Men like these, united by one vond, pursuing one design, spena then labour and their lives in making their fellowcreatures happy, and in repairing the breaches caused by ambition.-Goldsmith. On Polite Learning.

This volume containing some letters from noblemen, Pope Incited a prosecution against him in the House of Lords, for breach of privilege, and attended himself to stimulate the resentment of his friends.-Johnson. Life of Pope.

BREAD. Skinner believes that it is BREADEN. from the A. S. Bræd-an, fovere, BREADLESS. to nourish. Tooke, that Bread is brayed grain or corn; the past tense and past part. of the verb, to bray, (Fr. Broyer) i. e. to pound, to beat to pieces, with a subaudition of corn, grain, or other similar substances. (Vol. ii. p. 46.)

Brayed corn is the first state of the process towards the loaf; the next is dough. See DoUGH, and LOAF.

Syre byssop, wy ne gyfst us of thyne wyte brede, That thou est the sulf at thy masse, in thyne vayre wede. R. Gloucester, p. 238. In tentis R. rested alle that ilk nyght, His men wer wele gested with brede, wyne & light. R. Brunne, p. 160. But we denouncen to hem that ben suche men, and besechen in the Lord Jesu Crist, that thei worche with silence, and eet her owne bread.-Wielif. 2 Tessal. c. 3.

Them that are such, we commaunde and exorte by our Lord Jesu Christ, that they worke with quietness, and eate their owne bread.-Bible, 1551. Ib.

Of smale houndes hadde she, that she fedde
With roasted flesh, and milk, and wastel brede.

Chaucer. The Prologue, v. 147.

He consulted with the oracle of his breaden God, which because it answered not, he cast it into the fire.

Bp. Hall. The Honour of the Married Clergy.

That the same body should at once have quantity and extension in heaven, and no quantity nor extension in the host, as the papists affirm of their breaden God (are things contradictory.)

Hopkins. Catechistical Expos. of the Lord's Prayer.

I would therefore in a very particular manner recommend these my speculations to all well regulated families that set apart an hour in every morning for tea and bread and butter. Spectator, No. 10.

Thro' the scarcity caused by regraters of bread-corn (of which starch is made) and the gentry's immoderate frequenting the operas; the ladies, to save charges, have their heads washed at home, and the beaus put out their linen to common landresses.-Taller, No. 118.

And see the good old seat, whose Gothic tow'rs
Awful emerge from yonder tufted bow'rs;
Whose rafter'd hall the crowding tenants fed,
And dealt to age and want their daily bread.

Warton. Newmarket.

Dullness no more roosts only near the sky,
But senates, drawing-rooms with garrets vie:
Plump peers, and breadless hards alike are dul;
St. James's and Rag-fair club fool for fool.
P. Whitehead. State Dunces.

BREADTH. The third person singular BREADTHLESS. Ì Brædeth, (A. S.) of the indicative of Brædan, dilatare; to broaden, to expand, to dilate. See BROAD.

And robbed Wurcestre ssyre in lengthe & in brede,
And al the contreye aboute the toune rygt.
R. Gloucester, p. 385.
Suane, the Danes kyng, was of so grete strength,
That he destroied this lond in brede & in length.

R. Brunne, p. 41. And the citee was sett in a square & the lengthe of it so mych as mych as is the brede, and he mat the citee with the rebel bi furlongis twelue thousyndis, and the highthe and the lengthe and breede of it ben euene. Wiclif. Apocalips, c. 21.

And the cyty was bylt 1111. square & the lenght was as large as the bredth of it, and he measured the cytye wyth the rede. XII. M. furlongs: & the leght and the bredthe, & the heygth of it wer equall.-Bible, 1551. Ib.

Why shulde I not as wel eke tell you all

The purtreiture, that was upon the wall
Within the temple of mighty Mars, the rede?
All peinted was the wall in length and brede.

Chaucer. The Knightes Tale, v. 1972.

On the Sonday in the mornyng there was suche a myst that a man myght nat se the bredethe of an acre of land fro hym.-Berners. Froissart. Cronycle, vol. 131.

The term of latitude is breadthlesse line.

More. Song on the Soul, b. ii. c. 2. s. 6.

3. That if the quantity of any man's nose be eminently miscalculated, whether as to length or breadth, he shall have a just pretence to be elected.-Spectator, No. 17. Oft let the turf recede, and oft approach, With varied breadth, now sink into the shade, Now to the sun its verdant bosom bare.

BREAK, v.
BREAK, N.
BREAKER.

BREAKING.
BREAKFAST, v.

Mason. The English Garden, b. ii.

Goth. Brican; A. S. Brecan, bracan, breacan; Dut. Breken; Ger. Brechen, Sw. Bracka. To the A. S. Brec-an, brag-han, we BREAKFAST, N. owe the verbs to break or See broche, to brag, or brave, to bray, to braid. these words; see also BROKE, v. and BROK-EN. To separate or divide into parts; to sunder, to rive, or burst asunder; to crack or split asunder into parts or pieces-any thing united into one

mass.

To make or cause a rupture or breach; a disruption, or breaking apart; an eruption, or breaking out; an irruption, or breaking in.

To separate, (met.) to disjoin, to dispart, to force apart; to dissever, to interrupt, to intercept.

To break down; to suppress, to subdue, to subject, to crush, to tame, to overpower, to bring or reduce to obedience,-to poverty,-to decay. To break or infringe, to violate. Adultery, in our old writers, is called spousebreach. To break one's mind, is to break (to broche) it open; to open it, to disclose it.

