Bedbtaff. From a French manuscript 
of the i sth century. 
bed-sore 
to change their position. Hcd-nores occur at the 
parts pressed by the weight of the body, chiefly over the 
sacrum ami trorhaliters, and on the cll.ous and heels. 
Also called <l<'i-n!>itn*. 
bedspread (bcd'spred), n. The uppermost quilt 
or covering of a bed, generally ornamental. 
bed-spring (bed'spring), ii. A spring, usually 
of Hpiral form, used in making spring-beds. 
bedstafft (bed'stnf), n. \ stall' or .stick former- 
ly used in some way about a bed, and frequent- 
ly serving as 
a weapon, in 
which sense the 
word most com- 
monly occurs. 
Speeitfeally (.11 \ 
bed-shit. (//) The 
Stick or Stall used 
to spread out the 
bedclothes in mak- 
ing a bed placed ill 
a recess, (c) \ bar 
or post placed at 
earh side of a bed 
to keep tin 
clothes from falling 
off. ((/) One of the 
rods used in form- 
ing the "tent" in 
old fashioned tent- 
beds. 
.Now do I feel the calf of my right leg 
Tingle, and dwindle to th smalln. s> nt a '>/ lit/. 
T. FomM>(T), Alhnma/ar, ii. .">. 
He gives out 
He'll lake a IlfiMaf, or an holy Wand 
And baste you lustily two or three hours 
liefore you go to lied, to make you limber. 
Cartmriffht, Love's Convert, iv. 1. 
His fthe bewitched boy's] bed cloathes would be pulled 
from him, his bed shaken, and his bed-gtaff leap forward 
and backward. C. Mather, Mag. Christ., vi. 7. 
In her hand she grasped the bed-xtaff, a weapon of 
mickle might, as her husband's bloody cox-comb could 
now well testify. Barhaiu, Ingoldsby Legends, I. 2(i. 
U'sed in the colloquial phrase in the twinkling of a bed- 
xta/, in which, when bvdxta/ became obsolete, bedjutut was 
substituted, depriving the phrase of its literal force In 
modern use. 
I'll do it instantly, in ttif t irniktin'i t>f a bf,d-ta/. 
Shadu'ell, Virtuoso, i. 1.] 
bedstead (bed'sted), . [< ME. bedstede (= D. 
l,( i. bedstede = MHG. bettestaf), < bed, bed, + 
stede, place, stead.] A frame or framework, 
more or less elaborate, for supporting a bed : 
most commonly made of wood, but now often 
of iron, and sometimes of brass, 
bed-steps (bed'steps), n. pi. Steps for ascend- 
ing an old-fashioned high bed. 
bedstock (bed'stok), n. One of the two side- 
pieces or bars of a bedstead on which the rungs 
or slats are laid. [Now chiefly used in Scot- 
land, the north of England, and Ireland.] 
bedstone (bed'ston), n. The lower or station- 
ary millstone. 
bedstraw (bed'stra), n. [< ME. beddestrawe, 
bedstre ( = OHG. bettistro, G. bettstroh), bed- 
straw, bed; < bed 1 + straw.] 1. Straw used in 
stuffing a mattress or bed. [In this literal sense 
properly with a hyphen.] 2. (a) A popular 
name of the different species of the genus Ga- 
lii/ni. from the old practice of using it in beds. 
Our Lady's or yellow bedstraw is G. verum; white 
bedstraw is G. Mollugo. See Galium. (b) A 
name given to Desmodium Aparines. 
bed-swervert (bed'swer'ver), . One who is 
false and unfaithful to the marriage-vow. 
She's 
A bed-swerver, even as bad as those 
That vulgars give bold'st titles. 
