2.0 B

2.1 babble...
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babble v. 1 prattle, twaddle, jabber, gibber, chatter, blab, blabber,
gurgle, burble, gabble, Colloq blab, blabber, gab, yack, natter,
witter, Brit rabbit: The silly fellow kept babbling away, but
no one was listening. Madelaine is still too young to talk and
just babbles to herself. 2 divulge, tell, disclose, repeat,
reveal, tattle, gossip, blurt (out), Colloq blab: Don't tell
Nigel about the affair - he'll babble it all over town.


--n. 3 gibberish, nonsense, twaddle, prattle, chatter(ing),
gibber, jabber, jibber-jabber, drivel, rubbish, bavardage;
murmur, hubbub: Ella's conversation about the financial market
is just so much babble.


baby n. 1 infant, neonate, newborn, babe, babe in arms, child,
toddler, tot: The baby is just beginning to teethe.

--v. 2 cosset, coddle, pamper, mollycoddle, indulge, spoil,
pet: He turned out that way because he was babied till he was
ten. I know you like to be babied when you're ill.

back v. 1 invest in, wager or bet on: She backed a 35-to-2 long
shot in the Derby, and she won. 2 Also, back up. a support,
uphold, stand behind, promote, encourage, help, uphold, second,
side with, endorse, aid, abet, assist; sponsor, subsidize,
underwrite, subvene, finance, Slang US and Canadian bankroll:
Your mother and I will back you if you want to start a business.
b reverse, go or move in reverse, go or move backwards: He
backed into the driveway. 3 back down (from) or off (from) or
away (from) or out (of) or up. withdraw (from), retreat (from),
abandon, retire (from), backtrack (from), shy away (from),
recoil (from), turn tail (from): When Percy stood up to him,
the bully backed down. The investment sounded risky, so I backed
off. Philippa backed out of singing the leading role. Back up
and give me room!

--n. 4 backside, rear, Technical dorsum: She stood with her
back towards me. 5 at the back of or at someone's back. behind,

following, pursuing, chasing, US in back of: Here come the
hounds at the back of the fox. You were at my back in the queue
a minute ago. 6 behind the back of or behind someone's back.
surreptitiously, secretly, clandestinely, privately, furtively,
sneakily, slyly; treacherously, traitorously, perfidiously,
deceitfully, insidiously: Graham is always telling tales about
you behind your back. 7 break the back of. a overcome, master:
Now that he's broken the back of that problem he can get on with
his work. b US crush, ruin, bankrupt, destroy, defeat, vanquish,
Colloq break: The government has tried on many occasions to
break the back of the Mafia operation. 8 on (someone's) back.
US weighing (down) on or upon (someone), burdening (someone),
lodged with (someone), resting with (someone): The
responsibility for the decision is on your back. 9 turn one's
back on or upon. abandon, forsake, ignore, disregard, repudiate,
reject, cast off, disown, deny: He turned his back on her when
she needed him most. 10 with one's back to or against the wall.
hard pressed, struggling (against odds), without hope, with
little or no hope, helpless, in dire straits, in (serious)
trouble: After the stock-market crash, some brokers found
themselves with their backs to the wall.

--adj. 11 rear; service, servants': Both back tyres are flat.
Please use the back staircase from now on. 12 US and Australian
and New Zealand outlying, remote, isolated, distant;
undeveloped, primitive, raw, rough, uncivilized: They raised
three boys in the back country, and all of them became doctors.
13 in arrears, overdue, past due, late; behindhand: The tax
inspector has advised me that I owe thousands in back taxes.


--adv. 14 to or toward(s) the rear, rearward(s), backward(s);
away: We beat back the enemy in severe hand-to-hand fighting. I
accepted his offer at once, lest he should draw back. Get back
from the edge! 15 in return or repayment or requital or
retaliation; again: I'll pay you back when I have the money.
She gave him back as good as he had given. 16 ago, in time(s)
past: Two generations back, his was the finest house in the
town. 17 behind, behindhand, in arrears, overdue: We are a
week back in the rent. 18 go back on. renege, fail; deny,
disavow, break, repudiate: He has gone back on his promise to
send the payment on the first of every month.

backbone n. 1 spine, spinal column: He's much better since the surgery

on his backbone. 2 mainstay, chief or main support, buttress,
pillar: Sheila has been the backbone of the society, but she
has now moved away. 3 resoluteness, sturdiness, firmness,
determination, strength (of character), mettle, purposefulness,
resolution, courage, fortitude, resolve, will, will-power,
strength, stability, stamina, staying power, grit: Has she the
backbone to run the company alone?

backer n. 1 supporter, advocate, promoter, sponsor, patron: She has
always been an enthusiastic backer of adult education. 2
investor, benefactor or benefactress, supporter, underwriter,
Colloq angel: The play's backers have made huge profits. 3
bettor, Brit punter: His backers are offering odds of 10 to 1.


background
n. 1 history, experience, qualifications, credentials,
grounding, training; breeding, upbringing, family; curriculum
vitae, Colloq CV: His background suits him admirably for the
post of ambassador. 2 distance, offing, horizon, obscurity: I
like the way the coastline disappears into the background
towards the edge of the painting. 3 in the background.
inconspicuous, unnoticed, unobtrusive, behind the scenes, out of
the limelight or spotlight, unseen, out of the public eye,
backstage: Edward prefers to remain in the background, letting
his dealer bid at the auctions.

backing n. 1 support, help, aid, assistance, succour; approval,
endorsement, patronage, approval, sponsorship: He knows that he
can rely on the backing of his local party. 2 investment,
money, funds, funding, subsidy, grant; sponsorship: How can you
launch the company without backing?

backlash n. reaction, repercussion, recoil, counteraction, rebound,
kickback, backfire; boomerang: There was a strong backlash in
the USA against giving minorities preferred instead of equal job
opportunities.

backward adj. 1 bashful, shy, reticent, diffident, retiring, coy, timid,
unwilling, loath, chary, reluctant, averse: She took him to be
a bit backward when he didn't respond to her smile. 2 slow,
dim-witted, dull, stupid, slow-witted, dumb, feeble-minded,
Colloq Brit gormless, dim: Some of the more backward students
will need extra help. 3 slow, late, behindhand, retarded:

Millie seemed a bit backward in learning to walk. 4 rearward;
to the rear, behind; to the past: She gave him a backward
glance. He went on through life with never a backward look. 5
retrograde, retrogressive, reverse, regressive: The ancients
were unable to account for the apparently backward motion of the
planets.

--adv. 6 backwards: Walk backward to the door with your hands
up.


backwards adv. 1 rearwards or rearward, in reverse, regressively,
retrogressively, backward; withershins or widdershins, Brit
anticlockwise, US counter-clockwise: The general, who refused
to acknowledge defeat, explained that his troops were 'advancing
backwards'. Do the clocks run backwards in Australia, Daddy? 2
in reverse; back to front: She can even ride sitting backwards
on a galloping horse. I think you're wearing your pullover
backwards.


bad adj. 1 poor, wretched, inferior, defective, awful, worthless,
miserable, egregious, execrable, substandard, unsatisfactory,
disappointing, inadequate, non-standard, Colloq lousy, rotten,
crummy, Slang Brit grotty, naff: Sometimes they would send him
a letter, but he was a bad correspondent. We went to see a
rather bad play the other night. 2 corrupt, polluted, vitiated,
debased, base, vile, foul, rotten, miasmic, noxious, mephitic,
unhealthy, poisonous, injurious, dangerous, harmful, hurtful,
pernicious, deleterious, ruinous: It wasn't healthy to be so
near the bad air of the sewer. 3 evil, ill, immoral, wicked,
vicious, vile, sinful, depraved, awful, villainous, corrupt,
amoral, criminal, wrong, unspeakable: The man was thoroughly
bad and deserved everything he got. 4 unpleasant, offensive,
disagreeable, inclement, severe, awful, unfavourable, adverse,
inclement, unpleasant, Colloq lousy, rotten: Surely you're not
going sailing in this bad weather?! 5 unfavourable, unlucky,
unpropitious, unfortunate, inauspicious, troubled, grim,
distressing, discouraging, unpleasant: Agreeing to do that job
might yet turn out to have been a bad decision. 6 off, tainted,
spoilt or spoiled, mouldy, stale, rotten, decayed, putrefied,
putrid, contaminated: The fridge isn't working and all the food
has gone bad. She ate a bad egg and felt ill the next day. 7
irascible, ill-tempered, grouchy, irritable, nasty, peevish,
cross, crotchety, crabby, cranky, curmudgeonly: Don't go near

the boss - he's been in a bad mood all day. 8 sorry, regretful,
apologetic, contrite, rueful, sad, conscience-stricken,
remorseful, upset: She felt bad about having invited me. 9
sad, depressed, unhappy, dejected, downhearted, disconsolate,
melancholy; inconsolable: I feel bad about you losing your
purse. 10 naughty, ill-behaved, misbehaving, disobedient,
unruly, wild; mischievous: Ronnie isn't a bad boy, he's just
bored. 11 distressing, severe, grave, serious, terrible, awful,
painful: He was laid up with a bad case of the mumps.


badly adv. 1 poorly, defectively, insufficiently, inadequately,
unsatisfactorily, carelessly, ineptly, shoddily, inadequately,
deficiently: We lived in a badly furnished flat in the East
End. 2 unfortunately, unluckily, unsuccessfully, unfavourably,
poorly: These are an improvement on the former rules, which
worked badly. 3 incorrectly, faultily, defectively, poorly,
improperly, inaccurately, erroneously, unacceptably; ineptly,
inartistically, amateurishly, awfully: He speaks English badly.
He sings badly. 4 immorally, wickedly, viciously,
mischievously, naughtily, shamefully, improperly, villainously:
The school has had its share of badly behaved pupils. 5
dangerously, severely, gravely, critically, grievously,
seriously: Her father was badly wounded in the war. 6
unkindly, cruelly, harshly, severely, wretchedly, dreadfully,
improperly, atrociously, horribly, unspeakably: The prisoners
were treated so badly that few survived. 7 unfavourably,
damagingly, critically: Even her friends spoke badly of her. 8
very much, greatly, seriously: Peter is badly in need of extra
money. 9 distressfully, emotionally, hard: He took the news
badly.

bag n. 1 sack, shopping bag, reticule, string bag, Chiefly Brit
carrier bag, Scots or dialect poke, pocket: They have helpers
at the supermarket who will carry your bags to your car for you.
2 baggage, luggage, valise, satchel, grip, suitcase, overnight
bag, carry-on luggage or bag, Gladstone bag, carpet-bag,
portmanteau, toilet kit or case, sponge bag; briefcase, attach‚
case, dispatch- or despatch-case: Boarding in London I flew to
Buenos Aires while my bag went to Seoul. 3 purse, handbag,
evening bag, wallet, Highland dress sporran: She reached into
her bag and felt the gun that the Commander had given her. 4
crone, hag, beast, ogress, gorgon, nightmare, witch, harridan,
Archaic beldam, Slang old bat, dog, monster, US two-bagger:

Derek has been romancing some old bag for her money. 5
occupation, hobby, avocation, business, vocation, department,
concern, affair, Colloq lookout, worry, Slang thing: Peter's
bag at the moment is learning to play the violin.


--v. 6 catch, trap, ensnare, snare, entrap, capture, land;
kill, shoot: We bagged six pheasants and two partridges this
morning.


balance v. 1 weigh, estimate, ponder, consider, deliberate, assess,
compare, evaluate: We need to balance the advantages and the
disadvantages. 2 steady, poise; equalize, stabilize, level,
match, even out or up: The see-saw will balance better if both
of you get on the other end. 3 compensate (for), make up for,
counterbalance, offset, match, equal; counterpoise: The column
of mercury in the barometer balances the atmospheric pressure on
the surface of the bowl. The total of expenses seems to balance
the total of income.


--n. 4 scale(s), steelyard: According to the balance, the
package weighs two pounds. 5 control, command, authority,
weight, preponderance: Britain held the balance of power during
those decades. 6 equilibrium, stability, steadiness, footing;
equiponderance; equality, harmony: The acrobat almost lost his
balance on the high wire. It is important to maintain a balance
between presentation and content. 7 remainder, residue, rest;
excess, surplus, difference: You take these and I'll follow
with the balance. My bank balance is down to zero.


ban v. 1 prohibit, forbid, outlaw, proscribe, interdict, bar,
disallow, debar: They have banned smoking in all public places.

--n. 2 prohibition, taboo, proscription, interdiction,
interdict; embargo, boycott: They have put a ban on the sale of
alcoholic beverages. The ban against importing firearms is
strictly enforced.

banal adj. trite, hackneyed, stereotyped, clich‚d, stereotypical,
commonplace, old hat, stock, common, everyday, ordinary,
pedestrian, humdrum, tired, unoriginal, unimaginative,
platitudinous; trivial, petty, jejune, Slang corny: The book
was blasted as banal and boring. The plot of boy-meets-girl,
though banal, still brings in the audiences.


bandฐ n. 1 strip, ribbon, belt, bandeau, fillet, tie; stripe, line,
border: He wears a cloth band round his head to keep the sweat
out of his eyes. There is a decorative band at the top of each
page.

--v. 2 line, stripe, border: The column is banded at intervals
with bas-reliefs depicting scenes from the emperor's life. 3
tie, keep, bind: Only those papers that are banded together
should be sent off.

band n. 1 company, troop, platoon, corps, group, body, gang, horde,
party, pack, bunch: They were set upon by a band of robbers in
the forest. 2 group, ensemble, combination, orchestra, Colloq
combo: A jazz band plays at the Civic Centre every Tuesday
evening.

--v. 3 band together. unite, confederate, gather or join or
league together, team up, affiliate, merge, federate: We must
band together if we expect to accomplish anything.

banish v. 1 exile, expatriate, deport, extradite, transport, eject,
oust, expel, rusticate, drive out or away, dismiss,
excommunicate, outlaw, ostracize: After ten years in prison,
the thief was released and banished from the kingdom. 2 drive or
drive out or away, expel, cast out, dismiss, reject: He tried
to banish suspicion from his mind.

banner n. 1 standard, flag, pennant, ensign, burgee, gonfalon, pennon,
streamer, banderole; symbol: The flag of the United States is
called the star-spangled banner. He is seeking election under
the banner of the Tories.

--adj. 2 leading, foremost, momentous, memorable, notable,
important, noteworthy: The firm had a banner year, with profits
up 25 per cent.

banquet n. 1 feast, sumptuous repast or meal, ceremonial dinner, lavish
dinner: At the end of the banquet, the guest of honour rose to
make a few remarks.

--v. 2 feast, indulge, wine and dine, regale, carouse: The
winners of the trophy banqueted night after night on champagne

and caviare.

banter n. raillery, badinage, persiflage, pleasantry, jesting, joking,
repartee; chaffing, teasing, chaff; Colloq kidding, ribbing:
Despite the good-natured banter between them, Ray knew that
Stephen really detested him.

bar n. 1 rod, shaft, pole, stick, stake: A heavy iron bar is used
to tamp the dynamite into place in the hole. 2 strip, stripe,
band, belt; streak, line: The company trade mark is a narrow
red bar around the barrel of every ball-point pen. 3 barrier,
obstacle, obstruction, barricade, hindrance, block, deterrent,
impediment; ban, embargo: A steel bar was across the entrance.
Her pride proved a bar to her success. There is a bar against
importing spirits. 4 sandbar, shallow, shoal, bank, sandbank:
Because the keel is too deep, the sloop will be unable to cross
the bar till high tide. 5 tribunal, court, courtroom, lawcourt,
bench: The former mayor was found guilty of corruption at the
bar of public opinion. 6 bar-room, saloon, public house, caf‚,
lounge, cocktail lounge, tavern, taproom, canteen, Brit local,
wine bar; Colloq pub; Slang boozer, gin-mill: I was at the bar
on my third beer when she walked in. 7 counter: We had a quick
lunch at the sandwich bar.


--v. 8 fasten, close up, secure, shut up; lock, lock up,
padlock: We tried to get in through the window, but they had
barred it. 9 block, obstruct, stop, stay, hinder, keep (out),
shut out, exclude, prevent, forbid, prohibit, set aside;
forestall, impede, hamper, retard, balk, barricade; ban,
embargo: After his behaviour, he was barred from the club for a
year. A huge man in an ill-fitting dinner-jacket barred my way.
The regulations bar the import of firearms.

--prep. 10 except (for), excepting, excluding, barring, outside
(of), save for, aside from, but: It's all over now bar the
shouting.

barbarian n. 1 savage, brute: The barbarians wore animal skins. 2 boor,
lowbrow, lout, oaf, clod, churl, philistine, ignoramus, yahoo;
hooligan, vandal, ruffian, tough, Slang Brit yob, yobbo,
skinhead: Those barbarians ought to be denied admittance to the
games.

--adj. 3 uncivilized, uncultivated, uncultured, philistine,
savage; barbarous, barbaric, coarse, vulgar, uncouth, rude;
boorish, loutish, oafish, crude, rough, insensitive, churlish,
uncivil: One sees a great deal of barbarian behaviour every
day.

barbarity n. cruelty, inhumanity, ruthlessness, savagery, brutishness,
barbarousness, heartlessness, viciousness, cold-bloodedness,
bloodthirstiness: The barbarity of this mass murderer cannot be
overstated.

bare adj. 1 unclothed, naked, nude, stark naked, unclad, exposed,
uncovered, hatless, unshod, undressed , Brit starkers; Colloq in
the altogether, in one's birthday suit, in the buff; Slang US
bare-ass: He stood completely bare in the middle of the room.
2 unconcealed, undisguised, open, revealed, literal, bald,
manifest, out-and-out, overt, uncovered, straightforward,
direct, unvarnished, unembellished, cold, hard, plain,
unadorned, basic, simple: The bare facts point to him as the
culprit. 3 unfurnished, undecorated, vacant, stripped, empty:
The landlord entered and found a bare flat - the tenants had
done a moonlight flit. 4 denuded, stripped, leafless,
defoliated, shorn, barren; bared: After the storm the trees
were entirely bare of foliage. The hurricane began blowing in
earnest, and the little ketch was driving forward under bare
poles. 5 plain, mere, simple, minimal, essential, absolute,
basic; meagre, scant, scanty: For years we scraped by with only
the bare necessities of life.


--v. 6 expose, lay bare, uncover, reveal, open; undress,
unveil: The torrential rain had washed away the soil, baring
the clay and rock beneath. He tore off his shirt, baring his
hairy chest. 7 disclose, reveal, lay bare, uncover, divulge,
unfold, tell, expose, unmask, bring to light: Because of the
way he had treated her, she decided to bare his secrets to the
police. Benson bares his soul in his book. 8 strip, divest,
denude; defoliate: The autumn winds bared all the trees in the
arboretum.


barefaced adj. 1 unconcealed, open, undisguised, blatant, manifest,
unmitigated, outright, downright, out-and-out, sheer, unalloyed,
undiluted: His proposal is a barefaced attempt to gain control
of the committee. 2 audacious, impudent, shameless, insolent,

impertinent, immodest, bold, arrant, unabashed, forward, brazen,
brassy, saucy, pert, unblushing, Colloq cheeky: She said that
he was a barefaced liar and that she would have nothing more to
do with him.


barely adv. scarcely, only, just, not quite, hardly, only just, no
more than: I barely had my coat off when she said she'd
forgotten to shop for dinner.


bargain n. 1 agreement, contract, understanding, arrangement, covenant,
pact, compact, settlement, transaction, deal: We made a bargain
- I would provide the materials and he would do the work. 2 good
deal, Colloq give-away, US steal: If you paid only œ100 for
this painting, you got a real bargain.


--v. 3 negotiate, trade, haggle, barter, dicker, chaffer: We
bargained far into the night, and finally came to an agreement
after eight hours of discussion. 4 bargain for. expect, count
on, anticipate, foresee, take into account, allow for, be
prepared for: Even though the storm had been predicted, it was
windier than we had bargained for.

barren adj. 1 sterile, childless, infertile: We won't have any calf
from this barren cow. 2 unproductive, sterile, bare, infertile;
fruitless, dry, unfruitful, unprofitable, poor: The land was
exceedingly stony and barren. The fifteenth century was the most
barren period in the history of English literature.

barrier n. 1 bar, fence, railing, wall; ditch, ha-ha: A barrier was
erected at each end of the street. This barrier will keep the
dingoes from killing the sheep. 2 obstacle, bar, obstruction,
block, impediment, hindrance: Neither race, nor creed, nor
colour shall be a barrier to success. 3 boundary,
boundary-line, limit, frontier: No mountain barrier lay between
France and Flanders.

barring prep. excluding, exclusive of, bar, omitting, leaving out,
excepting, except (for), save for, aside from, besides, but:
Barring another stock market crash, your money is safe. Nobody
else, barring the author, knew the truth of the matter.

baseฐ n. 1 bottom, foot, support, stand, pedestal: The base of the
statue cracked and the whole thing fell down. Have you been

able to find a teak base for the new lamp? 2 groundwork,
background, fundamental principle, principle, foundation,
underpinning; infrastructure, basis: Henry's charter was at
once welcomed as a base for the needed reforms. 3 root, theme,
radical, stem, core: In the word interdigitation the base is
-digit- . 4 home, station, camp, starting-point, point of
departure, post, centre: Using the Sherpa village as a base of
operations, we set up smaller camps as we began to climb the
mountain.


