9-letter words starting with be
- beseeched — to implore urgently: They besought him to go at once.
- beseeming — to be fit for or worthy of; become: conduct that beseems a gentleman.
- besetment — the state or condition of being beset
- besetting — tempting, harassing, or assailing (esp in the phrase besetting sin)
- besiegers — to lay siege to.
- beslobber — to slobber over
- besmeared — to smear all over; bedaub.
- besmearer — someone who besmears
- bespangle — to cover or adorn with or as if with spangles
- bespatter — to splash all over, as with dirty water
- bespeckle — to mark with speckles
- best girl — one's sweetheart
- best-ball — of, relating to, or denoting a match in which one player competes against the best individual totals of two or more other players at each hole
- best-case — being the best that can possibly be expected; optimal
- bestially — of, relating to, or having the form of a beast: the belief that a person could assume bestial form after death; the bestial signs of the zodiac.
- bestirred — to stir up; rouse to action (often used reflexively): She bestirred herself at the first light of morning.
- beta cell — B cell (def 2).
- beta iron — a nonmagnetic allotrope of pure iron stable between 770°C and 910°C
- beta line — beta (def 6).
- beta test — beta testing
- beta wave — any of the electrical waves from the parietal-frontal regions of the brain, having frequencies from 13 to 30 hertz: a sign of mental activity and alertness
- beta-test — a test of a new or modified piece of computer software by customers who volunteer to do so
- betamaxed — (jargon) When a technology is overtaken in the market by inferior but better marketed competition. E.g. "Microsoft betamaxed Apple right out of the market". The Betamex videotape standard lost to VHS.
- betatopic — (of atoms) differing in proton number by one, theoretically as a result of emission of a beta particle
- betel nut — the fruit of the betel palm, chewed with leaves of the betel pepper by some Southeast Asian peoples as a mild stimulant
- bethankit — (used as part of a grace spoken before a meal) God be thanked!
- bethlehem — a town in the West Bank, near Jerusalem: birthplace of Jesus and early home of King David
- bethought — simple past tense and past participle of bethink.
- bethphage — a place in ancient Israel, at the foot of the Mount of Olives: starting point of Jesus' ride into Jerusalem. Matt. 21:1; Mark 11:1; Luke 19:29.
- bethsabee — Bathsheba.
- bethsaida — a ruined town in N Israel, near the N shore of the Sea of Galilee
- betrothal — A betrothal is an agreement to be married.
- betrothed — If you are betrothed to someone, you have agreed to marry them.
- betsiboka — a river in central Madagascar, flowing NW to the Mozambique Channel. About 200 miles (320 km) long.
- bettering — of superior quality or excellence: a better coat; a better speech.
- betterton — Thomas, 1635?–1710, English actor and dramatist.
- betumbled — thrown into disorder
- bev curls — long locks of hair, considered to be typical of a certain kind of unfashionable male
- bevelling — the inclination that one line or surface makes with another when not at right angles.
- bevelment — the process of bevelling
- beveridge — William Henry, 1st Baron Beveridge. 1879–1963, British economist, whose Report on Social Insurance and Allied Services (1942) formed the basis of social-security legislation in Britain
- bevin boy — (in Britain during World War II) a young man selected by ballot to work in a coal mine instead of doing conventional military service
- bewitched — to affect by witchcraft or magic; cast a spell over.
- bewitcher — a person who enchants or bewitches
- bezoardic — relating to bezoar