balm
    n 1: any of various aromatic resinous substances used for
         healing and soothing
    2: semisolid preparation (usually containing a medicine) applied
       externally as a remedy or for soothing an irritation [syn:
       ointment, unction, unguent, balm, salve]

Balm \Balm\ (b[aum]m), n. [OE. baume, OF. bausme, basme, F.
   baume, L. balsamum balsam, from Gr. ba`lsamon; perhaps of
   Semitic origin; cf. Heb. b[=a]s[=a]m. Cf. Balsam.]
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   1. (Bot.) An aromatic plant of the genus Melissa.
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   2. The resinous and aromatic exudation of certain trees or
      shrubs. --Dryden.
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   3. Any fragrant ointment. --Shak.
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   4. Anything that heals or that mitigates pain. "Balm for each
      ill." --Mrs. Hemans.
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   Balm cricket (Zool.), the European cicada. --Tennyson.

   Balm of Gilead (Bot.), a small evergreen African and
      Asiatic tree of the terebinthine family (Balsamodendron
      Gileadense). Its leaves yield, when bruised, a strong
      aromatic scent; and from this tree is obtained the balm of
      Gilead of the shops, or balsam of Mecca. This has a
      yellowish or greenish color, a warm, bitterish, aromatic
      taste, and a fragrant smell. It is valued as an unguent
      and cosmetic by the Turks. The fragrant herb
      Dracocephalum Canariense is familiarly called balm of
      Gilead, and so are the American trees, Populus
      balsamifera, variety candicans (balsam poplar), and
      Abies balsamea (balsam fir).
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Balm \Balm\, v. t.
   To anoint with balm, or with anything medicinal. Hence: To
   soothe; to mitigate. [Archaic] --Shak.
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BALM
Block And List Manipulation

    (Block And List Manipulation) An extensible
   language, developed by Malcolm Harrison in 1970, with
   LISP-like features and ALGOL-like syntax, for CDC
   6600.

   ["The Balm Programming Language", Malcolm Harrison, Courant
   Inst, May 1973].

   (2007-03-01)

Balm
   contracted from Bal'sam, a general name for many oily or
   resinous substances which flow or trickle from certain trees or
   plants when an incision is made through the bark.
   
     (1.) This word occurs in the Authorized Version (Gen. 37:25;
   43:11; Jer. 8:22; 46:11; 51:8; Ezek. 27:17) as the rendering of
   the Hebrew word _tsori_ or _tseri_, which denotes the gum of a
   tree growing in Gilead (q.v.), which is very precious. It was
   celebrated for its medicinal qualities, and was circulated as an
   article of merchandise by Arab and Phoenician merchants. The
   shrub so named was highly valued, and was almost peculiar to
   Palestine. In the time of Josephus it was cultivated in the
   neighbourhood of Jericho and the Dead Sea. There is an Arab
   tradition that the tree yielding this balm was brought by the
   queen of Sheba as a present to Solomon, and that he planted it
   in his gardens at Jericho.
   
     (2.) There is another Hebrew word, _basam_ or _bosem_, from
   which our word "balsam," as well as the corresponding Greek
   balsamon, is derived. It is rendered "spice" (Cant. 5:1, 13;
   6:2; margin of Revised Version, "balsam;" Ex. 35:28; 1 Kings
   10:10), and denotes fragrance in general. _Basam_ also denotes
   the true balsam-plant, a native of South Arabia (Cant. l.c.).