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The B drawer

113 phrases beginning with B.

Back on your feet Recovered and independent again after illness, injury, or some setback such as debt, failure, or hardship. It covers both returning to health and…
Back to school Literally, returning to school after a vacation. As a merchandising term it names the shopping season just before the school year starts; as a…
Back to square one Back at the starting point after an attempt has failed or previous progress has been lost, requiring the work to begin again.
Back to the drawing board Back to the planning stage because a plan, design or attempt has failed and must be started again from the beginning. Applied to projects, strategies…
Bad blood Persistent ill feeling, resentment, or hostility between people or groups, especially after a quarrel or falling-out. Usually describes a standing…
Bag and baggage With all one's possessions, or completely and without leaving anything important behind. Often follows leave, depart, move or throw out. It can mean…
Ballpark figure A rough number - an estimate good enough to work with, offered without any pretence of precision. The phrase invites negotiation: a ballpark figure is…
Bamboozle To trick, mislead, or cheat someone, often through flattery, fast talk, or deliberate confusion; a second sense is to perplex or completely bewilder…
Bandwidth The time, energy, or mental capacity available to take on a task, as when someone says they do or do not have room for more work. It began as an…
Bang for your buck Value or impact received in return for money spent; usually heard as 'more bang for the buck', meaning a better result per dollar. The image is…
Banshee In Irish and Scottish Gaelic folklore, a female spirit whose wailing or appearance warns a family that one of them will soon die. Figuratively, and…
Bark is worse than their bite Someone's threats or bluster outstrip their actions, loud but harmless.
Bark up the wrong tree Pursue a mistaken lead, blame the wrong person or use an approach that cannot produce the result being sought.
Barking mad Completely irrational, wildly unreasonable, or apparently out of touch with reality. A strong informal expression. It is less harmful when aimed at a…
Barnstorming Making a whirlwind tour of rallies, speeches, matches or performances, playing town after town with high energy and showmanship; the political sense…
Bat an eyelid To react even slightly - to flinch, blink, or show surprise, alarm, or emotion. Almost always used in the negative, denying any visible reaction…
Bated breath Breathing held or subdued because of suspense, fear or intense expectation. Bated, not baited, is the standard spelling. It most often follows with…
Bats in the belfry Crazy, eccentric, or mentally confused; said of someone whose behaviour seems wildly odd or unhinged. Almost always in constructions with 'have'…
Batten down the hatches To prepare thoroughly for trouble or danger, securing everything tight.
Bean counter A dismissive label for an accountant, auditor or financially minded manager, implying someone obsessed with numbers, costs and statistics while blind…
Bear market A sustained period of falling prices in a securities market - analysts commonly define it as a decline of 20 percent or more from a recent peak…
Beat a dead horse Keep pursuing, arguing or discussing something after further effort cannot change, revive or resolve it. 'Beat' is chiefly US; British English…
Beat around the bush To avoid addressing a topic directly, often by speaking vaguely or focusing on irrelevant details instead of getting to the point. This phrase…
Beat the bushes To search hard or hustle for something, digging deep.
Beck and call Immediately available and ready to obey another person's requests, signals or slightest wishes. Usually appears as at someone's beck and call and…
Bedside manner The way a doctor behaves toward patients at the bedside - tone of voice, body language, tact, and the ability to reassure. A good bedside manner calms…
Before you can say Jack Robinson So quickly that there is scarcely time to notice, respond or prepare. Informal and mildly comic. Both 'can' and 'could' forms are established…
Beggars can't be choosers Someone dependent on what is offered has limited grounds to demand a preferred alternative. Can be practical but also patronising, especially when…
Beggars description Said of something so extraordinary, vast or extreme that language fails it: the thing surpasses or exhausts the resources of description. Normally…
Behind someone's back Without someone's knowledge or consent, usually of something said or done that they would dislike, object to or feel betrayed by. Covers gossip…
Behind the eight ball In a difficult, disadvantageous, or awkward position from which there is no easy escape. Originally and chiefly American; widely understood elsewhere…
Behind the scenes Happening out of public view, especially in the private workings of an organization, production or negotiation; also used attributively as…
Bell the cat To bell the cat is to undertake or volunteer for a dangerous, near-impossible task on behalf of others, especially one that everyone agrees would be…
Bells and whistles Attractive extra features beyond what a product basically needs; showy add-ons on gadgets, software, cars, and services. The phrase often carries a…
Below the belt Describes a remark or action that is unfairly hurtful, striking at a known weakness in a way that breaks the unwritten rules of fair contention. It is…
Belt and braces Describes an approach that uses two independent safeguards so that if one fails the other still holds; deliberate redundancy in planning, design, or…
Benching Keeping a romantic prospect in reserve by maintaining just enough sporadic contact to keep them interested, while never committing to dates or a…
Bend over backwards To make an extraordinary or exaggerated effort, especially to help, please or reassure someone, or to demonstrate scrupulous fairness and…
Beside yourself So overwhelmed by a strong emotion - usually grief, worry, rage, or joyful excitement - that you temporarily lose your normal self-control or…
