bitnoben 
white saline substance obtained from India, a 
chlorid of sodium or common salt fused with 
myrobalan and a portion of iron. Bitnoben has 
been used in India from times of high antiquity, and is 
applied to an infinite variety of purposes. It is regarded 
there as a specific for almost every disorder. 
bito-tree (be'to-tre), . Same as hajilij. 
bitouret, A Middle English form of bit- 
ter '!. 
bit-pincers (bit'pin"serz), n. pi. 
Pincers with curved jaws, used 
by locksmiths. 
bit-Stock (bit'stok), n. The han- 
dle or stock by which a boring- 
bit is held and rotated; a car- 
penter's brace. 
bit-Strap (bit'strap), n. A short 
strap connecting the bit to a short 
check-bridle or to a halter. E. H. 
Knight. 
bitt (bit), n. [Formerly, and still 
occasionally, written bit, but usu- 
ally in pi. bitts, bits, early mod. E. 
beetes; hence F. bittes, formerly 
bites, pi., = Sp. bitas, pi., = Pg. 
abitas, pi., = It. bitte, pi., bitts. Origin uncer- 
tain; connected in sense, and, in the early 
mod. E. spelling beetes, in form, with Sw. be- 
ting = Dan. beding, a bitt, bitts, > D. beting = 
Gt. bating, a bitt ; with compounds, Sw. beting- 
bult = Dan. bedingsbolt, a bitt-bolt ; D. beting- 
hmiten, pi., = G. batingliolzer, pi., bitts (D. iiout 
= Gt. holz, wood). Sw. beting, = Dan. beding, 
means lit. 'baiting, pasturing,' as a horse, by 
tethering it (= AS. bceting, beting, a rope, a 
cable), < Sw. beta = Dan. bede = Icel. beita, 
bait, pasture, = AS. bcetan, bridle, rein in, curb, 
orig. causal of Sw. bita = Dan. bide = Icel. bita 
= AS. bitan, bite : see bait 1 , bite, bit 1 . The ML. 
bitus, a whipping-post, and Icel. biti, a cross- 
beam in a house, a thwart in a boat, are, for 
different reasons, prob. neither of them the 
source of the E. word.] Naut., a strong post 
of wood or iron to which cables are made fast. 
Bitts are fastened to the deck, generally in pairs, and are 
named according to their uses : as, riding-6M, towing- 
bitts, windlass-Mtts, etc. 
bitt (bit), v. t. [< bitt, .] Naut,, to put round 
the bitts : as, to bitt the cable, in order to fasten 
it or to let it out gradually. The latter process 
is called veering away. 
The chain is then passed through the hawse-hole and 
round the windlass, and bitted. 
K. H. Dana, Jr., Before the Mast, p. 73. 
bittaclet (bit'a-kl), . The earlier form of bin- 
nacle. 
bitter 1 (bit'er), a. and . [< ME. bitter, biter, 
< AS. biter, bitor (= OS. bittar = D. MLG. LG. 
bitter = OHG. bittar, MHG. G. bitter = Icel. 
bitr = Sw. Dan. bitter = Goth, (with irreg. ai 
for i) baitrs), bitter, < bitan, bite : see bite.'] I. 
a. 1 . Having a harsh taste, like that of worm- 
wood or quinine. Formerly the word was applied to 
pungent and to salt things, as well as to those to which it 
is now nearly always restricted. 
All men are agreed to call vinegar sour, honey sweet, 
and aloes bitter. Burke, Sublime and Beautiful. 
Hence 2. Unpalatable; hard to swallow, lit- 
erally or figuratively : as, a bitter pill ; a bitter 
lesson. 
But thou art man, and canst abide a truth, 
Tho' bitter. Tennyson, Balin and Balan. 
3. Hard to be borne; grievous; distressful; 
calamitous : as, a bitter moment ; bitter fate. 
Nailed 
For our advantage on the bitter cross. 
