[blow up in one's face] <v. phr.>, <informal> To fail completely and with unexpected force. * /The thief's plan to rob the bank blew up in his face when a policeman stopped him./

[blue] See: BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA, BOLT FROM THE BLUE, ONCE IN A BLUE MOON, OUT OF THE BLUE or OUT OF A CLEAR BLUE SKY.

[blue around the gills] See: GREEN AROUND THE GILLS.

[blue collar worker] <n. phr.> A manual laborer who is probably a labor union member. * /Because Jack's father is a blue collar worker, Jack was so anxious to become an intellectual./ Contrast: WHITE COLLAR WORKER.

[blue in the face] <adj. phr.>, <informal> Very angry or upset; excited and very emotional. * /Tom argued with Bill until he was blue in the face./ * /Mary scolded Jane until she was blue in the face, but Jane kept on using Mary's paints./

[blue Monday] <n.> A Monday when you have to work after a happy weekend. * /It was blue Monday and John nodded sleepily over his books./ * /Housewives sometimes wish they could sleep through blue Monday./

[blue-pencil] <v.> To edit. * /The editor blue-penciled John's manuscript./

[bluff] See: CALL ONE'S BLUFF.

[blurt out] <v. phr.> To suddenly say something even if one was not planning to do so, or if it was not expected of them. * /"My brother Bob is in jail," Tony blurted out, before anybody could stop him./

[blush] See: AT FIRST BLUSH.

[board] See: ACROSS THE BOARD, COLLEGE BOARDS, GO BY THE BOARD or PASS BY THE BOARD, ON BOARD, SANDWICH BOARD.

[boat] See: BURN ONE'S BRIDGES also BURN ONE'S BOATS, IN THE SAME BOAT, MISS THE BOAT, ROCK THE BOAT.

[bobby-soxer] <n.> A teen-aged girl. (1940s idiom) * /My two daughters, age 13 and 14, are typical bobby-soxers./

[bob up] See: POP UP(1).

[body] See: KEEP BODY AND SOUL TOGETHER.

[body blow] <n.>, <informal> A great disappointment; a bitter failure. * /When he failed to get on the team it came as a body blow to him./

[body English] <n.>, <informal> The wishful attempt to make a ball move in the right direction after it has been hit or let go, by twisting the body in the desired direction. * /He tried to help the putt fall by using body English./

[bog down] <v. phr.> To be immobilized in mud, snow, etc.; slow down. * /Our research got bogged down for a lack of appropriate funding./ * /Don't get bogged down in too much detail when you write an action story./

[bog down, to get bogged down] <v. phr.>, <mostly intransitive or passive> 1. To stop progressing; to slow to a halt. * /Work on the new building bogged down, because the contractor didn't deliver the needed concrete blocks./ 2. To become entangled with a variety of obstacles making your efforts unproductive or unsatisfying. * /The novelist wrote tittle last summer because she got bogged down in housework./

[boggle the mind] <v. phr.>, <informal> To stop the rational thinking process by virtue of being too fantastic or incredible. * /It boggles the mind that John should have been inside a flying saucer!/

[boil] See: MAKE ONE'S BLOOD BOIL or MAKE THE BLOOD BOIL.

[boil down] <v.> 1. To boil away some of the water from; make less by boiling. * /She boiled down the maple sap to a thick syrup./ * /The fruit juice boiled down until it was almost not good for jelly./ 2. To reduce the length of; cut down; shorten. * /The reporter boiled the story down to half the original length./ 3. To reduce itself to; come down to; be briefly or basically. * /The whole discussion boils down to the question of whether the government should fix prices./

[boil over] <v. phr.> 1. To rise due to boiling and overflow down the sides of a pan or a pot. * /"Watch out!" Jane cried. "The milk is boiling over on the stove!"/ 2. To become enraged to the point of being unable to contain oneself. * /John took a lot of abuse from his boss, but after 25 minutes he suddenly boiled over and told him what he thought of him./

[boiling point] <n.> 1. The temperature at which a liquid boils. * /The boiling point of water is 272° Fahrenheit./ 2. The time when you become very angry. * /He has a low boiling point./ * /After being teased for a long time, John reached the boiling point./ * /When John made the same mistake for the fourth time, his teacher reached the boiling point./ Compare: BLOW UP(1b), MAKE ONE'S BLOOD BOIL.

[bolt from the blue] <n. phr.> Something sudden and unexpected; an event that you did not see coming; a great and usually unpleasant surprise; shock. * /We had been sure she was in Chicago, so her sudden appearance was a bolt from the blue./ * /His decision to resign was a bolt from the blue./ Compare: OUT OF THE BLUE.

[bombshell] See: EXPLODE A BOMBSHELL.

[bond] See: SAVINGS BOND.

[bone] See: BRED IN THE BONE, FEEL IN ONE'S BONES or KNOW IN ONE'S BONES, FUNNY BONE, MAKE NO BONES, SKIN AND BONES, T-BONE STEAK, WORK ONE'S FINGERS TO THE BONE.

