[blow up in one’s face]{v. phr.}, {informal} To fail completelyand with unexpected force. •/The thief’s plan to rob the bank blew up in hisface when a policeman stopped him./
[blue] See: BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA, BOLT FROM THE BLUE,ONCE IN A BLUE MOON, OUT OF THE BLUE or OUT OF A CLEAR BLUE SKY.
[blue around the gills] See: GREEN AROUND THE GILLS.
[blue collar worker]{n. phr.} A manual laborer who is probably a laborunion member. •/Because Jack’s father is a blue collar worker, Jack was soanxious to become an intellectual./ Contrast: WHITE COLLAR WORKER.
[blue in the face]{adj. phr.}, {informal} Very angry or upset;excited and very emotional. •/Tom argued with Bill until he was blue in theface./ •/Mary scolded Jane until she was blue in the face, but Jane kept onusing Mary’s paints./
[blue Monday]{n.} A Monday when you have to work after a happyweekend. •/It was blue Monday and John nodded sleepily over his books./•/Housewives sometimes wish they could sleep through blue Monday./
[blue-pencil]{v.} To edit. •/The editor blue-penciled John’smanuscript./
[bluff] See: CALL ONE’S BLUFF.
[blurt out]{v. phr.} To suddenly say something even if one was notplanning to do so, or if it was not expected of them. •/"My brother Bob is injail," Tony blurted out, before anybody could stop him./
[blush] See: AT FIRST BLUSH.
[board] See: ACROSS THE BOARD, COLLEGE BOARDS, GO BY THE BOARD or PASS BYTHE BOARD, ON BOARD, SANDWICH BOARD.
[boat] See: BURN ONE’S BRIDGES also BURN ONE’S BOATS, IN THE SAME BOAT,MISS THE BOAT, ROCK THE BOAT.
[bobby-soxer]{n.} A teen-aged girl. (1940s idiom) •/My twodaughters, age 13 and 14, are typical bobby-soxers./
[bob up] See: POP UP(1).
[body] See: KEEP BODY AND SOUL TOGETHER.
[body blow]{n.}, {informal} A great disappointment; a bitterfailure. •/When he failed to get on the team it came as a body blow tohim./
[body English]{n.}, {informal} The wishful attempt to make a ballmove in the right direction after it has been hit or let go, by twisting thebody in the desired direction. •/He tried to help the putt fall by using bodyEnglish./
[bog down]{v. phr.} To be immobilized in mud, snow, etc.; slow down.•/Our research got bogged down for a lack of appropriate funding./•/Don’t get bogged down in too much detail when you write an action story./
[bog down, to get bogged down]{v. phr.}, {mostly intransitive orpassive} 1. To stop progressing; to slow to a halt. •/Work on the newbuilding bogged down, because the contractor didn’t deliver the needed concreteblocks./ 2. To become entangled with a variety of obstacles making yourefforts unproductive or unsatisfying. •/The novelist wrote tittle last summerbecause she got bogged down in housework./
[boggle the mind]{v. phr.}, {informal} To stop the rationalthinking process by virtue of being too fantastic or incredible. •/It bogglesthe mind that John should have been inside a flying saucer!/
[boil] See: MAKE ONE’S BLOOD BOIL or MAKE THE BLOOD BOIL.
[boil down]{v.} 1. To boil away some of the water from; make less byboiling. •/She boiled down the maple sap to a thick syrup./ •/The fruitjuice boiled down until it was almost not good for jelly./ 2. To reduce thelength of; cut down; shorten. •/The reporter boiled the story down to halfthe original length./ 3. To reduce itself to; come down to; be briefly orbasically. •/The whole discussion boils down to the question of whether thegovernment should fix prices./
[boil over]{v. phr.} 1. To rise due to boiling and overflow down thesides of a pan or a pot. •/"Watch out!" Jane cried. "The milk is boiling overon the stove!"/ 2. To become enraged to the point of being unable to containoneself. •/John took a lot of abuse from his boss, but after 25 minutes hesuddenly boiled over and told him what he thought of him./
[boiling point]{n.} 1. The temperature at which a liquid boils.•/The boiling point of water is 272° Fahrenheit./ 2. Thetime when you become very angry. •/He has a low boiling point./ •/Afterbeing teased for a long time, John reached the boiling point./ •/When Johnmade the same mistake for the fourth time, his teacher reached the boilingpoint.__/ Compare: BLOW UP(1b), MAKE ONE’S BLOOD BOIL.
[bolt from the blue]{n. phr.} Something sudden and unexpected; anevent that you did not see coming; a great and usually unpleasant surprise;shock. •/We had been sure she was in Chicago, so her sudden appearance was abolt from the blue./ •/His decision to resign was a bolt from the blue./Compare: OUT OF THE BLUE.
[bombshell] See: EXPLODE A BOMBSHELL.
[bond] See: SAVINGS BOND.
[bone] See: BRED IN THE BONE, FEEL IN ONE’S BONES or KNOW IN ONE’S BONES,FUNNY BONE, MAKE NO BONES, SKIN AND BONES, T-BONE STEAK, WORK ONE’S FINGERS TOTHE BONE.
[bonehead]{n.}, {slang} An unusually dense or stupid person.•/John is such a bonehead — small wonder he flunks all of his courses./
[bone of contention]{n. phr.} Something to fight over; a reason forquarrels; the subject of a fight. •/The boundary line between the farms was abone of contention between the two farmers./ •/The use of the car was abone of contention between Joe and his wife./
[bone to pick] or [crow to pick] {n. phr.}, {informal} A reasonfor dispute; something to complain of or argue about. — Often used jokingly.•/"I have a bone to pick with you," he said./ •/There was always a crowto pick about which one would shave first in the morning./ Compare: BONE OFCONTENTION.
[bone up]{v.}, {informal} To fill with information; try to learn alot about something in a short time; study quickly. •/Carl was boning up foran examination./ •/Jim had to make a class report the next day on juveniledelinquency, and he was in the library boning up on how the courts handleit./
[bonnet] See: BEE IN ONE’S BONNET.
[book] See: CLOSED BOOK, CLOSE THE BOOKS, HIT THE BOOKS, KEEP BOOKS, NOSEIN A BOOK, ONE FOR THE BOOKS, READ ONE LIKE A BOOK, TALKING BOOK, THROW THEBOOK AT.
[boom] See: LOWER THE BOOM.
[boot] See: DIE IN ONE’S BOOTS, IN ONE’S SHOES also IN ONE’S BOOTS, LICKONE’S BOOTS, SHAKE IN ONE’S SHOES or SHAKE IN ONE’S BOOTS, TO BOOT, TOO BIG FORONE’S BREECHES or TOO BIG FOR ONE’S BOOTS, YOU BET or YOU BET YOUR BOOTS.
[boot hill]{n.} A cemetery in the old Wild West where cowboys and copsand robbers used to be buried with their boots on. Hence, jokingly, anycemetery. •/Good old Joe, the cowboy, is resting comfortably in the nearbyboot hill./
[boot out] See: KICK OUT.
[boot strap] See: PULL ONESELF UP BY THE BOOTSTRAPS.
[border on]{v. phr.} To be adjacent to; come close to; adjoin. •/Ourvillage borders on the Mississippi River./ •/John’s actions border onirresponsibility./
[bore to death] See: TO DEATH.
[bore to tears]{v. phr.} To fill with tired dislike; tire by dullnessor the same old thing bore. •/The party was dull and Roger showed plainlythat he was bored to tears./ •/Mary loved cooking, but sewing bores her totears./
[born] See: NATURAL-BORN, TO THE MANNER BORN.