*bay*

a. [ F. bai, fr. L. badius brown, chestnut-colored; -- used only of horses. ] Reddish brown; of the color of a chestnut; -- applied to the color of horses. [ 1913 Webster ]

Bay cat (Zool.), a wild cat of Africa and the East Indies (Felis aurata). --
Bay lynx (Zool.), the common American lynx (Lynx lynx, formerly Felis rufa or Lynx rufa). [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. baie, fr. LL. baia. Of uncertain origin: cf. Ir. & Gael. badh or bagh bay, harbor, creek; Bisc. baia, baiya, harbor, and F. bayer to gape, open the mouth. ] 1. (Geog.) An inlet of the sea, usually smaller than a gulf, but of the same general character. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The name is not used with much precision, and is often applied to large tracts of water, around which the land forms a curve; as, Hudson's Bay. The name is not restricted to tracts of water with a narrow entrance, but is used for any recess or inlet between capes or headlands; as, the Bay of Biscay. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A small body of water set off from the main body; as a compartment containing water for a wheel; the portion of a canal just outside of the gates of a lock, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A recess or indentation shaped like a bay. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A principal compartment of the walls, roof, or other part of a building, or of the whole building, as marked off by the buttresses, vaulting, mullions of a window, etc.; one of the main divisions of any structure, as the part of a bridge between two piers. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A compartment in a barn, for depositing hay, or grain in the stalks. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. A kind of mahogany obtained from Campeachy Bay. [ 1913 Webster ]

Sick bay, in vessels of war, that part of a deck appropriated to the use of the sick. Totten. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. baie a berry, the fruit of the laurel and other trees, fr. L. baca, bacca, a small round fruit, a berry, akin to Lith. bapka laurel berry. ] 1. A berry, particularly of the laurel. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The laurel tree (Laurus nobilis). Hence, in the plural, an honorary garland or crown bestowed as a prize for victory or excellence, anciently made or consisting of branches of the laurel. [ 1913 Webster ]

The patriot's honors and the poet's bays. Trumbull. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A tract covered with bay trees. [ Local, U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Bay leaf, the leaf of the bay tree (Laurus nobilis). It has a fragrant odor and an aromatic taste, and is used for flavoring in food. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Bayed p. pr. & vb. n. Baying. ] [ OE. bayen, abayen, OF. abaier, F. aboyer, to bark; of uncertain origin. ] To bark, as a dog with a deep voice does, at his game. [ 1913 Webster ]

The hounds at nearer distance hoarsely bayed. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To bark at; hence, to follow with barking; to bring or drive to bay; as, to bay the bear. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Bay, v. i. ] 1. Deep-toned, prolonged barking. “The bay of curs.” Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. [ OE. bay, abay, OF. abai, F. aboi barking, pl. abois, prop. the extremity to which the stag is reduced when surrounded by the dogs, barking (aboyant); aux abois at bay. ] A state of being obliged to face an antagonist or a difficulty, when escape has become impossible. [ 1913 Webster ]

Embolden'd by despair, he stood at bay. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

The most terrible evils are just kept at bay by incessant efforts. I. Taylor [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Cf. OE. bæwen to bathe, and G. bähen to foment. ] To bathe. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A bank or dam to keep back water. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To dam, as water; -- with up or back. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Native name. ] (Zool.) The East Indian weaver bird (Ploceus Philippinus). [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F., from Pg. bailadeira a female dancer, bailar to dance. ] A female dancer in the East Indies. [ Written also bajadere. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Meteor.) A violent thunder squall occurring on the south coast of Cuba, esp. near Bayamo. The gusts, called bayamo winds, are modified foehn winds. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ See Bez-Antler. ] (Zool.) The second tine of a stag's horn. See under Antler. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. [ OF. bayard, baiart, bay horse; bai bay + -ard. See Bay, a., and -ard. ] Properly, a bay horse, but often any horse. Commonly in the phrase blind bayard, an old blind horse. [ 1913 Webster ]

Blind bayard moves the mill. Philips. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. [ Cf. F. bayeur, fr. bayer to gape. ] A stupid, clownish fellow. [ Obs. ] B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Blind; stupid. [ Obs. ] “A formal and bayardly round of duties.” Goodman. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ ‖ } n. [ Ar. bayad. ] (Zool.) A large, edible, siluroid fish of the Nile, of two species (Bagrina bayad and Bagrina docmac). [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) (a) The fruit of the bay tree or Laurus nobilis. (b) A tree of the West Indies related to the myrtle (Pimenta acris). (c) The fruit of Myrica cerifera (wax myrtle); the shrub itself; -- called also candleberry tree. [ 1913 Webster ]

Bayberry tallow, a fragrant green wax obtained from the bayberry or wax myrtle; -- called also myrtle wax. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A bolt with a barbed shank. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having a bay or bays. “The large bayed barn.” Drayton. [ 1913 Webster ]

A piece of linen about 1 ft. 8 in. wide by 213 ft. long, covered with embroidery representing the incidents of William the Conqueror's expedition to England, preserved in the town museum of Bayeux in Normandy. It is probably of the 11th century, and is attributed by tradition to Matilda, the Conqueror's wife. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

See under Ice. [ 1913 Webster ]