[bonehead] <n.>, <slang> An unusually dense or stupid person. * /John is such a bonehead - small wonder he flunks all of his courses./

[bone of contention] <n. phr.> Something to fight over; a reason for quarrels; the subject of a fight. * /The boundary line between the farms was a bone of contention between the two farmers./ * /The use of the car was a bone of contention between Joe and his wife./

[bone to pick] or [crow to pick] <n. phr.>, <informal> A reason for dispute; something to complain of or argue about. - Often used jokingly. * /"I have a bone to pick with you," he said./ * /There was always a crow to pick about which one would shave first in the morning./ Compare: BONE OF CONTENTION.

[bone up] <v.>, <informal> To fill with information; try to learn a lot about something in a short time; study quickly. * /Carl was boning up for an examination./ * /Jim had to make a class report the next day on juvenile delinquency, and he was in the library boning up on how the courts handle it./

[bonnet] See: BEE IN ONE'S BONNET.

[book] See: CLOSED BOOK, CLOSE THE BOOKS, HIT THE BOOKS, KEEP BOOKS, NOSE IN A BOOK, ONE FOR THE BOOKS, READ ONE LIKE A BOOK, TALKING BOOK, THROW THE BOOK AT.

[boom] See: LOWER THE BOOM.

[boot] See: DIE IN ONE'S BOOTS, IN ONE'S SHOES also IN ONE'S BOOTS, LICK ONE'S BOOTS, SHAKE IN ONE'S SHOES or SHAKE IN ONE'S BOOTS, TO BOOT, TOO BIG FOR ONE'S BREECHES or TOO BIG FOR ONE'S BOOTS, YOU BET or YOU BET YOUR BOOTS.

[boot hill] <n.> A cemetery in the old Wild West where cowboys and cops and robbers used to be buried with their boots on. Hence, jokingly, any cemetery. * /Good old Joe, the cowboy, is resting comfortably in the nearby boot hill./

[boot out] See: KICK OUT.

[boot strap] See: PULL ONESELF UP BY THE BOOTSTRAPS.

[border on] <v. phr.> To be adjacent to; come close to; adjoin. * /Our village borders on the Mississippi River./ * /John's actions border on irresponsibility./

[bore to death] See: TO DEATH.

[bore to tears] <v. phr.> To fill with tired dislike; tire by dullness or the same old thing bore. * /The party was dull and Roger showed plainly that he was bored to tears./ * /Mary loved cooking, but sewing bores her to tears./

[born] See: NATURAL-BORN, TO THE MANNER BORN.

[born out of wedlock] <adj. phr.> Born to parents who are not married to each other; without legal parents. * /Sometimes when a married couple can't have children, they adopt a child who was born out of wedlock./ * /Today we no longer make fun of children born out of wedlock./

[born with a silver spoon in one's mouth] <adj. phr.> Born to wealth and comfort; provided from birth with everything wanted; born rich. * /The stranger's conduct was that of a man who had been born with a silver spoon in his mouth./ Compare: WELL-HEELED.

[born yesterday] <adj. phr.> Inexperienced and easily fooled; not alert to trickery; easily deceived or cheated. - Usually used in negative sentences. * /When Bill started the new job, the other workers teased him a little, but he soon proved to everyone that he wasn't born yesterday./ * /I won't give you the money till I see the bicycle you want to sell me. Do you think I was born yesterday?/ Compare: NOBODY'S FOOL.

[borrow] See: LIVE ON BORROWED TIME.

[borrow trouble] <v. phr.> To worry for nothing about trouble that may not come; make trouble for yourself needlessly. * /Don't borrow trouble by worrying about next year. It's too far away./ * /You are borrowing trouble if you try to tell John what to do./ Compare: ASK FOR, CROSS ONE'S BRIDGES BEFORE ONE COMES TO THEM, CRY BEFORE ONE IS HURT.

[bosom friend] <n. phr.> A very close friend; an old buddy with whom one has a confidential relationship. * /Sue and Jane have been bosom friends since their college days./

[boss] See: STRAW BOSS.

[boss one around] <v. phr.> To keep giving someone orders; to act overbearingly toward someone. * /"If you keep bossing me around, darling," Tom said to Jane, "the days of our relationship are surely numbered."/

[botch up] <v. phr.> To ruin, spoil, or mess something up. * /"I botched up my chemistry exam," Tim said, with a resigned sigh./

[both] See: CUT BOTH WAYS, PLAGUE ON BOTH YOUR HOUSES.

[both --- and] <coord. conj.> Used to emphasize that two or more things are talked about. * /Both Frank and Mary were at the party./ * /Millie is both a good swimmer and a good cook./ * /In the program tonight Mary will both sing and dance./ * /The frog can move quickly both on land and in the water./ Compare: AS WELL AS. Contrast EITHER OR.

[bothered] See: HOT AND BOTHERED.

