Blackwood
(Black"wood) n. A name given to several dark-colored timbers. The East Indian black wood
is from the tree Dalbergia latifolia. Balfour.
Blackwork
(Black"work`) n. Work wrought by blacksmiths; — so called in distinction from that wrought
by whitesmiths. Knight.
Bladder
(Blad"der) n. [OE. bladder, bleddre, AS. bldre, blddre; akin to Icel. blara, SW. bläddra, Dan.
blære, D. blaar, OHG. blatara the bladder in the body of animals, G. blatter blister, bustule; all fr. the
same root as AS. blawan, E. blow, to puff. See Blow to puff.]
1. (Anat.) A bag or sac in animals, which serves as the receptacle of some fluid; as, the urinary bladder; the
gall bladder; — applied especially to the urinary bladder, either within the animal, or when taken out and
inflated with air.
2. Any vesicle or blister, especially if filled with air, or a thin, watery fluid.
3. (Bot.) A distended, membranaceous pericarp.
4. Anything inflated, empty, or unsound. "To swim with bladders of philosophy." Rochester.
Bladder nut, or
Bladder tree (Bot.),
a genus of plants (Staphylea) with bladderlike seed pods. —
Bladder pod (Bot.), a genus of low herbs (Vesicaria) with inflated seed pods. — Bladdor senna
(Bot.), a genus of shrubs with membranaceous, inflated pods. — Bladder worm (Zoöl.), the larva of
any species of tapeworm found in the flesh or other parts of animals. See Measle, Cysticercus. —
Bladder wrack (Bot.), the common black rock weed of the seacoast (Fucus nodosus and F. vesiculosus)
— called also bladder tangle. See Wrack.
Bladder
(Blad"der), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bladdered ; p. pr. & vb. n. Bladdering.]
1. To swell out like a bladder with air; to inflate. [Obs.] G. Fletcher.
2. To put up in bladders; as, bladdered lard.
Bladderwort
(Blad"der*wort`) n. (Bot.) A genus (Utricularia) of aquatic or marshy plants, which usually
bear numerous vesicles in the divisions of the leaves. These serve as traps for minute animals. See
Ascidium.
Bladdery
(Blad"der*y) a. Having bladders; also, resembling a bladder.
Blade
(Blade) n. [OE. blade, blad, AS. blæd leaf; akin to OS., D., Dan., & Sw. blad, Icel. blað, OHG.
blat, G. blatt, and perh. to L. folium, Gr. fy`llon. The root is prob. the same as that of AS. blowan, E.
blow, to blossom. See Blow to blossom, and cf. Foil leaf of metal.]
1. Properly, the leaf, or flat part of the leaf, of any plant, especially of gramineous plants. The term is
sometimes applied to the spire of grasses.
The crimson dulse . . . with its waving blade.
Percival.
First the blade, then ear, after that the full corn in the ear.
Mark iv. 28.
2. The cutting part of an instrument; as, the blade of a knife or a sword.
3. The broad part of an oar; also, one of the projecting arms of a screw propeller.
4. The scapula or shoulder blade.
5. pl. (Arch.) The principal rafters of a roof. Weale.