To break the fast, or to break-fast, is to separate the times of fasting, to interrupt the continuance of fasting, to discontinue fasting.

This word is of most universal application (met. or lit.) to any separation; particularly when made with suddenness, violence, injury.

Corineus tok hys bowe of hym, & smote hym a wonde
A bouen on the scolle with ys owne bowe a non,
That the scolie to brekc in peses n ony on.
R. Gloucester, p. 16.
To breke ys trewe couenant, the kyng was loth therto,
And natheles ys conseyl hym gef, that he moste yt nede do.
Id. p. 250.

The Mortayn befor spoken, with his nevow Reynere,
The sege the wend haf broken, thei com with ther powere.
R. Brunne, p. 100.
For Jhesus as a gyaunt, with a gyn cometh geonde
To breke and to bete adoun, al that ben agayne hym
And to have out alle of hem that hym liketh.
Piers Plouhman, p. 353.
Therefore he that brekith oon of these leeste maunde-
mentis and techith thus men, schal be clepid the leest in the
rewme of hevenes.-Wiclif. Matthew, c. 5.

Whosoeuer breaketh one of these commaundements, and teacheth men so, he shall be called the lest in the kyngdome of heauen. Bible, 1551. Ib.

Whiche answerde and seide to hem, an yvel kyndrede and a spouse breker [Mod. Vers. adulterous] sekith a tokene, and a tokene schal not be geven to it: but the tokene of

Jonas the profete.-Wielif. Matth. c. 12.

No man sewith a pacche of new cloth to an old cloth, else he takith awey the new pacche fro the olde, and a more brekyng is maad.-Id. Mark, c. 2.

For, sith the day is come that I shal die

I make plainly my confession,
That I am thilke woful Palamon,
That hath thy prison broken wilfully.

Chaucer. The Knightes Tale, v. 1737.

All the fleete are to follow and obserue the same without straying or breaking of company at any time vpon the pe nalty before specified.-Hackluyt. Voyages, vol. i. p. 454.

As thou seest blessynges, or cursynges followe the breaking, or keping of the law of Moyses: euen so naturally do the blessynges, or cursynges followe the breakyng or keep ing of the law of nature, out of which spryng all our temporal laws.-Tyndall. Workes, p. 10.

Thus they stode styll all ye nyght armed, euery man vnder his owne städard and baner: and in the brekyng of the daye II. trompettis of Scotland mette with the Englishe scoutwatche.-Berners. Froissart. Cronycle, vol. i. c. 18.

Then sayde (he who called himself) Robyn hood, sir, outlawes brekefastes is venyson, and therefore you must be contente with suche fare as we vse. Then the kyng and quene sate doune, & were serued with venyson and wyne by Robyn hood and hys men, too theyr great contentacion. Hall. Hen. VIII. an. 7.

And [I] deliberated with myselfe, that if it were possible, to find the meanes to breake off, I would neuer enter into

the yoke with her.—Stowe. Queen Mary, an. 1554.

For the old Romans, howsoever they dined or break their fast ordinarily by themselves alone, yet they supped ever with their friends about them.-Holland. Plutarch, p. 636 They found him by a water side, Where he brake the beast that tide, That hart that was so wild.

Sir Triamour. Ellis, vol. iii. Much did Sir Calidore admyre his speach, Tempred so well, but more admyr'd the stroke That through the mayles had made so strong a break Into his hart, and had so sternely wroke His wrath on him that first occasion broke.

Spenser. Faerie Queene, b. vi. c. 2. The mules march all before

Vp hill, and downe hill; overthwartes, and breake-neck
clifts they past.-Chapman. Homer. Iliad, b. xiii.
I must

Forsake the court: to do't, or no, is certain
To me a breake-neck.

Shakespeare. Winter's Tale, Act L rc. 2.

In the mean time the king of France, sent Quees Elizabeth a message, assuring her, that the tempest, which had been long gathering in Spain for three years, would certainly break very speedily upon her kingdom. Oldys. Life of Ralegh.

He break my darts! or hurt my power!
He, Leda's swan and Danae's shower!
Go, bid him his wise tongue restrain,
And mind his thunder, and his rain.

Prior. Mercury & Cupid. For the same reason I do not dislike the speeches in our English tragedy that close with abrupt pauses and breakings off in the middle of a verse, when they humour any passion that is expressed by it.-Spectator, No. 39. - Inprimis, As soon as Phoebus' rays inspect us, First, sir, I read, and then I breakfast. Prior. An Epistle to F. Shephard. I resolve not to believe my senses. I break my nose against a post that comes in my way. I step into a dirty kennel; and after twenty such wise and rational actions I am taken up and clapt into a mad house.

Reid. Enquiry, c. 6. s. 20.

In dire amazement rivetted they stand
And hear the breakers lash the rugged strand.

Falconer. Shipwreck, c. 3.

This duty being performed, my son and I went to pursue our usual industry abroad, while my wife and daughters employed themselves in providing breakfast, which was always ready at a certain time.

BREAST, v.
BREAST, n.

BREASTPLATE.

BREASTLAP.

Goldsmith. Vicar of Wakefield, c. 4.

And breakers of the lawe, sothe to saine
And likerous folke, after that they been dede,
Shull whirle about ye world, alway in paine
Till many a world be passed.

Before the breake or dawning of the daye,
Before the light be seene in loftye skyes.
Before the Sunne appeare in pleasaunt wyse.

Gascoigne. De profundis. Whoe came directly againste them, for though in the nyght they were hydde in a place, yet alwayes they were in the moarnynge, at breake of daye, apparceyuedde. Nicolls. Thucydides, p. 66.

