burn

burn one’s bridges (behind one) 1. to make

decisions that cannot be changed in the

future. If you drop out of school now,

you’ll be burning your bridges behind you.

You’re too young to burn your bridges

that way. 2. to be unpleasant in a situa-

tion that you are leaving, ensuring that

you’ll never be welcome to return. If

you get mad and quit your job, you’ll be

burning your bridges behind you. No

sense burning your bridges. Be polite and

leave quietly. 3. to cut off the way back to

where you came from, making it impos-

sible to retreat. The army, which had

burned its bridges behind it, couldn’t go

back. By blowing up the road, the spies

had burned their bridges behind them.

burn one’s bridges in front of one to cre-

ate future problems for oneself. (A play

on burn one’s bridges (behind one).) I

made a mistake again. I always seem to

burn my bridges in front of me. I acci-

dentally insulted a math teacher whom I

will have to take a course from next se-

mester. I am burning my bridges in front

of me.

burn (oneself) out to do something so long

and so intensely that one gets sick and

tired of doing it and can no longer do it

well. I burned myself out as an opera

singer. I just cannot do it anymore. Tom

burned himself out playing golf. He can’t

stand it anymore. Tom burned out too

young.

burn out [for electrical or mechanical de-

vices] to break down and become useless.

I hope the light bulb in the ceiling does-

n’t burn out. I can’t reach it. T The mo-

tor burned out.

burn someone at the stake 1. to set fire to

a person tied to a post (as a form of ex-

ecution). They used to burn witches at

the stake. Look, officer, I only ran a stop

sign. What are you going to do, burn me at

the stake? 2. to chastise or denounce

someone severely, but without violence.

Stop yelling. I made a simple mistake,

and you’re burning me at the stake for it.

Sally only spilled her milk. There is no

need to shout. Don’t burn her at the stake

for it.

burn someone in effigy to burn a dummy

or other figure that represents a hated

person. (See also hang someone in effigy.)

For the third day in a row, they burned

the king in effigy.  Until they have

burned you in effigy, you can’t really be

considered a famous leader.

burn someone or something to a crisp to burn

someone or something totally or very

badly. The flames burned him to a crisp.

The cook burned the meat to a crisp.

burn someone up to make someone very an-

gry. (Informal.) People like that just

burn me up! It burns me up to hear you

talk that way. T His answers really burned

up the committee members.

burn the candle at both ends to work

very hard and stay up very late at night.

No wonder Mary is ill. She has been

burning the candle at both ends for a long

time. You can’t keep on burning the can-

dle at both ends.

burn the midnight oil to stay up working,

especially studying, late at night. (Refers

to working by the light of an oil lamp.)

I have to go home and burn the mid-

night oil tonight. If you burn the mid-

night oil night after night, you’ll probably

become ill.

burn with a low blue flame to be very an-

gry. (Refers to the imaginary heat caused

by extreme anger. A blue flame is a hot

flame.) By the time she showed up three

hours late, I was burning with a low blue

flame. Whenever Ann gets mad, she just

presses her lips together and burns with a

low blue f lame.

burned to a cinder burned very badly.

(Not necessarily literal.) I stayed out

in the sun too long, and I am burned to a

cinder. This toast is burnt to a cinder.

burst at the seams [for someone] to “ex-

plode” (figuratively) with pride or laugh-

ter. (Also literal with things.) Tom

nearly burst at the seams with pride. We

laughed so hard we just about burst at the

seams.

burst in on someone or something [for some-

one] to enter a room, interrupting some-

one or some activity. (Often without

knocking or seeking permission to en-

ter.) Tom burst in on his sister and her

boyfriend while they were kissing.  I

must ask you not to burst in on a board

meeting again. Whatever it is can wait.

burst into flames to catch fire suddenly;

to ignite all at once. Suddenly, the car

burst into f lames. It was so hot in the

forest fire that a few trees literally burst

into f lames.

burst into tears and burst out crying to

begin to cry suddenly. (See also break

(out) in(to) tears.) After the last notes

of her song, the audience burst into tears,

such was its beauty and tenderness. The

brother and sister burst into tears on hear-

ing of the death of their dog. Some peo-

ple find themselves bursting out crying for

no reason at all.

