bate 
3f. To weaken; impair tlio strength of. 
473 
These griefs and losses have so httli-it me, 
That I Khali hardly spare a pound of BflHL 
filmk., M. of V., lih X. 
4f. To lessen or decrease in 
estimation, etc.; lower; reduce. 
This sour informer, this l't<- '//..'////</ spy, 
This canker that eats up Love's tender spring, 
This carry-tale, disscntious .Jealousy. 
Shak., V. and A., 
: batefult (bat'ful), a. [< bates + -/?.] Con- 
am, i int, w tentious; given to strife; exciting contention. 
It did Imti'ful question fntme. Sir /'. Si'lu- u. 
Who bain* mine honour, shall not know my com. 
Shot., T. of A., ill. 3. batelesst (bat'les), a. [< bate* + -?.] Not to 
6. To strike off; deduct; abate. be abated; not to be dulled or blunted. [Rare.] 
There is twelve shillings to pay, and, as I am a true Hajily that name of "chaste" unhappily set 
knight, I will not half a penny. H'ls tatlltm edge on his keen aii|x.-tite. 
Beau, and Ft., Knight of Burning Pestle, ill. 2. filmic., Lucrece, 1. 9. 
I would rather da(e him a few strokes of his oar, than bateleur (bat'e-ler), n. [Appar. a particular 
not employ an honest man that has i , n wounded in the application of F. bateleur, a juggler, buffoon.] 
A name of an African eagle, the Ifelotarswi 
ecaudatus. 
t. [< ML. as if 'battllatus, pp. 
assumed from OF. butnilliir, or 
E. battel, battle, fortify: see battle'*.] Milit., \o 
breath (see phrases, below) ; to bate one's or a f rfif ' mftk< ; defei / 8ib i e ag a dwelling-house, 
person's curiosity.- 7f. To rob or depnve of. baten {entt (bat'ment), n. [By apheresis for 
abatement : see bate 2 and -meat.] Abatement ; 
diminution; lessening; specifically, among car- 
penters, the portion to be cut off from a piece 
of timber to bring it to a desired length, 
batement-light (oat'ment-lit), n. In arch., a 
vertical light in the upper part of a window of 
Queen's service. .!''< li.,nn, sir Roger at Vauxhall. 
I bate no Jot of trust that this noble trial of self-govern- 
ment will succeed. IP. /'Al/ii/i*, Speeches, p. S2I>. , ^ 
6. To lessen in force or intensity; moderate; (> f - ' 
diminish: as, to bate one's breath, or with bated 
When baseness is exalted, do not bate 
The place its honour for the person's sake. 
6. Herbert, Church Porch, xlv. 
8f. To leave out ; except ; bar. 
Bate me the king, and, be he Hesh and blood, 
Me lies who said it. 
Beau, and Fl., Maid's Tragedy, i. 1. 
To bate Oft, to make a reduction in or an abatement from ; 
lessen or moderate. 
Abate thy speed, and I will bate fi/mine. 
Dryden, tr. of Ovid's Metamorph., i. 
To bate one'a breath, to check one's breathing ; breathe 
restrainedly, as from fear, humility, or deference. With 
bated breath, with subdued or restrained breathing, as 
from fear or awe. 
Shall I bend low. and in a bond-mans key, 
With bated breath and whispring humbleness, 
Say this? Shak., M. of V., i. 3 (1623). 
H.t intrans. To decrease or fall away in size, 
amount, force, estimate, etc. 
Bardolph, am I not fallen away vilely since this last 
action? do I not bate! do I not dwindle ? 
Shak., 1 Hen. IV., Hi. S. 
I know 'twas this which made the envy and pride 
Of the great Roman blood bate and give way 
To my election. B. Jonson, Catiline, ill. 1. 
bate 3 t (bat), v. i. [< ME. baten, by apheresis for 
debaten, debate: see debate 1 , v.] To contend; 
strive; quarrel. 
the Perpendic- 
ular style, of 
which the nor- 
mal rectangular 
form at the bot- 
tom is altered 
or abated so as 
to fit in the 
arched head of 
a light below. 
Compare angel- 
light. 
batestone (baf- 
ston),n. [<6ote 6 
+ stone.'] A 
curved scour- 
ing-stone used 
in bating hides. 