Shale., 1 Hen. IV., i. 1. 
4. Causing pain or smart to the sense of feel- 
ing ; piercing ; painful; biting: as, bitter cold; 
' ' the bitter\>l&st," Dryden. 5. Harsh, as words ; 
reproachful ; sarcastic ; cutting ; sharp : as, "bit- 
ter taunts," Shak., 3 Hen. VI., ii. 6. 
Hastings complained in bitter terms of the way in which 
he was treated. Macaulay, Warren Hastings. 
6. Cherishing or exhibiting animosity, hate, 
anger, or severity ; cruel ; severe ; harsh ; 
stern: as, " bitterest enmity," Shak., Cor., iv. 4; 
. "bitter enemies," Watts, Logic. 7. Evincing 
or betokening intense pain or suffering : as, a 
bitter cry. 
Our bitter tears 
Stream, as the eyes of those that love us close. 
Bryant, The Ages, i. 
Bitter ale, bitter beer. See (tie. Bitter-almond oiL 
See almond-oil. Bitter ash, bark, cucumber, etc. See 
the nouns. Bitter principles, a term applied to certain 
products arising from the action of nitric acid upon ani- 
mal and vegetable matters, and having an intensely bitter 
taste. Very many plants contain peculiar, often crystal- 
lizable, compounds, having a bitter taste, which are often 
doubtless the active medicinal principle of the vegetable 
568 
in which they occur. The term is now restricted to the 
brown amorphous bitter extract, generally not of definite 
composition, obtained from many plants by boiling in wa- 
ter, evaporating to dryness, and treating with alcohol to 
remove resin, etc. To the bitter end, to the last and 
direst extremity ; to death itself. = Svn. 3. Grievous, dis- 
tressing, afflictive, poignant. 
II. n. 1. That which is bitter ; bitterness. 
Hi no conne deme [judge] betuene zuete [sweet] and 
byter. Ayenbite of Jnwit, p. 82. 
The sick man hath been offended at the wholesome bit- 
ter of the medicine. Scott, Abbot, I. 65. 
Some bitter o'er the flowers its bubbling venom flings. 
Byron, Childe Harold, i. 82. 
Specifically 2. A bitter medicine, as a bitter 
bark or root, or an infusion made from it. See 
bitters. 
bitter 1 (bit'er), . t. [< ME. biteren, < AS. U- 
terian (= OHG. bittaren, MHG. G. bittern), < 
biter, bitter: see bitter 1 , a.] To make bitter; 
give a bitter taste to ; embitter. [Rare.] 
Would not horse-aloes bitter it [beer] as well? 
Wolcot (P. Pindar). 
bitter 2 (bit'er), . [< Utt + -er 1 .'] Naut., a 
turn of a cable round the bitts. 
bitter 3 t (bit'er), n. An old form of bittern 1 . 
bitter-blain (bit'er-blan), . A name given in 
Guiana to a scrophulariaceous herb, Tandellia 
diffusa, which is used as a remedy in fever and 
liver-c omplaints. 
bitter-bloom (bit'er-blom), n. The American 
centaury, Sabbatia angularls, a gentianaceous 
herb, used as a simple bitter in the treatment 
of fevers, etc. 
bitter-bush (bit'er-bush), n. The name in Ja- 
maica for Eupatorium nervosum, which is em- 
ployed as a remedy in cholera, smallpox, and 
other diseases. 
bitter-earth (bit'er-erth), n. [< bitter + earth ; 
= G. bitter-erde.'] Calcined magnesia. 
bitter-end (bit'er-end), n. [< bitter* + end.~\ 
Naut., that part of a cable which is abaft the 
bitts, and therefore within board, when the ship 
rides at anchor. 
bitter-grass (bit'er-gras), n. The colic-root of 
the United States, Aletris farinosa. 
bitter-head (bit'er-hed), n. A local name in 
parts of Ohio for the calico-bass, Pomoxys spa- 
roides. 
bitter-herb (bit'er-erb), n. 1. The European 
centaury, Erythraia centaurium. 2. The bal- 
mony of the United States, Chelone glabra. 
bittering (bit'er-ing), n. [Verbal n. of bitter 1 , 
.] 1. Same as bittern 2 , 2. 2. The acquiring 
by wine of a bitter flavor, due to the formation 
of brown aldehyde resin or other bitter sub- 
stance, from age or high temperature. 
bitterish (bit'er-ish), a. [< bitter 1 + -ish 1 .] 
