BABY
BABY-SITTING :looking after children. our teachers and
professors do no more than baby-sitting.
HOLD THE BABY: to be left in the lurch with responsibility. when
prime minister jawaharlal nehru dies, shri lal bahadur shastru held
the baby.
THROW OUT THE BABY WITH THE BATH WATER: to be so enthusiastic
about changing. in abolishing the police force because ti was corrupt,
the revolutionaries has thrown out the baby with the bath water.
BACK
BACK AND BELLY: clothing and food. it is very hard to earn back
and belly today.
BACK FRIEND:a friend who stands at one's back. there are few
back friend left now-a-days.
BACK HANDED:indirect; insincere;deceitful. beware of mohan as he
is the back handed friend.
BACKING DOWN: shirking. once you have made a commitment, let
there be no backing down.
BACK NUMBER: a person or thing out of date; past the stage of
usefulness. my uncle , an aged man is a back-number.
BACK OF :behind. china is fully back of pakistan.
BACK WATER: to play ours backwards. we had to back water to reach
the shore.
BEEHIND ONE'S BACK:abusing one's absense. behind my back at the
home , my daughter puts everything in disorder.
PUT ONE'S BACK INTO:to do with might and main. you must put your
back into the preparation for examionation.
TAKE A BACK SEAT:sink into; obscurity. janta dal now takes a back
seat in parliament.
TALK THROUGH THE BACK OF ONE'S NECK: to talk utter nonsense.
opposition should stop talking through the back of its neck.
TO SAVE ONE'S BACK:to come of scatheless with difficulty. somehow
he did manage to save his back.
TO SET ONE'S BACK: to make one angry. i do not think it is
advisable to set anybody's back.
TO TURNS ONE'S BACK UPON: to turn away. it is shame on you to
turn your back upon your friends in trouble.
BACK BITTING: criticising and speaking evil of a person when he
or she is not present. constant back bitting by my colleagues let to
my resignatin.
A BACKHANDER: a bribe. mohan won the contract for his firm by
giving a backhander to the concern official.
THE BACK OF BEYOND: a very remote place. they at the back of
beyond, somewhere in the southern bush.
BACKPEDAL: to reverse one's opinion or course of action. he was
forced to back pedal and say the opposite of what he had said
originally.
BACKSCRATCHING: doing favours for other people in return for
favours which they do for you. there is a great deal of
backscratching involved in indian politics.
A BACK-SEAT DRIVER: a passenger in a car who gives unwanted
advice on how to drive it. very often back seat drivers cannot drive.
BEHIND BACK: without knowledge or permission. he sometimes
bullies his sister behind his mother's back.
GET OFF BACK: to stop annoying. get off my back! i can not work
if you keep on criticising me.
HAVE ONE'S BACK TO THE WALL: to be in a very difficult or
desperate situation. he certainly has his back to the wall as he ahs
lost his job and cannot find another one.
BACK OUT: withdraw from an agreement. he promised to help me but
at the eleventh hour he backed out.
BACK UP: to support, to sustain. mohan is always ready to back
up his friends.
BACK BONE: thoroughly. he is an english man to the back bone and
would do what he has promised.
BACK STAIRS: secret and illegitimate influence. he obtained thr
job through back stairs influence.
BEAT BACK: compel to retreat. the thief attacked, but were beaten back.
PAY BACK: repay money. here's fifty repees. pay me back next month.
BACK AND FORTH: to and fro. the ship went back and forth.
GO BACK: betray; dessert. he went back on his promise and
refused to lend me the money.
PUT ONE'S BACK UP: annoy; make hostile/. ram's rudeness always
puts me back up.
BREAK THE BACK OF : the chief part of. we shall break the back
kof the work by to-night.
BACKGROUND: keep or remain. i m going to keep in the background
during the discussion.
BACKBITE
BACKBITE: speak evil in absense. one's should not backbite
one's friends.
BACKBONE
BACKBONE: main support. prime minister sh atal behari
vajpayee is a backbone of the present goverment.
BACKBONELESS: without firmness. the present democratic
goverment of india suffers from backbonelessness.
TO THE BACKBONE: thoroughly. staff of our factory is
honest to the backbone.
BACKWARD
BACKWARD AND FORWARD: to and fro. one's luck goes backward
and foreward.
BACON
BRING HOME THE BACON: to complete a job successfully. you
can trust promod mahajan to bring home the bacon!
TO SAVE ONE'S BACON: to save oneself with a great
difficulty. thank god, i have saved my bacon.
BAD
BAD BLOOD: ill-feeling. the demand of a separate nagaland
by phizo has created bad blood between the loyal and the rebel nagas.
TO MAKE THE BEST OF BAD BARGAIN: to beal all
difficulties. he made the best of a bad bargain and continued his
studies.
A BAD TIME: miserable time. he had a very bad time when
his father died
BAD COIN:false coin.i do not accept this bad coin.
BADLY OFF: not having much. we cannot go on holiday
because we are too badly off.
GO FROM BAD TO WORSE: to get inot an even worse condition
than before. things are going from bad to worse for the pakistqn
because not only it is losing money but there is going to be a strike
as well.
NOT BAD: quite good. is he a good cricketer? he is not bad.
TOO BAD: unfortunate. it is too bad that his holiday was cancelled.
BAD DEBT: a debt which cannot be recovered. sooner or
later you have to write off a bad debt.
BAD FORM:ill manners. a person with bad form does not
succeed in life.
BAD MAN: a ruffian. every state today is full of bad man.
BAD SHOT: wrong guess. her examination was a bad shot.
GO TO THE BAD: to go to the moral ruin. the whole state is
going to the bad.
IN BAD BOOKS: in disfavour. ramesh is in bad books of the
managing director.
WITH A BAD GRACE: ungraciously. anoop received his friends
with a bad grace.
BAG
BAG AND BAGGAGE: luggage. the hindus of west pakistan had
to leave bag and baggage.
BAG OF BONES: a lean creature. my brother is a bag of bones.
IN THE BAG: secured or as good as secured. your
appointment as principal of the college is in the bag.
A BAG OF TRICKS: all equipment requited for doing
something . the mechanic brought out his bag of tricks and mended the
car.
IN THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG: as a last resort. mohan has his
knife in the bottom of his bag to help his brother in the fight.
LET THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG: to disclose secrets. the women
quite often let the cat out of the bag.
BAIL
ACCEPT, ADMIT TO,ALLOW BAIL: to set the prisoner free on
security. the c.m.m. accepted the bail of the political leadder to set
the prisoner free. mr sohan lal was admitted to the bail. mr anil
gupta, who murdered sujata, was not allowed bail.
BAIL UP: to secure in a bail; to stop and disarm in order
to rob; to put up one's hands in surrender. the kidnepper was bailed
up. the thief bailed up the passerby . when anjur showed his pistol ,
the man bailed up.
GIVE LEG BAIL: to be beholden to one's legs for escape.
anil gave led bail to the constable.
BAIT
RISE TO THE BAIT: to do what someone has been trying to
make one do by means of suggestions. i could see mohan was trying to
make one do by means of suggestions. i could see mohan was trying to
make me angry, but i did not rise to the bait.
BALANCE
ON BALANCE: the result of such examination. on balance we
are rs100/- richer.
TO LOSE ONE'S BALANCE: be upset mentally. if anything goes
wrong, do not lose your balance.
BALANCED PERSONALITY: a steady mind. sardar patel had a
balanced personality.
BALANCE OF ADVANTAGE: great influence. i have balance of
advantage in getting the job of general manager.
TO HANG IN BALANCE: to be uncertain. the future of some
governors of various states hangs in balance.
BALE
BALE OUT: escape from an aeroplane by parachute. we baled
out behind the enemy's live.
BALL
KEEP THE BALL ROLLIING.: proceedings successfully. my host
had very little to talk about and it was difficult to keep the ball
rolling.
THE BALL AT ONE'S FEET: to see one's way of success. mohan
will become famous; he has the ball at his feet.
OPEN THE BALL: make a formal and definite beginning. the
judge opened the ball by asking the policeman to his evidence.
HAVE A BALL: to have a good time; to enjoy oneself. he was
the only child and he was having a ball!
HAVE THE BALL IS ONE'S COURT: to be responsible for the next
development in a situation. alok has answered your letter,so that ball
is now in your court.
ON THE BALL: quick, alert and up to date. the general
manager of i.e.c. is increasing profits becuase he is really on the
ball.
PLAY BALL: to work or act together. vinod tried to get him
to help but he would not play all.
BALLOON
WHEN THE BALLON GOES UP: when the trouble starts. lalit is
always getting me into trouble, but he is never here whne the balloon
goes up.
BANANAS
BE,GO BANANAS: to be, go crazy. if your mother sees that
men, she will go bananas!
BAND
BEAT THE BAND: to be especially loud. the baby was howling to
beat the band.
JUMP ON THE BAND WAGON: to take part in something or show an
interest in something. when electronic games became popular, so many
toy manufactures jumped on the band wagon that the shops were fulll of
them.
BAND OF HOPE: asn association of young persons pledged of life
long abstinenece from alcoholic drinks, first instituted in 1847.
there is no band of hope in the world today.
BANDY
BANDY WORDS: bandy words; to exchange reprimands. when you have
lost a case, bandying words will not save the situtation.
BANK
BANK HOLIDAYS: general holiday on which all banks as well as
shops are closed. to day is bank holiday.
TO BANK UPON: to depend . how long can you bank upon your parents?
BANKS ON: to rely on. shashank is banking on my help to run his shop.
BREAK THE BANK: to leave oneself or someone else without any
money. the price of a cup to tea would not break the bank, even if we
canot afford a meal.
FROM BANK TO BANK: form the time a collier begins to descend to
his work till he reaches the top again. from bank to bank a collier
works in artificial light and knows not whether it is day or night.
BANKRUPT
GO BANKRUPT: lose all the money. m/s mohan lal and sons goes
bankrupt because of its dishonesty.
BANNER
TO UPHOLD THE BANNER OF :to lend complete support. the
president follows the banner of his party.
KEEP THE BANNER FLYING: keep fighting; doing work. while i am
away from the office , please keep the banners flying.
BANNS
TO FORBID THE BANNS: make formal objection to a projected
marriage. when the girl wanted to marry, the boy's father forbade the
banns.
BAPTISM
BAPTISM OF BLOOD: martyrdom. sardar bhagat singh accepted the
baptism of blood at the altar of the freedom of india.
BAPTISM OF FIRE: martyrdom by fire. guru arhan dev, the fifth
guru of the sikhs, suffered baptism by fire.
BAR
AT THE BAR: to practise as a barrister or advocate. for many
years mahatma gandhi was at the bar.
CALL TO THE BAR: become a barrister. many indian leaders,
including nehru and gandhi, were called at the bar.
:
CROSS THE BAR: die. sh madhav rao sadashiv rao golwalkar of
r.s.s crossed the bar on june5,1973.
BARGAIN
INTO THE BARGAIN: in addition, extra. he bought the house,
and the sofa set into the bargain.
BARGAIN FOR: anticipate, plan. he was plan to take a risk
but he never bargained .
DUTCH BARGAIN: a bargain ending with drink. drunkards always
prefer a dutch bargain.
DRIVE A HARD BARGAIN: conclude a bargain the terms of which
are harsh. krishan agreed to finance the business, but he drove a hard
bargain.
INTO THE BARGAIN: over and above. he bought a shop and got
furniture into the bargain .
SELL ONE A BARGAIN: to befool him; to trap him into saving
something radiculous. the lawyer of the tis hazari court sold the
litigant a bargain.
STRIKE A BARGAIN: to come to terms. nikhil struck a good
bargain with the shopkeeper.
BARGE
NOT TO TOUCH WITH A BARGE-POLE: to hate. he would not touch
wine with a barge-pole.
BARK
BARK AT: abuse. what are the dogs barking at?
TO BARK AT THE MOON: to think of acquiring something
impossible . there is no use barking at the moon.
BARK UP THE WRONG TREE: make a mistake. if you think he was
responsible for the rumour, you are barking up the wrong tree.
BARK IS WORSE THAN THE BITE: angry words are worse than
actual deeds. the bark of principal s bhattacharya was worse than his
bite.
BARREL
HAVE OVER A BARREL: to be in a position to get whatever one
wants from. india would not help pakistan if india had any choice,
but is(pakistan) has got china over a barrel.
SCRAPING THE BARREL: making use of something or someone of
very poor quality because it is all that is left or available. mr
dutta has run out of the material for his newpaper articles and the
last few have really been scraping the barrel.
BASE
GET TO/MAKE FIRST BASE:to complete the first stage of a
process. nanak chand is so impractical none of his projects over a
make first base.
BASKET
PICK OF THE BASKET: best of the lot. premier nehru was the
pick of the basket in the cabinet.
TO HAVE TOO MANY EGGS IN ONE BASKET: to have too many works
to do. a common businessman has always to many eggsin one basket.
BASK
BASK IN: he basked in her favour like a beggar in the sun.
BAT
BATED BREATH: restrain ed breathing. the people heard the
tidings with bated breath.
BATS IN THE BELFRY: crazy notions. every youngster has bats
in the belfry.
OFF ONE'S OWN BAT: by one's onw efforts; by one's own
activity. i have made alll money entirely off my own bat. one rises or
falls off one's own bat.
AS BLIND AS A BAT: completely blind. without her spectacles,
she is as blind as a bat.
LIKE A BAT OUT OF HELL: very quickly. he rushed out of the
house like abat out of hell, having seen a unknown person.
BATTERY
MASKED BATTERY: a battery out of the energy's view. all india
radio is a kind of masked battery.
TO TURN A MAN'S BATTERY AGAINST HIMSELF:to defeat a person with
his onw arguments. he turned my battery against myself while
discussing politics with me.
BATTLE
GIVE BATTLE: attack. the indian gave battle to the enemy soon
after sunrise.
BATTLE ROYAL: a general melee. it was a battle royal on the
campus during elections.
HALF THE BATTLE: anything that brings one well on road to
success. passing a basic training is half the battle to getting
employment.
NOT TO KNOW FROM BATTLE DORE: to be thoroughly ignorant. so far
as billiards is concerned, i donot know ABC from battle dore.
BATED
WITH BATED BREATH: in a very excited and anxious manner. the
crowd watched with bated breath as the fire man brought the man down
the ladder.
BAY
TO STAND AT BAY: to show fight. let us stand at bay and remove
our misunderstandings.
TO BAY AT THE MOON: thinking of something impossible to be
achieved. there is no use baying to at the moon.
HOLD AT,KEEP AT, BAY: show the defiance. the criminal kept
the constables at bay.
BAYONET
AT THE POINT OF BAYONET: under threat of force. the robbers
robbed the civilians at the point of bayonet.
BE
BE NO MORE:die. out dog is be no more.
BE IT SO: let it be so. i shall have leave early morning be it
so. i will have the break fast ready.
BE OFF WITH YOU: a peremptory order to depart. i don't give
money to beggars-be off with you.
BE ALL : whole being. a child is the be all for a parents.
BE ALL AND END ALL: the final result. one should never be too
proud, beath is the be-all and end-all of the human beings.
BEAD
DRAW A BEAD ON: make aim. china has drawn a bead of ladakh.
TO TELL ONE'S BEADS: to say prayers. an aged amn should
retire from politics and tell his beads.
BEAM
ON ONE'S BEAM ENDS: in acute distress. sohan has to offer
help when he finds someone one the beam ends.
ON THE BEAM: at right angles to the course. do not disturb a
youngster whom you find on the beram.
BROAD IN THE BEAM: wide in the hips. she is getting very
broad in the beam because she's put on a lot of weight.
OFF BEAM: off course or target; inaccurate. our original
estimate was along way off the beam.
BEAN
FULL OF BEANS: in high spirits; full of energy, very
cheerful. after exams the students are fulll of beans.
GIVE ONE BEANS: to treat one severely. when a child does
some thing wrong, do not give him beans.
KNOW HOW MANY BEANS MAKE FIVE: to know quite a lot about
life and therefore to be able to take care of oneself. her father did
not worry when she was outlate. because he know she know how many
beans make five.
BEAR
TO BEAR IN MIND: to remember. you should bear in mind when
you go for your examination than you should be precise in your
answers.
BEAR OUT: carry away. they bore out the body.
BEAR UP: to endure; to keep up one's spitirs; strong. is it
easy to bear up when one is be set with difficulties on all sides?
BEAR DOWN: press down, overcome. he has been able to bear
down all opposition.
BEAR FRUIT: to produce results. i hope your hard work will
bear fruit.
LIKE A BEAR WITH SORE HEAD: in every bad mood and easily
made angry. when my brother has to get up early, he is like a bear
with a sare head.
BEAR A HAND: give assistance. please bear me a hand in
lifting this table.
BEAR AWAY: sail away. the ship bore away with the tide.
BEAR DOWN:sail with the tide. the boat bore down at sunset.
BEAR HARD: have ill will to. do not bear hard on the neighbour.
BEAR IN HAND: to make out; to maintain; to keep in
expectation;; please bear the youth in hand.
BEAR UP FOR: sail towards. please bear up for a great
position in life.
BORNE IN UPON: forcibly impressed upon. it must be borne in
upon you that i ma not going to take lies.
BRING TO BEAR: to bring into operation. great influence was
brought to bear upon the minister for getting quotas of sugar.
BEAR DOWN UPON: warship moved forward to to attakc a enemy.
the teacher bore down upon the undermatric.
BEAR WITH:to tolerate. bear with me while i point out a
mistake you have made.
BEAR DATE: signature etc, has written upon it. his latest
letter bear date aprail first.
BEAR A MEANING: convey a meaning. that sentence doesn't bear
the meaning you seem to think. it does.
BEAR THE PLAN: be the best, the winner. they are all clever
boys, but ram bears the palm for handsome.
BEAR A GRUDGE: angry feelings . i hope you won't bear grudge
after what has happended.
BEARD
BEARD A LION IN ITS DEN: to challlenge a greater power on
its own soil. challenging the might of the mughals, the maratha
bearded lion in its own den.
BEARING
FINDS ONE'S BEARINGS: find out the detailws of one's position.
BEAT
DEAD BEAT: utterly exhausted. after walking all the day in
the rain, we are dead beat.
BEAT ABOUT THE BUSH: not to come to the point. do not beat
about the bush , please come to the point.
BEAT IT: depart it once. donot stay here , beat it.
BEAT DOWN: to crush. i willl beat down his foes before his face.
TO BEAT BLACK AND BLUE: to beat severely. the police
constable beat the thief black and blue.
TO BEAT UPON: to strike upon again and again . the rain beat
upon the houses and they fell.
BEAT BACK: to complete retire. the flames beat back the firemen.
OFF THE BEATEN TRACK: away from the main roads. there is no
bus service to his house beacause it is off the beaten track.
TAKE A LOT OF BEATING: to be of very high quality and
therefore difficult to improve upon. the first competitor's
performance will take a lot of beating.
BEAT A RETREAT: to retreat. before the advancing forces of
the enemy, the patriots beat a hasty retreat.
BEAT OFF: drive back. the cows beat off the dog.
BEAT ONE'S BRAINS: to puzzle one's brain about something .
do not beat your brains about the illness of your life.
BEAT OUT: to flattern or reduce in thickness by beating.
iron is beaten out into sheets.
BEAT THE AIR: to fight to no purpose. in fighting against
the good goverment, a oppositon can only beat the air.
BEAT THE BOUNDS: to trade out boundaries in a
perambulation, certain objets in the line of the journey being
formally struck,, and sometimes boys alos whipped to make them
remember . the students were beat the bounds.
BEATIFIC
BEATIFIC VISION:a glimpse of the glory of heaven . the
picture of lord krishna is a beatific vision.
BEAU
BEAU IDEAL: ideal beauty; a type of embodiment highest in
excelllence. truth should be the bean ideal of life and not money
which is the beau ideal now-a-days.
BEAUTY
BEAUTY QUEEN: the most beautiful lady in a region. sadhna is
the beauty queen of our college.
BEAUTY SLEEP:sleep before mid-night. never disturb a man in
his beauty sleep.
BEAVER
EAGER BEAVER: someone who is very enthusiastic or industrious.
the new manager always works late becuase he is a real eager beaver.
WORK LIKE A BEAVER: to work very hard and busily. he workd
like a beaver gettting the house ready for a party.