By vertue and tenor whereof all our aforesaid subjects, and euery one of them, shall both publikely and priuately vse and behaue themselues, to correct and punish the break¡ers of those lawes.-Hackluyt, Voyages, vol. ii. p. 159.

To breast, is to act with the breast; to bear the breast against, to oppose the breast. to face, to front.

The breast is applied (met.) to that within or beneath the breast, to the heart; the feelings, passions or affections, the disposition of the heart.

Perhaps also to the lungs; as a singer with strong power to emit his breath is said to be wellbreasted,-to have a good breast. See the quotation from Tusfer.

So that thys Water Tyrel, that ther bysyde was ney
Wolde ssete another hert, that, as he sede, he sey.
He sset the kyng in atte breste, that neuer eft he ne speke
R. Gloucester, p. 419.

And so whanne he hadde restid agein on the brest of Jhesus, he saith to him, Lord, who is it?-Wiclif. John, c.13.

He then as he leaned on Jesus breste, sayde vnto hym: Lord who is it?-Bible, 1551. Ib.

And on that other side a gaie daggere,
Harneised wel, and sharpe as point of spere;
A Cristofre on his brest of silver shene.

Chaucer. The Prologue, v. 115.

But let vs which are of the daye, be sober, armed with the brest plate of fayth and loue, and with hope of saluació as an heimet.-Bible, 1551. 1 Thessalonians, c. 5.

Breastlap, or breast flappe, is such a flap, as thou seest in the brest of a cope.-Tyndall. Table for expound. Wordes.

Meane time I wish a good renowne, that these deepbrested dames

Of Ilion and Dardania may, for th'extinguish't flames
Of their friends lives, with both their hands, wipe miserable

teares

From their so curiously kept cheekes.

Chapman. Homer. Iliad, b. xviii.

Behold the threaden sayles,

Borne with th' in uisible and creeping wind,
Draw the huge bottomes through the furrowed sea,
Bresting the loftie surge.-Shakespeare. Hen. V. Chor. 3.

Giue sentence on this execrable wretch,

That hath beene breeder of these dire euents.

Luc. Set him brest deepe in earth, and famish him.
Id. Tilus Andronicus, Act v. sc. 3.

Thence for my voice, I must (no choice)
Away of forse, like posting horse,

For sundry men had placards then

Such child to take.

The better brest, the lesser rest,

Farre off in pastures; and come home, all dight In iawes and breast-locks, with an oxes blood, New feasted on him.-Chapman. Homer. Odyssey, b. xxii. The hide of his [the buffe] backe is so tough and hard that thereof they make breast-plates.

Holland. Plinie, b. viii. c. 34.

Whether it be hierogliphical, or not, this difference in the Military or Civil List, but I have ever understood the fact to be, that the close minister is buttoned up, and the brave officer open-breasted on these occasions.-Spectator, No. 193.

But if we offend our consciences, by doing contrary to the clear dictate and conviction of them, we make the unhappiest breach in the world; we stir up a quarrell in our own breasts, and arme our minds against ourselves. Tillotson, vol. i. Ser. 39.

The censor, finding some reasons to suspect (by the sturdiness of their behaviour) that they were not so very brave as they would have the court believe them, ordered them both to be searched by the grand jury, who found a breast-plate upon the one, and two quires of paper upon the other." Tatler, No. 265.

To breathe is also to take breath; to give breath; to put or keep the lungs in wholesome breathing; either by ceasing from too violent action; or by taking well regulated exercise.

For he ghyueth lyf to alle men, and brething and alle thingis, and made of oon al the kynde of men to enhabite on al the face of the earthe.-Wiclif. Dedis, c. 17.

Seyng he him selfe geueth lyfe and breath to all men euery where, and hathe made of one bloude all nacyons of menne for to dwell on all the face of the earth. Bible, 1551. Ib.

Whan Zephirus eke with his sote brethe Enspired hath in every holt and hethe The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne Hath in the ram his halfe cours yronne. Chaucer. The Prologue, v. 5. The the Lorde God shope man, euen of the moulde of the erth, & brethed into hys face the breth of lyfe. Bible, 1551. Genesis, c. 2. Behold how greuouse and bitter it is for 3 or 4 yeares continually, & then aftir, how God remitteth it for as long a ceason agen to geue vs a place for a lytle ceason to rest vs, euen as it were the halcyon dayes to suffer his chirche to breathe a whyle: that she may be the stronger ayenst the next storme & bataill folowinge. Joye. Exposicion of Daniel, c. 12.

Euery man made hym redy and lased on his basnet, and gyrte their horses, and set themselfe in good aray togyther, and rode forthe an easy passe to kepe their horses well brethed.-Berners. Froissart. Cronycle, vol. ii. c. 136.

Therefore farewel, my life, my death,
My gaine, my losse, my salue, my sore
Farewell also, with all my breath,
For I am gone for evermore.

Wyat. The Louer suspected of Change.
When first the post arrived at my tent,
And brought the letters Rosamond had sent,
Think from his lips but what dear comfort came,
When to mine eare he softly breath'd thy name.
Drayton. Henry to Rosamond.

Yet reason dares her no,
For my authority beares of a credent bulke,
That no particular scandall once can touch
But it confounds the breather.

Shakespeare. Measure for Measure, Act iv. sc. 4. Now this whole sea, Pontus, in all the circuit thereof flowing round about, is both cloudye and sweeter also than other seas, yea and full of shallowes, for that the ayre thickened oftentimes with the breathing up and elevation of moist vapours, congealeth.-Holland. Ammianus, p. 201. For they for nought would from their work refraine, Ne let his speeches come vnto their eare, And eke the breathfull bellowes blew amaine; Like to the northern wind, that none could heare. Spenser. Faerie Queene, b. iv. c. 5. And Hector came, where (seeing how bloud was spilt) Andromache might see him come, who made as he would passe

was:

The ports without saluting her, not knowing where she
She with his sight made breathlesse haste to meet him.
Chapman. Iomer. Iliad, b. vi.

The nimble Dactils, striving to out-go
The drawling Spondees, pacing it below
The lingring Spondees, labouring to delay
The breathlesse Dactiles, with a sudden stay.
Bp. Hall, b. i. Sat. 6.
Me thinks I heare the soldiers and busie officers when

they were roling that other weighty stone (for such we pro-
bably conceive) to the mouth of the vault with much toyle
and sweat, and breathlesnesse, how they brag'd of the sure-
nesse of the place, and unremoveablenesse of that load.
Id. Cont. The Resurrection.

Let us then begin heaven here, in the frame and temper of our minds, in our heavenly affections and conversation: in a due preparation for, and in carnest desires and breathings after that blessed state which we firmly believe and assuredly hope to be one day possessed of.-Tillotson, vol. i. Ser. 24.

I feel the gales that from ye blow,

A momentary bliss bestow,

As, waving fresh their gladsome wing,
My weary soul they seem to sooth,
And redolent of joy and youth

To breathe a second spring.

Gray. Prospect of Eton College.

He raised himself up, with the assistance of two of his servants, and instantly fell down dead; suffocated. I con

jecture, by some gross and noxious vapour, as always having weak lungs, and being frequently subject to a difficulty of breathing. Melmoth. Pliny, b. vi. Let. 16

Perhaps a friend, a father's dead,
Or the lov'd partner of thy bed!
Perhaps thy only son lies there,

Breathless upon the sable bier.-Cowper. Estimate of Life. He ought, says this great political doctor, [Machiavel] to consider peace only as a breathing-time, which gives him leisure to contrive, and furnishes ability to execute military plans.--Burke. A Vindication of Natural Society.

BREDE. See BRAID.

BREECH, v. BREECH, n. BREECHES, n. BREECHING, n.

The noun is the past part. of the verb Bræcan, to break; and the verb is formed upon the noun.

The breech is the part where the body is broken into two. And the breeches that which covers the

part so broken, (Tooke, ii. 251.) See also Skinand the observation quoted from Wachter under the word BREAST.

ner,

To breech is to put on the, to cover or clothe with, breeches; also to beat or whip the breech. Breech is applied to the hinder part generally, and breeching to that which covers it.

So longe yt [sc. the water] wax an hey, That yt watte hys [Canute's] brych al aboute, & euere vpard yt stey. R. Gloucester, p. 322. Thou woldest make me kisse thin old brech, And swere it were a relike of a seint.

Chaucer. The Pardoneres Tale, v. 12,882.

The cause (say some) consisteth in the locke, Some other judge, bicause they be so strong, Renforced well, and breeched like a brocke, Stiffe, straight, and stout, which though they be not long, Yet spit they foorth their pellets such a pace, And with such force, as seems a wondrous case. Gascoigne The Fruite of Fetters. Then the eyes of them bothe were opened, and they knewe that they were naked and they sewed fig tre leaues together, and made them selues breeches. Gen. Bible, 1570. Genesis iii. 7. Feared am I more than loved-let me be feared; And when I frown, make all the court look pale, I view the prince with Aristarchus' eyes, Whose looks were as a breeching to a boy.

Marlow. Edward III. As Gammer Gurton, with manye a wyde styche, Sat pesyng and patching of Hodge her man's riche, By chance or misfortune, as shee her geare tost, In Hodge lether bryches her needle she lost.

Gammer Gurton's Needle. Prologue.

To-day to cherche y wolde have gon,
But me fawtede hosyn and schon,
Clenly brech and scherte.-Launfal. Ritson. Rom. pt. i.
So to her midnight-feasts the hag
Rides on a broomstick for a uag;
That rais'd by magic of her breech,
O'er sea and land conveys the witch.

Swift. The Magician's Rod.
From Sappho down through all succeeding ages.
And now on French or on Italian stages,
Rough satyrs, sly remarks, ill-natur'd speeches,
Are always aim'd at poets that wear breeches.
Prior. Epilogue to Mrs. Manley's Lucius.
Time was, when clothing sumptuous or for use,
Save their own painted skins, our sires had none.
As yet black breeches were not, satin smooth
Or velvet soft, or plush with shaggy pile.

Cowper. Task, b. 1. There was one who actually died in a stall that I had left, worth seven pounds seven shillings, and all in hard gold, which he had quilted into the waistband of his breeches. Goldsmith. Citizen of the World, Let. 64.

BREED, v. BREED, n.

BREEDER..

BREEDING.

BREEDBATE. BROOD.

A. S. Bredan; Dut. Broeden; Ger. Bruten, to nourish, to cherish; (sc.) the fœtus in the womb; and then, to bear young, to be pregnant. See

To nourish or cherish, (sc.) children, the minds of children, to bring them up, to train, to educate. And generally

To produce or bring forth; to cause to be or to exist.

A man of breeding is (elliptically) a man of good breeding; well bred, well trained, well educated; (sc.) in good society.

A breed-bate, a breeder of debate or strife.

