bushelage 
bushelage (lmsh'oi-aj), . [< bushel* + -age.] 
A duty payable on commodities by the bushel. 
bushel-barrel (bush'el-bar"el), n. One of the 
halves of a barrel cut in two, containing about 
a bushel and a half : used for measuring oysters. 
busheler, busheller (bush'el-er), . [< bushel 2 
+ -CT-l.] A tailor's assistant, whose business 
is to repair garments. [U. S.] 
bushelman (bush ' el-man), n. ; pi. bushelmen 
(-men). Same as busheler. 
bushelwoman (bush'el-wum"an), . ; pi. bitsh- 
elwomen (-wim"en). [< bushel^ + woman.] A 
woman who assists a tailor in repairing gar- 
ments. [U. S.] 
bushet (bush'et), n. [< bush 1 + dim. -ct. Cf. bus- 
ket, bosket, and bouquet.] A thicket; a copse; 
a little wood. [Rare.] 
A busliet or wood on a hill, not far from the wayside. 
Ray, Remains, p. 251. 
bush-fighting (bush 'fi" ting), n. A mode of 
fighting in which the combatants scatter and 
fire from behind the shelter of bushes or trees. 
I don't like this pitiful ambuscade work, this bush-fight- 
ing. Colman, Jealous Wife, v. 3. 
bush-goat (bush/got), n. Same as bushbuck. 
bush-hammer (bush ' ham " er), n. A masons' 
hammer. ( ff ) A heavy hammer used for breaking and 
splitting stones, (b) A hammer consisting of cutters hav- 
ing rectangular steel plates, whose lower edges are sharp- 
ened, and which are placed side by side and clamped by 
the central part of the hammer. The cutting face is thus 
formed of parallel V-edges, whose number and fineness of 
cut are determined by the number of plates. It is used in 
dressing millstones, (c) A hammer of the same general 
construction as the preceding, used in finishing the sur- 
face of stonework, (d) A masons' finishing hammer, hav- 
ing a rectangular face studded with pyramidal steel 
points. It gives the finest surface of all stone-cutting 
tools. 
bush-harrow (bush'har"o), . An implement 
consisting of a frame to which bushes or branches 
are fastened, used for harrowing grass-lands 
and covering grass- or clover-seeds. 
bush-hook (busb'huk), n. A long-handled bill- 
hook or brush-cutter. 
bushiness (bush'i-nes), n. The quality of being 
bushy, thick, orintermixed, like the branches of 
a bush. 
bushing (bush'ing), . [< bush? + -0l.] 1. 
Same as &nx/i a , 1. 2. A hollow cylindrical 
mass of steel or iron screwed into the rear end 
of the bore of a breech-loading cannon. It 
forms the seat for the breech-block or screw. 
Also called bouching. 
Beveled bushing. See beveled. 
bush-lark (bush'lark), n. A lark of the genus 
Mirafra. 
bush-lawyer (bush'la"yer), n. The common 
name in New Zealand of a species of bramble or 
blackberry, Kubits australis. 
bushman (bush/man), n. ; pi. bitshmen (-men). 
[< bush 1 + man ; in second sense a translation 
of S. African D. Bosjesman.] 1. A woodsman ; 
a settler in a new country, as in Australia. 
2. [cap.] One of an aboriginal tribe near the 
Cape of Good Hope, similar but inferior to the 
Hottentots : so named by the Dutch of South 
Africa. Also called Bosjesnian. 
bushmaster (bush'mas"ter), 11. The Lachesis 
mutus, a large venomous serpent of tropical 
South America, of the family ('rotaluUe. Also 
called sunicueu. 
bushmentt (bush'ment), n. [< ME. buschement. 
bussement, short for ambusliment, < OF. em- 
buschement : see ambush, ambiishment. In the 
sense of ' a thicket,' the word is made to de- 
pend directly on bush 1 .] 1. An ambush or 
ambuscade; any concealed body of soldiers or 
men. 
In the nether end of the hall, a bushment of the Duke's 
servants . . . began suddenly at men's backs to cry out, 
. . . "King Richard." Sir T. More, Works, p. 64. 
Environing him with a bushment of soldiers. 
Balding, tr. of Justin, fol. 6. 
Bush-tit (Psaltrifarns 
2. A thicket; a cluster of bushes. 
Woods, briars, bushmentu, and waters. 
Jtaleiflh, Hist. World. 
bush-metal (bush' met "al), . Hard brass; 
gun-metal; a composition of copper and tin, 
used for journals, bearings of shafts, etc. 
bush-quail (bush'kwal), n. A bird of the fam- 
ily Turnicida; and snperfamily TurnieomoniJia: 
or Hemipodii ; a hemipod. 
bush-ranger (bush'rfo'jei), . One whoranges 
through or dwells in the bush or woods; a bush- 
whacker; specifically, in Australia, a criminal, 
generally an escaped convict, who takes to the 
bush or woods and leads a predatory life. 
