6 definitions found
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Rhapsody \Rhap"so*dy\, n.; pl. {Rhapsodies}. [F. rhapsodie, L.
rhapsodia, Gr. "rapsw,di`a, fr. "rapsw,do`s a rhapsodist;
"ra`ptein to sew, stitch together, unite + 'w,dh` a song. See
{Ode}.]
1. A recitation or song of a rhapsodist; a portion of an epic
poem adapted for recitation, or usually recited, at one
time; hence, a division of the Iliad or the Odyssey; --
called also a {book}.
2. A disconnected series of sentences or statements composed
under excitement, and without dependence or natural
connection; rambling composition. ``A rhapsody of words.''
--Shak. ``A rhapsody of tales.'' --Locke.
3. (Mus.) A composition irregular in form, like an
improvisation; as, Liszt's ``Hungarian Rhapsodies.''
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Bell \Bell\, n. [AS. belle, fr. bellan to bellow. See {Bellow}.]
1. A hollow metallic vessel, usually shaped somewhat like a
cup with a flaring mouth, containing a clapper or tongue,
and giving forth a ringing sound on being struck.
Note: Bells have been made of various metals, but the best
have always been, as now, of an alloy of copper and
tin.
{The Liberty Bell}, the famous bell of the Philadelphia State
House, which rang when the Continental Congress declared
the Independence of the United States, in 1776. It had
been cast in 1753, and upon it were the words ``Proclaim
liberty throughout all the land, to all the inhabitants
thereof.''
2. A hollow perforated sphere of metal containing a loose
ball which causes it to sound when moved.
3. Anything in the form of a bell, as the cup or corol of a
flower. ``In a cowslip's bell I lie.'' --Shak.
4. (Arch.) That part of the capital of a column included
between the abacus and neck molding; also used for the
naked core of nearly cylindrical shape, assumed to exist
within the leafage of a capital.
5. pl. (Naut.) The strikes of the bell which mark the time;
or the time so designated.
Note: On shipboard, time is marked by a bell, which is struck
eight times at 4, 8, and 12 o'clock. Half an hour after
it has struck ``eight bells'' it is struck once, and at
every succeeding half hour the number of strokes is
increased by one, till at the end of the four hours,
which constitute a watch, it is struck eight times.
{To bear away the bell}, to win the prize at a race where the
prize was a bell; hence, to be superior in something.
--Fuller.
{To bear the bell}, to be the first or leader; -- in allusion
to the bellwether or a flock, or the leading animal of a
team or drove, when wearing a bell.
{To curse by bell}, {book}, {and candle}, a solemn form of
excommunication used in the Roman Catholic church, the
bell being tolled, the book of offices for the purpose
being used, and three candles being extinguished with
certain ceremonies. --Nares.
{To lose the bell}, to be worsted in a contest. ``In single
fight he lost the bell.'' --Fairfax.
{To shake the bells}, to move, give notice, or alarm. --Shak.
Note: Bell is much used adjectively or in combinations; as,
bell clapper; bell foundry; bell hanger; bell-mouthed;
bell tower, etc., which, for the most part, are
self-explaining.
{Bell arch} (Arch.), an arch of unusual form, following the
curve of an ogee.
{Bell cage}, or {Bell carriage} (Arch.), a timber frame
constructed to carry one or more large bells.
{Bell cot} (Arch.), a small or subsidiary construction,
frequently corbeled out from the walls of a structure, and
used to contain and support one or more bells.
{Bell deck} (Arch.), the floor of a belfry made to serve as a
roof to the rooms below.
{Bell founder}, one whose occupation it is to found or cast
bells.
{Bell foundry}, or {Bell foundery}, a place where bells are
founded or cast.
{Bell gable} (Arch.), a small gable-shaped construction,
pierced with one or more openings, and used to contain
bells.
{Bell glass}. See {Bell jar}.
{Bell hanger}, a man who hangs or puts up bells.
{Bell pull}, a cord, handle, or knob, connecting with a bell
or bell wire, and which will ring the bell when pulled.
