Birr

i. To make a whirring noise, as of wheels in motion. Birr, in Ireland, a town, cap. of King's co., 34 m. from Limerick; sometimes called Parsons Town ; pop . 6,128. Birt, n. [0. Eng. byrte .] A species of turbot. Birth, n. [A. S. byrd , beorth , from beran, to bear. A bearing, or a being born; act of coming into life; as, his wife gave birth to a daughter. "But thou art fair, and at thy birth , dear boy, Nature and fortune joined to make thee great." - Shaks. -Extraction; lineage; rank by descent; as, he is a man of noble birth . - Natural state, or condition of life into which a person is born. "High in his chariot then Halesus came, A foe by birth to Troy's unhappy name."-Dryden. -Act of bringing forth; as, she had twins at a birth . "And at her next birth , much like thee, Through pangs fled to felicity."- Milton . IMG:content-0627.jpg:[blocks in formation] (Music.) A word placed over pa ages which have dots postfixed to one bar, and prefixed to a subsequent bar, signifying that the pa age between the dots is to be played twice over.