below the salt
of lower social status
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Where will you be? Anywhere UK & IrelandUnited StatesOnline slangBusiness jargon
belt and suspenders
Using two or more methods to achieve something for extra security
Belted Will
Lord William Howard (1563- 1640), a Border chief, son of the fourth Duke of Norfolk, and warden of the western marches. He was so called by Scott. To his contemporaries he was known as "Bould Wullie." His wife was called "Bessie with the braid apron.
bemuse
To fuddle one’s self with drink, "BEMUSING himself with beer," &c.
ben
A benefit.—Theatrical.
ben cull
A friend, or "pal." Expression used by thieves.
ben joltram
Brown bread and skimmed milk; a Norfolk term for a ploughboy’s breakfast.
bench and bar
A fixed-order word pair (irreversible binomial); full definition pending editorial review.
Bench and Bar
Judges and barristers. See BAR; BARRISTER.
bench jockey
A person who criticizes or gives unwanted advice from the sidelines
bend
"that’s above my bend," i.e., beyond my power, too expensive or too difficult for me to perform.
bend one's elbow
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
bend sinister
A bend running across the shield in the opposite direction, i.e. from right to left. It often is an indication of bastardy (cp. BAR SINISTER); hence the phrase "he has a bend sinister" he was not born in lawful wed- lock.
bend someone's ear
to talk to someone at length, often about a problem
bend someone's will
To force someone to do something against their wishes
bend the brain
To concentrate or think hard
bend the knee
To show respect or submit to someone's authority
bend the truth
To exaggerate or distort information
bend to one's will
To force someone to do what you want
bender
A sixpence. Probably from its liability to bend. In the days when the term was most in use sixpences were not kept in the excellent state of preservation peculiar to the currency of the present day.
bendigo
A rough fur cap worn in the midland counties, called after a noted pugilist of that name. "Hard Punchers" are caps worn by London roughs and formerly by men in training. They are a modification of the common Scotch cap, and have peaks.
bene
Good--BENAR. Better. Cant.
bene
Good.—Ancient Cant; BENAR was the comparative.—See BONE. Latin.
bene bowse
Good beer, or other strong liquor. Cant.
bene cove
A good fellow. Cant.
bene feakers of gybes
Counterfeiters of passes. Cant.
bene fearers
Counterfeiters of bills. Cant.
beneath his art
The dame, press'd to disclose them Said — "Lady, I beseech you to suppose them "
beneath the surface
Hidden or not immediately apparent
benedick
A married man. Shakspeare.
benefit from something
To gain an advantage or profit from a situation
Benefit of Clergy
Originally, the privilege of exemption from trial by a secular court enjoyed by the clergy if arrested for felony. In time it comprehended not only the ordained clergy, but all who, being able to write and read, were capable of entering into holy orders. It seems to have been based on the text, "Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm" (1 Chron.
benevolent overlord
A ruler or authority figure who exercises power in a kind and generous manner
Benicia Boy
John C. Heenan, the American pugilist, who challenged and fought Tom Sayers for "the belt" in 1860; so called from Benicia in California, his birth- place.
benison
The beggar's benison: May your ***** and purse never fail you.
benjamin
Coat. Formerly termed a JOSEPH, in allusion, perhaps, to Joseph’s coat of many colours.—See UPPER-BENJAMIN.
Benjamin Button
A person who appears to grow younger over time
benjamin tree
A tree of the Styrax family that yields benzoin, of which the name is a corruption, and so used by Ben Jonson in Cynthia's Revels (V, ii), where the Perfumer says : —
benjamin's mess
The largest share. The allusion is to the banquet given by Joseph, viceroy of Egypt, to his brethren. " Ben- jamin's mess was five times so much as any of theirs" (Gen. xliii, 34).
benjy
A waistcoat, diminutive of BENJAMIN.
bent on
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
bent on a splice
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
beong
A shilling.—See SALTEE.—Lingua Franca.
Berecynthian Hero
Midas, the mythological king of Phrygia; so called from Mount Berecyntus, in Phrygia.
berlin blue
It is hydrated ferric ferrocyanide, and prussic acid (hydrocyanic acid) is made from it.
Berlin Decree
A decree issued at Berlin by Napoleon I in November, 1806, forbidding any of the nations of Europe to trade with Great Britain, proclaiming her to be in a state of blockade, declaring all British property forfeit, and all British subjects on French soil prisoners of war.
bermudas
A cant name for certain places in London, privileged against arrests, like the Mint in Southwark, Ben. Jonson. These privileges are abolished.
Bernardo del Carpio
A semi-mythical Span- ish hero of the 9th century, and a favourite subject of the minstrels, and of Lope de Vega who wrote many plays around his exploits. He is credited with having defeated Roland at Roncesvalles.
beside oneself
extremely upset or angry
beside the mark
Not to the point; a phrase from archery, in which the mark was the target.
beside the point
Not relevant to the current conversation or situation
Bess of Hardwick
Elizabeth Talbot, Coun- tess of Shrewsbury (1518-1608), to whose charge, in 1569, Mary Queen of Scots was committed. The countess treated the captive queen with great harshness, being jealous of me earl her husband.
bess-o’-bedlam
A lunatic vagrant.—Norfolk.
Bessemer Process
The conversion of cast iron to steel by oxidizing the carbon by passing currents of air through the molten metal, patented by Sir Henry Bessemer in 1856.
best
To the best in Christendom: i.e. the best **** in Christendom; a health formerly much in vogue.
best
To get the better or BEST of a man in any way—not necessarily to cheat—to have the best of a bargain. BESTED, taken in, or defrauded, in reality worsted. BESTER, a low betting cheat, a fraudulent bookmaker.
best bet
Most likely to succeed or be effective
best foot foremost
Use all possible dispatch. To "set on foot" is to set going. If you have various- powers of motion, set your best foremost. .
best friend
a person's closest and most trusted friend
best laid plans
Even well-planned actions can go wrong
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