732 
bush-shrike (bush'shrik), . ASouth American 
passerine bird, of the family Formicariida- anil 
subfamily Thamnophilinas ; an ant-thrush, espe- 
cially of thegenus Thamnopliilus. The bush-shrikes 
live among thick trees, bushes, and underwood, where they 
perpetually prowl about after insects and young and sickly 
birds, and are great destroyers of eggs. Numerous species 
are found in the hotter latitudes of America. 
bush-tailed (bush'tald), a. Having the fea- 
thers of the tail arranged in the shape of a tuft, 
brush, or bush: applied to the Ratitce, as os- 
triches, cassowaries, etc., as distiiiguished from 
ordinary fan-tailed birds. See cut under cas- 
sowary. 
bush-tit (bush'tit), n. An American oscine pas- 
serine bird, 
of the ge- 
nus Psaltri- 
parus and 
family Pari- 
d(B. There are 
several species 
in the western 
United States 
and Mexico, as 
P. minimus and 
P. melanotis, 
notable for their 
diminutive stat- 
ure and the 
great compara- 
tive size of their 
pensile bottle- 
shaped nests. 
bushwhack- 
er (bush'- 
hwak'er), n. 
[< busW + 
whack, beat, 
+ -erl.] 1. 
One accus- 
tomed to sojourn in the woods, or beat about 
among bushes. 
They were gallant bushwhacker* and hunters of rac- 
coons by moonlight. Irving, Knickerbocker, p. 853. 
2. In the civil war in the United States, a 
member of the irregular troops on the Con- 
federate side engaged in guerrilla warfare; a 
guerrilla : a term applied by the Federal forces. 
3. A short heavy scythe for cutting bushes. 
He [a sturdy countryman] is a graduate of the plough, 
and the stub-hoe, and the bushwhacker. 
Emermn, Eloquence. 
bushwhacking (bush ' hwak ' ing), n. [See 
bushwhacker.] 1. The action of pushing one's 
way through bushes or thickets ; the hauling 
of a boat along a stream bordered by bushes 
by pulling at the branches. [U. S.] 2. The 
practice of attacking from behind bushes, as a 
guerrilla ; irregular warfare carried on by bush- 
whackers. [U.S.] 3. The cutting of bushes 
with a bushwhacker. 
bushy (biish'i), a. [< bush 1 + -i/ 1 . Cf. bnaky, 
bosky.] 1. Full of bushes; overgrown with 
shrubs. 
The kids with pleasure browse the bushy plain. Dryden. 
2. Having many close twigs and branches; 
low and shrubby. Spenser; Kacon. 3. Re- 
sembling a bush; thick and spreading like a 
bush : as, a biishy beard. 
A short square-built old fellow, with thick bushy hair. 
Irving, Sketch-Book, p. 52. 
4. In entom., covered all round with long, erect 
hairs, as the antenna? of many insects. 
busiheadt, n. [ME. bisyhed (= D. beziyheid) ; < 
busy + -head.] Busyness. 
busily (biz'i-li), adv. [< ME. busily, bisili, bisi- 
liche, besiliche, busiliche, etc. ; < busy + -ly 2 .] In 
a busy manner, (a) With constant occupation ; active- 
ly ; earnestly : as, to be bu&ily employed. 
How busily she turns the leaves. Shak., Tit. And., iv. 1. 
(M) Carefully ; with care. 
Therfore thei don gret Worsehipe thereto, and kepen it 
fulle besyly. Mandeville, Travels, p. 08. 
(c) With an air of hurry or importance ; with too much 
curiosity ; importunately ; officiously. Dryden. 
business (biz'nes), .. and a. [< ME. busines, 
busynes, bisynes, besincs, -nesse, trouble, pains, 
labor, diligence, busy-ness ; < busy + -ness. The 
notion that this word has any connection with 
F. besoane, OF. busoif/nc, work, business, is en- 
tirely erroneous.] I. n. If. The state of being 
busy or actively employed ; diligence ; pains. 
By grete besi/nesse [tr. L. dilifientia} of the writers of 
chronicles. Trem'sa, tr. of Higilen's 1'olyehronicon, I. 5. 
2f. Care; anxiety; solicitude; worry. 
Littel rest in this lyf es, 
Bot gret travayle and bysynes. 
llampole, Prick of Conscience, 1. 544. 
Poverte is hateful good, and, as I gesse, 
A ful gret bringer-mit of Itiitijness. 
Chaucer, Wife' of Bath's Tale, 1. ^40. 
busk 
3. A matter or affair that engages a person's 
attention or requires his care; an affair receiv- 
ing or requiring attention; specifically, that 
which busies or occupies one's time, attention, 
and labor as his chief concern ; that which one 
does for a livelihood ; occupation ; employ- 
ment : as, his business was that of a merchant ; 
to carry on the business of agriculture. 
