B- List of Idioms

7/17/2019 B- List of Idioms

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Letter B- List of English idioms with definitions and examples:

Back the wrong horse, to support someone or something that later cannot be

successful.

Don't back the wrong horse! You know he cannot win the elections.

Bad blood, unpleasant feeling between different people.

There is bad blood between Nancy and Leila. They are rarely in good terms with each

other.

Bad egg, bad person

Just ignore him. He's a bad egg.

Bag of bones, an extremely thin person.

He's turning into a bag of bones. He lost so much weight.

Bag of tricks, a set of techniques and methods.

Why don't you use your bag of tricks to help us solve this problem?

Ball of fire, a person who is especially hard-working, high-achieving, ambitious, or

active.

They say he is a real ball of fire. He has already demonstrated his wish to climb higher.

Banana republic, a small country, especially one in Central America, that is dependent

on a single export commodity (traditionally bananas) and that has a corrupt, dictatorial

government.

Banana republic countries need democratization.

Bank on, to expect something or rely on.

Can I bank on your friend's predictions about the stock market?

Baptism of fire, said about a very difficult first experience someone undergoes.

My first day as the manager of the restaurant was a real baptism of fire.

Be a barrel of laughs, be enjoyable or entertaining.

This movie is a real barrel of laughs.



Be an item, said about a couple when they are having a romantic relationship.

I heard that Leila and Joe are an item.

Be better than sex, said about something which is very enjoyable or exciting.

Riding a horse is a real fun. It's better than sex.

Be dead in the water, said when something has no chance of succeeding or of making

any progress.

Our projects will be dead in the water if we don't have a good plan.

Be dead to the world, to be sleeping.

I think she has woken up. She was dead to the world ten minutes ago.

Be full of beans, said about someone who is active, lively, healthy and has a lot of

energy and enthusiasm.

He's always full of beans when he goes to work.

Be in black and white, (also be down in black and white) to be written down.

My conditions to accept the job were in black and white in the contract.

Be in deep water, to be in serious trouble.

The government is in deep water because of its plans for tax increases.

Be in hot water, to be in a difficult situation

He was in hot water because of his speech about racism.

Be in somebody's shoes, to be in the situation that another person is in.

I wouldn't like to be in Nancy's shoes. She'll have a lot of problems with her boss.

Be in the land of the living, be awake or to be alive.

He was working all night long. I don't think he'll be in the land of the living before

noon. I haven't seen him for ages. I'm surprised to find him stil in the land of the living

Be like a fish out of water, to feel uncomfortable in a situation

After her divorce, she was like a fish out of water.



Be on cloud nine, feel extreme happiness or elation

She was on cloud nine when he proposed to marry her.

Be on the ball, to be well-informed and respond promptly.

We need someone who's on the ball to help us implement our plan.

Beat a retreat, to leave hastily in the face of opposition.

When they saw the police coming, they beat a retreat.

Before you can say Jack Robinson, very quickly.

He can do difficult mathematical operations before you can say Jack Robinson.

Behind bars, in jail or prison.

That guy over there has been behind bars for five years.

Behind closed doors, in private; in one's private life.

What you do with your partners behind closed doors is none of my business.

Benjamin of the family, this refers to the youngest child of the family.

Bill is the Benjamin of the family.

Better the devil you know, (also better the devil you know than the devil you don't) it

is sometimes better to deal with someone or thing you know than to deal with a new

person or thing who could be even worse.

Nancy is such a difficult girl to work with, but better the devil you know.

Big bucks, lots of money.

The new managing director must be making big bucks after his promotion.

Big deal, something very important, difficult, or of concern.

It's no big deal if you don't finish.



Big fish in a small pond, one who has achieved a high rank or is highly esteemed, but

only in a small, relatively unimportant, or little known location or organization.

Dr. Jones could get a professorship at an Ivy League university, but he enjoys being a

big fish in a small pond too much to ever leave Hannover College.

Big mouth, said about someone who tend to say things which are meant to be kept

secret.

He is such a big mouth.He told them everything.

Big wheel, a person with a great deal of power or influence, especially a high-ranking

person in an organization.

She's a big wheel at IBM.

Bite me, an expression of discontent, aggravation or anger.

Why are you shouting like that? Oh, bite me!

Bite your lip, to make an effort not to react to something.

He didn't like the management of the business but he had to bite his lip.

Black and blue, covered in bruises

He was black and blue the day after the accident

Black out, To lose consciousness.

He blacked out when he fell.

Black sheep, a disreputable member of a family or a group.

They say he's the black sheep of the Bakers.

Black-and-white, said when you have a simplistic opinion about situations while they

are in fact more complicated.

I think terrorism isn't a black-and-white issue.

Blessing in disguise, a blessing in disguise is said when a misfortune has some

unexpected benefits.

His failure to pass the exam was a blessing in disguise. This made him realize the

importance of hard work.



Blood is thicker than water, family relations are more important than all other

relationships.

Even if Nancy and her brother often argue, they always forgive each other. Blood is

thicker than water.

Blow a kiss, to kiss one's hand, and then blow on the hand in a direction towards the

recipient.

We haven't yet kissed, but she blew me a kiss as the train pulled out of the station.

That meant a lot to me

Blue-eyed boy, (also fair-haired boy) a person highly regarded by someone and treated

with special favor

He was the blue-eyed boy of the boss.

Bob’s your uncle, said to mean "No problem", "the solution is simple", "there you have

it" (appended to the end of a description of how to achieve something).

You want to go to the stadium? Go straight on until you reach the park, take the first

left and Bob’s your uncle!

Boots on the ground, the ground forces actually fighting in a war or conflict at the time

of speaking, rather than troops not engaged or being transported to the fighting.

The Pentagon may say we have enough, but that's not what I'm hearing from the bootson the ground.

Bring home the bacon, get a job and bring home money earned from this job.

When her husband got fired, she decided to look for a job because someone's got to

bring home the bacon.

Bring to knees, to destroy or defeat someone or something.

Sanctions were imposed in an attempt to bring the country to its knees. The strikesbrought the economy to its knees.

Browned off, annoyed, upset, angry, bored, fed up, disgusted.

He was browned off when he was ill treated.



Build bridges, to improve relationships between people.

They wanted to build bridges between Nancy and Alan to settle the conflict once for

all.

Butter up, to praise or flatter excessively.

Why are you buttering up the boss?

By the grace of God, through the kindness and help of God.

By the grace of God, his son managed to pass the exam.

By the name of …, called.

I met a doctor by the name of John.

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B- List of Idioms