usingenglish.co m http://www.usingenglish.com/members/idioms/index.php?show=IdiomsEnglish Idioms: B Ho me > Me mb e rs > Id io ms & Slang English Idio ms: 335 ent ries beginning wit h 'B' Bird -b rain So me o ne who has a b ird -b rain, o r is b ird -b raine d , is stup id . Bird -d o g (USA) If yo u b ird -d o g , yo u fo llo w so me o ne o r so me thing ve ry clo se ly, mo nito ring the m. Bird s and the b e e s If a child is taug ht ab o ut the b ird s and the b e e s, the y are taug ht ab o ut se x. Bird s o f a fe athe r flo ck to g e the r This id io m me ans that p e o p le with similar inte re sts will stick to g e the r. Birthd ay suit If yo u are in yo ur b irthd ay suit, yo u are nake d . Bit b e twe e n yo ur te e th If yo u take o r have the b it b e twe e n yo ur te e th, yo u take o r have co ntro l o f a situatio n. (Bit = p ie ce o f me tal in a ho rse 's mo uth) Bit p art If so me o ne has a small o r unimp o rtant ro le in so me thing , the y have a b it p art. Bit p laye r A b it p laye r has a small o r unimp o rtant ro le in so me thing . Bite o ff mo re than yo u can che w If yo u b ite o ff mo re than yo u can che w, yo u take o n mo re re sp o nsib ilitie s than yo u can manag e . 'Do n't b ite o ff mo re than yo u can che w' is o fte n use d to ad vise p e o p le ag ainst ag re e ing to mo re than the y can hand le . Bite so me o ne 's he ad o ff If yo u b ite so me o ne 's he ad o ff, yo u criticise the m ang rily. Bite the b ulle t If yo u have to b ite the b ulle t, yo u have to acce p t o r face so me thing unp le asant b e cause it canno t b e avo id e d . Bite the d ust This is a way o f saying that so me b o d y has d ie d , e sp e cially if the y are kille d vio le ntly like a so ld ie r in b attle . Bite yo ur lip If yo u have to b ite yo ur lip , yo u have to make a co nscio us e ffo rt no t to re act o r to ke e p q uie t ab o ut so me thing that d isp le ase s yo u. Bite yo ur to ng ue If yo u b ite yo ur to ng ue , yo u re frain fro m sp e aking b e cause it is so cially o r o the rwise b e tte r no t to . Bits and b o b s Bits and b o b s are small, re mnant article s and thing s- the same as 'o d d s and e nd s'. Bitte r e nd If yo u d o so me thing to the b itte r e nd , yo u d o it to the ve ry e nd , no matte r ho w unsucce ssful yo u are . Bitte r p ill to swallo w A b itte r p ill to swallo w is so me thing that is hard to acce p t. Black and b lue This me ans b ruise d , e ithe r p hysically o r me tap ho rically. Black and white Whe n it is ve ry cle ar who o r what is rig ht and wro ng , the n the situatio n is b lack and white . Black as Ne wg ate 's kno cke r (UK) If thing s are as b lack as Ne wg ate 's kno cke r, the y are ve ry b ad . Ne wg ate was an infamo us p riso n in Eng land , so its d o o r kno cke r me ant tro ub le . Black ho le If the re is a b lack ho le in financial acco unts, mo ne y has d isap p e are d . Black she e p So me o ne who is the b lack she e p d o e sn't fit into a g ro up o r family b e cause the ir b e havio ur o r characte r is no t g o o d e no ug h. Black will take no o the r hue Evil can take many d isg uise s b ut it is always b lack (e vil). Blackb all If yo u vo te ag ainst allo wing so me o ne to b e a me mb e r o f an o rg anisatio n o r g ro up , yo u are b lackb alling him o r he r. Blank che q ue If yo u are g ive n a b lank che q ue , yo u are allo we d to use as much mo ne y as yo u ne e d fo r a p ro je ct. Blank slate A b lank slate is so me thing that hasn't b e e n d e ve lo p e d o r d e scrib e d in any d e tail. Ble e d d ry If yo u b le e d so me o ne d ry, yo u e xtract all the ir availab le mo ne y fro m the m. Ble e