Search

the second letter of the English alphabet, a consonant.
any spoken sound represented by the letter B or b, as in bid, bauble, or daubed.
something having the shape of a B .
a written or printed representation of the letter B or b.
a device, as a printer’s type, for reproducing the letter B or b.
Chess. bishop.
black.
Photography, bulb (def 8).
the second in order or in a series.
(sometimes lowercase) (in some grading systems) a grade or mark, as in school or college, indicating the quality of a student’s work as good or better than average.
(sometimes lowercase) (in some school systems) a symbol designating the second semester of a school year.
Physiology. a major blood group usually enabling a person whose blood is of this type to donate blood to persons of type B or AB and to receive blood from persons of type O or B.
Compare ABO system.
Music.

the seventh tone in the scale of C major or the second tone in the relative minor scale, A minor.
a string, key, or pipe tuned to this tone.
a written or printed note representing this tone.
(in the fixed system of solmization) the seventh tone of the scale of C major, called ti.
the tonality having B as the tonic note.

(sometimes lowercase) the medieval Roman numeral for 300.
Chemistry, boron.
a proportional shoe width size, narrower than C and wider than A.
a proportional brassiere cup size, smaller than C and larger than A.
Physics. magnetic induction.
Electricity, susceptance.
a designation for a motion picture made on a low budget and meant as the secondary part of a double feature.
a quality rating for a corporate or municipal bond, lower than BB and higher than CCC.
Physics.

bar; bars.
barn; barns.

black.
bachelor.
bacillus.
Baseball. base; baseman.
bass.
basso.
bay.
Bible.
bolivar.
boliviano.
book.
born.
breadth.
British.
brother.
brotherhood.
bachelor.
bale.
Baseball. base; baseman.
bass.
basso.
bay.
billion.
blend of; blended.
book.
born.
breadth.
brother.
brotherhood.
(in designations of aircraft) bomber:
B-29.
the second letter of the Greek alphabet (β, B).
the consonant sound represented by this letter.
(initial capital letter) Astronomy. a star that is usually the second brightest of a constellation:
The second brightest star in Taurus is Beta Tauri.
Chemistry.

one of the possible positions of an atom or group in a compound.
one of two or more isomeric compounds.

the second of any series, as in chemistry or physics.
Also called beta coefficient, beta line. Stock Exchange. an arbitrary measure of the volatility of a given stock using an index of the volatility of the market as a whole:
A beta of 1.1 indicates a stock that is 10 percent more volatile than the market.
(initial capital letter) Trademark. a brand of tape format for VCR tape, incompatible with other formats.
Compare VHS.
Chiefly British. a grade showing that a student is in the middle or second of three scholastic sections in a class.
Compare alpha (def 7), gamma (def 9).
Contemporary Examples

The courses flown on the long haul routes were not the most direct, A to b.
The Exemplary Plane at the Heart of the MH370 Mystery Clive Irving March 26, 2014

I have about $2K in a savings account and just began contributing to my 403(b).
A Declaration of Financial Independence Megan McArdle February 25, 2013

[b]lackwater had proved especially useful to the CIA in the early 2000s.
Why Did Blackwater Happen? Justin Green March 13, 2013

A: Taylor Swift, “Haunted” b: Jane Austen, Sanditon (unfinished novel) 12.
Who Said It: Taylor Swift vs. Jane Austen July 24, 2011

Justice Alito is right; as upheld, section 2(b) means little.
Immigration Ruling No Victory for AZ Gabriel J. Chin, Marc L. Miller June 25, 2012

Historical Examples

Let A represent the armature, with a pair of grooves (b) for the wires.
Electricity for Boys J. S. Zerbe

When you solve a sum you go from “a” to “b” and from “b” to “c” and from “c” to “d” and so on.
Ancient Man Hendrik Willem van Loon

(b) Iris angle with particular reference to the ligamentum pectinatum.
Glaucoma Various

(b) What disposal should be made of meat from which stock is made?
Woman’s Institute Library of Cookery, Vol. 3 Woman’s Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences

Suppose the negative proposition, No b is A, to be true immediately or indivisibly.
Aristotle George Grote

symbol
(chess) See algebraic notation
noun (pl) b’s, B’s, Bs
the second letter and first consonant of the modern English alphabet
a speech sound represented by this letter, usually a voiced bilabial stop, as in bell
Also beta. the second in a series, esp the second highest grade in an examination
symbol
(music)

a note having a frequency of 493.88 hertz (B above middle C) or this value multiplied or divided by any power of 2; the seventh note of the scale of C major
a key, string, or pipe producing this note
the major or minor key having this note as its tonic

the supporting or less important of two things: the B side of a record
a human blood type of the ABO group, containing the B antigen
(in Britain) a secondary road
the number 11 in hexadecimal notation
(chem) boron
magnetic flux density
(chess) bishop
(on Brit pencils, signifying degree of softness of lead) black: B, 2B, 3B Compare H (sense 5)
(physics) Also b. bel
(physics) baryon number
balboa
belga
bolivar
(photog) B-setting

a person whose job is in middle management, or who holds an intermediate administrative or professional position
(as modifier): a B worker See also occupation groupings

abbreviation
Belgium (international car registration)
abbreviation (of US military aircraft)
bomber: B-52
abbreviation
born
(cricket) bowled
abbreviation
(on maps, etc) bay
British
noun
the second letter in the Greek alphabet (Β, β), a consonant, transliterated as b
the second highest grade or mark, as in an examination
(modifier)

involving or relating to electrons: beta emitter
relating to one of two or more allotropes or crystal structures of a solid: beta iron
relating to one of two or more isomeric forms of a chemical compound

noun
(foll by the genitive case of a specified constellation) a star in a constellation, usually the second brightest: Beta Persei
n.

second letter of the Greek alphabet, c.1300, from Greek, from Hebrew/Phoenician beth (see alphabet); used to designate the second of many things. Beta radiation is from 1899 (Rutherford). Beta particle is attested from 1904.

b or B
abbr.
blood (used as a subscript)

B
The symbol for the element boron.

beta be·ta (bā’tə, bē’-)
n.

Symbol β The second letter of the Greek alphabet.

The second item in a series or system of classification.

A beta particle.

A beta ray.

adj.

Of or relating to the second position from a designated carbon atom in an organic molecule at which an atom or a radical may be substituted.

Of or relating to an isomeric variation of a chemical compound, such as a stereoisomer.

B

The symbol for boron.

The symbol for magnetic field.

boron
(bôr’ŏn’)
Symbol B
A shiny, brittle, black metalloid element extracted chiefly from borax. It is a good electrical conductor at high temperatures and a poor conductor at low temperatures. Boron is necessary for the growth of land plants and is used in the preparation of soaps, abrasives, and hard alloys. It is also used in the control rods of nuclear reactors as a neutron absorber. Atomic number 5; atomic weight 10.811; melting point 2,300°C; sublimation point 2,550°C; specific gravity (crystal) 2.34; valence 3. See Periodic Table.

Related Terms

son of a bitch

noun

Benzedrine2; benny (1950+)
bee2 (1970s+)
The game of Frisbee (1990s+ Students)

1. byte.
2. A systems language written by Ken Thompson in 1970 mostly for his own use under Unix on the PDP-11. B was later improved by Kerninghan(?) and Ritchie to produce C. B was used as the systems language on Honeywell’s GCOS-3.
B was, according to Ken, greatly influenced by BCPL, but the name B had nothing to do with BCPL. B was in fact a revision of an earlier language, bon, named after Ken Thompson’s wife, Bonnie.
[“The Programming Language B”, S.C. Johnson & B.W. Kernighan, CS TR 8, Bell Labs (Jan 1973)].
[Features? Differences from C?]
(1997-02-02)
3. A simple interactive programming language by Lambert Meertens and Steven Pemberton. B was the predecessor of ABC.
(ftp://ftp.uni-kl.de/pub/languages/B.tar.Z).
[“Draft Proposal for the B Language”, Lambert Meertens, CWI, Amsterdam, 1981].
4. A specification language by Jean-Raymond Abrial of B Core UK, Magdalen Centre, Oxford Science Park, Oxford OX4 4GA. B is related to Z and supports development of C code from specifications. B has been used in major safety-critical system specifications in Europe, and is currently attracting increasing interest in industry. It has robust, commercially available tool support for specification, design, proof and code generation.
E-mail: .
(1995-04-24)

bit or maybe byte (B).
(1996-11-03)
bit
barn
baryon number
bass
be (shortwave transmission)
Belgium (international vehicle ID)
billion
bishop
Black (as in personal ads)
boron
byte
magnetic flux density
base
book
born
breadth
brother
bacillus
Baumé scale
bay
Bible