bounce
Impudence, cheek. A showy swindler, a bully.
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bounce back
Recover quickly from a difficulty or setback
bounce off
to rebound or reflect off something
bounce off the walls
To have excess energy and be very restless
bounceable
Boastful.
bounceable
Prone to bouncing or boasting.
bounceably
Boastfully.
bouncer
A large man or woman; also a great lie.
bouncer
A person who steals whilst bargaining with a tradesman, a swindler, or a lie of more than ordinary dimensions.
bouncing cheat
A bottle; from the explosion in drawing the cork. CANT.
bound and determined
Completely committed to doing something
bound and gagged
completely silenced or restrained
bound to be something
Certain to be something
bound to do something
certain or likely to do something
bounder
A four-wheeled cab. Because of its jumping motion over the stones. Also a University term for a TRAP, which generally has a very rough time of it on the country roads.
boung nipper
A cut purse. CANT.--Formerly purses were worn at the girdle, from whence they were cut.
bouquets and brickbats
Praise and criticism received for something
Bovey Coal
A lignite found at Bovey Tracy, in Devonshire. Bow (bo) (AS. boga; connected with the O.Teut. beguan, to bend.
bow and arrow
a traditional weapon
bow and scrape
show excessive respect or try too hard to please someone
Bow Bells
Born within sound of Bow bells. Said of a true cockney. St.
bow down
Show respect or surrender to someone or something
bow down before the porcelain god
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
bow down thine ear
Condescend to hear or listen (Ps. xxxi, 2).
bow out
To leave or withdraw from a situation
bow-legged wi' brass
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
Bow-street Runners
Detectives who scoured the country to find criminals, before the introduction of the police force. Bow Street, near Covent Garden, is where the principal London police-court stands.
bow-wow
The childish name for a dog; also a jeering appellation for a man born at Boston in America.
bow-wow shop
A salesman's shop in Monmouth-street; so called because the servant barks, and the master bites. See BARKER.
Bow-wow Word
A word in imita- tion of the sound made, as hiss, cackle,, murmur, cuckoo, etc. Hence the bow-wow school, a term applied in ridicule to philologists who sought to derive speech and language from the sounds made by animals. The terms were first used by Max Muller.
bowdlerization
A term used in literary circles to signify undue strictness of treatment caused by over-modesty in editing a classic. To BOWDLERIZE is to emasculate through squeamishness. From the name (Bowdler) of one of Shakspeare’s "purifiers."
Bowels of Mercy
Compassion, sympathy. The affections were at one time supposed to be the outcome of certain secretions or organs, as the bile, the kidneys, the heart, the head, the liver, the bowels, the spleen, and so on. Hence such words and phrases as melancholy (black bile); the Psalmist says that his reins* or kidneys, instructed him (Ps.
bower anchor
An anchor carried at the bow of a ship. There are two: one called the best bower, and the other the small bower.
Bower of Bliss
In Spenser's Faerie Queene (Bk. II) the beautiful enchanted home of Acrasia.
Bowie Knife
A long, stout knife with a horn handle and a curved blade some 15 m. long and H in. wide at the hilt, carried by hunters in the Western States of America. So called from Colonel James Bowie (d. 1836), one of the most daring characters m the States.
bowl a googly
To surprise or deceive someone with an unexpected action
bowl of cherries
A very pleasant or enjoyable situation
bowl over
to surprise or impress someone very much
bowl up
to arrive or appear suddenly and unexpectedly
bowlas
Round tarts made of sugar, apple, and bread, sold in the streets, especially at the East-end of London.
Bowler Hat
This stiff, felt hat — known in America as a Derby hat — was the invention of a London hatter The Daily News for August 8th, 1868, says: "Mr.
Bowness on the Solway Firth
It was erected about A.D. 122 by the Emperor Hadrian to keep back the Pictish tribes of North Britain, ana was repaired by Severus in 208. The wall was 20 ft. high and 8 ft. thick, with strong points every mile or so, and towers between. To the south of the wall is a parallel vallum or ditch with three ramparts, all of earthworks.
Bowral Boy
The name familiarly given to Sir Donald Bradman, the great Australian cricketer, who first played in the Bowral school team,
bowsing ken
An ale-house or gin-shop.
bowsprit
The nose, from its being the most projecting part of the human face, as the bowsprit is of a ship.
bowyer
One that draws a long bow, a dealer in the marvellous, a teller of improbable stories, a liar: perhaps from the wonderful shots frequently boasted of by archers.
box and cox
two people who share a space or responsibility
box barrage
A curtain of artillery fire laid down round a locality either to contain or exclude the enemy.
box clever
To act cleverly and strategically, often to gain an advantage
Box Days
In the Scottish Court of Session, two days in spring and autumn, and one at Christmas, during vacation, in which pleadings may be filed. This custom was established in 1690, for the purpose of expediting business. Each judge has a private box with a slit, into which informations may be placed on box days, and the judge, who alone has the key, examines the papers in private.
box oneself into a corner
To limit one's options or freedom of action
box seat
A highly desirable or privileged position
box someone's ears
to hit or slap someone's ears as punishment
box the compass
To know or understand something thoroughly
box up
To pack into boxes.
box up
Mixed or muddled up; an Australian expression, originally applied to mixing up sheep. Found in Boldrewood, Robbery Under Arms.
box-harry
A term with bagmen or commercial travellers, implying dinner and tea at one meal; also dining with "Duke Humphrey," i.e., going without—which see.
boxers or briefs
a question about someone's underwear preference
boxiana
Or, Sketches of Modern Pugilism, by Pierce Egan (an account of the prize-ring), 3 vols. 8vo. 1820.
boy
A hump on a man’s back. In low circles it is usual to speak of a humpbacked man as two persons—"him and his BOY," and from this much coarse fun and personality are at times evolved.
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