Bitter

Definition of Bitter

Bit´ter

(Naut.) AA turn of the cable which is round the bitts.

Bitter end
that part of a cable which is abaft the bitts, and so within board, when the ship rides at anchor.

Having a peculiar, acrid, biting taste, like that of wormwood or an infusion of hops; as, a bitter medicine; bitter as aloes.

Causing pain or smart; piercing; painful; sharp; severe; as, a bitter cold day.

Causing, or fitted to cause, pain or distress to the mind; calamitous; poignant.

It is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God.

- Jer. ii. 19.

Characterized by sharpness, severity, or cruelty; harsh; stern; virulent; as, bitter reproach.

Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.

- Col. iii. 19.

Mournful; sad; distressing; painful; pitiable.

The Egyptians . . . made their lives bitter with hard bondage.

- Ex. i. 14.

Bitter apple
(Bot.) See Colocynth.

Bitter cress
(Bot.) a plant of the genus Cardamine, esp. Cardamine amara.

Bitter earth
(Min.) tale earth; calcined magnesia.

Bitter principles
(Chem.) a class of substances, extracted from vegetable products, having strong bitter taste but with no sharply defined chemical characteristics.

Bitter salt
Epsom salts; magnesium sulphate.

Bitter vetch
(Bot.) a name given to two European leguminous herbs, Vicia Orobus and Ervum Ervilia.

To the bitter end
to the last extremity, however calamitous.

Any substance that is bitter. See Bitters.

v. t.

To make bitter.

Related Words

Siberian, acerb, acerbate, acerbic, acid, acidic, acidulent, acidulous, acrimonious, affecting, afflictive, aftertaste, algid, alienated, amaroidal, annoying, antagonistic, antipathetic, arctic, asperous, astringent, austere, bad, belligerent, below zero, bilious, bitter as gall, bitterly cold, bleak, boreal, brisk, brumal, brutal, burning, caustic, cheerless, choleric, clashing, coarse, cold, cold as charity, cold as death, cold as ice, cold as marble, colliding, comfortless, conflicting, corroding, corrosive, crisp, cruel, cutting, deplorable, depressing, depressive, despiteful, disagreeable, discomforting, dislikable, dismal, dismaying, dispiriting, displeasing, disturbing, divided, dolorific, dolorogenic, dolorous, double-edged, dreary, dyspeptic, edged, embittered, escharotic, estranged, fierce, flavor, freezing, freezing cold, frigid, full of hate, galling, gelid, glacial, gust, hard, hateful, hibernal, hiemal, hyperborean, ice-cold, ice-encrusted, icelike, icy, incisive, inclement, intemperate, irreconcilable, irritating, jaundiced, joyless, keen, lamentable, malevolent, malicious, malignant, miserable, mordacious, mordant, mournful, moving, nasty, nipping, nippy, nose-tickling, numbing, obnoxious, offensive, palate, pathetic, penetrating, piercing, pinching, piquant, piteous, pitiable, poignant, provoking, quarrelsome, rancorous, rankled, raw, regrettable, relish, reproachful, repugnant, resentful, resenting, rigorous, rough, rueful, rugged, sad, saddening, salt, sapidity, sapor, savor, savoriness, scathing, scorching, set against, sharp, sleety, slushy, smack, snappy, sore, sorrowful, sour-tempered, soured, spiteful, splenetic, stabbing, stewing, stomach, stone-cold, strident, stringent, subzero, supercooled, tang, tart, taste, thankless, tongue, tooth, touching, trenchant, ugly, unalluring, unappealing, unappetizing, unattractive, uncomfortable, undelectable, undelicious, undesirable, unengaging, unenjoyable, uninviting, unkind, unlikable, unpalatable, unpleasant, unpleasing, unsavory, untasteful, unwelcome, vehement, venomous, vexatious, vinegarish, violent, virulent, vitriolic, winterbound, winterlike, wintery, wintry, withering, woebegone, woeful, wretched

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Bitake
Bitangent
Bitartrate
Bitch
bitching
bitchy
Bite
Biter
Biternate
Bitheism
Biting
biting house fly
Biting in
Bitingly
Bitless
Bito
Bitstock
Bitt
Bittacle
Bitten
-Bitter-
Bitter apple
Bitter cress
Bitter cucumber
Bitter earth
Bitter end
Bitter gourd
Bitter principle
Bitter principles
Bitter rot
Bitter salt
Bitter spar
Bitter vetch
Bitterbump
bittercress
Bitterful
Bittering
Bitterish
Bitterling
Bitterly
Bittern

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