[bitch] See: SON OF A BITCH.

[bite] See: BARK WORSE THAN ONE’S BITE, PUT THE BITE ON, ONCE BITTEN, TWICESHY at BURNT CHILD DREADS THE FIRE.

[bite off more than one can chew]{v. phr.}, {informal} To try todo more than you can; be too confident of your ability. •/He bit off morethan he could chew when he agreed to edit the paper alone./ •/He started torepair his car himself, but realized that he had bitten off more than he couldchew./

[bite one’s head off]{v. phr.} To answer someone in great anger;answer furiously. •/I’m sorry to tell you that I lost my job, but that’s noreason to bite my head off!/

[bite one’s lips]{v. phr.} To force oneself to remain silent and notto reveal one’s feelings. •/I had to bite my lips when I heard my boss givethe wrong orders./

[bite the dust]{v. phr.}, {informal} 1. To be killed in battle.•/Captain Jones discharged his gun and another guerrilla bit the dust./ 2.To fall in defeat; go down before enemies; be overthrown; lose. •/Our teambit the dust today./

[bite the hand that feeds one]{v. phr.} To turn against or hurt ahelper or supporter; repay kindness with wrong. •/He bit the hand that fedhim when he complained against his employer./

[bitter] See: TO THE BITTER END.

[bitter pill]{n.} Something hard to accept; disappointment. •/Jackwas not invited to the party and it was a bitter pill for him./

[black] See: BLACK AND WHITE, IN THE BLACK, LOOK BLACK, POT CALLS THEKETTLE BLACK.

[black and blue]{adj.} Badly bruised. •/Poor Jim was black and blueafter he fell off the apple tree./

[black and white]{n. phr.} 1. Print or writing; words on paper, notspoken; exact written or printed form. •/He insisted on having the agreementdown in black and white./ •/Mrs. Jones would not believe the news, so Mr.Jones showed her the article in the newspaper and said, "There it is in blackand white."/ 2. The different shades of black and white of a simple picture,rather than other colors. •/He showed us snapshots in black and white./

[black-and-white]{adj.} Divided into only two sides that are eitherright or wrong or good or bad, with nothing in between; thinking or judgingeverything as either good or bad. •/Everything is black-and-white to Bill; ifyou’re not his friend, you are his enemy./ •/The old man’s religion showshis black-and-white thinking; everything is either completely good orcompletely bad./

[black day]{n.} A day of great unhappiness; a disaster. •/It was ablack day when our business venture collapsed./

[black eye]{n.} 1. A dark area around one’s eye due to a hard blowduring a fight, such as boxing. •/Mike Tyson sported a black eye after thebig fight./ 2. Discredit. •/Bob’s illegal actions will give a black eye tothe popular movement he started./

[blackout]{n.} 1. The darkening of a city curing an air raid bypulling down all curtains and putting out all street lights. •/The city ofLondon went through numerous blackouts during World War II./ 2. A cessationof news by the mass media. •/There was a total news blackout about thekidnapping of the prime minister./

[black out]{v.} 1. To darken by putting out or dimming lights, •/Insome plays the stage is blacked out for a short time and the actors speak indarkness./ •/In wartime, cities are blacked out to protect against bombingfrom planes./ 2. To prevent or silence information or communication; refuseto give out truthful news. •/In wartime, governments often black out all newsor give out false news./ •/Dictators usually black out all criticism of thegovernment./ •/Some big games are blacked out on television to people wholive nearby./ 3. {informal} To lose consciousness; faint. •/It had beena hard and tiring day, and she suddenly blacked out./

[black sheep]{n.} A person in a family or a community consideredunsatisfactory or disgraceful. •/My brother Ted is a high school dropout whojoined a circus; he is the black sheep in our family./

[blame] See: TO BLAME.

[blank check]{n.} 1. A bank check written to a person who can thenwrite in how much money he wants. •/John’s father sent him a blank check topay his school bills./ 2. {informal} Permission to another person to doanything he decides to do. •/The teacher gave the pupils a blank check toplan the picnic./

[blanket] See: WET BLANKET.

[blast off]{v.} 1. To begin a rocket flight. •/The astronaut willblast off into orbit at six o’clock./ 2. Also [blast away] {informal}To scold or protest violently. •/The coach blasted off at the team for poorplaying./

[blaze a trail]{v. phr.} 1. To cut marks in trees in order to guideother people along a path or trail, especially through a wilderness. •/DanielBoone blazed a trail for other hunters to follow in Kentucky./ 2. To lead theway; make a discovery; start something new. •/Henry Ford blazed a trail inmanufacturing automobiles./ •/The building of rockets blazed a trail toouter space./ See: TRAILBLAZER.

[bleep out] See: BLIP OUT.

[bless one’s heart]{v. phr.} To thank someone; consider one the causeof something good that has happened. •/Aunt Jane, bless her heart, left mehalf a million dollars!/

[blessing] See: MIXED BLESSING.

[blind] See: FLY BLIND.

[blind alley]{n.} 1. A narrow street that has only one entrance and noexit. •/The blind alley ended in a brick wall./ 2. A way of acting thatleads to no good results. •/John did not take the job because it was a blindalley./ •/Tom thought of a way to do the algebra problem, but he found itwas a blind alley./

[blind as a bat/beetle/mole/owl]{adj. phr.} Anyone who is blind or hasdifficulty in seeing; a person with very thick glasses. •/Without my glassesI am blind as a bat./

[blind date]{n.} An engagement or date arranged by friends for peoplewho have not previously known one another. •/A blind date can be a hugesuccess, or a big disappointment./

[blind leading the blind] One or more people who do not know or understandsomething trying to explain it to others who do not know or understand.•/Jimmy is trying to show Bill how to skate. The blind are leading theblind./

[blind spot]{n.} 1. A place on the road that a driver cannot see inthe rearview mirror. •/I couldn’t see that truck behind me, Officer, becauseit was in my blind spot./ 2. A matter or topic a person refuses to discuss oraccept. •/My uncle Ted has a real blind spot about religion./

[blink] See: ON THE BLINK.

[blip out] or [bleep out] {v. phr.}, {informal} To deleteelectronically a word on television or on radio either because it mentions thename of an established firm in a commercial or because it is a censored wordnot allowed for television audiences, resulting in a sound resembling the word"bleep." •/What was the old product they compared Spic-n-Span to? — I don’tknow; they’ve bleeped it out./

[blitz] See: SAFETY BLITZ.

[block] See: CHIP OFF THE OLD BLOCK, KNOCK ONE’S BLOCK OFF, ON THE BLOCK.

[blockhead]{n.}, {informal} An unusually dense, or stupid personwhose head is therefore exaggeratedly compared to a solid block of wood.•/Joe is such a blockhead that he flunked every course as a freshman./