burst onto the scene to appear suddenly

in a location. When Charles burst onto

the scene, no one was prepared for the news

he brought. The police suddenly burst

onto the scene and arrested everyone

present.

burst out crying Go to burst into tears.

burst out laughing to begin to laugh sud-

The entire audience burst out

laughing at exactly the wrong time, and so

did the actors. Every time I think of you

sitting there with a lap full of noodle soup,

I burst out laughing.

burst someone’s bubble to destroy some-

one’s illusion or delusion; to destroy

someone’s fantasy. I hate to burst your

bubble, but Columbus did not discover

Canada. Even if I am completely wrong,

please don’t burst my bubble.

burst with pride to be full to the bursting

point with pride. (See also burst at the

seams.) My parents were bursting with

pride when I graduated from college. I

almost burst with pride when I was chosen

to go up in the space shuttle.

bury one’s head in the sand and hide one’s

head in the sand to ignore or hide from

obvious signs of danger. (Refers to an os-

trich, which we picture with its head

stuck into the sand or the ground.)

Stop burying your head in the sand. Look

at the statistics on smoking and cancer.

And stop hiding your head in the sand. All

of us will die somehow, whether we smoke

or not.

bury the hatchet to stop fighting or argu-

ing; to end old resentments. All right,

you two. Calm down and bury the hatchet.

I wish Mr. and Mrs. Franklin would

bury the hatchet. They argue all the time.

business as usual having things go along

as usual. Right after the f lood, it was

business as usual in all the stores. Please,

everyone, business as usual. Let’s get back

to work.

the business end of something the part or

end of something that actually does the

work or carries out the procedure.

Keep away from the business end of the

electric drill to avoid getting hurt. Don’t

point the business end of that gun at any-

one. It might go off.

a busman’s holiday leisure time spent do-

ing something similar to what one does

at work. Tutoring students in the eve-

ning is too much of a busman’s holiday for

our English teacher. It’s a bit of a bus-

man’s holiday to ask her to be wardrobe

mistress for our amateur production in the

summer. She’s a professional dressmaker.

bust a gut (to do something) to work very

hard; to strain oneself to do something.

(Slang. Gut is considered impolite in

some circumstances. Bust is an informal

form of burst.) I don’t intend to bust a

gut to get there on time. I busted a gut

to get there the last time, and I was the first

one there.

busy as a beaver Go to (as) busy as a

beaver.

busy as a beaver (building a new dam)

Go to (as) busy as a beaver (building a

new dam).

busy as a bee Go to (as) busy as a beaver.

busy as a cat on a hot tin roof Go to (as)

busy as a cat on a hot tin roof.

busy as a hibernating bear Go to (as)

busy as a hibernating bear.

busy as a one-armed paperhanger Go to

(as) busy as a one-armed paperhanger.

busy as Grand Central Station Go to (as)

busy as Grand Central Station.

busy as popcorn on a skillet Go to (as)

busy as popcorn on a skillet.

but for someone or something if it were not for

someone or something. But for the rail-

ing, I’d have fallen down the stairs. But

for the children, Mrs. Smith would have

left her husband years ago.

butter someone up to praise and flatter

someone, usually with the intention of

requesting a favor. I believe my land-

lady prefers for me to butter her up rather

than getting the rent on time. T If I but-

ter up the teacher, will he give me a good

grade?

button one’s lip to get quiet and stay quiet.

(Often used with children.) All right

now, let’s button our lips and listen to the

story. Button your lip, Tom! I’ll tell you

when you can talk.

buy a pig in a poke to purchase or accept

something without having seen or ex-

amined it. (Poke means “bag.” Compare

this with buy something sight unseen.)

Buying a car without test-driving it is like

buying a pig in a poke. He bought a pig

in a poke when he ordered a diamond ring

by mail.

buy someone off to bribe someone; to win

someone over by gifts or favors. It’s not

hard to buy politicians off. T They bought

off the whole city council with campaign

contributions.

buy something to believe someone; to accept

something to be a fact. (Also literal. In-

formal.) It may be true, but I don’t buy

it. I just don’t buy the idea that you can

swim that far.

buy something for a song to buy something

cheaply. No one else wanted it, so I

bought it for a song. I could buy this

house for a song, because it’s so ugly.

buy something on credit to purchase some-

thing now and pay for it later (plus in-

terest). (See also sell something on credit.)