--v. 5 establish, found, secure, build, ground, anchor, fix,
hinge, form; derive, draw: We are basing all our hopes on his
ability to do a deal. 6 establish, headquarter, post, station,
position, place: The company is based in Guernsey.


base adj. 1 low, undignified, cowardly, selfish, mean, despicable,
contemptible, filthy, evil: He must have had some base motive
in revealing to her what Martha had said. 2 degraded, degrading,
menial, inferior, mean, unworthy, lowly, low, grovelling,
servile, slavish, subservient, downtrodden, abject, miserable,
wretched, sordid, undignified, ignoble, dishonourable,
disreputable, vile, scurrilous, wicked, Colloq infra dig:
Foolish sinners will submit to the basest servitude, and be
attendants of swine. 3 mean, cheap, sorry, common, poor, shabby,
shoddy: He cast off his base attire, revealing a splendid suit
of armour like burnished gold. 4 sordid, offensive, lewd,
lascivious, obscene, profane, rude, ribald, unseemly, vulgar,
coarse, rude, dirty, indecent, evil-minded, filthy,
pornographic: The entertainment in that theatre caters to the
basest appetites. 5 poor, shoddy, cheap, fake, pinchbeck,
inferior, counterfeit, fraudulent, debased, forged, spurious,
worthless, bad: Her jewels look valuable but are, in fact, made
of base materials. 6 wicked, evil, wretched, corrupt, shameful,
currish, loathsome, scurvy, insufferable, villainous: They were
labelled as base infidels and treated with contempt and cruelty.

bashful adj. 1 shy, retiring, embarrassed, meek, abashed, shamefaced,
sheepish, timid, diffident, self-effacing, unconfident; ill at
ease, uneasy, uncomfortable, nervous, self-conscious, awkward,
confused, Colloq in a tizzy, US and Canadian discombobulated:
Henry is so bashful in the presence of women that he blushes
merely talking to them. 2 modest, coy, unassuming,
unostentatious, demure, reserved, restrained, Rare verecund:

When we first met, she was a bashful young girl of fifteen who
had no notion of her own beauty.

basic adj. fundamental, essential, key, elementary, underlying,
prime, primary, root; principal, central, focal, vital: He
enrolled for a basic course in Sanskrit. We must reconsider the
basic facts.

basis n. 1 foundation, base, bottom, heart, footing, principle,
underpinning; infrastructure: The three R's form the basis of
elementary education. Do you think our society still rests on
the basis of the family? 2 essence, main ingredient or
constituent, point of departure: The basis of the discussion is
that the hospitals are understaffed.


batch n. 1 quantity, lot; amount, volume: Mother baked a huge batch
of bread. 2 set, group, number, quantity, assortment, bunch,
pack, collection: Please sort this batch of cards into
alphabetical order.


batter v. 1 beat, hit, strike, clout, belabour, pound, pummel or
pommel, pelt, bash, smite, thrash, Colloq wallop, clobber: He
was battered till he was black and blue. 2 bombard, attack,
assault: Battering by the cannons finally breached the wall of
the fort. 3 maltreat, mistreat, ill-treat, abuse; maul, bruise,
harm, mangle, disfigure: The police report an increase in
complaints about battered wives and children.

battle n. 1 fight, conflict, combat, action, encounter, clash,
engagement, struggle, Donnybrook, fray, Law affray; brawl,
fracas, mˆl‚e or melee; contest; duel, hand-to-hand encounter:
You won the battle, but you lost the war. And now, the battle
between the world champion and the challenger! 2 argument,
dispute, altercation, quarrel, war; contest, competition;
struggle, fight, crusade, campaign: The battle spilt out of the
restaurant and into the street. We are not yet winning the
battle against AIDS.

--v. 3 Usually, battle against. fight, contend or struggle or
fight with or strive against, combat: We must battle against
ignorance at every opportunity.

bauble n. gewgaw, trinket, ornament, trifle, toy, bagatelle,

knick-knack, plaything, kickshaw: Wear your diamonds to the
ball, my dear, not those cheap baubles.

bawdy adj. lewd, obscene, taboo, vulgar, dirty, smutty, filthy,
coarse, earthy, gross, scatological, rude, lascivious,
salacious, indelicate, indecent, indecorous, broad, crude,
ribald, risqu‚, suggestive, Rabelaisian, uninhibited,
unrestrained, lusty, Literary lubricious or lubricous:
Afterwards, each of us had to recite a bawdy limerick.


bawl v. 1 shout, bellow, vociferate, roar, yell, trumpet, thunder ,
Colloq holler: Fishwives bawled out their wares continuously,
creating a deafening din. 2 cry, wail, weep, keen, squall,
blubber, whimper; yelp, Colloq yammer: Stop that bawling or
I'll really give you something to cry about! 3 bawl out. scold,
reprimand, upbraid: My father bawled me out because I stayed
out past midnight.

2.2 beach...
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beach n. 1 shore, lakeshore, bank, seashore, seaside, lido, strand,
coast, margin, Formal littoral: The children wanted to go to
the beach and build sandcastles.

--v. 2 ground, run aground, strand; careen: Despite the heavy
surf, we finally beached the boat safely.


beacon n. signal, sign, fire, light, bonfire, flare, signal fire, Very
light, rocket; lighthouse, pharos: Beacons blazed at the tops
of the hills to spread the news of the victory. The drunkard's
nose shone like a beacon.


beam n. 1 timber, scantling, girder, rafter; bar, brace, plank,
board, stud, trestle: Are you sure that these beams will
support the weight of the upper storeys? 2 ray, gleam; shaft;
pencil: I could just make out his face in the beam of the
electric torch.


--v. 3 radiate, shine; smile radiantly: The door opened and
the firelight beamed forth onto the snowdrifts. 'I'm so happy
to meet you at last', she beamed.


beamy adj. broad, wide, broad in the beam; big, heavy, chubby,
chunky, fat, obese: She's quite a beamy boat, with
accommodation for eight below. A beamy gentleman sat on my
homburg, squashing it flat.

bear v. 1 carry, transport, convey, move, take, Colloq tote: She
was borne round the stadium on the shoulders of her team-mates.
2 carry, support, sustain, shoulder, hold up, uphold; suffer,
undergo, experience, endure: Looking after her invalid mother
while working is a heavy burden to bear. 3 merit, be worthy of,
warrant; provoke, invite: Gordon's suggestion bears looking
into. 4 stand, abide, tolerate, brook, survive, endure, stand
up to; reconcile oneself to, admit of, Colloq put up with: How
can you bear such boring people? His actions will not bear
examination. I cannot bear to see you unhappy. 5 have, carry,
show, exhibit, display, sustain: The getaway car bore German
licence plates. The knight bore the scars of many battles. She
bears her grandmother's name. 6 produce, yield, develop, breed,
generate, engender; give birth to, spawn, bring forth: Our
apple tree did not bear any fruit this year. She bore thirteen
children and still had time to write books. 7 entertain,
harbour, wish: He bore her no ill will, despite her
accusations. 8 bear on or upon. relate or have relevance or be
relevant to or pertain to, touch on or upon, affect, concern,
have a bearing on or upon, influence: I don't quite see how
your illness bears on which school James attends. 9 bear out.
confirm, support, corroborate, substantiate, uphold, back up:
The evidence bears out what I said. 10 bear up. a survive,
hold out, stand up, hold up, withstand: Can Alex bear up under
the strain of keeping two jobs? b support, cheer, encourage:
What hope have you to bear you up? 11 bear with. put up with,
be patient with, make allowance(s) for: Please bear with me,
I'm sure you'll think it was worth waiting when you see the
finished result.

bearable adj. tolerable, supportable, endurable, acceptable, manageable:
The heat last summer was made bearable only by frequent dips in
the swimming-pool.


bearing n. 1 carriage, deportment, manner, behaviour, conduct, aspect,
demeanour, posture, stance, air, attitude, mien, presence:
Lewis's noble bearing makes him noticeable, even in a crowd. 2

sustaining, supporting, endurance, enduring: Thomas Jefferson
considered the government of England totally without morality
and insolent beyond bearing. 3 aspect; relation, reference,
relationship, correlation, pertinence, relevance, connection,
relevancy, applicability, application, germaneness,
significance: The legal bearing of the case will become obvious
in court. It is unclear exactly what bearing your remarks have
on the situation. 4 Often, bearings. direction, orientation,
(relative) position: The bearing of the lighthouse is now 180๘.
Which way is north? - I have lost my bearings entirely.

beast n. 1 animal, creature, being: He loves all the beasts of the
field, of the sea, and of the air. 2 brute, savage, animal,
monster: I've seen that beast hitting his wife in public.


beastly adj. 1 uncivilized, uncultivated, uncivil, rude, crude,
boorish, unrefined, coarse; cruel, inhuman, savage, barbaric,
barbarous, bestial, brutal: Priscilla treats Cyril in a beastly
way. 2 abominable, intolerable, offensive, unpleasant, awful,
terrible, ghastly, horrid, disagreeable, horrible, hateful,
execrable; foul, vile, nasty, rotten, dirty, filthy: If this
beastly weather keeps up, the plane may be delayed.

beat v. 1 strike, pound, bash, smite, batter, pummel or pommel,
belabour, pelt, clout, thrash, give (someone) a thrashing or
beating, drub, manhandle, thump, whack, cane, scourge, whip,
bludgeon, club, cudgel, fustigate; whip, flog, lash , Colloq
clobber, wallop, give (someone) a once-over: At first he
refused to tell them, but then they beat it out of him. 2
defeat, best, worst, win (out) over, vanquish, trounce, rout,
outdo, subdue, overcome, overwhelm, pre-empt; surpass, conquer,
crush, master, US beat out: Can they beat Manchester United for
the cup? He first beat the Danes, then the Russians. 3 throb,
pulsate, palpitate, pound, thump: I could feel my heart beating
against my ribs. 4 Nautical tack: Close-hauled, the sloop was
beating to windward against the howling gale. 5 hammer, forge,
shape, form, fashion, make, mould: They shall beat their swords
into ploughshares. 6 mix, whip, stir, blend: Beat two eggs,
then add the flour and sugar. 7 tread, wear, trample: The
hunters beat a path through the forest. 8 beat it. depart,
leave, abscond, run off or away, Slang US take it on the lam,
lam out of here, US hit the road: You'd better beat it before
the cops come. 9 beat off. drive off or away, rout: We beat

off our attackers, who fled into the forest.

--n. 10 stroke, blow: The signal was to be three beats of a
tin cup on the pipes. 11 rhythm, tempo, measure; pulse, throb,
stress, pulsation: In boogie-woogie the beat is eight to the
bar. 12 course, round, tour, route, circuit, run, path; area,
bailiwick: In the old days, it was the bobby on the beat who
prevented a lot of crime. As a reporter, my beat is the
financial news.


--adj. 13 dead beat, exhausted, spent, drained, worn out,
weary, bone-tired, fatigued, fagged: I was really beat after
completing the marathon.


beautiful adj. 1 attractive, charming, comely, lovely, good-looking,
fair, pretty, alluring, appealing, handsome, radiant, gorgeous,
Formal pulchritudinous, Scots bonny; Colloq smashing: She's not
only intelligent, she's beautiful. She entered on the arm of
some beautiful youth. 2 excellent, first-rate, unequalled,
skilful, admirable, magnificent, well done; superb, spectacular,
splendid, marvellous, wonderful, incomparable, superior,
elegant, exquisite, pleasant, pleasing, delightful, Colloq
smashing: The garage did a beautiful job in tuning the engine.
Armand's arranged a beautiful wedding reception for us.


beautifully
adv. 1 attractively, chicly, fashionably, delightfully,
charmingly, splendidly, magnificently, Colloq smashingly: The
princess was beautifully dressed in a rose satin ball-gown. 2
admirably, superbly, excellently, wonderfully, marvellously,
splendidly, spectacularly, magnificently, Colloq smashingly:
Emily played her solo beautifully.

beautify v. adorn, embellish, decorate, ornament, titivate, elaborate,
garnish, deck (out), bedeck: The old fa‡ade was removed and the
building beautified by refacing it with white marble.

beauty n. 1 loveliness, attractiveness, handsomeness, pulchritude:
The beauty of the actress took my breath away. 2 belle, Colloq
looker, knockout, dream, dreamboat, stunner: She was one of the
great beauties of her day. 3 attraction, strength, advantage,
asset: The beauty of the plan lies in its simplicity.

beckon v. signal, gesture, motion; summon, bid, call: The manager
beckoned to me and I went over to see what he wanted.

become v. 1 turn or change or transform into: The princess kissed the
prince, who immediately became a frog. 2 grow or develop or
evolve into; mature or ripen into: It's hard to believe that
this dull caterpillar will eventually become a splendid
butterfly. 3 enhance, suit, fit, befit, be proper or appropriate
for, behove or US behoove: Moonlight becomes you, It goes with
your hair. 4 grace, adorn: Walter was a man who became the
dignity of his function as a commissionaire. 5 become of. come
of, happen to: What will become of you if you don't go to
school?


becoming adj. enhancing, beautifying, seemly; attractive, comely,
fetching, chic, stylish, fashionable, tasteful; appropriate,
fitting, fit, meet, befitting, proper, suitable: Your new
hairdo is most becoming, Frances.


bedlam n. pandemonium, uproar, hubbub, commotion, confusion, tumult,
turmoil, furore or US furor, chaos; madhouse: The chancellor's
announcement created instant bedlam in the Commons.

bedraggled
adj. soiled, dirty, muddy, muddied, untidy, stained,
dishevelled, scruffy, messy; wet, sloppy, soaking or sopping or
wringing wet, soaked, drenched, Colloq gungy, US grungy: We
took the two bedraggled waifs in out of the pouring rain.


befitting adj. fitting, becoming, due, suitable or suited (to),
appropriate (to), apropos, proper (to), seemly (for): He really
ought to behave in a manner befitting his position as chairman.
This must be done with a befitting sense of awe.


before adv. 1 previously, earlier, already, beforehand; formerly, in
the past; once: I have told you before, don't count your
chickens. 2 ahead, in advance, in front, in the forefront,
first, in the vanguard, Colloq up front: He let his wife walk
before, as he knew the road was mined. 3 ahead, in the future,
to come: Before lie the prospects of surrendering or dying.

--prep. 4 ahead of, in advance of, in front of, forward of:
The king indicated that the page should go before him. 5 in

front of; in the presence of: The entire valley was spread out
before me. 6 preceding, previous or anterior to, prior to; on
the eve of: Before my departure I have to kiss Annie goodbye.
7 in preference to, rather than, sooner than, more willingly
than: They said they would die before yielding.

--conj. 8 previous to or preceding the time when: This was a
nice place before the day-trippers arrived.


beg v. 1 entreat, beseech, plead (with), crave, implore, importune,
wheedle, cajole, supplicate (with), pray; ask for, request: She
begged me to stay. 2 solicit, sponge, Colloq cadge, scrounge,
US panhandle: When he was an alcoholic, he used to beg drinks
off everyone.


beggar n. 1 mendicant, supplicant, suppliant, alms-man, sponger,
tramp, vagrant, pauper, Colloq cadger, scrounger, US panhandler:
We were approached by beggars on every street corner. 2 fellow,
man, person, Colloq chap, guy, bloke: I feel sorry for the poor
beggar who lost his wallet at the station.

--v. 3 impoverish; want, challenge, defy, baffle: The misery
of those people beggars description.


begin v. 1 start (out or off or in or on), initiate, enter on or
upon, set out or about, set out on or upon, Rather formal
commence: We began the journey full of enthusiasm. 2 start
(off), inaugurate, originate, open, launch, create, establish,
found, set up; go into: We began the company five years ago. 3
arise, start, originate, Rather formal commence: The greatness
of the Prussian monarchy begins with Frederick II. The
paragraph begins in the middle of the page.

beginning n. 1 start, commencement, outset, onset, inception, dawn,
dawning, birth, genesis, origin, creation, day one; origination,
source, well-spring: There are several competing theories about
the beginning of life on earth. The beginning of the idea can be
traced to Galileo. 2 opening, start, inception, commencement: I
have plenty of energy at the beginning of the day. The book is
good at the beginning, but then it gets boring.

begrudge v. 1 resent, envy, grudge: She doesn't begrudge him his
success. 2 give (be)grudgingly or unwillingly or reluctantly,

deny, refuse: He begrudges her the slightest consideration.

beguile v. 1 delude, deceive, cheat, swindle, dupe, fool, mislead,
hoodwink, bamboozle, take in: She was easily beguiled by his
solicitude. 2 defraud (of), deprive (of), cheat (out of or
into), swindle (out of): Let no man beguile you of your reward.
3 charm, divert, amuse, distract, fascinate, engross, engage,
allure: I always meet the most beguiling people at Daphne's
parties.


behalf n. on or US in behalf of or on or US in one's behalf. for, as a
representative of, in place of, instead of, in the name of, on
the part of; in the interest of, for the benefit or advantage
of: The lawyer is acting on behalf of the heirs.


behave v. act, react, function, operate, perform, work, conduct or
deport or comport or bear (oneself); act obediently, act
properly, be good: The boy behaved with great insolence. I wish
the children would behave themselves.


behaviour n. conduct, demeanour, deportment, bearing, manners,
comportment; action(s): His behaviour in the presence of the
royal couple was abominable.


behead v. decapitate, guillotine, Archaic decollate: Criminals and
enemies of the state were formerly beheaded.

behold v. see, look at, regard, set or lay eyes on, descry, notice,
note, espy, perceive, discern, remark, view: As we emerged from
the gorge, we beheld the mountain looming above us.

beholden adj. obliged, obligated, indebted, grateful, in debt, under
(an) obligation: She said that she was beholden to him for
everything he had done.


behove v. US behoove; be required of, be incumbent on, be proper of,
be fitting of or for, befit; be advisable for, be worthwhile
for, be expeditious for or of, be advantageous to or for, be
useful to or for, be beneficial to or for: It behoves you to be
respectful to the chairman of the board.

belabour v. thrash, beat, pummel or pommel, buffet, pelt, lambaste: We
tried to stop the drover from belabouring the poor horse with a

whip.

belated adj. late; behind time, behindhand, out of date; delayed,
detained: I forgot your birthday, so here's a belated gift.


belief n. 1 trust, dependence, reliance, confidence, faith, security,
assurance: He retains his belief in the divine right of kings.
2 acceptance, credence; assent: His statements are unworthy of
belief. 3 tenet, view, idea, sentiment, conviction, doctrine,
dogma, principle(s), axiom, maxim, creed, opinion, persuasion:
The belief that there is no God is as definite a creed as the
belief in one God or in many gods. 4 intuition, judgement: It
is her belief that nuclear energy will eventually prove
economical.


believe v. 1 accept, put faith or credence in or into, find credible,
find creditable; allow, think, hold, maintain, feel; take it,
suppose, assume: He still believes that the moon is made of
green cheese. 2 believe in. trust to or in, rely upon or on,
have faith or confidence in, put one's trust in, be convinced
of, swear by, credit; have the courage of one's convictions: Do
you believe everything you read in the papers? The chairman
believes in your ability to carry out the plan. 3 make believe.
pretend, suppose, imagine, fancy, conjecture, assume: I used to
make believe I was a great detective.

belittle v. diminish, minimize, disparage, slight, decry, detract from,
depreciate, trivialize, deprecate, degrade, denigrate,
downgrade, de-emphasize, discredit, criticize, derogate; reduce,
mitigate, lessen, undervalue, underestimate, underrate,
minimize, Colloq play down, pooh-pooh: He belittles the efforts
of others but accomplishes nothing himself.

belligerent
adj. 1 warring; warlike, militant, warmongering, hawkish,
jingoistic, bellicose, martial: The belligerent nations have
agreed to discuss an accord. 2 quarrelsome, pugnacious,
contentious, disputatious, truculent, aggressive, hostile,
combative, antagonistic, bellicose: I cannot see why you have
to take such a belligerent attitude towards the chairman.

--n. 3 warring party, antagonist, contestant; warmonger, hawk,
jingoist, militant: Our country has refused to sell arms to the

belligerents in the conflict.

bellow v. 1 roar; yell, shout, blare, trumpet, howl, Colloq holler:
Father was bellowing that he couldn't find his pipe. The
public-address system bellowed out my name.

--n. 2 roar; yell, shout, Colloq holler: The bull gave a
bellow and charged.


belong v. 1 be a member (of), be affiliated or associated or connected
(with), be attached or bound (to), be a part (of): Does he
belong to the Green party? He didn't want to belong while his
wife was a member. 2 have a (proper) place (in), be proper (to):
Do you ever get the feeling that you don't belong here? 3
belong to. be owned by, be the property or possession of: That
coat belongs to me.

belonging n. association, connection, alliance, relationship, affinity,
relation: She says the Church gives her a strong sense of
belonging.

belongings
n. (personal) property, effects, possessions, goods, things,
chattels: He returned home to find all his belongings in the
street.

beloved adj. 1 loved, cherished, adored, dear, dearest, darling,
precious, treasured; admired, worshipped, revered, esteemed,
idolized, respected, esteemed; valued, prized: He denied
nothing to his beloved children. She was their beloved queen.

