n. [ The proper name used as an appellative. ] A lady's waiting-maid. Pepys. [ 1913 Webster ]

Her abigail reported that Mrs. Gutheridge had a set of night curls for sleeping in. Leslie. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to the Albigenses. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ ‖ } n. pl. [ From Albi and Albigeois, a town and its district in the south of France, in which the sect abounded. ] (Eccl. Hist.) A sect of reformers opposed to the church of Rome in the 12th centuries. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Albigenses were a branch of the Catharists (the pure). They were exterminated by crusades and the Inquisition. They were distinct from the Waldenses. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. ambo both + genus kind. ] Of two kinds. (Bot.) Partaking of two natures, as the perianth of some endogenous plants, where the outer surface is calycine, and the inner petaloid. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F., fr. ambigu doubtful, L. ambiquus. See Ambiguous. ] An entertainment at which a medley of dishes is set on at the same time. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Ambiguities [ L. ambiguitas, fr. ambiguus: cf. F. ambiguité. ] The quality or state of being ambiguous; doubtfulness or uncertainty, particularly as to the signification of language, arising from its admitting of more than one meaning; an equivocal word or expression. [ 1913 Webster ]

No shadow of ambiguity can rest upon the course to be pursued. I. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

The words are of single signification, without any ambiguity. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. ambiguus, fr. ambigere to wander about, waver; amb- + agere to drive. ] Doubtful or uncertain, particularly in respect to signification; capable of being understood in either of two or more possible senses; equivocal; as, an ambiguous course; an ambiguous expression. [ 1913 Webster ]

What have been thy answers? What but dark,
Ambiguous, and with double sense deluding? Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Doubtful; dubious; uncertain; unsettled; indistinct; indeterminate; indefinite. See Equivocal. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In an ambiguous manner; with doubtful meaning. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Ambiguity. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. barba a beard + -gerous. ] Having a beard; bearded; hairy. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Compar. Bigger; superl. Biggest. ] [ Perh. from Celtic; cf. W. beichiog, beichiawg, pregnant, with child, fr. baich burden, Arm. beac'h; or cf. OE. bygly, Icel. biggiligr, (properly) habitable; (then) magnigicent, excellent, fr. OE. biggen, Icel. byggja, to dwell, build, akin to E. be. ] 1. Having largeness of size; of much bulk or magnitude; of great size; large. “He's too big to go in there.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Great with young; pregnant; swelling; ready to give birth or produce; -- often figuratively. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ Day ] big with the fate of Cato and of Rome. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Having greatness, fullness, importance, inflation, distention, etc., whether in a good or a bad sense; as, a big heart; a big voice; big looks; to look big. As applied to looks, it indicates haughtiness or pride. [ 1913 Webster ]

God hath not in heaven a bigger argument. Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Big is often used in self-explaining compounds; as, big-boned; big-sounding; big-named; big-voiced. [ 1913 Webster ]

To talk big, to talk loudly, arrogantly, or pretentiously. [ 1913 Webster ]

I talked big to them at first. De Foe. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Bulky; large; great; massive; gross. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ L. ] (Antiq.) A two-horse chariot. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. bigamus twice married: cf. F. bigame. See Bigamy. ] A bigamist. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. Digamist. ] One who is guilty of bigamy. Ayliffe. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Guilty of bigamy; involving bigamy; as, a bigamous marriage. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. bigamie, fr. L. bigamus twice married; bis twice + Gr. &unr_; marriage; prob. akin to Skt. jāmis related, and L. gemini twins, the root meaning to bind, join: cf. F. bigamie. Cf. Digamy. ] (Law) The offense of marrying one person when already legally married to another. Wharton. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ It is not strictly correct to call this offense bigamy: it more properly denominated polygamy, i. e., having a plurality of wives or husbands at once, and in several statutes in the United States the offense is classed under the head of polygamy.

In the canon law bigamy was the marrying of two virgins successively, or one after the death of the other, or once marrying a widow. This disqualified a man for orders, and for holding ecclesiastical offices. Shakespeare uses the word in the latter sense. Blackstone. Bouvier. [ 1913 Webster ]

Base declension and loathed bigamy. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

prop. n. New York City; -- a nickname, usually written The Big Apple. [ PJC ]

{ } n. [ F. bigarreau, fr. bigarré variegated. ] (Bot.) The large white-heart cherry. [ 1913 Webster ]

A band that is the size of an orchestra, usually playing mostly jazz or swing music. The big band typically features both ensemble and solo playing, sometimes has a lead singer, and is often located in a night club where the patrons may dance to its music. The big bands were popular from the late 1920's to the 1940's. Contrasted with combo, which has fewer players. [ PJC ]

n. (Astron.) The explosive event marking the beginning of the known universe, according to big bang theory; the beginning of time. The big bang is likened to a massive explosion from a point containing all of the matter and energy of the beginning universe, which started the expansion and evolution of the universe which continues today. The evidence for such an event includes the apparently expanding size of the present universe, and a background microwave radiation of about 3° Kelvin, equal to that predicted from mathematical models of such an explosive event. [ PJC ]

n. (Astronomy, Cosmology) The theory that the known universe originated in an explosive event (the big bang) in which all of the matter and energy of the universe was contained in a single point and began to rapidly expand and evolve, starting as high-energy particles and radiation, and, as it cooled over time, evolving into ordinary subatomic particles, atoms, and then stars and galaxies. According to this theory, the four-dimensional space-time continuum which we perceive as our universe continues to expand to the present time, but it is unknown whether the expansion will continue indefinitely or eventually stop or even reverse, possibly leading to a contraction to a single point sometimes referred to as the “big crunch”. The competing “Steady-state Theory” gradually lost favor in the 1980's and 1990's. See also big bang. [ PJC ]

a. Having a great belly; as, a big-bellied man or flagon; advanced in pregnancy. [ 1913 Webster ]

