bau

n. [ Cf. OF. baubel a child's plaything, F. babiole, It. babbola, LL. baubellum gem, jewel, L. babulus, a baburrus, foolish. ] 1. A trifling piece of finery; a gewgaw; that which is gay and showy without real value; a cheap, showy plaything. [ 1913 Webster ]

The ineffective bauble of an Indian pagod. Sheridan. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The fool's club. [ Obs. ] “A fool's bauble was a short stick with a head ornamented with an ass's ears fantastically carved upon it.” Nares. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. See Bawbling. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Named after J. M. E. Baudot, a French inventor, died 1903. ] (Computers, telecommunications) A unit of transmission speed for information conveyed over a digital communications channel, usually taken as equal to the number of bits of information transmitted per second. The speed in bauds indicates the number of signalling events per second; however, since it is necessary in most cases to transmit control information along with the data, the data signalling rate may be smaller than the baud rate. [ PJC ]

n. [ OE. bawdekin rich silk stuff, OF. baudequin. See Baldachin. ] The richest kind of stuff used in garments in the Middle Ages, the web being gold, and the woof silk, with embroidery; -- made originally at Baghdad. [ Spelt also baudkin, baudkyn, bawdekin, and baldakin. ] Nares. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A belt. See Baldric. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. & v. See Balk. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Designating or conforming to either of the scales used by the French chemist Antoine Baumé in the graduation of his hydrometers; of or relating to Baumé's scales or hydrometers. There are two Baumé hydrometers. One, which is used with liquids heavier than water, sinks to 0° in pure water, and to 15° in a 15 per cent salt solution; the other, for liquids lighter than water, sinks to 0° in a 10 per cent salt solution and to 10° in pure water. In both cases the graduation, based on the distance between these fundamental points, is continued along the stem as far as desired. Since all the degrees on a Baumé scale are thus equal in length, while those on a specific-gravity scale grow smaller as the density increases, there is no simple relation between degrees Baumé and specific gravity. However, readings on Baumés scale may be approximately reduced to specific gravities by the following formulæ (x in each case being the reading on Baumé's scale): (a) for liquids heavier than water, sp. gr. = 144 ÷ (144 - x); (b) for liquids lighter than water, sp. gr. = 144 ÷ (134 + x). [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ From the introducer, a German named Baunscheidt. ] (Med.) A form of acupuncture, followed by the rubbing of the part with a stimulating fluid. [ 1913 Webster ]