BECK
AT BECK AND CALL OF: under full command or disposal,always
ready and waiting to carry out order or wishes. mohan always has
plenty of frineds at his beck and call.all the college peons are at
the beck and call of the principal.
BECOME
TO BECOME OF: to happen to; the end of. no one seemed to
care what had become of me.
BED
BED OF ROSES:a condition of comfort of luxury,soft job.the
post of a prime minister is a country is not a bed of roses. life is
not a bed of roses.
TO GO TO BED: to go to sleep. i go to bed at about 9 o'clock
every night.
TO TAKE TO BED: to become ill. he took to bed for the last ten days.
BED FELLOW: close associate. ashok and ram are bed fellows.
BROUGHT TO BED: in childbirth. the woman was brought to bed
one month back.
GET OUT OF BED ON THE WRONG SIDE: to start the ddaay in a
bad mood. you must have got out of bed on the wrong side this morning
because you are so grumpy.
HAVE MADE ONE'S BED AND HAVE TO LIE IN IT: to be obliged
to suffer the disadvantages of a situation one has caused oneself. i
am sorry their daughter causes them problems , but they always spoilt
her because they have made thier bed and they must lie in it.
BEE
BEE LINE : proceed in a straight time. he made a bee line
for the railway station.
TO HAVE A BEE IN ONE'S BONNET: some particular idea. he has
a bee in his bonnet he insists the earth is not round but flat.
THINK ONE'S IS THE BEE'S KNEES: to think ones is the most
admirable and wonderful of all people. all the girls at the school
think ram is the bee's knees.
:
BEER
NOT ALL BEER AND SKITTLES: not consisting only of pleasure,
but frequntly involving something quite difficult and unpleasant, you
will soon find out that this job is not all beer and skittles.
SMALL BEER: something unimportant. this is small beer
compared with the work he usually does.
BEFORE
BE BEFOREHAND WITH: to forestall; in advance or in
anticiipation; by way of one's preparation; in advance ofone's needs.
suresh was beforehand with stocking large quantities of flour.
BEFOREHAND WITH THE WORLD: comfortably provided for. the
princess was beforehand with the world.
BEFORE THE WIND: in the direction in which wind is
blowing. the ship went gaily before the wind.
BEG
BEG OF : i beg of you to keep perfectly still.
BE GOING BEGGING: to be unclaimed , unsold or unwanted. i
will have the last cake if it is going begging.
BEG THE QUESTION: to take for granted the very point that
needs to be proved. discussijng what we should invest our money in
begs the question of whether we will have any money to invest.
BEG TO DIFFER:to disagree.. he may think that he should
get the nob but i beg to differ.
BEG FOR A FOOL: to sue for the guardianship of;and
administration of the estate, on ground of mental defeciency. the
widow of mohan swamo is begging for a fool.
BEGGING LETTER: a letter soliciting alms or some
subscription. the mail of begging letters is heavy but it is seldom
replied.
BEGGAR MY NEIGHBOUR: a game that goes on tilll one has
gained alll the other cards. in the modern cut throat world everyone
is playing the game of beggar my neighbour.
TO BEGGAR THE DISCRIPTION: to assume truth of the matter
of dispute. the beauty of kashmir beggars description.
BEGGAR
TO BEGGAR DESCRIPTION: highly indescrible. the beauty of
the taj mahal beggars description.
BEGIN
TO BEGIN THE WORLD: to start in life. it is difficult to
begin the world these days.
TO BEGIN WITH: in the first place. to begin with i am not
a public speaker.
BEGINNING OF END: closing chapter or chapters. it is
beginning of the end for the indian natinal congress which mahatma
gandhi had rightly advised that it should be dissolved.
BEHALF
ON BEHALF OF : representative of someone. the manager
signed the document on behalf of the company.
BEHAVIOUR : be one one' behaviour thoughout the interview.
BEGGAR
BEGGAR DESCRIPTION: to be so great in some way that the
speaker's word cannot describe. sita,s beauty beggared description.
BEHIND
BEHIND THE TIMES: late. the train is behind the times.
BEHIND THE SCENES: in private. plan for the next election
are going on behind the scenes.
BEHIND DOOR:surreptitious; clandestine. mr rc sharma had
been guilty of many behind the door transactions.
BEHIND HAND: being behind;tardy; ill proved; in arreard.
our commitment for august will be behind hand in september. let us
complete them in time.
FALL BEHIND: not keep up with.lalu has fallen behind in
mathematics studies.
PUT BEHIND ME: to think of as being in the past or
finished. l.p. yadav has been in a lot of trouble with the police, but
he seems to have managed to put all that behind them.
BELIEVE
MAKE BELIEVE: to pretend. the children made believe they
were cowboys and indians.
NOT TO BE ABLE TO BELIEVE ONE'S EYES:to find it difficult
to believe that one has actually seen correctly something which is
suprising, shocking, whne i saw shshank actually doing some work, i
could not believe my eyes.
TO THE BEST OF MY BELIEF: as far as i know; to the extent
of my knowledge . to the best of my belief he has not been foun yet.
but his wife will have the latest information.
BELL
TO BELL THE CAT: to undertake the most dangerous part on
behalf of a group. who will be the cat?.
TO SOUND CLEAR AS A BELL: to sound quite clear. his love
for me sounds clear as a bell.
RING A BELL: to cause a vague memory of having been seen ,
heard before, but not remembered in detail. his name rings a bell, but
i can not remember where i have heare it before.
SAVED THE BELL: rescued from an unpleasant or difficult
situation by something which brings the situation suddenly to an end.
justas she was about to ask what he was doing , he was saved by the
bell when she was summoned by the manager.
BEAR OFF OR CARRY OFF BELL: to have; gain the first place.
in the plast general elections , promod mahajan bore off the bell.
BELONG
BELONG TO: be remeber of; be residen in; be rightly placed
or classified. does this book belong to you?
BELOW
BELOW PAR: less than the nominal price. shares of tata
company are sellling below par.
BELOW THE MARK: not up to standard. your work is below the mark.
TO HIT BELOW THE BELT: to be unfair. cowards generally hit
others below the belt.
BELOW ONE'S BREATH: silently. they talked below thier breath.
BELLY
BELLY GOD: one who makes a god of his belly; a glutton.
ramesh is belly god.
BELT
HITTING BELOW THE BELT:to hit an opponent's body lower than
the waist; hence to deliver a mean below; attack unfairly. it was a
moral code with our forefathers never to hit a man below the belt.
HOLD THE BELT: to hold the championship in wrestling,
boxing. guru hanuman held the belt in the last boxing championship.
TIGHTEN ONE'S BELT: to make sacrifices and reduce one's
standard of living. if the ecoomy gets worse , we shall just have to
tighten our belts.
UNDER ONE'S BELT:firmly secured and in one's possession. he
has a university degree in science under his belt, which should help
her to get a job.
BEMOCK
BEMOCK THE MOON:do a foolish thing. if you have lost the
game, do not bemock the moon. in a parliament the opposition cannot
with the war against the prime minister be bemocking the moon.
BENCH
BENCH HOLE:a latrine. go,ease yourself on the bench hole.
ON THE BENCH: holding the office of a judge. mr m.m. sareen
is on the bench of the DELHI HIGH COURT.
RAISE TO BENCH: to become a judge. my friend mr sorabji has
been raised to the bench.
BEND
BEND ONE'S KNEE: to be humble before. never bend your knee
before any body except god.
BEND ONE'S STEPS: walk in a specified direction. after
dinner i shall bend my steps homeward.
ROUND THE BEND: mad. you must be round the bend to swim in
the sea in april.
BENEATH
BENEATH CONTEMPT: not worthy of contempt. the minister
thought him beneath contempt.
BENEFIT
BENEFIT OF DOUBT: assuming doubt rather than guilt;
favourable judgement when culpability is uncertain. the milk glass
empty, and the cat sitting near , but we gave him the benefit of the
doubt.
CONFER A BENEFIT: be advantageous. this new discovery will
confer a benefit on all invalids.
BENGAL
BENGAL LIGHT: a brilliant light; sulphide of antimony; used
a shipwreck signal and to illuminate country at night. when a minister
dies, there is no bengal light for him.
BENT
BENT UPON:determined to take a certain action. he was bent
upon waling the entire distance that same night.
TOP OF ONE'S BENT: as much as possible.mohan was enjoying
himself to the top of his bent.
TAKE TO THE BENT: to take flight. when we came , they took
to the bent.
BERSERK
TO RUN BERSERK: to become frenyied.many men in madras run
berserk on account of hot and damp weather.
BERTH
TO GIVE A WIDE BERTH: to keep well away form generally .
i always give the park a wide berth when i am out at night.
BESIDE
BESIDE ONESELF: to be out of one's sense. he has three
children in the house beside his own.
BESIDE THE MARK: irrelevant. your statements are beside the mark.
BESIDE: by the side of. th bride stands beside the bridegroom.
BEST
BEST MAN: bridegroom supporter. who will be your best man
in marriage?
BEST SELLER:most popular book. nehru's discovery of india
to be a best seller.
AT BEST: on the most hopeful view. a fox is at best on
unsatisfactory pet.
TO THE BEST OF BELIEF:so far as i know. to the best of my
belief, he is a thief.
SUNDAY BEST:best clothes. he was dressed in sunday best
at whole time.
TO MAKE THE BEST TO THINGS: be contented. if you want to
be happy,make the best things.
ALL THE BEST: i hope that you may be happy; successful. i
wanted to wish him all the best before he left for his examionation.
TO BEST PART OF:most of;nearly. i have read the best part
of one hundred books on the subject.
DO ONE'S BEST:to try as hard as possible. he will do his
best to get here in time, but he may be late.
FOR THE BEST: likely to intended to have the best
result,possible in a particular situation. i did not intend to tell
him, but now he is found our perhaps it is all for the best.
HAVE THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS:to benefit from the best
features of two different sets of circumstances. women with children
who have a job they can do at home are often thought to have the best
of both words.
MAKE THE BEST OF IT: to do all one can to turn a failure
into something successful . it is too late to refure the invitation
because you will just have to make the best of it and try to enjoy
yourself.
WITH THE BEST: good or well enough to complete with people
who are older, stronger, healthier, more experienced. he has only one
arm but he plays tennis with the best of them.
AT ONE'S BEST: on the most favourable supposition. the
cricketer was at his best yesterday.
BEST BOY,GIRL: favourite associate. sohan was the best boy
in the party.
BEST MAID: brides maid at a wedding. sita was the best
maid at rita's wedding.
GIVE ONE THE BEST: concede victory. in this game of cards,
i give you the best.
HAD, WERE BEST: i had best, i were best.
HAVE THE BEST OF IT: gain advantage in a contest.
bangladesh had the best of it in war with pakistan.
PUT ONE'S BEST FOOT FORWARD: to make best beginning. in
whatever work we are called upon to do, let us put our best foot
forward.
BET
HEDGE ONE'S BETS: to do something in order to protect
oneself from possible loss. we do not know which of them is going to
be made manager so we would better hedge our bets and be nice to both
of them.
YOU BET:certainly."do you want to come?" " you bet i do!"
BETAKE
BETAKE ONESELF:old, no proceed. it is late now, i shall
betake myself to bed.
BETTER
HAD BETTER:would find it wisher. you had better pay my bill.
BETTER ONESELF: improve one's wordly position. young ashok
has left the village to better himself.
BETTER HALF:wife. a gently -ironic complimentary phrase.
THINK BETTER : reconsider. he was going to protest,but
thought better of it.
TO BE BETTER OFF: to be in a superior position. ram is
better off than mohan.
BE BETTER THAN ONE'S WORD: to have recoverd from illness.
my brother has been ill, but now is better.
BETTER LATE THAN NEVER: something which is necessary should
be done ever after some delay. even if you start with your studies now
it will be better late than never.
ONE'S BETTERS: one's superiors. one should always respect
one's betters.
THINK BETTER OF: revise one's opinion about. i have learnt
to think better of you.
THE BETTER PART OF: most of. he talked for the better part of an hour.
GET THE BETTER OF: to overcome.; to win against. in the
third round he began to get the better of his opponent.
GO ONE BETTER: to beat by improving on what they have done.
his father was commonweath champion, but he has gone one better and
own the european championships.
HAVE SEEN BETTER DAYS: to be in a worse condition than in
the past. my shirt has seen better days, but it is very warm.
BETWEEN
BETWEEN YOU AND ME: confined to ourselves. betweeen you and
me, i dpnot think he will leave much longer.
BETWEEN CUP AND LIP: of dashed hopes. there ismany a sleep
between cup and lip.
BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP: between two difficulties.
now-a-days i am between the devil and the deep.
BEWARE OF: evil company. beware of forming bad habits.
IN BETWEEN TIMES: at intervals between other events. he does
not eat much at meals but eats a lot in between lines.
BETWEEN OURSELVES: in confidence, by combination of.
beteween ourselves , i am leaving tomorrow.
BETWEEN TWO FIRES:to earn displeasure of both the parties.
a wise arbitrator always avoids to be between two fires.
BETWEEN WHILES: at intervals. i hope to write to you between whiles.
GO BETWEEN: act as a mediator. there is no go between for
soahn and ram.
BEYOND
THE LIFE BEYOND:life after death. the llife beyond the grave.
BEYOND THE PALE: beyond the limits of decent society, good
manners and moral limitations. the man's cruelty puts him beyond the
pale.
BEYOND MEASURE: exceedingly. his progress is beyond measure.
TO GO BEYOND: to surpass. never go beyond reality.
BID
TO BID WELCOME: to receive cordiallly. i am happy to bid you
welcome, please move in.
BID FAIR TO : appear likely to. the daughter bids fair to
be even more beautiful than her mother.
BID GOOD BYE: to take leave of the departing person. as
soon as the train whistled he bade good bye to his friends.
BIG
TO LOOK BIG: look important. girls always try to look big.
BIG WITH YOUNG: pregnant. she is big with young.
TO TALK BIG: to talk pompously. she is in the habit of talking big.
BIG BELLIED: having a big belly; pregnant. the big bellied
lady is about to bear a child.
BIG BUSINESS : large enterprises and business houses. big
business runs the goverment in many countries of the world.
BIG WITH FATE: fortunate. my elder brother is always big with fate.
BE BIG OF: to be a generous action; speech on the part of. it
was very big of him to offer us the use of his car, especially as it
is actually his father's
BIG BROTHER: a powerful leader or organbisation thought to be
constantly watching and controlling people's actions.i would not like
to live in that country as you would always have feeling that big
brother was watching you.
GO OVER BIG: to have a great effect; to impress greatly.
goverment plans to cut taxes went over big with the younger voters.
TOO BIG FOR ONE'S BOOTS: conceited; thinking too highly of
one's own importance , his assistant is getting too big for her boots
and thinkd she runs the office.
BILL
CLEAN BILL OF HEALTH: without disease. he is enjoying a clean bill
of health for the last two years.
BILL AND COO: speak lovingly and intimately. we will leave the
three young people to bill and coo together.
BILL OF FARE: programme. what is the bill of fare of tour.
A BILL OF MORTALITY: in or near london. his brother lives within
the bill of mortality.
FILL THE BILL: to be suitable; to be exactly what is required, we
are looking for a holiday cottage and this will fill the bill.
FOOT THE BILL: to pay. every one enjoyed the wedding except my
brother, who was footing the bill.
TOP THE BILL: to be the most important and highly paid performer
in a show at a theatre. heis top of the bill at hotel ashoka this
winter.
BIND
BIND OVER: to place legal restriction upon. this man has been
bound over to keep the peace for one year.
BIND WITH: tie. he bound the prisoner to a stake with a strong rope.
BE BOUND UP IN: to be wholly devoted to. he was bound up in his work.
BIND: responsible. i will be bound.
BIRD
BIRD OF A FEATHER: persons with similar tastes. birds of a
feather flock together.
TO KILL TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE: to gain two ends at once.
i killed two birds with one stone. i was able to please him by giving
him usefull information and also elicited his opinion on an important
matter.
BIRD OF OMEN: applies to any person who has a reputation
for bringing bad news. the postman has proved a bird of ill omen four
times.
A BIRD'S EYE VIEW: a general view. i had a bird's eye view
of the whole town from an aerial flight.
A BIRD IN THE HAND:certainly . a bird in the hand is worth
two in the bush.
AN EARLY BIRD: an early arrival. the early bird catch the first worm.
BIRD-EYED: quick sighted. he is a bird-eyed man.
BIRD-WITTED: incapable of sustained attention. friend is bird witted.
LIKE BIRD: with quickness. he did everything like a bird.
THE BIRDS AND THE BEES: basic information about sexual
behaviour in human. he is do naive you would think he had never heard
about the birds and the bees.
FOR THE BIRDS:something only acceptable to people wo are
more stupid than oneself. he says that patriotism is strictly for bird
as far as he is concerned.
GIVE THE BIRD: to send; be sent away in every definite
manner. she went to see him to try to end the quarrel but he gave her
the brid so she did not try again.
GO LIKE A BIRD: to run very fast and smoothly. my car is
twenty years old but she goes like a bird.
A LITTLE BIRD TOLD ME: i found out in a way that i donot
intend to reveal. a little bird told me that sohan is about to lose
his job.
BIRD OF PASSAGE: sojourner. a man is only a bird of passage on earth.
BIRSE
SET UP ONE'S BIRSE: to rouse the wrath of . ram has set up kishan's.
BIRTHDAY
IN ONE'S BIRTHDAY SUIT: naked . i could not answer the door
in my birthday suit, so i hastily put on a dressing gown.
BISCUIT
TAKE THE BISCUIT:to be much worse than every thing else. his
lastest piece of impertinence really takes the biscuit.
BIT
BIT BY BIT: piecemeal,gradually. please do this work bit by
bit, but do it will.
A BIT OF ONE'S MIND: to say something frankly . i gave him a
bit of my mind when he came to me in the afternoon. he was trying to
be too clever for me.
NOT A BIT:not at all. are you afraid? not a bit of it.
BIT AND SUP: something to eat and drink. let me have bit and sup.
DO ONE'S BIT: do one's due share. i will gladly do my bit for you.
TAKE THE BIT IN ONE'S TEETH: throw off control. the child
had taken the bit in his teeth.
CHAMPING AT THE BIT: very impatient. by the time the bus
arrived, the man was champing at the bit.
BITE
BITE THE DUST: be killed in battle. may all our enemies bite
the dust.
BITE ONE'S HEAD OFF: speak angrily. as i ask for some money
, you need not bite my head off.
BITE THE THUMB: to express defiance. when the king ordered
him to go , he bit his thumb.
BITE OFF MORE THAN ONE CAN CHEW: to try to do more than ;
something more difficult than . he wa bitten off more than he can
chew, trying to renovate his house.
ONCE BITTEN, TWICE SHY: if something one has done turned out
badly, one is likely to be very reluctant to do lthe same thing again.
once bitten twice shy since my marriage ended in divorce, i am not
likely to marry again.
WHAT IS BITTING YOU: what is the matter with you? what's
biting you? you have been irritable alll day.
BITTER
BITTER END: to the last. the indian army fought to the
bitter end against chinese army.
BITTER SWEET: mixture of sweet ane bitter. life is full of
bitter sweet.
A BITTER PILL: something difficult to accept. she found his
betrayal a bitter pill to swallow.
BLACK
BLACK AS THUNDER:darkly; furiously. he gave me a glare as
black as thunder,and asked me what i wanted.
BLACK AND BLUE:full of bruises. the headmaster beat the
boyblack and blue.
BLACK MAIL: money extoreted by threates. the police was
black mailing him by invoving him in a theft case.
BLACK SHEEP: for one who has a bad reputation in a company
of people. there are many black sheep in our college.
BLACK AND WHITE: in writing on paper. i got it in black and
white but still he went back upon it.
ON THE BLACK LIST: liable punishment. he is on the black list now.
BLACK LEG: a worker continuing to work during a strike or
one taking on a striker's job. in every trade union there are black
legs.
BLACK OUT:to obliterate with black. real news are blacked out.
BLACK HOLE: militarylock up. during every war many soldiers
are black holed by opposite group.
IN ONE'S BLACK BOOKS: having incurred someone's displeasure.
he is in the black books of his teacher.
BE AS BLACK AS ONE IS PAINTED:to be as bad as other say.
although he was a criminal , he was not as black as he was painted,
and never used violence.
