a thin skin if liquid filled with a gas

to do sth that ends a good situation: "He was quite optimistic after Christmas but the sales figures for January burst the bubble."

a pirate who plundered Spanish ships in America in the 17th and 18th centuries

1) a male deer or rabbit; 2) (of a horse) kick up the heels; 3) money: "Can you lend me a couple of bucks?"

this is the person who is finally responsible: "Julian was a great person to work for. He made it clear that the buck stopped with him and he always supported his staff."

to try to make sb else responsible for a problem; to refuse to accept responsibility for sth, especially when refusing to deal with a problem: "If a complaint arises, you can be sure that he will pass the buck and his secretary will get the blame."; "The industrialized nations are the real environmental villains. Shouldn't we now be acknowledging blame rather than passing the buck?"

an open container with a handle, often used for carrying water

cash in your chips, pop your clogs, bite the dust, give up the ghost, snuff it; to die: "Honestly, I was so ill, I thought I was going to kick the bucket."; "When I finally kick the bucket, I want to be buried at sea."

a fastener, usually on a belt or strap; to fasten with a buckle

a young flower or leaf before it opens; sprout buds

to stop sth before it can develop; to make sth stop at a very early stage: "Nipping bad eating habits in the bud is part of a parent's job."; "Her dream of Hollywood stardom was nipped in the bud last night when critics savagely criticized her first big movie."

move slightly; shift

a brightly coloured Australian bird, like a small parrot

annual financial statement or forecast of revenue and expenditure; (for:) allow for in a budget

in Asia, a kind of wild ox; in North America, a bison

1) refreshment bar; meal set out on a table from which people help themselves; 2) strike, knock about

one of a group of insects with a mouth that can prick and suck

get the bug; to become enthusiastic about a particular activity: "After spending two months in Africa, I've really been bitten by the travel bug."

"He's such a bugger!"; "You stupid bugger!"; "Poor bugger!"

a musical instrument, usually made of brass or copper, similar to a trumpet but without the stops, and mainly used for military calls or signals

make sth by putting different parts together: "This bird builds its nest from twigs and feathers"

"If expenses keep building up like this, we'll soon go broke!"; "Jeff does weight-lifting in order to build up his arm and chest muscles."; "Mr. Rezende started with a small firm and managed to build it up into an empire."; "As soon as I build up enough savings, I'm going to take a trip to Europe"

structure with roof and walls

the place where a building is being built

1) an electrical lamp; 2) the roundish underground stem of some plants, like onions

large and clumsy

a male of the cattle family or a male elephant

like a bull in a china shop; behaving in a direct, rude, and careless way; very clumsy; not making any effort to be polite and tactful in social situations: "Larry tends to behave like a bull in a china shop, leaving people hurt and offended."; "He rushed into the office like a bull at a gate."; "Anthony was always rushing about like a bull in a china shop, knocking things over, and generally causing havoc wherever he went."; "Politically, he often behaved like a bull in a china shop. Privately, he could be a man of great sensitivity."

grasp the nettle, pull out all the stops, to deal with a problem in a direct, confident way; to make a determined decision to do sth: "She took the bull by the horns and asked for a pay rise."; "Being the determined woman she was, she decided to take the bull by the horns and organize things for herself."

to chat with others in an idle way: "I found him in the drugstore shooting the bull with some other salesmen."

a powerful and courageous breed of dog (formerly used in the cruel sport of bull baiting)

a heavy machine for clearing land

a piece of shaped metal made to be shot from a hand-gun

to accept and deal with sth unpleasant; to decide to tolerate a situation rather than complain about it, since there is nothing you can do about it; to decide that you must do sth, even though it will be unpleasant: "Sandy was the first child to bite the bullet, walking cheerfully into the dentist's surgery."; "We have to bite the bullet a little now, but once the ground has been finished, we should start making profits again."; "Only so much can be done by discussion. Decisions have to be taken, and as director you have got to bite the bullet."

be a bundle of nerves; to be very worried or frightened: "The noise downstairs had me sweating bullets."

bars of gold or silver before being turned into coins etc

castrated bull

a person who uses his or her strength to frighten other, weaker people; "The strikers were bullied into dropping their demands."

a tall plant that grows near water

"Could I bum a cigarette off you?"

on the fritz; 1) not working: "I missed the programme because my radio is on the bum."; 2) to live in an unsettled way like a tramp: "Soon after he lost his job, he was on the bum."; tramp

to hurry sb out of a place: "The man in the restaurant was drunk, and the manager gave him the bum's rush."

a large bee that hums noisily

1) knock into sth; a collision, a jolt; 2) a lump or swelling

"Yesterday, I bumped into an acquaintance of mine whom I hadn't seen in years."