Almost everyone who buys a house buys

it on credit. I didn’t have any cash with

me, so I used my credit card and bought a

new coat on credit.

buy something to go and get something to go;

have something to go; order something to

go to purchase food to take out; to make

a purchase of cooked food to be taken

elsewhere to be eaten. Let’s stop here

and buy six hamburgers to go. I didn’t

thaw anything for dinner. Let’s stop off on

the way home and get something to go.

No, I don’t want to sit at a table. I’ll just

have a cup of coffee to go.

by a hair(‘s breadth) and by a whisker

just barely; by a very small distance. (The

whisker phrase is folksy.) I just missed

getting on the plane by a hair’s breadth.

I made it by a hair! The arrow missed

the deer by a whisker.

by all accounts Go to according to all

accounts.

by all means certainly; yes; absolutely.

(Compare this with by any means.) I

will attempt to get there by all means.

BOB: Can you come to dinner tomorrow?

JANE: By all means. I’d love to.

by all means of something using every pos-

sible manner of something to do some-

thing. People will be arriving by all

means of transportation. The surgeon

performed the operation by all means of

instruments.

by a mile by a great distance. (Also literal.

An exaggeration in this case.) You

missed the target by a mile. Your esti-

mate of the budget deficit was off by a

mile.

by and by after a period of time has passed.

(Most often seen in children’s stories.)

By and by the bears returned home, and

can you guess what they found? And by

and by the little boy became a tall and

handsome prince.

by and large generally; usually. (Originally

a nautical expression.) I find that, by

and large, people tend to do what they are

told to do. By and large, rosebushes need

lots of care.

by any means by any way possible. I

need to get there soon by any means. I

must win this contest by any means, fair or

unfair. It cannot be done by any means.

by a whisker Go to by a hair(‘s breadth).

by chance accidentally; randomly; without

planning. I found this book by chance

at a book sale. We met by chance in a

class in college.

by choice due to conscious choice; on pur-

pose. I do this kind of thing by choice.

No one makes me do it. I didn’t go to

this college by choice. It was the closest one

to home.

by coincidence by an accidental and

strange similarity; by an unplanned pair

of similar events or occurrences. We

just happened to be in the same place at the

same time by coincidence. By coinci-

dence, the circus was in town when I was

there. I’m glad because I love circuses.

by day and by night during the day; dur-

ing the night. By day, Mary worked in

an office; by night, she took classes. Dave

slept by day and worked by night.

by dint of something because of something;

due to the efforts of something. (Dint is

an old word meaning “force,” and it is

never used except in this phrase.) They

got the building finished on time by dint of

hard work and good organization. By

dint of much studying, John got through

college.

by fits and starts irregularly; unevenly;

with much stopping and starting.

Somehow, they got the job done by fits and

starts. By fits and starts, the old car fi-

nally got us to town.

by guess and by golly by luck; with the

help of God. (Folksy. Golly is a disguise

of God.) They managed to get the shed

built by guess and by golly. I lost my

ruler and had to install the new f loor tile

by guess and by golly.

by hook or (by) crook by any means, le-

gal or illegal. (Folksy.) I’ll get the job

done by hook or by crook. I must have

that house. I intend to get it by hook or

crook.

by itself with the help of nothing else;

without the addition of anything else.

Will this be enough by itself ? Can the

dog get out of the house by itself ?

by leaps and bounds rapidly; by large

movements forward. Our garden is

growing by leaps and bounds. The prof-

its of my company are increasing by leaps

and bounds.

by means of something using something;

with the use of something. I opened the

bottle by means of a bottle opener. I was

able to afford a car by means of a loan.

by mistake in error; accidentally. I’m

sorry. I came into the wrong room by mis-

take. I chose the wrong road by mistake.

Now we are lost.

by myself 1. with no one else present;

alone. I sat at the table by myself. I

will not be at the party. I will be at home

by myself tonight. 2. without the help of

anyone else. I did it all by myself. Do

you think I can eat this whole pie by

myself ?

by night Go to by day.

by no means absolutely not; certainly not.

