Complete Works of Samuel Johnson
Page 389
3. To place upon the back.
As I slept, methought
Great Jupiter, upon his eagle back’d,
Appear’d to me. Shakesp. Cymbeline.
4. To maintain; to strengthen.
Belike, he means,
Back’d by the pow’r of Warwick, that false peer,
T’ aspire unto the crown. Shakesp. Henry VI.
You are strait enough in the shoulders, you care not who sees your back: call you that backing of your friends? a plague upon such backing! give me them that will face me. Sh. H. VI.
These were seconded by certain demilaunces, and both backed with men at arms. Sir J. Hayward.
Did they not swear, in express words,
To prop and back the house of lords?
And after turn’d out the whole houseful. Hudibras.
A great malice, backed with a great interest, can have no advantage of a man, but from his expectations of something without himself. South.
How shall we treat this bold aspiring man?
Success still follows him, and backs his crimes. Addis. Cato.
5. To justify; to support.
The patrons of the ternary number of principles, and those that would have five elements, endeavour to back their experiments with a specious reason. Boyle.
We have I know not how many adages to back the reason of this moral. L’Estrange.
6. To second.
Factious, and sav’ring this or t’other side,
Their wagers back their wishes. Dryden’s Fables.
Báckdoor. n.s. [from back and door.] The door behind the house; privy passage.
The procession durst not return by the way it came; but, after the devotion of the monks, passed out at a backdoor of the convent. Addison on Italy.
Popery, which is so far shut out as not to re-enter openly, is stealing in by the backdoor of atheism. Atterbury.
Backgámmon. n.s. [from bach gammon, Welch, a little battle.] A play or game at tables, with box and dice.
In what esteem are you with the vicar of the parish? can you play with him at backgammon? Swift.
Sources: Swift, Jonathan (231)
Bácksword. n.s. [from back and sword.] A sword with one sharp edge.
Bull dreaded not old Lewis at backsword. Arbuth. J. Bull.
Bácon. n.s. [probably from baken, that is, dried flesh.]
1. The flesh of a hog salted and dried.
High o’er the hearth a chine of bacon hung,
Good old Philemon seiz’d it with a prong,
Then cut a slice. Dryden’s Fables.
2. To save the bacon, is a phrase for preserving one’s self from being unhurt; borrowed from the care of housewives in the country, where they have seldom any other provision in the house than dried bacon, to secure it from the marching soldiers.
What frightens you thus? my good son! says the priest;
You murder’d, are sorry, and have been confest.
O father! my sorrow will scarce save my bacon;
For ’twas not that I murder’d, but that I was taken. Prior.
To Baigne. v.a. [bagner, Fr.] To drench; to soak: a word out of use.
The women forslow not to baigne them, unless they plead their heels, with a worse perfume than Jugurth found in the dungeon. Carew’s Survey of Cornwal.
Bánnock. n.s. A kind of oaten or pease meal cake, mixed with water, and baked upon an iron plate over the fire; used in the northern counties, and in Scotland. Barómeter. n.s. [from βάρος, weight, and μἐτρον, measure.] A machine for measuring the weight of the atmosphere, and the variations in it, in order chiefly to determine the changes of the weather. It differs from the baroscope, which only shews that the air is heavier at one time than another, without specifying the difference. The barometer is founded upon the Torricellian experiment, so called from Torricelli the inventor of it, at Florence, in 1643; which is a glass tube filled with mercury, horizontally sealed at one end; the other open and immerged in a bason of stagnant mercury; so that, as the weight of the atmosphere diminishes, the mercury in the tube will descend, and, as it encreases, the mercury will ascend; the column of mercury suspended in the tube, being always equal to the weight of the incumbent atmosphere. Many attempts have been made to render the changes in the barometer more sensible, in order to measure the atmosphere more accurately; and hence arose a great number of barometers, of different structures. Dr. Halley observes, in the Philosophical Transactions, that in calm weather, when the air is inclined to rain, the mercury is commonly low; in serene good settled weather, high. On great winds, though unaccompanied with rain, the mercury is lowest of all, with regard to the point of the compass the wind blows on. The greatest heights of the mercury are on easterly and north-easterly winds, cæteris paribus. After great storms of wind, when the mercury has been low, it rises again very fast. In calm frosty weather, it stands high. The more northerly places find greater alterations than the more southern; and within the tropicks, and near them, there is little or no variation of the height of the mercury. The rising of the mercury forebodes fair weather after foul, and an easterly or north-easterly wind; its falling portends southerly or westerly winds, or both. In a storm, the mercury beginning to rise, is a pretty sure sign that it begins to abate. But there are frequently great changes in the air, without any perceptible alteration in the barometer. The alterations of the weight of the air, are generally allowed to be the cause of those in the barometer; but philosophers cannot easily determine whence those alterations rise in the atmosphere.
