blow

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.