between a rock and a hard place and
between the devil and the deep blue
sea in a very difficult position; facing a
hard decision. (Informal.) I couldn’t
make up my mind. I was caught between
a rock and a hard place. He had a
dilemma on his hands. He was clearly be-
tween the devil and the deep blue sea.
between life and death in a position
where living or dying is an even possi-
bility. (Especially with caught or hover-
ing.) And there I was on the operating
table, hovering between life and death.
The mountain climber hung by his rope,
caught between life and death.
between the devil and the deep blue
sea Go to between a rock and a hard
place.
between you, me, and the lamppost
confidentially, just between you and me.
Just between you, me, and the lamppost,
Fred is leaving school. Now don’t tell
anyone else. This is just between you, me,
and the lamppost.
beyond a reasonable doubt almost with-
out any doubt. (A legal phrase.) The
jury decided beyond a reasonable doubt
that she had committed the crime. She
was also found guilty beyond a reasonable
doubt.
beyond measure more than can be mea-
sured; in a very large amount.
brought in hams, turkeys, and roasts, and
then they brought vegetables and salads
beyond measure. They thanked all of us
beyond measure.
beyond one’s depth 1. in water that is too
deep. (See also in over one’s head.)
Sally swam out beyond her depth. Jane
swam out to get her even though it was be-
yond her depth, too. 2. beyond one’s un-
derstanding or capabilities. I’m work-
ing beyond my depth in algebra class.
Poor John was involved in a problem that
seemed really beyond his depth.
beyond one’s means more than one can af-
ford. (See also live beyond one’s means.)
I’m sorry, but this house is beyond our
means. Please show us a cheaper one.
They felt that a Caribbean cruise is beyond
their means.
beyond the call of duty Go to (above
and) beyond the call of duty.
beyond the pale unacceptable; outlawed;
over the top. Your behavior is simply be-
yond the pale. Because of Tom’s rude-
ness, he’s considered beyond the pale and
is never asked to parties anymore.
beyond the shadow of a doubt com-
pletely without doubt. (Said of a fact, not
a person. See also beyond a reasonable
doubt.) We accepted her story as true
beyond the shadow of a doubt. Please
assure us that you are certain of the facts
beyond the shadow of a doubt.
bid adieu to someone or something and bid
someone or something adieu to say good-bye
to someone or something. (This adieu is
French for good-bye and should not be
confused with ado.) Now it’s time to
bid adieu to all of you gathered here. He
silently bid adieu to his favorite hat as the
wind carried it down the street.
bid someone or something adieu Go to bid
adieu to someone or something.
bide one’s time to wait patiently.
been biding my time for years, just wait-
ing for a chance like this. He’s not the
type just to sit there and bide his time. He
wants some action.
big and bold [of things] large and capa-
ble of getting attention. The lettering
on the book’s cover was big and bold, and
it got lots of attention, but the price was
too high. She wore a brightly colored
dress. The pattern was big and bold and
the skirt was very full.
big as all outdoors Go to (as) big as all
outdoors.
big as life Go to (as) big as life.
big as life and twice as ugly Go to (as)
big as life.
a big frog in a small pond an important
person in the midst of a less important
setting. (Preceded by be, become, seem
like, or act like.) I’d rather be a big frog
in a small pond than the opposite. The
trouble with Tom is that he’s a big frog in
a small pond. He needs more competition.
the big moment and the moment every-
one has been waiting for the special
time that everyone has been waiting for.
The big moment has come. I will now
announce the winner. This is the big
moment that you all have been waiting for!
big of someone generous of someone; kind
or forgiving of someone. (Sometimes sar-
castic.) He gave me some of his apple.
That was very big of him. It was big of
Sally to come over and apologize like that.
binge and purge to overeat and then
vomit, over and over. (A symptom of the
condition called bulimia.) She had
binged and purged a number of times be-
fore she finally sought help from a doctor.
Terry had been bingeing and purging for
a number of years and was very, very thin.
A bird in the hand is worth two in the
bush. Something you already have is bet-
ter than something you might get. Bill
has offered to buy my car for $4,000.
Someone else might pay more, but a bird
the birds and the bees human reproduc-
tion. (A euphemistic way of referring to
human sex and reproduction.) My fa-
ther tried to teach me about the birds and
the bees. He’s twenty years old and does-
n’t understand about the birds and the
bees.
a bird’s-eye view 1. a view seen from high
above. (Refers to the height of a flying
bird.) We got a bird’s-eye view of Cleve-
land as the plane began its descent.
