Commonly-Used Idioms, Sayings and phrasal verbs - "B" Idioms docx

29

B


back Idioms


back and forth

- backwards and forwards, first one way and then the other way
The argument went back and forth before the judge made a decision.

back down (from someone or something)

- to fail to carry through on a threat to do something
The government backed down from their plan to sell the national airline.

back in circulation

- to be available to the public again (a library book)
The books were back in circulation after we returned them to the library.

back in circulation

- to be socially active again (after the breakup of a relationship between two people)
My friend stopped seeing his girlfriend and he is now back in circulation.

back of beyond

- somewhere very remote
Every summer we go to the back of beyond for a camping trip.





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back off

- to retreat or move away (from a fight or argument or an object)
The man wanted to start an argument but finally he backed off.

back on one`s feet

- to return to good financial or physical health
My friend is back on his feet after his company went out of business.

back out (of something)

- to withdraw from an agreement or promise
The company backed out of the agreement with the foreign firm.

back the wrong horse

- to support someone or something that cannot win or succeed
We backed the wrong horse in the election and our candidate lost badly.

back-to-back

- something follows immediately after something else, two people touching backs
There were two back-to-back games today because of the rain last week.

back to square one

- to go back to the beginning of something
The city was back to square one in their effort to build a new bridge.

back to the drawing board

- to go back and start a project or idea from the beginning
The boss does not like our idea so we must go back to the drawing board.


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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.



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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.


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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.



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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.






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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."

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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.
.



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.

.

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.


41

behind schedule

- unable to do something by the time on the schedule, after the time on a schedule
The trains were behind schedule because of the accident early in the morning.

behind (someone`s) back

- without someone`s knowledge, secretly
The man is very angry because his friend borrowed his car behind his back.

behind the scenes

- privately, out of public view
The diplomats worked behind the scenes to try and solve the crisis.

behind the times

- to be old-fashioned
My aunt is behind the times.

belabor the point

- to spend too much time on a point of discussion
I tried not to belabor the point but I needed to explain things in detail for everyone to
understand.

below average

- to be lower or worse than average
The amount of rain was below average during the winter.

belt (something) out

- to sing/play a song with lots of energy
The man stood up and belted out several old songs.


42

bend (someone's) ear

- to talk to someone (maybe annoyingly)
I did not want to go into my supervisor's office and have him bend my ear for a long
time.

bend over backwards (to do something)

- to try very hard to do something
"I will bend over backwards to help you get a job in this company."

bent on doing (something)

- to be determined to do something
The young boys were bent on buying the old car to fix it up.

beside oneself (with something)

- to be very upset or excited about something
The boy was beside himself with joy after winning the contest.

beside the point

- to be not relevant to the subject that you are considering or discussing
"What you are saying is beside the point. We are not talking about salary now."

best/better part of (something)

- to be almost all of something
We spent the best part of a day trying to fix the vacuum cleaner.








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bet on the wrong horse

- to misjudge a coming event, to misread the future
I think that he bet on the wrong horse by investing all of his money into the new
stock.

bet one's bottom dollar

- to be very certain about something
I would bet my bottom dollar that my friend will be late for the movie.

better off

- to be in a better situation than before
He would be better off if he sold his old car and bought a new one.

between a rock and a hard place

- to be in a very difficult position
We were between a rock and a hard place in our effort to solve the problem.

between the devil and the deep blue sea

- to be in a very difficult position
The mayor was between the devil and the deep blue sea when he tried to keep the two
groups happy.

betwixt and between

- to be undecided, to be between two decisions
We were betwixt and between in our effort to try and decide which school to send our

child to.






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beyond a shadow of a doubt

- to be completely without doubt
Everyone believed beyond a shadow of a doubt that the man had stolen the money.

beyond measure

- to be more than can be measured
The man's love for his city was beyond measure.

beyond one's depth

- to be beyond one's ability, to be in deep water
The apartment manager was beyond her depth in her effort to manage the apartment.

beyond one's means

- to be more than one can afford
The expensive boat was very much beyond our means.

beyond the pale

- to be outside the bounds of acceptable behavior
What they are doing is totally unacceptable and beyond the pale.

beyond words

- to be more than one can say
Our love for our new baby is beyond words.

bid adieu to (someone or something)

- to say good-bye to someone or something
Everybody gathered to bid adieu to the popular supervisor.


45

bide one`s time

- to patiently wait for an opportunity to occur.
The man is biding his time as he waits to become president of the company.

big frog/fish in a small pond

- an important person in a less important place
The woman was a big fish in a small pond when she moved to the small town.

big of (someone)

- to be generous of someone

It was very big of the man to share his house with the other people.

big shot

- an important and powerful person
The man is a big shot in the oil and gas industry.

bird in hand is worth two in the bush

- something that you already have is better than something that you might get
A bird in hand is worth two in the bush so we decided to sell the car to our neighbor
rather than wait to get a higher price.

birds and the bees

- human sex and reproduction
The father tried to tell his son about the birds and the bees.

birds-eye view

- a view from high above, a brief look at something
We had a birds-eye view of the playing field from our seats high up in the stadium.


46

birthday suit

- a completely naked body
The little boy was running down the street in his birthday suit.

bite off more than one can chew

- to try to do more than one is able to do
I bit off more than I can chew by agreeing to do another assignment.

bite one's nails

- to be nervous or anxious about something
The children were biting their nails as they waited for the results of the test.

bite one's tongue

- to try not to say something that you really want to say
I had to bite my tongue and not tell our boss what had happened.

bite (someone's) head off

- to speak angrily to someone
I am afraid to speak to my teacher when she is in a bad mood because she may bite
my head off.

bite the bullet

- to endure a difficult situation, to face a difficult situation bravely
I have decided to bite the bullet and begin to study for my Master`s degree.

bite the dust

- to be killed, to break down, to be defeated

I think that my car will bite the dust soon.


