Words whose third letter is B

Abbreviation(n.) The form to which a word or phrase is reduced by contraction and omission; a letter or letters, standing for a word or phrase of which they are a part; as, Gen. for Genesis; U.S.A. for United States of America.

Albatross(n.) A web-footed bird, of the genus Diomedea, of which there are several species. They are the largest of sea birds, capable of long-continued flight, and are often seen at great distances from the land. They are found chiefly in the southern hemisphere.

Albertite(n.) A bituminous mineral resembling asphaltum, found in the county of A. /bert, New Brunswick.

Albertype(n.) A picture printed from a kind of gelatine plate produced by means of a photographic negative.

Albino(n.) A person, whether negro, Indian, or white, in whom by some defect of organization the substance which gives color to the skin, hair, and eyes is deficient or in a morbid state. An albino has a skin of a milky hue, with hair of the same color, and eyes with deep red pupil and pink or blue iris. The term is also used of the lower animals, as white mice, elephants, etc.; and of plants in a whitish condition from the absence of chlorophyll.

Album(n.) A blank book, in which to insert autographs sketches, memorial writing of friends, photographs, etc.

Ambergris(n.) A substance of the consistence of wax, found floating in the Indian Ocean and other parts of the tropics, and also as a morbid secretion in the intestines of the sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus), which is believed to be in all cases its true origin. In color it is white, ash-gray, yellow, or black, and often variegated like marble. The floating masses are sometimes from sixty to two hundred and twenty-five pounds in weight. It is wholly volatilized as a white vapor at 212 degrees F

Amber room() A room formerly in the Czar's Summer Palace in Russia, which was richly decorated with walls and fixtures made from amber. The amber was removed by occupying German troops during the Second World War and has, as of 1997, never been recovered. The room is being recreated from old photographs by Russian artisans.

Asbestos(n.) A variety of amphibole or of pyroxene, occurring in long and delicate fibers, or in fibrous masses or seams, usually of a white, gray, or green-gray color. The name is also given to a similar variety of serpentine.

Baboon(n.) One of the Old World Quadrumana, of the genera Cynocephalus and Papio; the dog-faced ape. Baboons have dog-like muzzles and large canine teeth, cheek pouches, a short tail, and naked callosities on the buttocks. They are mostly African. See Mandrill, and Chacma, and Drill an ape.

Bibliograph(n.) Bibliographer.

Bibliographer(n.) One who writes, or is versed in, bibliography.

Bibliographic(a.) Alt. of Bibliographical

Bibliographical(a.) Pertaining to bibliography, or the history of books.

Bibliographies(pl. ) of Bibliography

Bibliography(n.) A history or description of books and manuscripts, with notices of the different editions, the times when they were printed, etc.

Bibliology(n.) An account of books; book lore; bibliography.

Bibliophile(n.) A lover of books.

Bibliophilism(n.) Love of books.

Bibliophilist(n.) A lover of books.

Bibliophobia(n.) A dread of books.

Bibliotaph(n.) Alt. of Bibliotaphist

Bibliotaphist(n.) One who hides away books, as in a tomb.

Bubale(n.) A large antelope (Alcelaphus bubalis) of Egypt and the Desert of Sahara, supposed by some to be the fallow deer of the Bible.

Bubo(n.) An inflammation, with enlargement, of a lymphatic gland, esp. in the groin, as in syphilis.

Cabala(n.) A kind of occult theosophy or traditional interpretation of the Scriptures among Jewish rabbis and certain mediaeval Christians, which treats of the nature of god and the mystery of human existence. It assumes that every letter, word, number, and accent of Scripture contains a hidden sense; and it teaches the methods of interpretation for ascertaining these occult meanings. The cabalists pretend even to foretell events by this means.

Cabbiri(n. pl.) Certain deities originally worshiped with mystical rites by the Pelasgians in Lemnos and Samothrace and afterwards throughout Greece; -- also called sons of Hephaestus (or Vulcan), as being masters of the art of working metals.

Cable(n.) A rope of steel wire, or copper wire, usually covered with some protecting or insulating substance; as, the cable of a suspension bridge; a telegraphic cable.

