v. t. [ Cf. OIcel. berja to strike. ] To pierce. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ AS. bere. See Barley. ] (Bot.) Barley; the six-rowed barley or the four-rowed barley, commonly the former (Hordeum hexastichon or Hordeum vulgare). [ Obs. except in North of Eng. and Scot. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Bear, barley. [ Scot. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Bereaved Bereft p. pr. & vb. n. Bereaving. ] [ OE. bireven, AS. bereáfian. See Be-, and Reave. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. To make destitute; to deprive; to strip; -- with of before the person or thing taken away. [ 1913 Webster ]

Madam, you have bereft me of all words. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Bereft of him who taught me how to sing. Tickell. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To take away from. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

All your interest in those territories
Is utterly bereft you; all is lost. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To take away. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Shall move you to bereave my life. Marlowe. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The imp. and past pple. form bereaved is not used in reference to immaterial objects. We say bereaved or bereft by death of a relative, bereft of hope and strength. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To dispossess; to divest. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. mourning due to the death of a loved one.
Syn. -- bereft, grief-stricken, grieving, mourning(prenominal), sorrowing(prenominal). [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. The state of being bereaved; deprivation; esp., the loss of a relative by death. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who bereaves. [ 1913 Webster ]

imp. & p. p. of Bereave. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ See Berenice's Locks, in Dictionary of Noted Names in Fiction. ] (Astron.) See Coma Berenices, under Coma. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. a cap made of soft cloth with no brim or bill, widening somewhat outward from a close-fitting headband to a flat top, which often has a button or tab in its center. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]