--n. 2 sweetheart, darling, dearest, love; lover, paramour,
inamorata or inamorato, Colloq flame: He wrote poems to his
beloved.


below adv. 1 lower down, further down, farther down: Please see the
explanation given below. The department head could no longer
resist the pressures from below. 2 beneath, underneath, under;
downstairs, Nautical below-decks, Brit below-stairs: Can you
hear someone walking about below? They put the captain in irons
below. 3 on earth, here, in this world, under the sun: Man
wants but little here below.

--prep. 4 under, underneath, beneath: Below the sea live
creatures we have never even seen. Barely discernible below his
nose was a tiny moustache. Sign your name below 'Yours truly'. 5
less or lower or cheaper than: The sale price is below cost. 6
deeper or further or farther down than: The current is
strongest about six feet below the surface. 7 under, beneath,
underneath: Her bright eyes peered at him from below the wide
hat. 8 lower or less than, under: The temperature was 20
degrees below zero. 9 inferior or subordinate to, lower than:
He gives orders to the servants below him. 10 inferior or
secondary to, under, beneath, lower than: In exports, the USA
and UK are below Japan. 11 beneath, unworthy of, unbefitting,
not worth: Mugging old ladies is below contempt.


belt n. 1 sash; Literary girdle, cestus, cincture, zone: At her
belt she wore a dagger in a golden scabbard. 2 zone, band,
strip, circuit, perimeter; area, swath, tract, region, district:
The planners ensured that each city would be surrounded by a
green belt.


--v. 3 strike, hit, punch; beat, thrash: When he insulted her,
I simply belted him. 4 belt out. sing or perform stridently or
loudly; put over or across: Sophie Tucker was there, belting
out 'One of These Days'.


bemoan v. lament, mourn or grieve or weep or moan for: She bitterly
bemoaned the loss of her sole companion, her canary.

bemuse v. 1 confuse, muddle, mix up, addle, befuddle, perplex,
bewilder, puzzle, Colloq US and Canadian discombobulate: The
actors were thoroughly bemused by the sudden appearance of a
horse on stage. 2 stupefy, benumb, numb, paralyse: I found him,
completely bemused, with the empty bottle beside him.


bend n. 1 curve, turn, turning, corner; bow, angle, crook, hook,
curvature, flexure: Go left at the bend in the road. If you put
a bend in a wire hanger, you can fish out the obstruction.

--v. 2 arch, bow, curve, crook: Soak the branch in water and
it will bend easily. Stop bending my arm - it hurts! 3 bow;
curtsy or curtsey; kowtow, salaam; kneel, genuflect: The
cannibal bent down before a pile of skulls. 4 incline, channel,
focus, direct, steer, set; fix: He bent his attention on more

important matters. She bent her steps towards the cemetery. 5
submit, bow, yield, give way, be pliant or subservient or
tractable: The cabinet bends to the will of the prime minister.
6 incline, turn, deflect: As you can see, the ray is bent by
the lens.

bender Colloq n. drunk, spree, bout, revel, carousal, carouse,
bacchanal; Slang binge, jag, US toot: He goes off on a bender
whenever his wife leaves him.


beneath adv. 1 low or lower down, below, under, underneath: Please
sign beneath if you agree the terms. 2 below, underneath,
under; underground: The flowers are above the ground, the roots
beneath.


--prep. 3 under, underneath, below: Beneath that gruff
exterior of his beats a heart of gold. 4 below, unworthy of,
unbefitting, undeserving of, not (even) meriting, lower than:
Your behaviour is beneath criticism.


benefactor
n. patron, supporter, sponsor, donor, philanthropist; backer,
investor, supporter, Colloq angel: Our benefactor has made a
donation that will enable the mission to carry on its work.


beneficial
adj. 1 advantageous, serviceable, useful, profitable, helpful,
supportive, favourable, constructive, good: No measures could
have been more beneficial to the kingdom. 2 healthful, healthy,
salutary, salubrious; efficacious, effective: A certain amount
of sunshine is quite beneficial.

benefit n. 1 advantage, profit, good, sake, gain, aid, help, service:
It would be to their benefit to call off the strike. 2 Often,
benefits. perquisite(s), emolument(s), allowance(s), extra(s),
fringe benefit(s), Colloq perk(s): We offer one of the best
schemes in the industry for employee benefits.

--v. 3 improve, aid, help, better, promote, further, advance,
forward: Enrolling on a management course could benefit your
chances for advancement. 4 profit, gain: No one has ever
personally benefited a penny from these contributions.

benevolence
n. 1 charity, kindness, kindliness, humanity, humanitarianism,
beneficence, charitableness, goodness, altruism, good will,
unselfishness, philanthropy, generosity, magnanimity: The poor
people in the village used to rely on his benevolence. 2 gift,
grant, contribution, donation, beneficence: The victims of the
famine were recipients of the benevolence of the British people.

benevolent
adj. charitable, well-disposed, gracious, good, kind, kindly,
humane, humanitarian, well-wishing, thoughtful, considerate,
sympathetic, caring, kind-hearted, warm-hearted, compassionate,
benign, benignant; liberal, generous, magnanimous, open-handed;
beneficial, helpful, salutary: That hypocrite has cast himself
in the role of a benevolent despot.

benighted adj. unenlightened, na‹ve, uninformed, ignorant: That poor,
benighted fool believes that the doctors can cure him.


benign adj. 1 kindly, gracious, good, kind, kind-hearted, benevolent,
benignant, warm, warm-hearted, cordial, genial, congenial,
tender, tender-hearted, compassionate, sympathetic,
soft-hearted: It was Grandad's benign goodwill that kept us
together in those hard times. 2 bland, gentle, mild, warm: A
benign smile lit the headmaster's face as he announced the
awards for scholastic achievement. 3 kind, favourable,
fortunate; salutary, salubrious, mild, congenial, propitious:
She recovered rapidly in that most benign climate. 4 non-fatal,
non-malignant, non-virulent, curable, harmless: Fortunately,
the biopsy showed that the tumour was benign.

bent adj. 1 curved, deflected, bowed, crooked, distorted: He
complained to the waiter just because the fork was bent. 2
strange, weird, peculiar, twisted, deviant, warped, wry, awry,
corrupt, corrupted; perverted, perverse, abnormal: You'd be
bent, too, if you'd been in prison for fifteen years. 3
dishonest, crooked, illegal: That share deal sounds a bit bent
to me: I'll pass. 4 determined, intent, set, resolved,
resolute, decided, set: Garvey is bent on running in the
marathon, despite his sprained ankle.

--n. 5 turn, inclination, direction, disposition,
predisposition, tendency, bias, leaning, proclivity, propensity,

partiality, prejudice; ability, aptitude, talent, gift: She
wished to follow the bent of her own taste. He has a natural
bent for music.


bequeath v. leave, make over, will, pass on, hand down or on, transmit,
Law devise: Aunt Margaret has bequeathed her collection of
music boxes to the museum.

bequest n. legacy, inheritance: A huge bequest was received by the
hospital.

berate v. scold, chide, rate, upbraid, revile, abuse, rail at,
excoriate, castigate, objurgate; harangue: In the square an
ancient virago was berating a butcher.


bereave v. deprive; strip, rob, dispossess: The accident bereaved him
of his child.

berserk adj. amok, mad, violent, wild, crazed, frenzied, maniacal: He
went berserk, destroying tables and chairs.

beseech v. supplicate, entreat, implore, plead (with), beg, importune,
obsecrate: The prisoners beseeched the king to have mercy on
them.


beset v. encompass, surround, besiege; assail, attack, harass, harry,
hector, bother, afflict, trouble: She was beset by all the
problems involved in having a job and a family.


beside prep. 1 alongside, near, next to, with, close to, hard by,
nearby, by: A handsome young man walked up and sat down beside
her. 2 away from, wide of, apart from, unconnected with, off:
The fact that I owe you money is entirely beside the point. 3
beside oneself. out of one's mind or wits, at the end of one's
tether, overwrought, agitated, upset, crazy, mad: She was
beside herself with grief when she heard the news.

besides adv. 1 in addition, additionally, also; further, furthermore,
moreover, as well, too; to boot, on top of everything else, into
the bargain: Maria is our choice for the post and, besides,
she's the only qualified person available. On their anniversary
he gave her a diamond ring and a sapphire brooch besides.

--prep. 2 over and above, above and beyond, in addition to,
additionally to, as well as; aside from, barring, excepting,
except for, excluding, exclusive of, not counting or including,
beyond, apart from, other than: St Paul became acquainted with
many Christians besides his converts.

besiege v. 1 lay siege to, beleaguer: For ten years Troy was besieged
by the Greeks. 2 blockade, block, block off or up, hem in, cut
off; surround, crowd round: The strikers have besieged the
factory gates, not allowing anyone in or out. 3 importune, sue,
petition, assail, pressurize or US pressure, press, overwhelm,
inundate: The Home Office has been besieged by requests for
leniency in your case.


best adj. 1 superlative, unexcelled, finest, pre-eminent, first,
superb, unsurpassed, superior, excellent, paramount, first-rate,
Colloq A-1, A-one: Henry VIII was the best rider, the best
lance, and the best archer in England. 2 kindest, most
beneficent, nicest: Which of your brothers is the best to you?
3 foremost, choicest, pre-eminent, most suitable, most
appropriate, most qualified, most talented, most desirable, most
outstanding: We want the best person to fill the job. 4
largest, most, greatest: She had travelled the best part of the
way by ship. 5 richest, wealthiest; first-class, upper crust,
upper-class: He associates only with those he considers to be
the best people.

--n. 6 finest; first: The best is yet to come. 7 finery, best
clothes, Colloq best bib and tucker: He was all decked out in
his Sunday best. 8 greatest or maximum effort: He did his best
but it wasn't enough to win.

--adv. 9 most excellently, to the fullest extent, in the most
suitable way, most adroitly, most skilfully, most superbly, most
artistically: All the children performed well, but Alice
performed best. 10 with greatest satisfaction, most
successfully: He who laughs last laughs best.

--v. 11 win (out) over, conquer, beat, surpass, overpower, get
the better of, subdue, defeat, worst, vanquish, trounce, rout,
crush, master, outdo, overwhelm, overcome, outwit: He was
bested in three falls out of four.

bestow v. confer; give, award, present, donate, grant: The country
has bestowed its highest honours on her.

bet n. 1 wager, stake, risk, venture, Brit punt, Colloq Brit
flutter: He could not afford more than a small bet.

--v. 2 wager, stake, gamble, risk, hazard, play, lay, put,
chance, venture, Brit punt: Every week he bet a small amount on
the lottery.


betray v. 1 be or prove false or disloyal to, sell out, break faith
with, let down, fail, inform on, Colloq sell down the river,
Slang Brit shop: He betrayed her to the enemy. 2 reveal,
disclose, divulge, impart, tell; expose, lay bare: She betrayed
their hide-out to the police. He betrayed an unsuspected streak
of cowardice. 3 lead astray, mislead, misguide, deceive, dupe,
fool, hoodwink: He has been betrayed by his own arrogance.

betrayal n. 1 treachery, treason, disloyalty, perfidy, traitorousness,
faithlessness, bad faith, breach of faith: His delivery of the
country into the hands of an invader was an outright act of
betrayal. 2 revelation, divulging, disclosure, divulgence:
People should not be led into betrayals of their secret
opinions.


betterฐ adj. 1 superior: You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din. Can
you suggest a better investment than the Channel Tunnel? I know
of no better invention than the wheel. 2 more; greater, larger,
bigger: I waited for her the better part of two hours. 3
wiser, safer, well-advised, more intelligent: It would be
better to wait till tomorrow to tell her. 4 healthier, haler,
heartier, less ill or US sick, improved; cured, recovered: You
will feel better after you have eaten something.


--adv. 5 preferably, best; more wisely, more advisedly, more
safely: We had better go before the trouble starts. 6 better
off. a improved, happier, well-advised: You'd be better off
attending a technical college. b wealthier, richer: She is
better off than any of us. 7 think better of. reconsider, think
twice, change one's mind: He was going to fight but thought
better of it.

--n. 8 advantage, mastery, superiority, control: Don't let the

obstacle course get the better of you. 9 betters. superiors:
That young imp should learn how to address his elders and
betters!


--v. 10 improve, ameliorate, advance, raise, elevate: It was
impossible in those days for labourers to better their
condition. 11 surpass, excel, outdo, outstrip, beat, improve:
She bettered her record in the 100-metre hurdles by two-tenths
of a second.


better n. gambler, speculator, wagerer, gamester, Brit punter, US
bettor, Colloq crap-shooter, sport: The betters were gathered
round the craps table.


bewail v. lament, mourn, bemoan, moan or mourn over, shed tears or
whimper over, weep or cry or keen over, beat one's breast over:
Instead of bewailing his condition, why doesn't he do something
about it?


beware v. take heed, be careful, be wary, be cautious, be on one's
guard, exercise caution, mind, watch out, look out, take care:
There are shoals nearby, so beware. Beware the ides of March!

bewilder v. confuse, confound, perplex, puzzle, mystify, befuddle,
baffle, bemuse: I was bewildered by differential calculus.

bewitch v. enchant, entrance, spellbind, charm, fascinate, beguile,
cast a spell over, captivate, enrapture: She easily bewitches
men with her sultry good looks and her husky, low voice.


2.3 bias...
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-



bias n. 1 prejudice, partiality; inclination, leaning, bent,
disposition, propensity, tendency, predilection, predisposition,
proclivity: She shows a marked bias in favour of the Irish. 2
angle, slant, diagonal: Cut the fabric on the bias. 3
influence, impulse, weight: If he is under any bias, it is on
the side of fairness.

--v. 4 influence, affect unduly or unfairly, sway, incline,
prejudice, colour, taint, predispose: Artists are seldom good

critics of art because they have been biased.

biased adj. biased, prejudiced, partial; warped, distorted, jaundiced:
I don't want to listen to your biased opinions about women's
rights.

bicker v. dispute, quarrel, wrangle, argue, squabble, tiff, Colloq
spat: The couple next door are always bickering about trifling
matters.


bid v. 1 offer, make an offer (for), tender, proffer: We bid œ500
for the painting. 2 Archaic or literary ask, pray, press,
entreat, beg, request, suggest, invite: She bade me leave her
to mourn alone. 3 Formal command, demand, order, tell, enjoin,
dictate: Please bid him enter. Custom bade him blow his horn.

bidding n. 1 invitation, summons: We attended the ceremony at the
bidding of the vice-chancellor. 2 command, order, dictate,
direction, instruction, demand: The letter was sent to all
theatre directors at the bidding of the Arts Minister.

big adj. 1 large, great, grand; huge, enormous, immense, gigantic,
giant, tremendous, colossal, Brobdingnagian, jumbo, Colloq Brit
socking or whacking big or great, US humongous: We live in a
big house in the country. 2 ample, hefty, huge, bulky, fat,
obese; large, hulking, beefy, burly, brawny, strapping,
gargantuan, elephantine, enormous, gigantic, immense, monstrous:
The sumo wrestler was one of the biggest men I'd ever seen. 3
tall, grown, mature, grown-up, large: Christopher is certainly
big for his age. 4 important, significant, outstanding,
weighty, consequential, major, grave, momentous, notable,
noteworthy, telling: Changing careers can be one of the biggest
decisions of your life. 5 important, prominent, illustrious,
noteworthy, notable, renowned, eminent, distinguished, esteemed:
Mr Johnson is a big man in our town. 6 generous, magnanimous,
charitable, unselfish, giving: It was very big of her to take
on the support of the orphanage. 7 popular, famous, well-known,
successful: That band is very big with the kids these days. 8
capital, large, upper case, majuscule: Always spell London with
a big L.

--adv. 9 pompously, boastfully, conceitedly, arrogantly,
pretentiously: Alfred talks big at home, but he's very modest

when he's with his friends. 10 successfully, well,
oustandingly,effectively: I think your speech went over big
with those opposed to the new budget.


bigoted adj. prejudiced, intolerant, biased, jaundiced, one-sided,
partial: The judge was bigoted against Blacks, which accounts
for the unfair decision.

bigotry n. prejudice, intolerance, bias, partiality: No government
that practises bigotry can survive long.

bigwig n. 1 boss, kingpin, king, queen, nabob, VIP, Colloq big-shot,
big gun, big cheese, big wheel, hotshot, chief, brass hat, US
(chief) honcho, Mr Big: The bigwig sits here, at the head of
the table. 2 bigwigs. brass, brass hats: Don't let the bigwigs
find out what we've done.

bilious adj. ill-tempered, bad-tempered, ill-natured, peevish, testy,
cross, petulant, tetchy, choleric, dyspeptic, angry, wrathful:
The director was absolutely bilious when he heard we had lost
the account.

billฐ n. 1 invoice, account; tally, reckoning, tabulation, US
(restaurant) check, Colloq US tab: Have you paid the telephone
bill? 2 US and Canadian note, banknote, paper money, Colloq
folding money: The robbers took only small bills, which they
could spend easily.

--v. 3 invoice, charge: I haven't got my cheque-book with me,
please could you bill me.

bill n. beak, neb, nib, pecker; jaws: One of the birds had a fish
in its bill.


bind v. 1 tie, fasten, secure, make fast, tie up: The thieves bound
him hand and foot. 2 constrain; hold, oblige, obligate: The
contract we signed is equally binding on both parties. The union
is bound by an agreement that expires in a month. 3 gird,
encircle, wreathe, wrap, cover, swathe, bandage: They were
binding his wounded head. 4 cement, stick, cause to adhere;
attach, connect: Ordinary glue will bind these pieces together.

--n. 5 Colloq US dilemma, predicament, tight spot, (difficult)

situation, Colloq pickle, fix, jam: I'm in a real bind because
I've invited two girls to the party. 6 Colloq Brit annoyance,
irritant, bother, bore, trial, ordeal, irritation, vexation,
Colloq pain (in the neck or arse): It was a bit of a bind
having to wait three hours at the airport.

birth n. 1 childbirth, delivery, Technical parturition, Old-fashioned
confinement: Nicole is expecting the birth of her first baby in
early April. 2 origin, creation, emergence, beginning, start,
origination: I believe we may be present at the birth of a
powerful idea. 3 nativity, origin, extraction; parentage, line,
lineage, ancestry, descent, family, blood: She is Scottish by
birth. Hortense is of noble birth.


bisexual adj. 1 hermaphrodite or hermaphroditic(al), androgynous: Many
of these microscopic animals are bisexual and self-fertilizing.
2 Colloq AC/DC, swinging both ways, Facetious ambisextrous: He
was known to have had bisexual relationships.


--n. 3 androgyne, hermaphrodite: Statistics showed that more
women than previously believed were bisexual.

bit n. 1 morsel, piece, scrap, fragment, shred, particle, grain,
crumb: We didn't have a bit of food in the house. 2 jot,
tittle, whit, scintilla, trace, touch, hint, suggestion,
suspicion, particle, iota, speck, atom: There's not the
slightest bit of evidence to link her with the crime. 3 moment,
minute, second, flash, Colloq two shakes (of a lamb's tail):
I'll be with you in a little bit. 4 piece, share, equity,
segment, portion, part, fraction: He owns a little bit of the
business.

bitch n. 1 shrew, nag, termagant, virago, harpy, fury, spitfire,
scold: That greedy bitch has the house, and now she's suing me
for half my income. 2 whore, prostitute, bawd, harlot,
call-girl, trollop, strumpet, trull, drab, tart, floozie,
streetwalker, Colloq bimbo, pro, US hooker, tramp, hustler,: He
roamed the street every night, ending up with some bitch he
found in a bar.


--v. 3 complain, object, protest, grumble, Colloq gripe: Oh,
stop your bitching and get on with it! 4 bungle, botch, ruin,
spoil: They bitched the job by using too little paint.


bite v. 1 nip; chew, gnaw: That dog of yours bit a piece out of my
ankle. 2 sting: She was bitten by a mosquito.


--n. 3 mouthful, morsel, scrap, bit, piece, taste; snack, Slang
nosh: The survivors hadn't had a bite of food for three days.
Come round for a bite on Sunday evening before the concert. 4
sting: These mosquito bites itch horribly.


biting adj. severe, harsh, cutting, piercing, penetrating, keen,
sharp, bitter; cold, wintry, freezing: The biting wind went
right through his thin coat.

bitter adj. 1 harsh, acerbic, acrid, sharp, caustic, mordant: I added
some cream to the sauce to try and make it taste less bitter. 2
unappetizing, distasteful, unsavoury, unpleasant, hard (to
swallow or take), irritating, obnoxious, disagreeable, nasty,
painful, unwelcome, unpalatable: The demand for additional tax
payments was a bitter pill. 3 miserable, grievous, dispiriting,
distressing, cruel, distressful: Dismissal after all those
years in the firm was a bitter experience. 4 resentful,
embittered, rancorous; hateful: Andrew felt bitter at not being
selected as chairman. 5 stinging, cutting, biting, harsh,
reproachful, vicious, acrimonious, virulent; cruel, unkind,
unpleasant, nasty: His bitter denunciation of other candidates
lost him the campaign. 6 sharp, keen, cutting, severe, biting,
cold, wintry, freezing: A bitter gale lashed at the rigging.

bitterness
n. 1 harshness, acerbity, acrimony, acrimoniousness,
bitterness, spleen, Literary gall and wormwood: The bitterness
of his opponent's attack was totally uncalled for. 2 animosity,
hatred, resentment; hostility, antagonism: She felt bitterness
in her heart over the way she had been treated.


bizarre adj. 1 eccentric, unusual, unconventional, extravagant,
whimsical, strange, odd, curious, peculiar, queer, offbeat,
fantastic, weird, incongruous, deviant, erratic, Slang kinky:
The police thought his behaviour somewhat bizarre and invited
him down to the station for questioning. 2 grotesque, irregular,
nonconformist, nonconforming, outlandish, outr‚, quaint,
fantastic, unconventional: His house is a bizarre mixture of
baroque and modern design.