Shale., W. T., ii. 1. 
bed-thrallt (bed'thral), . [A modification of 
ln-ilriil-, as if < ftcd 1 + thrall.] Same as bedral?. 
bedtick (bed'tik), . A case of strong linen 
or cotton cloth for containing the feathers or 
other materials of a bed. 
bedticking (bed ' tik * ing), n. The material 
from which bedticks are made, 
bedtime (bed'tim), . [< ME. bedtime ; < bed\ 
+ time."} The time to go to rest; the usual 
hour of going to bed. 
bed-tool (bed'tol), n. A block with openings 
or holes corresponding to the shape of a die 
or punch, in connection with which it is used. 
bedub (be-dub'), t\ t.; pret. and pp. bedubbed, 
ppr. lifilubliing. [< 6e-l + dub 1 .] If. To adorn. 
2. To designate ; dub. 
beduck (be-duk'), v. t. [< 6e-i + dcfci.] To 
duck or immerse thoroughly ; submerge. 
To the flood he came, . . . 
And decpc him selfe bedltcked in the same. 
Spenter, V. Q., II. vi. 42. 
beduke (be-duk'), r. t. ; pret. and pp. bedn/:iil, 
ppr. Ix-iliikiiig. [</-! + ilnkt:] Tomakeaduke 
of; style or dub with the title of duke. Swift. 
bedung (lie-dun^''), r. t. [<//<-> + limit/.] To 
cover or befoul with dung. 
ilftlunyi'il Nith e:iliniiii> and tilth. 
'/'. PuBcr, M...I. of Church of Km;., p. 483. 
bedUSk (be-dusk'), r. t. [< 6e-l + flunk.] To 
smnti'li. Cotgrave. 
bedust (be-il,ist'), c. t. [< 6e-l + duxt.] To 
sprinkle, soil, or cover with dust. 
bed-vein (bed'vin), . A tenn o.-easionally 
used in ;/ml. and (i;n'</(as the eipiivulcnl of tlie 
iei-man l.ni/1 i-i/iini/' to denote ; i tint muss of ore 
barring eharneters intermediate lictwi-en ilio.-e 
of a vein and those of a sedimentary deposit. 
bedward (beii'wiinl), ndi; [< /,n' + -ii-m-il.] 
Toward bed. 
In heart 
As merry a when our nuptial day was dune, 
And tapers bum d tn /.../;"//./. Sluil,:, Cor., I. 6. 
Meantime the two yoiuijf Clendililiinus \\.ie eaeti 
wrapped up in bis own reflections, and only interrupted 
ill them liy the signal t" nn.\e '/ -ili/,t, ./. 
.s'n/", \lima>tery, I. xiv. 
bedwarf (be-dwarf'), v. t. [< /-i + <iu-<irf.] 
To make little; stunt or hinder the growth of. 
bedway (bed'wa), . A line of indistinct marks 
ol st nil itieation or pseudo-stratification in the 
granitic rocks. 
bedwind (bed'uind), . [Cf. iritlnciHil.] An 
English name for Coiu'ulntliin .>//,//. 
bedwork (bed'werk), . Work done in bed, or 
as in bed, that is, without toil. [Bare.] 
Bedirurk, mappeiy, closet-war. Shot., T. and C., i. 3. 
bed-wrench (bed'rench), . A wrench, some- 
times ha\nng sockets of different sizes, used in 
setting up bedsteads and in taking them apart: 
little used with modern bedsteads. Also called 
bedye (be-dT), v. t. [< ftc-i + dye.'] To dye; 
stain. 
Fieldes with Sarazin blood bfttiitl' 1 . 
S'lMiutr, Y. Q., I. xi. 7. 
bee 1 (be), w. [Early mod. E. also be. pi. bees 
and been, < ME. bee, pi. been, < AS. bed, also bi, 
pi. bedn, = OD. bic, D. bij, bije = LG. bigge = 
OHG. bUi, G. dial, ode = Icel. by, generally in 
comp. by-flygi, by-fluga ('bee-fly'), = Sw. Dan. 
bi ; also with added -n, OHG. bina, MHG. bin, 
{., OHG. bint, neut., MHG. bine, bin, G. bienc, 
t. (cf. Lith. bitis, a bee); supposed to come, 
through the notions 'fear, tremble, quiver, 
buzz, hum' (cf. bumblebee and drone), from 
the root "bi (= Skt. / bhi, OBulg. bojati = 
Buss, bojati = Lith. bijoti, etc.), fear, which 
appears redupl. in AS. beofian = OS. bibhoii 
= OHG. biben. MHG. bibeu, G. beben = Icel. 
bifa, tremble.] 1. An insect of the genus 
Apis; a hive-bee or honey-bee. See Apis 1 . 
