| 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. |