| 1. By hook or by crook | (by one means or another) He is determined to obtain first division in his class by hock or by crook. |
| 2. Bear the brunt of | (to bear the main shock of) The poor have to bear the brunt of increasing prices. |
| 3. Bell the cat | (to take first step at personal risk) Many people can boast of their bravery, but very few can bell the cat. |
| 4. Bid defiance | (to ignore) Rohan bade defiance to his father’s wish of becoming a doctor and instead became an engineer. |
| 5. Blow one’s trumpet | (to praise oneself) No one likes to talk to those who are always blowing ‘their own trumpet. |
| 6. Break the news | (to give bad news) He broke the news of her husband’s death very gently so as to lessen the intensity of the shock. |
| 7. Burn a hole in one’s pocket | (money spent quickly) Money given to a spendthrift only burns a hole in his pocket. |
| 8. Bury the hatchet | (to make peace) India and Pakistan must bury the hatchet to bring about peace to the region. |
| 9. Beside oneself | (to feel excessively) Due to the accidental death of his wife he was beside himself with grief. |
| 10. Bad blood | (bitter relations) The riots have created bad blood between the two communities in India. |
| 11. Black and blue | (to beat mercilessly) The thief was beaten black and blue by the police. |
| 12. Beat about the bush | (to talk in a roundabout manner) We should always come to the point and should not beat about the bush. |
| 13. Beat the air | (to make useless efforts) Some speakers merely beat the air in speech while preaching. |
| 14. Build castles in the air | (to make visionary schemes) Many people who live in dreams build castles in the air and do not succeed in life. |
| 15. Break the ice | (to speak first after prolonged silence) In the meeting Rajesh broke the ice and suggested the plan to solve the problem. |
| 16. Bring to book | (to punish, to call to account) The manager was bought to book for his negligence. |
| 17. Breathe one’s last | (to die) He breathed his last in the prime of his life. |
| 18. Back stairs influence | (by unfair means) These days many persons are given good posts through back stairs influence. |
| 19. Bird’s eye view | (concise view) We had a bird’s eye view of the whole fair from the top of a giant wheel. |
| 20. Bolt from the blue | (sudden or unexpected shock) The news of her husband’s death in the air crash came to her as a bolt from the blue. |
| 21. Burn one’s boats | (point of no return) We had burnt our boats by declaring that we were not going to sign C.T.B.T. |
| 22. By the by | (by the way) By the by, what is your age? |
| 23. Be upto | (to be equal to) He is upto all the tricks of the trade to grind his own axe. |
| 24. Bated breath | (in anxiety, expectancy) The fate of the match hung in balance and everybody waited for the result with bated breath. |
| 25. Bandy words | (to wrangle, to argue) Obedient children don’t bandy words with their parents when they are advised. |
| 26. Bee in one’s bonnet | (to be fussy) She seems to have a bee in her bonnet because she is always finding faults with others. |
| 27. Bite the dust | (to be defeated) Pakistan had to bite the dust in the final of the World Cup. |
| 28. Blue stocking | (educated but pedantic lady) No body likes to mix with her because she is a blue stocking. |
| 29. Book worm | (a person in the habit of pouring over books) He has no time for social activities because he is a book worm. |
| 30. Bring down the house | (receive applause) Though it was his maiden speech, he brought down the house because of his oratory skill. |
| 31. Brow beat | (to bully) The President of the college union always tries to brow’ beat the students opposed to him. |
| 32. Bad egg | (a worthless) He comes of a noble family but he himself is a bad egg. |