bunt 
bunt 1 (bunt), n. [< bunt 1 , r. '.] A push with 
the head, or the head and horns. 
bunt 2 (bunt), n. [< late ME. bunt; of uncertain 
origin. It agrees in form with Dan. bundt = 
Sw. bunt, a bundle (see bundle), in sense with 
Dan. bug, Sw. buk, a belly (cf. Dan. bug paa 
et sejl, Sw. buk pa ett send, the bunt (lit. belly) 
of a sail : see bouk 1 ) ; or with Dan. bugt = Sw. 
bugt, a bend, > E. bout, a bend, turn, etc. : see 
bout 1 , bought 1 , and bight.'] The middle part of 
a square sail; also, the middle, baggy part of 
a net, etc. 
In furling, the strongest and most experienced stand in 
the slings (or middle of the yard) to make up the bunt. 
R. II. Dana, Jr., Before the Mast, p. 26. 
bunt 2 (bunt), v. i. [< bunt?, .] To swell out; 
belly, as a sail. 
bunt 3 (bunt), v. t. [< ME. 'bunten, bonten, sift, 
perhaps a var. of bulten, sift, bolt: see bolt 2 .'] 
To sift. [Prov. Eng.] 
bunt 4 (bunt), n. [Perhaps a dial, form of burnt, 
as used in comp. bunt^ear for burnt-ear, etc.] 
1. A smut which infests and destroys the ker- 
nels of wheat; an ustilagineous fungus, Til- 
letia caries, which causes serious damage in 
Europe, but is scarcely known in America. The 
common smut of wheat and oats in the United States is 
Ustilago carbo, and is not called bunt. Also called blad- 
der-brand. 
2. A name sometimes given to the puffball, 
Lycoperdon. 
buntbok (bunt'bok), n. Same as bonteboTc. 
bunt-ear (bunt'er), M. [See bunt*.'] A name for 
the smut of wheat, oats, etc.. Ustilago segetum. 
bunted (bun'ted), a. [< bunt* + -ed%.'] Affect- 
ed with bunt ; containing the parasitic fungus 
which causes bunt. 
Externally the bunted grain is plumper. Cooke. 
bunter (bun'tfer), . [E. dial.] A woman who 
picks up rags in the streets ; hence, a low, vul- 
gar woman. [Prov. Eng. or slang.] 
Her two marriageable daughters, like bttnteri in stuff 
gowns, are now taking sixpenny worth of tea at the White 
Conduit House. Goldsmith, Essays, xv. 
bunter-sandstein (bun'ter-sand"stin), n. [G. 
bunter sandstein, lit. variegated sandstone : 
bunt, spotted, variegated (see bunting*); sand- 
stein = E. sandstone."] A German name for the 
New Red Sandstone. See sandstone. 
bunt-gasket (bunt'gas"ket), n. The gasket 
which confines the bunt of a square sail when 
furled. Formerly called breast-gasket. 
bunting 1 (bun'ting), . [Verbal n. of bunft, v.'] 
1. The act of pushing, as with the horns or 
head; butting. 2. A game among boys, play- 
ed with sticks and a small piece of wood cut 
lengthwise. Halliwell. [Prov. Eng.] 3. A 
large piece of timber; a heavy support for 
machinery or other structures. 
bunting 2 (bun'ting), M. [Verbal n. of bunt 2 , v.~\ 
The act of swelling out, as a sail. 
bunting 3 (bun'ting), n. [Verbal n. of bun$, v.~] 
Sifting. 
bunting 4 (bun'ting), n. [< ME. buntynge, boun- 
tyng (also bimtyle for *buntel, of which Sc. 
buntliu is a dim. form) ; cf. NL. (ML.?) "bitn- 
tinga, [G.] gersthammer," i. e., yellowhammer 
(Henisch, Thesaurus, Augsburg, 1616), from E., 
or else from an unrecorded G. or LG. cognate ; 
appar. named, with ref. to its spotted or speck- 
led plumage, < *bunt, not recorded in ME. (< 
MLG. bunt, bont, 
LG. bunt = MD. 
D. bont = MHG. 
G. bunt), spot- 
ted, speckled, 
variegated, pied 
(perhaps <C L. 
punctus, ML. 
also puntus, 
pierced, pricked 
(dotted), pp. 
of pungere, 
pierce, prick : 
see point, punc- 
tuate), + -ingS. 
Cf. bunting- 
crow, G. bunt- 
drossel, etc.] 1. 
The popular 
name of a num- 
ber of coniros- 
tral oscine pas- 
serine birds of 
the genus Em- 
beriza and fam- 
ily Fringillidai. com-bunting (umimi,, 
722 
One of the commonest in Europe is K. miliaria, the corn- 
bunting or bunting-lark. The yellow bunting or yellow- 
hammer is E. citrinella ; the cirl bunting, E. cirlus ; the 
ortolan bunting, E. hortulana ; the black-headed bunting, 
K. schoenichts, etc. These are all the European species to 
which the name properly pertains. There are many others, 
all belonging to the old world. 
