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' Be all e ars If yo u are all e ars, yo u are ve ry e ag e r to he ar what so me o ne has to say. Be care ful what yo u wish fo r If yo u g e t thing s that yo u d e sire , the re may b e unfo re se e n and unp le asant co nse q ue nce s. ('Be care ful what yo u wish fo r, le st it co me true .' and 'Be care ful what yo u wish fo r; yo u may re ce ive it.' are also use d .) Be o n the p ig 's b ack If yo u're o n the p ig 's b ack, yo u're hap p y / co nte nt / in fine fo rm. Be o ut in fo rce If p e o p le are o ut in fo rce , the y are p re se nt so me whe re in larg e numb e rs. Be o ut in le ft fie ld (USA) To b e o ut in le ft fie ld is no t to kno w what's g o ing o n. Take n fro m b ase b all, whe n yo ung ste rs assig n le ss cap ab le p laye rs to the o utfie ld whe re the b all is le ss like ly to b e hit b y a yo ung p laye r. In b usine ss, o ne mig ht say, 'Do n't ask the ne w manag e r; he 's o ut in le ft fie ld and d o e sn't kno w any answe rs ye t.' Be that as it may Be that as it may is an e xp re ssio n which me ans that, while yo u are p re p are d to acce p t that the re is so me truth in what the o the r p e rso n has just said , it's no t g o ing to chang e yo ur o p inio ns in any sig nificant manne r. Be true b lue If a p e rso n/o b je ct/situatio n is co nsid e re d to b e 'true b lue ', it is co nsid e re d g e nuine . Be up the sp o ut (UK) If a wo man is up the sp o ut, she is p re g nant. Be am me up , Sco tty So me thing so me o ne says whe n the y want to g e t o ut o f a p lace o r situatio n, me aning 'Ge t me o ut o f he re !'. (It co me s fro m the TV se rie s and mo vie s Star Tre k, tho ug h the e xact wo rd s use d we re a little d iffe re nt.) Be an co unte r A b e an co unte r is an acco untant. Be ar fruit If so me thing b e ars fruit, it p ro d uce s p o sitive re sults. Be ar marke t A b e ar marke t is a p e rio d whe n inve sto rs are p e ssimistic and e xp e ct financial lo sse s so are mo re like ly to se ll than to b uy share s. Be ar the b runt Pe o p le who b e ar the b runt o f so me thing e nd ure the wo rst o f so me thing b ad . Be ard the lio n in his o wn d e n If yo u co nfro nt a p o we rful o r d ang e ro us rival o n the ir te rrito ry, yo u are b e ard ing the lio n in his o wn d e n. Be at ab o ut the b ush If so me o ne d o e sn't say cle arly what the y me an and try to make it hard to und e rstand , the y are b e ating ab o ut (aro und ) the b ush. Be at so me o ne to the d raw (USA) If yo u b e at so me o ne to the d raw, yo u d o so me thing b e fo re the y d o . Be at swo rd s into p lo ug hshare s If p e o p le b e at swo rd s into p lo ug hshare s, the y sp e nd mo ne y o n humanitarian p urp o se s rathe r than we ap o ns. (The Ame rican Eng lish sp e lling is 'p lo wshare s') Be at the d aylig hts o ut o f so me o ne If so me o ne b e ats the d aylig hts o ut o f ano the r p e rso n, the y hit the m re p e ate d ly. ('Kno ck' can also b e use d and it can b e mad e e ve n stro ng e r b y saying 'the living d aylig hts'.) Be at the rap If yo u b e at the rap , yo u e scap e co nvictio n and p unishme nt fo r a crime o r so me thing yo u have d o ne wro ng . Be at the tar o ut o f Whe n yo u want to b e at the tar o ut o f so me o ne , yo u want to b e at the m up b ad ly. Be at the m at the ir o wn g ame If yo u b e at so me o ne at the ir o wn g ame , yo u use yo ur e ne my's tactics o r tricks in o rd e r to win. Be at to the p unch If yo u b e at so me o ne to the p unch, yo u act b e fo re the m and g ain an ad vantag e . Be at yo ur b rains o ut If yo u b e at yo ur b rains o ut, yo u think hard ab o ut so me thing b ut canno t so lve , und e rstand o r re me mb e r it. Be ating a d e ad ho rse (USA) If so me o ne is trying to co nvince p e o p le to d o o r fe e l so me thing witho ut any ho p e o f succe e d ing , the y're b e ating a d e ad ho rse . This is use d whe n so me o ne is trying to raise inte re st in an issue that no -o ne sup p o rts anymo re ; b e ating a d e ad ho rse