Bet your bottom dollar To be completely certain that something will happen or is true; to stake everything on an outcome because you have no doubt about it. The image is of…
Better late than never Doing something after the ideal time is preferable to not doing it at all. Often said lightly after a delay. It can sound inadequate when the delay…
Between Scylla and Charybdis Trapped between two dangers, where escaping one means running into the other - the classical ancestor of between a rock and a hard place. The phrase…
Between the devil and the deep blue sea Facing a choice between two equally harmful or unwelcome options; caught in a dilemma with no good way out. The two dangers need not be physical; the…
Between wind and water At the most exposed or vulnerable point, where an attack or criticism can do serious harm. Dated and often used with 'hit' or 'strike.' It means at a…
Beware of Greeks bearing gifts A warning that an enemy's offer of help or generosity is probably a trap - that presents from adversaries deserve suspicion rather than gratitude. It…
Big fish in a small pond Someone who is important or successful only within a small, unimportant group or organization, and who would be unremarkable in a wider arena. It…
Bigger than Dallas Enormous, spectacular, conspicuous, or so obvious that it should be impossible to overlook. Strongly regional and hyperbolic. Outside Texas it may…
Bigwig An important or influential person, especially in an organization, profession or institution. Informal and faintly mocking rather than respectful…
Binge-watch To view many or all episodes of a television series in rapid succession, typically in one long sitting or over a single weekend. The word is neutral…
Birds of a feather flock together People with similar interests, habits or character tend to associate with one another. Often shortened to birds of a feather. It can neutrally…
Bite off more than you can chew To take on a task or responsibility that's too big or difficult to handle, often due to overconfidence or poor planning. It's a cautionary idiom, used…
Bite someone's head off To reply to an innocent remark, question, or request with sudden and disproportionate anger. The expression frames the response as an unprovoked…
Bite the bullet Accept and face a painful, difficult, or unpleasant course of action with resolve, especially after hesitation.
Bite the dust Fall dead or defeated; more broadly, fail, break down, or come to an end.
Bite your tongue To hold back from speaking, especially something harsh or unwise, clamping down on words.
Black affronted Deeply embarrassed, ashamed or humiliated, especially after public exposure or rebuke. Regional. Here 'black' intensifies the emotion; the phrase has…
Black and blue Covered in bruises, or beaten severely enough to leave them; of a person, 'beaten black and blue'. Bruises darken through livid to blackish and bluish…
Blatant Completely obvious and unmistakable, often offensively so, as with a lie told with no attempt at concealment; in its older and still current sense…
Blind as a bat Having very poor eyesight; by extension, stubbornly failing or refusing to notice something obvious. The first sense concerns literal vision, the…
Blind date A romantic meeting arranged between two strangers - typically by a matchmaking friend or relative, briefly, in public, with both parties flying on…
Blind spot An area you cannot see or will not see: literally the part of the road hidden from a driver's mirrors, and figuratively a subject about which someone…
Blood is thicker than water Family loyalty outweighs other bonds such as friendship, professional duty, or fairness to outsiders. Usually quoted to explain why someone sides with…
Blow hot and cold Behave inconsistently by alternating between enthusiasm and reluctance, approval and disapproval, or other opposite attitudes, leaving your true…
Blow off steam To vent pent-up energy or frustration, letting it burst out.
Blow the cobwebs away To shake off rust or gloom, freshen up.
Blow your own trumpet Talk proudly about your own abilities or achievements, often in a way that sounds boastful or self-promoting. This is the usual British form; North…
Blue blood Descent from an aristocratic or noble family, or membership of the hereditary upper class generally. In modern use the phrase is often faintly ironic…
Blue chip A blue chip is a share in a large, established, financially dependable company, and by extension any first-class, reliably valuable asset or person…
Blue-eyed boy Chiefly British and Australian: a person, usually a young man, who is the favourite of someone in authority and can do no wrong in their eyes, a…
Bob's your uncle There you have it; the task is complete or the result follows easily. Normally closes a short set of instructions or an account of an easy success…
Boil the ocean To attempt something far too big, ambitious, or complex to be realistic, especially a project whose scope should be narrowed. Nearly always used in…
Bona fide Genuine, authentic, or made in good faith without fraud or deception. It works as an adjective ('a bona fide offer') and, especially in legal English…
Bone idle Completely lazy; unwilling to make even the smallest effort. It is chiefly British and informal, and it condemns a settled habit of avoiding work…
Bone of contention The central subject or cause of a continuing dispute between people or groups. It names the issue that keeps a quarrel alive - a clause in a contract…
Boondocks Informal, chiefly American term for a remote, thinly settled, rough or rural area, almost always used with 'the'. It began as soldiers' slang for…
Born with a silver spoon in one's mouth Born into wealth and privilege; enjoying advantages that were inherited rather than earned. Slightly critical in tone, typically said of people whose…
Bowdlerize To censor or expurgate a text by removing or rewriting material judged indecent, offensive, or otherwise unsuitable; by extension, to weaken or…
Box of birds Very well, cheerful or full of energy. Informal and upbeat, commonly used after feel, be or look. Regional use: New Zealand.
