854 E E F 
BEET, f. in botany. SeeBETA. 
BEE'TLE,y! [ bytel, Sax.] An infeft difiinguifited by. 
having hard cafes or flieaths, under which he folds his 
wings. See Scarabaeus. 
The poor beetle, that we tread upon, 
In corporal fuff’rance finds a pang as great 
As when a giant dies. Skakcfpeare. 
A heavy mallet, or wooden hammer, with which wedges 
are driven, and pavements rammed. 
“ As blind as a beetle (or mole).” Ccecior talpa , Lat. A- 
voir lesyeux ci talon, Fr. ‘To have one’s eyes in one’s heels;’ 
to be very blind, or fee but very little. 
To Beetle, v. n. To jut out; to hang over: 
What if it tempt thee tow’rd the flood, my lord? 
Or to the dreadful fummit of the cliff, 
That beetles o’er his bafe into the fea. Shakefpeare. 
BEE'TLEBROWED, adj. [from beetle and brewed.] 
Having prominent brows. — Enquire for the beetlebrcwed 
critic. Shakefpeare. 
'BEE'TLEHEADED, adj, [from beetle and head.] Log. 
gerheaded ; wooden-headed ; having a head flupid, like 
the head of a wooden beetle.—A whorefon, beetleheaded , 
flap-eared, knave. Shakefpeare. 
BEEVES, f. [the plural of beef.] Black cattle; oxen: 
Beeves, at his touch, at once to jelly turn, 
And the huge boar is fhrunk into an urn. Pope. 
To BEFALL', v.n. [frorn/iz//. It befell, it hath befallen. ] 
To happen to? ufed generally of ill.—This venerable 
perfon, who probably heard our Saviour’s prophecy of the 
cleflruiSfion of Jerufalem, drew his congregation out: of’ 
ihefe unparalleled calamities, which befell his countrymen. 
Addifon.— To happen to, as good or neutral.—No man'ean 
certainly conclude God’s love or hatred to any perfon, 
from what befalls him in this world. Tillotfon .■—To hap¬ 
pen ; to come to pafs. It is ufed fometimes with to be¬ 
fore the perfon to whom any thing happens : this is rare; 
Some great mifehief hath befall'n 
To that meek man. Shakefpeare. 
To befall of. To become of; to be the date or condition 
of: a phr afe little ufed : 
Do me the favour to dilate at full 
What hath befall'n of them, and thee, till now, Shakef 
BEFA'RIA,yi in botany. See Bf.jaria. 
To BEFIT', v. a. [from be and ft . ] To fuit; to be fuit- 
able to ; to become : 
Out of my fight, thou ferpent!—that name beft 
Befts thee, with him leagu’d; thyfelf as falfe. Milton. 
To BEFOOL', v. a. [ from be and fool. ] To infatuate; 
to fool; to deprive of underftanding; to lead into error. 
—Men befool themfelves infinitely, when, by venting a few 
lighs, they will needs perfuade themfelves that they have 
repented. South. 
BEFO'RE, prep, \bforan , Sax.] Farther onward in 
place. — Their common practice was to look no farther be¬ 
fore them than the next line; whence it will follow that 
they can drive to no certain point. Dryden .— In the front 
of; not behind : 
Who fliall go 
Beffe them, in a cloud and pillar of fire, 
By day a cloud, by night a pillar of fire, 
To guide them in their journey, and remove 
Behind them, while the obdurate king purities. Milton. 
In the prefence of: noting authority or conqueft.—.The 
Alps and Pyrenean fink before him. Addifon. —In the pi e- 
fence of: noting refpeCt.—They reprefent our poet betwixt 
a farmer and a courtier, when he drelt himfelf in his beft 
habit, to appear before his patron. Dryden. —In fight of; 
under the. cognizance of: noting jurifdibtion.—If a fuit 
be begun before an archdeacon, the ordinary may licenfe 
B E F 
the fuit to an higher court. Aylijfe. —In the power of: 
noting the right of choice.—He hath put us in the hands 
of our own counfel. Life and death, profperity and de¬ 
finition, are before us. Tillotfon. —By the impulfe of fome- 
thing behind : 
Hurried by fate, he cries, and borne before 
A furious wind we leave the faithful fhore. Dryden. 