2.4 blab...
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-



blab Colloq v. broadcast, tattle, babble, betray, reveal, disclose,
divulge, expose: Don't tell Frieda - she'll blab your secrets
all over town.


blabbermouth
Colloq n. tell-tale, babbler, chatterer, gossip, Colloq blab,
tattle-tale, big-mouth: Oscar is such a blabbermouth that you
can't tell him anything you don't want everyone to know.


black adj. 1 jet, jet-black, coal-black, inky, sooty, swart, swarthy,
raven, ebony, dusky, Literary ebon, hyacinthine: Her hair was
as black as coal. 2 Negro, Negroid, coloured, dark-skinned:
Most of the Black races live near or south of the equator. 3
dark, pitch-black, jet-black, coal-black, Stygian; starless,
moonless: He bundled his coat round himself and walked into the
black night. 4 dark, sombre, dusky, gloomy, menacing,
glowering, louring or lowering, threatening, funereal: The sky
became black with storm clouds. 5 malignant, baleful, baneful,
deadly, deathly, sinister, dismal, hateful, disastrous: It was
a black day when he came into my life. 6 bad, foul, iniquitous,
wicked, evil, diabolical, infernal, hellish, atrocious, awful,
malicious, abominable, outrageous, vicious, villainous,
flagitious, vile, disgraceful, unscrupulous, unconscionable,
unprincipled, blackguardly, knavish, perfidious, insidious,
nefarious, dastardly, treacherous, unspeakable, disgraceful,
shameful, scurvy, criminal, felonious: You have told the
blackest lies about me. 7 angry, wrathful, furious, frowning,
bad-tempered, sulky, resentful, clouded, threatening, glowering:
She gave him a black look and he withered in abject fear.


--v. 8 boycott, embargo, blacklist, ban, interdict: Because of
the dispute over plumbers' wages, the other building-trades
unions have blacked every manufacturer in the business.


blacken v. 1 darken, smudge, begrime: The chimney sweep's face was
blackened with soot. 2 slander, libel, asperse, cast aspersions
on, traduce, smear, sully, soil, besmirch, taint, tarnish,
defame, revile, malign, vilify, discredit, denigrate: His

article has blackened my reputation.

blackleg n. scab, strikebreaker: Despite the strike, the plant is being
operated by blackleg labour.


blackmail n. 1 extortion, ransom, tribute, US graft: Even if you pay the
blackmail, that is no guarantee that he won't demand more later.

--v. 2 extort money from; force, coerce, compel, make: They
had discovered his indiscretions and were blackmailing him. He
blackmailed her into signing the alimony settlement.

blade n. 1 knife, cutting edge: Don't hold the knife by the blade.
2 Literary sword, rapier, sabre, dagger, poniard, stiletto,
cutlass, bayonet, knife, penknife, jackknife: She plunged the
blade in up to the hilt. 3 leaf, leaflet, frond, shoot: The
blades of grass were flattened where he had walked. 4 Rather
old-fashioned playboy, ladies' man, man about town, fop, dandy:
He was quite a gay blade in his youth.


blame v. 1 find fault with, censure, criticize, fault; accuse,
charge, indict, condemn, point to, point (the finger) at,
rebuke, reprimand, recriminate, reproach, scold, reprehend,
reprove: Don't blame me if you can't get to school on time. 2
hold responsible, fix (the) responsibility upon or on, put or
place or lay (the) blame on, lay at someone's door, denounce,
incriminate: Why blame Carol for the mess?

--n. 3 censure, criticism, reproof, rebuke, recrimination,
disapproval, disapprobation, reproach, objurgation,
condemnation, reprehension: The cyclist put the blame for the
accident on me. 4 culpability, responsibility; guilt, Slang
rap: Why should you take the blame for something that Donald
did?


blameless adj. faultless, guiltless, innocent, irreproachable,
unimpeachable: Hugh has led a blameless life.

bland adj. 1 gentle, soothing, smooth, mild, suave, urbane, cool,
unruffled, calm, composed, unemotional, nonchalant, insouciant:
His reaction to the news of the invasion was bland indifference.
2 insipid, boring, dull, uninteresting, ennuyant, tasteless,
Colloq US plain vanilla; Slang US blah: The play is a bland

mixture of clich‚s embedded in a tired plot.

blank adj. 1 empty, plain, bare: I stared at the blank paper, unable
to write even my name. 2 unornamented, unadorned, undecorated,
void: Whenever Irena sees a blank wall she feels compelled to
hang a painting on it. 3 vacant, empty: The actor's mind went
completely blank

--he had forgotten his lines. 4 passive, impassive,
expressionless, emotionless, vacuous, mindless, unexpressive:
He gave us a blank look when asked about the missing rare
stamps. 5 disconcerted, discomfited, nonplussed, confused,
helpless, resourceless, perplexed, dazed, bewildered: The two
old men looked at each other with blank and horror-stricken
faces. 6 unrelieved, stark, sheer, utter, pure, unmixed,
absolute, unqualified: Jack faced the blank prospect of
solitary confinement.

--n. 7 space; line, box: Please fill in the blanks on the
form. 8 nothing, zero, nil; void, emptiness: I asked her when
the baby was coming, but I drew a blank.

blare v. 1 blast, bellow, trumpet, ring, boom, thunder, roar, bray;
resound, echo, reverberate, resonate: Everyone in the
neighbourhood can hear your hi-fi blaring.

--n. 2 blast, bellow, ring, roar, boom, noise, sound, clamour:
The games began with a blare of trumpets.


blas‚ adj. 1 bored, jaded, weary, unimpressed, ennuy‚: Her blas‚
attitude does little to endear her at job interviews. 2
indifferent, cool, superior, supercilious, sophisticated,
unmoved, nonchalant, emotionless, phlegmatic, apathetic,
pococurante, carefree, light-hearted, insouciant: His blas‚
behaviour hides his basic feelings of insecurity.

blaspheme v. 1 curse, swear, imprecate, execrate, profane, damn: They
were denounced for blaspheming against God. 2 abuse, malign,
calumniate, defame, disparage, revile, put down, decry,
deprecate, depreciate, belittle: The ungrateful wretches
blaspheme the charitable soul who would help them.

blasphemous

adj. profane, impious, irreverent, disrespectful, sacrilegious,
irreligious, sinful, wicked, evil, iniquitous: He was
excommunicated for his blasphemous writings.


blast n. 1 blow, gust, wind, gale: The door opened and a blast of
icy air made us shiver. 2 blare, sound, noise, racket, din,
bellow, roar; boom: At the trumpet-blast thousands of Goths
descended screaming on the camp. 3 explosion, burst, eruption,
discharge; detonation: A blast of dynamite levelled all the
houses in the vicinity. 4 (at or in) full blast. fully, at full
tilt, at the maximum, completely, thoroughly, entirely,
maximally, Slang with no holds barred, US to the max: The
factory was going full blast before the strike.


--v. 5 blow up, explode, dynamite, demolish, destroy, ruin,
waste, lay waste, shatter, devastate: The pillbox was blasted
out of existence by our guns. 6 defame, discredit, denounce,
criticize, attack; ruin, destroy: The candidate has been
blasted by the press. 7 curse, damn: The minister continued to
blast the proposal till the legislature dropped it.

blatant adj. 1 obvious, flagrant, palpable, obtrusive, arrant,
shameless, unashamed, brazen, overt, glaring: Those hooligans
have shown a blatant disregard for the law. 2 noisy, clamorous,
loud, bellowing, strident, vociferous, rowdy, boisterous,
obstreperous, uproarious: The blatant radical faction insists
on making itself heard.

blaze n. 1 flame, fire, holocaust, inferno, conflagration: The fuel
barrels exploded, feeding the blaze. 2 outburst, eruption,
flare-up: Her speech fanned the Lower House into a blaze of
resentment. 3 light, brightness, brilliance, brilliancy, glow:
The blaze of lamps lit up the whole square.


--v. 4 burn, flare up, flame: In a few minutes the logs were
blazing merrily. 5 blaze away (at). fire, shoot, open fire,
blast; bombard, shell: The enemy appeared, and we just blazed
away at them.


bleach v. 1 whiten, lighten, fade, blanch, blench, Technical etiolate:
My jeans are all bleached by the sun.

--n. 2 whitener, chlorine: Add a little bleach to the laundry.


bleak adj. 1 cheerless, dreary, depressing, dismal, gloomy, sombre,
melancholy, sad, unhappy, mournful: 1940 was one of the
bleakest periods in British history. 2 cold, chilly, raw,
bitter: The days were getting shorter, and the bleak winter was
setting in. 3 barren, bare, exposed, windswept, desolate: How
depressing the bleak landscape of the Russian steppes can be in
winter!


blemish v. 1 deface, mar, scar, impair, disfigure: They did nothing to
blemish the beauty of the landscape. 2 tarnish, stain, sully,
spoil, mar, flaw, harm, damage, scar, injure, bruise, besmirch:
She has blemished my reputation by spreading those stories about
me.


--n. 3 disfigurement, scar, mark, impairment, stain, smear,
blot; defect, flaw, error, fault, imperfection, error, erratum:
Her complexion was entirely without blemish.


blend v. 1 mix, mingle, combine, meld, commingle, intermingle: The
Latakia is blended with the Virginia to produce a fine smoking
tobacco. 2 shade, grade, gradate, graduate, merge, coalesce,
fuse, unite: Note how the pink sky and the tinted clouds blend
in this Turner painting.


--n. 3 mixture, mix, combination, mingling, meld, commingling,
intermingling: His humour is a fine blend of the sardonic with
slapstick.


bless v. 1 consecrate, hallow, sanctify; extol, glorify, praise,
revere, adore: God bless this ship and all who sail in her.
Bless the Lord. 2 give, make happy or fortunate, endow, favour,
furnish, provide, supply, grace: She is blessed with one of the
most beautiful soprano voices that I have ever heard.


blessing n. 1 benediction, prayer, consecration: Each spring the vicar
officiated at the blessing of the fleet. 2 boon, favour,
advantage, good fortune, godsend, luck, profit, gain, help,
asset, gift, bounty: Hot, sunny days are a blessing for wine
growers.

blight n. 1 affliction, disease, plague, infestation, pestilence,
scourge: The crops were visited with a blight that lasted seven

years. 2 misfortune, curse, trouble, woe, calamity: Genius may
suffer an untimely blight.

--v. 3 afflict, infest, plague, scourge; wither, mar, taint,
blast: Central Africa has been blighted by famine after famine.

blind adj. 1 sightless, eyeless, unsighted, purblind, stone-blind:
He has been blind from birth. 2 imperceptive, slow,
insensitive, thick, dense, obtuse, stupid, weak-minded,
dull-witted, slow-witted, dim-witted, Colloq Brit gormless: How
blind some parents are! There's another case of the blind
leading the blind. 3 indiscriminate, undiscriminating, heedless,
reckless, rash, impetuous, inconsiderate, unreasoning, mindless,
senseless, thoughtless, unthinking, irrational, delusional: He
did her bidding with the blind obedience of a dog. 4 blind to.
unaware or unconscious of, impervious or insensible to,
unaffected or untouched or unmoved by: The critics were blind
to her merits as a novelist till many years had passed.


--v. 5 deceive, blindfold, blinker; bamboozle, hoodwink, fool:
Wolsey could not blind himself to the true condition of the
church. How jealousy blinds people! 6 conceal, hide, eclipse,
overshadow; dazzle, blindfold: The bright lights of the city
blinded our view of the airport runway. Her beauty blinded him
to her greed.

--n. 7 shade, curtain, screen, cover, shutter(s), awning: The
sun is too bright - please draw the blind. 8 pretence, pretext,
front, cover, smokescreen, stratagem, subterfuge, ruse, trick,
deception, Colloq dodge; Slang scam: The plumbing service is
merely a blind for getting into houses to rob them.

blindly adv. recklessly, heedlessly, deludedly, indiscriminately,
rashly, impetuously, irrationally, thoughtlessly, mindlessly,
senselessly, unthinkingly: Despite his parents' warnings, he
went blindly on, till one day he was arrested.

blink v. 1 wink, flicker, Technical nictitate: She blinked in the
strong light. 2 twinkle, flicker, gleam, glimmer, shimmer,
flash, sparkle, scintillate, coruscate: A billion stars blinked
in the wintry sky. 3 flinch, wince, shrink, quail, blench,
recoil, start, move: She didn't even blink when she had the
injection. 4 blink at. wink at, ignore, overlook, disregard:

That inspector has been known to blink at health violations.

--n. 5 wink, flicker: He switched the cards in the blink of an
eye. 6 on the blink. Colloq out of order, broken, in
disrepair, not working or operating, not operational, Slang US
out of whack, on the fritz: The fridge is on the blink again.

bliss n. happiness, blitheness, gladness, joy, blessedness, delight,
felicity, glee, enjoyment, pleasure, joyousness, cheer,
exhilaration, gaiety, blissfulness, rapture, ecstasy: The bliss
of our honeymoon has remained with us throughout our marriage.

blithe adj. 1 blissful, happy, cheerful, joyous, merry, light-hearted,
well-pleased, delighted, gay, joyful, elated, jubilant: His
spirit was blithe and his heart unquenchable. 2 happy-go-lucky,
insouciant, heedless, carefree, unconcerned, blas‚, casual,
detached, indifferent, uncaring, careless: She goes through
life with a blithe disregard for the feelings of others.


bloated adj. swollen, distended, fully, puffy; puffed up, overgrown,
inflated, pompous: He felt bloated after the enormous banquet.
That bloated, conceited, self-important petty official had the
gall to refuse me a visa.


blob n. gob, gobbet, globule, drop, droplet, bit, gout, lump, dab,
Colloq glob, Chiefly US and Canadian smidgen or smidgin:
There's a blob of jelly on your tie.

block n. 1 piece, chunk, hunk, lump, slab; stump; brick, cube: The
figure is carved out of a solid block of stone. 2 bar,
obstacle, obstruction, hindrance, stumbling-block, deterrent,
impediment, barrier: Her arrival should be no block to your
leaving.


--v. 3 obstruct, close off, barricade; bar, shut off; hinder,
hamper, balk, impede, prevent: Entry to the playing field was
blocked by the police. 4 block out. a rough out, design,
outline, sketch, lay out, plan: The colonel blocked out a
strategy for our escape. b mask, screen, blank (out), erase,
eliminate, exclude, blot out, deny: She has blocked out that
part of her life from her mind. 5 block (up). stuff (up),
congest, clog, Colloq Brit bung up: My nose is all blocked up
because of this awful cold.


bloodshed n. slaughter, carnage, butchery, killing, murder,
blood-letting; violence; genocide: Let's settle this peaceably
and avoid bloodshed.


bloodsucker
n. leech, extortionist, extortioner, blackmailer; parasite,
barnacle, Colloq sponge, freeloader, scrounge, scrounger; Slang
US moocher: He's nothing but a bloodsucker, always demanding
more and more money.

bloodthirsty
adj. murderous, homicidal, savage, feral, cruel, ruthless,
pitiless, vicious, brutal, sadistic, ferocious, fierce, Formal
sanguinary, Literary fell: Bloodthirsty pirates had slaughtered
the whole crew.

blot n. 1 stain, spot, mark, smudge, blotch, blemish, disfigurement,
smear, smirch, scar, Colloq splodge or US also splotch: An ink
blot covered the date of the document. There are a few blots on
his record from his time in the army.

--v. 2 stain, spot, spatter, smudge, mark, blur: You have
blotted these pages where you wrote with a fountain-pen. 3 blot
one's copybook. err, destroy or ruin or mar or spoil one's
reputation, commit an indiscretion, transgress, sin: She's
certainly blotted her copybook by having an affair with that
subaltern. 4 blot out. a obscure, conceal, cover (up), hide,
eclipse, dim: The clouds blotted out the sun for a few minutes.
b obliterate, destroy, erase, demolish, efface, annihilate,
delete, rub or wipe out: He subconsciously blotted out all
memory of the accident.

blowฐ v. 1 breathe, puff, exhale; expel: If the crystals turn green
when you blow into the tube, it means that you've had too much
to drink. Blow some air into the balloon. 2 waft, puff, whistle,
whine, blast: An icy wind blew through the cracks in the
windows. 3 Colloq bungle, botch, make a mess of, muff,
mismanage, Colloq screw up, mess up, fluff, bugger up, Taboo
fuck up: It was my last chance to win and I blew it. 4 Colloq
spend, lavish, squander, waste, throw out or away: She blew
hundreds on that dress and now she won't wear it. 5
short-circuit, burn out: All the fuses blew when I turned on

the electric heater. 6 blow hot and cold. vacillate, hesitate,
dither, Colloq shilly-shally: The sales manager has been
blowing hot and cold over my proposal for a month now. 7 blow
out. a extinguish: I blew out all the candles in one breath.
The match blew out in the wind. b explode, burst: One of my
tyres blew out on the way over here. c short-circuit, burn out:
The lights blew out during the storm. 8 blow up. a become
furious or angry or enraged, flare up, lose one's temper, Slang
blow one's top or US also stack, flip one's lid: She really
blew up when I said I was going to the pub. b explode, burst,
shatter, Colloq bust; detonate, dynamite, destroy, blast: The
bridge blew up with a roar. Demolition experts will blow up the
dam. c enlarge, inflate, embroider, magnify, expand, exaggerate,
overstate: The tabloid press has blown up the story out of all
proportion. d enlarge, magnify, amplify, expand, increase: Can
you blow up just this corner of the photograph? e inflate;
distend, swell: We were busy blowing up balloons for the party.

--n. 9 gale, storm, tempest, whirlwind, tornado, cyclone,
hurricane, typhoon, north-easter, nor'easter: We can expect a
big blow tonight - winds of gale force, they say.

blow n. 1 stroke, punch, clout, whack, hit, knock, thump, thwack,
Colloq wallop: He was felled by a blow to the chin in the
fourth round. 2 shock, surprise, bombshell, jolt, bolt from the
blue, revelation: It came as a blow to learn that she was
leaving in a month.

blue adj. 1 depressed, low-spirited, dispirited, sad, dismal, down,
down in the mouth, gloomy, unhappy, glum, downcast, crestfallen,
chap-fallen, dejected, melancholy, despondent, downhearted,
morose: I've been feeling blue since Kathleen left me. 2
obscene, vulgar, indecent, titillating, pornographic, dirty,
filthy, lewd, smutty, risqu‚, bawdy, sexy, X, X-rated, 18, US
XXX; indelicate, suggestive, off colour, erotic, coarse,
offensive, improper: There's a place nearby that shows blue
movies.

bluffฐ v. 1 deceive, hoodwink, dupe, mislead, delude, trick, cozen,
fool, Colloq bamboozle: I bluffed him into believing that I
held four aces. 2 pretend, feign, bluster, fool, Colloq kid;
Slang bullshit: She became frightened, unaware that I was only
bluffing.


--n. 3 bombast, bravado, boasting, bragging, bluster, show,
puffery; deception, blind; Literary rodomontade, gasconade;
Colloq hot air: Roger's ranting is all bluff - he's really very
timid.

bluff adj. 1 blustering, gruff, rough, abrupt, blunt, curt, short,
crude: Fred's bluff manner puts many people off. 2 frank,
open, hearty, straightforward, plain, plain-spoken, outspoken,
affable, approachable, good-natured, friendly: That comment is
typical of his bluff honesty.

--n. 3 cliff, escarpment, precipice, scarp, headland,
promontory, palisades: As you sail down the lower Hudson river,
the tall bluffs form a natural wall along the western bank.

blunder v. 1 stumble, flounder: I had somehow blundered into a meeting
of the local crime syndicate. She blundered upon the truth when
she saw them together.


--n. 2 mistake, error, gaffe, faux pas, slip, slip-up, howler,
Colloq boo-boo, screw-up, fluff, boner, US goof, goof-up: I
made a stupid blunder in telling him about the plans.


blunt adj. 1 dull, worn: This knife is too blunt to cut bread. 2
abrupt, curt, rough-spoken, plain-spoken, short, direct, candid,
frank, unceremonious, undiplomatic, inconsiderate, thoughtless,
brusque, outspoken, bluff, brash, indelicate, rude, uncivil,
ungracious, discourteous, impolite; straightforward, straight,
uncomplicated, uncompromising: Ralph may be blunt, but at least
you know exactly where you stand with him.

