Sir Thomas Browne 1605-1682, English physician and essayist, born in London and educated at Winchester College, University of Oxford and abroad at the universities of Montpellier, Padua and Leiden. In 1671 he was knighted by Charles II for his antiquarian.scholarship. Browne's first important work.Religio Medici.(Religion of a Doctor), probably written in 1635, is about skepticism and scientific reasoning being mixed with faith and revelation..Pseudodoxia Epidemica, 1646, commonly known as.Vulgar Errors, is encyclopedic in scope and length. In this work Browne speculates on the origins of human error and analyzes popular superstitions..Hydriotaphia: Urn-Burial.and.The Garden of Cyrus.appeared together in 1658..Urn-Burial.is a treatise on death and burial customs throughout the world..The Garden of Cyrus, examines historically the mystical.significance of the number five, particularly in horticulture. The rich imagery and eloquence of his writing style have earned him deservedly high rank among the masters of English prose.

Benedict Arnold, 1741-1801
A general of the American Revolution who became a traitor having a plan to surrender West Point to the British for 20,000 pounds (approximately $100,000. back then) was foiled when his accomplice.John André was captured in 1780. Arnold fled to New York and then to England in 1781; Arnold performed notably in the early days of the war, but became bitter over several setbacks to his career. After receiving command of the American fort at West Point, Arnold plotted to betray it to the British. The plan was revealed when the American forces captured Major John André of the British army, who was carrying messages between Arnold and the British. Arnold escaped to England and continued a military career, but was widely scorned by the English. Calling someone a 'Benedict Arnold' is a way of calling the person a traitor. Ancient Judas Iscariot, a disciple of Emmanuel was an ancient 'Benedict Arnold':.John 13:18.

bright, brighter, brightest.adjectives
emitting or reflecting light readily or in large amounts; shining (a bright sunny day; a stage bright with spotlights); brilliant; clever; intelligent
bright.or.brightly.adverb
not too bright.idiom
not intelligent; stupid
brightness.noun
the.state.or.quality of being bright; the effect or sensation.by means of.which an observer is able to distinguish differences in luminance; the attribute of light-source colors by which emitted light is ordered continuously from light to dark in correlation with its intensity; Color: the dimension of a color that represents its similarity to one of a series of achromatic colors ranging from very dim (dark) to very bright (dazzling)
brighten, brightened, brightening, brightens.verbs
intransitive.and.transitive verb use.to make or become bright or brighter
brightener.noun,.plural.brighteners

boggle, boggled, boggling, boggles.verbs
intransitive verb use.if you say that the mind boggles at something or that something boggles the mind, you mean that it is so amazing or strange or that it is difficult to imagine or comprehend (the mind boggles at the possibilities that could be in store for us); to hesitate as if in fear or doubt; to shy away or be overcome with astonishment; to botch; bungle
transitive verb use.to cause to be overcome, as with astonishment
boggle.noun
boggler.noun

blare, blared, blaring, blares.verbs
intransitive verb use.to sound loudly and stridently (a stereo blaring at the campsite)
transitive verb use.to cause to sound loudly and stridently (don't blare the stereo); to proclaim loudly and flamboyantly (headlines blaring the good news)
blare.noun
a loud, strident noise

blanch, blanched, blanching, blanches.verbs
transitive verb use.to take the color from; bleach; to scald almonds, for example, in order to loosen the skin; to scald food briefly, as before freezing or as a preliminary stage in preparing a dish; to turn white or become pale
intransitive verb use.to turn white or become pale (their faces blanched in terror at their first experiencing an Earthquake)
blancher.noun

bleach, bleached, bleaching, bleaches.verbs
transitive verb use.to remove the color from, as by means of sunlight or chemical products usually containing dangerous chlorine; to make white or colorless
intransitive verb use.to become white or colorless
bleach.noun
a poisonous chemical agent used for bleaching; the act of bleaching

bleacher.noun,.plural.bleachers
an often unroofed outdoor grandstand for seating spectators; one that bleaches or is used in bleaching

benediction.noun,.plural.benedictions
a blessing; invocation of divine.blessing

betwixt.adverb
betwixt.preposition
between
betwixt and between.idiom
in an intermediate position; neither wholly one thing nor another

