What is to oppose to the gills; to set at defiance. No admiral, bearded by three corrupt and dissolute minions of the palace, dared to do more than mutter something about a court martial. Macaulay called?

beard — To oppose to the gills; to set at defiance. No admiral, bearded by three corrupt and dissolute minions of the palace, dared to do more than mutter something about a court martial. Macaulay. (Webster's 1913.)

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