--Aytoun.
{Bell punch}, a kind of conductor's punch which rings a bell
when used.
{Bell ringer}, one who rings a bell or bells, esp. one whose
business it is to ring a church bell or chime, or a set of
musical bells for public entertainment.
{Bell roof} (Arch.), a roof shaped according to the general
lines of a bell.
{Bell rope}, a rope by which a church or other bell is rung.
{Bell tent}, a circular conical-topped tent.
{Bell trap}, a kind of bell shaped stench trap.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Book \Book\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Booked}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Booking}.]
1. To enter, write, or register in a book or list.
Let it be booked with the rest of this day's deeds.
--Shak.
2. To enter the name of (any one) in a book for the purpose
of securing a passage, conveyance, or seat; as, to be
booked for Southampton; to book a seat in a theater.
3. To mark out for; to destine or assign for; as, he is
booked for the valedictory. [Colloq.]
Here I am booked for three days more in Paris.
--Charles
Reade.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Book \Book\ (b[oo^]k), n. [OE. book, bok, AS. b[=o]c; akin to
Goth. b[=o]ka a letter, in pl. book, writing, Icel. b[=o]k,
Sw. bok, Dan. bog, OS. b[=o]k, D. boek, OHG. puoh, G. buch;
and fr. AS. b[=o]c, b[=e]ce, beech; because the ancient
Saxons and Germans in general wrote runes on pieces of
beechen board. Cf. {Beech}.]
1. A collection of sheets of paper, or similar material,
blank, written, or printed, bound together; commonly, many
folded and bound sheets containing continuous printing or
writing.
Note: When blank, it is called a blank book. When printed,
the term often distinguishes a bound volume, or a
volume of some size, from a pamphlet.
Note: It has been held that, under the copyright law, a book
is not necessarily a volume made of many sheets bound
together; it may be printed on a single sheet, as music
or a diagram of patterns. --Abbott.
2. A composition, written or printed; a treatise.
A good book is the precious life blood of a master
spirit, embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a
life beyond life. --Milton.
3. A part or subdivision of a treatise or literary work; as,
the tenth book of ``Paradise Lost.''
4. A volume or collection of sheets in which accounts are
kept; a register of debts and credits, receipts and
expenditures, etc.
5. Six tricks taken by one side, in the game of whist; in
certain other games, two or more corresponding cards,
forming a set.
Note: Book is used adjectively or as a part of many
compounds; as, book buyer, bookrack, book club, book
lore, book sale, book trade, memorandum book, cashbook.
{Book account}, an account or register of debt or credit in a
book.
{Book debt}, a debt for items charged to the debtor by the
creditor in his book of accounts.
{Book learning}, learning acquired from books, as
distinguished from practical knowledge. ``Neither does it
so much require book learning and scholarship, as good
natural sense, to distinguish true and false.'' --Burnet.
{Book louse} (Zo["o]l.), one of several species of minute,
wingless insects injurious to books and papers. They
belong to the {Pseudoneuroptera}.
{Book moth} (Zo["o]l.), the name of several species of moths,
the larv[ae] of which eat books.
{Book oath}, an oath made on {The Book}, or Bible.
{The Book of Books}, the Bible.
{Book post}, a system under which books, bulky manuscripts,
etc., may be transmitted by mail.
{Book scorpion} (Zo["o]l.), one of the false scorpions
({Chelifer cancroides}) found among books and papers. It
can run sidewise and backward, and feeds on small insects.
{Book stall}, a stand or stall, often in the open air, for
retailing books.
{Canonical books}. See {Canonical}.
{In one's books}, in one's favor. ``I was so much in his
books, that at his decease he left me his lamp.''
--Addison.
{To bring to book}.
(a) To compel to give an account.
(b) To compare with an admitted authority. ``To bring it
manifestly to book is impossible.'' --M. Arnold.
{To curse by bell, book, and candle}. See under {Bell}.
{To make a book} (Horse Racing), to lay bets (recorded in a
pocket book) against the success of every horse, so that
the bookmaker wins on all the unsuccessful horses and
loses only on the winning horse or horses.