The measuring the heights of mountains, and finding the elevation of places above the level of the sea, hath been much promoted by barometrical experiments, founded upon that essential property of the air, its gravity or pressure. As the column of mercury in the barometer is counterpoised by a column of air of equal weight, so whatever causes make the air heavier or lighter, the pressure of it will be thereby encreased or lessened, and of consequence the mercury will rise or fall. Again, the air is condensed or expanded, in proportion to the weight or force that presses it. Hence it is, that the higher from the sea, in the midland countries, the mercury descends the lower; because the air becomes more rarified and lighter, and it falls lowest upon the tops of the highest mountains. Harris.
Gravity is another property of air, whereby it counterpoises a column of mercury from twenty-seven inches and one half to thirty and one half, the gravity of the atmosphere varying one tenth, which are its utmost limits; so that the exact specifick gravity of the air cannot be determined when the barometer stands at thirty inches, with a moderate heat of the weather. Arbuthnot on Air.
Báron. n.s. [The etymology of this word is very uncertain. Baro, among the Romans, signified a brave warriour, or a brutal man; and, from the first of these significations, Menage derives baron, as a term of military dignity. Others suppose it originally to signify only a man; in which sense baron, or varon, is still used by the Spaniards; and, to confirm this conjecture, our law yet uses baron and femme, husband and wife. Others deduce it from ber, an old Gaulish word, signifying commander; others from the Hebrew נבר, of the same import. Some think it a contraction of par homme, or peer, which seems least probable.]
1. A degree of nobility next to a viscount. It may be probably thought, that anciently, in England, all those were called barons, that had such signiories as we now call court barons. And it is said, that, after the conquest, all such came to the parliament, and sat as nobles in the upper house. But when, by experience, it appeared, that the parliament was too much crouded with such multitudes, it became a custom, that none should come, but such as the king, for their extraordinary wisdom or quality, thought good to call by writ; which writ ran hac vice tantum. After that, men, seeing that this state of nobility was but casual, and depending merely on the prince’s pleasure, obtained of the king letters patent of this dignity to them and their heirs male: and these were called barons by letters patent, or by creation; whose posterity are now those barons that are cal
led lords of the parliament; of which kind the king may create more at his pleasure. It is nevertheless thought, that there are yet barons by writ, as well as barons by letters patent, and that they may be discerned by their titles; the barons by writ being those, that to the title of lord have their own surnames annexed; whereas the barons by letters patent, are named by their baronies. These barons which were first by writ, may now justly also be called barons by prescription; for that they have continued barons, in themselves and their ancestors, beyond the memory of man. There are also barons by tenure, as the bishops of the land, who, by virtue of baronies annexed to their bishopricks, have always had place in the upper house of parliament, and are called lords spiritual.
2. Baron is an officer, as barons of the exchequer to the king: of these the principal is called lord chief baron, and the three others are his assistants, between the king and his subjects, in causes of justice, belonging to the exchequer.
3. There are also barons of the cinque ports; two to each of the seven towns, Hastings, Winchelsea, Rye, Rumney, Hithe, Dover, and Sandwich, that have places in the lower house of parliament. Cowel.
They that bear
The cloth of state above, are four barons
Of the cinque ports. Shakesp. Henry VIII.
4. Baron is used for the husband in relation to his wife. Cowel.
5. A baron of beef is when the two sirloins are not cut asunder, but joined together by the end of the backbone. Dict.
Bárrator. n.s. [from barat, old Fr. from which is still retained barateur, a cheat.] A wrangler, and encourager of law suits.
Will it not reflect as much on thy character, Nic, to turn barrator in thy old days, a stirrer up of quarrels amongst thy neighbours. Arbuthnot’s History of J. Bull.
Bárrel. n.s. [baril, Welch.]
1. A round wooden vessel to be stopped close.
It hath been observed by one of the ancients, that an empty barrel knocked upon with the finger, giveth a diapason to the sound of the like barrel full. Bacon’s Nat. History, № 186.
Trembling to approach
The little barrel, which he fears to broach. Dryden’s Persius.
2. A particular measure in liquids. A barrel of wine is thirty one gallons and a half; of ale, thirty two gallons; of beer, thirty six gallons, and of beer vinegar, thirty four gallons.
3. In dry measure. A barrel of Essex butter contains one hundred and six pounds; of Suffolk butter, two hundred and fifty six. A barrel of herrings should contain thirty two gallons wine measure, holding usually a thousand herrings.
Several colleges, instead of limiting their rents to a certain sum, prevailed with their tenants to pay the price of so many barrels of corn, as the market went. Swift.
4. Any thing hollow, as the barrel of a gun; that part which holds the shot.
Take the barrel of a long gun perfectly bored, set it upright with the breech upon the ground, and take a bullet exactly fit for it; then if you suck at the mouth of the barrel ever so gently, the bullet will come up so forcibly, that it will hazard the striking out your teeth. Digby on Bodies.
5. A cylinder; frequently that cylinder about which any thing is wound.
Your string and bow must be accommodated to your drill; if too weak, it will not carry about the barrel. Moxon’s Mechanical Exercises.
6. Barrel of the ear, is a cavity behind the tympanum, covered with a fine membrane. Dict.
Báshful. adj. [This word, with all those of the same race, are of uncertain etymology. Skinner imagines them derived from base, or mean; Minshew, from verbaesen, Dut. to strike with astonishment; Junius, from βασις, which he finds in Hesychius to signify shame. The conjecture of Minshew seems most probable.]