When the hides have been properly worked with the 
batestone, they are placed in a wash-wheel and worked 
for about twenty minutes. C. T. Davit, Leather, p. 686. 
bath 
bath' (bath, pi. IHITH/), n. [< ME. bath, < AS. 
forth, pi. bathu, = OS. hiith = 1). hail = OHG. 
MIK!. (!. hml, bath, = Ifr]. badh = Sw. Dan. 
bad; prob., with formative -th (-/I), from the 
verb re|>ivseiited by ()H(i. hnjan, M1KJ. IMIJI-H, 
li/i-n, <!. hiihi-n = LG. baen, foment, = ME. 6<e- 
ii-' a. cleanse, prob. = L. forerc, foment: see/o- 
inriit.] 1. A washing of the body in, or an ex- 
posure of it to the action of, water or other 
fluid agent, for cleansing, refreshment, medi- 
cal treatment, ete. : as, to take a bath; to ad- 
minister a bath to a patient. 2. A provision 
or arrangement for bathing: as, to prepare a 
linth ; a not or cold bath; a va,por-bath ; an 
electric bnth. Time lire many kinds of baths, all nf 
which may ! divided into four classes: (a) according to 
the- mcdiuin in u hi. h the body is immersed, a- 
or mud-bath, a annpregned-air bath, a medicated or min- 
eral bath, etc. ; (b) according to manner of application or 
use, as a ylunge-, nhuwer-, vapor-, dmtche-, xjtra]/-, or CTTO- 
iinth, etc.; (c) according to the parts bathed, as a 
foot-, tilz-, or eye-lath, etc.; (</) according to temperature, 
as a hot, tepid, warm, or add btiih. 
3. A vessel for holding water in which to 
plunge, wash, or bathe the body. 4. More gen- 
erally, an apartment or apparatus by means of 
which the body, or a part of it, may be bathed 
in any medium differing in nature or temper- 
ature from its natural medium. 5. An edifice 
containing apartments fitted up for bathing; a 
bath-house ; particularly, in the plural, one of 
the elaborate bathing establishments of the 
Head of Perpendicular Window. 
a, ft, a, batement-lights; f>, f>, angel-lights. 
bate 3 t (bat), n. [< ME. bate, bat, by apheresis bat-fish (bat'fish), n. [< baft 
for debate, debat, debate : see debate 1 , .] Con- 
tention; strife; debate. 
Breeds no bate with telling. Shak., 2 Hn. IV., U. 4. 
bate 4 t (bat), v. and n. Obsolete and less cor- 
rect spelling of bait 1 . 
bate 5 (bat), v. t. ; pret. and pp. bated, ppr. bat- 
ing. [Prob. a particular use of bate*, properly 
spelled bait; cf. Sw. beta, tan, bait, = Gf. bei- 
zen, steep in lye, macerate, bait, lit. cause to 
bite : see bait 1 .] 1. To steep, as a hide, in an 
alkaline lye. See bate 5 , n. 2. Injute-manuf.. 
to separate (the raw material) into layers, and 
then soften by sprinkling with oil and water. 
bate 5 (bat), . [< bate 5 , v.] The alkaline solu- 
tion in which hides are steeped after being 
limed, in order to remove or neutralize the lime. 
bate 6 t. Obsolete or dialectal preterit of bite. 
Yet there the steel stayd not, but inly bate , 
Deepe in his Hesh, and opened wide a red floodgate. 
Spenser, F. Q., II. v. 7. 
bate 7 (bat), n. [Also bait; origin unknown. 
Hence cross-bated.'] The grain of wood or 
stone. [Scotch.] 
bate 8 ^ n. [< LL. batus, < Gr. Bfcof, < Heb. 
bath : see bath^.] Same as bath*. 
batea (bat'e-a), n. [Sp. Pg.] A wooden ves- 
sel in the form of a very flat hollow cone, 
about 20 inches in diameter and 2 or 3 inches 
deep, used by Mexican and Calif ornian miners 
for washing auriferous sands and pulverized 
ores of various kinds. 
In the rubbish which was thrown out of the old mine, a 
comfortable subsistence is gained by washing in baUas. 
Mowry, Arizona and Sonora, p. 44. 
1. A 
fish of the family Maltheida: (which see). The 
best-known species is Malthe venpertUio. It has a heart- 
Dorsal view. 
Bat-fish (Mallht vesftrtilio). 
shaped trunk, produced anteriorly in a prolonged snout 
a short coniform tail, a small inferior mouth, and a rostral 
tentacle under the snout. It inhabits the Atlantic along 
the southern coast of the United States. 