Preceding in time.—Particular advantages it has before all 
the books which have appeared before it in this kind. Dry¬ 
den. —In preference to.—We think poverty to be infinitely 
definable before the torments of covetoufnefs. Taylor. — 
Prior to; nearer to any thing ; as, the elder fon is before the 
younger in fucceflion. Superior to; as, he is before his 
competitors both in right and power. 
Before, adv. Sooner than ; earlier in time : 
Before the hills appear’d, or fountain flow’d, 
Thou with eternal wildom didft converfe. Milton. 
In time paft.—I fliall refume fomewhat which hath been 
before faid, touching the queftion beforegoing. Hale _Pre- 
vioufly to ; in order to.— Before this elaborate treatife can 
become of ufe to my country, two points are necelfary. 
Swift. —To this time ; hitherto : 
The peaceful cities of th’ Aufonian fhore. 
Lull’d in her eafe, and undifturb’d before , 
Are all on fire. Dryden - 
Already. Farther onward in place r 
Thou ’rt fo far before. 
The fwifteft wing of recompence is flow 
To overtake thee. Skakcfpeare. 
“ He that looks not Before finds himfelf behind.” 
The man who has not forecaft in the management of his 
concerns, nor confiders the event of things till they befal 
him, will in the end find himfelf (as the proverb fays) be¬ 
hind ; that is, behind-hand in the world. It is commen¬ 
dable, and no more than our duty, to truft to, and depend 
upon, Providence ; but we are neverthelefs bound to be 
vigilant, and to ftudy, forefeeing the confequences of 
things for our guidance. 
BEFORE'HAND, adv. [from before and hand.'] In a 
Bate of anticipation, or pre-occupation : fometimes with 
the particle with. 
Your foul has been beforehand with your body. 
And drunk fo deep a draught of promis’d blifs, 
She ftumbers o’er the cup. Dryden. . 
Previoufiy ; by-way of preparation, or preliminary.— 
When the lawyers brought extravagant bills, Sir Roger 
ufed to bargain beforehand, to cut off a quarter of a yard 
in any part of the bill. Arbuthnot.- —Antecedently; afore- 
tinres.—It would be refilled by fuch as beforehand refilled 
the general proofs of the gofpel. Atterbury. — In a ftate. c-f 
accumulation, or fo as that more has been received than 
expended.—Stranger’s houfe is at this time rich, and much. 
beforehand-, for it hath laid up revenue thefe thirty-fevea 
years. Bacon. —At nrfi; before any thing is done.—What 
is a man’s contending with infuperable difficulties, but the 
rolling of Sifyphus’s ftone up the hill, which is loon before - 
hand. to return upon him again. DEf range. 
BEFQRE'TIME, adv. [from before and time.] For¬ 
merly ; of old time.— Beforetime- in Ifrael, when a man 
went to enquire of God, thus he fpake. i Samuel. ~ 
BEFORT', a town of France, and principal place, of a 
diBri< 51 , in the department of the Upper Rhine, ceded to 
France by the houfe of AuBria, in the year 1648, at the 
treaty of WeBphalia. It was fortified by Vauban. There 
are feveral forges in the town, in which they manufacture 
many tons of excellent iron : three poBs and a half north, 
north-well of Porentrui, fifteen and a half fouth-fouth- 
weB of Stralburg, and fifty and three quarters ealt of Pa¬ 
ris. Lat. 47. 9. N. Ion. 24. 32..E. Ferro. 
To BEFOR'TUNE, v.n. [from be and fortune.] To 
happen to; to betide; generally of good • 
I give 