Cable(v. t. & i.) To telegraph by a submarine cable

Cablegram(n.) A message sent by a submarine telegraphic cable.

Caboodle(n.) The whole collection; the entire quantity or number; -- usually in the phrase the whole caboodle.

Cobaltite(n.) A mineral of a nearly silver-white color, composed of arsenic, sulphur, and cobalt.

Dibasic(a.) Having two acid hydrogen atoms capable of replacement by basic atoms or radicals, in forming salts; bibasic; -- said of acids, as oxalic or sulphuric acids. Cf. Diacid, Bibasic.

Dibranchiata(n. pl.) An order of cephalopods which includes those with two gills, an apparatus for emitting an inky fluid, and either eight or ten cephalic arms bearing suckers or hooks, as the octopi and squids. See Cephalopoda.

Ecbatic(a.) Denoting a mere result or consequence, as distinguished from telic, which denotes intention or purpose; thus the phrase / /, if rendered "so that it was fulfilled," is ecbatic; if rendered "in order that it might be." etc., is telic.

Embellish(v. t.) To make beautiful or elegant by ornaments; to decorate; to adorn; as, to embellish a book with pictures, a garden with shrubs and flowers, a narrative with striking anecdotes, or style with metaphors.

Embodiment(n.) That which embodies or is embodied; representation in a physical body; a completely organized system, like the body; as, the embodiment of courage, or of courtesy; the embodiment of true piety.

Embrace(n.) To include as parts of a whole; to comprehend; to take in; as, natural philosophy embraces many sciences.

Embryography(n.) The general description of embryos.

Embryotroph(n.) The material from which an embryo is formed and nourished.

Fib(n.) A falsehood; a lie; -- used euphemistically.

Fibroin(n.) A variety of gelatin; the chief ingredient of raw silk, extracted as a white amorphous mass.

Gabbro(n.) A name originally given by the Italians to a kind of serpentine, later to the rock called euphotide, and now generally used for a coarsely crystal

Goblin(n.) An evil or mischievous spirit; a playful or malicious elf; a frightful phantom; a gnome.

GobHabit(n.) The usual condition or state of a person or thing, either natural or acquired, regarded as something had, possessed, and firmly retained; as, a religious habit; his habit is morose; elms have a spreading habit; esp., physical temperament or constitution; as, a full habit of body.

Habited(p. p. & a.) Clothed; arrayed; dressed; as, he was habited like a shepherd.

Hobbism(n.) The philosophical system of Thomas Hobbes, an English materialist (1588-1679); esp., his political theory that the most perfect form of civil government is an absolute monarchy with despotic control over everything relating to law, morals, and religion.

Jaborandi(n.) The native name of a South American rutaceous shrub (Pilocarpus pennatifolius). The leaves are used in medicine as an diaphoretic and sialogogue.

Jaborine(n.) An alkaloid found in jaborandi leaves, from which it is extracted as a white amorphous substance. In its action it resembles atropine.

Jubilant(a.) Uttering songs of triumph; shouting with joy; triumphant; exulting.

Jubilation(n.) A triumphant shouting; rejoicing; exultation.

Kobellite(n.) A blackish gray mineral, a sulphide of antimony, bismuth, and lead.

Laboratory(n.) The workroom of a chemist; also, a place devoted to experiments in any branch of natural science; as, a chemical, physical, or biological laboratory. Hence, by extension, a place where something is prepared, or some operation is performed; as, the liver is the laboratory of the bile.

Labyrinthodon(n.) A genus of very large fossil amphibians, of the Triassic period, having bony plates on the under side of the body. It is the type of the order Labyrinthodonta. Called also Mastodonsaurus.

Labyrinthodonta(n. pl.) An extinct order of Amphibia, including the typical genus Labyrinthodon, and many other allied forms, from the Carboniferous, Permian, and Triassic formations. By recent writers they are divided into two or more orders. See Stegocephala.

Libelous(a.) Containing or involving a libel; defamatory; containing that which exposes some person to public hatred, contempt, or ridicule; as, a libelous pamphlet.