"Many mafiosi used to be bumped off by their own associates and even by relatives."

to sit or stand without moving or responding: "Just give me an answer. Don't sit there like a bump on a log!"

1) large or abundant: "A bumper crop of wheat"; 2) the bars or fenders that protect the front and back of a motor car.

a kind of small round cake or bread roll

a number of things of the same kind together, like a bunch of grapes; make into a bunch

a number of things wrapped up together; tie into a bundle

sweat bullets; to be extremely/very worried or frightened: "She was a bundle of nerves before the flight."

not your cup of tea; 1) not to like very much: "My dad doesn't go a bundle on Steve, but Mum thinks he's OK."; 2) not to be keen on doing sth: "They don't go a bundle on employing married women in this company."

coin it (in); make a killing; make your pile; to make a lot of money: "We made a bundle on that stall at the carnival last year."

a house with all its rooms on the ground floor

blunder; do sth awkwardly

lump or inflamed swelling on toe

a narrow bed fixed to the wall, often one above the other

to run away from a place; to leave a place suddenly, often in secret: "Several of the pupils did a bunk during the morning break."; "Two prisoners did a bunk during the chaos of the riots."; "It looks as if he's done a bunk, and taken my money with him."

an anchored float marking a channel or a reef for ships

apt to float; cheerful

a load; difficulty to bear

a person who breaks into a house to steal

burying of a dead body; a funeral

comical, jocose, farsical

large and sturdy

1) destroy or damage sth by fire; injury or mark caused by burning. 2) (Sc) a brook; stream

"In just a couple of hours, the entire building was burned down."

"It burns me up to see people maltreating little, defenseless animals."

to delay doing/dealing with sth until later: "The company's activities have been put on on the back burner until production can be resumed abroad with lower costs."; "We're concentrating on getting out all the Christmas orders, so we've put our work on new products on the back burner."

a hole made in the ground by an animal as a home; make or live in a burrow

break apart suddenly, or explode: "The balloon burst with a loud bang."

rush in: "Jane burst into the room."

"The two cars crashed head-on and one of them burst into flames."

"The speaker had hardly finished his last sentence when the audience burst into applause."; "Anna burst into tears when she was told that she had failed the test."

"When Tony heard the joke about the praying parrot, he burst out laughing."

to be extremely impatient to do sth: "She met me at the door; there was something she was bursting to tell me."

badly need to go to the toilet

to be destroyed or killed: "Look out, or that vase will go for a Burton."

put sth in the ground; hide away

"He just buries his head in the sand and refuses to talk to me."

"Let's bury the hatchet and be friends."; "Sam and Harry had been quarrelling, but in the end, they decided to bury the hatchet."

a motor vehicle for carrying larg numbers of people (short for 'omnibus' - a Latin word meaning 'for all')

miss the boat; to fail to take an opportunity; do not get a chance to do or have sth because being too late in arriving or asking for it: "Even if we had celebrated in a small way we would have attracted tourists from all over the world. The council has really missed the boat."; "Investors may miss the boat if they are still waiting for prices to fall."

a shrub; a small thick tree

the fast communication of information by people telling each other what is happening: "Everyone seems to have heard about me leaving - the bush telegraph is still as reliable as ever."

to talk without saying what you mean directly; not to speak openly and directly without hiding anything: "Come on, don't beat about the bush. What are you trying to say?"; "Len's been beating about the bush but he means that you will all be on half-pay after Thursday."

a native of the southern African deserts

1) a shop or organization. 2) a person's work or occupation: "My father's business is running a bookshop."

sth is working normally in difficult circumstances: "It's business as usual today at Pat's Caf� after yesterday's fire."

sb was wrong to do sth: "I want to apologize - I had no business criticizing you like that."

sb is not doing what they are being criticized for: "We're not in the business of increasing government spending; we just want to ensure that taxpayers get value for money."

the part of a tool or weapon that does the work: "He turned, and found himself looking at the business end of a hand gun."

in business, profit is more important than personal feelings: "If you don't work hard, you're out. Business is business, you know."

sharp practice; behaviour that is not allowed or approved of; tricks or dishonest behaviour: "When they examined his tax returns they saw that there was some funny business going on."; "I think there's some funny business going on where these accounts are concerned; something isn't quite right."

to start: "We have a lot to talk about today, so let's get down to business."

ready to start an activity: "You've got the paint - I'll get the brushes. Ok, now we're in business."