between.preposition
in or through the position or interval.separating (between the trees; between 11 o'clock and 12 o'clock); intermediate to, as in quantity, amount or degree (during.inclement.weather, the buses are between 5 and 15 minutes off schedule; that item costs between 15 and 20 dollars); connecting spatially (a railroad between the two cities); associating or uniting in a reciprocal action or relationship (an agreement between workers); a certain.resemblance between the two children); by the combined effort or effect of (between them they succeeded in building a skateboard ramp); in the combined ownership of (they had only a few bananas left between them); as measured against; often used to express a reciprocal relationship (they chose between riding their bikes and walking)
between.adverb
in an intermediate space, position or time; in the interim
between you and me.idiom
in the confidence
go-between.noun,.plural.go-betweens
one who acts as an intermediary between two sides (mom was always the go-between when us brothers were in dispute with each other);
in between.idiom
in an intermediate situation (I was in between a decision on whether to go or stay)
in between times.idiom
during an intervening.period; in the meantime (has written several books and teaches in between times)
betweenness.noun

barometer.noun,.plural.barometers
an instrument for measuring atmospheric.pressure, used especially in weather.forecasting; something that registers or responds to fluctuations; an indicator (opinion polls serve as a barometer of the public mood)
barometric.or.barometrical.adjective
barometrically.adverb
barometry.noun

bang.noun,.plural.bangs
a sudden loud noise, as of a door slamming unexpectedly; a sudden loud blow or bump (someone banged into the back of her car); a sudden burst of action (the campaign started off with a bang; a sense of excitement; a thrill (we got a bang out of watching the old movies)
bang, banged, banging, bangs.verbs
transitive verb use.to strike heavily and often repeatedly; bump to close suddenly and loudly; slam; to handle noisily or violently (banged the pots in the kitchen)
intransitive verb use.to make a sudden loud, explosive noise; to crash noisily against or into something (his elbow banged against the door)
bang.adverb
exactly; precisely (the arrow hit bang on the target)

bang.noun,.plural.bangs
a fringe of hair cut short and straight across the forehead
bang, banged, banging, bangs.transitive verbs
to cut hair in bangs

beat, beaten, beating, beats.verbs
transitive verb use.to strike.repeatedly (she's outside with the rug over the fence beating it with a broom to get the dust out); flog: to strike against repeatedly and with force; pound (waves beating the shore); to flap wings; to strike so as to produce music or a signal (beat a drum); in music, to mark or count (time or rhythm) with the hands or with a baton); to shape or break by repeated blows; forge (beat the glowing metal into a particular shape); to make by pounding or trampling (beat a path through the bush); to mix rapidly with a utensil (beat two eggs in a bowl); to defeat or subdue, as in a contest; to force to withdraw or retreat (beat back the enemy); to dislodge from a position (she beat him down to a lower price she could afford); to be superior to or better than (when it comes to long distances, riding beats walking); to perplex or baffle (it beats me, I don't know the answer); to avoid or counter the effects of, often by thinking ahead; circumvent (left early to beat the traffic); to arrive or finish before another (we beat you home by five minutes); to deprive, as by craft or ability (he beat me out of 20 dollars with his latest scheme)
intransitive verb use.to inflict repeated blows; to pulsate; throb; to strike a drum; to flap repeatedly; to be victorious or successful; win
beat.noun,.plural.beats
a stroke or blow that produces a sound or serves as a signal; a pulsation or throb; in music, a regular, rhythmical.unit of time; the measured, rhythmical sound of verse; the meter; the area regularly covered by a reporter, a police officer or a sentry
beat.adjective
worn out; fatigued (today her work was intense and she's now beat and ready for bed)
beat off.phrasal verb
to drive away (the mosquitos were beaten away with the wind that came up)
beat around the bush.or.beat about the bush.idiom
to fail to confront a subject.directly
to beat the band.idiom
with great vigor (she was beating the band to finish before leaving to meet the arriving plane) in a hurried.manner
beaten.adjective
formed or made thin by hammering (beaten gold); worn by continuous use (he felt somewhat worn after the long hike); familiar and much traveled (a village located well off the beaten path); worn-out; exhausted
beater.noun,.plural.beaters
one that beats using a device for beating (an egg beater; a carpet beater); a person or animal to drive wild game from under cover for a hunter (the running dogs will beat the ducks out into the air)