Liberal(a.) Not bound by orthodox tenets or established forms in political or religious philosophy; independent in opinion; not conservative; friendly to great freedom in the constitution or administration of government; having tendency toward democratic or republican, as distinguished from monarchical or aristocratic, forms; as, liberal thinkers; liberal Christians; the Liberal party.

Libethenite(n.) A mineral of an olive-green color, commonly in orthorhombic crystals. It is a hydrous phosphate of copper.

Lobefoot(n.) A bird having lobate toes; esp., a phalarope.

Lobelin(n.) A yellowish green resin from Lobelia, used as an emetic and diaphoretic.

Lobster(n.) Any large macrurous crustacean used as food, esp. those of the genus Homarus; as the American lobster (H. Americanus), and the European lobster (H. vulgaris). The Norwegian lobster (Nephrops Norvegicus) is similar in form. All these have a pair of large unequal claws. The spiny lobsters of more southern waters, belonging to Palinurus, Panulirus, and allied genera, have no large claws. The fresh-water crayfishes are sometimes called lobsters.

Nabk(n.) The edible berries of the Zizyphys Lotus, a tree of Northern Africa, and Southwestern Europe.

Cubism(n.) A movement or phase in post-impressionism (which see, below).

Nobel prizes() Prizes for the encouragement of men and women who work for the interests of humanity, established by the will of A. B. Nobel (1833-96), the Swedish inventor of dynamite, who left his entire estate for this purpose. They are awarded yearly for what is regarded as the most important work during the year in physics, chemistry, medicine or physiology, idealistic literature, and service in the interest of peace. The prizes, averaging $40,000 each, were first awarded in 1901.

Nobili's rings() Colored rings formed upon a metal plate by the electrolytic disposition of copper, lead peroxide, etc. They may be produced by touching with a pointed zinc rod a silver plate on which is a solution of copper sulphate.

Publicity pamphlet() A pamphlet which, in some States of the United States having the initiative or referendum, is mailed to the voters to inform them as to the nature of a measure submitted by the initiative or referendum. The pamphlet contains a copy of the proposed law and arguments for and against it by those favoring and opposing it, respectively.

Vibrator(n.) A vibrating reed for transmitting or receiving pulsating currents in a harmonic telegraph system.

Vibrator(n.) A device for vibrating the pen of a siphon recorder to diminish frictional resistance on the paper.

Vibrograph(n.) An instrument to observe and record vibrations.

Orb(n.) A spherical body; a globe; especially, one of the celestial spheres; a sun, planet, or star.

Orb(n.) One of the azure transparent spheres conceived by the ancients to be inclosed one within another, and to carry the heavenly bodies in their revolutions.

Orb(n.) The eye, as luminous and spherical.

Orb(n.) A sphere of action.

Orbical(a.) Spherical; orbicular; orblike; circular.

Orbicle(n.) A small orb, or sphere.

Orbicular(a.) Resembling or having the form of an orb; spherical; circular; orbiculate.

Orbiculated(a.) Made, or being, in the form of an orb; having a circular, or nearly circular, or a spheroidal, out

Orbitonasal(a.) Of or pertaining to the orbit and the nose; as, the orbitonasal, or ophthalmic, nerve.

Orbitosphenoid(a.) Of or pertaining to the sphenoid bone and the orbit, or to the orbitosphenoid bone.

Orbitosphenoid(n.) The orbitosphenoid bone, which is situated in the orbit on either side of the presphenoid. It generally forms a part of the sphenoid in the adult.

Orbitosphenoidal(a.) Of or pertaining to the orbitosphenoid bone; orbitosphenoid.

Oxbane(n.) A poisonous bulbous plant (Buphane toxicaria) of the Cape of Good Hope.

Publication(n.) The act of offering a book, pamphlet, engraving, etc., to the public by sale or by gratuitous distribution.

Publication(n.) That which is published or made known; especially, any book, pamphlet, etc., offered for sale or to public notice; as, a daily or monthly publication.

Rabbinism(n.) A rabbinic expression or phraseology; a peculiarity of the language of the rabbins.

Rabid(n.) Of or pertaining to rabies, or hydrophobia; as, rabid virus.

Rabies(n.) Same as Hydrophobia (b); canine madness.

