The Prisoner of Zenda (25 page)

baby
NOUN
here baby means doll, which is a child's toy that looks like a small person
and skilful dressing her baby
(
Gulliver's Travels
by Jonathan Swift)

bagatelle
NOUN
bagatelle is a game rather like billiards and pool
Breakfast had been ordered at a pleasant little tavern, a mile or so away upon the rising ground beyond the green; and there was a bagatelle board in the room, in case we should desire to unbend our minds after the solemnity.
(
Great Expectations
by Charles Dickens)

bah
EXCLAM
Bah is an exclamation of frustration or anger
“Bah,” said Scrooge.
(
A Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens)

bairn
NOUN
a northern word for child
Who has taught you those fine words, my bairn?
(
Wuthering Heights
by Emily Brontë)

bait
VERB
to bait means to stop on a journey to take refreshment
So, when they stopped to bait the horse, and ate and drank and enjoyed themselves, I could touch nothing that they touched, but kept my fast unbroken.
(
David Copperfield
by Charles Dickens)

balustrade
NOUN
a balustrade is a row of vertical columns that form railings
but I mean to say you might have got a hearse up that
staircase, and taken it broadwise, with the splinter-bar towards the wall, and the door towards the balustrades: and done it easy
(
A Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens)

bandbox
NOUN
a large lightweight box for carrying bonnets or hats
I am glad I bought my bonnet, if it is only for the fun of having another bandbox
(
Pride and Prejudice
by Jane Austen)

barren
NOUN
a barren here is a stretch or expanse of barren land
a line of upright stones, continued the length of the barren
(
Wuthering Heights
by Emily Brontë)

basin
NOUN
a basin was a cup without a handle
who is drinking his tea out of a basin
(
Wuthering Heights
by Emily Brontë)

battalia
NOUN
the order of battle
till I saw part of his army in battalia
(
Gulliver's Travels
by Jonathan Swift)

battery
NOUN
a Battery is a fort or a place where guns are positioned
You bring the lot to me, at that old Battery over yonder
(
Great Expectations
by Charles Dickens)

battledore and shuttlecock
NOUN
The game battledore and shuttlecock was an early version of the game now known as badminton. The aim of the early game was simply to keep the shuttlecock from hitting the ground.
Battledore and
shuttlecock's a wery good game vhen you an't the shuttlecock and two lawyers the battledores, in which case it gets too excitin' to be pleasant
(
Pickwick Papers
by Charles Dickens)