--v. 3 dull, take the edge off: You've blunted the scissors
cutting that cardboard. 4 soften, mitigate, mollify, soothe;
efface, dim, obscure, blur, weaken: Mother's love is an
absorbing delight, blunting all other sensibilities.

blur n. 1 indistinctness, dimness, haziness, cloudiness, fogginess:
We were unable to pick out the star from the blur of the Galaxy.
2 fog, haze, Brit fuzz: Without my spectacles, everything is a
blur.

--v. 3 dim, befog, obscure, bedim; efface: My vision was

momentarily blurred, and I didn't see the oncoming car. 4
obscure, hide, conceal, veil, mask; weaken: The Honourable
Gentleman has blurred the distinction between the unemployed and
the unemployable.


blurt v. Usually, blurt out. burst out with, utter; reveal, disclose,
give away, divulge, Colloq blab: She blurted out the name of
her accomplice.


blush v. be or act ashamed, redden, flush, colour: He blushed when
asked if he still loved Belinda.

bluster v. 1 storm, rage, harangue: It won't do any good to bluster on
about the postal service. 2 swagger, strut, talk big, boast,
brag, blow one's own horn or trumpet, show off, crow: He's
always blustering about his conquests.

--n. 3 swaggering, storming, raging, raving, haranguing,
tumult; hot air, puffery, bravado, grandiloquence, Literary
rodomontade: He's all bluster and will do nothing despite his
threats.

2.5 board...
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-



board n. 1 plank, scantling, timber: We nailed the last board in
place and the house was finished. 2 table, gaming-table, game
table or surface: I have the chessmen, have you brought the
board? 3 food, meals, provisions: I am moving to the country,
where room and board are cheaper. 4 council, committee,
directors, directorship, management, cabinet, panel, trustees,
advisers: That issue will be discussed at the meeting of the
board. 5 on board. aboard, on: Young children are not allowed
on board the boat.

--v. 6 go aboard, ship aboard; enter, embark on: We all
boarded the ship but it didn't leave for an hour. 7 feed; eat,
take meals; accommodate, lodge, house, billet, quarter; lodge,
stay, live, room; Colloq put up: Mrs O'Brien already boards
three gentlemen at her house, but she has agreed to let me board
there too.

boast n. 1 brag, bragging: They did not make good their boasts of
being the fastest in the competition.

--v. 2 brag, vaunt, crow, show off, Colloq US blow or toot
one's (own) horn or trumpet; Slang lay it on thick, talk big:
He boasted that he was the best poker player in the casino.

boastful adj. ostentatious, show-off, bragging, vainglorious,
egotistical, vain, conceited: She's boastful about her wealth,
but it was all left to her by her mother.

boat n. vessel, craft, skiff, small craft, motor boat, speedboat,
knockabout, runabout, yacht, motor yacht, sailing-yacht, Brit
rowing-boat, sailing-boat, US row-boat, sailboat, Colloq ship:
I bought a 30-foot boat at this year's show. They went off on a
slow boat to China.

bode v. portend, promise, augur, betoken, forebode, presage;
foreshadow: The weather bodes well for the picnic.


body n. 1 corpse, cadaver, remains, carcass, Slang stiff: A body
has been dragged up from the lake. 2 trunk, torso: They found
the body, but the arms, legs, and head were missing. 3 main
part or portion, hull, fuselage: The body of the plane remained
intact, though the wings and superstructure broke away. 4
substance, essentials, main part, essence, heart, centre, core:
The body of the book is all right, but the index needs work. 5
majority, bulk, main part or portion, mass(es): Under Henry
VIII the main body of the people were prosperous. 6
association, league, band, corps, confederation, fraternity,
society; committee, council; group, assemblage, assembly,
congress, company: It is not within the power of this body to
do more than vote on the proposal. 7 richness, substance,
firmness, consistency, solidity, thickness, density, fullness,
viscosity, fullness: This wine has excellent body. Add a little
cornflour to give the sauce more body.

bog n. 1 swamp, fen, marsh, quagmire: The peat bogs have yielded
interesting fossils. 2 bog down. impede, slow, hamper,
encumber, stymie, stick, handicap, clog, check, set back, hold
back: Traffic is bogged down owing to roadworks.

bogus adj. counterfeit, spurious, fake, false, fraudulent, sham,

imitation, fictitious, Colloq phoney or US also phony: The
police reported that a gang was trying to pass bogus money to
unsuspecting shopkeepers in the area.


Bohemian adj. nonconformist, unconforming, unconventional, unorthodox,
casual, free and easy: In the '60s she became a flower person
and adopted a Bohemian way of life.

boilฐ v. 1 bubble, seethe; simmer, stew, steam: A pot of soup was
boiling on the kitchen stove. 2 seethe, fume, sizzle, smoulder,
chafe, fulminate, ferment, sputter, splutter, bluster: When she
learned what he had been saying about her, she boiled with
furious indignation.


boil n. abscess, carbuncle, pustule, Technical furuncle: The doctor
said the boil had to be lanced at once.

boisterous
adj. rowdy, clamorous, rough, noisy, lively, exuberant, unruly,
wild, undisciplined, tempestuous, stormy, turbulent, Colloq
rambunctious: The boys were sent outside because of their
boisterous behaviour.

bold adj. 1 courageous, brave, plucky, confident, stout-hearted,
lion-hearted, daring, enterprising, audacious, fearless,
unafraid, intrepid, resolute, dauntless, undaunted, valiant,
stout, valorous, stalwart, adventurous, venturesome; reckless,
foolhardy, incautious, daredevil, rash: It would take a bold
man to enter the ring with the champion. 2 audacious,
presumptuous, forward, immodest, brazen, impudent, temerarious,
impertinent, shameless: It was very bold of you to speak your
mind to the boss. 3 pronounced, outstanding, striking,
vigorous, clear, strong, vivid, distinct, conspicuous: He wrote
down their demands in a good, bold hand.


bolster v. support, prop (up), brace, shore up, buttress, uphold, back
(up), reinforce, aid, help, assist, further, advance: The
miners cited a lack of safety measures to bolster their
arguments.


bolt n. 1 arrow, dart, projectile, missile, Historical quarrel: He
had only three bolts remaining for the crossbow. 2 pin, bar,
rod, catch; latch: We hoped that the bolt would prevent their

opening the door. 3 machine screw: Bolts can be tightened or
removed, unlike rivets. 4 roll, length: We sell only full
bolts of fabric. 5 lightning flash, thunderbolt, Formal
fulguration: One bolt travelled down the television aerial and
blew out the set. 6 bolt from or out of the blue. surprise,
shock, bombshell, bomb, blow, revelation, eye-opener, Colloq
shocker: The news of her resignation came like a bolt from the
blue. 7 shoot one's bolt. exhaust or use up one's resources,
Slang burn out, US poop out: He was fast early in the marathon,
but he'd shot his bolt long before the finishing line.

--v. 8 spring, dart, shoot off, take flight, run (away or off),
rush (off or away), break away, flee, decamp, abscond, escape,
fly, dash (off or away), Colloq skedaddle, scram, Brit scarper,
do a bunk, do a moonlight flit, US take a (run-out) powder,:
The youths bolted as soon as they saw the police. The couple in
room 315 bolted without paying their bill. 9 gulp (down),
swallow whole: When the bell rang, she bolted her breakfast and
ran out of the back door. 10 fasten, lock, latch, secure: Make
sure you bolt your door at night and don't let anyone in. 11
fix, attach, fasten, connect, make fast to: The motor must be
securely bolted to the workbench.

--adv. 12 bolt upright. erect, straight, rigidly, stiffly:
When her name was called, Penny sat bolt upright in her chair.

bomb n. 1 bombshell, shell, explosive: One of the bombs blew up the
school.


--v. 2 bombard, shell, batter, blow up: Last night the railway
station was bombed.

bombard v. 1 batter, bomb, shell: The artillery continued to bombard
the enemy with everything in their arsenal. 2 assail, attack,
assault, set upon; besiege: The Prime Minister was bombarded
with requests to amend the law.

bombast n. pretentious language, flatulence, bluster, show,
grandiloquence, magniloquence, hot air, bravado, boast,
boasting, Literary gasconade, rodomontade; Colloq puffery: The
speaker continued to bore the audience with his pompous bombast.

bombastic adj. high-flown, extravagant, pompous, grandiose,

grandiloquent, magniloquent, inflated, fustian, flatulent,
turgid, Literary euphuistic: The Minister made a bombastic
speech full of emotive appeals, but his actual arguments were
unconvincing.


bombshell n. surprise, shock, eye-opener, bomb, blow, revelation, bolt
from or out of the blue, Colloq shocker: Then came the
bombshell - she and Tony had been married the week before.


bona fide adj. genuine, authentic, attested, real, veritable, legitimate,
true, valid; in good faith, sincere, honest: The jeweller
affirmed that it was a bona fide ruby. I don't believe her
reasons are bona fide.


bond n. 1 tie(s), shackles, chains, fetters, manacles, handcuffs,
trammels, thongs, cord(s), rope(s); restraint(s), constraint(s),
check(s), control(s), rein(s): The council is hampered by the
bonds of the old regulations. 2 covenant, pact, contract,
agreement, engagement, compact, treaty: To unite the party a
bond of confederacy was formed. 3 connection, link, linkage,
union, tie, relationship: The main bond between us was a shared
love of the theatre. The bond between the veneer and the board
should hold with a little more glue.


--v. 4 cement, bind, hold together, stick, cohere: They use
mortar to bond the bricks together.

bondage n. slavery, servitude, subjection, subjugation, enslavement,
serfdom, thraldom; vassalage, villeinage: The poor souls were
kept in bondage for most of their lives, forced to row in the
galleys till they died.

bonny adj. beautiful, comely, attractive, pretty, lovely: She's
grown into quite a bonny lass.


bonus n. reward, largesse, hand-out, perquisite, extra, honorarium,
tip, gratuity, remuneration, compensation, Colloq perk:
Employees often receive a Christmas bonus.


book n. 1 volume, tome, work, publication; hard-cover, soft-cover,
paperback: Our personal library contains more than 5000 books.
2 libretto, words, lyrics: Richard Rodgers wrote the music and
Oscar Hammerstein the book for several hit shows. 3 rules, laws,

regulations: He always insists that we go by the book.

--v. 4 engage, reserve; earmark, ticket; order, register,
enrol, list, enlist, log, record, post: Please phone the
restaurant and book a table for four for seven-thirty.

bookkeeper
n. clerk; accountant, Brit chartered accountant, CA, cashier;
US CPA, certified public accountant: The office was haunted by
the melancholy ghosts of departed bookkeepers.

bookworm n. bibliophile, book-lover, inveterate or ardent reader, Formal
bibliophage: Fiona is such a bookworm, she hardly does anything
but read.


boom v. 1 sound, resound, resonate, blast, rumble, thunder, roar,
bang, explode: We heard the cannons booming in the distance. 2
prosper, thrive, flourish, progress, grow, increase, burgeon or
bourgeon: Business is booming in every sector.


--n. 3 blast, rumble, explosion: There was a resounding boom
and the car went up in flames. 4 prosperity, profitability;
growth, increase, burgeoning or bourgeoning: In this business
it is either boom or bust.


boomerang v. rebound, recoil, backfire, miscarry, redound: His plan
boomeranged.

boon n. gift, favour, award, reward, gratuity, present; blessing,
benefit, advantage: The mobile library service is a great boon
to the elderly in the area.

boor n. 1 rustic, peasant, yokel, (country) bumpkin, provincial,
backwoodsman, US hayseed, hill-billy, Juke, Kallikak, Slang
hick: The boor is blind to the beauties of nature. 2
barbarian, yahoo, oaf, clod, clodhopper, philistine, clown,
Grobian; hoyden, Colloq lummox, Slang galoot, slob, US goop,
slobbovian: The guests behaved like boors, throwing their food
at each other.


boorish adj. rustic, barbarian, rude, crude, ill-mannered, uncultured,
coarse, clownish, uncouth, loutish, oafish, gawky, vulgar,
ill-bred: How can you even think of inviting such a boorish

fellow?

boost n. 1 lift, shove or push up or upward(s), Colloq leg up; rise,
raise: If you give me a boost up, I can reach the window ledge.
2 encouragement, help, aid, assistance, support: With a boost
from your constituency, Trevor should win the vote. 3 increase,
rise, US raise, hike: He was given a slight boost in salary as
an incentive to stay.


--v. 4 lift, shove or push up or upward(s), raise: He boosted
her over the fence. The second stage is intended to boost the
rocket beyond the atmosphere. 5 encourage, promote, help, aid,
support, assist, improve: A talk from the manager before the
game helped to boost the players' morale. 6 increase, raise:
Her salary was boosted twice in one year.

boot n. 1 to boot. in addition, into the bargain, in addition,
besides, moreover, as well, also, too, additionally: He's
stingy and cruel - and ugly to boot. 2 shoe, riding-boot,
bootee: I need a new pair of boots for my walking holiday.

--v. 3 eject, expel, shove, propel, push, Colloq kick: The
landlord booted three rowdies out of the pub. 4 Literary
profit, avail, help, be in aid of: What boots it to complain?


booth n. 1 stall, stand: Our company has taken three booths at the
book fair. 2 compartment, cubicle, box, kiosk: We walked
across the road to a telephone booth and phoned a garage.


bootless adj. pointless, unavailing, vain, purposeless, useless, futile,
worthless, unproductive, ineffective, inefficacious, fruitless,
unprofitable, profitless, unremunerative, unrewarding, wasteful,
time-wasting, Sisyphean: It's a bootless task trying to
persuade him of the importance of a good education.


booty n. plunder, gain, spoil(s), contraband, takings, loot, Slang
swag, boodle, (hot) goods, take: The pirates fought over the
booty seized from the Spanish galleon.


booze n. 1 drink, (hard) liquor, spirit(s), whisk(e)y, alcohol, US
demon rum, John Barleycorn, mountain dew, white lightning, white
mule; Slang rot-gut, poison, fire-water, mother's ruin, US and
Canadian sauce, juice, hooch, red-eye: I ordered plenty of

booze for the party.

--v. 2 drink, tipple; Humorous bibulate; Slang hit the bottle,
US hit the sauce: He has a terrible hangover after boozing all
night.

border n. 1 edge, margin, hem, binding, trimming, trim, edging,
periphery, purfle, purfling: The border of the tablecloth is
beautifully embroidered with flowers. 2 Usually, borders.
limit(s), bound(s), confines: Sometimes Tony exceeds the
borders of good taste. 3 boundary, frontier: You won't be able
to cross the border without a passport. 4 frame, frieze,
moulding; dado, wainscot or wainscoting or wainscotting: The
border of the fresco is in Greek fretwork design. 5 borderline,
edge, verge, brink: She is just on the border of becoming a
born-again Christian. 6 bed, flowerbed, herbaceous border:
Hollyhocks are growing in the border.

--v. 7 edge, trim, bind, fringe, purfle: The hem of the skirt
is bordered with lace. 8 resemble (closely), approach
(closely), verge upon or on: Isabel's attempts at playing the
tuba border on the ludicrous. 9 lie alongside, adjoin, abut (on
or upon), verge upon or on, touch, be adjacent to: The
territory of the Gauls bordered the western lands of the
Germans.

boreฐ n. 1 hole, drill-hole, borehole: A bore of six inches was
carried to a depth of 2086 feet.


--v. 2 pierce, perforate, drill, penetrate, puncture, tap,
punch, stab, prick; sink, tunnel, dig (out), gouge (out); hollow
out: Bore a hole through this sheet metal. The oil rig is
boring through solid rock.


bore n. 1 annoyance, nuisance: Reggie is such a bore - always
talking about himself.

--v. 2 weary, wear out, tire, exhaust, jade: The programme so
bored me that I fell asleep.


boredom n. dullness, dreariness, ennui, tedium, monotony: I have to
look forward to the boredom of an evening of chamber music.

boring adj. dull, monotonous, tedious, humdrum, tiresome, dreary,
flat, dead, uninteresting, unexciting, ennuyant, stale, tired,
dry, dry-as-dust, arid; tiring, wearying, wearisome, exhausting,
soporific; repetitious, wordy, prolix, unending, long-drawn-out:
Felicity's boring old stories put me to sleep.

borrow v. take, appropriate, draw, adopt, refer to, obtain, Colloq
sponge, cadge, touch (someone) for, US bum; Slang mooch: Has
Fred borrowed my lawnmower again?


Borstal n. youth custody centre, approved school, Now chiefly US reform
school, reformatory: He was too young to go to prison, so he
was sent to a Borstal.


bosom n. 1 breast, chest, bust; Slang boobs, knockers, tits, titties,
pair, jugs, Brit Bristols: The sex goddess's lack of talent was
more than compensated for by her ample bosom. 2 midst, interior,
heart, core, centre: She was welcomed into the bosom of the
family as if she had been their own child. 3 soul, heart, heart
of hearts, bowels, blood, Colloq gut: I know he loves me, I can
feel it in my bosom.

--adj. 4 close, intimate, dear, beloved, cherished, boon,
special, confidential: We were once bosom companions.


bosomy adj. big-busted, busty, well-endowed: This tabloid always has
a bosomy model on page 3.

boss n. 1 chief, supervisor, head, administrator, manager, foreman,
superintendent, overseer; employer, director, proprietor, owner,
Brit managing director , US president, Dialect himself, Colloq
supremo, Brit governor, gov., gaffer, US super, leader, kingpin,
big cheese, the man, Slang honcho, head or chief honcho, Mr Big,
prex or prexy: If you have to leave early, check with the boss.
The company boss was interviewed on television last night.

--v. 2 supervise, head, manage, run, oversee, overlook, direct,
control, superintend, command, take charge, be in charge: Clive
has been here only a year and he's already bossing a department.
3 domineer, push or shove around or about, dominate, order
about, lord it over: That slave-driver had better stop bossing
me about or I'll quit!

bossy adj. overbearing, domineering, dictatorial, tyrannical,
despotic, imperious, lordly: Her boyfriend is awfully bossy -
and they're not even married yet.


botch v. bungle, mismanage, spoil, Colloq screw or louse up, blow,
mess up, muck up, make a mess or hash or muddle of; Slang
bollocks or ballocks or US bollix up: Give Gordon an assignment
and he's sure to botch it.


bother v. 1 annoy, pester, worry, irritate, trouble, hector, harass,
hound, dog, nag, plague, needle, Colloq hassle; Slang US nudge:
I wish they'd stop bothering me about paying the telephone bill.
2 trouble (about), fuss (at), make a fuss (about), concern
oneself (with), burden: Too few people are interested in
bothering about the welfare of others. 3 confuse, bewilder,
perplex, perturb, upset, disconcert, discomfit: She was
increasingly bothered by her inability to understand the local
language.


--n. 4 trouble, inconvenience: Those pets must be a lot of
bother. 5 worry, annoyance, vexation, nuisance, irritation,
trouble, effort, disturbance, upset, Slang hassle: Painting the
lattice will be more bother than it's worth. 6 dither, flutter,
Colloq tizzy, pet, stew, lather, sweat: She seems to have
worked herself into quite a bother about something quite
insignificant. 7 pest, irritant, nag, nuisance, Colloq pain,
pain in the neck or Brit taboo arse or US taboo ass; Slang US
nudge: Mother is such a bother, always asking if I wear my
galoshes when it rains. 8 disturbance, to-do, ado, commotion,
fuss, trouble, disorder, stir, hubbub: We ran into a bit of
bother at the pub last night.

bottle n. 1 flask, container; fiasco, decanter: The milkman left two
bottles of milk. 2 courage, nerve, manliness, manfulness, grit,
backbone, gumption, mettle, pluck, Dutch courage, Slang guts;
Colloq spunk, starch, US moxie: He was going to tell her off
but lost his bottle at the last minute. 3 the bottle. alcohol,
alcoholic drink, spirit(s), liquor, booze, sauce: He's back on
the bottle after only two weeks of being on the wagon.


--v. 4 bottle up. a contain, restrain, hold back, control,
suppress, repress, hold or keep in check, stifle: All the
emotions, bottled up for so long, burst upon him at once, and he

wept pitiably. b trap, cut off, hem in, box in: With the help
of the posse, we can bottle up the gang in the canyon.

bottom n. 1 seat, buttocks, rear, behind, rear end, derriŠre, rump,
posterior, hindquarters, breech, fundament, gluteus maximus,
Colloq backside, butt, prat, Brit bum , US can, duff, keister or
keester, hinie; Taboo Brit arse, US ass; Slang US tokus or
tochis or tuchis, tushie or tushy or tush: He just sits there
on his bottom, never doing a bit of work. 2 base, foot,
foundation, groundwork, substructure, footing, underpinning,
fundament: A ditch was dug along the bottom of the wall. 3
basis, foundation, source, origin, cause, heart, nub: We have
to get to the bottom of the problem. 4 depths, Davy Jones's
locker; bed: The ship sank to the bottom of the sea. 5 at
bottom. basically, fundamentally, in the final or last analysis,
really, in reality, truly, in truth, essentially: Despite her
behaviour at the party, at bottom she is very reserved. 6
Bottoms up! Prosit!, To your (very good) health!, Cheers!,
Here's to -!, Skol!: Here's to the whole team - Bottoms up!


bottomless
adj. unfathomed, unfathomable, abyssal, abysmal, inexhaustible,
unlimited, immeasurable, unplumbable: The bottomless ignorance
of the man is incredible.


bounce n. 1 bound, leap, hop, recoil, ricochet, rebound: The ball
took a bad bounce and the infielder missed it. 2 vitality,
energy, verve, zest, vivacity, liveliness, animation, dynamism,
life, Colloq pep, zip, go, get-up-and-go: Betty has so much
bounce, she is a bit tiring to have around.

