Chapter Bitake to Bivouac of B by Webster's Dictionary (1913 Edition)

Bitterwood
(Bit"ter*wood`) n. A West Indian tree (Picræna excelsa) from the wood of which the bitter drug Jamaica quassia is obtained.

Bitterwort
(Bit"ter*wort`) n. (Bot.) The yellow gentian which has a very bitter taste.

Bittock
(Bit"tock) n. [See Bit a morsel.] A small bit of anything, of indefinite size or quantity; a short distance. [Scot.] Sir W. Scott.

Bittor Bittour
(Bit"tor Bit"tour) n. [See Bittern] (Zoöl.) The bittern. Dryden.

Bitts
(Bitts) n. pl. [Cf. F. bitte, Icel. biti, a beam. 87.] (Naut.) A frame of two strong timbers fixed perpendicularly in the fore part of a ship, on which to fasten the cables as the ship rides at anchor, or in warping. Other bitts are used for belaying for sustaining the windlass (carrick bitts, winch bitts, or windlass bitts), to hold the pawls of the windlass (pawl bitts) etc.

Bitume
(Bi*tume") n. [F. See Bitumen.] Bitumen. [Poetic] May.

Bitumed
(Bi*tumed") a. Smeared with bitumen. [R.] "The hatches caulked and bitumed." Shak.

Bitumen
(Bi*tu"men) n. [L. bitumen: cf. F. bitume. Cf. Béton.]

1. Mineral pitch; a black, tarry substance, burning with a bright flame; Jew's pitch. It occurs as an abundant natural product in many places, as on the shores of the Dead and Caspian Seas. It is used in cements, in the construction of pavements, etc. See Asphalt.

2. By extension, any one of the natural hydrocarbons, including the hard, solid, brittle varieties called asphalt, the semisolid maltha and mineral tars, the oily petroleums, and even the light, volatile naphthas.

Bituminate
(Bi*tu"mi*nate) v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bituminated; p. pr. & vb. n. Bituminating.] [L. bituminatus, p. p. of bituminare to bituminate. See Bitumen.] To treat or impregnate with bitumen; to cement with bitumen. "Bituminated walls of Babylon." Feltham.

Bituminiferous
(Bi*tu`mi*nif"er*ous) a. [Bitumen + -ferous.] Producing bitumen. Kirwan.

Bituminization
(Bi*tu`mi*ni*za"tion) n. [Cf. F. bituminisation.] The process of bituminizing. Mantell.

Bituminize
(Bi*tu"mi*nize) v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bituminized ; p. pr. & vb. n. Bituminizing.] [Cf. F. bituminiser.] To prepare, treat, impregnate, or coat with bitumen.

Bituminous
(Bi*tu"mi*nous) a. [L. bituminosus: cf. F. bitumineux.] Having the qualities of bitumen; compounded with bitumen; containing bitumen.

Near that bituminous lake where Sodom flamed.
Milton.

Bituminous coal, a kind of coal which yields, when heated, a considerable amount of volatile bituminous matter. It burns with a yellow smoky flame. — Bituminous limestone, a mineral of a brown or black color, emitting an unpleasant smell when rubbed. That of Dalmatia is so charged with bitumen that it may be cut like soap. — Bituminous shale, an argillaceous shale impregnated with bitumen, often accompanying coal.

Biuret
(Bi"u*ret) n. [Pref. bi- + urea.] (Chem.) A white, crystalline, nitrogenous substance, C₂O₂N₃H₅, formed by heating urea. It is intermediate between urea and cyanuric acid.

Bivalency
(Biv"a*len*cy) n. (Chem.) The quality of being bivalent.