d ing e d g e Similar to 'cutting e d g e ' o r 'le ad ing e d g e ', this imp lie s a te chno lo g y o r p ro ce ss that is at the fo re fro nt o r b e yo nd curre nt p ractice s. Ho we ve r, b e cause it is unp ro ve n, it is o fte n d ang e ro us to use (he nce the 'b le e d ing '). Ble e d ing he art A b le e d ing he art is a p e rso n who is e xce ssive ly symp athe tic to ward s o the r p e o p le . Ble ss yo ur p o inty little he ad This e xp re ssio n is use d as to p atro nise so me o ne , e sp e cially whe n the y d o n't re alise that the y're no t ve ry cle ve r. Ble ssing in d isg uise If so me b ad luck o r misfo rtune ultimate ly re sults in so me thing p o sitive , it's a b le ssing in d isg uise . Blind acce p tance If p e o p le acce p t thing b lind ly, the y acce p t the m witho ut q ue stio ning the m at all. Blind as a b at If yo u are in to tal d arkne ss and can't se e anything at all, yo u are as b lind as a b at. Blind le ad ing the b lind Whe n the b lind are le ad ing the b lind , the p e o p le in charg e o f so me thing d o n't kno w anything mo re than the p e o p le the y are in charg e o f, whe n the y sho uld have g re ate r kno wle d g e . Blind -sid e d If yo u are b lind -sid e d , an e ve nt with a ne g ative imp act take s yo u co mp le te ly b y surp rise . Blink o f an e ye If so me thing hap p e ns in the b link o f an e ye , it hap p e ns so fast it is almo st imp o ssib le to no tice it. Blo o d and thund e r An e mo tio nal sp e e ch o r p e rfo rmance is full o f b lo o d and thund e r. Blo o d fro m a turnip It is imp o ssib le to g e t so me thing fro m so me o ne if the y d o n't have it, just as yo u canno t g e t b lo o d fro m a turnip . Blo o d is thicke r than wate r This id io m me ans that family re latio nship s are stro ng e r than o the rs. Blo o d is wo rth b o ttling (AU) If an Australian says to yo u " Yo ur b lo o d is wo rth b o ttling " , he /she is co mp lime nting o r p raising yo u fo r d o ing so me thing o r b e ing so me o ne ve ry sp e cial. Blo o d o ut o f a sto ne If so me thing is like g e tting b lo o d o ut o f a sto ne , it is ve ry d ifficult ind e e d . Blo o d , swe at and te ars If so me thing will take b lo o d , swe at and te ars, it will b e ve ry d ifficult and will re q uire a lo t o f e ffo rt and sacrifice . Blo t yo ur co p yb o o k If yo u b lo t yo ur co p yb o o k, yo u make a mistake o r d o so me thing wro ng that will ne g ative ly affe ct so me o ne 's o p inio n o f yo u. Blo w a fuse If yo u b lo w a fuse , yo u b e co me unco ntro llab ly ang ry. Blo w a g aske t If yo u b lo w a g aske t, yo u g e t ve ry ang ry. Blo w b y b lo w A b lo w-b y-b lo w d e scrip tio n g ive s e ve ry d e tail in se q ue nce . Blo w ho t and co ld If yo u b lo w ho t and co ld o n an id e a, yo ur attitud e and o p inio n ke e p s chang ing ; o ne minute yo u are fo r it, the ne xt yo u are ag ainst. Blo w me d o wn Pe o p le say '(we ll,) b lo w me d o wn' whe n yo u have just to ld the m so me thing surp rising , sho cking o r une xp e cte d . ('Blo w me d o wn with a fe athe r' is also use d .) Blo w o ff ste am (USA) If yo u b lo w o ff ste am, yo u e xp re ss yo ur ang e r o r frustratio n. Blo w o ut o f the wate r If so me thing , like an id e a, is b lo wn o ut o f the wate r, it is d e stro ye d o r d e fe ate d co mp re he nsive ly. Sugge st an Idiom Search Ple ase No te Ple ase no te that the se d atab ase s co ve r co llo q uial lang uag e and co ntain so me te rms that d e al with vulg ar and tab o o sub je cts. Yo u can o p t to filte r-o ut e xp licit co nte nt o n yo ur p re fe re nce s p ag e . Ge ne rate d in 0.017 se co nd s