--v. 3 bound, rebound, hop; recoil, ricochet: The ball bounced
over the wall and into the river.


boundฐ n. 1 Usually, bounds. boundary, boundary-line, limit(s),
extent, border(s), confines: Please try to keep the dogs within
the bounds of the estate. Carl's plan is beyond the bounds of
common sense.


--v. 2 limit, restrict, confine, delimit, define, circumscribe:
The river bounds the property on the east.

bound n. 1 leap, jump, vault, spring; bounce, hop: With a great

bound, the dog was upon me. 2 by leaps and bounds. See leap, 7,
below.

--v. 3 leap, jump, hop, spring, vault, gambol, caper, romp,
frolic, bounce, Colloq galumph: The wolfhound came bounding
towards me across the meadow.

boundฐ adj. 1 tied, fast, fixed, fastened, confined, secured: We were
bound hand and foot and left in the cave. 2 obliged, obligated,
required, constrained, forced, compelled: In the circumstances,
Philippa was bound to do as she was told. 3 determined,
resolved: Otto is bound to go to the party if Antonia is going.
4 likely, certain, sure, destined, predestined, fated, doomed:
He is bound to get the sack if he goes on turning up late. 5
destined, scheduled, booked; headed, directed: We were bound
for Cardiff.

boundary n. border(s), limit(s), frontier(s); bound(s), confines,
perimeter: If you cross that boundary, you will be safely in
Switzerland.

boundless adj. limitless, unbounded, unlimited; illimitable, vast,
endless, unending, infinite, immense, enormous, immeasurable,
incalculable, measureless, unrestricted, unchecked,
inexhaustible, unstoppable, unbridled, uncontrolled, Literary
vasty: How can you keep up with a teenager's boundless energy?

bountiful adj. 1 generous, beneficent, munificent, liberal, unsparing,
unstinting, charitable, eleemosynary, magnanimous, Literary
bounteous: We are grateful to Sir Roger, our most bountiful
patron, for endowing this library. 2 ample, abundant, plenteous,
plentiful, copious, rich, Literary bounteous: Until the Stock
Exchange d‚bƒcle, these shares paid bountiful dividends.


bounty n. 1 generosity, liberality, munificence, charitableness,
philanthropy, charity, unselfishness, beneficence, goodness:
The poor used to be dependent on the bounty of the local gentry.
2 gift, present, largesse, grant, subsidy, endowment,
subvention: People should be given work and not live off the
bounty of the state. 3 reward, award, premium, bonus, gratuity:
In America they paid a bounty of œ50 for every dead wolf.

bouquet n. 1 nosegay, posy, bunch, arrangement, spray: I sent her a

bouquet of spring flowers for her birthday. 2 aroma, scent,
odour, fragrance, perfume: This '83 burgundy certainly has a
fine bouquet. 3 compliment(s), praise, commendation: Mrs
Campbell received many bouquets for her performances.


bourgeois adj. 1 middle-class, conventional, philistine, capitalistic,
propertied; materialistic, greedy, money-grubbing, money-hungry:
The yuppies constitute the modern bourgeois element in society.
2 working-class, proletarian, plebeian: In his bourgeois mind,
he had only his labour to offer.

bout n. 1 turn, round, time, occasion, spell, period, session: He's
just got over a bout of pneumonia. 2 chance, spree, stint,
opportunity, innings: We had long planned this bout of
shopping. 3 contest, match, boxing-match, prizefight, meet,
set-to, struggle, encounter, engagement; duel: A bout has been
arranged between the heavyweight champion of the world and a
challenger from Puerto Rico.


bow n. 1 nod; curtsy or curtsey, salaam, kowtow, genuflection,
prostration, obeisance: We all bowed respectfully before the
emperor.

--v. 2 defer, yield, submit, give in, bend, bow down,
capitulate: I bow to your greater knowledge of the subject. 3
bend, incline, lower: The servants bowed their heads when the
master entered. 4 weigh down, crush, overload, bend down,
burden: Michael was bowed down by the responsibilities of his
new family. 5 nod, curtsy or curtsey, salaam, kowtow,
genuflect, prostrate oneself, salaam, make obeisance: The
natives bowed as the king passed by.

bowels n. interior, insides, depths; heart, centre, core, intestines,
viscera, vitals, belly, gut, Colloq innards, guts: We descended
the shaft into the very bowels of the earth. She hates me, I can
feel it in my bowels.

bowlฐ v. move, trundle, wheel, roll, spin: We saw him in his car,
bowling along at about 40.


bowl n. dish; basin, pan: She brought me a bowl of cereal.

boxฐ n. 1 case, receptacle, crate, carton, container, casket,

coffer, caddy, chest: She keeps her valuables in a small
tortoise-shell box on the dressing-table.

--v. 2 crate, encase, package: The candles are boxed in
dozens. 3 box in or up. trap, confine, bottle up, hem in,
enclose, surround; pin down: They have the horses boxed in and
are now driving them into the corral.

box v. 1 fight, engage in fisticuffs, spar, battle: When he was in
the army, he boxed for his regiment. 2 strike, buffet, punch,
hit, Colloq slug, sock, whack, thwack, clout, belt, thump,
lambaste, whomp: Every time she heard him swear, she'd box his
ears.


--n. 3 blow, buffet, punch, hit, strike, Colloq slug, sock,
whack, thwack, clout, belt, thump, whomp: How would you like a
box on the ear, you young rascal!

boy n. 1 lad, youth, young man, stripling, youngster, schoolboy,
fellow, urchin, brat, Colloq kid, guy, small fry, little shaver:
There were two girls and five boys in my family. 2 servant,
house-servant, attendant; lackey, slave, Archaic knave, varlet,
rogue, wretch, caitiff: Here! Boy! Bring me another gin and
tonic. 3 old boy. Brit (public) schoolmate; friend, chum, pal,
Archaic old bean, old egg, old crumpet, dear boy; crony: I say,
old boy, care for a rubber of bridge? Carruthers wouldn't be
where he is now if it weren't for the old-boy network.

boycott v. 1 blacklist, embargo; avoid, refuse, shun, reject, eschew,
pass over or by: They are boycotting Fern's Dairy because it
won't hire women. The US government is still boycotting cigars
from Havana.

--n. 2 embargo, blacklist, blacklisting, ban: A boycott of
their products soon forced them to change their policies.

boyish adj. 1 young, youthful, juvenile, adolescent: She liked his
boyish good looks. 2 childish, puerile, juvenile, immature:
Don't be too hard on them - it was just a boyish prank.


2.6 brace...
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-


brace n. 1 bracket, stiffener, reinforcement, reinforcer, support,
buttress, prop, stay, strut, truss: Two steel braces have been
installed to steady the columns. 2 drill: He bored three holes
in the wood with his brace and auger. 3 clasp, clamp, buckle,
fastener, clip, holdfast, catch, coupler, coupling: Another
brace will be needed here to strengthen the handle. 4 pair;
couple, span, team (of two): A brace of duelling pistols was
sold at auction last week for œ20,000. Her carriage was drawn by
a brace of palominos.

--v. 5 steady, reinforce, support, strengthen, prop or shore
up: Iron bars are used to brace the arches. 6 brace oneself.
steady or gird or prepare oneself; hold or hang on: I braced
myself against the likelihood that she would refuse.

bracing adj. invigorating, tonic, stimulating, refreshing,
exhilarating, fortifying, restorative: I cannot live in the
tropics and need the more bracing climate of the north.


bracket n. 1 support, corbel, console: The mantelpiece rests on a pair
of stone brackets. 2 shelf: Her collection of glass
paperweights was arrayed on a bracket in the sitting-room. 3
category, class, set, group, grouping, classification, division,
level; order, grade, rank: He comes from an altogether
different bracket of society.

--v. 4 classify, rank, group; unite, combine, join, link: I
wish you wouldn't bracket her with me - our politics are as
different as day and night.

brag v. boast, crow, trumpet, vaunt, strut, swagger, show off,
Colloq talk big, blow or toot one's own horn or trumpet, go on
about: He's always bragging about what he did in the war.


braggart n. boaster, bragger, braggadocio, windbag, peacock, show-off,
Scaramouch or Scaramouche, Slang big-mouth, loud-mouth, gasbag:
That braggart William Smith talks about himself incessantly.


braid n. 1 plait: Katrina wore her blond hair in a tightly coiled
braid on top of her head. 2 trimming, embroidery, soutache,
lace, fillet, band, ribbon: The edges are decorated with narrow
braid containing gold thread.


--v. 3 plait, intertwine, interlace, weave, twist: At school
we learned how to braid leather laces into a belt.


brain n. 1 brains, intelligence, intellect, understanding, sense,
thought, imagination, capacity, perspicacity, perceptiveness,
perception, percipience; wisdom, sagacity, wit, discernment,
acumen; knowledge, cognition: Although she's not yet ten, she
has the brain to become a great mathematician. 2 genius,
mastermind, intellectual; leader, planner: Many people regard
Einstein as the greatest brain of the 20th century. Ivor was
clearly the brains of the operation.

brake n. 1 curb, check, restraint, restriction, constraint, control,
rein: The central bank applied a brake to the upward trend of
the dollar by buying Deutschmarks.

--v. 2 slow, slow up or down, put on or apply the brakes,
reduce speed, decelerate, slacken, hold up: He braked before
the bad curve. She braked the car going down the steep hill.

branch n. 1 offshoot, arm; limb, bough, stem, shoot, twig, sprig: The
branches of this tree need trimming. 2 department, section,
subsection, division, subdivision, office, part, ramification;
affiliate, subsidiary; spin-off: What branch of medicine are
you going to specialize in? The company maintains branches in
New York and Melbourne.

--v. 3 ramify, divide, subdivide, diverge; diversify: This
road branches off in three directions. The company will branch
out into electronics this year.

brand n. 1 kind, make, type, sort, variety; brand name, manufacturer,
maker, trade name, trade mark, label, mark, marque, Chiefly US
and Canadian name brand: Which brand of toothpaste do you
prefer? Our advertising agency is conducting a survey of brand
loyalty.

--v. 2 mark, stamp, identify, tag, label, trade-mark: We sell
only branded merchandise in our shops. 3 label, characterize;
stigmatize, discredit, disgrace: Because his actions at the
front were misinterpreted, Corporal Williams was branded as a
coward.


brand-new adj. new, unused, fresh, firsthand, mint, virgin: We bought a
brand-new car last week.


brash adj. 1 hasty, rash, impetuous, precipitate, impulsive,
headlong, reckless: He may be a brash young man, but I think
he's going places. 2 impudent, rude, impertinent,
disrespectful, insolent, forward, audacious, brassy, brazen,
bold, tactless, undiplomatic, presumptuous, Colloq cheeky,
fresh: Her brash behaviour has already landed her in trouble
with the headmistress.

brass n. effrontery, gall, nerve, temerity, impudence, insolence,
rudeness, Colloq cheek, nerve: He had the brass to turn down a
knighthood.

brassy adj. 1 impudent, forward, insolent, saucy, brash, rude, brazen,
shameless; coarse, flashy, florid, flamboyant; Colloq cheeky,
fresh: Our landlady was a big brassy blonde. 2 harsh,
strident, tinny, grating, dissonant, shrill, loud: She has just
the right kind of brassy voice for belting out songs like,
'There's No Business Like Show Business'.

bravado n. boldness, bluster, boasting, braggadocio, swagger, front,
self-assurance, Literary rodomontade, gasconade; arrogance,
pretentiousness, Colloq machismo, Slang Brit side: With an
attempt at bravado, the union leader refused to meet the
management representatives.


brave adj. 1 fearless, intrepid, bold, courageous, daring, gallant,
stout, stout-hearted, valiant, valorous, stalwart, plucky,
staunch, undaunted, dauntless, unafraid, unfearing, indomitable,
heroic, Colloq macho; Slang gutsy: Despite her misgivings about
her proposal, she put on a brave face in the boardroom. He was
brave to face the enemy alone. 2 fine, handsome, grand,
splendid, showy, colourful, spectacular, smart: The colonel
made a brave appearance in full Highland regalia.

--v. 3 challenge, defy, dare; brazen (out), face, confront,
encounter, meet: We had to brave the elements in the open boat.
I had to brave my father at breakfast.

bravery n. daring, courage, valour, heroism, fortitude, fearlessness,

intrepidity, intrepidness, pluck, determination, staunchness,
firmness, resoluteness, resolution, indomitability,
stalwartness, Colloq machismo: One has to admire the bravery of
a woman who supported suffrage in the early 1900s.


brawl n. 1 fight, mˆl‚e or melee, battle, battle royal, Donnybrook,
fray, wrangle, dispute, disorder, brannigan, fracas, row,
quarrel, squabble, Colloq punch-up, free-for-all, scrap, ruckus:
The police had to be brought in to break up the brawl.


--v. 2 fight, wrangle; row, quarrel, squabble, Colloq scrap:
The two brothers always seem to be brawling.

brawn n. muscle(s), strength, robustness, brawniness, might, power,
Colloq huskiness: It must take a lot of brawn to lift those
weights.

brawny adj. muscular, strong, tough, robust, mighty, powerful, burly,
strapping, beefy, hefty, bulky, Colloq husky: That brawny
fellow tossing the caber is my brother.

brazen adj. brassy, shameless, barefaced, brash, outspoken, forward,
immodest, unashamed, audacious, candid, open, unabashed,
brazen-faced; rude, impudent, impertinent, insolent, saucy,
Colloq cheeky, fresh, US sassy: That's the last time I'll let
that brazen hussy near my husband!

breach n. 1 break, violation, infraction, disobedience,
non-observance, infringement, contravention: Their failure to
comply with paragraph 3 is a clear breach of our contract. 2
break, rift, gulf, split, break-up, separation, rupture,
severance, schism, split, alienation, estrangement: There seems
to be no way to heal the breach between them. 3 gap, fissure,
crack, split, hole, opening; chasm: Their cannon opened a
breach in the castle wall.

--v. 4 rupture; break through, invade: The sea has breached
the dyke. Someone breached the security measures set up for the
missile design.


breadth n. 1 width, wideness, broadness, beam, span, spread, thickness:
The breadth of the cloth is 54in. 2 extent, magnitude, degree,
amount, scope, expanse, range, area, depth, detail: I like the

breadth of coverage of the six o'clock news. 3 liberality,
largeness, catholicity, latitude: Great breadth of vision was
exhibited in the conference papers.


break v. 1 break apart or up or asunder, fracture, rupture, break
into bits, come apart, shatter, shiver, crack, crash, splinter,
fragment, split, burst, explode, Colloq bust: The ball flew
over the fence and broke my neighbour's window. She fell and
broke her wrist. 2 reveal, announce, disclose, divulge, tell,
make public: Break the news to him gently. 3 relax, ease up,
improve, ameliorate, change for the better: When will this
spell of wet weather break? 4 demolish, smash, destroy, crush,
ruin, defeat, foil, frustrate: The power of the dictator was
finally broken. 5 ruin, bankrupt: He's the man that broke the
bank at Monte Carlo. 6 weary, exhaust, wear out, weaken,
debilitate: Twenty years in the chain-gang had broken him
completely. 7 crush, overcome; cow, cripple, demoralize,
weaken, undermine, discourage: The divorce has broken her
spirit. 8 break in, tame, discipline, train, condition: I used
to break horses for a living. 9 violate, transgress, disobey,
contravene, defy, infringe, fail to observe, ignore, disregard,
flout: If you break the law, you'll regret it. They broke the
contract. 10 break off, discontinue, interrupt, sever, cut off;
give up, suspend, disrupt: We broke relations with Spain after
the incident. It is very difficult to break a habit of a
lifetime. The narrative breaks at this point, to be taken up
later. 11 break up, divide, disperse, scatter: The rain is over
and the clouds are breaking. 12 break loose or away or forth,
separate from, break out (of), escape (from), depart (from):
The ship broke from its moorings during the storm. 13 break
forth, burst forth; emerge or come out suddenly: The storm
broke in all its fury. After a little while, the sun broke
through. 14 demote, Colloq bust: He was broken from sergeant to
private. 15 break away. leave, depart, separate (oneself): A
small group broke away from the established church to worship as
they saw fit. 16 break down. a demolish, destroy: All right,
men, let's break down that wall. b decompose, break up;
analyse: The carbon dioxide molecules and water are broken down
by photosynthesis. c collapse, give way, disintegrate, be
crushed, be prostrated: His health has broken down completely.
17 break ground. initiate, begin, commence, found, set up,
establish, inaugurate, be innovative, innovate, Colloq break the
ice, take the plunge, start the ball rolling: Laser printers

have broken new ground in the area of computer printout. 18
break in. a interrupt, interpose, interject, burst in, intrude,
intervene, interfere, disturb: If the results of the election
become known, we shall break in to keep you informed. b train,
educate, prepare; accustom, condition, habituate, wear: We'll
break you in for a week or two on the new machine. Wear your new
boots for an hour each day to break them in. c rob, burgle,
burglarize, break and enter: Someone broke in and stole my
video recorder last night. 19 break off. a discontinue, stop,
cease, end: Sally broke off in mid sentence. After the Fashoda
Incident, Britain broke off relations with France. b disengage;
sever, detach, break: A large branch broke off from the tree
and crashed down, narrowly missing me. 20 break out. a escape;
emerge, appear: She broke out of prison in 1985 and hasn't been
seen since. b erupt, come out in, break out in or into: He
breaks out in a rash from eating strawberries. A war could break
out any minute. 21 break the ice. See 17, above. 22 break
through. penetrate, force or get through: Wit, like beauty, can
break through the most unpromising disguise. 23 break up. See
also 11, 16 (b), above. a disband, disperse; disintegrate:
Heraclius succeeded in breaking up the Persian power. b
fracture, fragment, comminute: In the spring, the ice on the
river breaks up. c See 24 (a), below. 24 break with. a break
up (with), separate from, leave, depart from: The leader broke
with the party and established a new organization. Sally has
broken up with Michael. b renounce, repudiate, disavow: They
have broken entirely with the traditions we valued so highly.

--n. 25 fracture, split, separation, rupture, breach, rift,
schism: There was a break in a gas pipe. Disagreement over the
fishing grounds has resulted in a break in relations. 26 gap,
opening, hole; crack, slit: You can escape through a break in
the wall near the bridge. 27 interruption, discontinuity,
discontinuation, hesitation, suspension, hiatus, gap, lacuna,
unevenness, irregularity: There was a five-minute break in
transmission from the ship. 28 rest, respite, rest period,
coffee-break, tea break, intermission, interlude, lull, pause,
playtime, US recess, Colloq breather: We take a break at ten
o'clock. 29 chance, stroke of luck, opportunity, opening: All
he needs is a break to get started.

breakdown n. 1 collapse, downfall, failure, foundering; destruction,
ruin: There was a breakdown of our computer system. The

arbitrators blamed a breakdown of communication between union
and management. 2 (mental) collapse, nervous breakdown, Colloq
crack-up: She had a bad breakdown after her daughter was
killed. 3 analysis, run-down, detailing, review; decomposition,
itemization, classification, dissection, distillation,
fractionation: I want a breakdown of these figures by noon. The
chemical breakdown of the substance indicated the presence of
arsenic.


breakneck adj. reckless, dangerous, daredevil; excessive, careless,
headlong, rash, Colloq hell for leather: The car came round the
corner at breakneck speed on two wheels.

breast n. 1 chest, bosom, bust; teat, Technical mamma, Slang boob,
knocker, tit, titty: He clasped the child to his breast. On
some beaches in Europe, women bare their breasts when
sunbathing. 2 soul, core, heart, heart of hearts: I feel in my
breast it is the right thing to do.


breath n. 1 gust, zephyr, breeze, puff, whiff, stirring, stir: There
wasn't a breath of air in the tent. 2 hint, suggestion,
indication, touch, murmur, whisper, soup‡on: She never allowed
the breath of scandal to affect her behaviour. 3 take one's
breath away. astound, astonish, surprise, amaze, dazzle,
startle, shock, stagger: The sheer beauty of the waterfall
takes your breath away.

breathe v. 1 live, exist: She believes that there never breathed a
wiser man than her father. 2 inhale and exhale, respire,
suspire: He was breathing regularly. 3 exhale, expel, puff,
blow: The banner depicts a dragon breathing fire. 4 whisper,
murmur, hint (at), suggest, tell, speak, say: She told me not
to breathe a word of it to anybody.


breathless
adj. 1 panting, out of breath, winded, gasping, exhausted,
spent, worn out, tired out, Colloq Brit puffed: We were
breathless after carrying the piano up two flights of stairs. 2
surprised, amazed, astonished, astounded, awestruck, staggered:
The news of Penny's having given birth to twins left me
breathless. 3 eager, agog, feverish, in suspense: We were all
breathless with anticipation as the compŠre opened the envelope.

breed n. 1 kind, sort, type, variety, species; race, lineage, stock,
family, strain: What breed of dog won at Crufts this year?