1. Modest; shamefaced.
I never tempted her with word too large;
But, as a brother to his sister, shew’d
Bashful sincerity, and comely love. Shakesp. M. ado about N.
2. Sheepish; vitiously modest.
He looked with an almost bashful kind of modesty, as if he feared the eyes of man. Sidney.
Hence, bashful cunning!
And prompt me plain and holy innocence. Shakesp. Tempest.
Our authour, anxious for his fame to night,
And bashful in his first attempt to write,
Lies cautiously obscure. Addison’s Drummer, Prologue.
To Be. v.n. [This word is so remarkably irregular, that it is necessary to set down many of its terminations.
Present.
I am,
thou art,
he is,
we are,
&c.
eam,
eart,
is,
aron,
Sax.
Preter.
I was,
thou wert,
he was,
we were,
&c.
wæs,
wære,
war,
wæron,
Sax.
The conjunctive mood.
I be,
thou beest,
he be,
we be,
&c.
beo,
bist,
beo,
beon,
Sax.]
1. To have some certain state, condition, quality, or accident; as, the man is wife.
Seventy senators died
By their proscriptions, Cicero being one. Shakesp. J. Cæsar.
He hath to night been in unusual pleasure. Macbeth.
Be what thou hop’st to be, or what thou art,
Resign to death, it is not worth enjoying. Shakesp. H. VI.
Be but about
To say, she’s a goodly lady, and
The justice of your hearts will add thereto,
’Tis pity she’s not honest, honourable. Shak. Winter’s Tale.
Let them shew the former things what they be, that we may consider them. Isaiah, xli. 22.
Therefore be sure,
Thou, when the bridegroom with his feastful friends
Passes to bliss at the mid hour of night,
Hast gain’d thy entrance, virgin wise and pure. Par. Reg.
Is it not easy to discern what such men would be at. Stillingfl.
To say a man has a clear idea of quantity, without knowing how great it is, is to say, he has the clear idea of the number of the sands, who knows not how many they be. Locke.
2. It is the auxiliary verb by which the verb passive is formed.
The wine of life is drawn, and the meer lees
Is left this vault to brag of. Shakesp. Macbeth.
3. To exist; to have existence.
The times have been,
That when the brains were out the man would die. Macbeth.
Here cease, ye pow’rs, and let your vengeance end,
Troy is no more, and can no more offend. Dryden.
All th’ impossibilities, which poets
Count to extravagance of loose description,
Shall sooner be. Rowe’s Ambitious Stepmother.
To be contents his natural desire;
He asks no angel’s wing, nor seraph’s fire. Pope’s Ess. on M.
4. To have something by appointment or rule.
If all political power be derived only from Adam, and be to descend only to his successive heirs, by the ordinance of God, and divine institution, this is a right antecedent and paramount to all government. Locke.
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Beach. n.s. The shore; particularly that part that is dashed by the waves; the strand.
The fishermen, that walk upon the beach,
Appear like mice. Shakesp. King Lear.
Deep to the rocks of hell, the gather’d beach
They fasten’d, and the mole immense wrought on,
Over the foaming deep. Milton’s Par. Lost, b. x. l. 299.
They find the washed amber further out upon the beaches and shores, where it has been longer exposed. Woodward on Fossils.
1. A messenger or servitor belonging to a court. Cowel.
2. A petty officer in parishes, whose business it is to punish petty offenders.
A dog’s obey’d in office.
Thou rascal beadle, hold thy bloody hand:
Why dost thou lash that whore? Shakesp. King Lear.
They ought to be taken care of in this condition, either by the beadle or the magistrate. Spectator, № 130.
Their common loves, a lewd abandon’d pack,
The beadle’s lash still flagrant on their back. Prior.
To Bear. v.a. pret. I bore, or bare; part. pass. bore, or born. [beoran, beran, Sax. bairan, Gothick. It is sounded as bare, as the are in care and dare.]
1. This is a word used with such latitude, that it is not easily explained.
We say to bear a burden, to bear sorrow or reproach, to bear a name, to bear a grudge, to bear fruit, or to bear children. The word bear is used in very different senses. Watt’s Logick.
2. To carry as a burden.
They bear him upon the shoulder; they carry him and set him in his place. Isaiah, xlvi. 7.
And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand that bare burdens. 1 Kings, v. 15.
As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings. Deuteronomy, xxxii. 11.
We see some, who, we think, have born less of the burden, rewarded above ourselves. Decay of Piety.
3. To convey or carry.
My message to the ghost of Priam bear;
Tell him a new Achilles sent thee there. Dryden’s Æneid.
A guest like him, a Trojan guest before,
In shew of friendship, sought the Spartan shore,
And ravish’d Helen from her husband bore.
Dryd.
4. To carry as a mark of authority.
I do commit into your hand
Th’ unstrained sword that you have us’d to bear. Shakesp. Henry IV. p. ii.
5. To carry as a mark of distinction.
He may not bear so fair and so noble an image of the divine glory, as the universe in its full system. Hale’s Orig. of Mank.