Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary -- Volume ABBdel·lom"e·ter (?), n. [Gr. βδελλα leech + -meter.] (Med.) A cupping glass to which are attached a scarificator and an exhausting syringe. Dunglison. Bdel`lo·mor"pha (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. βδελλα leech + μορφη form.] (Zoöl.) An order of Nemertina, including the large leechlike worms (Malacobdella) often parasitic in clams. Be (?), v. i. [imp. Was (?); p. p. Been (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Being.] [OE. been, beon, AS. beón to be, beóm I am; akin to OHG. bim, pim, G. bin, I am, Gael. & Ir. bu was, W. bod to be, Lith. bu-ti, O. Slav. by-ti, to be, L. fu-i I have been, fu-turus about to be, fo-re to be about to be, and perh. to fieri to become, Gr. φυναι to be born, to be, Skr. bhū to be. This verb is defective, and the parts lacking are supplied by verbs from other roots, is, was, which have no radical connection with be. The various forms, am, are, is, was, were, etc., are considered grammatically as parts of the verb "to be", which, with its conjugational forms, is often called the substantive verb. √97. Cf. Future, Physic.] 1. To exist actually, or in the world of fact; to have existence. To be contents his natural desire. To be, or not to be: that is the question. 2. To exist in a certain manner or relation, -- whether as a reality or as a product of thought; to exist as the subject of a certain predicate, that is, as having a certain attribute, or as belonging to a certain sort, or as identical with what is specified, -- a word or words for the predicate being annexed; as, to be happy; to be here; to be large, or strong; to be an animal; to be a hero; to be a nonentity; three and two are five; annihilation is the cessation of existence; that is the man. 3. To take place; to happen; as, the meeting was on Thursday. 4. To signify; to represent or symbolize; to answer to. |