IN THE BLACK: making a profit; not in debt. we paid off out
overdraft today and we are in the black at last
BLANK
A BLANK CHEQUE:permission to do what one feels necessary
with complete freedom. he has given me a blank cheque to carry out my
plan.
DRAW A BLANK:to be unsuccessful in a search. he looked for
a cheap fur coat all over the city, but drew a blank.
BLANKET
ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE BLANKET: illegitimately. he was
bron on the wrong side of the blanket.
WET BLANKET:a damper of spirit; kill joy. a selfish man is
a wet blanket.
BLAST
FULL BLAST: at full power. he had the radio going full blast.
BLAZE
BLAZE OF PUBLICITY: great prominence. indira gandhi
received a blaze of publicity during the indo-pak war.
BLIND
BLIND MAN'S HOLIDAY: time before candles are lighted. the
boys enjoy a blind man 's holiday.
BLIND STAGGERS:staggering walk, due to illness or
drunkenness. there's old ramu.going home with the blind staggers as
usual.
NONE SO BLIND:there's none so blind as those who won't see.
BLIND SIDE: the aspect of man's characterin which he is
tender hearted. sheela can always get on the blind side of her motherr
and persuade to take her to the cinema.
BLINDFOLD: reckless. your blindfold habits will ruin you one day.
TURN A BLIND EYE: ignore. it is best to turn a blind eye
to other people's doings instead of coming conflict with them.
THE BLIND LEADING THE BLIND: one inexperienced or
incompetent person helping another to do something, if i attempted to
explain how this machine workd , iam afraid it would be a case of the
blind leading the blind.
A BLIND SPOT: any matter about which someone always shows
a lack of understanding. she is very reasonale person, but she has a
blind spot about her children because she thinks they are perfect.
BLINK
ON THE BLINK: not working properly. my televison isone
the blink,and i never know whether it is going to work or not when i
switch it on.
BLOCK
A BLOCK-HEAD:a stupid fellow. it is no use arguing with
him, he is block head.
CHIP OF THE OLD BLOCK: just like the father. your child is
just a chip of the old block.
BLOCK OUT: to shape roughly. i have blocked out a plan of
the campaign.
TO CUT BLOCKS WITH RAZOR: waste ingenuity. many boys cut
blocks with razor.
BLOCK UP: to impede,to obstruct. heavy rains blocked up the traffic.
BLOOD
IN COLD BLOOD:delibrately. the murdur shot his victim in
cold blood.
BLUE BLOOD: belonging to an aristocratic family. the
rajputs boast of having blue blood in their veins.
BLOOD AND THUNDER: highly sensatinal. i donot like blood
and thunder stories.
BAD BLOOD: ill feeling. there's been bad blood between the
brothers ever since mohan came home.
BLOOD IS THICKER THAN WATER: one shold have more loyalty
to peple who are related to one than the other people. i would prefer
to give the money to my friend rather than to my brother but blood is
thicker than water.
FRESH BLOOD: new members of any group of people, who are
expected to add liveliness to it.he has bought vital new blood to the
foot ball team.
LIKE GETTING BLOOD OUT OF A STONE: very difficult. getting
my father to pay for anything is like gettingh blood out of a stone.
MAKE BLOOD BOIL: to make very angry. his behaviour really
made my blood boil.
MAKE BLOOD RUN COLD: to frighten or horrify very much .
the terrible scream made her blood run cold.
BLOOD AND IRON: relentless use of force. hitler mastered
germany through blood and iron.
BLOOD HOUND: a detective. i hope you are not a blood hound.
BLOOD SUCKER: an extortioner. most of the shopkeepers are
blood suckers.
FLESH AND BLOOD: human bein. a flesh and blood is never
happy in life.
HIS BLOOD IS UP: he is angry. his blood was up, and with a
shout he dashed into the fight.
IN HOT BLOOD: in anger. he killed his son in hot boold.
IN THE BLOOD: part of one's nature. in hate cats, and so
did my father-it's in the blood
BLOT
BLOT OUT: is to erase. blot out what you have written on your
note book.
BLOT ON ONE'S SCUTCHEON: a disgrace. his treatment of his son
will always be a blot his scutcheon.
BLOW
BLOW OVER: to pass away. the storm will soon blow over.
BLOW OUT: extinguish. please blow out the lamp.
BLOW DOWN: to throw down by the force of the wind. the storm
blew several trees.
BLOW UP: to shatter. all his plans were blown up.
BLOW HOT AND COLD: to vacillate. pakistan attacked on while
indian blows hot and cold.
BLOW UPON: spoilt. she has good character for five years, but
she has been considerably blown upon since.
BLOW ONE'S OWN HORN TRUMPET: to praise oneself. it is not
good to blow one's own trumpet.
TO COME TO BLOWS: to come to fight. after their heated
discussion both the groups came to blows.
BLOW IT: to lose one's chance of success through one's own
fault. i had an oppurtunity to win the match, but i blew it by being
too impulsive.
STRIKE A BLOW FOR: to do something definite and noticeable
to help. the demonstrators said they were there to strike a blow for
freedom.
BLUE
ONCE IN A BLUE MOON: very seldom. he smokes once in a blue moon.
A BLUE STOCKING: a literary lady. jamuna is a blue stocking
of our college.
BLUE FUNK:extreme fear. he suffers from blue funk.
BLUE RIBBON:highest attainable honour or prize. that horse
won the derby- the blue ribbon of racing.
BLUE BLOOD: aristocratic ancestry. they may be poor, but
they have blue blood in their family.
A BLUE-EYED BOY: someone who is a favourite. he will get
promotion because he is the boss's blue-eyed boy.
THE BLUES: low spirits; depression. he has got the blues
today but he is usually cheerful.
MAKE THE AIR TURN BLUE: to swear strongly and at some
length. he fairly made the air turn blue when he hit his finger with
the hammer.
OUT OF THE BLUE: without warning. he arrived out of the
blue, without letting us know he was in the area.
SCREAM BLUE MURDER: to make a great deal of noise and
protest. every time the child wasput to bed he screamed blue murder.
TRUE BLUE: unchangingly faithful and loyal. you can rely on
ganesh becuase he is true blue.
BLUFF
CALL BLUFF: to demand that proves the genuineness of a
claim. we did not really believe he would sue us as he threatened , so
we called his bluff and published the story about him.
BLUNT
TO BLUNT THE EDGE OF: to weaken force. time blunt the edge of anger.
BLUSH
BLUSH FOR: i blush for the voices of my countrymen.
BLUSH AT: she blushed at the mention of her lover's name.
BOARD
TO SWEEP THE BOARD: to be all success. romesh has been
sweeping in the board in these days.
ABOVE BOARD: open and honourable; not secret, we must keep
the whole affair above board.
ACROSS THE BOARD: applying in all cases. they were awarded
wage increases across the board.
GO BY THE BOARD: to be abandoned; thrown aside. all his
plans went5 by the board whne he lost his job.
BOAT
TO SAIL IN THE SAME BOAT: similarly situated. husband and wife
both are sailing in the same boat.
TAKE BOAT: embark. they took boat for the london.
TO HAVE OAR IN EVERY ONE'S BOAT: to be a budy body. young men
mind only their own business and never try to have an oar in any
body's boat.
BURN ONE'S BOATS: to do something which makes it impossible
for one to return to one's former position. i have burnt my boats by
resigning , and i have not got another job.
ROCK THE BOAT:to do something which endangers a pleasant or
satisfactory situation in which one shares. we were alll doing very
well until he began rocking the boat by asking if our actions were
legal and morally justifiable.
BODY
BODY AND SOUL:wholly, entirely. he gave himself to the pursuit
of pleasure, body and soul.
IN A BODY: all together. the deputies arrived in body.
THE BODY POLITIC: the body politic is the collective body of a
nation as politically organised.
BOG
BOGGED DOWN: prevented from making progress. i am getting
bogged down in all this paper work.
BOIL
BOIL OVER: strangely enough. if you put on more fire the pot
will boil over.
BOIL UPON: begins to rise in boiling . water boils up.
TO KEEP THE POT BOILING: to secure means too live, it is
difficult to keep the pot boiling now-s days
TO BOIL DOWN : to reduce. the whole argument boils down to one
point namely.
CAME TO THE BOIL: to arrive at a critical state. things are
coming to the boil in the car industry, and a strike is imminent.
BOLD
MAKE BOLD TO: dare to. may i make bold to ask your name?
BOLT
A BOLT FROM THE BLUE: a sudden and entirely unexpected
disaster. pakistan's attack on india was a bolt from the blue.
A BOLTHOLE: a place into which a person can escape . there is
a secret bolthole behind this wall so that we can escape.
BOLT UPRIGHT: absolutely upright. she sat blot upright in the
chair with her back very straight.
HAVE SHOT ONE'S BOLT: to be unable to do more than one has
done. the congressman have shot their bolt.
BOMB
A BOMBSHELL:a piece of startling and often very bad news. his
resignation was a real bombshell.
GO LIKE A BOMB: to move very fast; to sell extremely well; to
be very successful. my car goes like a bomb.
MAKE A BOMB: to make or earn a great deal of money. he made a
bomb when he sold his house to a film-star.
BONE
A BONE OF CONTENTION: cause of dispute/quarrel. kashmir issue
is the bone of contention between india and pakistan.
A BONE TO PICK: blame. i have no bone to pick you in
connection with your unpunctuality.
TO THE BONE: penetrating. he is a minister to the bone.
BONE OF CONTENTION: dispute. the property was the bone of
ccontention between the brothers.
TO MAKE OLD BONES: to live long.may youmake old bones.
MAKE NO BONES OF: have no scruples about. many men do not
make bones of their morals.
TO PICK A BONE WITH SOMEONE: to dispute. i donot want to pick
a bone with anyone.
AS DRY AS A BONE: completely dry. 'is the ground wet?''no, it
is as dry as a bone.'
THE BARE BONES:the essential facts. he only had time to tell
me the bare bone of his schemes.
BONE IDLE: very lazy. he could find a job but he is bone idle.
FEEL IN ONE'S BONES: to know by instinct, without having any
proof. everything seemed to be going well, but i could feel in my
bones that something was wrong.
NEAR THE BONE: referring too closely to something which
should not be mentioned ; rather indecent. i donot think he realised
how near the bone some of his remarks were.
TO THE BONE: the roughly and completely; to the minimum. i
was chilled to the bone.
BOOK
IN THE GOOD BOOKS OF : to be in favour. he is in the good
books of his officers,
TO BRING TO BOOK: to be in disfavour; to call to account. the
guilty must be brought to book,its proper law is to be maintained in
social life.
IN THE BAD BOOKS OF: to be in disfavour. he is in the bad
books of his officers.
SUIT ONE'S BOOK:agree with one's plans. that arrangement
will suit my book very well indeed.
TO SPEAK LIKE A BOOK:informal praise. a teacher speaks like a book.
TAKE A LEAF OUT OF ANOTHER'S BOOK:to profit by another's
example. it is time for young men to take a leaf out of their elder's
books.
TALK LIKE A BOOK: to talk bookishly. do not talk like a book
before me, let me know your mind.
WITHOUT BOOK: from memory; unauthorisedly. the judge talked
without book.
A BOOK WORM: a person who reads a lot. he is a real book worm
as he reads ten books a week.
BY THE BOOK: strictly according to the rules. she will never
be sacked because she always does things by the book.
A CLOSED BOOK: a subject which one knows nothing about or
does not understand. iam afraid economics is a closed book to me.
GET ONE'S BOOKS: to be dismissed form one's job. when it was
discovered that mohan never did any work, he got his books at once.
IN MY BOOK: in my opinion. in my book your behavour was
perfectly justified.
AN OPEN BOOK: something which can be understood easily. his
intentions and plans are always an open book to people who know him.
READ LIKE A BOOK: to understand completely someone's
character. he thinks he deceives his wife with his lies,but she can
read him like a book.
THROW THE BOOK AT: to reprimand or punish severely. he will
throw the book at you if he finds out how you got this information.
BOOT
BOOT IS ON THE OTHER LEG: the tables are tuned; the
responsibility is now the other way. he can not be blamed, the boot is
one the other leg now.
DIE IN ONE'S BOOTS: die in action. my sister died with her boots on.
GET THE BOOT: get dismissed. the dishonest employees got the boot.
HAVE ONE'S HEART ON ONE'S BOOT: to have lost courage. the
sub-inspector had his heart in his boots.
LIKE OLD BOOTS: vigorously. he worked like the old boots.
TO BE GIVEN THE BOOT:to be dismissed. he has been given the
boot from the service.
TO MAKE BOOT OF: to profit. the new policy of the goverment is
going to punish those who are making boots by charging higher prices.
TO BOOT: in addition, also. she is beautiful and wealthy to boot.
GIVE THE BOOT: to dismiss. mohan was late so often that the
boss eventually gave him the boot.
LICK BOOTS: to flattrer and do everything he or she wants. she
will not join in our campaign for higher wages becuase she is always
to anxious to like the boss's boots.
BORN
A BORN SAILOR:one who seems naturally gifted for doing the
job in question. ashok is a born sailor.
TO BE BORN WITH A SILVER SPOON IN ONE'S MOUTH: to be a rich
man's child. mohan was bron with a silver spoon in his mouth.
TO BE BORN UNDER A LUCKY STAR:to be lucky by birth. some
people are born under a lucky star.
IN ALL MY BORN DAYS: in my life. i never saw such a thing
in all my born days.
BOSOM
A BOSOM FRIEND: fast friend. ram and krishan are my bosom friends.
TO TAKE TO ONE'S BOSOM: to marry. who would not like to
take to his bossom a lovely girl?
BOTTLE
BOTTLE UP: suppress. he bottled up his anger and said nothing.
OVER THE BOTTLES: while drinking. we will discuss the
matter over the bottle.
A BOTTLE NECK: a place where slowing down or stopping of
progress occurs. there is a bottle neck where the motorway ends and
the ordinary roads begins.
HIT THE BOTTLE: to begin to drink too much alcohol. when
his wife dies he really hit the bottle and was never really sober for
a fortnight.
ON THE BOTTLE: in the habit of drinking too much alcohol.
he was late for work so often that his boss began to wonder of he
wason the bottle.
BOTTOM
TO BE AT THE BOTTOM OF: to be the real cause. who is at
the bottom of this quarrel.
STAND ON ONE'S OWN BOTTOM: to be independent. you learn
to stand on your own bottom.
FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE HEART: from the very heart. i
love sadhana from the bottom of the heart.
AT BOTTOM: in reality. at bottom, mohan is really a very
shy person.
BET ONE'S BOTTOM DOLLAR: to bet everything one has. i
would bet my bottom dollar that he gets paid more than you do.
GET TO THE BOTTOM OF: to discover the explanation of the
real facts of . i will get to the bottom of this affair if it takes me
a year.
BOTTOMLESS PIT: hell. let the wicked got to the bottomless pit.
TOUCH BOTTOM: reach the lowest point. goodwill of the
opposition party has touched the bottom.
BOUND
OUT OF BOUNDS:out of limits. all the hotels are out of
bounds for the troops.
WITHIN BOUNDS: within the officials boundary. she could
never keep her temper within bounds.
BY LEAPS AND BOUNDS: with startling speed. he succeeds in
his plan by leaps and bounds.
TO BOUND FOR: proceeding towads its destination. this train
is bound for bombay.
BOW
DRAW THE BOW: shoot arrow. he drew long bow.
TO DRAW THE LONG BOW: to exaggerate. politicians always draw the bow.
TO ONE'S BOW: an alternative, a second plan in case the
first should fail. if i cannot borrow the money from mother, i have
another string to bow father.
BOWING ACQUAINTANCE: a slight acquaintance. although i have a
bowing acquaintance with him, i feel i shall be able to convinvce him
to offer you a suitable job.
ON THE BOW HAND:wide of the mark. he did his best but his
efforts were on the bow hand.
TO MAKE ONE'S BOW: to retire gracefully. the common fault of
many leaders is that they never want to make their bow once they
become ministers.
BOWED DOWN WITH: worried or troubled by having to deal
with. minister was bound down with the responsibility of governing the
country.
BOW OUT: to leave or cease to take part in a situation. he
realised that the situation was getting very difficult and decided
that it was time to bow out.
TAKE A BOW: to accept and show that one appreciates
applause or recognition. in this article the man behind the new
development plan take a bow and explains how the idea came to him .
BOWL
BOWLED OVER: over turned, knocked down. when i heard the
news i was completely bowled over.
BOWWOW
BOWWOW: a threatening pose; a full-mouthed literary style.
in dealing with a strong opponent, a mere bowwow will not help you.
BOX
IN THE SAME BOX:in similar condition. ram and sham trying
to find a hotel for the night and we are in the same box.
IN THE WRONG BOX:in a false position. he is in the wrong
box now-a-days.
TO BE IN THE BOX: to be in a fix. he is in the box now-a-days
BOX AND COX: two people who never meet and are never in the
same place at the same time. the night watchman and the caretaker here
are box and cox becuase when one arrrives the other goes home.
BOY
BOY FRIEND: a girl's favourite male companio for the time
being. every nice gril should have a nice boy friend.
BRAIN
CUDGEL ONE'S BRAIN:think hard. i have cudgelled by brain,
but cannot find a solution for the problems.
MAKE ONE'S BRAINS: stagger one mentally. the number of
stars now visible to astronomers makes one's brain reel.
BRAIN CHILD:a favourite theory; invention. this entire
process is dr bhabha's brain child.
THE BRAIN DRAIN: the loss of experts to another country.
as a result of the brain drain india does not have enough doctores.
A BRAIN STORM: a sudden mental disturbance. rakesh had a
brainstorm and murdered his wife.
BRAIN WASH: to force to obey; confirm; confess by putting
great pressure on him or her. the terrorists brain washed him into
believing in their ideals.
A BRAIN WAVE:a sudden good idea. it was a brainwave to
come heere for our holidays.
HAVE ON THE BRAIN: to be unable to forget about; to think
about anything else. amit has football on the brain and talk about it
all the time.
PICK BRAINS:to ask questions in order to get ideas from
him which one can use oneself. you might be able to help me with this
problem as can i come and pick your brains for a minute?
RACK ONE'S BRAINS: to exert one's mind greatly. he racked
his brains for the answers.
BRAIN FAG: a tired condition of the brain ornerve. every
one suffers from brain fag fater a hard day's work.
BRAIN TRUST: a committee of experts. all india radio has a
brains trust to speak on the national problems.
TO BLOW OUT ONE'S BRAIN: to shoot to kill. during the war
the soldiers are ordered to blow out one's brain.
BRAN
BRAN OR BRAND NEW:absolutely new. what do you think of my
brand new car.
BRANCH
ROOT AND BRANCH: thorough; thoroughly.he uprooted the cause
of distresss root and branch.
BRAND
BRAND FROM THE BURNING:one snatched out of a pressing
danger. his life was brand from the burning when his friend came to
his help.
BRASS
BRASS FARTHING: a whit. the father refused to give a brass
farthing to his son.
BRASS TACKS: the details of practical business. you must
understand the brass tacks before you can be promoted to a higher job.
AS BOLD AS BRASS:very bold. anil walked in late as bold as brass.
HAVE THE BRASS NECK TO: to be sufficiently shameless and
impudent. shobha had the brass neck to suggest that i should resign.
TOP BRASS: people of the highest rank. he spend a lot of
money on entertaining the top brass.
BRAVE
PUT ON A BRAVE FRONT: to pretend that things are going
well and that one is perfectly happy. shashi puts on a brave front ,
but i know she is dreadfully worried.
BRAZEN
BRAZEN-FACED: shameless. there are more and more
brazen-faced boys in the schools and offices.
BREACH
BREACH OF PROMISE: often used for the breach of the
promise of marriage. the suresh's father is responsible for the breach
of promose.
BREACH OF THE PEACE: a violation of the public peace by
riot. bad characters are responsible for the breach of the peace in
the city.
BREACH
WEAR THE BREACHES: said of a wife, to be master. my wife
does indeed wear the breaches in the hose.
BREAD
BREAD AND BUTTER: livelihood. everyone struggles for
bread and butter.
BREAD WINNER:the person whose earnings support the
family. sham's father was an invalid, and his mother became the bread
winner.
