| beefeater | 1. One who eats beef; hence, a large, fleshy person. 2. One of the yeomen of the guard, in England. 3. <zoology> An African bird of the genus Buphaga, which feeds on the larvae of botflies hatched under the skin of oxen, antelopes, etc. Two species are known. Origin: Beef + eater; prob. One who eats another's beef, as his servant. Cf. AS. Hlafta servant, properly a loaf eater. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| beefwood | An Australian tree (Casuarina), and its red wood, used for cabinetwork; also, the trees Stenocarpus salignus of new South Wales, and Banksia compar of Queensland. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| beer | 1. A fermented liquor made from any malted grain, but commonly from barley malt, with hops or some other substance to impart a bitter flavor. Beer has different names, as small beer, ale, porter, brown stout, lager beer, according to its strength, or other qualities. See Ale. 2. A fermented extract of the roots and other parts of various plants, as spruce, ginger, sassafras, etc. Small beer, weak beer; (fig) insignificant matters. "To suckle fools, and chronicle small beer." Origin: OE. Beor, ber, AS. Beor; akin to Fries. Biar, Icel. Bjrr, OHG. Bior, D. & G. Bier, and possibly E. Brew. 93, See Brew. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| beer heart | <cardiology, pathology> A weakness of the cardiac muscle which is seen in some chronic alcoholics, may be related to a thiamin deficiency or occur for unknown reasons. Origin: Gr. Pathos = disease (27 Sep 1997) |
| Beer's knife | A triangular knife with a sharp point and one sharp edge, formerly used for incision for cataract. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Beer's law | The intensity of a colour or of a light ray is inversely proportional to the depth of liquid through which it is transmitted; it is concluded that the absorption is dependent upon the number of molecules in the path of the ray. Compare: Beer-Lambert law. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Beer, August | <person> German physicist, 1825-1863. See: Beer-Lambert law, Beer's law. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Beer, Georg | <person> Austrian ophthalmologist, 1763-1821. See: Beer's knife. (05 Mar 2000) |
| beer-lambert law | The equation A=ECL, where A is the absorbance at a given wavelength of light, E is the molar extinction coefficient, C is the concentration of the molar solution, and L is the length of the light path. In words, the equation means that the concentration of a substance in moles is proportional to the absorption of a given wavelength of light by a solution of the substance. The equation is used in the study of spectroscopy. (09 Oct 1997) |
| bees | Insect members of the superfamily apoidea, found almost everywhere, particularly on flowers. About 3500 species occur in north america. They differ from most wasps in that their young are fed honey and pollen rather than animal food. Honey is collected in the form of nectar from flowers and concentrated into honey by evaporation. For most people bee stings are of little significance and are treated locally; other persons, however, react with hypersensitivity putting them in serious danger. (borror, et al., an introduction to the study of insects, 4th ed; smith, insects and other arthropods of medical importance, 1973, p409) (12 Dec 1998) |
| beeswax | <dentistry> A clear wax used to prevent your braces from irritating your lips when your braces are first put on, or at other times. (08 Jan 1998) |
| beet | 1. <botany> A biennial plant of the genus Beta, which produces an edible root the first year and seed the second year. 2. The root of plants of the genus Beta, different species and varieties of which are used for the table, for feeding stock, or in making sugar. There are many varieties of the common beet (Beta vulgaris). The Old "white beet", cultivated for its edible leafstalks, is a distinct species (Beta Cicla). Origin: AS. Bete, from L. Beta. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| beet sugar | D-sucrose. See: sucrose. (05 Mar 2000) |
| beet-tongue | Sometimes used of the tongue in pellagra, where intense erythema appears, first at the tip, then along the edges, and finally over the dorsum; there may be pain and increased elevation; the shiny appearance results from oedema, not atrophy, except in chronic pellagra. (05 Mar 2000) |
| beetle | Any insect of the order Coleoptera, having four wings, the outer pair being stiff cases for covering the others when they are folded up. See Coleoptera. <zoology> Beetle mite, one of many species of mites, of the family Oribatidae, parasitic on beetles. Black beetle, the common large black cockroach (Blatta orientalis). Origin: OE. Bityl, bittle, AS. Btel, fr. Btan to bite. See Bite. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |