Word origins

• blearDim; unclear from water or rheum.
• bleareyedHaving dim or rheumy eyes.
• blearinessThe characteristic of being bleary.
• bleauntA short tunic or blouse worn in the Middle Ages
• blenchTo shrink; start back; give way; flinch; turn aside or fly off.
• blessedfullFull of blessing.
• bless youSaid to someone who has just sneezed, as a polite remark.
• blicantshining; bright
• blikeTo shine; gleam.
• blindhoodThe condition or state of being blind.
• blindwormAnguis fragilis (slowworm), a small species of legless lizard.
• blissfulnessThe characteristic of being blissful.
• blissomTo be lustful; to be lascivious.
• blithefuljolly, joyous or carefree.
• blithenessThe characteristic of being blithe.
• blob-woreA seaweed with egg-shaped floats.
• blooderA person or creature which draws blood
• bloodingA bleeding.
• bloodletTo bleed; let blood; phlebotomise.
• blood redA dark red color.
• blossomySimilar to blossom.
• blotlessWithout blots; stainless.
• blow upUsed other than figuratively or idiomatically: see blow, up.
• blue-grayOf a bluish gray color.
• blue-greyCommonwealth standard spelling of blue-gray.
• blundererOne who blunders.
• blunketGray; grayish or light blue.
• boardenMade of boards or wood; wooden
• boatfulEnough of something to fill a boat, or a boat filled with the thing in question
• boatmasterA person officially qualified to be in charge of a vessel of a specified category.
• boatropeA rope used for the rigging of a boat.
• boatsmithA maker of boats or ships; shipbuilder.
• bobanceBoasting.
• body corporateA corporation, when viewed as a legal person.
• boistousCoarse, rude; noisy, violent; strong.
• boldheadBoldness; courage.
• Boldon BookThe record of a Norman survey of the bishopric of Durham by the bishop of Durham in 1183.
• boldshipThe characteristic of being bold; boldness.
• bolkTo belch.
• bolnSwollen; puffed out.
• bondwomanA woman who is bound in servitude; a female slave.
• bone fireA fire lit with bones instead of wood, so that when livestock were driven between two such fires the acrid smoke drove off parasites.
• bookfellA skin prepared for writing upon; a sheet of vellum or parchment; paper.
• bookloreFactual information concerning books, for example regarding such matters as authors and the history of publication and printing.
• booklyOf or pertaining to books; literary.
• Book of LifeThe book in which God is said to record the name of every person who is destined for heaven or the world to come.
• book readingThe act or practice of reading books or other printed matter.
• bookstaffA letter, a letter of the alphabet, a written character.
• boosiesA woman's breasts.
• bootlessWithout boots.
• boroughreeveThe governor of a town or city, especially for fiscal purposes.
• borrowageSynonym of suretyship
• borrowshipSuretyship or the act of borrowing.
• boscageA place set with trees or mass of shrubbery, a grove or thicket.
• BosherA surname originating as an occupation.
• boskA bush.
• botcherA person who mends things, especially such a cobbler or tailor.
• bottlemakerA manufacturer of bottles.
• boukThe belly.
• bounteouslyIn a bounteous manner.
• bountifulnessThe characteristic of being bountiful.
• bourdA joke; jesting, banter.
• bourderA jester.
• bowableCapable of being bowed (bent)
• bowerlandA rural area; farmland; bowery.
• bowkTo belch, to burp.
• bowseTo drink excessively and socially; to carouse.
• brachetA female hunting hound that hunts by scent; a brach.
• BrackstoneA surname originating as an occupation.
• braffinA horse collar, especially as used in girning.
• braggerA person who brags.
• braggetA liquor made of fermented ale and honey with spices.
• brainpanThe braincase; the skull.
• bramberrybrambleberry
• brambleberryThe blackberry (plant or fruit).
• brandironA type of kitchen utensil, especially a gridiron.
• brathHasty; violent; fierce; strong.
• brathlyHastily; violently; fiercely; with fury.
• bratticeA partition in a coal mine, made from wood or from canvas sheeting coated in tar.
• breadcornCorn or grain from which bread is made.
• breadlessWithout bread.
• break breadTo eat a meal, especially to eat a shared meal with friends, family, guests, etc.; to be in fellowship with others by eating with them.
• breakleApt to, capable of, or tending to break; fragile; brittle.
• break looseTo escape; to free oneself.
• break offTo remove a piece from a whole by breaking or snapping.
• break someone's heartTo cause a person to feel grief, disappointment, or sadness.
• breast-girdleA band or girdle worn around the breasts, serving as a form of brassiere in Mediaeval times.
• breastplatedWearing a breastplate.
• bremeOf the sea, wind, etc.: fierce; raging; stormy, tempestuous.
• brendingThe act of burning; burning.
• brethelingWretch; worthless person.
• breweressA female brewer.
• brickleTo fail spectacularly.
• brickmakerA maker of bricks.
• bride-aleA rustic wedding feast
• bridelockMarriage; marriage ceremony; nuptials.
• bridelyOf or pertaining to a bride; nuptial.
• briefnessThe characteristic of being brief.
• briganderSynonym of brigandine.
• brigandineA coat of armor for the body, consisting of scales or plates, sometimes overlapping each other, generally of metal, sewn or riveted under or onto canvas or linen or other material.