thaxter, The Pimpernel. 
bale 2 (bal), . [Sc. also beal, bail; < ME. bale, 
baile, belle (chiefly northern ; the reg. southern 
ME. would be *bclc, "bel, giving mod. E. *beal or 
"beel, like deafi or eel), < AS. bail = Icel. bal = 
Sw. 6<3( = Dan. baal, a great fire, a blazing pile, 
funeral pyre ; cf . Skt. bhdlas, luster, Gr. tyaUc,, 
shining, white: see ball 3 .] A large fire built 
out of doors and burning freely ; a bonfire. Spe- 
cifically (a) A funeral pile or pyre. [Obsolete and poet- 
ical.] (b) A signal-fire ; a beacon. See beacon and bale-fire. 
On Pcnchryst glows a bale of fire, 
And three are kindling on Priesthaughswire. 
Scoff, L, of L. II., iii. 27. 
bale 3 (bal), n. [< ME. bale, < OF. bale, balle = 
Pr. Sp. Pg. bala = It. balla, < ML. bala, balla, a 
ball, a round bundle, a package, < OHG. balla. 
palla, MHG. balle, a ball: see bain, of whi h 
bale is a doublet.] 1. A large bundle or pack- 
age of merchandise prepared for transporta- 
tion, either in a cloth cover, corded or banded, 
or without cover, but compressed and secured 
by transverse bands, wires, or withes and lon- 
gitudinal slats. The chief articles of merchandise that 
are baled are cotton, wool, and hay. The weight of a bale 
of American cotton is between 400 and 500 pounds, vary- 
ing with the season of production. A bale of cochineal is 
Ii hundredweight, a bale of Spanish wood 2$ hundred- 
weight, a bale of caraway-seeds 3 hundredweight, a bale 
of Mocha coffee 303 pounds, a bale of thread 100 bolts. 
2f. A pair or set of dice. 
It is a false die of the same bale, but not the same cut. 
Sir T. (Jverbury, Characters. 
I have a crew of angels prisoners in my pocket, and 
none but a good bale of dice can fetch them out. 
Middleton, Blurt, Master-Constable, ii. 
bale 3 (bal), v. t.; pret. and pp. baled, ppr. baling. 
[< fcate 3 , .] To make up into a bale or bales. 
bale 4 !, bale 5 t, balet, bale 7 . See baift, bail*, 
bail 3 , bail*. 
Balearian (bal-e-a'ri-an), a. Same as Balearic. 
Balearic (bal-e-ar'ik), a. [< L. Balearicus, 
better Baliaricus (Gr. Ba/uap<Kof, also Ba/ltapiKOf 
and BaAAttj/M/idf), < Baleares, better Baliares, 
Gr. Bafoapeif, the ancient name of the islands 
and of their inhabitants, lit., according to the 
common tradition, the slingers, < Gr. B<U/lE<i>, 
throw, sling.] Pertaining to the islands Major- 
ca, Minorca, Iviza, etc., in the Mediterranean 
sea, called the Balearic islands. Balearic crane 
See Balearica. 
Balearica (bal-e-ar'i-ka), n. [NL., fern. sing, 
of L. Balearicus: see Balearic.] A genus of 
cranes, family Gruidce, including the crowned 
cranes, B. pavonina and B. regulorum. They 
have a fastigiate fan-shaped erect crest of modified yel- 
balin 
lowish feathers resembling a miniature wisp-bi in. The 
head is also variegated with black feathers and red naked 
spaces, and the throat is wattled ; the general plumage is 
blackish, with much white on the w ings. The total length 
is about 4 feet. These cranes occur in various parts of 
Africa, as well as in the islands to which they owe their 
name, and one species has occasionally been found in En- 
rope. The genus has also been named Balearius (Ran- 
nesque, 1815) and Geranardiux (CJloger, 1842). 
balearican (bal-e-ar'i-kan), . [< Batearica.] 
A crane of the genus Balearica. 
baleen (ba-len'), n. [< ME. balenc, baleyne, a 
whale, < OF. balene, F. baleinc, < L. balmna, a 
whale: see Baliena.] If. A whale. 2f. The 
sea-bream. 3. Whalebone in its natural state: 
a name given by whale-fishers. 