For in sucne wise as auarice

Leueth for scarsnesse his good name;
Right so that other is to blame,

Which through his waste mesure excedeth,
For no man wote what harm it bredeth.

I fall and see mine own decay,

Gower. Con. A. b. v.

As one that beares flame in his breast Forgets in paine to put away,

The thinge that bredith mine unrest.

Surrey. The Louer describes his restless State.

But here because of their volupteous sensuall liuing, he vsed no familiaritie of carnall conuersacion emong them: (whiche familiaritie hath euermore been a breder of contépte, hath vsed to make menes authoritie the less regarded.) Udal. Luke, c. 3.

To let them die upon their march abroad And fowls upon their carcases to feed, The heaps of them upon the common road And great infection likely were to breed. For our own safeties see them then bestowed. Drayton. The Battle of Agincourt. Towards the end of the yeere a quarrell of certaine consuls burst forth, which had been long time a breeding.

Greneweg. Tacitus. Annales, p. 119. In brief, must it not follow necessarily that the earth, which is the mother and breeder of men, of living creatures and all plants, shall perish and be wholly extinct.

Holland. Plutarch, p. 943. An honest, willing. kinde fellow, as euer seruant shall come in house withall: and I warrant you no tel-tale, nor no breedebate, his worst fault is that he is giuen to prayer.

Shakespeare. Merry Wives of Windsor, Act i. sc. 4. He is a clergyman, a very philosophick man, of general learning, great sanctity of life, and the most exret good breeding.-Spectator, No. 2.

In the spring following, he [Thomas Churchyard] contrary to his former resolutions, went to the wars again, (in Flanders as it seems) had a command there, was wounded and taken prisoner; but shewing himself a person of bravery and breeding, was respected and well used by the enemy. Wood. Athena Oxon.

It is certain that an unknown heap of trifles and impertinencies have been intermingled with these useful parts of learning, upon which account many persons in this polite age have made it a part of their breeding to throw a jest upon them.-Watts. Improvement of the Mind, pt. i. c. 20. When we observe men bred up in arms repeatedly spoken of in Scripture in such strong terms of commendation as those we have mentioned, we are authorized to conclude that the profession they are engaged in is not, as a mistaken sect of Christians amongst us profess to think, an unlawful one. Porteus, vol. i. Lect. 8. There was a time, indeed, when his family deserved their title; but they are long since degenerated, and his ancestors for more than a century have been more and more solicitous to keep up the breed of their dogs and horses, than that of their children.-Goldsmith. Citizen of the World, c. 31.

I shall also be bold enough to affirm, that among the ancients, there was not much delicacy of breeding, or that polite deference and respect, which civility obliges us either to express or counterfeit towards the persons with whom we converse.-Ilume. The Rise of Arts and Sciences, Ess. 14.

I cannot deny, but that on this occasion there was displayed a great deal of good breeding, which consists in the accommodation of the entertainment to the relish of the

guest.-Burke. Leller to Thomas Burgh, Esq.

BREESE, or

It

Ger. Breme, bremse; Dut. Bremme, bremse. Wachter thinks from the Ger. Bremen, pungere, to pierce, to prick; A. S. Bremman. is probably the same word as the succeedingdifferently applied. See the quotation from Dryden.

Till that a brize, a scorned little creature,
Through his faire hide his angry sting did threaten,
And vext so sore, that all his goodly feature,
And all his plentious pastur nought him pleased:
So by the small the great is oft diseased.

Spenser. Visions of the World's Vanitie, vol. ii. -Yon ribaudred nagze of Egypt (Whom leprosie o'er take) i'th' midst o'th' fight, When vantage like a payre of twinnes appear'd Both as the same, or rather ours the elder. (The breeze vpon her) like a cow in June, Hoists sailes, and flyes.

Shakespeare. Antony & Cleopatra, Act iii. sc. 8. Ab. Why, what's the matter among these maids? Now benedicite, have we got the breeze there?

Beaum. & Fletch. Monsieur Thomas, Act v. sc. 6.

Having thus disfigur'd and made men beneath men, as Juno in the fable of Io, they deliver up the poor transform'd heifer of the commonwealth to be stung and vexed with the breeze and goad of oppression, under the custody of some Argus with a hundred eyes of jealousy.

Milton. Of Reformation in England.

This flying plague (to mark its quality.)

Oestros the Grecians call: Asylus, we:

A fierce loud buzzing breez, their stings draw blood, And drive the cattel gadding through the wood.

BREEZE. BREEZY. BREEZELESS.

Dryden. Virgil, Geor. b. iii. Anciently written Brize, and perhaps derived immediately from the Fr. Briser, to burst, break, or rush forth. Applied to any thing, A wind; that rises or breaks forth suddenly. See the quotation from Dampier.

By sea if any man inuade to the eastward, those to the west cannot in many moneths turne against the brize and eastern wind-Hackluyt. Voyages, vol. iii. p. 661.

All necessary causes of our staying longer in this place being at last finished, our Generall prepared to be in a readinesse, to take the first advantage of the comming of a brize of winde which we expected.

Sir Francis Drake. The World encompassed.

Sea breezes commonly rise in the morning about nine o'clock. They first approach the shore so gently, as if they were afraid to come near it, and oft-times they make some faint breathings, and as if not willing to offend, they make a halt, and seem ready to retire. It comes in a fine, small, black curle upon the water, whereas all the sea between it and the shore (not yet reached by it) is as smooth and even as glass in comparison.-Dampier. Voyage, vol. ii. pt. iii. c. 4.