2. By extension, a name given indefinitely and 
indiscriminately to a great number of emberi- 
zine and fringilline birds of all countries, and 
also to some birds not of the family FringiWdce. 
Examples are the lark-bunting, of the genus Plectroptumes ; 
the snow-bunting, P. nivalis; the small American spar- 
rows of the genus Spizella; the American black-throated 
bunting, Spiza americana: the cow-bunting, Molothrw 
pecans; the rice-bunting, Dolichonyx oryzivorus.Zay- 
winged bunting. See bay-winged. Clay-colored bunt- 
Ing, of North America, the Spizella pallida, a small bird 
closely resembling the chipping-sparrow. 
bunting 5 (bun'ting), n. [Also buntine. Origin 
uncertain ; perhaps orig. meaning bunting- or 
bolting-cloth : see bunting^. There is no evi- 
dence to connect the word with G. bunt, varie- 
gated.] 1. A light woolen stuff very loosely 
woven. It is the material out of which flags of all kinds 
are usually made. A variety of bunting'is also in use for 
women's dresses ; it is warm, and drapes well. 
2. Flags, especially a vessel's flags, collectively. 
bunting-crow (bun'ting-kro), . [Appar. < 
bunting* + crow 2 , but said to be a modifica- 
tion of D. bonte kraai : bont, spotted (see bunt- 
ing*); kraai = E. crow 2 ."] The hooded crow, 
Corvus comix. 
bunting-finch (bun'ting-finch), n. A loose 
book-name of numerous American fringilline 
birds of the genera Passerella, Passerculus, Zo- 
notrichia, Spizella, etc. 
bunting-iron (bun'ting-Fern), . A glass-blow- 
ers' tube. 
bunting-lark (bun'ting-lark), n. The common 
bunting, JEinberiza miliaria. 
bunt-jigger (bunt'jig'er), n. Xaut., a small 
purchase used to rouse up the bunt of a sail in 
furling. Also called bunt-whip. 
buntlint, n. Same as bunting*. 
But we'll shoot the laverock in the lift, 
The buntlin on the tree. 
Hynde Etin, in Child's Ballads, I. 297. 
buoyancy 
shapes and kinds, according to the purposes they are in- 
tended to serve : as, can-buoys, made of sheet-iron in the 
form of the frustum of a cone ; spar-buoys, made of a spar, 
which is anchored by one end ; bell-buoys, surmounted by a 
bell, which is made to sound by the action of the waves ; 
buntline (bunt'lin),M. [<6i/<2 + Ke2.] Naut., 
one of the ropes attached to the foot-ropes of 
square sails and led up to the masthead, and 
thence on deck, to assist in hauling up the 
sail. Buntline bull's-eye. See bull's-eye. 
buntline-clotb. (bunt'lin-kloth), n. Naut., the 
lining sewed up a sail in the direction of the 
buntline to prevent it from being chafed. 
buntons (bun'tonz), n. pi. [Origin unknown.] 
In mining, timbers or scantling put across a 
shaft to divide it into compartments. The in- 
terior faces of the bunions and seta carry the guides which 
conduct the cages, and on them are also nailed the boards 
forming the sheathing of the brattice, in case an air-tight 
compartment is required. Also called byats and divider*. 
bunt-whip (bunt'hwip), n. Same as bunt-jigger. 
bunty (bun'ti), a. [< bunt* + -w 1 .] Infected 
with smut : applied to wheat and other grain. 
bunty let, . See bunting*. 
bunya (bun'ya), . [Anglo-Ind., also buniiya, 
banya, and banyan, < Hind, banyd, Beng. bdnya, 
baniyd: see banian^, banyan 1 .'] In India, espe- 
cially in Bengal, a grain-dealer. 
The grain-dealer's shop tempts them to loiter, but the 
experience of previous attempts makes theft hopeless ; 
for the bunm/a, with all his years, is very nimble on his 
legs, and an astonishing good shot with a pipkin. 
P. Robinson, Under the Sun, p. 125. 
bunya-bunya (bun'ya-bun'ya), n. The native 
Australian name of the Araucaria Bidwilli, a 
very large tree, the wood of which is strong, 
durable, and sometimes beautifully marked. 
The seeds are a favorite article of food with 
the natives. 
The nut of the bunya-bunya, so prized by the blacks, is 
reserved over a district SO miles by 12. 
Encyc. Brit., XX. 174. 
bunyon, n. See bunion. 
buoy (boi or boi), n. [First in early mod E., < 
MD. boeye, D. boei (pron. bo'i) = Fries, bui = 
MLG. boie, LG. boje (> G. boje) = Dan. boje = 
Sw. boj = Pr. boie, < OF. boye (mod. P., with 
added suffix, bouee) = Sp. boya = Pg. boia, a 
buoy : a particular use of MD. boeye, D. boei = 
MLG. boie = MHG. boije, boie, beie = Dan. boje 
= Sw. boja = E. obs. boye, < OF. "boye, buic = Pr. 
boia = Olt. boja, a fetter, a clog, < L. boia, in pi. 
boice, a collar for the neck, orig. of leather, < 
Gr. floEiof, /3<feof, of ox-hide, < /3ot>c = L. bos, ox, 
= E. cow 1 : see cow 1 . A buoy is a floating object 
' fettered' at a fixed point.] 1 . A float fixed at 
a certain place to show the position of objects 
beneath the water, as shoals, rocks, etc., tomark 
out a channel, and the like. Buoys are of various 
i. Whistling-buoy. 3, 2. Can-buoys. 3. Spar-buoy. 4. United 
States Life-buoy. 
whMKng-buoys, fltted with an apparatus by which air com- 
pressed by the movement of the waves is made to escape 
through a whistle, and thus indicate the situation of the 
buoy, etc. In the waters of the United States the following 
system of placing buoys as aids to navigation is prescribed 
by law : Bed buoys mark the starboard or right-hand side 
of the channel coining from seaward, and black the port 
or left-hand side ; mid-channel dangers and obstructions 
are marked with buoys having black and red transverse 
stripes, and mid-channel buoys marking the fairway have 
longitudinal black and white stripes; buoysmarking sunk- 
en wrecks are painted green. The starboard and port 
buoys are numbered from the seaward end of the channel, 
the black bearing the odd and the red the even numbers. 
2. A buoyant object designed to be thrown 
from a vessel to assist a person who has fallen 
into the water to keep himself afloat; a life- 
buoy. The life-buoy now in common use in the United 
States navy consists of two hollow copper vessels, con- 
nected by a framework and having between them an up- 
right pole, weighted at the bottom and surmounted by a 
brass box containing a port-flre. This machine is hung 
over the stern of the vessel, and can be dropped by means 
of a trigger. At night the burning of the port-lire serves 
to point out its position. See also cut under breeches- 
buoy. To bleed a buoy. See bleed. To stream a 
buoy, to let it drop from the vessel into the water before 
the anchor is dropped. 
buoy (boi or boi), v. [< buoy, .] I. trans. 1. 
To support by a buoy or as by a buoyj keep 
afloat in a fluid; bear up or keep from sinking 
in a fluid, as in water or air: generally with up. 
There was heat enough in the air to buoy it [water in 
the state of vapor] up. Woodward, Nat. Hist. 
Many a flowing range 
Of vapour buoy'd the crescent bark. 
Tennyson, Day-Dream, The Departure. 
2. Figuratively, to support or sustain in any 
sense; especially, to sustain mentally; keep 
from falling into despondency or discourage- 
ment: generally with up. 
Your good name's perish'd ; 
Not all the world can buoy your reputation. 
Fletcher and Rowley, Maid in the Mill, Hi. 3. 
The recollection of the applause with which he had been 
greeted still bwyed up his spirits. 
Macaulay, Hist. Eng., x. 
It is the poem that keeps the language alive, and not 
the language that buoys up the poem. 
Lowell, Among my Books, 2d ser., p. 125. 
3. To fix buoys in as a direction to mariners : 
as, to buoy or to buoy off a channel. 
The channels [of the Rio de la Plata] are badly buvyed, 
and there are shoals and wrecks on all sides. 
Lady Brasseij, Voyage of Sunbeam, I. v. 
To buoy a cable. See cable. 
II. intrant. To float; rise by reason of light- 
ness. [Rare.] 
Rising merit will buoy up at last. 
Pope, Essay on Criticism, 1. 461. 
buoyage (boi'- or bOi'aj), . [< buoy + -age.'} 
1. A series of buoys or floating beacons, for 
the guidance of vessels into or out of port, etc. 
2. The providing of buoys. 
buoyance (boi'- or boi'ans), w. Same as buoy- 
ancy. Quarterly Sev. [Rare.] 
buoyancy (boi'- or boi'an-si), n. [< buoyant : 
see -ance, -a,ney.~\ 1. The quality of being 
buoyant, that is, of floating in or on the surface 
of water or other fluids ; relative lightness. 
It seemed miraculous that she [the ship] regained her 
balance, or preserved her buoyancy. 
Irmng, Sketch-Book, p. 22. 
2. The power of supporting a body so that it 
floats: said of a fluid; specifically, the upward 
pressure exerted upon a body by the fluid in 
which it is immersed. This pressure U equal to the 
weight of the fluid which the body displaces. If the weight 
of the body is just equal to this upward pressure, it will 
float, as a balloon in the air or a ship in the water; if 
greater, it will sink. 
