[bill] See: CLEAN BILL OF HEALTH, FILL THE BILL.
[bind] See: DUTY BOUND, IN A BIND, MUSCLE BOUND, ROOT-BOUND.
[bingo card] <n.>, <slang> A response card, bound into a periodical, containing numbers keyed to editorial or advertising matter, giving the reader the opportunity to send for further information by marking the numbers of the items he is interested in; such a card can be mailed free of charge. * /Jack thinks he is saving time by filling out bingo cards instead of writing a letter./
[bird] See: EARLY BIRD CATCHES THE WORM or EARLY BIRD GETS THE WORM, EAT LIKE A BIRD, FINE FEATHERS DO NOT MAKE FINE BIRDS, FOR THE BIRDS, KILL TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE.
[bird has flown] <slang> The prisoner has escaped; the captive has got away. * /When the sheriff returned to the jail, he discovered that the bird had flown./
[bird in the hand is worth two in the bush (a)] Something we have, or can easily get, is more valuable than something we want that we may not be able to get; we shouldn't risk losing something sure by trying to get something that is not sure. - A proverb. * /Johnny has a job as a paperboy, but he wants a job in a gas station. His father says that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush./
[bird of a different feather] <n. phr.> A person who is free thinking and independent. * /Syd won't go along with recent trends in grammar; he created his own. He is a bird of a different feather./
[birds of a feather flock together] People who are alike often become friends or are together; if you are often with certain people, you may be their friends or like them. - A proverb. * /Don't be friends with bad boys. People think that birds of a feather flock together./
[birds and the bees (the)] <n. phr.>, <informal> The facts we should know about our birth. * /At various ages, in response to questions, a child can be told about the birds and the bees./
[bird watcher] <n.> A person whose hobby is to study birds close-up in their outdoor home. * /A bird watcher looks for the first robin to appear in the spring./
[birthday suit] <n.> The skin with no clothes on; complete nakedness. * /The little boys were swimming in their birthday suits./
[bit] See: A BIT, CHAMP AT THE BIT, FOUR BITS, QUITE A LITTLE or QUITE A BIT, SIX BITS, TAKE THE BIT IN ONE'S MOUTH, TWO BITS.
[bitch] See: SON OF A BITCH.
[bite] See: BARK WORSE THAN ONE'S BITE, PUT THE BITE ON, ONCE BITTEN, TWICE SHY at BURNT CHILD DREADS THE FIRE.
[bite off more than one can chew] <v. phr.>, <informal> To try to do more than you can; be too confident of your ability. * /He bit off more than he could chew when he agreed to edit the paper alone./ * /He started to repair his car himself, but realized that he had bitten off more than he could chew./
[bite one's head off] <v. phr.> To answer someone in great anger; answer furiously. * /I'm sorry to tell you that I lost my job, but that's no reason to bite my head off!/
[bite one's lips] <v. phr.> To force oneself to remain silent and not to reveal one's feelings. * /I had to bite my lips when I heard my boss give the wrong orders./
[bite the dust] <v. phr.>, <informal> 1. To be killed in battle. * /Captain Jones discharged his gun and another guerrilla bit the dust./ 2. To fall in defeat; go down before enemies; be overthrown; lose. * /Our team bit the dust today./
[bite the hand that feeds one] <v. phr.> To turn against or hurt a helper or supporter; repay kindness with wrong. * /He bit the hand that fed him when he complained against his employer./
[bitter] See: TO THE BITTER END.
[bitter pill] <n.> Something hard to accept; disappointment. * /Jack was not invited to the party and it was a bitter pill for him./
[black] See: BLACK AND WHITE, IN THE BLACK, LOOK BLACK, POT CALLS THE KETTLE BLACK.
