n. 1. A ball game, usually played indoors in an area called the basketball court, in which two opposing teams of five players each contest with each other to toss a large inflated ball (the basketball) into opposite goals (baskets) resembling baskets, each typically a cylindrical mesh suspended from a circular rim which is held ten feet above the court. A goal scored by passing the basketball through the basket may count from one to three points, depending on the situation in which it was thrown.
Syn. -- basketball game. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

2. The inflatable ball used in the game of basketball. [ PJC ]

n. (Baseball) A boy who holds the bats and presents the bat to a batter when the batter is going to the batter's box to bat. The batboy sometimes also keeps other team equipment. [ PJC ]

n. (Zool.) 1. A wading bird (Cancroma cochlearia) of the tropical parts of South America. Its bill is somewhat like a boat with the keel uppermost. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A perching bird of India, of the genus Eurylaimus. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who blacks boots. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A band for the breast. Specifically: (Naut.) A band of canvas, or a rope, fastened at both ends to the rigging, to support the man who heaves the lead in sounding. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Mach.) The front transverse beam of a locomotive. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The bone of the breast; the sternum. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A portable bag for travelers; -- so called because originally made of carpet. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An adventurer; -- a term of contempt for a Northern man seeking private gain or political advancement in the southern part of the United States after the Civil War (1865). [ U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cart + bote. ] (Old Eng. Law.) Wood to which a tenant is entitled for making and repairing carts and other instruments of husbandry. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) An American bird (Galeoscoptes Carolinensis), allied to the mocking bird, and like it capable of imitating the notes of other birds, but less perfectly. Its note resembles at times the mewing of a cat. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Naut.) A small sailboat, with a single mast placed as far forward as possible, carring a sail extended by a gaff and long boom. See Illustration in Appendix. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a very prickly woody vine of eastern U.S. (Smilax rotundifolia) growing in tangled masses, having tough round stems with shiny leathery leaves and small greenish flowers followed by clusters of inedible shiny black berries.
Syn. -- bullbrier, greenbrier, horsebrier, brier, briar, Smilax rotundifolia. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ Cf. Clote. ] 1. The burdock. [ Prov. Engl. ] Prior. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Same as Cocklebur. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Bred, or educated, at court; polished; courtly. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. a reduction in quantity or rate; a reduction in the amount of an activity or the funding for an activity; as, cutbacks in government research funding increased unemployment among scientists; the recession caused a cutback in auto production. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

2. a return to an earlier scene or story line in a novel, movie, etc. [ PJC ]

3. (Sports) a sudden switching of directions of a running football player, a surfboarder, etc. [ PJC ]

n. a circular board of wood or cork used as the target in the game of darts. It may have any of several patterns on it, such as concentric circles, or a central circle with rays. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

n. A checkered board on which draughts are played. See Checkerboard. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A bolt for driving out other bolts. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a bin that holds rubbish until it is collected.
Syn. -- ashcan, trash can, garbage can, wastebin, ashbin, trash barrel, trash bin. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. A brush of feathers, bristles, or hair, for removing dust from furniture. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. moving toward the east; as, eastbound trains.
Syn. -- eastward. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. designated for traffic moving toward the east; -- of lanes in roads or railroads, or other traffic lanes; as, the eastbound lanes of Interstate 80 are blocked by an overturned tractor-trailer; the train will leave on eastbound platform 5. [ PJC ]

n. (Baseball) a baseball thrown with maximum velocity.
Syn. -- heater, smoke, hummer, bullet. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. (basketball) a rapid dash to get a shot at one's own basket as soon as possible after taking possession of the ball; -- often occurring after the opposing team has shot at their basket. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

n. (Zool.) The menhaden. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. First brought forth; first in the order of birth; eldest; hence, most excellent; most distinguished or exalted; as, the firstborn child.
Syn. -- eldest. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The first child born to a parent; as, his firstborn was showered with gifts from relatives.
Syn. -- eldest. [ PJC ]

n. (Zool.) Any bird of the genus Flatyrynchus. They belong to the family of flycatchers. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A boat with a flat bottom and square ends; -- used for the transportation of bulky freight, especially in shallow waters. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An inflated ball to be kicked in sport, usually made in India rubber, or a bladder incased in Leather. Waller. [ 1913 Webster ]

The American football is an oblate spheroid, with pointed ends. In other countries, the football is the same as a soccer ball. The games played with the two different balls are different. In the United States, the game played with a soccer ball is called soccer. [ PJC ]

2. The game played with a football{ 1 }, by two opposing teams of players moving the ball between goals at opposite ends of a rectangular playing field. Outside the United States football refers to soccer, and in England, also to rugby, but in the United States the shape of the ball and the rules of the game are different. Arbuthnot. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

3. Soccer or rugby. [ Brit. ] [ PJC ]

4. [ fig. ] Something which is treated in a rough manner, usually as part of a dispute; as, a political football. [ PJC ]

n. an athlete who plays football.
Syn. -- football player. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. A band of foot soldiers. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A bath for the feet; also, a vessel used in bathing the feet. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A board or narrow platfrom upon which one may stand or brace his feet; as: (a) The platform for the engineer and fireman of a locomotive. (b) The foot-rest of a coachman's box. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A board forming the foot of a bedstead. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A treadle. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A page; an attendant in livery; a lackey. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The breadth of a foot; -- used as a measure. Longfellow. [ 1913 Webster ]

Not so much as a footbreadth. Deut. ii. 5. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A narrow bridge for foot passengers only. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. any of the front seats in the House of Commons of Great Britain that are reserved for ministers or ex-ministers. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. a member of the House of Commons of Great Britain who is a minister or an ex-minister. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. (Zool.) The golden plover. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The freezing, or effect of a freezing, of some part of the body, as the ears, fingers, toes, or nose. Severe frostbite can lead to the loss of fingers or toes. Kane.

v. t. To expose to the effect of frost, or a frosty air; to blight or nip with frost. [ 1913 Webster ]

My wife up and with Mrs. Pen to walk in the fields to frostbite themselves. Pepys. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A white arc or circle in the sky attending frosty weather and formed by reflection of sunlight from ice crystals floating in the air; the parhelic circle whose center is at the zenith. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ D. hertebeest. See Hart, and Beast. ] 1. (Zool.) A large South African antelope (Alcelaphus caama), formerly much more abundant than it is now. The face and legs are marked with black, the rump with white. [ Written also hartebeest, and hartebest. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Any anteleope of the genus Alcelaphus and certain species of Darnaliscus. [ PJC ]

n. A band round the crown of a hat; sometimes, a band of black cloth, crape, etc., worn as a badge of mourning. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A box for a hat. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. hautbois, lit., high wood; haut high + bois wood. So called on account of its high tone. See Haughty, Bush; and cf. Oboe. ] 1. (Mus.) A wind instrument, sounded through a reed, and similar in shape to the clarinet, but with a thinner tone. Now more commonly called oboe. See Illust. of Oboe. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) A sort of strawberry (Fragaria elatior). [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. hautboïste. ] A player on the hautboy. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. the audible and palpable rhythmic contraction and expansion of the arteries with each beat of the heart; as, he listened to her heartbeat with a stethoscope.
Syn. -- pulse, pulsation, beat. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

in a heartbeat immediately. [ PJC ]

n. Crushing sorrow or grief; a yielding to such grief. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]