The Orenoque was now swoln most dreadfully, so that it was impossible for him to return by the way he enter'd, for the river of Amana could not be sailed back by any means, the breese and current of the sea were so outrageous.

Oldys. Life of Ralegh.

As soon as ever I pronounce-Flutter your fans,-the place is filled with so many Zephirs, and gentle breezes as are very refreshing in that season of the year, though they might be dangerous to ladies of a tender constitution in any other.-Spectator, No. 102.

Ye nightingales, ye twisting pines!
Ye swains that haunt the grove!
Ye gentle echoes, breezy winds!
Ye close retreats of love.

Parnell. Song. Love & Innocence.

And as he was towarde his sayde journey, he sawe in his slepe, the sygne of the crosse shynynge in the fyrmament, as if it had been a brennynge lyghte of fyre, and an aunger standynge thereby.-Fabyan, vol. i. c. 68.

Well, quod the duke, and what shall I do then? shall I suffre myselfe to be inclosed in one of my townes, and in the mean tyme they shall brynne and exile my countrey? Berners. Froissart. Cronycle, vol. ii. c. 136.

The great heate and brinnynge of the sonne dyd put the crysten men to great payne and traueyle, for whan they were in harnesse, by reason of the heate, it brente them within their armure.-Id. Ib. vol. ii. c. 171.

Or consuming fire

Brent his shearing-house or stall,
Or a deluge drowned all?

Tell it me intire.-Browne. The Shepheard's Pipe, Ecl. 3.

BRENT. (Of a hill.) Sw. Bryn, vertex montis. Ihre thinks bryn denotes that which stands above other things, or is preeminent beyond other things. Dr. Jamieson interprets brent to be-high, straight, upright. It is perhaps be-rent, brent: i. e. rent or riven, torn or sheared. See SCAR. Heich in the fore stam stand he micht be sene, For his blyith browis brent, and athir ene The fyre twinkling.

Douglas. Eneados, b. viii. 1. 12, p. 268. The grapes grow on the brant rocks so wonderfully, that ye will marvell how men dare climb up to them, and yet so plentifully, that it is not only a marvell where men dwell that drink it.-Ascham. Letter to Mr. Raven.

BRE/TFUL. Of Bretful, Mr. Tyrwhitt observes that the sense is much more clear than the ety

Furious, violent, fierce, outrageous.
"The breem freezing air"—the fiercely, sharply,
freezing air. See Drayton, Poly-Olbion, s. 11.
Whan the kyng herd say, that David werred on him,
To Wales he went his way full scharply & fulle brim.
R. Brunne, p. 244.
And when this duk was comen to the launde,
Under the sonne he loked, and anon
He was ware of Arcite and Palamon,
That foughten breme, as it were bolles two.
Chaucer. The Knightes Tale, v. 1701.
For quietnes is of more authoritie than hastie breemnes.
Vives. Instruction to a Christian Woman.

Let me, ah! let me in your foldes ye lock,
Ere the breme winter breede you greater grief.
Spenser. Shepherd's Calendar, December.

Whanne at an god mannes hous ys men were at inne, Vorst hii wolde ete & drynke that hii found ther inne, And suththe the louerd of the hous quelle and alle hys, And suththe brenne al ys hous. R. Gloucester, p. 296. He brent citees and tounes, ouer alle did he schame. R. Brunne, p. 25. I counsele thee to bie of me brent gold and preued, that thou be maad riche, and be clothid with white clothis. Wiclif. Apocalips, c. 3.

are the brims of a hat. Breeds may be that which bredes, broads or broadens; and bretful may be full to the whole breadth, the whole extent or dimensions; brimful.

A frere on a bench
With a face so fat. as a full bleddere.
Blowen bretful of breath.-Piers Plouhman. Creder
His wallet lay beforne him in his lappe,
Bretful of pardon come from Rome al hote.

BREVE, n.
BREVE, adj.
BRE'VELY.

BREVIARY.
BREVET.
BREVIATE.

Chaucer. The Prologue, v. 689. Lat. Brevis; Gr. Bpaxus, short. See BRIEF, and ABBREVIATE.

A breve, brief, or breviary, is a short, concise, compendious writing; appointing or describing (something to be done) in BREVITY. a brief style, in a few words: or containing shortly or briefly, in an abridged or compendious form, the substance of something larger or more expanded.

For that on hereth bote a boxe. a brevet thr ynne
Ther the marchaunt ledeth a male. with meny kynne
thynges.
Piers Plouhman, p. 217.

Now woll I shortly here reherce
Of that I haue said in verce

All the sentence by and by

In wordes fewe compendiously

That thou the better maiest on hem thinke
Whetherso it be thou wake or winke

For the wordes little greue

A man to kepe, whan it is breue.-Chaucer. R. of the Rose. The more the said brere cometh unto light and knowledge the more falsities be deprehended therein.

Burnett. Records, vol. i. b. ii. No. 23.

This poetical schoolemayster, corector of breues and longes, caused Collyngborne to be abbreuiate shorter by the hed, and too bee deuyded into foure quarters.-Hall. Rich. III. an. 3.

They determyned by some meanes easely to compasse that the duchy of Bryteyne should breuely come vndre their liure and subiecció.-Id. Hen. VII. an. 3.

Some time they can use such a compendious kynde of eloquence, that they conuey and couche vp together, with a woonderful breuitie, fowre folies and fiue lyes in lesse than as many lynes.-Sir T. More. Workes, p. 819.

The same observation might be made on the retailers of small cole, not to mention broken glass or brick-dust. Spectator, No. 251.