KNOW WHICH SIDE ONE'S BREAD IS BUTTERED: to know one's
interest. an intelligent person knows which side his bread is
buttered.
BREAD BUTTERED ON BOTH SIDES: very fortunate
circumstances. the sons of millionairs find bread buttered on both
sides.
BREAD STUDY: any branch of study taken up as a means
of earning one's livelihood. most of the education today is mere bread
study.
ON THE BREAD LINE: with barely enoug money to live on .
the widow and her children were living in the bread line.
TAKE THE BREAD OUT OF ONE'S MOUTH: to deprive one of
one's mreans of living. if you dismiss rakesh from job, you take the
bread out of his mouth.
BREAK
TO BREAK THE ICE:to make a beginning. after a long
silence; mr.madan broke the icy by talking about his marriage.
TO BREAK NEWS: to convey a bad news. he had at last to
break the news of the death of his mother to him.
BREAK AWAY: is to free oneself. you held the horse by
the bridle, but he reared and broke away.
BREAK INTO:to enter forcibly. do you think any man has a
right to break into his neighbour's house?
BREAK OPEN: is to open with force. he broke open the box
and carried off its contents.
BREAK JOURNEY: interrupt it by stopping at some point
on the way. we are breaking our journey at ambala for one day.
BREAK LOOSE: escape. the horse broke loose from its chain.
BREAK THE RECORD:surpass alll previous performances. old
ramu broke the record in our city by living to 105
TO BREAK A FLY ON THE WHEEL: waste powers. the goverment
should not break a fly upon the wheel.
BREAK A JEST: to utter a jest ; cut a joke. mahatma
gandhi quite often broke a jest.
BREAK cOVER:to break awayfrom concealment. at an
opportune moment the soldiers break cover and attack their foe.
BREAK DOWN: to demolish ; collapse; fail completely. in
times of emergency all controls tend to break down.
:
BREAK EVEN: to avoid lloss but fail to gain. the parties
have broken even in the bargain.
BREAK FORTH: burst forth. nature breaks forth in spring.
BREAK GROUND: to lead in something. the labourers have
broken the ground for new work.
BREAK NO SQUARES:make no difference to ; do no harm;
matter little.your speech breaks no square in the goverment policy.
BREAK OFF: to detach by breaking; to put an abrupt end
to; to leave off abruptly. the anita has broken off with the family.
BREAK ONE'S MIND: to communicate one's idea to someone.
at last the mother broke her mind to the son.
BREAK OUT: appear-suddenly. plague has broken out in the city.
BREAK THE HEART: to crush with defeat. the death of my
brother has broken my heart.
BREAK UPON THE WHEEL: to punish severely. the rebels
were broken upon the wheel.
TO BREAK IN: enter a building by force. the thieves were
arrested outside the bank as they were breaking in.
BREAK OUT: to appear, fire boke out in the city. cholera
broke out in the city.
TO BREAK WITH: to cease to be friendly with. i have
entirely broken with the company.
BREAK THROUGH: impediment. the sun broke through the clouds.
:
BREAK UP: break into small pieces, met,end destroy, the
meeting broken up in great confusion.
BREAK DOWN: to stop working: to have bad health. the
train broke down . due to overwork his health broke down.
BREAST
MAKE A CLEAN BREAST: confess all . the murderer made a clean
breast of his enemies.
BREATH
UNDER ONE'S BREATH: whisper. "i love him", she said under her breath.
TAKE AWAY ONE'S BREATH: leave one breathless through intense
astonishment, delight. your offer is so generous that it takes my
breath away.
IN THE SMAE BREATH: on the same time. . he told me he was a
communist , and in the same breath cheered the king.
WITH ONE'S LAST BREATH: to the last. i would maintain with my
last breath that she is innocent.
THE BREATH OF ONE'S NOSTRILS: absolutely necessary. the indian
man demands freedom; it is the breath of his nostrils.
BELOW ONE'S BREATH: in a whisper. they talked below their breath.
GET ONE'S BREATH:to regain the ability to breathe properly. if
you want me to climb the rest of the hill you will have to give me
time to get my breath back.
HOLD ONE'S BREATH: to stop breathing. atul held his breath as
he watched the daring acrobat.
WASTE ONE'S BREATH: to say something which is not heeded. i do
not know why i bother talking to you as i am just wasting my brath.
ABOVE ONE'S BREATH: aloud. please speak above your breath.
CATCH THE BREATH: stop breathing for a moment. yogis can catch
the breath.
OUT OF BREATH : tired after running. i was out of breath after
catching the bus.
TAKE BREATH: rest. please take your breath before you talk.
SPEND ONE'S BREATH: talk profitlessly. why are you spending
your breath.
WITH BATED BREATH: with wonder. the boys listened to the
teacher with bated breath.
BREATHE
TO BREATHE ONE'S LAST: to die. shastri ji breathed his last in 1966.
NOT TO BREATHE A SYLLABLE: keep secret. i promised not to
breathe a syllable about what he tole me.
BREATHE AGAIN: to be relieved from anxiety. after the
result, sohan is breathing again.
BREATHE FREELY: to be at ease. in my house you can breathe freeely.
BREATHE UPON: to tarnish the name of. your action breathes
upon your father.
BREATHING DOWN NECK: close behind. l ran a fast race, but he
was breathing down my neck all the way.
A BREATHING -SPACE: a short time in which one can have a
rest. i have only a breathing spece of ten minutes before my next
appointment.
BREED
BREEDING-IN-AND-IN:breeding from near relatives. there is
no breeding in and in among the hindus.
BREEZE
BREEZE UP:to freshen. let us breeze up in a garden.
BRIBERY
BRIBERY OATH: an oath taken by an elector that he has not
voted for bribe. nobody is asked to bribery oath because every body is
taking bribes.
BRIEF
IN BRIEF: in short. please discribe the matter in brief.
HOLD NO BRIEF FOR : not to have any reason to support.
contrary to what you obviously think, i hold no brief for any extremis
organisation.
TAKE A BRIEF: to accept a case. the lawyer has accepted my brief.
THE BRIEF AND LONG: total story. the brief and long is that
the doctor killed my brother.
TO BE BRIEF: in a few words. to be brief, i am too busy to
meet dr chandra.
BRIC
BRIC- A-BRAC: old curiosities. the almirah of neeta is full
of bric-a-brac.
BRICK
COME DOWN LIKE A HUNDRED OF BRICKS: blame severely. the
officers came down on me like a hundred of brinks for leaving the door
of the safe open.
BRICK UP:cave. there was once a windoww but it has been
bricked up for centuries.
LIKE A TON OF BRICKS : heavily and promptly. the death of my
brother fell on me like a ton to bricks.
:
TO DROP A BRICK: to make a horrifying blunder in speech or
action. the speaker dropped a brick when he addressed the chairman as
'honourable minister'.
IN WITH THE BRICKS: having been in a place since the
beginning. the tenis club cannot get rid of their treasurer, even
although she is not very good , because she is in with the bricks.
TRY TO MAKE BRICKS WITHOUT STRAW: to try to do a piece of work
without the materials necessary for it. trying to prepape a staticall
report with the scanty information available was like trying to make
bricks without straw.
BRIDGE
CROSS A BRIDGE WHEN ONE COMES TO IT: not to bother about
a problem tha is going to arise in the futureuntil it actually
afffects one. once we get the money we will have to work out how it is
to be allocated, but we will cross that bridge when we come to it.
BRIGHT
BRIGHT AND EARLY:early; in good time. on the day of the
wedding she was up bright and early.
A BRIGHT SPARK : a very lively , cheerful person. i have
met his daughter who is a bright spark.
LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE: to be hopeful and consider the
best features of something. you must look on the bright side as after
all, you still have a job.
BRING
TO BRING INTO PLAY: to make use of. we must work hard to
bring into play the best in us.
TO BRING FORTH: to produce. a good action will bring forth
good result.
BRING TO MIND: to recollect. i fail to bring to mind my old
associations with him.
BRING ABOUT : bring to pass. it was gambling that brought
about his ruin.
BRING UP THE REAR: follow at the need. polilce men on horse
back brought up the rear.
BRING TO BEAR: concentrate one's efforts with some special
object. she brought to bear her charm.
BRING TO BOOK: to punish.the cashier was caught and brought to book.
BRING OFF: is to convey away; also; rescue. a life boat goes
to sinking ship and brings off alll the people.
TO BRING DOWN THE HOUSE: to elicit tumultous-applause. the
speech of shastri brought the house down.
BRING FORWARD: to produce or introduce to notice. the
proposal he brought forward seemed a foolish one.
BRING IN: to collect. how much will the action bring in , do
you suppose?
BRING UP: educate. he was very will brought-up.
:
BRING WORD: convey infromation. our servant will bring word
when i am ready.
BRING ON: cause to begin. his trouble may bring on a serious illness.
BRING ROUND: to persuade. it was after great difficulties
that i was able to bring round my wife to my view point.
BRING TO: to bring back to consciousness. these
smelling-salts will bring him to.
BRING DOWN: to humbble; to shout; to overthrow; to lower. do
not bring down your friends.
BRING DOWN THE HOUSE: to call forth a general burst of
applause. prithvi raj kapoor brought down the house.
BRING HOME: prove. the teacher brought home the point to the
students.
BRING OUT: to make clear. please bring out the meaning of your poem.
BRING OVER: convert. you cannot bring me over to communism
by violence.
BRING UNDER: subdue. the chair person failed to bring the
members under.
TO BRING TO MIND: to recall. please bring to mind, i paid
you rupees ten last sunday.
TO BRING TO LIGHT: to make known . the commission has
brought to light alll the facts.
BRISTLE
BRISTLE WITH: to be full of. the warship was bristling with guns.
BROAD
TO BROAD-MINDED: to be ready to allow others to think as
they choose without criticising them. her parents are broad-minded and
allow her to come home very late.
IN BROAD DAY LIGHT: during the day. he did not expect to
be robbed in broad day light.
BROKEN
BROKEN HEARTED: crushed in grief. having lost his son, he
fell broken hearted.
A BROKEN HOME: the home of children whose parents are
divorced. she comes from a broken home.
:
A BROKEN RACED:a person who is too weak to be depended on.
ramesh had promised to help her get a job, but he proved to be a
broken reed and was of no help at all.
BROKEN MAN: ill, bankrupt. it is not good to be a broken man.
BROOD
BROOD ON: to must on. you should not brood on your misfortunes.
BROOM
NEW BROOMS KEEP CLEAN : peoplek newly appointed to a
position work conscientiously. many new brooms sweep clean.
TO MARRY OVER THE BROOM-STICK: to go through an irregular
form of marriage. the boy and the girl married over the broom stick.
BROTH
BROTH OF A BOY : the quintessence of a good fellow.
jagdish has the broth of a boy.
BROTHER
BROTHER GERMAN: one having both parents in common. tara
singh is my brother-german.
BROWBEAT
BROWBEAT: to bear down with stern looks, the boss quite
often browbeats the employees.
BROWN
BROWN STUDY: gloom; sadness. anil was often found in brown study.
BROWNED OFF:bored. i feel really browned off in this wet weather.
BRUSH
BRUSH AWAY: to put aside. unless you brush away his
weakness you cannot make him change.
BRUSH UP:revive, freshen . please read the book' brush up
your english' by amber choudhary.
BRUSH ASIDE: to pay no attention to. she brushed aside my objections.
BRUSH UP ON: to refresh one's knowledge of. i must brush up
on british history.
GET THE BRUSH OFF: to reject or be rejected abruptly. she
gave me the brush-off when i asked heer to go to the cinama.
BUBBLE
BUBBLE OVER: to be angry. my child bubbled over her pocket money.
TO PRICK THE BUBBLE: to destroy an illusion. defeat and
death prick the bubble of life.
BUCK
BUCK UP: cheer up. buck up; you are winning the game.
PASS THE BUCK: to shift the responsibility to someone
else. the opposition party tries to pass the buck to the ruling party
over inflation and rising prices.
BUCKET
COME DOWN IN BUCKET: to be raining heavily. i cannot
drive iin this rain as it is coming down in bucket.
GIVE THE BUCKET:to dismiss. the dishonest employee was
given the bucket.
KICK THE BUCKET: die. many a dozen friends have kicked
the bucket in 1975.
WEEP BUCKETS: to weep a great deal. she wept buckets when
she watched the sad film.
BUD
NIP IN THE BUD: to destroy in its very beginning, it is
always desirable to nip the evil in the bud.
BUFF
IN THE BUFF: unclothed; nude.the doctor examined the
patient in the buff.
BUG
GET THE BUG:to be taken with great enthusiasm. he has got
the acting bug.
BUGGINS
BUGGINGS TURN: one's turn to be promoted according to
some mechanical system, not on merit. he only became chairman of the
committee on the principle of buggin's turn.
BUILD
TO BUILD CASTLES IN THE AIR: to plaiin visionary and
impossible. please do not build castle in the air.
BUILD UPON: met, rely upon. he makes many promises but
it isnot safe to build upon them.
BUILD UP:to cover with buildings. rajouri garden has now
been built up.
BULGE
TO GET THE BULGE ON: to get a decided advantage over
another. it is not easy to get the bulge on the ruling party.
BULL
A BULL IN THE CHINA SHOP: one who lacks the delecacy of
the situation calls for. in high society,a villager is like a bull
inthe china shop.
BULL INTO: plunge hastily. do not bull into high places.
HIT THE BULL'S EYE: to make a remark. as far as christmas
presetns were concerned, the family agreed that aunt helen had hit the
bull's eye by giving them a sledge.
TAKE A BULL BY THE HORNS: grapple firmly with a danger or
difficulty. if you are in trouble,always take the bull by horns.
BULLET
BITE THE BULLET: to accept something unpleasant but
unavoidable as bravely as possible. he disliked being indebted to
someone he despised, but he was obliged to bite on the bullet.
GET THE BULLET: to be dismissed. if you are late for
work again you will get the bullet.
BULLY
BULLY FOR YOU: good for you.' the boss is allowing anne
time off to have her hair done'. 'bully for her! what about the rest
of us?
BUM
A BUM STEER: a false. that exclusive story he promised
the newspapers turned out to be a bum steer.
GIVE THE BUM'S RUSH: to get rid of; force them to leave.
when they found out that she was a member of a terrorist organisation,
her employers gave her the bun's rush
BUMP
BUMP INTO: to meet by accident. i bumped into him the
other day in the street.
BUMP OFF: to kill. the hero got bumped off half way
through the play.
BUMP UP: to raise; to increase the size of. they have
bumped up their charges to make an extra profit.
BUN
HAVE A BUN IN THE OVEN:to be pregnant. he had to get
married because his girl friend had to a bun in the oven.
BUNDLE
GO A BUNDLE ON: to like or be enthusiastic about. i did
not go a bundle on her taste in interior decoration at it swas very
avant-garde.
BUNK
DO A BUNK: to go away in a hurry. when he realised the
police were after him, he did a bunk with quite alot of the company's
money.
BURDEN
THE BURDEN OF PROOF: the responsibility for proving. the
burden of proof rests with you.
BURN
BURN OUT:transitively. i watched the fire till it all burnt out.
TO BURN DAY LIGHT: to light candle before it is dark.
this fellow burns day light by lying in bed in the morning.
TO BURN THE CANDLE AT BOTH ENDS: to waste money or
health. many men burn the candle at the both ends.
THE BURNING QUESTION: a question of interest to and
eagerly discussed by many people. the burning question in the office
was who was to be the next manager.
A BURNT OFFERING: a meal which has been burnt. his
husband ate his way through many burnt offerings before she finally
learned to cook.
BURN A HOLE IN ONE'S POCKET: to be anxious to spend
money quickly. a hundred rupee note burns a hole in the pocket of a
youngster.
BURN ONE'S BOATS: to stake everything on success. if you
want to win a victory against heavy odds, burn your boats behind you.
BURN THE MIDNIGHT OIL: to work hard at studies. many
students burn the midnight oil near the examination.
TO BURN ONE'S FINGERS: to suffer from interfering in
others affairs. confine to your work and do not burn your fingers.
BURST
BURST OUT:crying. he burst out like a child.
BURST FORTH: as flames. tears, such as angels weep, burst forth.
TO BURST INTO TEARS: to fall crying. on seeing her son
injured sita burst into tears.
BURY
BURY THE HATCHET: to renounce enmity. india and pakistan
have buried the hatchet.
BUS
A BUSMAN'S HOIDAY: a holiday spent doing something
similar to what one doesin one's job. the joiner spent a busman's
holiday building a fitted wardrobe in his bedroom.
LIKE THE BACK END OF A BUS:very unattaractive. he is
quite good-looking, but his wife has a face like the back end of a
bus.
BUSH
BEAT ABOUT THE BUSH: to go round about anything. if you
need money ask for it. there is no use beating about the bush.
BUSH TELEGRAPH: the fast spreading of information by
word of mouth. the bush telegraph in our office is the most effective
way of spreading news.
BUSINESS
HAVE NO BUSINESS: have no right. you have no business
to go into that house.
GO OUT OF THE BUSINESS: cease to trade. my uncle had a
book's shop, but he went out of business after the war.
THE BUSINESS END: the effective end. the thief attacked
me, but i knocked him down with the business end of a broom.
THE BUSINESS END:the end or part that actually does the
work. he prised open the tin with the business end of a screw driver.
MEAN BUSINESS: to intend to do something serious and
business like. i could see from the expression on her face as she came
in that she meant business.
MAKE IT ONE'S BUSINESS: to make to do something or see
it done. he has made pulling down his competitors his business, these
days.
MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS: do your work and do not meddle
with others. will you please mind your own business.
SEND ABOUT ONE'S BUSINESS:dismiss. if you misbeahve , i
will send you about your business.
BUT
BUT AND A BEN:a two roomed house. he lived in a but and a ben.
LIVE BUT AND BEN: live respectively in those rooms; in
close neighbourhood with anyone. for many years she lived but and ben
in her village.
BUTT
BUTT IN: interpose. when i am speaking, do not butt in.
BUTTER
BUTTER ONE'S WORDS: speak with flattery. please do not
butter your words when you speak to me.
BUTTER FINGERS: a person who often drops things that he
is carrying . come on, butter fingers, see if you can catch this.
BIUTTER UP: to flatter because one wants him to do
something for one. he is always buttering up the boss because he
wants promotion.
LOOK AS IF BUTTER WOULD NOT MELT IN ONE'S MOUTH: to
appear very innocent. she sat there looking as if butter would not
melt in her mouth, and i think i was the only person who knew thatshe
was responsibsle for the whole mix up.
BUTTERFLY
HAVE BUTTERFLIES: to feel a fluttering sensation in one's
insides as a result of nervouness.she always get butterflies before
she goes on stage.
BUTTON
AS BRIGHT AS A BUTTON:very intelligent and alert. they
have just bought a fox terrier puppy which is very active and as
bright as a button.
BUTTONED UP: successfully arranged; safely in one's
possession. the negotiations were all completed and we seemed to have
the whole project buttoned up.
BUTTONHOLE: to catch attention and hold him in
conversation. he buttonholed me and began telling me the story of his
life.
BUY
BUY IN : purchase at an auction-sale on behalf of the
seller. there were no bargains at the sale; all the best lots were
bought in.
BUY OFF: to bribe. the gangster's friends bought off the
police witness.
BUY AND SELL: to traffic in. dr dube is buying and selling politics.
BUY OFF: to get rid of by bribery. the prisoner bought off
his release.
BUY OFF,OUT: to dispossess entirely by payment. he bought
out the rented house.
BUY UP:to buy the entire stock. he bought up the entire company.
BY
BY HIMSELF:alone. i spent all the day by my self.
BY AND BY: soon. we will meet again by and by.
BY AND LARGE: mostly;considering everything together.
things are going quite will, by and large.
BY DINT OF : by virtue of. by dint of hard work he secured
first position in the university.
BY THE BY: by the way; incidentally. by the by, what is your name?
BY THE WAY: in passing. by the way, how much money have you
in your pocket.
LET BY GONES BE BYGONES:let the past be forgotten . i would
very much appreciate if you will please let bygones be bygones and
talk about the present only.
BUZZ
A BUZZ WORD: an impressive-sounding but often nearly
meaningless word used as part of the jargon of a particular subbject.
interface, is a popular buzz word among the pseudo intellectuals at
the moment.