See under 3d Bay. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Nav.) In the United States navy, a sick-bay nurse; -- now officially designated as hospital apprentice. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ F. bayonnette, baïonnette; -- so called, it is said, because the first bayonets were made at Bayonne. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. (Mil.) A pointed instrument of the dagger kind fitted on the muzzle of a musket or rifle, so as to give the soldier increased means of offense and defense. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Originally, the bayonet was made with a handle, which required to be fitted into the bore of the musket after the soldier had fired. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Mach.) A pin which plays in and out of holes made to receive it, and which thus serves to engage or disengage parts of the machinery. [ 1913 Webster ]

Bayonet clutch. See Clutch. --
Bayonet joint, a form of coupling similar to that by which a bayonet is fixed on the barrel of a musket. Knight. --
bayonet mount, (photography) a coupling mechanism for attaching removable lenses to the body of a camera, using a bayonet socket. --
bayonet socket, a coupling mechanism for attaching matching cylindrical parts to each other, where each of which has an arced L-shaped slot with the longer side perpendicular to the axis of the cylinder, such that the slots slide inside each other. There is also usually a knoblike projection on the mount so that when the two parts to be connected are fully inserted in proper alignment, they are locked in place. It is designed for rapid coupling and decoupling, requiring the turning of one part through only a small arc, in place of a screw-type arrangement, which requires several full turns. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Bayoneted; p. pr. & vb. n. Bayoneting. ] 1. To stab with a bayonet. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To compel or drive by the bayonet. [ 1913 Webster ]

To bayonet us into submission. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Bayous [ North Am. Indian bayuk, in F. spelling bayouc, bayouque. ] An inlet from the Gulf of Mexico, from a lake, or from a large river, sometimes sluggish, sometimes without perceptible movement except from tide and wind. [ Southern U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

A dark slender thread of a bayou moves loiteringly northeastward into a swamp of huge cypresses. G. W. Cable. [ 1913 Webster ]

Mississippi; -- a nickname, from its numerous bayous. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

A fragrant liquid, used for cosmetic and medicinal purposes. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The original bay rum, from the West Indies, is prepared, it is believed, by distillation from the leaves of the bayberry (Myrcia acris). The bay rum of the Pharmacopœia (spirit of myrcia) is prepared from oil of myrcia (bayberry), oil of orange peel, oil of pimento, alcohol, and water. [ 1913 Webster ]

Salt which has been obtained from sea water, by evaporation in shallow pits or basins, by the heat of the sun; the large crystalline salt of commerce. Bacon. Ure. [ 1913 Webster ]

. Massachusetts, which had been called the Colony of Massachusetts Bay; -- a nickname. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

. A species of laurel. (Laurus nobilis). [ 1913 Webster ]

1. (Arch.) A window forming a bay or recess in a room, and projecting outward from the wall, either in a rectangular, polygonal, or semicircular form; -- often corruptly called a bow window.
Syn. -- bay window, bow window, bow-window. [ 1913 Webster + WordNet 1.5 ]

2. a protruding abdomen. [ informal ]
Syn. -- belly, paunch, pot, potbelly, corporation, tummy. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

Woolen yarn. [ Prov. Eng. ] Wright. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. See Baize. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

A harbor on the east coast of Australia, and an English convict settlement there; -- so called from the number of new plants found on its shore at its discovery by Cook in 1770. [ 1913 Webster ]

Hence, any place to which desperadoes resort. [ 1913 Webster ]

Botany Bay kino (Med.), an astringent, reddish substance consisting of the inspissated juice of several Australian species of Eucalyptus. --
Botany Bay resin (Med.), a resin of reddish yellow color, resembling gamboge, the product of different Australian species of Xanthorrhæa, esp. the grass tree (Xanthorrhæa hastilis). [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Arch.) (a) The space between two principals or girders. (b) One of the joists framed between a pair of girders in naked flooring. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Disembayed p. pr. & vb. n. Disembaying. ] [ Pref. dis- + embay. ] To clear from a bay. Sherburne. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Pref. em- + bay to bathe. ] To bathe; to soothe or lull as by bathing. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Embayed p. pr. & vb. n. Embaying. ] [ Pref. em- + 1st bay. ] To shut in, or shelter, as in a bay. [ 1913 Webster ]

If that the Turkish fleet
Be not ensheltered and embayed, they are drowned. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A bay. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The embayment which is terminated by the land of North Berwick. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. See Embay. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The name of a naval battle in the Spanish-American War (1898), in which the American fleet under Admiral Dewey defeated the Spanish fleet off the shore of Manila in the Phillipines. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. (Bot.) An Indian tree (Pterospermum acerifolium) having fragrant nocturnal white flowers and yielding a reddish wood used for planking; often grown as an ornamental or shade tree. Called also mayeng. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. (Bot.) (a) the oleander. [ Obs. ] (b) Any shrub of the genus Rhododendron. [ U.S. ] (c) An herb (Epilobium spicatum) with showy purple flowers, common in Europe and North America; -- called also great willow herb. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. (Arch.) One of the joists which rest one end on the wall and the other on a girder; also, the space between a wall and the nearest girder of a floor. Cf. Case-bay. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The part of a canal lock below the lower gates. [ 1913 Webster ]