. Tennessee; -- a nickname. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

prop. n. (Finance) The New York Stock Exchange; -- a nickname often used in financial reporting. [ PJC ]

a. [ Pref. bi- + geminate. ] (Bot.) Having a forked petiole, and a pair of leaflets at the end of each division; biconjugate; twice paired; -- said of a decompound leaf. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Pref. bi- + L. gens, gentis, tribe. ] (Zool.) Including two tribes or races of men. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) A fish of the genus Priacanthus, remarkable for the large size of the eye. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ }, n. [ OE. bif, bigge; akin to Icel. bygg, Dan. byg, Sw. bjugg. ] (Bot.) Barley, especially the hardy four-rowed kind. [ 1913 Webster ]

“Bear interchanges in local use, now with barley, now with bigg.” New English Dict. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ }, v. t. [ OE. biggen, fr. Icel. byggja to inhabit, to build, b&unr_;a (neut.) to dwell (active) to make ready. See Boor, and Bound. ] To build. [ Scot. & North of Eng. Dial. ] Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. & v. See Big, n. & v. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. & i. To make or become big; to enlarge. [ Obs. or Dial. ] Steele. [ 1913 Webster ]

a., compar. of Big. [ 1913 Webster ]

a., superl. of Big. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. béguin, prob. from the cap worn by the Béguines. Cf. Beguine, Biggon. ] A child's cap; a hood, or something worn on the head. [ 1913 Webster ]

An old woman's biggin for a nightcap. Massinger. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A coffeepot with a strainer or perforated metallic vessel for holding the ground coffee, through which boiling water is poured; -- so called from Mr. Biggin, the inventor. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ OE. bigging. See Big, Bigg, v. t. ] A building. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ F. béguin and OF. beguinet, dim of béguin. See Biggin a cap. ] A cap or hood with pieces covering the ears. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. A measure of land in India, varying from a third of an acre to an acre. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. given or giving freely.
Syn. -- big, bounteous, bountiful, freehanded, generous, handsome, giving, liberal, openhanded. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. (Zool.) The Rocky Mountain sheep (Ovis montana or Caprovis montana); called also bighorn sheep. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. bi&yogh_;t a bending; cf. Sw. & Dan. bugt bend, bay; fr. AS. byht, fr. būgan. √88. Cf. Bout, Bought a bend, and see Bow, v. ] 1. A corner, bend, or angle; a hollow; as, the bight of a horse's knee; the bight of an elbow. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Geog.) A bend in a coast forming an open bay; as, the Bight of Benin. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Naut.) The double part of a rope when folded, in distinction from the ends; that is, a round, bend, or coil not including the ends; a loop. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Pref. bi- + glandular. ] Having two glands, as a plant. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. [ From Big, a. ] In a tumid, swelling, blustering manner; haughtily; violently. [ 1913 Webster ]

He brawleth bigly. Robynson (More's Utopia. ) [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state or quality of being big; largeness; size; bulk. [ 1913 Webster ]

prop. n. [ Named from the Abbé Bignon. ] 1. (Bot.) A large genus of American, mostly tropical, climbing shrubs, having compound leaves and showy somewhat tubular flowers. Bignonia capreolata is the cross vine of the Southern United States. The trumpet creeper (also called the trumpet vine), with large red tubular flowers, was formerly considered to be of this genus, but is now classified as Campsis radicans. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

2. any member of the family Bignoniaceae, including the bignonia{ 1 }, catalpa, trumpet creeper, and princess tree. They typically have brightly colored tubular (trumpet-shaped) flowers. [ PJC ]

n. a natural family comprising the trees or shrubs or woody vines or herbs having gourdlike or capsular fruit; the are sometimes placed in the order Scrophulariales.
Syn. -- family Bignoniaceae. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. (Bot.) Of pertaining to, or resembling, the family of plants of which the trumpet flower (also called trumpet creeper and trumpet vine) is an example. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Bigoted. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

In a country more bigot than ours. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. bigot a bigot or hypocrite, a name once given to the Normans in France. Of unknown origin; possibly akin to Sp. bigote a whisker; hombre de bigote a man of spirit and vigor; cf. It. s-bigottire to terrify, to appall. Wedgwood and others maintain that bigot is from the same source as Beguine, Beghard. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A hypocrite; esp., a superstitious hypocrite. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A person who regards his own faith and views in matters of religion as unquestionably right, and any belief or opinion opposed to or differing from them as unreasonable or wicked. In an extended sense, a person who is intolerant of opinions which conflict with his own, as in politics or morals; one obstinately and blindly devoted to his own church, party, belief, or opinion. [ 1913 Webster ]

To doubt, where bigots had been content to wonder and believe. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Obstinately and blindly attached to some creed, opinion practice, or ritual; unreasonably devoted to a system or party, and illiberal toward the opinions of others. “Bigoted to strife.” Byron. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Prejudiced; intolerant; narrow-minded. [ 1913 Webster ]