B, b

[bee] /bi/
noun, plural B's or Bs, b's or bs.
1.
the second letter of the English alphabet, a consonant.
2.
any spoken sound represented by the letter B or b, as in bid, bauble, or daubed.
3.
something having the shape of a B .
4.
a written or printed representation of the letter B or b.
5.
a device, as a printer's type, for reproducing the letter B or b.

B

1.
Chess. bishop.
2.
black.
3.
Photography, bulb (def 8).

B

Symbol.
1.
the second in order or in a series.
2.
(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.
3.
(sometimes lowercase) (in some school systems) a symbol designating the second semester of a school year.
4.
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.
5.
Music.
  1. the seventh tone in the scale of C major or the second tone in the relative minor scale, A minor.
  2. a string, key, or pipe tuned to this tone.
  3. a written or printed note representing this tone.
  4. (in the fixed system of solmization) the seventh tone of the scale of C major, called ti.
  5. the tonality having B as the tonic note.
6.
(sometimes lowercase) the medieval Roman numeral for 300.
7.
Chemistry, boron.
8.
a proportional shoe width size, narrower than C and wider than A.
9.
a proportional brassiere cup size, smaller than C and larger than A.
10.
Physics. magnetic induction.
11.
Electricity, susceptance.
12.
a designation for a motion picture made on a low budget and meant as the secondary part of a double feature.
13.
a quality rating for a corporate or municipal bond, lower than BB and higher than CCC.

b

1.
Physics.
  1. bar; bars.
  2. barn; barns.
2.
black.

B.

1.
bachelor.
2.
bacillus.
3.
Baseball. base; baseman.
4.
bass.
5.
basso.
6.
bay.
7.
Bible.
8.
bolivar.
9.
boliviano.
10.
book.
11.
born.
12.
breadth.
13.
British.
14.
brother.
15.
brotherhood.

b.

1.
bachelor.
2.
bale.
3.
Baseball. base; baseman.
4.
bass.
5.
basso.
6.
bay.
7.
billion.
8.
blend of; blended.
9.
book.
10.
born.
11.
breadth.
12.
brother.
13.
brotherhood.

B-

U.S. Military
1.
(in designations of aircraft) bomber:
B-29.

beta

[bey-tuh or, esp. British, bee-] /ˈbeɪ tə or, esp. British, ˈbi-/
noun
1.
the second letter of the Greek alphabet (β, B).
2.
the consonant sound represented by this letter.
3.
(initial capital letter) Astronomy. a star that is usually the second brightest of a constellation:
The second brightest star in Taurus is Beta Tauri.
4.
Chemistry.
  1. one of the possible positions of an atom or group in a compound.
  2. one of two or more isomeric compounds.
5.
the second of any series, as in chemistry or physics.
6.
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.
7.
(initial capital letter) Trademark. a brand of tape format for VCR tape, incompatible with other formats.
Compare VHS.
8.
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).
Origin
< Latin < Greek bêta < Semitic; compare Hebrew bēth beth
Examples from the web for b
  • Cobalt is a central component of the vitamin cobalamin, or vitamin b.
British Dictionary definitions for b

b

symbol
1.
(chess) See algebraic notation

b

/biː/
noun (pl) b's, B's, Bs
1.
the second letter and first consonant of the modern English alphabet
2.
a speech sound represented by this letter, usually a voiced bilabial stop, as in bell
3.
Also beta. the second in a series, esp the second highest grade in an examination

B

symbol
1.
(music)
  1. 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
  2. a key, string, or pipe producing this note
  3. the major or minor key having this note as its tonic
2.
the supporting or less important of two things: the B side of a record
3.
a human blood type of the ABO group, containing the B antigen
4.
(in Britain) a secondary road
5.
the number 11 in hexadecimal notation
6.
(chem) boron
7.
magnetic flux density
8.
(chess) bishop
9.
(on Brit pencils, signifying degree of softness of lead) black: B, 2B, 3B Compare H (sense 5)
10.
(physics) Also b. bel
11.
(physics) baryon number
12.
balboa
13.
belga
14.
bolivar
15.
(photog) B-setting
16.
  1. a person whose job is in middle management, or who holds an intermediate administrative or professional position
  2. (as modifier): a B worker See also occupation groupings
abbreviation
17.
Belgium (international car registration)

B-

abbreviation (of US military aircraft)
1.
bomber: B-52

b.

abbreviation
1.
born
2.
(cricket) bowled

B.

abbreviation
1.
(on maps, etc) bay
2.
British

beta

/ˈbiːtə/
noun
1.
the second letter in the Greek alphabet (Β, β), a consonant, transliterated as b
2.
the second highest grade or mark, as in an examination
3.
(modifier)
  1. involving or relating to electrons: beta emitter
  2. relating to one of two or more allotropes or crystal structures of a solid: beta iron
  3. relating to one of two or more isomeric forms of a chemical compound
Word Origin
from Greek bēta, from Hebrew; see beth

Beta

/ˈbiːtə/
noun
1.
(foll by the genitive case of a specified constellation) a star in a constellation, usually the second brightest: Beta Persei
Word Origin and History for b

beta

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 in Medicine

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

B
The symbol for the element boron.

beta be·ta (bā'tə, bē'-)
n.


  1. Symbol β The second letter of the Greek alphabet.

  2. The second item in a series or system of classification.

  3. A beta particle.

  4. A beta ray.

adj.

  1. 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.

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

b in Science
B  

  1. The symbol for boron.

  2. 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.
Slang definitions & phrases for b

b

Related Terms

son of a bitch


B

noun
  1. Benzedrine2; benny (1950+)
  2. bee2 (1970s+)
  3. The game of Frisbee (1990s+ Students)

b in Technology

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)

Related Abbreviations for b

b

  1. bit
  2. barn

B

  1. baryon number
  2. bass
  3. be (shortwave transmission)
  4. Belgium (international vehicle ID)
  5. billion
  6. bishop
  7. Black (as in personal ads)
  8. boron
  9. byte
  10. magnetic flux density

b.

  1. base
  2. book
  3. born
  4. breadth
  5. brother

B.

  1. bacillus
  2. Baumé scale
  3. bay
  4. Bible