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Ambrose Bierce
BABE or BABY,...
BABE or BABY, n. A misshapen creature of no particular age, sex, or condition, chiefly remarkable for the violence of...
BELLADONNA, n. In...
BELLADONNA, n. In Italian a beautiful lady; in English a deadly poison. A striking example of the essential identity...
BAIT, n. A...
BAIT, n. A preparation that renders the hook more palatable. The best kind is beauty.
BEHAVIOR, n. Conduct,...
BEHAVIOR, n. Conduct, as determined, not by principle, but by breeding.
Source: The...
BACK, n. That...
BACK, n. That part of your friend which it is your privilege to contemplate in your...
BACKBITE, v.t. To...
BACKBITE, v.t. To speak of a man as you find him when he can't find you.
Source:...
BOUNTY, n. The...
BOUNTY, n. The liberality of one who has much, in permitting one who has nothing to get all that he...
BAROMETER, n. An...
BAROMETER, n. An ingenious instrument which indicates what kind of weather we are having.
CALAMITY, n. A...
CALAMITY, n. A more than commonly plain and unmistakable reminder that the affairs of this life are not of our own...
BEGGAR, n. One...
BEGGAR, n. One who has relied on the assistance of his friends.
Source: The Devil's...
BEAUTY, n. That...
BEAUTY, n. That power by which a woman charms a lover and terrifies a husband.
BRAIN, n. An...
BRAIN, n. An apparatus with which we think what we think. That which distinguishes the man who is content to be...
BLANK-VERSE, n. Unrhymed...
BLANK-VERSE, n. Unrhymed iambic pentameters -- the most difficult kind of English verse to write acceptably; a kind,...
CANNON, n. An...
CANNON, n. An instrument employed in the rectification of national boundaries.
BIGOT, n. One...
BIGOT, n. One who is obstinately and zealously attached to an opinion that you do not...
BEFRIEND, v.t. To...
BEFRIEND, v.t. To make an ingrate.
Source: The Devil's Dictionary, 1911.
--...
CARTESIAN, adj. Relating...
CARTESIAN, adj. Relating to Descartes, author of Cogito ergo sum to demonstrate the reality of human existence. The...
BOUNDARY, n. In...
BOUNDARY, n. In political geography, an imaginary line between two nations, separating the imaginary rights of one...
CAT, n. A...
CAT, n. A soft, indestructible automaton provided by nature to be kicked when things go wrong in the domestic...
CALLOUS, adj. Gifted...
CALLOUS, adj. Gifted with great fortitude to bear the evils afflicting another.