[best seller] <n.> An item (primarily said of books) that outsells other items of a similar sort. * /Catherine Neville's novel "The Eight" has been a national best seller for months./ * /Among imported European cars, the Volkswagen is a best seller./
[bet] See: YOU BET or YOU BET YOUR BOOTS or YOU BET YOUR LIFE.
[be the making of] <v. phr.> To account for the success of someone or something. * /The strict discipline that we had to undergo in graduate school was the making of many a successful professor./ * /The relatively low cost and high gas mileage are the making of Chevrolet's Geo Metro cars./
[bet one's boots] or [bet one's bottom dollar] or [bet one's shirt] <v. phr.>, <informal> 1. To bet all you have. * /This horse will win. I would bet my bottom dollar on it./ * /Jim said he would bet his boots that he would pass the examination./ 2. or [bet one's life]. To feel very sure; have no doubt. * /Was I scared when I saw the bull running at me? You bet your life I was!/
[bet on the wrong horse] <v. phr,>, <informal> To base your plans on a wrong guess about the result of something; misread the future; misjudge a coming event. * /To count on the small family farm as an important thing in the American future now looks like betting on the wrong horse./ * /He expected Bush to be elected President in 1992 but as it happened, he bet on the wrong horse./
[better] See: ALL BETTER, DISCRETION IS THE BETTER PART OF VALOR, FOR BETTER OR WORSE, FOR THE BETTER, GET THE BETTER OF, GO --- ONE BETTER, HAD BETTER, HALF A LOAF IS BETTER THAN NONE or HALF A LOAF IS BETTER THAN NO BREAD, SEE BETTER DAYS, THINK BETTER OF.
[better half] <n.>, <informal> One's marriage partner (mostly said by men about their wives.) * /"This is my better half, Mary," said Joe./
[better late than never] It is better to come or do something late than never. * /The firemen didn't arrive at the house until it was half burned, but it was better late than never./ * /Grandfather is learning to drive a car. "Better late than never," he says./ Compare: HALF A LOAF IS BETTER THAN NONE.
[better than] <prep. phr.> More than; greater than; at a greater rate than. * /The car was doing better than eighty miles an hour./ * /It is better than three miles to the station./
[between] See: BETWIXT AND BETWEEN, COME BETWEEN, PEW AND FAR BETWEEN.
[between a rock and a hard place] See: BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA.
[between life and death] <adv. phr.> In danger of dying or being killed; with life or death possible. * /He held on to the mountainside between life and death while his friends went to get help./ * /The little sick girl lay all night between life and death until her fever was gone./
[between the devil and the deep blue sea] or <literary> [between two fires] or [between a rock and a hard place] <adv. phr.> Between two dangers or difficulties, not knowing what to do. * /The pirates had to fight and be killed or give up and be hanged; they were between the devil and the deep blue sea./ * /The boy was between a rock and a hard place; he had to go home and be whipped or stay in town all night and be picked up by the police./ * /When the man's wife and her mother got together, he was between two fires./ Compare: COMING AND GOING(2), IN A BIND.
[between the eyes] See: HIT BETWEEN THE EYES.
[between the lines] See: READ BETWEEN THE LINES.
[between two fires] See: BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA.
[between two shakes of a lamb's tail] See: BEFORE ONE CAN SAY JACK ROBINSON.
[be up to no good] <v. phr.>, <informal> To be plotting and conniving to commit some illegal act or crime. * /"Let's hurry!" Susan said to her husband. "It's dark here and those hoodlums obviously are up to no good."/
[be up to something] <v. phr.>, <informal> 1. To feel strong enough or knowledgeable enough to accomplish a certain task. * /Are you up to climbing all the way to the 37th floor?/ * /Are we up to meeting the delegation from Moscow and speaking Russian to them?/ 2. Tendency to do something mischievous. * /I'm afraid Jack is up to one of his old tricks again./
[beyond measure] <adj.> or <adv. phr.>, <formal> So much that it can not be measured or figured without any limits. * /With her parents reunited and present at her graduation, she had happiness beyond measure./ * /No one envied him for he was popular beyond measure./
[beyond one's depth] <adj.> or <adv. phr.> 1. Over your head in water; in water too deep to touch bottom. * /Jack wasn't a good swimmer and nearly drowned when he drifted out beyond his depth./ 2. In or into something too difficult for you; beyond your understanding or ability. * /Bill decided that his big brother's geometry book was beyond his depth./ * /Sam's father started to explain the atom bomb to Sam but he soon got beyond his depth./ * /When Bill played checkers against the city champion, Bill was beyond his depth./ Compare: OVER ONE'S HEAD(1).
[beyond one's means] <adj. phr.> Too expensive, not affordable. * /Unfortunately, a new Mercedes Benz is beyond my means right now./
[beyond one's nose] See: SEE BEYOND ONE'S NOSE.
[beyond question(1)] <adj. phr.> Not in doubt certain; sure. - Used in the predicate. * /People always believe anything that Mark says; his honesty is beyond question./ Contrast: IN QUESTION.