The horny ' ' teeth " of the Lampreys, and of Ornithorhyn- 
chus, appear'to be ecderonic structures, homologous with 
the baleen of the Cetacea, with the palatal plates of the 
Sirenia, or the beaks of Birds and Reptiles, and not with 
true teeth. Iluxlry, Anat. Vert., p. 80. 
baleen-knife (ba-len'nif ), n. A double-handled 
knife with a curved blade, used for splitting 
whalebone. 
bale-fire (bfil'fir), . [< ME. balefyrc, < AS. 
balfyr, < b 
ularly, the fire of a funeral pile. 
The festival [of the death of the earth in winter] was 
. . . kept by the lighting of great fires, called bale-fires. 
Keanj, Prim. Belief, p. 227. 
2. A beacon- or signal-fire. 
Sweet Teviot ! on thy silver tide 
The glaring bale-fires blaze no more. 
Scott, L. of L. M., iv. 1. 
baleful (bal'ful), a. [< ME. baleful, baluful, < 
AS. bealufull, bealofull, < bealu, bealo, bale, + 
-full, -fill: see bale! and -ful.] 1. Full of 
hurtful or malign influence ; destructive ; per- 
nicious; noxious; direful; deadly: as, "baleful 
breath," Dryden; "baleful drugs," Milton, Co- 
mus, 1. 225. 
And when he weeps, as you think for his vices, 
'Tis but as killing drops from baleful yew-trees, 
That rot their honest neighbour. 
Fletcher, Valentinian, iii. 1. 
This lustful, treacherous, and baleful woman. 
Edinburgh Rev. 
He reminded him that the baleful horoscope of Abdal- 
lah had predicted the downfall of Granada. 
Prexcott, Ferd. and Isa., I. xiv. 
2. Fraught with bale ; full of calamity or mis- 
fortune; disastrous; wretched; miserable. 
Ah ! lucklesse babe, borne under cruel starre, 
And in dead parents balefull ashes bred. 
Spenser, F. Q., II. il. 2. 
That baleful burning night, 
When subtle Greeks surpris'd King Priam's Troy. 
Shalt., Tit. And., v. 3. 
balefully (bal'ful-i), adv. [ME. balfullij, baill- 
fully; < baleful + -ly 2 .] In a baleful manner. 
(a) Calamitously; perniciously; noxiously. (6) 
Miserably ; unhappily ; painfully, 
balefulness (bal'ful-nes), n. The state or 
quality of being baleful. 
Their blisse he turn'd to bale fulness?. 
Siienser, F. Q., II. xii. 83. 
bale-hook (bal'huk), n. I. A large hook sus- 
pended from the chain of a crane or winch, for 
use in lifting bales. 2. A smaller hand-hook 
used in handling unwieldy bales, boxes, and 
packages. 
baleine (ba-lan'), n. [F., lit. a whale: see 
baleen.] A movable platform for the support 
of dumping-wagons, used in France in building 
railroad embankments. 
baleist, . [Early mod. E. balys, < ME. baleys, 
baleis, < OF. baleis, bald, mod. F. balai, a 
broom, besom, dial, also broom, genesta; cf. 
Bret, balaen, a broom, besom, balaii, broom, 
genesta.] A rod; a twig. 
baleless (bal'les), . [< ME. baleles, < AS. bealu- 
leds, beaMeds, < bealu, bealo, bale, 4- -leas, -less : 
see bale 1 and -less.] Harmless ; innocent. 
baler 1 (ba'ler), 11. [< bales, v ., + -er\] One 
who bales, or makes up bales or bundles. 
baler 2 , . See bailer^. 
balest, n. A Middle English form of balas 1 . 
balestert, See balisteri. 
bale-tie (bal'tl), . A contrivance for joining 
the ends of the straps used in baling cotton, 
hay, etc. 
baliki (ba-le'ke), n. [Russ.] The back-pieces 
of the sturgeon, salted and smoked in Kussia 
for home use and exportation. 
balint, n. [Irreg. < L. balin, ace. of balis, < Gr. 
ficMir, an unknown plant: see def.] An un- 
known plant, supposed to have wonderful me- 
dicinal virtues. N. E. D. 
Having th' herbe balin in his wounds infus'd. 
Great Britaines Troy (1609> 