[bottle blond] <n.>, <slang> A person who is obviously not a natural blond but whose hair is artificially colored. * /I doubt that Leonora's hair color is natural; she strikes me as a bottle blond./

[bottleneck] <n.> A heavy traffic congestion. * /In Chicago the worst bottleneck is found where the Kennedy and the Eden's expressways separate on the way to the airport./

[bottle up] <v.> 1. To hide or hold back; control. * /There was no understanding person to talk to, so Fred bottled up his unhappy feeling./ 2. To hold in a place from which there is no escape; trap. * /Our warships bottled up the enemy fleet in the harbor./

[bottom] See: BET ONE'S BOOTS or BET ONE'S BOTTOM DOLLAR, FROM THE BOTTOM OF ONE'S HEART, FROM --- TO ---, GET TO THE BOTTOM OF, HIT BOTTOM or TOUCH BOTTOM, ROCK BOTTOM, SCRAPE THE BOTTOM OF THE BARREL.

[bottom dollar] <n.>, <v. phr.>, <informal> One's last penny, one's last dollar. * /He was down to his bottom dollar when he suddenly got the job offer./

[bottom drop out] or [bottom fall out] <v. phr.> <informal> 1. To fall below an earlier lowest price. * /The bottom dropped out of the price of peaches./ 2. To lose all cheerful qualities; become very unhappy, cheerless, or unpleasant. * /The bottom dropped out of the day for John when he saw his report card./ * /The bottom fell out for us when the same ended with our team on the two yard line and six points behind./

[bottom line] <n.>, <informal> (stress on "line") 1. The last word on a controversial issue; a final decision. * /"Give me the bottom line on the proposed merger," said John./ 2. The naked truth without embellishments. * /Look, the bottom line is that poor Max is an alcoholic./ 3. The final dollar amount; for example, the lowest price two parties reach in bargaining about a sale. * /"Five-hundred, " said the used car dealer, "is the bottom line. Take it or leave it."/

[bottom line] <v.>, <informal> (stress on "bottom") To finish; to bring to a conclusion. * /Okay, you guys, let's bottom line this project and break for coffee./

[bottom out] <v. phr.> To reach the lowest point (said chiefly of economic cycles). * /According to the leading economic indicators the recession will bottom out within the next two months./

[bounce] See: GET THE BOUNCE, GIVE THE BOUNCE.

[bound] See: BIND, BY LEAPS AND BOUNDS, OUT OF BOUNDS, WITHIN BOUNDS.

[bound for] <adj. phr.> On the way to; going to. * /I am bound for the country club./ * /The ship is bound for Liverpool./

[bound up with] <v. phr.> To be connected; be involved with. * /Tuition at our university is bound up with the state budget./

[bow] See: TAKE A BOW.

[bow and scrape] <v.> To be too polite or obedient from fear or hope of gain; act like a slave. * /The old servant bowed and scraped before them, too obedient and eager to please./

[bowl of cherries] See: BED OF ROSES.

[bowl over] <v.>, <informal> 1. To knock down as if with a bowled ball. * /The taxi hit him a glancing blow and bowled him over./ 2. To astonish with success or shock with misfortune; upset; stun. * /He was bowled over by his wife's sudden death./ * /The young actress bowled over everybody in her first movie./

[bow out] <v.>, <informal> 1. To give up taking part; excuse yourself from doing any more; quit. * /Mr. Black often quarreled with his partners, so finally he bowed out of the company./ * /While the movie was being filmed, the star got sick and had to bow out./ 2. To stop working after a long service; retire. * /He bowed out as train engineer after forty years of railroading./

[box] See: IN A BIND or IN A BOX, PENALTY BOX, PRESS BOX, STUFF THE BALLOT BOX, VOICE BOX.

[box office] <n.>, <informal> 1. The place at movies and theaters where tickets may be purchased just before the performance instead of having ordered them through the telephone or having bought them at a ticket agency. * /No need to reserve the seats; we can pick them up at the box office./ 2. A best selling movie, musical, or drama (where the tickets are all always sold out and people line up in front of the box office). * /John Wayne's last movie was a regular box office./ 3. Anything successful or well liked. * /Betsie is no longer box office with me./

[boy] See: ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY, FAIR-HAIRED BOY, MAMA'S BOY, OLD BOY, SEPARATE THE MEN FROM THE BOYS.

[boyfriend] <n.>, <informal> 1. A male friend or companion. * /"John and his boyfriends have gone to the ball game," said his mother./ 2. A girl's steady date, a woman's favorite man friend; a male lover or sweetheart. * /Jane's new boyfriend is a senior in high school./ Contrast: GIRL FRIEND.

[boys will be boys] Boys are only children and must sometimes get into mischief or trouble or behave too roughly. * /Boys will be boys and make a lot of noise, so John's mother told him and his friends to play in the park instead of the back yard./

[brain] See: BEAT ONE'S BRAINS OUT, BLOW ONE'S BRAINS OUT, ON THE BRAIN, RACK ONE'S BRAIN, GET ONE'S BRAINS FRIED.

[brain bucket] <n.>, <slang> A motorcycle helmet. * /If you want to share a ride with me, you've got to wear a brain bucket./

[brain drain] <n.>, <informal> 1. The loss of the leading intellectuals and researchers of a country due to excessive emigration to other countries where conditions are better. * /Britain suffered a considerable brain drain to the United States after World War II./ 2. An activity requiring great mental concentration resulting in fatigue and exhaustion * /That math exam I took was a regular brain drain./

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