I’m by no means angry with you.

BOB: Did you put this box here? TOM: By

no means. I didn’t do it, I’m sure.

by oneself 1. with no one else present; alone.

Must one sit by oneself or may one join

another group? One just hates eating by

oneself, doesn’t one? 2. with the help of no

one else. One is expected to do it by one-

self. Can one do this by oneself ?

by ourselves 1. with no one else present;

alone. Do we have to sit here by our-

selves? Can’t we sit with Mary and Max?

We like to eat by ourselves, so we can

talk about private matters. 2. with the

help of no one else. We can do it by

ourselves. Can we lift this by ourselves,

or do we need some help?

by return mail by a subsequent mailing

(back to the sender). (A phrase indicat-

ing that an answer is expected soon, by

mail.) Since this bill is overdue, would

you kindly send us your check by return

mail? I answered your request by return

mail over a year ago. Please check your

records.

by shank’s mare by foot. (Shank refers to

the shank of the leg. Folksy. See also go

(somewhere) by shank’s mare.) My car is-

n’t working, so I’ll have to travel by shank’s

mare. I’m sore because I’ve been getting

around by shank’s mare.

by the each; per. (Used to show a unit of

measure, but not the rate of a measure.)

Lettuce is sold by the head. Gas is sold

by the gallon.

by the book Go to by the numbers.

by the day one day at a time. I don’t

know when I’ll have to leave town, so I rent

this room by the day. Sally is in such dis-

tress. She manages to live only by the day.

by the dozen twelve at a time; in a group

of twelve. (Almost the same as the fol-

lowing entry.) I purchase socks by the

dozen.  Eggs are usually sold by the

dozen. Around here we have problems

by the dozen.

by the dozens many; by some large, in-

definite number. (Similar to but less than

hundreds. Almost the same as the previ-

ous entry.) Just then people began show-

ing up by the dozens. I baked cakes and

pies by the dozens.

by the handful in measurements equal to

a handful; lots. Billy is eating candy by

the handful. People began leaving by the

handful at midnight.

by the hour at each hour; after each hour.

It kept growing darker by the hour. I

have to take this medicine by the hour.

The illness is getting worse by the hour.

by the month one month at a time. Not

many apartments are rented by the month.

I needed a car for a short while, so I

rented one by the month.

by the nape of the neck by the back of

the neck. (Mostly found in real or mock

threats.) He grabbed me by the nape of

the neck and told me not to turn around

if I valued my life. I stood very still. If

you do that again, I’ll pick you up by the

nape of the neck and throw you out the

door.

by the same token in the same way; recip-

rocally. Tom must be good when he

comes here, and, by the same token, I ex-

pect you to behave properly when you go

to his house. The mayor votes for his

friend’s causes. By the same token, the

friend votes for the mayor’s causes.

by the seat of one’s pants by sheer luck

and very little skill. (Informal. Especially

with to f ly.) I got through school by the

seat of my pants. The jungle pilot spent

most of his days f lying by the seat of his

pants.

by the skin of one’s teeth just barely; by an

amount equal to the thickness of the

(imaginary) skin on one’s teeth. (Infor-

mal or slang.) I got through that class

by the skin of my teeth. I got to the air-

port late and missed the plane by the skin

of my teeth.

by the way incidentally; in addition; while

I think of it. By the way, I’m not going

to the bank today. Oh, by the way, your

shoes need polishing.

by the week one week at a time. I plan

my schedules by the week. Where can I

rent a room by the week?

by the year one year at a time. Most

apartments are available by the year.

We budget by the year.

by virtue of something because of some-

thing; due to something. She’s permit-

ted to vote by virtue of her age. They are

members of the club by virtue of their great

wealth.

by word of mouth by speaking rather than

writing. I learned about it by word of

mouth. I need it in writing. I don’t trust

things I hear about by word of mouth.

by yourself 1. with no one else present;

alone. Do you want to sit here by your-

self, or can I sit here too? Don’t sit at

home by yourself. Come to the movie with

me. 2. with the help of no one else.

Can you really do this by yourself ? Bill,

can you lift this by yourself ?