The most unfurnish'd with the means of life, And they that never pass their brick-wall bound, To range the fields and treat their lungs with air, Yet feel the burning instinct. Cowper. Task, b. iv. BRICKLE. Dut. Brokel; breke-lick, from breken, to break.

That may be broken; fragile, frail, brittle; (which last is the word now used, and which is also from the same source.)

Suche as didde their endevour to break his bondes, and to shake his yoke from them, those he shall spyte of their teeth rule with au yron rod, and as a brickell earthern pot in pieces al to frush them.-Sur T. More. Workes, p. 1398.

Whan this blessyd kynge Edwarde had receyued deuine monyssion that he should chaunge this transetory and bryckell life for ye life euerlastynge, he sykened in the Cristenmas weke.-Fabyan, vol. i. c. 214.

Olde Ouid will I reade,

whose pleasant wit doth passe The reast, as far as stubborne steele

excells the brickle glasse.

Turberville. The Louer to Cupid for Mercie.

For this man that of earthly matter maketh brickle vessels, and graven images, knoweth himself to offend above all others.-Bible. Wisdom, x7. 13.

BRIDE, n. BRIDE, v. BRIDAL, n. BRIDAL, adj. BRIDALTY. BRIDE-GROOM.

Mr. Tooke considers bride to be the past part. of the A. S. Bredan, fovere, to nourish, to cherish. The bride then is any one (sc. woman) nourished, cherished. Somner observes that Chaucer writes it Bræde. Bridegroom is the person by whom the nourished, cherished one is attended, served, protected.

Groom, notwithstanding the introduction of the letter r, for which he cannot account, Tooke is persuaded, is the past part. of the A. S. verb Gymon, to take care of, to guide, to guard, to attend. In the A. S. we have Bridgum; Ger. Brautigam; Dut. Bruede-gum; Dan. Breedgom; Sw. Brudgumme: all without the r. See Tooke, and also Somner.

Bride, a woman newly placed under the protection of a husband, newly espoused or married; who has newly entered into the nuptial state. Bridegroom, the (protecting) husband newly espoused to the bride.

Here now of Hardeknoute, how he ended his life.
Till a duke of Danes he gaf his douhter to wife,
The bridale was holden at the maner of Lambithe.
R. Brunne, p. 56.
And ich sawe how mede was married. meting as it were
And al the riche retynaunce. that roteth hem on falsly-
vynge,

Were byd to that brudale. Piers Plouhman, p. 27. Whan thou art bedun to bridalis: sitte not at the mete in the firste place, lest perauenture a worthier than thou be bedun of him.-Wiclif. Luke, c. 14.

And Venus laugheth upon every wight
And with hire tirebrond in hire hond aboute
Danceth before the bride and all the route.

Chaucer. The Merchantes Tale, v. 9602.

The deuised we some doctor to make a sermo at our masse in our mothes mind & preache to our prayse wt some fond fatasy deuised of our name & after masse muche feasting ryotous & costly, & finally like mad men, made me meri at our deth, & take our burying for a brideall.

Sir T. More. Workes, p. 335. For it chaunceth by many, that after the heat of loue is once past, their followeth great hate, which thing oft-times maketh wonder & talke among the people, when they heare tell, how so great louers within 3 or 4 daies fal at debate, and begin to diuorce ere the bride cake be eate.

Vives. Instruction of a Christen Woman, b. i. c. 16.

He yt hath the bryde, is the brydegrome. But the frende of the brydegrome, whyche standeth by and heareth him reioyseth greatly of the bridegromes voyce, Thys my ioye is fulfylled.--Bible, 1551. John, c. 3.

And when the golden glorious sun goes down
Would she put on her star-bestudded crown,
And in her inasking sute, the spangled sky
Come forth to bride it in her revelry.

Drayton. K. John to Matilda.

When she will grace the bridal dignitie,

It will be soon to all young monarchs known, Who then by posting through the world will trie Who first can at her feet present his crown. Davenant. Gondibert, b. iii. c. 4.

VOL. I.

Acc. At Quintin, hee In honour of this bridaltee, Hath challeng'd either wide countee.

B. Jonson. Love's Welcome.

Such various flowry wreaths th' assembly weare,
As shew'd them wisely proud of nature's pride;
Which so adorn'd them, that the coarsest here
Did seem a prosp'rous bridegroom, or a bride.

Davenant. Gondibert, b. ii. c. 6.

Alph. Come then, let's in, and end this nuptial,
Then to our coronation with all speed:

My vertuous maid, this day i'le be your bride-man.
Beaum. & Fletch. A Wife for a Moneth, Act v. sc. 1.

Let's sing about, and say, hey-trol,
Troll to me the bridall boll,

And divide the broad bride-cake

Round about the brides-stake.-B.Jonson. Love's Welcome.

How dar'st thou disobey, when I command?
Mind, mind her not, nor be disturb'd at tears,
A counterfeited qualm of bridal fears.

Lansdown. The British Enchantress, Act i. sc. 2.
He, only he, can tell, who match'd like me,
(If such another happy man there be)
Has by his own experience tried,
How much the wife is dearer than the bride.

Lyttelton. An irregular Ode.

So wept Aurelia, till the destin'd youth
Stepp'd in, with his receipt for making smiles,
And blanching sables into bridal bloom.

Young. Complaint, Night 5.