--v. 2 produce, generate, bring forth, create, engender, hatch,
beget, give rise to, develop, cause: The cheese is so old it's
breeding maggots. Familiarity breeds contempt. 3 raise, rear,
cultivate, propagate: Charollais cattle are widely bred in
Europe today. 4 arise, originate, appear; develop, grow,
increase, multiply: The sergeant allowed discontent and
jealousy to breed within his platoon.

breeding n. 1 rearing, bringing-up, raising, cultivation, development,
propagation: The breeding of sheepdogs has been Tom's hobby for
years. 2 (good) upbringing, (good) manners, civility,
politeness, politesse, gentility, (good) behaviour: You can
tell from the way she treats people that she has breeding.

breeze n. 1 breath, puff, zephyr, wind, draught, gust, Nautical
cat's-paw: A breeze sprang up from the north, and the little
boat moved forward. 2 easy or simple job or task, nothing,
Colloq snap, Slang cinch, US lead-pipe cinch: It ought to be a
breeze to find someone at that salary.

breezy adj. 1 airy, fresh, windy, draughty, brisk, gusty: The
afternoon was breezy and warm, ideal for walking. 2 casual,
carefree, light-hearted, cheerful, cheery, airy, lively,
spirited, blithesome, buoyant: The chairman's breezy opening of
the annual meeting made everyone feel comfortable.


brevity n. shortness, briefness, conciseness, concision, terseness,
succinctness, pithiness, compactness, laconicism or laconism,
economy: Brevity is the soul of wit.

brew v. 1 ferment, cook, boil; infuse: Our beer is brewed using the
best hops. 2 concoct, devise, plan, Colloq cook up; contrive,
prepare, bring about, cause, produce, hatch: They are brewing
up a plot to unseat the financial director. 3 start, go on,
hatch, begin, form; stew, simmer, Colloq cook: A storm is
brewing.


--n. 4 beer, ale, stout; tea; beverage, drink; concoction,
mixture: She served me some strange brew in which I could
detect cinnamon and nutmeg.


bribe n. 1 graft, inducement, Colloq kickback, Chiefly US payola, US
plugola: Some judges were offered bribes for reducing the
sentences of convicted felons.


--v. 2 pay or buy off, buy; corrupt, suborn, Colloq fix; Slang
oil, grease (someone's) palm, Brit nobble: The guards were
bribed to look the other way during the prison break.


bric-…-brac
n. bric-a-brac, curiosities, knick-knacks, collectables or
collectibles, trinkets, gewgaws, gimcracks; bibelots, curios,
objets d'art, objets de vertu: On Saturday she went to an
antiques fair and bought still more bric-…-brac to clutter up
the house.

brick n. 1 block, cube, chunk, hunk, slab; stone: I bought a brick
of ice-cream to serve for pudding. A university is not just
bricks and mortar. 2 pal, comrade, friend, Colloq chum, US and
Canadian buddy: You're a real brick to watch the children for
me till I get back.

bridal adj. nuptial, wedding; conjugal, connubial, marriage: The
bridal gown was white, with lace appliqu‚s.


bridge n. 1 span: We could build a bridge over the river here. 2
link, connexion or connection, tie, bond: She regarded teaching
as a bridge between her studies and a post in school
administration.


--v. 3 span, cross (over), go or pass over, traverse: The
viaduct bridges the swamp. 4 connect, link, unite, join, tie:
The gap between rich and poor is not easily bridged.


bridle n. 1 restraint, curb, check, control: Man has need of a bridle
on his passions.

--v. 2 curb, check, restrain, hold in, control: You must learn
to bridle your temper. 3 bristle, draw oneself up, be or become
indignant, take offence or umbrage or affront (at), be affronted
or offended (by): She bridled at the suggestion that she was
responsible for Keith's departure.

brief adj. 1 short, momentary, little, fleeting; short-lived,
transitory, transient, evanescent, passing, temporary,
ephemeral, fugitive: The lights went back on after a brief
interval. His glory was brief. 2 short, concise, succinct, to
the point; condensed, shortened, cut, curtailed, abbreviated,
compressed, abridged, thumbnail, compendious: The chairman made
a few brief remarks. Here is a brief description of what
happened. 3 curt, abrupt, terse, short, blunt, brusque: You
mustn't be so brief with little children.


--n. 4 summary, outline, digest, pr‚cis, r‚sum‚, compendium,
abstract, condensation, abridgement or US only abridgment,
synopsis, extract: This is merely a brief; the full document
will follow. 5 in brief. briefly, concisely, in sum, in
summary, to sum up, succinctly, in a word: He is a cutthroat,
too - in brief, the greatest scoundrel living.

--v. 6 advise, inform, fill in, coach, instruct, enlighten;
explain, run through or down: Howard will brief you on the
details.

briefly adv. 1 concisely, tersely, succinctly, in a word, in short;
bluntly, curtly, in a nutshell, in a few words, to sum up:
Briefly, the plan is a complete non-starter. 2 momentarily, for
a few moments or seconds or minutes, fleetingly, hurriedly,
hastily, quickly: I stopped briefly at the post office on my
way home.

bright adj. 1 light, shining, gleaming, radiant, brilliant,
resplendent, glittering, flashing, Formal refulgent, effulgent,
fulgent, fulgid, fulgorous; alight, aglow, beaming, dazzling,
glowing, luminous, lambent, incandescent, ablaze with: We
arrived on a bright, sunny day. The water was bright with
phosphorescence. 2 clear, cloudless, fair, unclouded: It
certainly is a bright night - you can see every star. 3 shiny,
polished, lustrous, glossy, sparkling: I want that brass so
bright I can see my face in it. 4 hopeful, optimistic,
favourable, propitious, auspicious, promising, rosy: Glenys's
job prospects are not very bright. 5 brilliant, vivid, intense,
fluorescent, US trade mark Day-Glo: But you said you wanted the
room bright orange, Madam. 6 intelligent, clever, quick-witted,
witty, brilliant, keen-minded, sharp-witted, gifted, astute,
ingenious, alert, smart; precocious; Colloq brainy, on the ball:

No one can deny that Alison is a bright young woman. 7
illustrious, glorious, splendid, magnificent, distinguished,
outstanding: Today has been one of the brightest days in the
history of Britain. 8 cheerful, gay, happy, exuberant, lively,
animated, vivacious, spirited: It is a pleasure to see so many
bright faces in the audience.

brighten v. 1 illuminate, enliven, lighten, cheer up, liven up, Colloq
perk up: Replacing those heavy draperies with thinner curtains
ought to brighten the room. 2 shine, polish, burnish: The
silver could use a bit of brightening up.

brilliance
n. 1 brightness, radiance, lustre, splendour, magnificence,
sparkle, dazzle, glitter, effulgence, light: The brilliance of
the opening night rivalled that of Hollywood. 2 intelligence,
wit, intellect, keenness, sharpness, acuteness, genius, talent,
sagacity; precocity: Her brilliance shows in her books.


brilliant adj. 1 bright, shining, lustrous, radiant, resplendent,
dazzling, luminous; incandescent, glittering, sparkling,
scintillating, coruscating, twinkling, Formal effulgent: At the
show I saw the most brilliant display of diamonds. 2 splendid,
magnificent, superb, beautiful, distinguished, striking,
glorious, remarkable, exceptional, outstanding: The audience
rose for a standing ovation after the brilliant last movement of
the concerto. 3 illustrious, famous, noted, celebrated, eminent,
prominent, renowned, accomplished: Paul is one of the country's
most brilliant chemists. 4 intelligent, clever, gifted, bright,
talented, smart, expert, masterful, accomplished, ingenious,
imaginative, creative; quick-witted, sharp-witted, keen-witted,
enlightened; resourceful, discerning, able, competent:
Goddard's brilliant mind understood principles of practical
rocket flight.


brim n. 1 edge, margin, lip, rim; brink: I filled the cup to the
brim.

--v. 2 be full or filled, overflow: His cup was brimming with
steaming mulled wine. They are brimming over with confidence as
they approach the race.

bring v. 1 carry, bear, fetch, get, take; deliver: Don't forget to

bring some wine home for dinner tonight. 2 lead, conduct,
convey; escort, invite, accompany: The road brought me to your
house. You can bring anyone you like to the party. 3 draw,
attract, lure, allure: What brings you to London? 4 carry,
bear, convey; report: She brought word of the uprising. 5
bring on, bring about, occasion, give rise to, be the source or
cause of, create, cause, engender, produce; contribute to: The
thought of his mother brought tears to his eyes. 6 institute,
advance; invoke: She is bringing charges against him for
slander. 7 bring about. occasion, cause, bring on, accomplish,
effect, achieve, produce: The government has brought about
changes in the health service. 8 bring down. a overthrow,
depose, oust, unseat, dethrone, overturn, topple: A military
faction has brought down the government. b reduce, lessen,
diminish, cut (back or down): The chancellor promised to bring
down taxes in the next budget. 9 bring forth. a bear, give
birth to, produce; yield: The kangaroo brings forth young less
than an inch in size. b set forth, bring out or in or up,
introduce, present, produce, put out, submit, offer, advance:
Mr Hanson has brought forth a new sales plan. 10 bring in. a
earn, yield, produce, realize, fetch, return, sell for:
Advertising brings in more revenue than subscriptions. b See
def. 15, below. 11 bring off. succeed (in), carry out,
achieve, accomplish, do, carry out or off, perform, succeed,
pull off; Colloq put over: Do you really think she'll be able
to bring off her masquerade? 12 bring on. a produce, put on,
introduce, bring in: When the children in the audience began to
get restless, they brought on the clowns. b induce, produce,
occasion, bring about: Eating strawberries brought on a rash.
13 bring out. a display, feature, focus on, illuminate, set
off, make noticeable or conspicuous, emphasize, develop: The
colour of the dress brings out the blue of your eyes. b
publish, issue, release, make known or public, produce; put on,
stage: They've brought out a new edition of Dickens's works.
14 bring round or around. a revive, resuscitate, bring to;
restore: The smelling salts brought her round when she fainted.
b persuade, win over, convince, influence: Can he be brought
round to our way of thinking? 15 bring up. a rear, raise, care
for, look after, nurture, breed; educate, teach, train, tutor:
She has brought up six children on her own. b introduce,
broach, bring in, raise, pen (up), set forth, mention, touch on,
talk about, discuss; reintroduce, recall: Why bring up
irrelevant matters like his age? c raise, elevate: So far,

they have brought up only three survivors from the mine. d
vomit, throw up, regurgitate, disgorge: He woke up feeling sick
and brought up most of the previous night's meal.


brink n. 1 edge, brim, rim, margin, lip, border: He lost his footing
and almost went over the brink into the gorge. 2 verge, point:
He was on the brink of telling them everything, but suddenly
remembered his promise.


brisk adj. 1 active, lively, busy, vigorous: The poachers are doing
a brisk trade in rhinoceros horn. 2 quick, animated, sprightly,
spry, energetic, spirited: Patrick was a brisk lad, fresh from
Oxford. 3 strong, steady, fresh, refreshing, bracing,
invigorating, stimulating, crisp, biting, bracing, keen, nippy,
chill, chilly, cool, cold: A brisk breeze had started up from
the north, chilling us through. 4 energetic, vibrant,
invigorating, stimulating: After a brisk massage, Mariette felt
completely revitalized.


bristle n. 1 hair, whisker, barb, prickle, thorn, quill, Technical
seta: Shaving brushes are often made from badger bristles.

--v. 2 prickle, rise, stand up, Formal horripilate: He could
feel the hair on the back of his neck bristle. 3 seethe, become
angry or infuriated or furious or maddened, boil, flare up, see
red, bridle: He bristled with enraged frustration. 4 teem,
crawl, be thick, swarm, be alive: The sea urchin was bristling
with sharp spines.


brittle adj. 1 fragile, frangible, breakable; friable: My fingernails
become brittle in the cold and break easily. 2 frail, weak,
delicate, sensitive, fragile, insecure: She might seem strong,
but she has a very brittle nature and is easily upset.


broach v. introduce, raise, open (up), suggest, mention, hint at,
touch on or upon, bring up or in, talk about, advance: I didn't
dare broach the subject of money.

broad adj. 1 wide, expansive, large, extensive; spread out, ample,
spacious: The broad highway stretched out for miles before
them. Cattle graze in the broad pastures. 2 bright, plain, open,
full; unshaded: He had the nerve to kiss me in broad daylight,
in front of everyone! 3 plain, clear, obvious, emphatic,

explicit, pronounced, direct, unconcealed, undisguised,
unsubtle, evident: His wink gave a broad hint of what he really
had in mind. 4 main, general, generalized, rough, unspecific,
non-specific, approximate, sweeping: Without the details, here
is a broad outline of what happened. 5 plain-spoken, outspoken,
forthright, direct, unreserved, frank, candid, unrestrained:
When he reached the witness box, he repeated the accusation in
broad terms. 6 inclusive, general, widely applicable, extensive,
wide-ranging, comprehensive, wholesale; vague, imprecise,
indefinite, unfocused, non-specific, unspecified: We have broad
support for these policies. She formulated a broad rule to fit
all imaginable cases. 7 liberal, tolerant, catholic, ecumenical,
latitudinarian: The term 'Broad Church' is said to have been
coined by A. H. Clough. The judge feels that he must give the
broadest possible interpretation of the law. 8 dirty, blue,
coarse, rude, indecent, vulgar, improper, indelicate, off
colour, loose, gross, obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy,
pornographic; inelegant, unrefined, unladylike, ungentlemanly,
titillating: Peter was in the corner telling some of his broad
jokes.

--n. 9 woman, girl, Slang dame, cookie or cooky, skirt, bimbo,
bird, chick, number, doll, piece (of baggage): We picked up a
couple of broads at the dancehall last night.


broadcast v. 1 air, transmit, relay; radio; televise, telecast: The
programme will be broadcast tonight. 2 announce, advertise,
publish, proclaim; disseminate: It may be a bad idea to
broadcast your plans in advance. 3 sow, scatter, seed: The
farmer broadcasts this seed instead of planting it.

--n. 4 programme, show; transmission, telecast: I heard the
broadcast on my car radio.


brochure n. pamphlet, booklet; catalogue; folder, leaflet; tract: The
brochure advertising the company's products will be ready
tomorrow.

broil v. grill, barbecue: I think hamburgers taste better broiled
than fried.

broke adj. penniless, indigent, down-and-out, poverty-stricken,
penurious, impoverished, insolvent, destitute, poor, needy,

bankrupt, ruined, Colloq on one's beam-ends, on one's uppers,
strapped, flat or dead or stony-broke, hard up, short, up
against it, US flat, on the skids; Slang Brit skint: I was
broke after paying the rent - I didn't even have money for food.


broken adj. 1 fragmented, shattered, shivered, splintered, ruptured,
cracked, split, smashed, pulverized, disintegrated, destroyed,
demolished: A broken Ming vase cannot be worth much. 2
fractured: With a broken leg, she certainly won't be competing
in the slalom. 3 enfeebled, weakened, crushed, defeated,
beaten, ruined; dispirited, dejected, discouraged, demoralized,
defeated, subdued, debilitated, Colloq licked: Rosa's running
away with a sailor left Hugh a broken man. 4 tamed, trained,
disciplined, obedient, docile, domesticated, subdued;
conditioned: What use is a horse that isn't broken? 5
violated, transgressed, disobeyed, contravened, defied,
flouted,disregarded, ignored, infringed: The rules of this club
are broken too often: we'll have to tighten things up. 6
interrupted, disturbed, discontinuous, disjointed, disconnected,
fragmented, fragmentary, intermittent, erratic, sporadic: I
couldn't stop worrying about the operation and had a terrible
night of broken sleep. 7 Also, broken-down. out of order or
commission, not working or functioning, in disrepair, Slang on
the blink, out of kilter, kaput, US on the fritz, out of whack:
My watch is broken. Why waste money repairing that broken-down
car of yours?

broken-hearted
adj. heart-broken, depressed, downhearted, dejected,
devastated, crushed, overwhelmed, heartsick, downcast, upset;
forlorn, sorrowful, disconsolate, inconsolable, grief-stricken,
miserable, wretched, melancholy, heavy-hearted, sad, doleful,
dolorous, woeful, woebegone, gloomy, morose, glum, cheerless,
Colloq down: She was broken-hearted when her puppy was lost.


broker n. stockbroker; agent, dealer, middleman, intermediary,
go-between, Brit stockjobber: I have phoned my broker to tell
him to sell all my shares.


brooch n. clasp, pin; fastening: She was wearing the cameo brooch I
had given to her mother.

brood n. 1 young, offspring, progeny; children, family: A mallard

was tending her brood among the rushes.

--v. 2 incubate, hatch, set, sit, cover: The old hen was
brooding three eggs. 3 Also, brood on or over. ponder (on or
over), meditate (on or over), contemplate, ruminate (on or
over), muse (on or over): He just sits there brooding over the
subject of his next novel. 4 mope, sulk, pout, pine, eat one's
heart out, fret, worry, agonize, despair: Don't just brood over
the problem, do something about solving it!


brookฐ n. stream, rivulet, run, runnel, rill, US and Canadian and
Australian and New Zealand creek; No. Eng. dialect beck, gill or
ghyll; Scots burn: The river is fed by numerous brooks from
every part of the country.


brook v. endure, tolerate, stand, abide, put up with, suffer, allow:
She runs the business in her own way and brooks no interference
from anyone.


broth n. stock, bouillon, consomm‚; soup; decoction: We tossed food
scraps into the large, simmering pot to make a broth.

brothel n. bordello, whore-house, house of ill fame or ill repute,
bawdy-house, bagnio; seraglio, harem, Obsolete stew, Colloq US
sporting house, Slang Brit knocking-shop, US cat-house: On
their first night in Paris, they visited a brothel.

brother n. sibling; relation, relative, kin, kinsman; fellow,
fellow-man, fellow-clansman, fellow-citizen, fellow-countryman,
fellow-creature; associate, colleague, confrŠre, companion,
Colloq pal, chum, Brit and Australian mate, US buddy: Some day,
perhaps all men will regard each other as brothers.

brotherhood
n. 1 brotherliness, fellowship, companionship, alliance,
friendship, comradeship, camaraderie, kinship: We should all
live together in harmony and brotherhood. 2 fraternity, guild,
society, association, order, league, union, organization, club,
community, circle, set, clique: The tribes fused into a united
and enthusiastic brotherhood.

brotherly adj. fraternal, kind, affectionate, cordial, friendly,
amicable, amiable, neighbourly, loyal, devoted: The boys grew

up together and maintained a brotherly relationship throughout
their lives.

browbeat v. bully, intimidate, threaten, badger, dominate, cow,
frighten, discourage, tyrannize, hector, harass, keep after,
nag, Colloq hassle: The foreman constantly browbeat anyone who
wasn't one of his drinking cronies.

browse v. look over or through, skim (through), scan, thumb or flip or
flick through: I was browsing through some recent acquisitions
at the second-hand bookshop.

bruise n. 1 injury, hurt, contusion, bump, welt, scrape, abrasion,
scratch, wound, black-and-blue mark, blotch, blemish, mark,
spot, discoloration, damage, Technical ecchymosis: I got this
bruise from walking into the corner of the table. The price is
lower if the fruit has a few bruises.

--v. 2 injure, contuse, hurt, scrape, harm; wound, damage: I
bruised my knee when I fell down. Being arrested certainly
bruised his self-esteem.

bruiser n. prizefighter, boxer, fighter; tough, ruffian, bodyguard,
thug, hoodlum, bouncer, Colloq hooligan, tough guy, toughie,
Brit minder, US roughneck, hood, gorilla, plug-ugly, torpedo,
enforcer: The heavyweight contender is really a big bruiser. Mr
Big strode in with two of his bruisers.

brunt n. (full) force, burden, onus, weight, impact; shock, stress,
violence, onslaught: As the head of the department was on
holiday, I had to take the full brunt of the customers'
complaints.

brushฐ n. 1 brushwood, shrubs, undergrowth, branches, scrub, brush,
bracken, brambles, underbrush, underwood: It took us three days
to clear the brush from around the house. 2 thicket, brake,
copse, grove, boscage: The fox disappeared into the brush,
which was too dense for the dogs to follow.


brush n. 1 hairbrush, toothbrush, clothes-brush, shoe-brush,
nail-brush, paintbrush; broom, dust-broom, besom, US whisk
broom: This brush is too harsh and may damage your teeth. 2
See brush-off. 3 encounter, engagement, skirmish, Colloq Brit

spot of bother: Mark has had several brushes with the law.