[black and blue] <adj.> Badly bruised. * /Poor Jim was black and blue after he fell off the apple tree./
[black and white] <n. phr.> 1. Print or writing; words on paper, not spoken; exact written or printed form. * /He insisted on having the agreement down in black and white./ * /Mrs. Jones would not believe the news, so Mr. Jones showed her the article in the newspaper and said, "There it is in black and white."/ 2. The different shades of black and white of a simple picture, rather than other colors. * /He showed us snapshots in black and white./
[black-and-white] <adj.> Divided into only two sides that are either right or wrong or good or bad, with nothing in between; thinking or judging everything as either good or bad. * /Everything is black-and-white to Bill; if you're not his friend, you are his enemy./ * /The old man's religion shows his black-and-white thinking; everything is either completely good or completely bad./
[black day] <n.> A day of great unhappiness; a disaster. * /It was a black day when our business venture collapsed./
[black eye] <n.> 1. A dark area around one's eye due to a hard blow during a fight, such as boxing. * /Mike Tyson sported a black eye after the big fight./ 2. Discredit. * /Bob's illegal actions will give a black eye to the popular movement he started./
[blackout] <n.> 1. The darkening of a city curing an air raid by pulling down all curtains and putting out all street lights. * /The city of London went through numerous blackouts during World War II./ 2. A cessation of news by the mass media. * /There was a total news blackout about the kidnapping of the prime minister./
[black out] <v.> 1. To darken by putting out or dimming lights, * /In some plays the stage is blacked out for a short time and the actors speak in darkness./ * /In wartime, cities are blacked out to protect against bombing from planes./ 2. To prevent or silence information or communication; refuse to give out truthful news. * /In wartime, governments often black out all news or give out false news./ * /Dictators usually black out all criticism of the government./ * /Some big games are blacked out on television to people who live nearby./ 3. <informal> To lose consciousness; faint. * /It had been a hard and tiring day, and she suddenly blacked out./
[black sheep] <n.> A person in a family or a community considered unsatisfactory or disgraceful. * /My brother Ted is a high school dropout who joined a circus; he is the black sheep in our family./
[blame] See: TO BLAME.
[blank check] <n.> 1. A bank check written to a person who can then write in how much money he wants. * /John's father sent him a blank check to pay his school bills./ 2. <informal> Permission to another person to do anything he decides to do. * /The teacher gave the pupils a blank check to plan the picnic./
[blanket] See: WET BLANKET.
[blast off] <v.> 1. To begin a rocket flight. * /The astronaut will blast off into orbit at six o'clock./ 2. Also [blast away] <informal> To scold or protest violently. * /The coach blasted off at the team for poor playing./
[blaze a trail] <v. phr.> 1. To cut marks in trees in order to guide other people along a path or trail, especially through a wilderness. * /Daniel Boone blazed a trail for other hunters to follow in Kentucky./ 2. To lead the way; make a discovery; start something new. * /Henry Ford blazed a trail in manufacturing automobiles./ * /The building of rockets blazed a trail to outer space./ See: TRAILBLAZER.
[bleep out] See: BLIP OUT.
[bless one's heart] <v. phr.> To thank someone; consider one the cause of something good that has happened. * /Aunt Jane, bless her heart, left me half a million dollars!/
[blessing] See: MIXED BLESSING.
[blind] See: FLY BLIND.
[blind alley] <n.> 1. A narrow street that has only one entrance and no exit. * /The blind alley ended in a brick wall./ 2. A way of acting that leads to no good results. * /John did not take the job because it was a blind alley./ * /Tom thought of a way to do the algebra problem, but he found it was a blind alley./
[blind as a bat/beetle/mole/owl] <adj. phr.> Anyone who is blind or has difficulty in seeing; a person with very thick glasses. * /Without my glasses I am blind as a bat./
[blind date] <n.> An engagement or date arranged by friends for people who have not previously known one another. * /A blind date can be a huge success, or a big disappointment./
[blind leading the blind] One or more people who do not know or understand something trying to explain it to others who do not know or understand. * /Jimmy is trying to show Bill how to skate. The blind are leading the blind./
[blind spot] <n.> 1. A place on the road that a driver cannot see in the rearview mirror. * /I couldn't see that truck behind me, Officer, because it was in my blind spot./ 2. A matter or topic a person refuses to discuss or accept. * /My uncle Ted has a real blind spot about religion./
[blink] See: ON THE BLINK.
[blip out] or [bleep out] <v. phr.>, <informal> To delete electronically a word on television or on radio either because it mentions the name of an established firm in a commercial or because it is a censored word not allowed for television audiences, resulting in a sound resembling the word "bleep." * /What was the old product they compared Spic-n-Span to? - I don't know; they've bleeped it out./
[blitz] See: SAFETY BLITZ.
[block] See: CHIP OFF THE OLD BLOCK, KNOCK ONE'S BLOCK OFF, ON THE BLOCK.
[blockhead] <n.>, <informal> An unusually dense, or stupid person whose head is therefore exaggeratedly compared to a solid block of wood. * /Joe is such a blockhead that he flunked every course as a freshman./