The common honey-bee, A. intUitica, has from the ear- 
liest periods been kept in hives for iU wax and honey. 
It is also found wild in great numbers (now especially 
In North America, where the bee was introduced by the 
European colonist*), storing honey in hollow trees or in 
other suitable situations. It lives 
in swarms or societies of from 
10,000 to 50,000 individuals. These 
swarms contain three classes of 
bees the perfect females or 
queen bees, the males or drones, 
and the imperfect or undeveloped 
females, called neuter*, constitut- 
ing the working bees. In each 
hive or swarm there is only one 
female or queen, whose sole office 
is to propagate the species. The 
queen is much larger than the 
other bees. When she dies, a 
young working bee three days old is selected, Its cell is 
enlarged by breaking down the partitions, its food is 
dunged to royal jelly or paste, and it grows into a queen. 
The queen lays 2,000 eggs a day. The drones serve merely 
for impregnating the queen, after 
which they are destroyed by the 
neuters. These last are the lalwrers 
of the hive. They collect the honey, 
form the cells, and feed the other 
bees and the young. They are fur- 
nished with a proboscis by which 
they suck the honey from flowers, 
and a mouth by which they swallow 
it, conveying it then to the hive in 
their stomachs, wheuee they dis- 
gorge it into the cells. The pollen of flowers settles on the 
hairs with which their body is covered, whence it is col- 
lected into pellets by a brush on their second pair of 
legs, and deposited in a hollow in the third pair. It is 
called bee-bread, and is the food 
of the larvre or young. The 
adult bees feed on honey. The 
wax was at one time supposed 
to be formed from pollen by a 
digestive process, but it is now 
ascertained that it is formed 
by secretion from the honey. 
The females and neuters have 
a barbed sting attached to a Drone. 
bag of poison, which flows into 
the wound inflicted by the sting. When a hive becomes 
overstocked a new colony is sent out under the direction 
of a queen bee. This is called wanninij. Besides the com- 
Honey-bec i ^//J melli- 
Jftca}. Queen. 
Neuter, or Worker. 
beech 
mon tce, A. melti'iicu. there aie the .-1. fatcicata, domes- 
ticate. I in Egypt; the A. luiuttiea, or l.ignrian bee of Italy 
and lire. re. introduced generally into apiaries in other 
lands; the A. f//uV,./"/- of Madagascar; the .1 
2. Any aculeate hymenopterous insect of the 
division M: Ili/i ni or .\nthiifihilii, comprising 
tin- families .l/iiilir and .liiiln-iiiiln; and in- 
cluding, besides the hive-bees of the genus 
-t/ii-i, the mason-bees, carpenter-bees, bumble- 
In -es, etc. See cuts under .lutlm/ilinm, nir- 
/>i iiii'f-li<'<; and Ili/mi iin/iii'i'ii. 3. Aii assem- 
blage of persoiiH who meet to engage in united 
labor for the benefit of an individual oru fam- 
ily, or in some joint amusement: so called 
from the combined labor of the bees of a hive 
as, a quilting-ftte, a husking-Aec, a spelling-Ace, 
etc. [U. S.J 
Now were instituted " quilting !*>*, " and " busk ing be. tit," 
and other rural assemblages, where, under the inspiring 
influence of the llddle, toil was enlivened by gayety and 
followed up hy tin- danee. Irciii'i, Knickerbi.. k, i 
To have a bee In one's bonnet, ti be a little crack- 
I. rained or cra/y ; be Highly or full of whims or uneasy 
notions. [Originally Scotch. I S,,metini heiilly: 
as, to hact the pre*i*lrnti<il >' in m-x A.././..V. to eli. Ti~!i 
the hope of becoming President. 1 1 . s. i To have a 
bee (or bees) in one's head, (n) To be choleric, (^ii.i,, 
i v.-tless or uneasy. Ii. Jtmxim. (c) To be somewhat crazy. 