From the top of the tower you get a splen-
did bird’s-eye view of the village. 2. a brief
survey of something; a hasty look at
something. (Refers to the smallness of a
bird’s eye.) The course provides a bird’s-
eye view of the works of Mozart, but it
doesn’t deal with them in enough detail for
your purpose. All you need is a bird’s-
eye view of the events of World War II to
pass the test.
Birds of a feather flock together. Peo-
ple of the same type seem to gather to-
gether. (Proverb.) Bob and Tom are just
alike. They like each other’s company be-
cause birds of a feather f lock together.
When Mary joined a club for redheaded
people, she said, “Birds of a feather f lock
together.”
bite off more than one can chew to take
(on) more than one can deal with; to be
overconfident. (This is used literally for
food and figuratively for other things, es-
pecially difficult projects.) Billy, stop
biting off more than you can chew. You’re
going to choke on your food someday.
Ann is exhausted again. She’s always bit-
ing off more than she can chew.
bite one’s nails to be nervous or anxious; to
bite one’s nails from nervousness or anx-
iety. (Used both literally and figuratively.)
I spent all afternoon biting my nails,
worrying about you. We’ve all been bit-
ing our nails from worry.
bite one’s tongue to struggle not to say
something that you really want to say.
(Used literally only to refer to an acci-
dental biting of one’s tongue.) I had to
bite my tongue to keep from telling her
what I really thought. I sat through that
whole conversation biting my tongue.
bite someone’s head off to speak sharply
and angrily to someone. There was no
need to bite Mary’s head off just because
she was five minutes late. The boss has
been biting everybody’s head off since his
accident.
bite the bullet to put up with or endure
(something). (Informal or slang.) I
didn’t want to go to the doctor, but I bit the
bullet and went. John, you just have to
bite the bullet and do what you’re told.
bite the dust to fall to defeat; to die. (Typ-
ically heard in movies about the old west-
ern frontier.) A bullet hit the sheriff in
the chest, and he bit the dust. Poor old
Bill bit the dust while mowing the lawn.
They buried him yesterday.
bite the hand that feeds one to harm
someone who does good things for you.
(Literal in reference to a dog, cat, or other
animal.) I’m your mother! How can you
bite the hand that feeds you? She can
hardly expect much when she bites the
hand that feeds her.
a bitter pill to swallow an unpleasant fact
that has to be accepted. It was a bitter
pill for her brother to swallow when she
married his enemy. We found his de-
ception a bitter pill to swallow.
black-and-blue bruised; showing signs of
having been physically harmed. (Also lit-
eral.) The child was black-and-blue af-
ter having been struck. She was black-
and-blue all over after falling out of the
black as one is painted Go to (as) black
as one is painted.
black as pitch Go to (as) black as pitch.
black as the ace of spades Go to (as)
black as the ace of spades.
black out to faint or pass out. Sally
blacked out just before the crash. I was
so frightened that I blacked out for a
minute.
the black sheep of the family the worst
member of the family. Mary is the
black sheep of the family. She’s always in
trouble with the police. He keeps mak-
ing a nuisance of himself. What do you ex-
pect from the black sheep of the family?
blast off [for a rocket] to shoot into the
sky. What time does the rocket blast off ?
It won’t blast off today. It has been
canceled.
blaze a trail (in something) to create and de-
velop a new area of study or develop-
ment. (Literal in reference to creating and
marking a trail.) In the area of conser-
vation, Wright and Walters blazed a trail
in the use of technology to preserve topsoil.
Professor Williams blazed a trail in the
study of physics.
bleep something out to replace a word or
phrase in a radio or television broadcast
with some sort of musical tone. (This is
sometimes done to prevent a bad word or
other information from being broadcast.)
He tried to say the word on television,
but they bleeped it out. T They tried to
bleep out the whole sentence.
a blessing in disguise something that
turns out to be fortunate and advanta-
geous after seeming to be the opposite at
first. Our missing the train was a bless-
ing in disguise. It was involved in a crash.
It was a blessing in disguise that I did-
n’t get the job. I was offered a better one
the next day.
blind as a bat Go to (as) blind as a bat.
the blind leading the blind having to do
with a situation where people who don’t
know how to do something try to explain
it to other people. Tom doesn’t know
anything about cars, but he’s trying to
teach Sally how to change the oil. It’s a case
of the blind leading the blind. When I
tried to show Mary how to use a computer,
it was the blind leading the blind.