[beyond question(2)] or [without question] <adv. phr.> Without doubt or argument; surely; unquestionably. * /Beyond question, it was the coldest day of the winter./ * /John's drawing is without question the best in the class./
[beyond reasonable doubt] <adv. phr.>, <formal and legal> Virtually certain; essentially convincing. * /The judge instructed the jurors to come up with a verdict of guilty only if they were convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that Algernon was the perpetrator./
[beyond the pale] <adv.> or <adj. phr.> In disgrace; with no chance of being accepted or respected by others; not approved by the members of a group. * /After the outlaw killed a man he was beyond the pale and not even his old friends would talk to him./ * /Tom's swearing is beyond the pale; no one invites him to dinner any more./
[beyond the shadow of a doubt] <adv. phr.>, <formal and legal> Absolutely certain, totally convincing. * /Fred burglarized Mrs. Brown's apartment, beyond the shadow of a doubt./
[bib] See: BEST BIB AND TUCKER.
[bide one's time] <v. phr.> To await an opportunity; wait patiently until your chance comes. * /Refused work as an actor, Tom turned to other work and bided his time./ * /Jack was hurt deeply, and he bided his time for revenge./
[bid fair] <v.>, <literary> To seem likely; promise. * /He bids fair to be a popular author./ * /The day bids fair to be warm./
[big] See: IN A BIG WAY, LITTLE FROG IN A BIG POND, LITTLE PITCHERS HAVE BIG EARS, TALK BIG, TOO BIG FOR ONE'S BREECHES, WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA.
[big as life] or [large as life] <adj. phr.> 1. or [life-size] The same size as the living person or thing. * /The statue of Jefferson was big as life./ * /The characters on the screen were life-size./ 2. or [big as life and twice as natural] <informal> In person; real and living. * /I had not seen him for years, but there he was, big as life and twice as natural./
[big cheese] or [big gun] or [big shot] or [big wheel] or [big wig] <n.>, <slang> An important person; a leader; a high official; a person of high rank. * /Bill had been a big shot in high school./ * /John wanted to be the big cheese in his club./ Compare: WHOLE CHEESE.
[big daddy] <n.>, <slang>, <informal> The most important, largest thing, person or animal in a congregation of similar persons, animals, or objects. * /The whale is the big daddy of everything that swims in the ocean./ * /The H-bomb is the big daddy of all modern weapons./ * /Al Capone was the big daddy of organized crime in Chicago during Prohibition./
[big deal] <interj.>, <slang>, <informal> (loud stress on the word "deal") Trifles; an unimportant, unimpressive thing or matter. * /So you became college president - big deal!/
[big frog in a small pond] <n. phr.>, <informal> An important person in a small place or position; someone who is respected and honored in a small company, school, or city; a leader in a small group. * /As company president, he had been a big frog in a small pond, but he was not so important as a new congressman in Washington./ Contrast: LITTLE FROG IN A BIG POND.
[bigger than one's stomach] See: EYES BIGGER THAN ONE'S STOMACH.
[big hand] <n.> Loud and enthusiastic applause. * /When Pavarotti finished singing the aria from Rigoletto, he got a very big hand./
[big head] <n.>, <informal> Too high an opinion of your own ability or importance; conceit. * /When Jack was elected captain of the team, it gave him a big head./ Compare: SWELLED HEAD.
[big house] <n.> A large jail or prison. * /The rapist will spend many years in the big house./
[big lie, the] <n.>, <informal> A major, deliberate misrepresentation of some important issue made on the assumption that a bold, gross lie is psychologically more believable than a timid, minor one. * /We all heard the big lie during the Watergate months./ * /The pretense of democracy by a totalitarian regime is part of the big lie about its government./
[big mouth] or [big-mouthed] See: LOUD MOUTH, LOUD-MOUTHED.
[big shot] or [big wig] <n.> An important or influential person. * /Elmer is a big shot in the State Assembly./
[big stink] <n.>, <slang> A major scandal; a big upheaval. * /I'll raise a big stink if they fire me./
[big time] <n.>, <informal> 1. A very enjoyable time at a party or other pleasurable gathering. * /I certainly had a big time at the club last night./ 2. The top group; the leading class; the best or most important company. * /After his graduation from college, he soon made the big time in baseball./ * /Many young actors go to Hollywood, but few of them reach the big time./
[big-time] <adj.> Belonging to the top group; of the leading class; important. * /Jean won a talent contest in her home town, and only a year later she began dancing on big-time television./ * /Bob practices boxing in the gym every day; he wants to become a big time boxer./ Often used in the phrase "big-time operator". * /Just because Bill has a new football uniform he thinks he is a big-time operator./ Compare: SHOW OFF. Contrast: SMALL-TIME.
[big top] <n.> The main tent under which a circus gives its show; the circus and circus life. * /Lillian Leitzel was one of the great stars of the big top./ * /The book tells of life under the big top./
[big wheel] <n.>, <informal> An influential or important person who has the power to do things and has connections in high places. * /Uncle Ferdinand is a big wheel in Washington; maybe he can help you with your problem./