She's whiles crack-brained and has a bee in her head. 
bee 2 (be), . [Prop. North. E. dial., for reg. E. 
*by or "high (cf. high, nigh, of like phonetic re- 
lations), < ME. by, bye, bit; Im/lii . l>< Ir-. In 7, ///, 
< AS. bedh, betig (= OS. bog, bag = OHG. //<< 
= Icel. baugr), a ring, esp. as an ornament, 
< bugan (pret. bedh), E. bow, bend; cf. bouj%, a 
bend, an arch, and ixiin. a hoop, from the 
same source : see ftoifl.] If. A ring of metal, 
usually an ornament for the arm or neck ; a 
collar or brooch; sometimes, a finger-ring. 
/.' .' or collar of gold or syluer, torques. Huloet. 
2. Naut., a ring or hoop of metal through 
which to reeve stays. See bee-black. 
beebee (be'be), n. [Anglo-Ind., < Hind, bibi, 
< Pers., orig. Turk., bibi, a lady, a lawful wife.] 
1. A lady. 2. A Hindu mistress or concu- 
bine. [India.] 
The society of the station does interfere in such cases ; 
and though it does not mind beebe.es or their friends, it 
rightly taljooa him who entertains their rivals. 
W. II. Ruasell. 
bee-bird (be'Wrd), n. The small spotted fly- 
catcher, Muscicapa grisola, a European bird 
of the family Museicapidce : so called because 
it catches bees. [Local, Eng.] 
bee-block (be'blok), n. [<6ee2 + block.] Naut., 
a piece of hard wood, bolted to each side of the 
bowsprit, 'through 
which the fore- 
topmast-stays are 
rove. 
bee-bread (be'- 
bred), . [Not 
found in ME. ; AS. 
bed-bread, bibredd 
= MHG. bie brdt, a 
Q. bienen-brot = 
Sw. bibrdt, orig. (in 
AS.) the honey- 
comb with the 
honey, < bed, bee, 
+ bread, bread.] 
1. A brown bitter 
substance, the pol- 
len of flowers, col- 
lected by bees as food for their young. See 
bee 1 . 2. A plant much visited by bees or cul- 
tivated for their use, as red clover, Trifolium 
pratense, or borage, Borago officinalis. 
beech 1 (bech), . [< ME. beche, < AS. bece, ear- 
lier bcece, by umlaut for "boce (= OLG. boke, 
boke, LG. baike), a deriv. of bdc (> mod. E. buck 
in comp. buckmast and bucku-heat) = OD. boeke, 
D. beuk = Flem. boek = OHG. Icel. bok = Sw. 
bok = Dan. bog = OHG. buohha, MHG. buoche, 
G. buche (> OBulg. bukui, bukuve, Bulg. buk, 
Serv. bukra, Pol. Bohem. buk, Russ. bukii, 
Lith. bul-it, Hung, buk, bik, beech) = Goth. 
"boka (not recorded), beech, = L. fdgus (see 
Fagus), beech, = Gr. i/or)"* , <fa) of, an esculent 
oak, perhaps orig. a tree with esculent fruit, 
from the root seen in Gr. <ja.yelv, eat, Skt. 
y/ bhaj, share. For the connection with 600*-, 
see book.] A tree of the genus Fagus, natural 
order Cupulifene. The common or European hcecli. 
P. syltalica, grows to a large size, with branches forming 
a beautiful head with thick foliage. The bark Is smooth 
and of a silvery cast. The nuts or mast are eaten by 
swine, poultry, oxen, and other animals, and yield a good 
oil for lamps. The timber Is not much used in building, 
as it soon rots in damp places, but it Is used for piles in 
Bowsprit Dec-blocks, 
bee-blocks i 6, b, foretopmast- 
