before the flood. antediluvian, antediluvial.

before the war. ante-bellum.

befuddle, v. confuse, mystify, bewilder.

beg, v. beseech, supplicate, implore; ask alms.

beget, v. procreate, engender, generate, get.

begetter, n. procreator, generator, father.

beggar, n. mendicant, starveling, fakir, vagrant, eleemosynary, prog,
tramp, bezonian, mumper, schnorrer (Jewish).

beggar, v. impoverish, ruin; exhaust, surpass, go beyond.

beggarly, a. indigent, destitute; despicable, pitiable, paltry.

beggary, n. mendicancy, indigence, penury, want, pauperism.

begging letter or drawing. screeve.

begin, v. commence; arise, spring, originate.

begin again. resume, recommence.

beginner, n. tyro, novice, neophyte, learner, apprentice, understudy,
novitiate, probationer, catechumen, recruit.