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[be on the wagon] See: ON THE WAGON, FALL OFF THE WAGON.
[be on to] <v. phr.> To understand the motives of someone; not be deceived. * /Jack keeps telling us how wealthy his family is, but we are on to him./
[be over] <v. phr.> To be ended; be finished. * /The show was over by 11 P.M./ * /The war will soon be over./
[be out] <v. phr.> 1. To not be at home or at one's place of work. * /I tried to call but they told me that Al was out./ 2. To be unacceptable; not be considered; impossible. * /I suggested that we hire more salespeople but the boss replied that such a move was positively out./ 3. To be poorer by; suffer a loss of. * /Unless more people came to the church picnic, we realized we would be out $500 at least./ 4. To be in circulation, in print, published. * /Jane said that her new novel won't be out for at least another month./ 5. A baseball term indicating that a player has been declared either unfit to continue or punished by withdrawing him. * /The spectators thought that John was safe at third base, but the umpire said he was out./
[be out to] <v. phr.> To intend to do; to plan to commit. * /The police felt that the gang may be out to rob another store./
[berth] See: GIVE A WIDE BERTH.
[be set on] or [upon] <v. phr.> To be determined about something. * /Tow is set upon leaving his Chicago job for Tokyo, Japan, although he speaks only English./
[beside oneself] <adj. phr.> Very much excited; somewhat crazy. * /She was beside herself with fear./ * /He was beside himself, he was so angry./ * /When his wife heard of his death, she was beside herself./
[beside the point] or [beside the question] <adj.> or <adv. phr.> Off the subject; about something different. * /What you meant to do is beside the point; the fact is you didn't do it./ * /The judge told the witness that his remarks were beside the point./ Compare: BEAT AROUND THE BUSH, NEITHER HERE NOR THERE.
[best] See: AS BEST ONE CAN, AT BEST, FOR THE BEST, GET THE BETTER OF or GET THE BEST OF, HAD BETTER or HAD BEST, HE LAUGHS BEST WHO LAUGHS LAST, MAKE THE BEST OF, PUT ONE'S BEST FOOT FORWARD, SECOND BEST, TO THE BEST OF ONE'S KNOWLEDGE, WITH THE BEST or WITH THE BEST OF THEM.
[best bib and tucker] or [Sunday best] or [Sunday go-to-meeting clothes] <n. phr.>, <informal> Best clothes or outfit of clothing. * /The cowboy got all dressed up in his best bib and tucker to go to the dance./ * /Mary went to the party in her Sunday best and made a hit with the boys./ Compare: GLAD RAGS.
[best man] <n.> The groom's aid (usually his best friend or a relative) at a wedding. * /When Agnes and I got married, my brother Gordon was my best man./
[best seller] <n.> An item (primarily said of books) that outsells other items of a similar sort. * /Catherine Neville's novel "The Eight" has been a national best seller for months./ * /Among imported European cars, the Volkswagen is a best seller./
[bet] See: YOU BET or YOU BET YOUR BOOTS or YOU BET YOUR LIFE.
[be the making of] <v. phr.> To account for the success of someone or something. * /The strict discipline that we had to undergo in graduate school was the making of many a successful professor./ * /The relatively low cost and high gas mileage are the making of Chevrolet's Geo Metro cars./
[bet one's boots] or [bet one's bottom dollar] or [bet one's shirt] <v. phr.>, <informal> 1. To bet all you have. * /This horse will win. I would bet my bottom dollar on it./ * /Jim said he would bet his boots that he would pass the examination./ 2. or [bet one's life]. To feel very sure; have no doubt. * /Was I scared when I saw the bull running at me? You bet your life I was!/
[bet on the wrong horse] <v. phr,>, <informal> To base your plans on a wrong guess about the result of something; misread the future; misjudge a coming event. * /To count on the small family farm as an important thing in the American future now looks like betting on the wrong horse./ * /He expected Bush to be elected President in 1992 but as it happened, he bet on the wrong horse./
[better] See: ALL BETTER, DISCRETION IS THE BETTER PART OF VALOR, FOR BETTER OR WORSE, FOR THE BETTER, GET THE BETTER OF, GO --- ONE BETTER, HAD BETTER, HALF A LOAF IS BETTER THAN NONE or HALF A LOAF IS BETTER THAN NO BREAD, SEE BETTER DAYS, THINK BETTER OF.
[better half] <n.>, <informal> One's marriage partner (mostly said by men about their wives.) * /"This is my better half, Mary," said Joe./
[better late than never] It is better to come or do something late than never. * /The firemen didn't arrive at the house until it was half burned, but it was better late than never./ * /Grandfather is learning to drive a car. "Better late than never," he says./ Compare: HALF A LOAF IS BETTER THAN NONE.
