| A | B |
|---|
| attenuation | reduce the force, effect, or value of |
| auger | a tool with a helical bit for boring holes in wood |
| augur | (of an event or circumstance) portend a good or bad outcome |
| auriferous | containing gold |
| barrister | chiefly Brit a lawyer entitled to practice as an advocate, particularly in the higher courts |
| bastion | a projecting part of a fortification built at an angle to the line of a wall, so as to allow defensive fire in several directions |
| batik | a method of producing colored designs on textiles by dyeing them, having first applied wax to the parts to be left undyed |
| batiste | a fine, light linen or cotton fabric |
| beau geste | a noble and generous act |
| beaucoup | many or much |
| bedizen | dressed up or decorated gaudily |
| bibelot | a small, decorative ornament or trinket |
| bifurcate | divide into two branches or forks |
| bilge | the area on the outer surface of a ship's hull where the bottom curves to meet the vertical sides |
| biliary | of or relating to bile or the bile duct |
| bittern | aclarge marsh bird of the heron family, |
| blastula | an animal embryo at the early stage of development when it is a hollow ball of cells |
| blintze | a thin rolled pancake filled with cheese or fruit and then fried or baked |
| bobolink | a North American songbird of the American blackbird family |
| bombardier | a member of a bomber crew in the US Air Force |
| bonhomie | cheerful friendliness |
| borborygmus | a rumbling or gurgling noise made by the movement of fluid and gas in the intestines |
| botfly | a stout hairy-bodied fly |
| bouillabaisse | a rich, spicy stew or soup |
| bourgeois | of or characteristic of the middle class |
| brigantine | a two-masted sailing ship |
| Briton | a citizen or native of Great Britain |
| brocaded | a rich fabric, usually silk, woven with a raised pattern |
| buckram | coarse linen or other cloth stiffened with gum or paste |