BABY-SITTING :looking after children. our teachers and
professors do no more than baby-sitting.
HOLD THE BABY: to be left in the lurch with responsibility. when
prime minister jawaharlal nehru dies, shri lal bahadur shastru held
the baby.
THROW OUT THE BABY WITH THE BATH WATER: to be so enthusiastic
about changing. in abolishing the police force because ti was corrupt,
the revolutionaries has thrown out the baby with the bath water.
BACK
BACK AND BELLY: clothing and food. it is very hard to earn back
and belly today.
BACK FRIEND:a friend who stands at one's back. there are few
back friend left now-a-days.
BACK HANDED:indirect; insincere;deceitful. beware of mohan as he
is the back handed friend.
BACKING DOWN: shirking. once you have made a commitment, let
there be no backing down.
BACK NUMBER: a person or thing out of date; past the stage of
usefulness. my uncle , an aged man is a back-number.
BACK OF :behind. china is fully back of pakistan.
BACK WATER: to play ours backwards. we had to back water to reach
the shore.
BEEHIND ONE'S BACK:abusing one's absense. behind my back at the
home , my daughter puts everything in disorder.
PUT ONE'S BACK INTO:to do with might and main. you must put your
back into the preparation for examionation.
TAKE A BACK SEAT:sink into; obscurity. janta dal now takes a back
seat in parliament.
TALK THROUGH THE BACK OF ONE'S NECK: to talk utter nonsense.
opposition should stop talking through the back of its neck.
TO SAVE ONE'S BACK:to come of scatheless with difficulty. somehow
he did manage to save his back.
TO SET ONE'S BACK: to make one angry. i do not think it is
advisable to set anybody's back.
TO TURNS ONE'S BACK UPON: to turn away. it is shame on you to
turn your back upon your friends in trouble.
BACK BITTING: criticising and speaking evil of a person when he
or she is not present. constant back bitting by my colleagues let to
my resignatin.
A BACKHANDER: a bribe. mohan won the contract for his firm by
giving a backhander to the concern official.
THE BACK OF BEYOND: a very remote place. they at the back of
beyond, somewhere in the southern bush.
BACKPEDAL: to reverse one's opinion or course of action. he was
forced to back pedal and say the opposite of what he had said
originally.
BACKSCRATCHING: doing favours for other people in return for
favours which they do for you. there is a great deal of
backscratching involved in indian politics.
A BACK-SEAT DRIVER: a passenger in a car who gives unwanted
advice on how to drive it. very often back seat drivers cannot drive.
BEHIND BACK: without knowledge or permission. he sometimes
bullies his sister behind his mother's back.
GET OFF BACK: to stop annoying. get off my back! i can not work
if you keep on criticising me.
HAVE ONE'S BACK TO THE WALL: to be in a very difficult or
desperate situation. he certainly has his back to the wall as he ahs
lost his job and cannot find another one.
BACK OUT: withdraw from an agreement. he promised to help me but
at the eleventh hour he backed out.
BACK UP: to support, to sustain. mohan is always ready to back
up his friends.
BACK BONE: thoroughly. he is an english man to the back bone and
would do what he has promised.
BACK STAIRS: secret and illegitimate influence. he obtained thr
job through back stairs influence.
BEAT BACK: compel to retreat. the thief attacked, but were beaten back.
PAY BACK: repay money. here's fifty repees. pay me back next month.
BACK AND FORTH: to and fro. the ship went back and forth.
GO BACK: betray; dessert. he went back on his promise and
refused to lend me the money.
PUT ONE'S BACK UP: annoy; make hostile/. ram's rudeness always
puts me back up.
BREAK THE BACK OF : the chief part of. we shall break the back
kof the work by to-night.
BACKGROUND: keep or remain. i m going to keep in the background
during the discussion.
BACKBITE
BACKBITE: speak evil in absense. one's should not backbite
one's friends.
BACKBONE
BACKBONE: main support. prime minister sh atal behari
vajpayee is a backbone of the present goverment.
BACKBONELESS: without firmness. the present democratic
goverment of india suffers from backbonelessness.
TO THE BACKBONE: thoroughly. staff of our factory is
honest to the backbone.
BACKWARD
BACKWARD AND FORWARD: to and fro. one's luck goes backward
and foreward.
BACON
BRING HOME THE BACON: to complete a job successfully. you
can trust promod mahajan to bring home the bacon!
TO SAVE ONE'S BACON: to save oneself with a great
difficulty. thank god, i have saved my bacon.
BAD
BAD BLOOD: ill-feeling. the demand of a separate nagaland
by phizo has created bad blood between the loyal and the rebel nagas.
TO MAKE THE BEST OF BAD BARGAIN: to beal all
difficulties. he made the best of a bad bargain and continued his
studies.
A BAD TIME: miserable time. he had a very bad time when
his father died
BAD COIN:false coin.i do not accept this bad coin.
BADLY OFF: not having much. we cannot go on holiday
because we are too badly off.
GO FROM BAD TO WORSE: to get inot an even worse condition
than before. things are going from bad to worse for the pakistqn
because not only it is losing money but there is going to be a strike
as well.
NOT BAD: quite good. is he a good cricketer? he is not bad.
TOO BAD: unfortunate. it is too bad that his holiday was cancelled.
BAD DEBT: a debt which cannot be recovered. sooner or
later you have to write off a bad debt.
BAD FORM:ill manners. a person with bad form does not
succeed in life.
BAD MAN: a ruffian. every state today is full of bad man.
BAD SHOT: wrong guess. her examination was a bad shot.
GO TO THE BAD: to go to the moral ruin. the whole state is
going to the bad.
IN BAD BOOKS: in disfavour. ramesh is in bad books of the
managing director.
WITH A BAD GRACE: ungraciously. anoop received his friends
with a bad grace.
BAG
BAG AND BAGGAGE: luggage. the hindus of west pakistan had
to leave bag and baggage.
BAG OF BONES: a lean creature. my brother is a bag of bones.
IN THE BAG: secured or as good as secured. your
appointment as principal of the college is in the bag.
A BAG OF TRICKS: all equipment requited for doing
something . the mechanic brought out his bag of tricks and mended the
car.
IN THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG: as a last resort. mohan has his
knife in the bottom of his bag to help his brother in the fight.
LET THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG: to disclose secrets. the women
quite often let the cat out of the bag.
BAIL
ACCEPT, ADMIT TO,ALLOW BAIL: to set the prisoner free on
security. the c.m.m. accepted the bail of the political leadder to set
the prisoner free. mr sohan lal was admitted to the bail. mr anil
gupta, who murdered sujata, was not allowed bail.
BAIL UP: to secure in a bail; to stop and disarm in order
to rob; to put up one's hands in surrender. the kidnepper was bailed
up. the thief bailed up the passerby . when anjur showed his pistol ,
the man bailed up.
GIVE LEG BAIL: to be beholden to one's legs for escape.
anil gave led bail to the constable.
BAIT
RISE TO THE BAIT: to do what someone has been trying to
make one do by means of suggestions. i could see mohan was trying to
make one do by means of suggestions. i could see mohan was trying to
make me angry, but i did not rise to the bait.
BALANCE
ON BALANCE: the result of such examination. on balance we
are rs100/- richer.
TO LOSE ONE'S BALANCE: be upset mentally. if anything goes
wrong, do not lose your balance.
BALANCED PERSONALITY: a steady mind. sardar patel had a
balanced personality.
BALANCE OF ADVANTAGE: great influence. i have balance of
advantage in getting the job of general manager.
TO HANG IN BALANCE: to be uncertain. the future of some
governors of various states hangs in balance.
BALE
BALE OUT: escape from an aeroplane by parachute. we baled
out behind the enemy's live.
BALL
KEEP THE BALL ROLLIING.: proceedings successfully. my host
had very little to talk about and it was difficult to keep the ball
rolling.
THE BALL AT ONE'S FEET: to see one's way of success. mohan
will become famous; he has the ball at his feet.
OPEN THE BALL: make a formal and definite beginning. the
judge opened the ball by asking the policeman to his evidence.
HAVE A BALL: to have a good time; to enjoy oneself. he was
the only child and he was having a ball!
HAVE THE BALL IS ONE'S COURT: to be responsible for the next
development in a situation. alok has answered your letter,so that ball
is now in your court.
ON THE BALL: quick, alert and up to date. the general
manager of i.e.c. is increasing profits becuase he is really on the
ball.
PLAY BALL: to work or act together. vinod tried to get him
to help but he would not play all.
BALLOON
WHEN THE BALLON GOES UP: when the trouble starts. lalit is
always getting me into trouble, but he is never here whne the balloon
goes up.
BANANAS
BE,GO BANANAS: to be, go crazy. if your mother sees that
men, she will go bananas!
BAND
BEAT THE BAND: to be especially loud. the baby was howling to
beat the band.
JUMP ON THE BAND WAGON: to take part in something or show an
interest in something. when electronic games became popular, so many
toy manufactures jumped on the band wagon that the shops were fulll of
them.
BAND OF HOPE: asn association of young persons pledged of life
long abstinenece from alcoholic drinks, first instituted in 1847.
there is no band of hope in the world today.
BANDY
BANDY WORDS: bandy words; to exchange reprimands. when you have
lost a case, bandying words will not save the situtation.
BANK
BANK HOLIDAYS: general holiday on which all banks as well as
shops are closed. to day is bank holiday.
TO BANK UPON: to depend . how long can you bank upon your parents?
BANKS ON: to rely on. shashank is banking on my help to run his shop.
BREAK THE BANK: to leave oneself or someone else without any
money. the price of a cup to tea would not break the bank, even if we
canot afford a meal.
FROM BANK TO BANK: form the time a collier begins to descend to
his work till he reaches the top again. from bank to bank a collier
works in artificial light and knows not whether it is day or night.
BANKRUPT
GO BANKRUPT: lose all the money. m/s mohan lal and sons goes
bankrupt because of its dishonesty.
BANNER
TO UPHOLD THE BANNER OF :to lend complete support. the
president follows the banner of his party.
KEEP THE BANNER FLYING: keep fighting; doing work. while i am
away from the office , please keep the banners flying.
BANNS
TO FORBID THE BANNS: make formal objection to a projected
marriage. when the girl wanted to marry, the boy's father forbade the
banns.
BAPTISM
BAPTISM OF BLOOD: martyrdom. sardar bhagat singh accepted the
baptism of blood at the altar of the freedom of india.
BAPTISM OF FIRE: martyrdom by fire. guru arhan dev, the fifth
guru of the sikhs, suffered baptism by fire.
BAR
AT THE BAR: to practise as a barrister or advocate. for many
years mahatma gandhi was at the bar.
CALL TO THE BAR: become a barrister. many indian leaders,
including nehru and gandhi, were called at the bar.
:
CROSS THE BAR: die. sh madhav rao sadashiv rao golwalkar of
r.s.s crossed the bar on june5,1973.
BARGAIN
INTO THE BARGAIN: in addition, extra. he bought the house,
and the sofa set into the bargain.
BARGAIN FOR: anticipate, plan. he was plan to take a risk
but he never bargained .
DUTCH BARGAIN: a bargain ending with drink. drunkards always
prefer a dutch bargain.
DRIVE A HARD BARGAIN: conclude a bargain the terms of which
are harsh. krishan agreed to finance the business, but he drove a hard
bargain.
INTO THE BARGAIN: over and above. he bought a shop and got
furniture into the bargain .
SELL ONE A BARGAIN: to befool him; to trap him into saving
something radiculous. the lawyer of the tis hazari court sold the
litigant a bargain.
STRIKE A BARGAIN: to come to terms. nikhil struck a good
bargain with the shopkeeper.
BARGE
NOT TO TOUCH WITH A BARGE-POLE: to hate. he would not touch
wine with a barge-pole.
BARK
BARK AT: abuse. what are the dogs barking at?
TO BARK AT THE MOON: to think of acquiring something
impossible . there is no use barking at the moon.
BARK UP THE WRONG TREE: make a mistake. if you think he was
responsible for the rumour, you are barking up the wrong tree.
BARK IS WORSE THAN THE BITE: angry words are worse than
actual deeds. the bark of principal s bhattacharya was worse than his
bite.
BARREL
HAVE OVER A BARREL: to be in a position to get whatever one
wants from. india would not help pakistan if india had any choice,
but is(pakistan) has got china over a barrel.
SCRAPING THE BARREL: making use of something or someone of
very poor quality because it is all that is left or available. mr
dutta has run out of the material for his newpaper articles and the
last few have really been scraping the barrel.
BASE
GET TO/MAKE FIRST BASE:to complete the first stage of a
process. nanak chand is so impractical none of his projects over a
make first base.
BASKET
PICK OF THE BASKET: best of the lot. premier nehru was the
pick of the basket in the cabinet.
TO HAVE TOO MANY EGGS IN ONE BASKET: to have too many works
to do. a common businessman has always to many eggsin one basket.
BASK
BASK IN: he basked in her favour like a beggar in the sun.
BAT
BATED BREATH: restrain ed breathing. the people heard the
tidings with bated breath.
BATS IN THE BELFRY: crazy notions. every youngster has bats
in the belfry.
OFF ONE'S OWN BAT: by one's onw efforts; by one's own
activity. i have made alll money entirely off my own bat. one rises or
falls off one's own bat.
AS BLIND AS A BAT: completely blind. without her spectacles,
she is as blind as a bat.
LIKE A BAT OUT OF HELL: very quickly. he rushed out of the
house like abat out of hell, having seen a unknown person.
BATTERY
MASKED BATTERY: a battery out of the energy's view. all india
radio is a kind of masked battery.
TO TURN A MAN'S BATTERY AGAINST HIMSELF:to defeat a person with
his onw arguments. he turned my battery against myself while
discussing politics with me.
BATTLE
GIVE BATTLE: attack. the indian gave battle to the enemy soon
after sunrise.
BATTLE ROYAL: a general melee. it was a battle royal on the
campus during elections.
HALF THE BATTLE: anything that brings one well on road to
success. passing a basic training is half the battle to getting
employment.
NOT TO KNOW FROM BATTLE DORE: to be thoroughly ignorant. so far
as billiards is concerned, i donot know ABC from battle dore.
BATED
WITH BATED BREATH: in a very excited and anxious manner. the
crowd watched with bated breath as the fire man brought the man down
the ladder.
BAY
TO STAND AT BAY: to show fight. let us stand at bay and remove
our misunderstandings.
TO BAY AT THE MOON: thinking of something impossible to be
achieved. there is no use baying to at the moon.
HOLD AT,KEEP AT, BAY: show the defiance. the criminal kept
the constables at bay.
BAYONET
AT THE POINT OF BAYONET: under threat of force. the robbers
robbed the civilians at the point of bayonet.
BE
BE NO MORE:die. out dog is be no more.
BE IT SO: let it be so. i shall have leave early morning be it
so. i will have the break fast ready.
BE OFF WITH YOU: a peremptory order to depart. i don't give
money to beggars-be off with you.
BE ALL : whole being. a child is the be all for a parents.
BE ALL AND END ALL: the final result. one should never be too
proud, beath is the be-all and end-all of the human beings.
BEAD
DRAW A BEAD ON: make aim. china has drawn a bead of ladakh.
TO TELL ONE'S BEADS: to say prayers. an aged amn should
retire from politics and tell his beads.
BEAM
ON ONE'S BEAM ENDS: in acute distress. sohan has to offer
help when he finds someone one the beam ends.
ON THE BEAM: at right angles to the course. do not disturb a
youngster whom you find on the beram.
BROAD IN THE BEAM: wide in the hips. she is getting very
broad in the beam because she's put on a lot of weight.
OFF BEAM: off course or target; inaccurate. our original
estimate was along way off the beam.
BEAN
FULL OF BEANS: in high spirits; full of energy, very
cheerful. after exams the students are fulll of beans.
GIVE ONE BEANS: to treat one severely. when a child does
some thing wrong, do not give him beans.
KNOW HOW MANY BEANS MAKE FIVE: to know quite a lot about
life and therefore to be able to take care of oneself. her father did
not worry when she was outlate. because he know she know how many
beans make five.
BEAR
TO BEAR IN MIND: to remember. you should bear in mind when
you go for your examination than you should be precise in your
answers.
BEAR OUT: carry away. they bore out the body.
BEAR UP: to endure; to keep up one's spitirs; strong. is it
easy to bear up when one is be set with difficulties on all sides?
BEAR DOWN: press down, overcome. he has been able to bear
down all opposition.
BEAR FRUIT: to produce results. i hope your hard work will
bear fruit.
LIKE A BEAR WITH SORE HEAD: in every bad mood and easily
made angry. when my brother has to get up early, he is like a bear
with a sare head.
BEAR A HAND: give assistance. please bear me a hand in
lifting this table.
BEAR AWAY: sail away. the ship bore away with the tide.
BEAR DOWN:sail with the tide. the boat bore down at sunset.
BEAR HARD: have ill will to. do not bear hard on the neighbour.
BEAR IN HAND: to make out; to maintain; to keep in
expectation;; please bear the youth in hand.
BEAR UP FOR: sail towards. please bear up for a great
position in life.
BORNE IN UPON: forcibly impressed upon. it must be borne in
upon you that i ma not going to take lies.
BRING TO BEAR: to bring into operation. great influence was
brought to bear upon the minister for getting quotas of sugar.
BEAR DOWN UPON: warship moved forward to to attakc a enemy.
the teacher bore down upon the undermatric.
BEAR WITH:to tolerate. bear with me while i point out a
mistake you have made.
BEAR DATE: signature etc, has written upon it. his latest
letter bear date aprail first.
BEAR A MEANING: convey a meaning. that sentence doesn't bear
the meaning you seem to think. it does.
BEAR THE PLAN: be the best, the winner. they are all clever
boys, but ram bears the palm for handsome.
BEAR A GRUDGE: angry feelings . i hope you won't bear grudge
after what has happended.
BEARD
BEARD A LION IN ITS DEN: to challlenge a greater power on
its own soil. challenging the might of the mughals, the maratha
bearded lion in its own den.
BEARING
FINDS ONE'S BEARINGS: find out the detailws of one's position.
BEAT
DEAD BEAT: utterly exhausted. after walking all the day in
the rain, we are dead beat.
BEAT ABOUT THE BUSH: not to come to the point. do not beat
about the bush , please come to the point.
BEAT IT: depart it once. donot stay here , beat it.
BEAT DOWN: to crush. i willl beat down his foes before his face.
TO BEAT BLACK AND BLUE: to beat severely. the police
constable beat the thief black and blue.
TO BEAT UPON: to strike upon again and again . the rain beat
upon the houses and they fell.
BEAT BACK: to complete retire. the flames beat back the firemen.
OFF THE BEATEN TRACK: away from the main roads. there is no
bus service to his house beacause it is off the beaten track.
TAKE A LOT OF BEATING: to be of very high quality and
therefore difficult to improve upon. the first competitor's
performance will take a lot of beating.
BEAT A RETREAT: to retreat. before the advancing forces of
the enemy, the patriots beat a hasty retreat.
BEAT OFF: drive back. the cows beat off the dog.
BEAT ONE'S BRAINS: to puzzle one's brain about something .
do not beat your brains about the illness of your life.
BEAT OUT: to flattern or reduce in thickness by beating.
iron is beaten out into sheets.
BEAT THE AIR: to fight to no purpose. in fighting against
the good goverment, a oppositon can only beat the air.
BEAT THE BOUNDS: to trade out boundaries in a
perambulation, certain objets in the line of the journey being
formally struck,, and sometimes boys alos whipped to make them
remember . the students were beat the bounds.
BEATIFIC
BEATIFIC VISION:a glimpse of the glory of heaven . the
picture of lord krishna is a beatific vision.
BEAU
BEAU IDEAL: ideal beauty; a type of embodiment highest in
excelllence. truth should be the bean ideal of life and not money
which is the beau ideal now-a-days.
BEAUTY
BEAUTY QUEEN: the most beautiful lady in a region. sadhna is
the beauty queen of our college.
BEAUTY SLEEP:sleep before mid-night. never disturb a man in
his beauty sleep.
BEAVER
EAGER BEAVER: someone who is very enthusiastic or industrious.
the new manager always works late becuase he is a real eager beaver.
WORK LIKE A BEAVER: to work very hard and busily. he workd
like a beaver gettting the house ready for a party.