will no t make it d o any mo re wo rk. Be auty is in the e ye o f the b e ho ld e r Be auty is in the e ye o f the b e ho ld e r me ans that d iffe re nt p e o p le will find d iffe re nt thing s b e autiful and that the d iffe re nce s o f o p inio n d o n't matte r g re atly. Be auty is o nly skin d e e p This id io m me ans that ap p e arance s can b e d e ce p tive and so me thing that se e ms o r lo o ks g o o d may turn o ut to b e b ad . Be ck and call So me o ne who d o e s e ve rything fo r yo u, no matte r whe n yo u ask, is at yo ur b e ck and call. Be d ro o m e ye s So me o ne with b e d ro o m e ye s has a se xy lo o k in the ir e ye s. Be e in yo ur b o nne t If so me o ne is ve ry e xcite d ab o ut so me thing , the y have a b e e in the ir b o nne t. Be e 's Kne e s If so me thing is the b e e 's kne e s, it's o utstand ing o r the b e st in its class. Be e line fo r If yo u make a b e e line fo r a p lace , yo u he ad the re d ire ctly. Be e n aro und the b lo ck a fe w time s So me o ne who says the y've b e e n aro und the b lo ck a fe w time s is ind icating that the y have life e xp e rie nce re lating to the to p ic at hand . It is no t ne ce ssary to d iscuss the intro d ucto ry asp e cts o f the to p ic o r g ive b e g inne r le ve l ad vice . Be e n in the wars (UK) If so me o ne has b e e n in the wars, the y have b e e n hurt o r lo o k as if the y have b e e n in a strug g le . Be e n the re , d o ne that Pe o p le say this whe n the y have alre ad y e xp e rie nce d what is b e ing d iscusse d . Be e r and skittle s (UK) Pe o p le say that life is no t all b e e r and skittle s, me aning that it is no t ab o ut se lf-ind ulg e nce and p le asure . Be fo re the ink is d ry If p e o p le make an ag re e me nt o r co ntract and the n the situatio n chang e s ve ry q uickly, it chang e s b e fo re the ink is d ry. Be fo re yo u can say Jack Ro b inso n The te rm Jack Ro b inso n re p re se nts 'a sho rt amo unt o f time '. Whe n yo u d o so me thing b e fo re yo u can say Jack Ro b inso n, yo u d o it ve ry q uickly. Be fo re yo u can say knife (UK) If so me thing hap p e ns b e fo re yo u can say knife , it hap p e ns ve ry q uickly. Be g the q ue stio n In p hilo so p hy " to b e g the q ue stio n" is to assume so me thing to b e true that has no t ye t b e e n p ro ve d . I have se e n the id io m also to me an that a q ue stio n is crying o ut to b e aske d . Be g g ars can't b e cho o se rs This id io m me ans that p e o p le who are in g re at ne e d must acce p t any he lp that is o ffe re d , e ve n if it is no t a co mp le te so lutio n to the ir p ro b le ms. Be hind b ars Whe n so me o ne is b e hind b ars, the y are in p riso n. Be hind clo se d d o o rs If so me thing hap p e ns away fro m the p ub lic e ye , it hap p e ns b e hind clo se d d o o rs. Be hind so me o ne 's b ack If yo u d o so me thing b e hind so me o ne 's b ack, yo u d o it witho ut te lling the m. Be hind the curve If yo u are b e hind the curve , yo u are b e hind o r o ut o f to uch with curre nt tre nd s o r d e ve lo p me nts. ('Ahe ad o f the curve ' iis the o p p o site ) Be hind the e ig ht b all A d ifficult p o sitio n fro m which it is unlike ly o ne can e scap e . Be hind the time s So me o ne that is b e hind the time s is o ld -fashio ne d and has id e as that are re g ard e d as o ut-d ate d . Be lie ve in the he re afte r A b e lie f in the he re afte r is a b e lie f in the afte rlife , o r life afte r d e ath. It is, the re fo re , asso ciate d with re lig io ns and the so ul's jo urne y to he ave n o r to he ll, whiche ve r way b e ing just d e se rts fo r the p e rso n b ase d o n ho w the y le d the ir life . Be lie ve yo u me This is an e mp hatic way o f saying 'b e lie ve me '. Be ll the cat To b e ll the cat is to p e rfo rm a d ifficult o r imp o ssib le task. Be lls and whistle s Be lls and whistle s are attractive fe ature s that thing s like co mp ute r p ro g rams have , tho ug h o fte n a b it unne ce ssary. 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 0.012 se co nd s