{To speak by the book}, to speak with minute exactness.
{Without book}.
(a) By memory.
(b) Without authority.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
book
n 1: a written work or composition that has been published
(printed on pages bound together); "I am reading a good
book on economics"
2: physical objects consisting of a number of pages bound
together; "he used a large book as a doorstop" [syn: {volume}]
3: a record in which commercial accounts are recorded; "they
got a subpoena to examine our books" [syn: {ledger}, {leger},
{account book}, {book of account}]
4: a number of sheets (ticket or stamps etc.) bound together on
one edge; "he bought a book of stamps"
5: a compilation of the known facts regarding something or
someone; "Al Smith used to say, `Let's look at the
record'"; "his name is in all the recordbooks" [syn: {record},
{record book}]
6: a major division of a long written composition; "the book of
Isaiah"
7: a written version of a play or other dramatic composition;
used in preparing for a performance [syn: {script}, {playscript}]
8: a collection of rules or prescribed standards on the basis
of which decisions are made; "they run things by the book
around here" [syn: {rule book}]
9: the sacred writings of Islam revealed by God to the prophet
Muhammad during his life at Mecca and Medina [syn: {Koran},
{Quran}, {al-Qur'an}]
10: the sacred writings of the Christian religions; "he went to
carry the Word to the heathen" [syn: {Bible}, {Christian
Bible}, {Good Book}, {Holy Scripture}, {Holy Writ}, {Scripture},
{Word of God}, {Word}]
v 1: record a charge in a police register; "The policeman booked
her when she tried to solicit a man"
2: arrange for and reserve (something for someone else) in
advance; "reserve me a seat on a flight"; "The agent
booked tickets to the show for the whole family"; "please
hold a table at Maxim's" [syn: {reserve}, {hold}]
3: engage for a performance; "Her agent had booked her for
several concerts in Tokyo"
4: register in a hotel booker
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:
Book
This word has a comprehensive meaning in Scripture. In the Old
Testament it is the rendering of the Hebrew word _sepher_, which
properly means a "writing," and then a "volume" (Ex. 17:14;
Deut. 28:58; 29:20; Job 19:23) or "roll of a book" (Jer. 36:2,
4).
Books were originally written on skins, on linen or cotton
cloth, and on Egyptian papyrus, whence our word "paper." The
leaves of the book were generally written in columns, designated
by a Hebrew word properly meaning "doors" and "valves" (Jer.
36:23, R.V., marg. "columns").
Among the Hebrews books were generally rolled up like our
maps, or if very long they were rolled from both ends, forming
two rolls (Luke 4:17-20). Thus they were arranged when the
writing was on flexible materials; but if the writing was on
tablets of wood or brass or lead, then the several tablets were
bound together by rings through which a rod was passed.
A sealed book is one whose contents are secret (Isa. 29:11;
Rev. 5:1-3). To "eat" a book (Jer. 15:16; Ezek. 2:8-10; 3:1-3;
Rev. 10:9) is to study its contents carefully.
The book of judgment (Dan. 7:10) refers to the method of human
courts of justice as illustrating the proceedings which will
take place at the day of God's final judgment.
The book of the wars of the Lord (Num. 21:14), the book of
Jasher (Josh. 10:13), and the book of the chronicles of the
kings of Judah and Israel (2 Chr. 25:26), were probably ancient
documents known to the Hebrews, but not forming a part of the
canon.
The book of life (Ps. 69:28) suggests the idea that as the
redeemed form a community or citizenship (Phil. 3:20; 4:3), a
catalogue of the citizens' names is preserved (Luke 10:20; Rev.
20:15). Their names are registered in heaven (Luke 10:20; Rev.
3:5).
The book of the covenant (Ex. 24:7), containing Ex.
20:22-23:33, is the first book actually mentioned as a part of
the written word. It contains a series of laws, civil, social,
and religious, given to Moses at Sinai immediately after the
delivery of the decalogue. These were written in this "book."