blue

blue around the gills Go to pale around

the gills.

bog down to slow down; to become stuck.

The project bogged down because of so

much red tape. We bog down every year

at this time because many of our workers

go on vacation.

boggle someone’s mind to confuse someone;

to overwhelm someone; to blow someone’s

The size of the house boggles my

mind. She said that his arrogance bog-

gled her mind.

boil down to something to reduce to some-

thing; to come down to something; to be

essentially something. (Also literal.) It

all boils down to whether you wish to buy

a car. It boils down to a question of good

health.

boil something down to summarize some-

thing; to make information more concise.

(Also literal in reference to liquids.) I

don’t have time to listen to the whole story.

Please boil it down for me. T Please boil

down the report so I can read it on the

plane.

bold as brass Go to (as) bold as brass.

boot someone out Go to kick someone out.

bore someone stiff and bore someone to

death to bore someone very much. (Stiff

is an old slang word meaning “dead.”)

The play bored me stiff.  The lecture

bored everyone to death.

bore someone to death Go to bore someone

stiff.

bored silly and bored stiff; bored to dis-

traction; bored to tears very bored;

completely bored. (Usually an exaggera-

tion.) I was bored silly at the lecture.

The dull speaker left me bored to distrac-

tion. I am bored to tears. Let’s go home.

bored stiff Go to bored silly.

bored to death very bored. The children

were bored to death. I’ve never been so

bored to death in my life.

bored to distraction Go to bored silly.

bored to tears Go to bored silly.

born and bred Go to born and raised.

born and raised and born and bred born

and nurtured through childhood, usually

in a specific place. She was born and

raised in a small town in western Mon-

tana. Freddy was born and bred on a

farm and had no love for city life.

born out of wedlock born to an unmar-

ried mother. The child was born out of

wedlock. In the city many children are

born out of wedlock.

bottle something up 1. to constrict some-

thing as if it were put in a bottle. The

patrol boats bottled the other boats up at

the locks on the river. T The police bot-

tled up the traffic while they searched the

cars for the thieves. 2. to hold one’s feel-

ings within; to keep from saying some-

thing that one feels strongly about.

Let’s talk about it, John. You shouldn’t bot-

tle it up. T Don’t bottle up your problems.

It’s better to talk them out.

the bottom line 1. the last figure on a fi-

nancial balance sheet representing net

profit or loss. What’s the bottom line?

How much do I owe you? Don’t tell me

all those figures! Just tell me the bottom

line. 2. the result; the final outcome. I

know about all the problems, but what is

the bottom line? What will happen? The

bottom line is that you have to go to the

meeting because no one else can.

bottom out to reach the lowest point.

The price of wheat bottomed out last week.

Now it’s rising again.  My interest in

school bottomed out in my junior year, so

I quit and got a job.

Bottoms up! Everyone should drink now!

(Said at the end of a drinking toast.)

Here’s to the bride and groom. Bottoms up!

Bottoms up! Drink hearty!

bound and determined determined.

We were bound and determined to get

there on time. I’m bound and deter-

mined that this won’t happen again.

bound to (do something) to be certain to do

something. They are bound to come

home soon. They always come home early.

Oh, yes. They are bound to.

bow and scrape to be very humble and

subservient. Please don’t bow and

scrape. We are all equal here. The sales-

clerk came in, bowing and scraping, and

asked if he could help us.



break a code to figure out a code; to de-

cipher a code. The intelligence agents

finally broke the enemy’s code. When

they broke the code, they were able to

decipher messages.

break a habit and break the habit;

break one’s habit to end a habit. I was

not able to break the habit of snoring.

It’s hard to break a habit that you have had

for a long time.



a leg! Good luck! (Also literal. The-

atrical slang. This is said to actors before

a performance instead of Good luck.)

Before the play, John said to Mary, “Break

a leg!” Saying “Break a leg!” before a

performance is an old theatrical tradition.

break a record to surpass a previously set

high record of achievement by setting a

new one. The athlete broke all the school

records in swimming. The record was

broken after thirty years.

break camp to close down a campsite; to

pack up and move on. Early this morn-

ing we broke camp and moved on north-

ward. Okay, everyone. It’s time to break

camp. Take those tents down and fold them

neatly.

break down 1. [for something] to fall

apart; [for something] to stop operating.

(See also break someone or something down.)

The air-conditioning broke down, and

we got very warm. The car broke down

in the parking lot. 2. [for one] to lose con-

trol of one’s emotions; [for one] to have

a nervous collapse. He couldn’t keep go-

ing. He finally broke down and wept. I

was afraid I’d break down.

break even for income to equal expenses.

(This implies that money was not earned

or lost.) Unfortunately my business just

managed to break even last year. I made

a bad investment, but I broke even.

break ground (for something) to start dig-

ging the foundation for a building.

president of the company came to break

ground for the new building. This was

the third building this year for which this

company has broken ground. When will

they break ground?

Break it up! Stop fighting!; Stop it! (Said

to two or more people causing a distur-

bance.) All right! Break it up, you guys!