BRIDGE, v. The origin of this word has not BRIDGE, n. Sbeen sufficiently accounted for. Ihre considers the Sw. Brygga to be the diminutive of Bro,pons; properly denoting aliquod stratum, i. e. any thing strewed, spread, stretched. Spelman, that brig or brug is so called because it is usually constructed e tabulis; brug also signifying tabulatum. Skinner suggests, A. S. Ober, over, and Rige, the back; orig, water. It is (probably) the A. S. Rige, hricg, and the common prefix be. In A. S. we find Hricg, bricq; in Sw. Rygg, brygga; in Ger. Ruck, bruck; in Dut. Rugge, brugge; in Eng. Ridge, bridge.

Be-ridge, bridge, (ber contracted into br,) is—

That which reaches, stretches, or extends, (sc. from bank to bank, across a river, from side to side, point to point;) any thing, built, raised and stretched or extended across.

Bysyde Euerwyk hys ost agen hym he drow,
In stude, that me clupede Stamford brugge tho,
And now me clupeth yt Batayle brugge, vor the batayle
that was tho.-R. Gloucester, p. 355.

On the brigge were alle the vamward & the rere, Under tham the brigge gan falle doun in to the riuere. B. Brunne, p. 204. Albeit it was a very hard matter to make a bridge, by reason of ye brodenesse, swiftnesse, and depenesse of the streame, yet notwythstanding he thought eyther to goe that waye to worke, or els it was not for hym to passe at all wyth hys army.-Golding. Cæsar, fol. 94.

Though he found it very difficult to lay a bridge cross so broad, so deep, and rapid a river, yet he determined to attempt it, & if he failed, not to pass over at all. Bladen. Ib. b. iv. ut supra.

Xerxes, the libertie of Greece to yoke,
From Susa his Memnonian palace high
Came to the sea, and over Hellespont
Bridging his way, Europe with Asia joyn'd.

Milton. Paradise Lost, b. x.

The former union now returnes againe,
This isle shall once more kisse the maine,
Joyn'd with a flowry bridge of loue on which the Graces
dance.-Beaumont. An Epithalamium.

Why halt ye thus, ye Britons? Why
Decline the war? Shall a morass forbid
Your easy march? Advance; we'll bridge a way,
Safe of access.
J. Philips. Blenheim.
Your greatest conquerors have burnt their ships or broke
down the bridges behind them, as being determined either
to succeed or die in the engagement.-Spectator, No. 295.

Stupendous task! in vain stood tow'ring hills
Oppos'd; in vain did ample Irwell pour

Her tide transverse: he pierc'd the tow'ring hill,
He bridg'd the ample tide, and high in air,
And deep through earth, his freighted barge he bore.
Mason. The English Garden, b. iii.
225

Descending now (but cautious, lest too fast)
A sudden steep, upon a rustic bridge
We pass a gulph, in which the willows dip
Their pendant boughs, stooping as if to drink..

BRIDLE, v. BRIDLE, n. BRIDLER.

BRIDLING.

Chaucer Troilus, b. ¡il

Where some plaide, and some songe,
And some gone and some ride,
And some pricke her horse side,
And bridien them nowe in nowe out.-Gower. Con. 4. b. 1,
And if her list to riden oute

On pilgremage, or other stede,

I come, though I be not bede,

And take hir in myn arme alofte,
And set hir in hir sadle softe,

And so forth lede hir by the bridell.-Id. Ib. b. iv.

By the tyme that the chylde doth come to xvII. yeres of

age, to the intent his courage be brydled with reason, it were nedefull to rede vnto hym some workes of philosophy. Sir T. Elyot. Governour, b. i. c. 11.

For suche as haue had the rule aboute hym, haue nat doone their duetie, but haue suffred hym to rynne on the bridell, and to ryde nyght and daye excessyuely in traucylynge of his body out of measure.

Berners. Froissart. Cronycle, vol. ii. c. 189. After this solempne feaste and glorious pompe he kepte greate counsailles there, as well for the orderynge of the countree in tyme to come, as for the brydellynge and punyshinge of suche as there had misgouerned them selfes. Hall. Rich. III. an. 1.

When youth, not bridled with a guiding stay,
Is left to randon of their owne delight,
And welds whole realmes by force of soveraign sway,
Great is the daunger of unmaistred might.

Sackville. Ferrex & Porrez, Act iii. sc. 1.

In the turning one might perceive the bridle-hand something gently stir: but indeed so gently, as it did rather distil virtue than use violence.-Sidney. Arcadia, b. ii.

The prelates which boast themselves the only bridlers of schism, God knows have been so cold and backward both there and with us to repress heresy and idolatry, that either through their carelessness or their craft all this mischief is hefain-Milton. The Reason of Church Government, b. i. c. 7. Fir'd with the name, which I so oft have found The distant climes and different tongues resound, I bridle-in my struggling muse with pain, That longs to launch into a bolder strain.

Addison. A Letter from Italy. This declaration gave great satisfaction to the whole assembly which immediately bridled up, and appeared in all its beauties.-Tatler, No. 102.

She showed a little dislike at my raillery; and by her bridling up, I perceived she expected to be treated hereafter not as Jenny Distaff but Mrs. Tranquillus.-Id. No. 104.

All the circumstances of the life of our Prince, seem to have conspired to make him the check and bridle of tyranny. Spectator, No. 516.

He bridles-in the monsters of the deep:
The bridled monsters awful distance keep;
Forget their hunger, while they view their prey;
And guiltless gaze, and round the stranger play.

BRIEF, n.
BRIEF, adj.
BRIEFLY.

BRIEFNESS.

See BREVE

Young. The Last Day, 5. i.

Dr. Jamieson gives instances of the use of brief as a verb. It is common among English law

Iyers as, to

GG