Somewhat bitter; moderately bitter. 
bitter-king (bit'er-king), n. [< bitter 1 + king."] 
A shrub or small tree of the Moluccas, Soula- 
mea amara, natural order Polygalacea;, all parts 
of which are intensely bitter and are reputed 
to possess antiperiodic properties. 
bitterling (bit'er-ling), n. [< bitter + -ling 1 .'] 
A cyprinoid fish, Eliodem amarus, of the fresh 
waters of central Europe. It resembles a bream in 
form, but the anal fln is comparatively short(with 12 rays), 
the lateral line is imperfect, and the female has a long ex- 
ternal urogenital tube. 
bitterly (bit'er-li), adv. [< ME. bitterly, bitter- 
liclie, < AS. biterlice, adv. (< *biterlie, adj., = 
D. bitterlijk = Icel. bitrligr = Dan. bitterlig = 
G. bitterlich, adj.), < biter + -lice: see bitter 1 , a., 
and -Iy 2 .~\ In a bitter manner, (a) Mournfully; 
sorrowfully ; in a manner expressing poignant grief or re- 
morse. 
And he went out and wept bitterly. Mat. xxvi. 75. 
Everybody knows how bitterly Louis the Fourteenth, 
towards the close of his life, lamented his former ex- 
travagance. Macaulay, Mill on Government. 
(b) In a severe or harsh manner ; sharply ; severely ; an- 
grily : as, to censure bitterly. 
The Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. 
Ruth i. 20. 
bittern 1 (bit'ern), n. [Early mod. E. also bit- 
torn, bitturn, with irreg. suffixed -n; earlier 
bitter, bittor, bittour, bytter, bitoure, buttour, 
bewter, boter, buture, etc. (E. dial, bitter-bump, 
butter-bump, Sc. buter, butter) ; < ME. bitter, 
bitoure, byttoure, butturre, butor, botor, botore, 
etc., = D. Flem. butoor, formerly also putoor, < 
OF. butor, mod. F. butor, = It. bittore (Florio), 
a bittern, = Sp. bitor, a bittern, also a rail 
(bird), < ML. butorius, a bittern: (1) errone- 
ously supposed by some to be a corruption of 
a L. *botaurus (whence the NL. Botaurus, as- 
sumed as the name of the genus), as if < bos, ox, 
+ taurus, a bull, applied by Pliny to a bird that 
Common Bittern (Beta 
bitters 
bellows like a bull ; (2) also erroneously iden- 
tified by some with ML. Mtorius, biturius, 
which, with a var. pintorus, is explained in 
AS. glosses by 
wrenna, wrcen- 
na (> E. wren), 
and once by 
erdling (> E. 
arling) ; but 
(3) prob. a var. 
of L. butio(n-) 
(> Pg. butio), 
a bittern a 
word supposed 
to be of imita- 
tive origin, re- 
lated to bubere, 
cry like a bit- 
tern, bubo, an 
owl, etc. Cf. 
the equiv. E. 
dial. 'butter- 
bump, Sc. mire- 
drum, E. dial. 
bog-bull,F . tau- 
reau ifetang, 
' bull of the 
swamp,' boeitf 
de marais, G. 
moosockse, '-ox 
of the marsh,' etc. ; and see boom 1 , bump 2 , bull 1 , 
bawl 1 , bellow, etc.] 1. A European wading bird, 
of the family Ardcidce and subfamily liotauri- 
nce; the Botaurus stellaris, a kind of heron, it 
is about 2 feet long, is speckled, mottled, and freckled 
with several shades of blackish-brown, buff, etc., lives 
solitary in bogs and morasses, has a hollow guttural cry, 
and nests usually on the ground. 
