Commonly used english part 4 potx

31

back to the salt mines

- to return to work or return to something else that you do not want to do
We finished our lunch and went back to the salt mines.

back up (someone or something)

- to support someone or something
The doctor made a mistake and the hospital refused to back him up.

.



bad blood (between people)

- unpleasant feelings between people
There was much bad blood between the three brothers.

bad-mouth (someone or something)

- to say bad things about someone or something
The supervisor has the habit of bad-mouthing her boss.

bag of tricks

- a collection of special techniques or methods
The teacher has a bag of tricks to keep her students occupied.

bail out (of something)

- to abandon a situation, to jump out of an airplane
The plan to buy a summer home with our friends was becoming too expensive so we
decided to bail out.



32

bail (someone) out

- to pay a sum of money that allows someone to get out of jail while waiting for a trial
The singer had to pay much money to bail himself out of prison.

bail (someone or something) out

- to help or rescue someone or something
The government decided to bail out the troubled bank.

balance the books

- to check that all the money in a business is accounted for
The accountant spent several days trying to balance the books of his company.

ball of fire

- an active and energetic person
The woman is a ball of fire and is always busy doing something.

bang/beat one's head against the wall

- to try to do something that is hopeless
I am banging my head against the wall when I try to ask my boss for something.

bank on (someone or something)

- to be sure of someone or something, to count on someone or something
You can bank on my sister to help you.

baptism of fire

- a first experience of something (often difficult or unpleasant)
We went through a baptism of fire when we had to learn how to operate the small
business.


33

bargain for (something)

- to anticipate something, to take something into account
The difficulty of the job was more than I had bargained for.

bargain on (something)

- to plan or expect something
We did not bargain on having heavy rain during our summer birthday party.

barge in on (someone or something)

- to interrupt someone or something, to intrude on someone or something
My sister often barges in on me when I am with my friends.

bark is worse than one`s bite

- someone is not as bad as they sound
"Don`t worry if the boss gets angry - his bark is worse than his bite."

bark up the wrong tree

- to make a wrong assumption about something
The police are barking up the wrong tree in their investigation of the criminal.

base one's opinion on (something)

- to form an opinion from something
I based my opinion on the man's previous work and decided not to give him a job.
batten down the hatches

- to prepare for difficult times, to close the hatches in a boat before a storm
A big storm was coming so we decided to batten down the hatches and stay home.



34

bawl out (someone)

- to scold someone loudly
The woman bawled out her child in the supermarket.
be Idioms


be a new one on (someone)

- to be something one has not heard before and something that is difficult to believe
It was a new one on me when my friend said that he was studying Russian.

be all ears

- to listen eagerly and carefully
The boy was all ears when the teacher described the circus.
be all things to all people

- to be everything that is wanted by all people
The politician tries to be all things to all people and it is difficult to know what she
really believes.
be curtains for (someone or something)

- to be the end or death for someone or something
It was curtains for my old car when it finally broke down last week.
be game

- to be ready for action or agreeable to participate in something
All of the students were game to go to the science exhibition.

35

be into (something)

- to be interested or involved in something
My friend is very much into music and writing songs.

be of the persuasion that (something) is so

- to believe that something is true or exists
My grandfather is of the persuasion that it is more important to work than to go to
school.

be off

- to leave or depart
I plan to be off very early tomorrow morning to go to the airport.

be off to a bad start

- to start something under bad circumstances
The production of the play was off to a bad start when the lights did not work.

be off on the wrong foot

- to start something under bad circumstances
I tried to talk to my new neighbor but it seems that we are off on the wrong foot

already.

be that as it may

- even if what you say is true
"Be that as it may, we are not going to permit the school dance to take place."

be the case

- to be true, to be an actual situation
"I do not care if it was the case last year, this year we will do things differently."

36

be the death of (someone)

- to be the ruin/downfall/death of someone (often used for some kind of problem)
The woman said that her young son's bad behavior would be the death of her.

be to blame

- to be responsible for something bad or unfortunate
He is not to blame for breaking the computer.
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bear/hold a grudge (against someone)

- to continue to be angry at someone, to resent someone

The woman continued to bear a grudge against her friend for many years.
bear fruit

- to yield or give results
The girl's hard work began to bear fruit when she won the dance contest.
bear in mind

- to consider that something is so
We have to bear in mind that the child is only three years old when he does something
bad.
bear one's cross

- to carry or bear a burden
Raising three children on her own was the way that the woman had to bear her cross.
bear (someone or something) in mind

- to remember and think about someone or something
We had to bear in mind that the child was only three years old.

37

bear (something) out

- to prove that something is right
The man's constant lateness bore out the fact that he could never continue with one
job for a long time.
bear the brunt of (something)

- to withstand the worst part or the strongest part of something
The small island bore the brunt of the tropical storm.

bear with (someone or something)

- to be patient with someone or something, to endure someone or something
We had to bear with our teacher as she explained the material to the new students.
beat Idioms
beat a hasty retreat

- to retreat or withdraw very quickly
The soldiers beat a hasty retreat when the guerrillas attacked them.

beat a path to (someone's) door

- to come to someone in great numbers
The customers beat a path to the door of the computer game store.

beat around the bush

- to speak indirectly or evasively
"Stop beating around the bush and give us your final decision."

beat one's brains out

- to work very hard (to do something)
We beat our brains out in order to think of a name for the new magazine.


38

beat one's head against the wall

- to waste one's time trying to do something that is hopeless
I was beating my head against the wall to try and convince my friend to come to the
restaurant.

beat (someone) to the punch/draw

- to do something before others
My friend beat me to the punch and arrived at the interview first.

beat (something) into (someone's) head

- to force someone to learn something
The teacher thinks that she must beat the material into the heads of the students.

beat the clock

- to finish something before the time is up
The basketball team worked hard to beat the clock and win the game.

beat the living daylights out of (someone)

- to beat someone severely
The two men beat the living daylights out of the man at the gas station.

beat the rap

- to escape conviction and punishment (for a crime)
The man beat the rap and did not have to go to jail.

beat the tar out of (someone)

- to beat someone severely
The older boy beat the tar out of the young boy in the schoolyard


39

beat up (someone)

- to harm someone by hitting or beating them
The young boys beat up one of the older students.

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become engaged to (someone)

- to make a plan to marry someone
My friend plans to become engaged to her boyfriend next month.

become engaged with (someone)

- to make a plan to marry someone
The girl has recently become engaged with her boyfriend.

becoming on/to (someone)

- to make someone look good
The red dress looked very becoming on my girlfriend.

(no) bed of roses

- a situation that is happy and comfortable (usually used in the negative)
The new job was very difficult and certainly no bed of roses.

(have a) bee in one`s bonnet

- to have an idea that continually occupies one`s thoughts.
My friend has a bee in her bonnet about going to Europe next year.




40

beef up (something)

- to make something stronger
The police beefed up the security around the convention site.

before long

- soon
I had to wait a few minutes but before long my friend arrived to meet me.

beg the question

- to invite the question that follows
The purchase of the expensive car begged the question of where the man got the

money.

beg to differ with (someone)

- to politely disagree with someone
"I'm sorry but I beg to differ with you about what happened."

begin to see the light

- to begin to understand (something)
My sister began to see the light and decided to leave her boyfriend.

behind closed doors

- in secret
The meeting to settle the dispute took place behind closed doors.

behind in/on (something)

- to be late with something
I was behind in my studies and stayed home all weekend to study.