[better than] <prep. phr.> More than; greater than; at a greater rate than. * /The car was doing better than eighty miles an hour./ * /It is better than three miles to the station./
[between] See: BETWIXT AND BETWEEN, COME BETWEEN, PEW AND FAR BETWEEN.
[between a rock and a hard place] See: BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA.
[between life and death] <adv. phr.> In danger of dying or being killed; with life or death possible. * /He held on to the mountainside between life and death while his friends went to get help./ * /The little sick girl lay all night between life and death until her fever was gone./
[between the devil and the deep blue sea] or <literary> [between two fires] or [between a rock and a hard place] <adv. phr.> Between two dangers or difficulties, not knowing what to do. * /The pirates had to fight and be killed or give up and be hanged; they were between the devil and the deep blue sea./ * /The boy was between a rock and a hard place; he had to go home and be whipped or stay in town all night and be picked up by the police./ * /When the man's wife and her mother got together, he was between two fires./ Compare: COMING AND GOING(2), IN A BIND.
[between the eyes] See: HIT BETWEEN THE EYES.
[between the lines] See: READ BETWEEN THE LINES.
[between two fires] See: BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA.
[between two shakes of a lamb's tail] See: BEFORE ONE CAN SAY JACK ROBINSON.
[be up to no good] <v. phr.>, <informal> To be plotting and conniving to commit some illegal act or crime. * /"Let's hurry!" Susan said to her husband. "It's dark here and those hoodlums obviously are up to no good."/
[be up to something] <v. phr.>, <informal> 1. To feel strong enough or knowledgeable enough to accomplish a certain task. * /Are you up to climbing all the way to the 37th floor?/ * /Are we up to meeting the delegation from Moscow and speaking Russian to them?/ 2. Tendency to do something mischievous. * /I'm afraid Jack is up to one of his old tricks again./
[beyond measure] <adj.> or <adv. phr.>, <formal> So much that it can not be measured or figured without any limits. * /With her parents reunited and present at her graduation, she had happiness beyond measure./ * /No one envied him for he was popular beyond measure./
[beyond one's depth] <adj.> or <adv. phr.> 1. Over your head in water; in water too deep to touch bottom. * /Jack wasn't a good swimmer and nearly drowned when he drifted out beyond his depth./ 2. In or into something too difficult for you; beyond your understanding or ability. * /Bill decided that his big brother's geometry book was beyond his depth./ * /Sam's father started to explain the atom bomb to Sam but he soon got beyond his depth./ * /When Bill played checkers against the city champion, Bill was beyond his depth./ Compare: OVER ONE'S HEAD(1).
[beyond one's means] <adj. phr.> Too expensive, not affordable. * /Unfortunately, a new Mercedes Benz is beyond my means right now./
[beyond one's nose] See: SEE BEYOND ONE'S NOSE.
[beyond question(1)] <adj. phr.> Not in doubt certain; sure. - Used in the predicate. * /People always believe anything that Mark says; his honesty is beyond question./ Contrast: IN QUESTION.
[beyond question(2)] or [without question] <adv. phr.> Without doubt or argument; surely; unquestionably. * /Beyond question, it was the coldest day of the winter./ * /John's drawing is without question the best in the class./
[beyond reasonable doubt] <adv. phr.>, <formal and legal> Virtually certain; essentially convincing. * /The judge instructed the jurors to come up with a verdict of guilty only if they were convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that Algernon was the perpetrator./
[beyond the pale] <adv.> or <adj. phr.> In disgrace; with no chance of being accepted or respected by others; not approved by the members of a group. * /After the outlaw killed a man he was beyond the pale and not even his old friends would talk to him./ * /Tom's swearing is beyond the pale; no one invites him to dinner any more./
[beyond the shadow of a doubt] <adv. phr.>, <formal and legal> Absolutely certain, totally convincing. * /Fred burglarized Mrs. Brown's apartment, beyond the shadow of a doubt./
[bib] See: BEST BIB AND TUCKER.
[bide one's time] <v. phr.> To await an opportunity; wait patiently until your chance comes. * /Refused work as an actor, Tom turned to other work and bided his time./ * /Jack was hurt deeply, and he bided his time for revenge./
[bid fair] <v.>, <literary> To seem likely; promise. * /He bids fair to be a popular author./ * /The day bids fair to be warm./
[big] See: IN A BIG WAY, LITTLE FROG IN A BIG POND, LITTLE PITCHERS HAVE BIG EARS, TALK BIG, TOO BIG FOR ONE'S BREECHES, WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA.