As a Iritore bumbleth in the mire. 
Chaucer, Wife of Bath's Tale, 1. 116. 
Where hawks, sea-owls, and long-tongued bittonrs bred. 
Chapman. 
2. Any heron of the subfamily Botaurince. The 
American bittern is Botaurutf muyitans or B. lentiyino- 
sus. The very small rail-like herons of the genera Ar- 
detta, Ardeola, etc., are called little or least bitterns ; the 
European species is Ardetta minuta,: the North American, 
A. exilis ; and there are others. The tiger bitterns are 
beautifully striped species of the genus Tigrisoma, as T. 
brasiliensis. 
bittern 2 (bit'ern), . [Appar. a dial, form 
(through *bitterin) of bittering, < bitter 1 + 
-4ng 1 .'] 1. In salt-works, the brine remaining 
after the salt is concreted. This, after being ladled 
off and the salt taken out of the pan, is returned, and, 
being again boiled, yields more salt. It is used in the 
preparation of Epsom salt (the sulphate of magnesia) and 
Glauber salt (the sulphate of soda), and contains also 
chlorid of magnesium, and iodine and bromine. 
2. A very bitter compound of quassia, cocculug 
indicus, licorice, tobacco, etc., used for adul- 
terating beer. Also called bittering. 
bitterness (bit'er-nes), n. [< ME. bitternesse, 
biternesse, < AS. biternys, < biter + -nys: see bit- 
ter 1 , a., and -ness.'] The state or quality of be- 
ing bitter, in any of the senses of that word. 
She was in bitterness of soul. 1 Sam. i. 10. 
Shall we be thus afflicted in his wreaks, 
His fits, his frenzy, and his bitterness $ 
Shak., Tit. And., iv. 4. 
The bitterness and animosity between the commanders 
was such that a great part of the army was marched. 
Clarendon. 
The bitterness of anger. Longfellow. 
In the gall of bitterness, in a state of extreme impiety 
or enmity to God. Acts viii. 23. Root of bitterness, 
a dangerous error or schism tending to draw pel-sons to 
apostasy. Heb. xii. IB. =Syn. Acrimony, Asperity, Harsh- 
ness, etc. (see acrimony), spite, ill will, malignity, heart- 
burning ; grief, distress, heaviness. 
bitternut (bit'er-nut), . The swamp-hickory 
of the United States, Carya amara. Its nuts 
are very thin-shelled, with an intensely bitter 
kernel. 
bitter-root (bit'er-rot), n. 1. The big-root, Me- 
garrliiza Californica. 2. The Lewisia redivira, 
a plant which gives its name to the Bitter Root 
mountains lying between Idaho and Montana. 
3. Dogbane, Apocynum androsaniiifoliuiii. 
bitters (bit'erz), n. pL [PI. of bitter 1 , ..] 1. 
Bitter medicines generally, as cinchona, qui- 
nine, etc. 2. Specifically, a liquor (general- 
ly a spirituous liquor) in which bitter herbs 
or roots are steeped. Bitters are employed 
as stomachics, anthelminthics, and in vari- 
ous other ways Angostura bitters, a bitter tonic, 
much used in the West Indies as a preventive against ma- 
larial fevers and the like. Originally made at Angostura 
or Ciudad Bolivar, a city in Venezuela, it is now made 
also at Tort of Spain, Trinidad. Prairie bitters, a 
beverage common among the hunters and mountaineers 
of western America, made with a pint of water and a 
quarter of a gill of buffalo-gall. It is considered by them 
an excellent medicine. 