Stop your talking! Break it up and get

back to work.

break loose (from someone or something) to

get away from a person or a thing that is

holding one. (Compare this with cut

loose (from someone or something).) The

criminal broke loose from the police offi-

cer. It’s hard to break loose from home.

I was twenty years old before I could

break loose.

break new ground to begin to do some-

thing that no one else has done; to pio-

neer (in an enterprise). (See also break

ground (for something).) Dr. Anderson

was breaking new ground in cancer re-

search. They were breaking new ground

in consumer electronics.

break off (with someone) to end a friend-

ship with someone, especially a boy-

friend or a girlfriend. Tom has finally

broken off with Mary. I knew it could-

n’t last. He was bound to break off.

break one’s back (to do something) Go to

break one’s neck (to do something).

break one’s habit Go to break a habit.

break one’s neck (to do something) and

break one’s back (to do something) to work

very hard to do something. I broke my

neck to get here on time. That’s the last

time I’ll break my neck to help you.

There is no point in breaking your back.

Take your time.

break one’s word not to do what one said

one would do; not to keep one’s promise.

(The opposite of keep one’s word.)

Don’t say you’ll visit your grandmother if

you can’t go. She hates people who break

their word. If you break your word, she

won’t trust you again.

break out 1. to burst forth suddenly, as

with a fire, a riot, giggling, shouting, etc.

A fire broke out in the belfry. A round

of giggling broke out when the teacher

tripped. A riot almost broke out when

the police came. 2. [for one’s face] to

erupt in pimples. Bob’s face has started

breaking out badly. My face breaks out

when I eat a lot of chocolate.

break out in a cold sweat to perspire

from fever, fear, or anxiety; to begin to

sweat profusely or suddenly. I was so

frightened I broke out in a cold sweat.

The patient broke out in a cold sweat.

break out (in something) to erupt with

something such as a rash, a cold sweat, or

pimples. After being in the woods, I

broke out in a rash. I think it’s poison ivy.

I hate to break out like that. When I

eat chocolate, I break out in pimples. I

was so frightened I broke out in a cold

sweat. The patient broke out in a cold

sweat.

break (out) in(to) tears to start crying

suddenly. I was so sad that I broke out

into tears. I always break into tears at

a funeral. It’s hard not to break out in

tears under those circumstances.

break out (of something) to escape from

something, often by destructive means.

(Especially from prison, but also in fig-

urative senses.) The convicts plotted to

break out of prison. You don’t have the

guts to break out of jail! Don finally

broke out of the depression that had held

him captive for so long. The lion broke

out of its cage.

break someone or something down 1. [with

someone] to force someone to give up and

tell secrets or agree to do something.

After threats of torture, they broke the spy

down. T They broke down the agent by

threatening violence. 2. [with something]

to tear something down; to destroy

something. They used an ax to break

the door down. T We broke down the wall

with big hammers.

break someone or something in 1. [with some-

one] to train someone to do a job; to su-

pervise a new person learning a new job.

It takes time to break a new worker in.

T Are they hard to break in? T I have to

break in a new worker. 2. [with some-

thing] to make something fit by wearing

or using it. T I’ll be glad when I’ve fin-

ished breaking in these shoes.  Yes, it

takes time to break them in. T They are

easy to break in, though. The car will

run better after I break it in.

break someone’s fall to cushion a falling per-

son; to lessen the impact of a falling per-

son. When the little boy fell out of the

window, the bushes broke his fall. The

old lady slipped on the ice, but a snowbank

broke her fall.

break someone’s heart to cause someone

emotional pain. It just broke my heart

when Tom ran away from home. Sally

broke John’s heart when she refused to

marry him.

break something down (for someone) to ex-

plain something to someone in simple

terms or in an orderly fashion. She

doesn’t understand. You will have to break

it down for her. I can help. This is a con-

fusing question. Let me break it down for

you.

break something down (into something) to di-

vide something into smaller parts; to di-

vide something into its component parts.

Please break this paragraph down into

sentences. T The chemist broke down the

compound into a number of elements.

Walter broke the project down into five

tasks and assigned them to various people.

break something to someone to tell bad news

to someone. I hated to break the news

to Dad about his car. Bill broke it to his

employees gently.

break the bank to use up all one’s money.

(As in casino gambling where a gambler

wins more money than the house has on

hand.) It will hardly break the bank if

we go out to dinner just once. Buying a

new dress at that price won’t break the

bank.

break the habit Go to break a habit.

break the ice to initiate social interchanges

and conversation; to get something

started. (Also literal.) Tom is so outgo-

ing. He’s always the first one to break the

ice at parties. It’s hard to break the ice

at formal events. Sally broke the ice by

bidding $20,000 for the painting.

break the law Go to break a law.

break the news (to someone) to tell some-

one some important news, usually bad

news. The doctor had to break the news

to Jane about her husband’s cancer. I

hope that the doctor broke the news gently.

break through (something) to overcome

something nonphysical, such as a barrier

caused by law, regulation, prejudice, at-

titude, etc. (Also literal.) Tom was able

to break through racial barriers. The

scientists broke through the mystery sur-

rounding the disease and found the cause.

break up (with someone) to end a love af-

fair or a romance. Tom finally broke up

with Mary. I thought they would break

up. He has been so moody lately.