Boycott To withdraw from commercial or social relations with a person, company, or country as a punishment or protest, and to urge others to do the same; also…
Brain drain The loss of a country's or organization's educated, skilled, and talented people to better-paying or better-equipped places abroad. The phrase frames…
Brain rot The supposed deterioration of a person's mental or intellectual state from overconsuming trivial or unchallenging material, especially low-quality…
Brass neck Flagrant, unembarrassed impudence; the gall to ask for, do, or say something outrageous without a flicker of shame. Chiefly British and informal; most…
Brave new world Now usually ironic: a new era, technology or social order presented as wonderful but regarded with suspicion or as unsettling; sometimes still used…
Bread and butter A person's or organisation's main source of income or essential means of living, as in 'tourism is the island's bread and butter'; also used…
Breadcrumbing Sending someone small, intermittent signals of romantic interest, such as occasional flirty messages, likes, or emojis, to keep them emotionally…
Breadwinner The person whose earnings supply the main, sometimes the only, income supporting a household. Historically often assumed to be the husband, the word…
Break a leg Said to wish a performer good luck just before they go on stage, standing in for the words 'good luck', which theatre superstition treats as a jinx…
Break the ice Make a beginning that overcomes initial difficulty, reserve, or social awkwardness.
Brevity is the soul of wit Conciseness is the essence of good expression, or in the common modern reading of humour, since 'wit' now suggests jokes rather than the intelligence…
Bring down the house To win wild, roaring applause, laughter or cheering from an audience; to be an overwhelming success with a crowd. Though born in the theatre, it now…
Bring home the bacon To earn money or achieve success, especially to support a household; to win a prize or secure the desired result. Common in sports and business talk…
Brownie points Notional credit earned by doing small favours or by flattering someone in authority, especially at work or school; the points are imaginary and…
Bucket list A list of experiences, places, or achievements a person hopes to complete before dying, from the idiom 'to kick the bucket'; by extension, any…
Buckley's chance Little or no chance of success. Informal. Buckley's can stand alone as a short answer meaning no chance. Regional use: Australia; also known in New…
Budge an inch Used almost always in the negative: to move even the smallest distance, or to yield the smallest amount, as in 'would not budge an inch'. It covers…
Burn the candle at both ends To overwork or exhaust yourself, pushing too hard.
Burn the midnight oil To work late into the night, often implying diligence or effort beyond normal hours.
Burn your bridges To cut off all retreat or ties, leaving no way back.
Bury the hatchet To end a quarrel and make peace, at least temporarily. Usually framed as 'bury the hatchet with someone' or 'the hatchet is buried'. Neutral to…
Bury your head in the sand To deliberately ignore an unpleasant or dangerous situation in the hope that it will go away, rather than confront or deal with it. The phrase implies…
Bush party An outdoor party in a secluded place, often involving underage drinking. Current regional term, often in policing or community contexts Regional use…
Butter someone up To flatter someone or lavish them with attentive kindness in the hope of winning favour or a specific benefit. The tone is usually teasing or faintly…
Butter wouldn't melt in their mouth Describes a person with a prim, cool, innocent look or manner - originally just demure and proper, but now usually implying the innocence is feigned…
Butterfingers A person who keeps dropping things or fails to catch what is thrown or hit to them, as if their fingers were smeared with butter. Used as a…
Buy a pig in a poke To buy or accept something without inspecting it first, and so risk discovering too late that it is worthless or not what it was claimed to be…
Buy the farm To die, especially in a military aircraft crash. Informal euphemism for death; potentially insensitive Regional use: United States military, later…
By and large Generally, on the whole or after considering the main aspects. A sentence adverb usually set off by commas. 'By in large' is a mishearing, not a…
By hook or by crook By any means that prove possible, whether straightforward or not. The means may be merely resourceful or may shade into unscrupulous behaviour…
By rote To do something by rote is to do it from memorized repetition rather than understanding: words, steps or answers recalled mechanically, exactly as…
By the book Strictly according to prescribed rules, procedures or accepted methods. Can praise rigour or criticise inflexibility. The identity of 'the book' is…
By the skin of your teeth Only just succeeding or escaping, with the smallest possible margin between success and failure. The possessive changes with the subject. It normally…
By word of mouth Through spoken rather than written communication; typically of news, instructions, or recommendations that travel informally from person to person in…
Bête noire A person or thing that one particularly detests, dreads or avoids; a bugbear. The register is formal to wry, and it almost always appears in the…