BECK
AT BECK AND CALL OF: under full command or disposal,always
ready and waiting to carry out order or wishes. mohan always has
plenty of frineds at his beck and call.all the college peons are at
the beck and call of the principal.
BECOME
TO BECOME OF: to happen to; the end of. no one seemed to
care what had become of me.
BED
BED OF ROSES:a condition of comfort of luxury,soft job.the
post of a prime minister is a country is not a bed of roses. life is
not a bed of roses.
TO GO TO BED: to go to sleep. i go to bed at about 9 o'clock
every night.
TO TAKE TO BED: to become ill. he took to bed for the last ten days.
BED FELLOW: close associate. ashok and ram are bed fellows.
BROUGHT TO BED: in childbirth. the woman was brought to bed
one month back.
GET OUT OF BED ON THE WRONG SIDE: to start the ddaay in a
bad mood. you must have got out of bed on the wrong side this morning
because you are so grumpy.
HAVE MADE ONE'S BED AND HAVE TO LIE IN IT: to be obliged
to suffer the disadvantages of a situation one has caused oneself. i
am sorry their daughter causes them problems , but they always spoilt
her because they have made thier bed and they must lie in it.
BEE
BEE LINE : proceed in a straight time. he made a bee line
for the railway station.
TO HAVE A BEE IN ONE'S BONNET: some particular idea. he has
a bee in his bonnet he insists the earth is not round but flat.
THINK ONE'S IS THE BEE'S KNEES: to think ones is the most
admirable and wonderful of all people. all the girls at the school
think ram is the bee's knees.
:
BEER
NOT ALL BEER AND SKITTLES: not consisting only of pleasure,
but frequntly involving something quite difficult and unpleasant, you
will soon find out that this job is not all beer and skittles.
SMALL BEER: something unimportant. this is small beer
compared with the work he usually does.
BEFORE
BE BEFOREHAND WITH: to forestall; in advance or in
anticiipation; by way of one's preparation; in advance ofone's needs.
suresh was beforehand with stocking large quantities of flour.
BEFOREHAND WITH THE WORLD: comfortably provided for. the
princess was beforehand with the world.
BEFORE THE WIND: in the direction in which wind is
blowing. the ship went gaily before the wind.
BEG
BEG OF : i beg of you to keep perfectly still.
BE GOING BEGGING: to be unclaimed , unsold or unwanted. i
will have the last cake if it is going begging.
BEG THE QUESTION: to take for granted the very point that
needs to be proved. discussijng what we should invest our money in
begs the question of whether we will have any money to invest.
BEG TO DIFFER:to disagree.. he may think that he should
get the nob but i beg to differ.
BEG FOR A FOOL: to sue for the guardianship of;and
administration of the estate, on ground of mental defeciency. the
widow of mohan swamo is begging for a fool.
BEGGING LETTER: a letter soliciting alms or some
subscription. the mail of begging letters is heavy but it is seldom
replied.
BEGGAR MY NEIGHBOUR: a game that goes on tilll one has
gained alll the other cards. in the modern cut throat world everyone
is playing the game of beggar my neighbour.
TO BEGGAR THE DISCRIPTION: to assume truth of the matter
of dispute. the beauty of kashmir beggars description.
BEGGAR
TO BEGGAR DESCRIPTION: highly indescrible. the beauty of
the taj mahal beggars description.
BEGIN
TO BEGIN THE WORLD: to start in life. it is difficult to
begin the world these days.
TO BEGIN WITH: in the first place. to begin with i am not
a public speaker.
BEGINNING OF END: closing chapter or chapters. it is
beginning of the end for the indian natinal congress which mahatma
gandhi had rightly advised that it should be dissolved.
BEHALF
ON BEHALF OF : representative of someone. the manager
signed the document on behalf of the company.
BEHAVIOUR : be one one' behaviour thoughout the interview.
BEGGAR
BEGGAR DESCRIPTION: to be so great in some way that the
speaker's word cannot describe. sita,s beauty beggared description.
BEHIND
BEHIND THE TIMES: late. the train is behind the times.
BEHIND THE SCENES: in private. plan for the next election
are going on behind the scenes.
BEHIND DOOR:surreptitious; clandestine. mr rc sharma had
been guilty of many behind the door transactions.
BEHIND HAND: being behind;tardy; ill proved; in arreard.
our commitment for august will be behind hand in september. let us
complete them in time.
FALL BEHIND: not keep up with.lalu has fallen behind in
mathematics studies.
PUT BEHIND ME: to think of as being in the past or
finished. l.p. yadav has been in a lot of trouble with the police, but
he seems to have managed to put all that behind them.
BELIEVE
MAKE BELIEVE: to pretend. the children made believe they
were cowboys and indians.
NOT TO BE ABLE TO BELIEVE ONE'S EYES:to find it difficult
to believe that one has actually seen correctly something which is
suprising, shocking, whne i saw shshank actually doing some work, i
could not believe my eyes.
TO THE BEST OF MY BELIEF: as far as i know; to the extent
of my knowledge . to the best of my belief he has not been foun yet.
but his wife will have the latest information.
BELL
TO BELL THE CAT: to undertake the most dangerous part on
behalf of a group. who will be the cat?.
TO SOUND CLEAR AS A BELL: to sound quite clear. his love
for me sounds clear as a bell.
RING A BELL: to cause a vague memory of having been seen ,
heard before, but not remembered in detail. his name rings a bell, but
i can not remember where i have heare it before.
SAVED THE BELL: rescued from an unpleasant or difficult
situation by something which brings the situation suddenly to an end.
justas she was about to ask what he was doing , he was saved by the
bell when she was summoned by the manager.
BEAR OFF OR CARRY OFF BELL: to have; gain the first place.
in the plast general elections , promod mahajan bore off the bell.
BELONG
BELONG TO: be remeber of; be residen in; be rightly placed
or classified. does this book belong to you?
BELOW
BELOW PAR: less than the nominal price. shares of tata
company are sellling below par.
BELOW THE MARK: not up to standard. your work is below the mark.
TO HIT BELOW THE BELT: to be unfair. cowards generally hit
others below the belt.
BELOW ONE'S BREATH: silently. they talked below thier breath.
BELLY
BELLY GOD: one who makes a god of his belly; a glutton.
ramesh is belly god.
BELT
HITTING BELOW THE BELT:to hit an opponent's body lower than
the waist; hence to deliver a mean below; attack unfairly. it was a
moral code with our forefathers never to hit a man below the belt.
HOLD THE BELT: to hold the championship in wrestling,
boxing. guru hanuman held the belt in the last boxing championship.
TIGHTEN ONE'S BELT: to make sacrifices and reduce one's
standard of living. if the ecoomy gets worse , we shall just have to
tighten our belts.
UNDER ONE'S BELT:firmly secured and in one's possession. he
has a university degree in science under his belt, which should help
her to get a job.
BEMOCK
BEMOCK THE MOON:do a foolish thing. if you have lost the
game, do not bemock the moon. in a parliament the opposition cannot
with the war against the prime minister be bemocking the moon.
BENCH
BENCH HOLE:a latrine. go,ease yourself on the bench hole.
ON THE BENCH: holding the office of a judge. mr m.m. sareen
is on the bench of the DELHI HIGH COURT.
RAISE TO BENCH: to become a judge. my friend mr sorabji has
been raised to the bench.
BEND
BEND ONE'S KNEE: to be humble before. never bend your knee
before any body except god.
BEND ONE'S STEPS: walk in a specified direction. after
dinner i shall bend my steps homeward.
ROUND THE BEND: mad. you must be round the bend to swim in
the sea in april.
BENEATH
BENEATH CONTEMPT: not worthy of contempt. the minister
thought him beneath contempt.
BENEFIT
BENEFIT OF DOUBT: assuming doubt rather than guilt;
favourable judgement when culpability is uncertain. the milk glass
empty, and the cat sitting near , but we gave him the benefit of the
doubt.
CONFER A BENEFIT: be advantageous. this new discovery will
confer a benefit on all invalids.
BENGAL
BENGAL LIGHT: a brilliant light; sulphide of antimony; used
a shipwreck signal and to illuminate country at night. when a minister
dies, there is no bengal light for him.
BENT
BENT UPON:determined to take a certain action. he was bent
upon waling the entire distance that same night.
TOP OF ONE'S BENT: as much as possible.mohan was enjoying
himself to the top of his bent.
TAKE TO THE BENT: to take flight. when we came , they took
to the bent.
BERSERK
TO RUN BERSERK: to become frenyied.many men in madras run
berserk on account of hot and damp weather.
BERTH
TO GIVE A WIDE BERTH: to keep well away form generally .
i always give the park a wide berth when i am out at night.
BESIDE
BESIDE ONESELF: to be out of one's sense. he has three
children in the house beside his own.
BESIDE THE MARK: irrelevant. your statements are beside the mark.
BESIDE: by the side of. th bride stands beside the bridegroom.
BEST
BEST MAN: bridegroom supporter. who will be your best man
in marriage?
BEST SELLER:most popular book. nehru's discovery of india
to be a best seller.
AT BEST: on the most hopeful view. a fox is at best on
unsatisfactory pet.
TO THE BEST OF BELIEF:so far as i know. to the best of my
belief, he is a thief.
SUNDAY BEST:best clothes. he was dressed in sunday best
at whole time.
TO MAKE THE BEST TO THINGS: be contented. if you want to
be happy,make the best things.
ALL THE BEST: i hope that you may be happy; successful. i
wanted to wish him all the best before he left for his examionation.
TO BEST PART OF:most of;nearly. i have read the best part
of one hundred books on the subject.
DO ONE'S BEST:to try as hard as possible. he will do his
best to get here in time, but he may be late.
FOR THE BEST: likely to intended to have the best
result,possible in a particular situation. i did not intend to tell
him, but now he is found our perhaps it is all for the best.
HAVE THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS:to benefit from the best
features of two different sets of circumstances. women with children
who have a job they can do at home are often thought to have the best
of both words.
MAKE THE BEST OF IT: to do all one can to turn a failure
into something successful . it is too late to refure the invitation
because you will just have to make the best of it and try to enjoy
yourself.
WITH THE BEST: good or well enough to complete with people
who are older, stronger, healthier, more experienced. he has only one
arm but he plays tennis with the best of them.
AT ONE'S BEST: on the most favourable supposition. the
cricketer was at his best yesterday.
BEST BOY,GIRL: favourite associate. sohan was the best boy
in the party.
BEST MAID: brides maid at a wedding. sita was the best
maid at rita's wedding.
GIVE ONE THE BEST: concede victory. in this game of cards,
i give you the best.
HAD, WERE BEST: i had best, i were best.
HAVE THE BEST OF IT: gain advantage in a contest.
bangladesh had the best of it in war with pakistan.
PUT ONE'S BEST FOOT FORWARD: to make best beginning. in
whatever work we are called upon to do, let us put our best foot
forward.
BET
HEDGE ONE'S BETS: to do something in order to protect
oneself from possible loss. we do not know which of them is going to
be made manager so we would better hedge our bets and be nice to both
of them.
YOU BET:certainly."do you want to come?" " you bet i do!"
BETAKE
BETAKE ONESELF:old, no proceed. it is late now, i shall
betake myself to bed.
BETTER
HAD BETTER:would find it wisher. you had better pay my bill.
BETTER ONESELF: improve one's wordly position. young ashok
has left the village to better himself.
BETTER HALF:wife. a gently -ironic complimentary phrase.
THINK BETTER : reconsider. he was going to protest,but
thought better of it.
TO BE BETTER OFF: to be in a superior position. ram is
better off than mohan.
BE BETTER THAN ONE'S WORD: to have recoverd from illness.
my brother has been ill, but now is better.
BETTER LATE THAN NEVER: something which is necessary should
be done ever after some delay. even if you start with your studies now
it will be better late than never.
ONE'S BETTERS: one's superiors. one should always respect
one's betters.
THINK BETTER OF: revise one's opinion about. i have learnt
to think better of you.
THE BETTER PART OF: most of. he talked for the better part of an hour.
GET THE BETTER OF: to overcome.; to win against. in the
third round he began to get the better of his opponent.
GO ONE BETTER: to beat by improving on what they have done.
his father was commonweath champion, but he has gone one better and
own the european championships.
HAVE SEEN BETTER DAYS: to be in a worse condition than in
the past. my shirt has seen better days, but it is very warm.
BETWEEN
BETWEEN YOU AND ME: confined to ourselves. betweeen you and
me, i dpnot think he will leave much longer.
BETWEEN CUP AND LIP: of dashed hopes. there ismany a sleep
between cup and lip.
BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP: between two difficulties.
now-a-days i am between the devil and the deep.
BEWARE OF: evil company. beware of forming bad habits.
IN BETWEEN TIMES: at intervals between other events. he does
not eat much at meals but eats a lot in between lines.
BETWEEN OURSELVES: in confidence, by combination of.
beteween ourselves , i am leaving tomorrow.
BETWEEN TWO FIRES:to earn displeasure of both the parties.
a wise arbitrator always avoids to be between two fires.
BETWEEN WHILES: at intervals. i hope to write to you between whiles.
GO BETWEEN: act as a mediator. there is no go between for
soahn and ram.
BEYOND
THE LIFE BEYOND:life after death. the llife beyond the grave.
BEYOND THE PALE: beyond the limits of decent society, good
manners and moral limitations. the man's cruelty puts him beyond the
pale.
BEYOND MEASURE: exceedingly. his progress is beyond measure.
TO GO BEYOND: to surpass. never go beyond reality.
BID
TO BID WELCOME: to receive cordiallly. i am happy to bid you
welcome, please move in.
BID FAIR TO : appear likely to. the daughter bids fair to
be even more beautiful than her mother.
BID GOOD BYE: to take leave of the departing person. as
soon as the train whistled he bade good bye to his friends.
BIG
TO LOOK BIG: look important. girls always try to look big.
BIG WITH YOUNG: pregnant. she is big with young.
TO TALK BIG: to talk pompously. she is in the habit of talking big.
BIG BELLIED: having a big belly; pregnant. the big bellied
lady is about to bear a child.
BIG BUSINESS : large enterprises and business houses. big
business runs the goverment in many countries of the world.
BIG WITH FATE: fortunate. my elder brother is always big with fate.
BE BIG OF: to be a generous action; speech on the part of. it
was very big of him to offer us the use of his car, especially as it
is actually his father's
BIG BROTHER: a powerful leader or organbisation thought to be
constantly watching and controlling people's actions.i would not like
to live in that country as you would always have feeling that big
brother was watching you.
GO OVER BIG: to have a great effect; to impress greatly.
goverment plans to cut taxes went over big with the younger voters.
TOO BIG FOR ONE'S BOOTS: conceited; thinking too highly of
one's own importance , his assistant is getting too big for her boots
and thinkd she runs the office.
BILL
CLEAN BILL OF HEALTH: without disease. he is enjoying a clean bill
of health for the last two years.
BILL AND COO: speak lovingly and intimately. we will leave the
three young people to bill and coo together.
BILL OF FARE: programme. what is the bill of fare of tour.
A BILL OF MORTALITY: in or near london. his brother lives within
the bill of mortality.
FILL THE BILL: to be suitable; to be exactly what is required, we
are looking for a holiday cottage and this will fill the bill.
FOOT THE BILL: to pay. every one enjoyed the wedding except my
brother, who was footing the bill.
TOP THE BILL: to be the most important and highly paid performer
in a show at a theatre. heis top of the bill at hotel ashoka this
winter.
BIND
BIND OVER: to place legal restriction upon. this man has been
bound over to keep the peace for one year.
BIND WITH: tie. he bound the prisoner to a stake with a strong rope.
BE BOUND UP IN: to be wholly devoted to. he was bound up in his work.
BIND: responsible. i will be bound.
BIRD
BIRD OF A FEATHER: persons with similar tastes. birds of a
feather flock together.
TO KILL TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE: to gain two ends at once.
i killed two birds with one stone. i was able to please him by giving
him usefull information and also elicited his opinion on an important
matter.
BIRD OF OMEN: applies to any person who has a reputation
for bringing bad news. the postman has proved a bird of ill omen four
times.
A BIRD'S EYE VIEW: a general view. i had a bird's eye view
of the whole town from an aerial flight.
A BIRD IN THE HAND:certainly . a bird in the hand is worth
two in the bush.
AN EARLY BIRD: an early arrival. the early bird catch the first worm.
BIRD-EYED: quick sighted. he is a bird-eyed man.
BIRD-WITTED: incapable of sustained attention. friend is bird witted.
LIKE BIRD: with quickness. he did everything like a bird.
THE BIRDS AND THE BEES: basic information about sexual
behaviour in human. he is do naive you would think he had never heard
about the birds and the bees.
FOR THE BIRDS:something only acceptable to people wo are
more stupid than oneself. he says that patriotism is strictly for bird
as far as he is concerned.
GIVE THE BIRD: to send; be sent away in every definite
manner. she went to see him to try to end the quarrel but he gave her
the brid so she did not try again.
GO LIKE A BIRD: to run very fast and smoothly. my car is
twenty years old but she goes like a bird.
A LITTLE BIRD TOLD ME: i found out in a way that i donot
intend to reveal. a little bird told me that sohan is about to lose
his job.
BIRD OF PASSAGE: sojourner. a man is only a bird of passage on earth.
BIRSE
SET UP ONE'S BIRSE: to rouse the wrath of . ram has set up kishan's.
BIRTHDAY
IN ONE'S BIRTHDAY SUIT: naked . i could not answer the door
in my birthday suit, so i hastily put on a dressing gown.
BISCUIT
TAKE THE BISCUIT:to be much worse than every thing else. his
lastest piece of impertinence really takes the biscuit.
BIT
BIT BY BIT: piecemeal,gradually. please do this work bit by
bit, but do it will.
A BIT OF ONE'S MIND: to say something frankly . i gave him a
bit of my mind when he came to me in the afternoon. he was trying to
be too clever for me.
NOT A BIT:not at all. are you afraid? not a bit of it.
BIT AND SUP: something to eat and drink. let me have bit and sup.
DO ONE'S BIT: do one's due share. i will gladly do my bit for you.
TAKE THE BIT IN ONE'S TEETH: throw off control. the child
had taken the bit in his teeth.
CHAMPING AT THE BIT: very impatient. by the time the bus
arrived, the man was champing at the bit.
BITE
BITE THE DUST: be killed in battle. may all our enemies bite
the dust.
BITE ONE'S HEAD OFF: speak angrily. as i ask for some money
, you need not bite my head off.
BITE THE THUMB: to express defiance. when the king ordered
him to go , he bit his thumb.
BITE OFF MORE THAN ONE CAN CHEW: to try to do more than ;
something more difficult than . he wa bitten off more than he can
chew, trying to renovate his house.
ONCE BITTEN, TWICE SHY: if something one has done turned out
badly, one is likely to be very reluctant to do lthe same thing again.
once bitten twice shy since my marriage ended in divorce, i am not
likely to marry again.
WHAT IS BITTING YOU: what is the matter with you? what's
biting you? you have been irritable alll day.
BITTER
BITTER END: to the last. the indian army fought to the
bitter end against chinese army.
BITTER SWEET: mixture of sweet ane bitter. life is full of
bitter sweet.
A BITTER PILL: something difficult to accept. she found his
betrayal a bitter pill to swallow.
BLACK
BLACK AS THUNDER:darkly; furiously. he gave me a glare as
black as thunder,and asked me what i wanted.
BLACK AND BLUE:full of bruises. the headmaster beat the
boyblack and blue.
BLACK MAIL: money extoreted by threates. the police was
black mailing him by invoving him in a theft case.
BLACK SHEEP: for one who has a bad reputation in a company
of people. there are many black sheep in our college.
BLACK AND WHITE: in writing on paper. i got it in black and
white but still he went back upon it.
ON THE BLACK LIST: liable punishment. he is on the black list now.
BLACK LEG: a worker continuing to work during a strike or
one taking on a striker's job. in every trade union there are black
legs.
BLACK OUT:to obliterate with black. real news are blacked out.
BLACK HOLE: militarylock up. during every war many soldiers
are black holed by opposite group.
IN ONE'S BLACK BOOKS: having incurred someone's displeasure.
he is in the black books of his teacher.
BE AS BLACK AS ONE IS PAINTED:to be as bad as other say.
although he was a criminal , he was not as black as he was painted,
and never used violence.