2. A name of the flying-fish or flying-robin, 
Cephalaeanthus volttans. 
bat-fowler (bat'fou'ler), n. [< ME. battfowl- 
ere, < battfowlen: see bat-fowling.] 1. One 
who practises bat-fowling. 2f. A swindler. 
[Slang.1 
bateau, batteau (ba-to'), n. ; pi. bateaux, bat- bat-fowling (bat'fouling), n. [< ME. battefowl- 
teaujc (-toz'). [< F. bateau, < OF. batel = Pr. 
batelh = Sp. Pg. batel = It. battello, < ML. ba- 
tellus, dim. of ML. batus, battus (> It. batto), 
a boat, prob. < AS. bat, a boat : see boat.] 1. 
A light boat for river navigation, long in pro- 
portion to its breadth, and wider in the middle 
than at the ends. 2. A pontoon of a floating 
bridge. 
bateau-bridge (ba-to'brij), n. Milit., a floating batfult (bat'ful), a. [< bat- in battle^, batten*, 
bridge supported by bateaux or boats. etc., + -ful; possibly, like batirell, a perversion 
bateaux, . Plural of bateau. of battle or battel, fertile: see battle 3 , a.] Rich; 
bate-breedingt (bat'bre'ding), a. [< bate* + fertile, as land : as, "batful pastures," Dray ton, 
bm-iliity, ppr. of breed.] Breeding strife. Polyolbion, iii. 
Plan of the Baths of Caracalla, Rome. 
ancients, as the Baths of Caracalla at Rome. 
See therm<e. 6. In science and the arts, any 
vessel containing a liquid for treating any ob- 
ject by immersion, (a) In photog., the vessel in which 
a collodionized plate is submitted to the action of a solu- 
tion of nitrate of silver, or the tray in which an exposed 
dry plate is immersed in the developing solution, (ft) In 
etching, the pan of acid into which the plate is plunged to 
be bitten. 
7. An arrangement or preparation for immers- 
ing anything, as the silver-bath in photography. 
8. In chem., an apparatus for modifvmg and 
regulating the heat in various chemical pro- 
cesses, by interposing a quantity of sand, wa- 
ter, or other substance between the fire and the 
vessel intended to be heated, when a liquid bath 
of a higher temperature than 212 is required, saturated 
solutions are employed in which the boiling-point is 
higher than that of water. Companions of the Bath, 
the third or lowest class of the members of the order of 
the Bath. Compressed-air bath, a bath consisting in 
remaining for a longer or shorter time in a chamber filled 
with compressed air. Such baths have been recommended 
as useful in certain diseases, in which an increased expan- 
sive force is required to cause the air to inflate the more 
delicate air-passages of the lungs. Dung-bath, a bath 
used in calico-printing. See dunging. -^Knights of the 
Bath, an order of knighthood supposed to have been insti- 
tuted at the coronation of Henry IV. In 1399. It received 
this name from the fact that the candidates for the honor 
were put into a bath the preceding evening, to denote a 
purification or absolution from all former stain, and that 
they were now to begin a new life. The present order of 
the Bath, however, was instituted by George I. in 1725, as 
a military order, consisting, exclusive of the sovereign, of 
a grand master and thirty-six companions. In 1816 the 
order was greatly extended, and in 1847 it was opened to 
civilians. It is now composed of three classes, viz. : mili- 
tary and civil knights grand-crosses, O. C. B. ; knights 
commanders, K. C. B. ; and knights companions, C. B. The 
ynge, < battfowlen, snare birds, < butte, by some 
supposed to refer to the bat or stick on which 
the nets were fastened, + fowlen, v. , fowl. The 
first element is now often associated with 6a( 2 .] 
A mode of catching birds at night by holding 
a torch or other light, and beating the bushes 
or trees where they roost. The birds fly toward 
the light, and are caught with nets or otherwise. 
I. Badge worn suspended from the collarof a knightof the Bath. 
3. Star of the Grand Cross. 
badge (fig. 1) is a golden Maltese cross of eight points, 
with the lion of England in the four principal angles, and 
having in a circle in the center the rose, thistle, and sham- 
rock (representing respectively England, Scotland, and Ire- 
laud), between three imperial crowns ; motto, Tria juncta 