to treat sb badly: "The new teacher acted unsure of herself, so the students really gave her the business."

to attend to one's normal everyday duties; to do the things that you normally do: "We watched the small boats going about their business in the harbour."; "Residents in the area put on their boots and went about their business despite flooded streets."

happening a lot, very much, very well, very fast: "Tickets went like nobody's business - the show was sold out in a day."; "The phone's being ringing like nobody's business since we put that advert in the newspaper."

to be seriously determined to do sth or what one proposes: "This time they were not just threatening; they clearly meant business."; "If a new teacher starts off strict, enforcing the rules, her class will know she means business."

no business of someone's; you don't have a right to know it; you are too curious about a private matter which does not concern you: "'Have you got a boyfriend, Kate?' 'None of your business!'"; "It's no business of mine how she gets the money for her foreign trips."

I refuse to involve you in something that does not concern you; you say this to someone if you think they are too curious and inquisitive about your private affairs: "'Mind your own business,' the old man warned him. 'And stay right away form this street.'"; "'How did you vote in the last election?' 'Mind you own business.'"

someone is acting normally, not expecting what can happen; someone is concentrating on matters which concerns him/her, and not paying attention to, or interfering in other people's affairs: "He was just driving along, minding his own business, when a drunk driver slammed into him on the wrong side of the road."; "I was so busy minding my own business that I didn't notice there was anything wrong."

something is very good or works well: "This computer really is the business - it's so fast."

wandering musician or actor

1) a statue of a person's head and shoulders. 2) a woman's breast. 3) (slang) bankrupt; penniless: They all lost their jobs when their company went bust.

hurry (or make others hurry) about; excited activity

having a lot to do

however; on the other hand

you really mean what you are saying: "We are in the business of uniting Europe - no buts about it."

a person who kills or cuts up animals to sell their meat.

head manservant in a large house

to hit with the head

a soft, yellow food made from fats contained in cream; spread butter

butter wouldn't melt in his/her mouth; butter wouldn't melt in so-and-so's mouth; someone seems very good and moral; someone looks, or acts, as if they would never do anything wrong, often despite the facts to the contrary: "You'd think butter would't melt in his mouth, but you have to watch out for him."; "the boy was first arrested at the age of 10 for giving $1,000 to a drug dealer for heroin. The detective added: 'To look at him you'd think butter wouldn't melt in his mouth.'"

a small wild flower with yellow petals

an insect with large colourful wings. Unlike the moth it flies during the daytime. "She has a large collection of butterflies."

to feel very nervous before doing something; to have a nervous feeling in your stomach: "She's got butterflies about the exam."; "He always has butterflies before he goes on stage, but it makes him give a better performance."

to give a severe punishment to someone who has not done anything very bad: "Stopping Anna from seeing her friends just because she was late home once seems to be breaking a butterfly on a wheel."

one of the two fleshy parts of the bottom or backside.

a small round object, made of plastic, leather, horn etc, and which is used for fastening clothes.

1) exactly right: "Captain James Cook was right on the button when he named this place 'The Friendly Islands'.";
2) on time: "Jack was there to meet the plane at 11 on the button."

push the right buttons; to know what to do to get the reaction you want: "He always manages to push Mum's buttons by saying 'a woman's place is in the home'."

(N. Eng. dialect) a sandwich, snack

a prop. support built against a wall; support, strenghten

purchase sth; obtain goods in exchange for money

"Sears is a major diamond buyer in the USA."

make a noise like a bee

to get a strong feeling of pleasure: "She gets a buzz from cooking new dishes and trying them out on other people."

the name of a family of birds of prey related to the falcon

along; through; during; as a result of: "Little by little. By the way. By force."

"'Can I borrow your calculator for a moment?' 'By all means, go right ahead!'"

"By no means would I give up English in order to study Japanese."

generally: "By and large, the more questions you ask in a survey, the less polite people will be."; "By and large, most Brazilians have a football team they root for."

"If, by chance, you see Vivian at the party, tell her I'd like to speak to her;"

"Pel� is by far the best-known Brazilian in any European country."

"To make the roll-call by heart"; "To know the whoke roll by heart."; "Martha has a fantastic memory. She knows dozens of telephone numbers by heart."

"By the way, do you happen to have ten dollars to lend me?"

an election held to fill a vacancy caused by death or resignation

you should try to forget something bad that someone has done and forgive them; you agree that you should both forget quarrels or problems from the past: "I'm willing to let bygones be bygones, but my sister still won't talk to me."; "I expect auntie has told you everything, but please come now. We will let bygones be bygones. Daddy would have wanted it."

a spectator

cow shed