Blood is thicker than water. Go to Blood
runs thicker than water.
Blood runs thicker than water. and
Blood is thicker than water. People
who are related have stronger obligations
to each other than to people outside the
family and are expected to endure fam-
ily problems. (Proverb.) My friends in-
vited me to go camping on Saturday, but
I have to go to my cousin’s wedding instead.
Blood is thicker than water, after all. If
you ever need help, don’t ask your friends.
Come home and ask us, your family. Blood
is thicker than water.
blow a fuse 1. to burn out a fuse.
microwave oven blew a fuse, so we had no
power. You’ll blow a fuse if you use too
many appliances at once. 2. Go to blow a
gasket.
blow a gasket and blow a fuse; blow
one’s cork; blow one’s top; blow one’s
stack to become very angry; to lose one’s
temper. (Slang.) I was so mad I almost
blew a gasket. I’ve never heard such a
thing. I’m going to blow a fuse. I blew
my cork when he hit me. I was so mad
I could have blown my top. I makes me
so mad I could blow my stack.
blow-by-blow account and blow-by-
blow description a detailed description
(of an event) given as the event takes
place. (This referred originally to boxing
or other combat.) I want to listen to a
blow-by-blow account of the prizefight.
The lawyer got the witness to give a blow-
by-blow description of the argument.
blow-by-blow description Go to blow-by-
blow account.
blow hot and cold to be changeable or un-
certain (about something). He keeps
blowing hot and cold on the question of
moving to the country. He blows hot and
cold about this. I wish he’d make up his
mind.
blow off steam Go to let off steam.
blow one’s cookies Go to blow one’s lunch.
blow one’s cool Go to lose one’s cool.
blow one’s cork Go to blow a gasket.
blow one’s lines Go to fluff one’s lines.
blow one’s own horn Go to toot one’s own
horn.
blow one’s stack Go to blow a gasket.
blow one’s top Go to blow a gasket.
blow over to go away without causing
harm. If we are lucky, the storm will
blow over. Given time, all this contro-
versy will blow over.
blow someone or something away 1. to kill or
destroy someone or something. (Also lit-
eral. Slang.) He drew his gun and blew
the thief away. T His bad attitude blew
away the whole deal. 2. [with someone] to
overcome someone emotionally. The
bad news really blew me away.
news just blew me away! How exciting!
blow someone or something off 1. [with some-
thing] to neglect or bumble something.
(Slang.) He would do better in school
if he didn’t blow his math class off. T He
blew off his homework. 2. [with someone]
to deceive or cheat someone. (Slang.)
She really blew me off on the question of
grades. She was really failing all the time.
T She blew off the teacher by cheating on
the test.
blow someone or something to smithereens
to explode someone or something into
tiny pieces. The bomb blew the ancient
church to smithereens. The mortar blew
the entire squad to smithereens.
blow someone’s cover to reveal someone’s
true identity or purpose. The spy was
very careful not to blow her cover. I tried
to disguise myself, but my dog recognized
me and blew my cover.
blow something to ruin or waste something.
I had a chance to do it, but I blew it.
He blew the whole five dollars on candy.
blow something out of all proportion to
cause something to be unrealistically
proportioned relative to something else.
(The all can be left out.) The press has
blown this issue out of all proportion.
Let’s be reasonable. Don’t blow this thing
out of proportion.
blow the lid off (something) to reveal some-
thing, especially wrongdoing; to make
wrongdoing public. The police blew the
lid off the smuggling ring. The govern-
ment is glad that they blew the lid off.
blow the whistle (on someone) to report
someone’s wrongdoing to someone (such
as the police) who can stop the wrong-
doing. The citizens’ group blew the
whistle on the street gangs by calling the
police. The gangs were getting very bad.
It was definitely time to blow the whistle.
blow up to fall apart or get ruined.
whole project blew up. It will have to be
canceled. All my planning was blown up
this afternoon.
blow up in someone’s face 1. to blow up or
explode suddenly. (Also literal.) The
bomb blew up in the terrorist’s face. The
firecracker blew up in his face and injured
him. 2. [for something] to get ruined
while someone is working on it. (Also lit-
eral.) All my plans blew up in my face.
It is terrible for your life to get ruined
and blow up in your face.
No comments:
Post a Comment