Rom. Antiq. [L. bidental, f. bident-em (see BIDENT), according to some called from the forked lightning (see bidental = fulmen bifidum in Du Cange), according to others from the bidens or sheep sacrificed at its consecration.] A place struck by lightning, consecrated by the haruspices, and enclosed. Also fig.
1692. Coles, Bidental … also a place where sheep were sacrificed.
1753. Chambers, Cycl. Supp., s.v., Festus represents the bidental as a temple, where sheep of two years old were offered in sacrifice.
1794. Mathias, Purs. Lit. (1798), 29. I would only set up the bidental at the bookseller’s door at Wimbledon.
1873. Blackmore, Cradock Nowell, xxvii. The scene of his ruin and despair,—the ‘bidental’ of his destiny.