IN THE BLACK: making a profit; not in debt. we paid off out
overdraft today and we are in the black at last
BLANK
A BLANK CHEQUE:permission to do what one feels necessary
with complete freedom. he has given me a blank cheque to carry out my
plan.
DRAW A BLANK:to be unsuccessful in a search. he looked for
a cheap fur coat all over the city, but drew a blank.
BLANKET
ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE BLANKET: illegitimately. he was
bron on the wrong side of the blanket.
WET BLANKET:a damper of spirit; kill joy. a selfish man is
a wet blanket.
BLAST
FULL BLAST: at full power. he had the radio going full blast.
BLAZE
BLAZE OF PUBLICITY: great prominence. indira gandhi
received a blaze of publicity during the indo-pak war.
BLIND
BLIND MAN'S HOLIDAY: time before candles are lighted. the
boys enjoy a blind man 's holiday.
BLIND STAGGERS:staggering walk, due to illness or
drunkenness. there's old ramu.going home with the blind staggers as
usual.
NONE SO BLIND:there's none so blind as those who won't see.
BLIND SIDE: the aspect of man's characterin which he is
tender hearted. sheela can always get on the blind side of her motherr
and persuade to take her to the cinema.
BLINDFOLD: reckless. your blindfold habits will ruin you one day.
TURN A BLIND EYE: ignore. it is best to turn a blind eye
to other people's doings instead of coming conflict with them.
THE BLIND LEADING THE BLIND: one inexperienced or
incompetent person helping another to do something, if i attempted to
explain how this machine workd , iam afraid it would be a case of the
blind leading the blind.
A BLIND SPOT: any matter about which someone always shows
a lack of understanding. she is very reasonale person, but she has a
blind spot about her children because she thinks they are perfect.
BLINK
ON THE BLINK: not working properly. my televison isone
the blink,and i never know whether it is going to work or not when i
switch it on.
BLOCK
A BLOCK-HEAD:a stupid fellow. it is no use arguing with
him, he is block head.
CHIP OF THE OLD BLOCK: just like the father. your child is
just a chip of the old block.
BLOCK OUT: to shape roughly. i have blocked out a plan of
the campaign.
TO CUT BLOCKS WITH RAZOR: waste ingenuity. many boys cut
blocks with razor.
BLOCK UP: to impede,to obstruct. heavy rains blocked up the traffic.
BLOOD
IN COLD BLOOD:delibrately. the murdur shot his victim in
cold blood.
BLUE BLOOD: belonging to an aristocratic family. the
rajputs boast of having blue blood in their veins.
BLOOD AND THUNDER: highly sensatinal. i donot like blood
and thunder stories.
BAD BLOOD: ill feeling. there's been bad blood between the
brothers ever since mohan came home.
BLOOD IS THICKER THAN WATER: one shold have more loyalty
to peple who are related to one than the other people. i would prefer
to give the money to my friend rather than to my brother but blood is
thicker than water.
FRESH BLOOD: new members of any group of people, who are
expected to add liveliness to it.he has bought vital new blood to the
foot ball team.
LIKE GETTING BLOOD OUT OF A STONE: very difficult. getting
my father to pay for anything is like gettingh blood out of a stone.
MAKE BLOOD BOIL: to make very angry. his behaviour really
made my blood boil.
MAKE BLOOD RUN COLD: to frighten or horrify very much .
the terrible scream made her blood run cold.
BLOOD AND IRON: relentless use of force. hitler mastered
germany through blood and iron.
BLOOD HOUND: a detective. i hope you are not a blood hound.
BLOOD SUCKER: an extortioner. most of the shopkeepers are
blood suckers.
FLESH AND BLOOD: human bein. a flesh and blood is never
happy in life.
HIS BLOOD IS UP: he is angry. his blood was up, and with a
shout he dashed into the fight.
IN HOT BLOOD: in anger. he killed his son in hot boold.
IN THE BLOOD: part of one's nature. in hate cats, and so
did my father-it's in the blood
BLOT
BLOT OUT: is to erase. blot out what you have written on your
note book.
BLOT ON ONE'S SCUTCHEON: a disgrace. his treatment of his son
will always be a blot his scutcheon.
BLOW
BLOW OVER: to pass away. the storm will soon blow over.
BLOW OUT: extinguish. please blow out the lamp.
BLOW DOWN: to throw down by the force of the wind. the storm
blew several trees.
BLOW UP: to shatter. all his plans were blown up.
BLOW HOT AND COLD: to vacillate. pakistan attacked on while
indian blows hot and cold.
BLOW UPON: spoilt. she has good character for five years, but
she has been considerably blown upon since.
BLOW ONE'S OWN HORN TRUMPET: to praise oneself. it is not
good to blow one's own trumpet.
TO COME TO BLOWS: to come to fight. after their heated
discussion both the groups came to blows.
BLOW IT: to lose one's chance of success through one's own
fault. i had an oppurtunity to win the match, but i blew it by being
too impulsive.
STRIKE A BLOW FOR: to do something definite and noticeable
to help. the demonstrators said they were there to strike a blow for
freedom.
BLUE
ONCE IN A BLUE MOON: very seldom. he smokes once in a blue moon.
A BLUE STOCKING: a literary lady. jamuna is a blue stocking
of our college.
BLUE FUNK:extreme fear. he suffers from blue funk.
BLUE RIBBON:highest attainable honour or prize. that horse
won the derby- the blue ribbon of racing.
BLUE BLOOD: aristocratic ancestry. they may be poor, but
they have blue blood in their family.
A BLUE-EYED BOY: someone who is a favourite. he will get
promotion because he is the boss's blue-eyed boy.
THE BLUES: low spirits; depression. he has got the blues
today but he is usually cheerful.
MAKE THE AIR TURN BLUE: to swear strongly and at some
length. he fairly made the air turn blue when he hit his finger with
the hammer.
OUT OF THE BLUE: without warning. he arrived out of the
blue, without letting us know he was in the area.
SCREAM BLUE MURDER: to make a great deal of noise and
protest. every time the child wasput to bed he screamed blue murder.
TRUE BLUE: unchangingly faithful and loyal. you can rely on
ganesh becuase he is true blue.
BLUFF
CALL BLUFF: to demand that proves the genuineness of a
claim. we did not really believe he would sue us as he threatened , so
we called his bluff and published the story about him.
BLUNT
TO BLUNT THE EDGE OF: to weaken force. time blunt the edge of anger.
BLUSH
BLUSH FOR: i blush for the voices of my countrymen.
BLUSH AT: she blushed at the mention of her lover's name.
BOARD
TO SWEEP THE BOARD: to be all success. romesh has been
sweeping in the board in these days.
ABOVE BOARD: open and honourable; not secret, we must keep
the whole affair above board.
ACROSS THE BOARD: applying in all cases. they were awarded
wage increases across the board.
GO BY THE BOARD: to be abandoned; thrown aside. all his
plans went5 by the board whne he lost his job.
BOAT
TO SAIL IN THE SAME BOAT: similarly situated. husband and wife
both are sailing in the same boat.
TAKE BOAT: embark. they took boat for the london.
TO HAVE OAR IN EVERY ONE'S BOAT: to be a budy body. young men
mind only their own business and never try to have an oar in any
body's boat.
BURN ONE'S BOATS: to do something which makes it impossible
for one to return to one's former position. i have burnt my boats by
resigning , and i have not got another job.
ROCK THE BOAT:to do something which endangers a pleasant or
satisfactory situation in which one shares. we were alll doing very
well until he began rocking the boat by asking if our actions were
legal and morally justifiable.
BODY
BODY AND SOUL:wholly, entirely. he gave himself to the pursuit
of pleasure, body and soul.
IN A BODY: all together. the deputies arrived in body.
THE BODY POLITIC: the body politic is the collective body of a
nation as politically organised.
BOG
BOGGED DOWN: prevented from making progress. i am getting
bogged down in all this paper work.
BOIL
BOIL OVER: strangely enough. if you put on more fire the pot
will boil over.
BOIL UPON: begins to rise in boiling . water boils up.
TO KEEP THE POT BOILING: to secure means too live, it is
difficult to keep the pot boiling now-s days
TO BOIL DOWN : to reduce. the whole argument boils down to one
point namely.
CAME TO THE BOIL: to arrive at a critical state. things are
coming to the boil in the car industry, and a strike is imminent.
BOLD
MAKE BOLD TO: dare to. may i make bold to ask your name?
BOLT
A BOLT FROM THE BLUE: a sudden and entirely unexpected
disaster. pakistan's attack on india was a bolt from the blue.
A BOLTHOLE: a place into which a person can escape . there is
a secret bolthole behind this wall so that we can escape.
BOLT UPRIGHT: absolutely upright. she sat blot upright in the
chair with her back very straight.
HAVE SHOT ONE'S BOLT: to be unable to do more than one has
done. the congressman have shot their bolt.
BOMB
A BOMBSHELL:a piece of startling and often very bad news. his
resignation was a real bombshell.
GO LIKE A BOMB: to move very fast; to sell extremely well; to
be very successful. my car goes like a bomb.
MAKE A BOMB: to make or earn a great deal of money. he made a
bomb when he sold his house to a film-star.
BONE
A BONE OF CONTENTION: cause of dispute/quarrel. kashmir issue
is the bone of contention between india and pakistan.
A BONE TO PICK: blame. i have no bone to pick you in
connection with your unpunctuality.
TO THE BONE: penetrating. he is a minister to the bone.
BONE OF CONTENTION: dispute. the property was the bone of
ccontention between the brothers.
TO MAKE OLD BONES: to live long.may youmake old bones.
MAKE NO BONES OF: have no scruples about. many men do not
make bones of their morals.
TO PICK A BONE WITH SOMEONE: to dispute. i donot want to pick
a bone with anyone.
AS DRY AS A BONE: completely dry. 'is the ground wet?''no, it
is as dry as a bone.'
THE BARE BONES:the essential facts. he only had time to tell
me the bare bone of his schemes.
BONE IDLE: very lazy. he could find a job but he is bone idle.
FEEL IN ONE'S BONES: to know by instinct, without having any
proof. everything seemed to be going well, but i could feel in my
bones that something was wrong.
NEAR THE BONE: referring too closely to something which
should not be mentioned ; rather indecent. i donot think he realised
how near the bone some of his remarks were.
TO THE BONE: the roughly and completely; to the minimum. i
was chilled to the bone.
BOOK
IN THE GOOD BOOKS OF : to be in favour. he is in the good
books of his officers,
TO BRING TO BOOK: to be in disfavour; to call to account. the
guilty must be brought to book,its proper law is to be maintained in
social life.
IN THE BAD BOOKS OF: to be in disfavour. he is in the bad
books of his officers.
SUIT ONE'S BOOK:agree with one's plans. that arrangement
will suit my book very well indeed.
TO SPEAK LIKE A BOOK:informal praise. a teacher speaks like a book.
TAKE A LEAF OUT OF ANOTHER'S BOOK:to profit by another's
example. it is time for young men to take a leaf out of their elder's
books.
TALK LIKE A BOOK: to talk bookishly. do not talk like a book
before me, let me know your mind.
WITHOUT BOOK: from memory; unauthorisedly. the judge talked
without book.
A BOOK WORM: a person who reads a lot. he is a real book worm
as he reads ten books a week.
BY THE BOOK: strictly according to the rules. she will never
be sacked because she always does things by the book.
A CLOSED BOOK: a subject which one knows nothing about or
does not understand. iam afraid economics is a closed book to me.
GET ONE'S BOOKS: to be dismissed form one's job. when it was
discovered that mohan never did any work, he got his books at once.
IN MY BOOK: in my opinion. in my book your behavour was
perfectly justified.
AN OPEN BOOK: something which can be understood easily. his
intentions and plans are always an open book to people who know him.
READ LIKE A BOOK: to understand completely someone's
character. he thinks he deceives his wife with his lies,but she can
read him like a book.
THROW THE BOOK AT: to reprimand or punish severely. he will
throw the book at you if he finds out how you got this information.
BOOT
BOOT IS ON THE OTHER LEG: the tables are tuned; the
responsibility is now the other way. he can not be blamed, the boot is
one the other leg now.
DIE IN ONE'S BOOTS: die in action. my sister died with her boots on.
GET THE BOOT: get dismissed. the dishonest employees got the boot.
HAVE ONE'S HEART ON ONE'S BOOT: to have lost courage. the
sub-inspector had his heart in his boots.
LIKE OLD BOOTS: vigorously. he worked like the old boots.
TO BE GIVEN THE BOOT:to be dismissed. he has been given the
boot from the service.
TO MAKE BOOT OF: to profit. the new policy of the goverment is
going to punish those who are making boots by charging higher prices.
TO BOOT: in addition, also. she is beautiful and wealthy to boot.
GIVE THE BOOT: to dismiss. mohan was late so often that the
boss eventually gave him the boot.
LICK BOOTS: to flattrer and do everything he or she wants. she
will not join in our campaign for higher wages becuase she is always
to anxious to like the boss's boots.
BORN
A BORN SAILOR:one who seems naturally gifted for doing the
job in question. ashok is a born sailor.
TO BE BORN WITH A SILVER SPOON IN ONE'S MOUTH: to be a rich
man's child. mohan was bron with a silver spoon in his mouth.
TO BE BORN UNDER A LUCKY STAR:to be lucky by birth. some
people are born under a lucky star.
IN ALL MY BORN DAYS: in my life. i never saw such a thing
in all my born days.
BOSOM
A BOSOM FRIEND: fast friend. ram and krishan are my bosom friends.
TO TAKE TO ONE'S BOSOM: to marry. who would not like to
take to his bossom a lovely girl?
BOTTLE
BOTTLE UP: suppress. he bottled up his anger and said nothing.
OVER THE BOTTLES: while drinking. we will discuss the
matter over the bottle.
A BOTTLE NECK: a place where slowing down or stopping of
progress occurs. there is a bottle neck where the motorway ends and
the ordinary roads begins.
HIT THE BOTTLE: to begin to drink too much alcohol. when
his wife dies he really hit the bottle and was never really sober for
a fortnight.
ON THE BOTTLE: in the habit of drinking too much alcohol.
he was late for work so often that his boss began to wonder of he
wason the bottle.
BOTTOM
TO BE AT THE BOTTOM OF: to be the real cause. who is at
the bottom of this quarrel.
STAND ON ONE'S OWN BOTTOM: to be independent. you learn
to stand on your own bottom.
FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE HEART: from the very heart. i
love sadhana from the bottom of the heart.
AT BOTTOM: in reality. at bottom, mohan is really a very
shy person.
BET ONE'S BOTTOM DOLLAR: to bet everything one has. i
would bet my bottom dollar that he gets paid more than you do.
GET TO THE BOTTOM OF: to discover the explanation of the
real facts of . i will get to the bottom of this affair if it takes me
a year.
BOTTOMLESS PIT: hell. let the wicked got to the bottomless pit.
TOUCH BOTTOM: reach the lowest point. goodwill of the
opposition party has touched the bottom.
BOUND
OUT OF BOUNDS:out of limits. all the hotels are out of
bounds for the troops.
WITHIN BOUNDS: within the officials boundary. she could
never keep her temper within bounds.
BY LEAPS AND BOUNDS: with startling speed. he succeeds in
his plan by leaps and bounds.
TO BOUND FOR: proceeding towads its destination. this train
is bound for bombay.
BOW
DRAW THE BOW: shoot arrow. he drew long bow.
TO DRAW THE LONG BOW: to exaggerate. politicians always draw the bow.
TO ONE'S BOW: an alternative, a second plan in case the
first should fail. if i cannot borrow the money from mother, i have
another string to bow father.
BOWING ACQUAINTANCE: a slight acquaintance. although i have a
bowing acquaintance with him, i feel i shall be able to convinvce him
to offer you a suitable job.
ON THE BOW HAND:wide of the mark. he did his best but his
efforts were on the bow hand.
TO MAKE ONE'S BOW: to retire gracefully. the common fault of
many leaders is that they never want to make their bow once they
become ministers.
BOWED DOWN WITH: worried or troubled by having to deal
with. minister was bound down with the responsibility of governing the
country.
BOW OUT: to leave or cease to take part in a situation. he
realised that the situation was getting very difficult and decided
that it was time to bow out.
TAKE A BOW: to accept and show that one appreciates
applause or recognition. in this article the man behind the new
development plan take a bow and explains how the idea came to him .
BOWL
BOWLED OVER: over turned, knocked down. when i heard the
news i was completely bowled over.
BOWWOW
BOWWOW: a threatening pose; a full-mouthed literary style.
in dealing with a strong opponent, a mere bowwow will not help you.
BOX
IN THE SAME BOX:in similar condition. ram and sham trying
to find a hotel for the night and we are in the same box.
IN THE WRONG BOX:in a false position. he is in the wrong
box now-a-days.
TO BE IN THE BOX: to be in a fix. he is in the box now-a-days
BOX AND COX: two people who never meet and are never in the
same place at the same time. the night watchman and the caretaker here
are box and cox becuase when one arrrives the other goes home.
BOY
BOY FRIEND: a girl's favourite male companio for the time
being. every nice gril should have a nice boy friend.
BRAIN
CUDGEL ONE'S BRAIN:think hard. i have cudgelled by brain,
but cannot find a solution for the problems.
MAKE ONE'S BRAINS: stagger one mentally. the number of
stars now visible to astronomers makes one's brain reel.
BRAIN CHILD:a favourite theory; invention. this entire
process is dr bhabha's brain child.
THE BRAIN DRAIN: the loss of experts to another country.
as a result of the brain drain india does not have enough doctores.
A BRAIN STORM: a sudden mental disturbance. rakesh had a
brainstorm and murdered his wife.
BRAIN WASH: to force to obey; confirm; confess by putting
great pressure on him or her. the terrorists brain washed him into
believing in their ideals.
A BRAIN WAVE:a sudden good idea. it was a brainwave to
come heere for our holidays.
HAVE ON THE BRAIN: to be unable to forget about; to think
about anything else. amit has football on the brain and talk about it
all the time.
PICK BRAINS:to ask questions in order to get ideas from
him which one can use oneself. you might be able to help me with this
problem as can i come and pick your brains for a minute?
RACK ONE'S BRAINS: to exert one's mind greatly. he racked
his brains for the answers.
BRAIN FAG: a tired condition of the brain ornerve. every
one suffers from brain fag fater a hard day's work.
BRAIN TRUST: a committee of experts. all india radio has a
brains trust to speak on the national problems.
TO BLOW OUT ONE'S BRAIN: to shoot to kill. during the war
the soldiers are ordered to blow out one's brain.
BRAN
BRAN OR BRAND NEW:absolutely new. what do you think of my
brand new car.
BRANCH
ROOT AND BRANCH: thorough; thoroughly.he uprooted the cause
of distresss root and branch.
BRAND
BRAND FROM THE BURNING:one snatched out of a pressing
danger. his life was brand from the burning when his friend came to
his help.
BRASS
BRASS FARTHING: a whit. the father refused to give a brass
farthing to his son.
BRASS TACKS: the details of practical business. you must
understand the brass tacks before you can be promoted to a higher job.
AS BOLD AS BRASS:very bold. anil walked in late as bold as brass.
HAVE THE BRASS NECK TO: to be sufficiently shameless and
impudent. shobha had the brass neck to suggest that i should resign.
TOP BRASS: people of the highest rank. he spend a lot of
money on entertaining the top brass.
BRAVE
PUT ON A BRAVE FRONT: to pretend that things are going
well and that one is perfectly happy. shashi puts on a brave front ,
but i know she is dreadfully worried.
BRAZEN
BRAZEN-FACED: shameless. there are more and more
brazen-faced boys in the schools and offices.
BREACH
BREACH OF PROMISE: often used for the breach of the
promise of marriage. the suresh's father is responsible for the breach
of promose.
BREACH OF THE PEACE: a violation of the public peace by
riot. bad characters are responsible for the breach of the peace in
the city.
BREACH
WEAR THE BREACHES: said of a wife, to be master. my wife
does indeed wear the breaches in the hose.
BREAD
BREAD AND BUTTER: livelihood. everyone struggles for
bread and butter.
BREAD WINNER:the person whose earnings support the
family. sham's father was an invalid, and his mother became the bread
winner.
