| banian | 1. A Hindoo trader, merchant, cashier, or money changer. Alternative forms: banyan. 2. A man's loose gown, like that worn by the Banians. 3. <botany> The Indian fig. See Banyan. Banian days, days in which the sailors have no flesh meat served out to them. This use seems to be borrowed from the Banians or Banya race, who eat no flesh. Origin: Skr. Banij merchant. The tree was so named by the English, because used as a market place by the merchants. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| banisterine | <chemistry> An alkaloid accompanying harmaline (in the Peganum harmala), and obtained from it by oxidation. It is a white crystalline substance. See: Harmaline. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| bank | 1. A mound, pile, or ridge of earth, raised above the surrounding level; hence, anything shaped like a mound or ridge of earth; as, a bank of clouds; a bank of snow. "They cast up a bank against the city." (2 Sam. Xx. 15) 2. A steep acclivity, as the slope of a hill, or the side of a ravine. 3. The margin of a watercourse; the rising ground bordering a lake, river, or sea, or forming the edge of a cutting, or other hollow. "Tiber trembled underneath her banks." (Shak) 4. An elevation, or rising ground, under the sea; a shoal, shelf, or shallow; as, the banks of Newfoundland. 5. <chemical> The face of the coal at which miners are working. A deposit of ore or coal, worked by excavations above water level. The ground at the top of a shaft; as, ores are brought to bank. <zoology> Bank beaver, the otter. Bank swallow, a small American and European swallow (Clivicola riparia) that nests in a hole which it excavates in a bank. Origin: OE. Banke; akin to E. Bench, and prob. Of Scand. Origin.; cf. Icel. Bakki. See Bench. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| banker | 1. One who conducts the business of banking; one who, individually, or as a member of a company, keeps an establishment for the deposit or loan of money, or for traffic in money, bills of exchange, etc. 2. A money changer. 3. The dealer, or one who keeps the bank in a gambling house. 4. A vessel employed in the cod fishery on the banks of Newfoundland. 5. A ditcher; a drain digger. 6. The stone bench on which masons cut or square their work. See: the nouns Bank and the verbs derived from them. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| bankeress | A female banker. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| bankhart deformity | <radiology> Osteochondral fracture of glenoid labrum, associated with anterior shoulder dislocation see also: Hill-Sachs deformity (12 Dec 1998) |
| bankruptcy | The state of legal insolvency with assets taken over by judicial process so that they may be distributed among creditors. (12 Dec 1998) |
| banner | 1. A kind of flag attached to a spear or pike by a crosspiece, and used by a chief as his standard in battle. "Hang out our banners on the outward walls." (Shak) 2. A large piece of silk or other cloth, with a device or motto, extended on a crosspiece, and borne in a procession, or suspended in some conspicuous place. 3. Any flag or standard; as, the star-spangled banner. <zoology> Banner fish, a large fish of the genus Histiophorus, of the Swordfish family, having a broad bannerlike dorsal fin; the sailfish. One species (H. Americanus) inhabits the North Atlantic. Origin: OE. Banere, OF. Baniere, F. Banniere, bandiere, fr. LL. Baniera, banderia, fr. Bandum banner, fr. OHG. Bant band, strip of cloth; cf. Bindan to bind, Goth. Bandwa, bandwo, a sign. See Band. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| Bannister's disease | A vascular reaction involving the deep dermis or subcutaneous or submucal tissues, representing localised oedema caused by dilatation and increased permeability of the capillaries and characterised by development of giant wheals. (18 Nov 1997) |
| Bannister, Henry | <person> U.S. Physician, 1844-1920. See: Bannister's disease. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Bannwarth's syndrome | <syndrome> Neurologic manifestations of Lyme disease, also called chronic lymphocytic meningitis and tick-borne meningopolyneuritis. (05 Mar 2000) |
| banshie | A supernatural being supposed by the Irish and Scotch peasantry to warn a family of the speedy death of one of its members, by wailing or singing in a mournful voice under the windows of the house. Origin: Gael. Bean-shith fairy; Gael. & Ir. Bean woman + Gael. Sith fairy. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| banstickle | <zoology> A small fish, the three-spined stickleback. Origin: OE. Ban, bon, bone + stickle prickle, sting. See Bone, Stickleback. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| banteng | <zoology> The wild ox of Java (Bibos Banteng). Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| Banti's disease | <syndrome> Chronic congestive splenomegaly that occurs primarily in children as a sequel to hypertension in the portal or splenic veins, usually as a result of thrombosis of the veins; anaemia, splenomegaly, and irregular episodes of gastrointestinal bleeding are usually observed, with ascites, jaundice, leukopenia, and thrombocytopenia developing in various conbinations. Synonym: Banti's disease, splenic anaemia. (05 Mar 2000) |