As for your businesses, whether they be publike or 
priuate, let them be done with a certaine honesty. 
Babees Bnok (E. E. T. S.), p. 25(1. 
They were far from the Zidonians, and had no business 
with any man. Judges xviii. 7. 
Having had brought within their sphere of operation 
more and more numerous businesses, the Acts restricting 
hours of employment and dictating the treatment of 
workers are now to be made applicable to shops. 
//. Spencer, llan vs. State, p. 27. 
Specifically 4. Mercantile pursuits collec- 
tively; employments requiring knowledge of 
accounts and financial methods; the occupa- 
tion of conducting trade or monetary transac- 
tions of any kind. 
It seldom happens that men of a studious turn acquire 
any degree of reputation for their knowledge of business. 
Bp. Porteous, Life of Abp. Seeker. 
5. That which is undertaken as a duty or of 
chief importance, or is set up as a principal 
purpose or aim. 
The bitgineRs of my life is now to pray for you. 
Fletcher, Loyal Subject, iv. 1. 
It is the business of the following pages to discover how 
his lofty hopes came to terminate in disappointment. 
Godivin, Hist. Commonwealth, iv. 2. 
Tlie business of the dramatist is to keep himself out of 
sight, and to let nothing appear but his characters. 
Macaulay, Hilton. 
6. Concern; right of action or interposition: 
as, what business has a man with the disputes 
of others? 7. Affair; point; matter. 
Fitness to govern is a perplexed business. Bacon. 
8. Theat., such preconcerted movements and 
actions on the stage as going up, crossing over, 
taking a chair, poking a fire, toying with any- 
thing, etc., designed to fill up the action of the 
play or character, and heighten its effect. 
The business of their dramatic characters will not stanil 
the moral test. Lamb, Artificial Comedy. 
The "comic business" [of "Damon and Pithias," 1571] 
(these stage phrases are at times so expressive as surely 
to be permissible) is of the nature of the broadest and 
stupidest farce. A. W. Ward, Eng. Dram. Lit., I. lift. 
Genteel business (tlimt.), a r&le or roles requiring good 
dressing. To do one's business, (at) To exercise great 
rare ; show great zeal. Chaucer. 
Thei . . . ilon here [their] besynes to destroyen hire ene- 
myes. Mandevttlc, Travels (ed. Halliwell), p. 251. 
(b) To ease one's self at stool. [Vulgar.] To do the 
business for, to settle ; make an end of ; kill, destroy, 
or ruin. [Collon.] 
If a pinch of snuff, or a stride or two across the room, 
will not rfo the business for me I take a razor at once. 
Sterne, Tristram Shandy, ix. 13. 
To make it one's business, to devote one's attention 
to a thing and see it done. To mean business, to be in 
earnest in regard to anything that one proposes or urges. 
[Colloq.] To mind one's own business, to attend to 
one's own affairs, without meddling with those of other 
people. To send about one's business, to dismiss 
peremptorily. =Syn. Trade, Profession, etc. See occupa- 
tion. 
II. a. Relating to, connected with, or en- 
gaged in business, traffic, trade, etc. : as, busi- 
ness habits ; business hours ; business men. 
Business card, a printed piece of cardlward, or an adver- 
tisement in a public print, giving a tradesman's name and 
address, with particulars as to the nature of his business. 
businesslike (biz'nes-lik), a. Such as prevails 
or ought to prevail in the conduct of business ; 
methodical and thorough. 
Busiridae (bu-sir'i-de), n. pi. [NL.-, < Buxirix 
+ -M?<E.] A family of tectibranchiate gastro- 
pods, typified by the genus Husiris: generally 
combined with the Ajilysiida;. 
Busiris (bu-si'ris), . [NL., < L. Susiris, < Gr. 
Bor<7/p<f, name of a town in Egypt, etc., prob. < 
/for f, an ox : see .Bos.] A genus of gastropods, 
typical of the family usirid<e : synonymous 
with Notarelius. 
busk 1 (busk), v. [< ME. busken, prepare, pre- 
pare one's self, get ready, go, hasten (with and 
without the refl. pron.), < Icel. biiask, get one's 
self ready, a refl. form, < bun, prepare (intr. 
live, dwell, = AS. bftaii : see be 1 , boirerl, bond". 
bound*, etc.), + sik = Goth, sik = G. sich = L. 
se, etc., one's self. For the form, cf. bask 1 .] 
I. trans. 1. To get ready; prepare; equip; 
dress: as, to busk a fish-hook. [Old English 
and Scotch. | 
Bnsk't him boldly to the dreadful flght. 
Fairfaz, tr. of Tasso, vii. 37. 
2f. To use ; employ. 