[big as life] or [large as life] <adj. phr.> 1. or [life-size] The same size as the living person or thing. * /The statue of Jefferson was big as life./ * /The characters on the screen were life-size./ 2. or [big as life and twice as natural] <informal> In person; real and living. * /I had not seen him for years, but there he was, big as life and twice as natural./
[big cheese] or [big gun] or [big shot] or [big wheel] or [big wig] <n.>, <slang> An important person; a leader; a high official; a person of high rank. * /Bill had been a big shot in high school./ * /John wanted to be the big cheese in his club./ Compare: WHOLE CHEESE.
[big daddy] <n.>, <slang>, <informal> The most important, largest thing, person or animal in a congregation of similar persons, animals, or objects. * /The whale is the big daddy of everything that swims in the ocean./ * /The H-bomb is the big daddy of all modern weapons./ * /Al Capone was the big daddy of organized crime in Chicago during Prohibition./
[big deal] <interj.>, <slang>, <informal> (loud stress on the word "deal") Trifles; an unimportant, unimpressive thing or matter. * /So you became college president - big deal!/
[big frog in a small pond] <n. phr.>, <informal> An important person in a small place or position; someone who is respected and honored in a small company, school, or city; a leader in a small group. * /As company president, he had been a big frog in a small pond, but he was not so important as a new congressman in Washington./ Contrast: LITTLE FROG IN A BIG POND.
[bigger than one's stomach] See: EYES BIGGER THAN ONE'S STOMACH.
[big hand] <n.> Loud and enthusiastic applause. * /When Pavarotti finished singing the aria from Rigoletto, he got a very big hand./
[big head] <n.>, <informal> Too high an opinion of your own ability or importance; conceit. * /When Jack was elected captain of the team, it gave him a big head./ Compare: SWELLED HEAD.
[big house] <n.> A large jail or prison. * /The rapist will spend many years in the big house./
[big lie, the] <n.>, <informal> A major, deliberate misrepresentation of some important issue made on the assumption that a bold, gross lie is psychologically more believable than a timid, minor one. * /We all heard the big lie during the Watergate months./ * /The pretense of democracy by a totalitarian regime is part of the big lie about its government./
[big mouth] or [big-mouthed] See: LOUD MOUTH, LOUD-MOUTHED.
[big shot] or [big wig] <n.> An important or influential person. * /Elmer is a big shot in the State Assembly./
[big stink] <n.>, <slang> A major scandal; a big upheaval. * /I'll raise a big stink if they fire me./
[big time] <n.>, <informal> 1. A very enjoyable time at a party or other pleasurable gathering. * /I certainly had a big time at the club last night./ 2. The top group; the leading class; the best or most important company. * /After his graduation from college, he soon made the big time in baseball./ * /Many young actors go to Hollywood, but few of them reach the big time./
[big-time] <adj.> Belonging to the top group; of the leading class; important. * /Jean won a talent contest in her home town, and only a year later she began dancing on big-time television./ * /Bob practices boxing in the gym every day; he wants to become a big time boxer./ Often used in the phrase "big-time operator". * /Just because Bill has a new football uniform he thinks he is a big-time operator./ Compare: SHOW OFF. Contrast: SMALL-TIME.
[big top] <n.> The main tent under which a circus gives its show; the circus and circus life. * /Lillian Leitzel was one of the great stars of the big top./ * /The book tells of life under the big top./
[big wheel] <n.>, <informal> An influential or important person who has the power to do things and has connections in high places. * /Uncle Ferdinand is a big wheel in Washington; maybe he can help you with your problem./
[big yawn] <n.> A very boring person, story or event. * /I love my grandma very much, but the stories she tells sure are a yawn./
[bill] See: CLEAN BILL OF HEALTH, FILL THE BILL.
[bind] See: DUTY BOUND, IN A BIND, MUSCLE BOUND, ROOT-BOUND.
[bingo card] <n.>, <slang> A response card, bound into a periodical, containing numbers keyed to editorial or advertising matter, giving the reader the opportunity to send for further information by marking the numbers of the items he is interested in; such a card can be mailed free of charge. * /Jack thinks he is saving time by filling out bingo cards instead of writing a letter./
[bird] See: EARLY BIRD CATCHES THE WORM or EARLY BIRD GETS THE WORM, EAT LIKE A BIRD, FINE FEATHERS DO NOT MAKE FINE BIRDS, FOR THE BIRDS, KILL TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE.
[bird has flown] <slang> The prisoner has escaped; the captive has got away. * /When the sheriff returned to the jail, he discovered that the bird had flown./
[bird in the hand is worth two in the bush (a)] Something we have, or can easily get, is more valuable than something we want that we may not be able to get; we shouldn't risk losing something sure by trying to get something that is not sure. - A proverb. * /Johnny has a job as a paperboy, but he wants a job in a gas station. His father says that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush./
[bird of a different feather] <n. phr.> A person who is free thinking and independent. * /Syd won't go along with recent trends in grammar; he created his own. He is a bird of a different feather./
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