KNOW WHICH SIDE ONE'S BREAD IS BUTTERED: to know one's
interest. an intelligent person knows which side his bread is
buttered.
BREAD BUTTERED ON BOTH SIDES: very fortunate
circumstances. the sons of millionairs find bread buttered on both
sides.
BREAD STUDY: any branch of study taken up as a means
of earning one's livelihood. most of the education today is mere bread
study.
ON THE BREAD LINE: with barely enoug money to live on .
the widow and her children were living in the bread line.
TAKE THE BREAD OUT OF ONE'S MOUTH: to deprive one of
one's mreans of living. if you dismiss rakesh from job, you take the
bread out of his mouth.
BREAK
TO BREAK THE ICE:to make a beginning. after a long
silence; mr.madan broke the icy by talking about his marriage.
TO BREAK NEWS: to convey a bad news. he had at last to
break the news of the death of his mother to him.
BREAK AWAY: is to free oneself. you held the horse by
the bridle, but he reared and broke away.
BREAK INTO:to enter forcibly. do you think any man has a
right to break into his neighbour's house?
BREAK OPEN: is to open with force. he broke open the box
and carried off its contents.
BREAK JOURNEY: interrupt it by stopping at some point
on the way. we are breaking our journey at ambala for one day.
BREAK LOOSE: escape. the horse broke loose from its chain.
BREAK THE RECORD:surpass alll previous performances. old
ramu broke the record in our city by living to 105
TO BREAK A FLY ON THE WHEEL: waste powers. the goverment
should not break a fly upon the wheel.
BREAK A JEST: to utter a jest ; cut a joke. mahatma
gandhi quite often broke a jest.
BREAK cOVER:to break awayfrom concealment. at an
opportune moment the soldiers break cover and attack their foe.
BREAK DOWN: to demolish ; collapse; fail completely. in
times of emergency all controls tend to break down.
:
BREAK EVEN: to avoid lloss but fail to gain. the parties
have broken even in the bargain.
BREAK FORTH: burst forth. nature breaks forth in spring.
BREAK GROUND: to lead in something. the labourers have
broken the ground for new work.
BREAK NO SQUARES:make no difference to ; do no harm;
matter little.your speech breaks no square in the goverment policy.
BREAK OFF: to detach by breaking; to put an abrupt end
to; to leave off abruptly. the anita has broken off with the family.
BREAK ONE'S MIND: to communicate one's idea to someone.
at last the mother broke her mind to the son.
BREAK OUT: appear-suddenly. plague has broken out in the city.
BREAK THE HEART: to crush with defeat. the death of my
brother has broken my heart.
BREAK UPON THE WHEEL: to punish severely. the rebels
were broken upon the wheel.
TO BREAK IN: enter a building by force. the thieves were
arrested outside the bank as they were breaking in.
BREAK OUT: to appear, fire boke out in the city. cholera
broke out in the city.
TO BREAK WITH: to cease to be friendly with. i have
entirely broken with the company.
BREAK THROUGH: impediment. the sun broke through the clouds.
:
BREAK UP: break into small pieces, met,end destroy, the
meeting broken up in great confusion.
BREAK DOWN: to stop working: to have bad health. the
train broke down . due to overwork his health broke down.
BREAST
MAKE A CLEAN BREAST: confess all . the murderer made a clean
breast of his enemies.
BREATH
UNDER ONE'S BREATH: whisper. "i love him", she said under her breath.
TAKE AWAY ONE'S BREATH: leave one breathless through intense
astonishment, delight. your offer is so generous that it takes my
breath away.
IN THE SMAE BREATH: on the same time. . he told me he was a
communist , and in the same breath cheered the king.
WITH ONE'S LAST BREATH: to the last. i would maintain with my
last breath that she is innocent.
THE BREATH OF ONE'S NOSTRILS: absolutely necessary. the indian
man demands freedom; it is the breath of his nostrils.
BELOW ONE'S BREATH: in a whisper. they talked below their breath.
GET ONE'S BREATH:to regain the ability to breathe properly. if
you want me to climb the rest of the hill you will have to give me
time to get my breath back.
HOLD ONE'S BREATH: to stop breathing. atul held his breath as
he watched the daring acrobat.
WASTE ONE'S BREATH: to say something which is not heeded. i do
not know why i bother talking to you as i am just wasting my brath.
ABOVE ONE'S BREATH: aloud. please speak above your breath.
CATCH THE BREATH: stop breathing for a moment. yogis can catch
the breath.
OUT OF BREATH : tired after running. i was out of breath after
catching the bus.
TAKE BREATH: rest. please take your breath before you talk.
SPEND ONE'S BREATH: talk profitlessly. why are you spending
your breath.
WITH BATED BREATH: with wonder. the boys listened to the
teacher with bated breath.
BREATHE
TO BREATHE ONE'S LAST: to die. shastri ji breathed his last in 1966.
NOT TO BREATHE A SYLLABLE: keep secret. i promised not to
breathe a syllable about what he tole me.
BREATHE AGAIN: to be relieved from anxiety. after the
result, sohan is breathing again.
BREATHE FREELY: to be at ease. in my house you can breathe freeely.
BREATHE UPON: to tarnish the name of. your action breathes
upon your father.
BREATHING DOWN NECK: close behind. l ran a fast race, but he
was breathing down my neck all the way.
A BREATHING -SPACE: a short time in which one can have a
rest. i have only a breathing spece of ten minutes before my next
appointment.
BREED
BREEDING-IN-AND-IN:breeding from near relatives. there is
no breeding in and in among the hindus.
BREEZE
BREEZE UP:to freshen. let us breeze up in a garden.
BRIBERY
BRIBERY OATH: an oath taken by an elector that he has not
voted for bribe. nobody is asked to bribery oath because every body is
taking bribes.
BRIEF
IN BRIEF: in short. please discribe the matter in brief.
HOLD NO BRIEF FOR : not to have any reason to support.
contrary to what you obviously think, i hold no brief for any extremis
organisation.
TAKE A BRIEF: to accept a case. the lawyer has accepted my brief.
THE BRIEF AND LONG: total story. the brief and long is that
the doctor killed my brother.
TO BE BRIEF: in a few words. to be brief, i am too busy to
meet dr chandra.
BRIC
BRIC- A-BRAC: old curiosities. the almirah of neeta is full
of bric-a-brac.
BRICK
COME DOWN LIKE A HUNDRED OF BRICKS: blame severely. the
officers came down on me like a hundred of brinks for leaving the door
of the safe open.
BRICK UP:cave. there was once a windoww but it has been
bricked up for centuries.
LIKE A TON OF BRICKS : heavily and promptly. the death of my
brother fell on me like a ton to bricks.
:
TO DROP A BRICK: to make a horrifying blunder in speech or
action. the speaker dropped a brick when he addressed the chairman as
'honourable minister'.
IN WITH THE BRICKS: having been in a place since the
beginning. the tenis club cannot get rid of their treasurer, even
although she is not very good , because she is in with the bricks.
TRY TO MAKE BRICKS WITHOUT STRAW: to try to do a piece of work
without the materials necessary for it. trying to prepape a staticall
report with the scanty information available was like trying to make
bricks without straw.
BRIDGE
CROSS A BRIDGE WHEN ONE COMES TO IT: not to bother about
a problem tha is going to arise in the futureuntil it actually
afffects one. once we get the money we will have to work out how it is
to be allocated, but we will cross that bridge when we come to it.
BRIGHT
BRIGHT AND EARLY:early; in good time. on the day of the
wedding she was up bright and early.
A BRIGHT SPARK : a very lively , cheerful person. i have
met his daughter who is a bright spark.
LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE: to be hopeful and consider the
best features of something. you must look on the bright side as after
all, you still have a job.
BRING
TO BRING INTO PLAY: to make use of. we must work hard to
bring into play the best in us.
TO BRING FORTH: to produce. a good action will bring forth
good result.
BRING TO MIND: to recollect. i fail to bring to mind my old
associations with him.
BRING ABOUT : bring to pass. it was gambling that brought
about his ruin.
BRING UP THE REAR: follow at the need. polilce men on horse
back brought up the rear.
BRING TO BEAR: concentrate one's efforts with some special
object. she brought to bear her charm.
BRING TO BOOK: to punish.the cashier was caught and brought to book.
BRING OFF: is to convey away; also; rescue. a life boat goes
to sinking ship and brings off alll the people.
TO BRING DOWN THE HOUSE: to elicit tumultous-applause. the
speech of shastri brought the house down.
BRING FORWARD: to produce or introduce to notice. the
proposal he brought forward seemed a foolish one.
BRING IN: to collect. how much will the action bring in , do
you suppose?
BRING UP: educate. he was very will brought-up.
:
BRING WORD: convey infromation. our servant will bring word
when i am ready.
BRING ON: cause to begin. his trouble may bring on a serious illness.
BRING ROUND: to persuade. it was after great difficulties
that i was able to bring round my wife to my view point.
BRING TO: to bring back to consciousness. these
smelling-salts will bring him to.
BRING DOWN: to humbble; to shout; to overthrow; to lower. do
not bring down your friends.
BRING DOWN THE HOUSE: to call forth a general burst of
applause. prithvi raj kapoor brought down the house.
BRING HOME: prove. the teacher brought home the point to the
students.
BRING OUT: to make clear. please bring out the meaning of your poem.
BRING OVER: convert. you cannot bring me over to communism
by violence.
BRING UNDER: subdue. the chair person failed to bring the
members under.
TO BRING TO MIND: to recall. please bring to mind, i paid
you rupees ten last sunday.
TO BRING TO LIGHT: to make known . the commission has
brought to light alll the facts.
BRISTLE
BRISTLE WITH: to be full of. the warship was bristling with guns.
BROAD
TO BROAD-MINDED: to be ready to allow others to think as
they choose without criticising them. her parents are broad-minded and
allow her to come home very late.
IN BROAD DAY LIGHT: during the day. he did not expect to
be robbed in broad day light.
BROKEN
BROKEN HEARTED: crushed in grief. having lost his son, he
fell broken hearted.
A BROKEN HOME: the home of children whose parents are
divorced. she comes from a broken home.
:
A BROKEN RACED:a person who is too weak to be depended on.
ramesh had promised to help her get a job, but he proved to be a
broken reed and was of no help at all.
BROKEN MAN: ill, bankrupt. it is not good to be a broken man.
BROOD
BROOD ON: to must on. you should not brood on your misfortunes.
BROOM
NEW BROOMS KEEP CLEAN : peoplek newly appointed to a
position work conscientiously. many new brooms sweep clean.
TO MARRY OVER THE BROOM-STICK: to go through an irregular
form of marriage. the boy and the girl married over the broom stick.
BROTH
BROTH OF A BOY : the quintessence of a good fellow.
jagdish has the broth of a boy.
BROTHER
BROTHER GERMAN: one having both parents in common. tara
singh is my brother-german.
BROWBEAT
BROWBEAT: to bear down with stern looks, the boss quite
often browbeats the employees.
BROWN
BROWN STUDY: gloom; sadness. anil was often found in brown study.
BROWNED OFF:bored. i feel really browned off in this wet weather.
BRUSH
BRUSH AWAY: to put aside. unless you brush away his
weakness you cannot make him change.
BRUSH UP:revive, freshen . please read the book' brush up
your english' by amber choudhary.
BRUSH ASIDE: to pay no attention to. she brushed aside my objections.
BRUSH UP ON: to refresh one's knowledge of. i must brush up
on british history.
GET THE BRUSH OFF: to reject or be rejected abruptly. she
gave me the brush-off when i asked heer to go to the cinama.
BUBBLE
BUBBLE OVER: to be angry. my child bubbled over her pocket money.
TO PRICK THE BUBBLE: to destroy an illusion. defeat and
death prick the bubble of life.
BUCK
BUCK UP: cheer up. buck up; you are winning the game.
PASS THE BUCK: to shift the responsibility to someone
else. the opposition party tries to pass the buck to the ruling party
over inflation and rising prices.
BUCKET
COME DOWN IN BUCKET: to be raining heavily. i cannot
drive iin this rain as it is coming down in bucket.
GIVE THE BUCKET:to dismiss. the dishonest employee was
given the bucket.
KICK THE BUCKET: die. many a dozen friends have kicked
the bucket in 1975.
WEEP BUCKETS: to weep a great deal. she wept buckets when
she watched the sad film.
BUD
NIP IN THE BUD: to destroy in its very beginning, it is
always desirable to nip the evil in the bud.
BUFF
IN THE BUFF: unclothed; nude.the doctor examined the
patient in the buff.
BUG
GET THE BUG:to be taken with great enthusiasm. he has got
the acting bug.
BUGGINS
BUGGINGS TURN: one's turn to be promoted according to
some mechanical system, not on merit. he only became chairman of the
committee on the principle of buggin's turn.
BUILD
TO BUILD CASTLES IN THE AIR: to plaiin visionary and
impossible. please do not build castle in the air.
BUILD UPON: met, rely upon. he makes many promises but
it isnot safe to build upon them.
BUILD UP:to cover with buildings. rajouri garden has now
been built up.
BULGE
TO GET THE BULGE ON: to get a decided advantage over
another. it is not easy to get the bulge on the ruling party.
BULL
A BULL IN THE CHINA SHOP: one who lacks the delecacy of
the situation calls for. in high society,a villager is like a bull
inthe china shop.
BULL INTO: plunge hastily. do not bull into high places.
HIT THE BULL'S EYE: to make a remark. as far as christmas
presetns were concerned, the family agreed that aunt helen had hit the
bull's eye by giving them a sledge.
TAKE A BULL BY THE HORNS: grapple firmly with a danger or
difficulty. if you are in trouble,always take the bull by horns.
BULLET
BITE THE BULLET: to accept something unpleasant but
unavoidable as bravely as possible. he disliked being indebted to
someone he despised, but he was obliged to bite on the bullet.
GET THE BULLET: to be dismissed. if you are late for
work again you will get the bullet.
BULLY
BULLY FOR YOU: good for you.' the boss is allowing anne
time off to have her hair done'. 'bully for her! what about the rest
of us?
BUM
A BUM STEER: a false. that exclusive story he promised
the newspapers turned out to be a bum steer.
GIVE THE BUM'S RUSH: to get rid of; force them to leave.
when they found out that she was a member of a terrorist organisation,
her employers gave her the bun's rush
BUMP
BUMP INTO: to meet by accident. i bumped into him the
other day in the street.
BUMP OFF: to kill. the hero got bumped off half way
through the play.
BUMP UP: to raise; to increase the size of. they have
bumped up their charges to make an extra profit.
BUN
HAVE A BUN IN THE OVEN:to be pregnant. he had to get
married because his girl friend had to a bun in the oven.
BUNDLE
GO A BUNDLE ON: to like or be enthusiastic about. i did
not go a bundle on her taste in interior decoration at it swas very
avant-garde.
BUNK
DO A BUNK: to go away in a hurry. when he realised the
police were after him, he did a bunk with quite alot of the company's
money.
BURDEN
THE BURDEN OF PROOF: the responsibility for proving. the
burden of proof rests with you.
BURN
BURN OUT:transitively. i watched the fire till it all burnt out.
TO BURN DAY LIGHT: to light candle before it is dark.
this fellow burns day light by lying in bed in the morning.
TO BURN THE CANDLE AT BOTH ENDS: to waste money or
health. many men burn the candle at the both ends.
THE BURNING QUESTION: a question of interest to and
eagerly discussed by many people. the burning question in the office
was who was to be the next manager.
A BURNT OFFERING: a meal which has been burnt. his
husband ate his way through many burnt offerings before she finally
learned to cook.
BURN A HOLE IN ONE'S POCKET: to be anxious to spend
money quickly. a hundred rupee note burns a hole in the pocket of a
youngster.
BURN ONE'S BOATS: to stake everything on success. if you
want to win a victory against heavy odds, burn your boats behind you.
BURN THE MIDNIGHT OIL: to work hard at studies. many
students burn the midnight oil near the examination.
TO BURN ONE'S FINGERS: to suffer from interfering in
others affairs. confine to your work and do not burn your fingers.
BURST
BURST OUT:crying. he burst out like a child.
BURST FORTH: as flames. tears, such as angels weep, burst forth.
TO BURST INTO TEARS: to fall crying. on seeing her son
injured sita burst into tears.
BURY
BURY THE HATCHET: to renounce enmity. india and pakistan
have buried the hatchet.
BUS
A BUSMAN'S HOIDAY: a holiday spent doing something
similar to what one doesin one's job. the joiner spent a busman's
holiday building a fitted wardrobe in his bedroom.
LIKE THE BACK END OF A BUS:very unattaractive. he is
quite good-looking, but his wife has a face like the back end of a
bus.
BUSH
BEAT ABOUT THE BUSH: to go round about anything. if you
need money ask for it. there is no use beating about the bush.
BUSH TELEGRAPH: the fast spreading of information by
word of mouth. the bush telegraph in our office is the most effective
way of spreading news.
BUSINESS
HAVE NO BUSINESS: have no right. you have no business
to go into that house.
GO OUT OF THE BUSINESS: cease to trade. my uncle had a
book's shop, but he went out of business after the war.
THE BUSINESS END: the effective end. the thief attacked
me, but i knocked him down with the business end of a broom.
THE BUSINESS END:the end or part that actually does the
work. he prised open the tin with the business end of a screw driver.
MEAN BUSINESS: to intend to do something serious and
business like. i could see from the expression on her face as she came
in that she meant business.
MAKE IT ONE'S BUSINESS: to make to do something or see
it done. he has made pulling down his competitors his business, these
days.
MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS: do your work and do not meddle
with others. will you please mind your own business.
SEND ABOUT ONE'S BUSINESS:dismiss. if you misbeahve , i
will send you about your business.
BUT
BUT AND A BEN:a two roomed house. he lived in a but and a ben.
LIVE BUT AND BEN: live respectively in those rooms; in
close neighbourhood with anyone. for many years she lived but and ben
in her village.
BUTT
BUTT IN: interpose. when i am speaking, do not butt in.
BUTTER
BUTTER ONE'S WORDS: speak with flattery. please do not
butter your words when you speak to me.
BUTTER FINGERS: a person who often drops things that he
is carrying . come on, butter fingers, see if you can catch this.
BIUTTER UP: to flatter because one wants him to do
something for one. he is always buttering up the boss because he
wants promotion.
LOOK AS IF BUTTER WOULD NOT MELT IN ONE'S MOUTH: to
appear very innocent. she sat there looking as if butter would not
melt in her mouth, and i think i was the only person who knew thatshe
was responsibsle for the whole mix up.
BUTTERFLY
HAVE BUTTERFLIES: to feel a fluttering sensation in one's
insides as a result of nervouness.she always get butterflies before
she goes on stage.
BUTTON
AS BRIGHT AS A BUTTON:very intelligent and alert. they
have just bought a fox terrier puppy which is very active and as
bright as a button.
BUTTONED UP: successfully arranged; safely in one's
possession. the negotiations were all completed and we seemed to have
the whole project buttoned up.
BUTTONHOLE: to catch attention and hold him in
conversation. he buttonholed me and began telling me the story of his
life.
BUY
BUY IN : purchase at an auction-sale on behalf of the
seller. there were no bargains at the sale; all the best lots were
bought in.
BUY OFF: to bribe. the gangster's friends bought off the
police witness.
BUY AND SELL: to traffic in. dr dube is buying and selling politics.
BUY OFF: to get rid of by bribery. the prisoner bought off
his release.
BUY OFF,OUT: to dispossess entirely by payment. he bought
out the rented house.
BUY UP:to buy the entire stock. he bought up the entire company.
BY
BY HIMSELF:alone. i spent all the day by my self.
BY AND BY: soon. we will meet again by and by.
BY AND LARGE: mostly;considering everything together.
things are going quite will, by and large.
BY DINT OF : by virtue of. by dint of hard work he secured
first position in the university.
BY THE BY: by the way; incidentally. by the by, what is your name?
BY THE WAY: in passing. by the way, how much money have you
in your pocket.
LET BY GONES BE BYGONES:let the past be forgotten . i would
very much appreciate if you will please let bygones be bygones and
talk about the present only.
BUZZ
A BUZZ WORD: an impressive-sounding but often nearly
meaningless word used as part of the jargon of a particular subbject.
interface, is a popular buzz word among the pseudo intellectuals at
the moment.
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