--v. 4 scrub, clean; groom, curry; sweep, whisk, gather: Brush
your teeth twice a day. I brushed down the mare before saddling
her. Brush the crumbs off the table. 5 graze, touch: He
deliberately tried to brush against her in the corridor. 6
brush aside or away. disregard, dismiss, put aside, shrug off:
Brushing aside the members' objections, he tried to force the
committee's acceptance of the new rules. 7 brush off. dismiss,
ignore, rebuff, send off or away or packing: He asked her out,
but she brushed him off. 8 brush up (on). review, restudy, go
over, refresh, study, Archaic con: You should brush up on your
geometry before taking trigonometry.


brush-off n. dismissal, rebuff, rejection, snub, Colloq cold shoulder,
put-down, slap in the face, the (old) heave-ho; Chiefly US and
Canadian walking papers: Tanya has given Theo the brush-off -
said she never wants to see him again.


brusque adj. blunt, rude, overbearing, impolite, uncivil, discourteous,
ungracious, ill-mannered, unmannerly; churlish, gruff, abrupt,
short, curt, sharp, terse, brash, bluff: I could tell that the
interviewer had already decided against me by her brusque
attitude.


brutal adj. 1 inhuman, savage, cruel, pitiless, harsh, severe,
barbaric, barbarous, beastly, bestial, sadistic, murderous;
inhumane, heartless, hard-hearted, unkind, fierce,
stony-hearted, insensitive, unfeeling, cold-blooded,
unsympathetic, remorseless, ruthless, ferocious, atrocious,
Draconian or Draconic, Literary fell: Few survived the brutal
treatment in the concentration camps. 2 rude, ill-mannered,
coarse, unrefined, boorish, ill-bred, rustic, crass, uncouth,
uncultured, uncultivated, rough, crude: His brutal behaviour
made him unfit to represent the Crown.

brute adj. 1 brutish, dull, unfeeling, senseless, blind,
unintelligent, unthinking, thoughtless, mindless, unreasoning,
irrational, instinctive, physical, material; insensate,
unconscious: He was able to lift the safe without help, by
sheer brute strength.

--n. 2 animal, beast, savage: He wrote that man was the middle

link between angels and brutes. George behaved like an absolute
brute to her.

2.7 bubble
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-



bubble n. 1 blister, air pocket, globule, droplet: This painted
surface is full of air bubbles. 2 bubbles. froth, foam, suds,
lather, spume; effervescence, carbonation, fizz: The cider is
full of bubbles.

--v. 3 foam, froth, boil, seethe, fizz: A pot of soup was
bubbling on the stove.


bubbly adj. 1 effervescent, foamy, frothy, fizzy, sparkling: I could
see that the surface was all bubbly. 2 effervescent, merry,
ebullient, bouncy, animated, vivacious, cheerful, cheery,
lively, excited: Janet is known for her bubbly personality.


--n. 3 champagne, sparkling wine, sparkling burgundy, Asti
spumante, Colloq Brit champers: Let's open a bottle of bubbly
and celebrate.


bucket n. pail, scuttle: Keep this bucket of coal near the hearth.

buckle n. 1 clasp, fastener, clip, fastening, hook, catch: The buckle
broke on my belt and my trousers fell down.


--v. 2 collapse, cave in, crumple, bend, warp, distort, twist,
bulge: The support gave way and the entire wall buckled.

bug n. 1 insect, beetle, larva, grub, caterpillar, butterfly,
mosquito, fly, spider, Colloq Brit creepy-crawly, US no-see-em:
There's a bug on your collar. 2 microbe, germ, virus; disease,
affliction, illness, sickness, ailment, disorder, malady,
infection; condition, complaint, infirmity, indisposition:
She's caught some kind of bug and won't be in for a few days. 3
obsession, craze, fad, mania, rage: Almost everyone in those
days succumbed to the hula hoop bug. 4 enthusiast, faddist,
fan, fanatic; hobbyist: She's turned into a fruit machine bug.
5 listening device; microphone, transmitter, electronic
eavesdropper, tap: They planted a bug in the ambassador's

telephone. 6 fault, error, mistake, failing, shortcoming,
Colloq hang-up, glitch: There's a bug in the program that's
preventing the list from being sorted. They can't market the
device till they've ironed out all the bugs.


--v. 7 annoy, irritate, pester, irk, harass, bother: I wish
Mum'd stop bugging me about my homework. 8 tap, spy on: They
bugged her phone and recorded all her conversations.


bugger n. 1 buggerer, sodomite. 2 chap, fellow, man; boy, lad, child,
tot; Slang chiefly Brit geezer , US jerk; Colloq guy , Brit
bloke, fool, idiot: He's a cute little bugger, isn't he? Who's
that silly-looking bugger with Christina?


--v. 3 Also, bugger up. ruin, destroy, botch, bungle, wreck;
make a mess of, Colloq mess or screw up, Brit bollocks or
ballocks up, balls up, make a balls-up of, cock up, US ball up,
bollix up; Taboo fuck up: He's buggered the recording, so we'll
have to start again at the beginning. Why does she bugger up
everything I try to do? 4 bugger about or around. a fool about,
waste time, dawdle, Colloq US lallygag or lollygag; Taboo fuck
about or around: He buggers about the house all the time
instead of looking for a job. Don't bugger about with my hi-fi.
b cause complications for, create difficulties for: She
pretends to be helping me, but she's just buggering me about. 5
bugger off. go away, depart, leave, clear off or out, Colloq
make tracks, skedaddle, beat it, Slang piss off; Taboo fuck off:
Oh, bugger off and leave me alone!


build v. 1 construct, erect, raise, set up, assemble: I hope to
build my own house in another year or so. 2 found, establish,
base: The theory is built on the principle that light travels
at 186,000 miles per second. 3 develop: She built the company
in about five years. 4 Also, build up. intensify; increase,
develop, enlarge, strengthen: The distant hum of voices
gradually built to a mighty roar.

--n. 5 physique, figure, body, shape, Slang bod: He has a good
build from working out at the gym.


building n. edifice, structure, construction, erection: The building
where I work is air-conditioned.

bulge n. 1 lump, hump, protuberance, bump, swelling, projection:
This wallet is making a bulge in my jacket.

--v. 2 protrude, stick out, swell (out): His stomach bulges
out over his belt.

bulk n. 1 volume, magnitude, mass, enlargement, largeness, size:
The sausage-makers add bread just for bulk. 2 majority: The
bulk of the people voted for the proposal.


bulky adj. large, voluminous, unwieldy, awkward, ungainly,
cumbersome, Brit chunky: The package, though quite bulky,
didn't cost much to post.


bulletin n. message, notice, communication, announcement, communiqu‚,
dispatch or despatch, report, account, flash, news item,
newsflash: And now, here's a bulletin from the centre court at
Wimbledon.


bully n. 1 persecutor, intimidator, tyrant: That bully Roderick is
always beating up the younger boys.

--v. 2 persecute, intimidate, tyrannize, torment, browbeat,
daunt, awe, cow, terrorize; hector, harass, push around:
Roderick even bullied his best friend into parting with his
allowance.

--adj. 3 Old-fashioned jolly, worthy, admirable: Ah, there you
are, my bully boy!


--interj. 4 Usually, Bully for (someone)! Bravo!, Great!,
Fantastic!, Fabulous!, Marvellous!, Spectacular!; So what?, What
of it?; US Peachy!, Dandy!, Neat-oh!; Old-fashioned
Fantabulous!: 'David's won the snooker competition again.'
'Bully for him!'

bulwark n. 1 defence or US defense, safeguard, redoubt, bastion,
buffer, barrier, rampart, fortification: A strong defence is
the best bulwark against aggression from outside.


--v. 2 defend, protect, shelter: Marnie's indifference to
others bulwarks her against any feelings of contrition.

bum n. 1 buttocks, posterior, hindquarters, fundament, behind,
rump, bottom, behind, derriŠre, rear end, backside, seat, rear,
Colloq Brit arse, US fanny, can, hinie, tush, tushy or tushie,
tokus or tochis or tuchis, keister or keester, ass: Why don't
you get off your fat bum and go out and get a job?! 2 tramp,
panhandler, beggar, vagrant, loafer, drifter, vagabond, hobo,
derelict, gypsy; Brit caird, tinker, traveller; US
(shopping-)bag lady: Along the Bowery the doorways and
pavements are strewn with bums. 3 improper, unjustified, false,
trumped up, untrue, fabricated, made-up, bogus: That auto theft
charge was a bum rap, but he still served 18 months.

--adj. 4 bad, awful, unfair, dishonest, poor, rotten, Slang
lousy, crummy: I still think you got a bum deal on that
toaster.

--v. 5 borrow, beg, sponge, Colloq scrounge, cadge, touch, put
the touch on, US mooch, hit, hit up: Can I bum a cigarette from
you?


bump n. 1 blow, collision, thud, hit, knock, buffet, clunk, whack:
That bump on the head seems to have affected him. 2 lump,
protuberance, welt, swelling, tumescence, knob, bulge: How did
you get that bump on your forehead?


--v. 3 knock (against), strike, hit, collide (with), run into,
ram; smash, crash, Colloq wallop: I bumped into the car in
front as I was parking. 4 bump into. meet, encounter, run into
or across, come across, stumble over: I bumped into Philippa at
the hairdresser's. 5 bump off. murder, kill, put away,
assassinate, do away with, execute, liquidate, dispatch or
despatch, Slang take for a ride, destroy, eliminate, rub out,
wipe out, do in, US waste, ice: They bumped off Wimpy, boss; he
was pulled out of the river wearing concrete overshoes.


bumpy adj. lumpy, rough, uneven, irregular, knobby, knobbly, pitted;
potholed, bouncy, jarring, jerky, rutted: The skin on his
forehead is a bit bumpy. This is the bumpiest road in the town.


bunch n. 1 bundle, cluster, batch, clump; bouquet, nosegay, posy,
spray: That's a nice-looking bunch of grapes. Mr Herbert
arrived with a bunch of flowers for me. 2 crowd, knot,
collection, group, lot, gathering, cluster, clutch, batch,

assortment, mass: A bunch of people stood outside the
courtroom, awaiting news of the verdict.

--v. 3 sort, class, classify, categorize, assort, group
together, bracket: It would be a mistake to bunch all different
kinds of liberals into the same category. 4 bunch up. gather;
smock; collect, crowd, group, cluster: The fabric is all
bunched up at the bottom. Don't let the people bunch up in front
of the exits.


bundle n. 1 bunch, collection, package, parcel, packet, pack; bale,
sheaf; Archaic fardel: I have to leave this bundle at the
laundry today. Bring this bundle of hay for the horse.


--v. 2 gather (together), tie up (together), collect, pack,
package: He bundled up all his belongings. 3 bundle off or
out. dispatch or despatch, pack off, hustle or hurry off or
away, send away or off; decamp, scurry off or away, Colloq Brit
do a moonlight flit: We bundled Aunt Mary off home as soon as
the storm subsided. That couple have bundled out of room 429.

bungle v. spoil, botch, mismanage, stumble, bumble, Golf foozle,
Colloq foul or screw or louse up, blow, mess or muck up, make a
mess or hash or muddle of, muff, Slang Brit bugger, US snafu,
Taboo fuck up: Smith has bungled the job again; we'll have to
replace him.

buoy n. 1 (navigational or channel) mark or marker, float; nun
(-buoy), can (-buoy), bell (buoy), gong (-buoy), siren, signal,
mooring-buoy, spar-buoy, lollipop: Returning to port, always
leave the red buoys to starboard.

--v. 2 Often, buoy up. lift, raise, elevate, support, hearten,
sustain, keep up: We sang songs to buoy up our spirits while
the rescuers dug their way towards us.

buoyant adj. 1 afloat, floating, floatable: The wood was water-logged
and no longer buoyant. 2 light, resilient, lively, vivacious,
bright, cheerful, carefree, blithe, animated, jaunty, bouncy,
ebullient, light-hearted , Colloq peppy: One had to admire his
buoyant optimism, even under adverse conditions.

burden n. 1 load, weight, gravamen; strain, pressure, trouble, onus,

millstone, cross, albatross: The old man put down his burden.
The burden of the evidence is against them. His feeling of guilt
over her death in the crash was a terrible burden to bear.


--v. 2 load, weigh down, saddle with, encumber; tax, oppress:
The mules were heavily burdened with a month's supply of food.
Don't burden me with your problems.

burdensome
adj. onerous, cumbersome, oppressive, weighty, troublesome,
wearisome, bothersome, distressing, worrying, worrisome,
vexatious, irksome: A tax on food is burdensome for those on a
low income.


bureau n. 1 Brit (writing-)desk, US chest of drawers, chest, dresser,
chifferobe, chiffonier: Simon has a beautiful antique bureau in
his office. One of my cuff-links rolled under the bureau. 2
office, agency, department, division, section, subdivision,
subsection, desk: I sent the form to the bureau a month ago,
but I still don't have my visa.

bureaucracy
n. officialdom, officialism, government, red tape,
administration, authorities: The bureaucracy survives because
the officials rely on graft for their income.

burglar n. housebreaker, thief, robber; sneak-thief, cat burglar, US
second-story or second-storey man: The burglars, remarkably,
didn't take the most valuable paintings.


burial n. interment, funeral, entombment, obsequies, sepulture: His
six ex-wives attended the burial.

burlesque n. 1 caricature, lampoon, spoof, parody, satire, mockery,
travesty, Colloq take-off; (grotesque) imitation, vulgarization,
exaggeration: In the mid-19th century, burlesques drove
pantomimes off the stage. 2 US striptease, strip show, nudie or
girlie show: The old comedians insist that burlesque acts were
an art form, but the audience went just for the girls.


--v. 3 satirize, take off, lampoon, spoof, parody, caricature,
travesty: Cervantes burlesqued the old romances in Don Quixote
.


--adj. 4 satirical, derisive, mock-heroic, mock-pathetic: She
sang a burlesque opera based on Hamlet, called 'Omelette'.


burly adj. stout, sturdy, corpulent, large, big, hefty, stocky,
thickset, brawny, chunky, heavy, beefy, muscular, strong,
strapping, rugged, tough, Colloq husky: Two rather burly
gentlemen were called in to help me out of the place.


burn v. 1 blaze, flame, flare, smoulder: A fire was burning on the
hearth. 2 ignite, set on fire, fire, light, kindle, incinerate,
Slang torch: He burnt the incriminating papers in the
fireplace. 3 desire, yearn, wish, long, itch: He wrote
'Darling, I am burning to be with you tonight'. 4 waste, throw
or fritter away, squander: Don't worry about Norman, he has
money to burn. 5 overcook, blacken, char, singe: If you're not
careful, you'll burn the toast again.

burning adj. 1 flaming, blazing, fiery; ablaze, aflame, afire, on fire:
When we arrived, the entire building was burning. 2 vehement,
ardent, excited, passionate, fervent, fervid, intense, fiery,
enthusiastic: She had a burning desire to join that illustrious
company. 3 raging, violent, parching: His burning fever had
finally subsided a little. 4 hot, blazing, scorching, seething,
withering: She was married on a burning hot day in July.

burrow n. 1 excavation, hole, warren, tunnel: The rabbit retreated to
its burrow under the hedge.


--v. 2 dig, delve, tunnel, bore; excavate: The larvae burrow
into the wood where the birds can hear them moving about.

burst v. break (asunder), rupture, shatter, explode, blow up;
puncture; Slang bust: If it keeps raining the dam will burst
and the valley will be flooded.

bury n. 1 inter, inhume, lay to rest: They buried her next to her
husband as she had requested. 2 abandon, forget, consign to
oblivion, eradicate, extirpate: The residents buried their
differences and united to repel the town planners. 3 submerge
(oneself), exile (oneself), plunge, become engrossed or
absorbed: She buried herself in her book. 4 conceal, obscure,
hide, cover up: The real story was by now completely buried

beneath the mass of legend. 5 overwhelm, overcome, inundate:
I'm so buried in work I can't take a holiday.

business n. 1 duty, function, occupation, calling, vocation, trade,
profession, work, province, area, subject, topic, concern,
affair, responsibility, role, charge, obligation: Her business
is supplying models for fashion shows. Mind your own business
and don't be such a Nosy Parker. 2 matter, job, task, subject,
question, problem, issue, point, affair: Gentlemen, let us call
the meeting to order and attend to the business at hand. 3
dealing, transaction; trade, commerce, traffic: We've never
done any business with that company. 4 concern, establishment,
organization, company, firm, house, enterprise; corporation,
partnership, proprietorship: Rodney wants to sell the business
and retire to Spain.

busy adj. 1 occupied, engaged, employed, involved: I can't talk to
you now, I'm busy. 2 working, industrious, active, diligent;
bustling, hectic, lively, hustling, energetic: Are you very
busy at the office these days? The diamond district is certainly
a busy place. 3 ornate, elaborate, detailed, complicated,
complex, (over-)decorated, intricate, Baroque, Rococo: Some of
the late Victorian architecture is far too busy for my taste.


--v. 4 occupy, involve, employ, divert, absorb, engross: She
has busied herself with charity work to get her mind off the
tragedy.

busybody n. pry, snoop(er), peep(er), gossip, meddler, Paul Pry, Colloq
Nosy Parker, Slang US buttinsky: If he so much as sees us
talking together, that busybody will probably cook up some sex
scandal.

butcher n. 1 murderer, slaughterer, killer, ripper, cutthroat,
executioner, annihilator: That cold-blooded butcher dismembered
his victims after strangling them. 2 destroyer, bungler,
muddler: Look what that butcher of a tailor has done to my
suit!


--v. 3 slaughter, massacre, murder, cut or hack or hew to
pieces, dismember, disembowel, exterminate, annihilate, kill,
liquidate: The entire crew was butchered by the islanders. 4
botch, bungle, foul up, Colloq mess up, make a mess or hash of;

Slang louse up, screw up, Brit bollocks or ballocks up, US
bollix up; Taboo fuck up: He butchered the restoration of my
antique cabinet.


buttฐ n. target, end, object, prey, victim, dupe; gull, Colloq
pigeon, sucker; Brit Aunt Sally, Slang US and Canadian patsy:
He was always the butt of their jokes.

butt v. 1 abut, join, meet: This wall butts up against my garage.
2 butt in or into. interfere, intrude, interrupt, Colloq US
kibitz; meddle: Please let me finish a sentence without butting
in. Don't butt into my affairs.

buttocks n. bottom, behind, derriŠre, seat, rear, rear end, backside,
posterior, hindquarters, fundament, Colloq Brit bum, arse , US
hinie, can, tush or tushy or tushie, tokus or tochis or tuchis,
keister or keester, butt, tail, prat, ass; Slang cheeks, duff:
A person with large buttocks should not wear tight shorts.


buttonhole
v. 1 corner, detain, accost, importune, waylay: A reporter
buttonholed one of the senators for details of the new tax bill.

--n. 2 corsage, US boutonniere or boutonniŠre: He wore a rose
for a buttonhole.

buttress v. sustain, support, strengthen, prop (up), brace, reinforce,
shore up: Huge beams were needed to buttress the walls after
the bombing.


buxom adj. 1 hearty, healthy, vigorous, lusty, attractive, comely,
plump, Colloq hefty: Sylvia was a buxom serving-wench at the
Bugle Horn. 2 busty, bosomy, chesty, well-endowed, big-busted:
The centrefolds in this magazine usually show quite buxom women.


buy v. 1 purchase; acquire, obtain, get, procure, gain, come by,
secure: Where did you buy that hat? 2 accept, allow, take,
believe, swallow, go for: Did you buy his story about having
his car stolen? 3 bribe, suborn, pay off, buy off, corrupt:
That customs man must have been bought or he wouldn't have let
the package through.

--n. 4 purchase, acquisition: We made a bad buy at the last

auction. 5 Also, good buy. bargain, Colloq US and Canadian
steal: If you paid only œ2,000, that was a real buy.

buyer n. customer, consumer, client, purchaser: Is it likely that
you will find many buyers of Basque dictionaries in this
country?

buzz n. 1 hum, murmur, drone: I lay and listened to the buzz of the
bees. 2 stir, ferment, talk, undercurrent: A ringing could be
heard above the buzz of conversation. 3 phone call, ring: I
think I'll give him a buzz to see if our appointment is still
on. 4 thrill, feeling of excitement, sensation, stimulation,
kick, Colloq high: I got quite a pleasant buzz from that drink.


--v. 5 hum, murmur, drone: The flies were buzzing around the
dead squirrel. 6 fly down on, zoom on to: The pilot was
grounded for a month for buzzing the airfield. 7 telephone,
ring (up), call (up), phone; summon, signal, buzz or ring for:
She said she'd buzz me if she needed anything.


2.8 by...
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by prep. 1 near, beside, next to, close to, alongside: I park my
car by my house. 2 via, by way of, through; past: I go home by
High Wycombe. 3 by means of, on: I often travel by train. 4
before, not later than, sooner than: I have to leave by Monday.
5 during, at: We travel only by night.


--adv. 6 Often, close by. near, nearby, at hand, close, about,
around, Literary nigh: When she is close by I get a tingling
sensation. 7 past, nearby: When he walked by I nearly died. 8
away, aside: We put by a little for a rainy day.


bygone adj. past, former, olden; of old, of yore: In bygone times,
the fashion was for high-button shoes.

bypass v. 1 avoid, evade, circumvent, sidestep, skirt, go or get
round, detour; ignore, Slang give the go-by: I shall bypass
many problems if I take that route.

--n. 2 detour, alternative (way, route, etc.), alternate way or

route: Take the bypass and avoid the town traffic.

bystander n. spectator, onlooker, observer, witness, non-participant,
passer-by, eyewitness: He has always claimed he was an innocent
bystander, but I'm not so sure.

byword n. proverb, proverbial saying, parable, maxim, adage, motto,
slogan, apophthegm or apothegm, aphorism, catchword,
catch-phrase: My byword has always been, Honesty is the best
policy.