Rebus(n.) A mode of expressing words and phrases by pictures of objects whose names resemble those words, or the syllables of which they are composed; enigmatical representation of words by figures; hence, a peculiar form of riddle made up of such representations.

Rubric(n.) That part of any work in the early manuscripts and typography which was colored red, to distinguish it from other portions.

Sibyl(n.) A woman supposed to be endowed with a spirit of prophecy.

Sibyl(n.) A female fortune teller; a pythoness; a prophetess.

Sibylist(n.) One who believes in a sibyl or the sibyl

Sub-() A prefix denoting that the ingredient (of a compound) signified by the term to which it is prefixed,is present in only a small proportion, or less than the normal amount; as, subsulphide, suboxide, etc. Prefixed to the name of a salt it is equivalent to basic; as, subacetate or basic acetate.

Subesophageal(a.) Situated beneath the esophagus.

Subject(a.) That which is subjected, or submitted to, any physical operation or process; specifically (Anat.), a dead body used for the purpose of dissection.

Subject(n.) The principal theme, or leading thought or phrase, on which a composition or a movement is based.

Subjectist(n.) One skilled in subjective philosophy; a subjectivist.

Subjectivism(n.) Any philosophical doctrine which refers all knowledge to, and founds it upon, any subjective states; egoism.

Sublimate(v. t.) To bring by heat into the state of vapor, which, on cooling, returns again to the solid state; as, to sublimate sulphur or camphor.

Subpodophyllous(a.) Situated under the podophyllous tissue of the horse's foot.

Subspecies(n.) A group somewhat lessdistinct than speciesusually are, but based on characters more important than those which characterize ordinary varieties; often, a geographical variety or race.

Subsphenoidal(a.) Situated under, or on the ventral side of, the body of the sphenoid bone.

Subspherical(a.) Nearly spherical; having a figure resembling that of a sphere.

Substance(n.) That which underlies all outward manifestations; substratum; the permanent subject or cause of phenomena, whether material or spiritual; that in which properties inhere; that which is real, in distinction from that which is apparent; the abiding part of any existence, in distinction from any accident; that which constitutes anything what it is; real or existing essence.

Substratum(n.) The permanent subject of qualities or cause of phenomena; substance.

Subsulphate(n.) A sulphate with an excess of the base.

Subsulphide(n.) A nonacid compound consisting of one equivalent of sulphur and more than one equivalent of some other body, as a metal.

Subway(n.) An underground way or gallery; especially, a passage under a street, in which water mains, gas mains, telegraph wires, etc., are conducted.

Tobit(n.) A book of the Apocrypha.

Tub(n.) The amount which a tub contains, as a measure of quantity; as, a tub of butter; a tub of camphor, which is about 1 cwt., etc.

Tube(n.) One of the siphons of a bivalve mollusk.

Tubercle(n.) A small mass or aggregation of morbid matter; especially, the deposit which accompanies scrofula or phthisis. This is composed of a hard, grayish, or yellowish, translucent or opaque matter, which gradually softens, and excites suppuration in its vicinity. It is most frequently found in the lungs, causing consumption.

Tube-shell(n.) Any bivalve mollusk which secretes a shelly tube around its siphon, as the watering-shell.

Tubfish(n.) The sapphirine gurnard (Trigla hirundo). See Illust. under Gurnard.

Tubularia(n.) A genus of hydroids having large, naked, flowerlike hydranths at the summits of long, slender, usually simple, stems. The gonophores are small, and form clusters at the bases of the outer tentacles.

Umbelliferone(n.) A tasteless white crystal

Umbilicus(n.) A point of a surface at which the curvatures of the normal sections are all equal to each other. A sphere may be osculatory to the surface in every direction at an umbilicus. Called also umbilic.

Vibroscope(n.) An instrument resembling the phenakistoscope.

Web(n.) The membrane which unites the fingers or toes, either at their bases, as in man, or for a greater part of their length, as in many water birds and amphibians.

Websterite(n.) A hydrous sulphate of alumina occurring in white reniform masses.

About the author

Mark McCracken Author: Mark McCracken is a corporate trainer and author living in Higashi Osaka, Japan. He is the author of thousands of online articles as well as the Business English textbook, "25 Business Skills in English".

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