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bite the hand that feeds you

- to harm or turn against someone who does good things for you
He is biting the hand that feeds him when he criticizes and fights against his boss.

bitter pill to swallow

- an unpleasant fact that one must accept
Losing the election was a bitter pill to swallow for the candidate.

black out

- to faint or pass out
Suddenly the young woman blacked out while she was standing in front of the
computer.

black sheep of the family

- the worst member of a family
The boy was the black sheep of the family and nobody liked him.

blast off

- to shoot into the sky (used for a rocket)
The rocket blasted off at noon.

blaze a trail (in something)

- to create or develop a new area of study
The soccer player blazed a trail for the other players to follow with his unique way of
playing soccer.







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bleep (something) out

- to replace a word in a radio or television broadcast with a musical tone (often used
to bleep out a bad word)
The remarks of the coach were bleeped out during the television interview.

blessing in disguise

- something that turns out to be good but which seemed to be bad at first
The elderly woman was in very much pain and it was a blessing in disguise when she
quietly passed away.

blind leading the blind

- someone who does not understand something but tries to explain it to others

It is like the blind leading the blind to watch the man try to explain how to operate the
new computer.

blood, sweat and tears

- signs of great personal effort
We put much blood, sweat and tears into building the small cabin.

blow Idioms
blow a fuse

- to burn out a fuse, to become angry
We quickly replaced the old fuse when our house blew a fuse last night.
My friend blew a fuse when I told him that I had lost his book

blow one`s own horn

- to praise oneself
My friend is always blowing his own horn and is very annoying at times.


49

blow one's top/stack

- to become very angry
The customer blew his stack when they refused to exchange his purchase at the store.

blow over

- to die down, to calm down
The problem with the lost invoices has blown over and everybody is happy again.

blow (someone) away

- to overcome someone emotionally
The performance was so wonderful that it blew me away.

blow (someone's) cover

- to reveal someone's true identity or purpose
The police blew the officer's cover by mistake.

blow (someone's) mind

- to overwhelm or excite someone
The beauty of the African wildlife parks blew my mind during our holiday.

blow (someone or something) off

- to avoid someone, to not attend something
We blew off the chance to go to the general meeting.

blow (something)

- to fail at something, to ruin something
I think that I blew the final math exam last week.


50

blow (something) out of all proportion

- to make a bigger issue about something than it really is
The problem was very small but the manager blew it out of all proportion.

blow the lid off (something)

- to reveal something (often a wrongdoing)
The government investigation blew the lid off the illegal activities.

blow the whistle (on someone)

- to report someone's wrongdoing to the police or other authorities
The employee blew the whistle on the illegal practices of the company.

blow to smithereens

- to explode into tiny pieces
The gas tanker was blown to smithereens during the accident.

blow up (at someone)

- to get angry, to lose one's temper
The passenger who was waiting in the line blew up at the ticket agent.

blow up in (someone's) face

- to be ruined while one is working on it (a plan/project etc.), to explode suddenly
The secret plan blew up in our face when we discovered that everybody already knew

about it.








51

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blue blood

- someone from a noble or aristocratic family
The art exhibition attracted many of the blue bloods in the town.
blue in the face

- to be exhausted and speechless
You can argue with him until you are blue in the face but you will never change his
mind.

bog down

- to slow down, to become stuck
I quickly became bogged down with all of the work that I had to do.

boggle (someone's) mind

- to confuse or overwhelm someone
The amount of waste in the city program really boggles my mind.

boil down to (something)

- to reduce something to its essential or main part
The reason that we could not go on a holiday boiled down to the fact that we did not
have enough money.

bone of contention

- a reason for quarrels, the subject of a fight
The family cottage was a major bone of contention after the father died.



52

bone up (on something)

- to study or review (something)
I decided to take a course at night to bone up on my Spanish.

boot out

- to make someone leave, to get rid of someone
The boy was booted out of high school for smoking on the school grounds.

bore (someone) stiff/to death

- to bore someone very much
Most of the guests at the wedding were bored stiff with the long speeches.

born out of wedlock

- to be born to an unmarried mother
The young mother had two children born out of wedlock.

born with a silver spoon in one`s mouth

- to be born rich, to have more than everything that you need since birth
The boy was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and has never worked in his life.

boss (someone) around

- to keep telling someone what to do
The little girl always wants to boss her friends around.

bottle (something) up

- to hold one's feelings inside of you
My aunt bottles up all of her feelings and has much stress because of it.


53

bottom line

- the result or final outcome of something, the last figure on a financial statement
Although I do not want to buy a new car, the bottom line is that I need a car for work.

bottom out

- to reach the lowest point
The stock market bottomed out at its lowest level in many months.

bound and determined

- to be determined
The man's wife is bound and determined to visit her sister this summer.

bound for somewhere

- to be on the way or planning to go somewhere
My friend was bound for college when I last met him.

bound to (do something)

- to be certain to do something
"If you ask your father he is bound to try and help you with your problem."

bow and scrape

- to be very humble and subservient
I was forced to bow and scrape to get some money from my parents.

bow out

- to quit, to resign from something
I wanted to join the tour but at the last minute I had to bow out.