buy a dog and bark oneself
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
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Where will you be? Anywhere UK & IrelandUnited StatesOnline slangBusiness jargon
buy a ticket to
to participate or get involved in something
buy and hold
Invest for the long term, without frequent buying or selling.
buy and sell
completely believe or trust someone
buy cheap, buy twice
Inexpensive items may need to be replaced, making them more costly overall
Buy cheap, sell dearǃ (Thomas Lodge)
Sell something at a higher price than it was bought for
buy into
to believe or accept an idea or plan
buy it
to believe something
buy once, cry once
Traditional English proverbial phrase; full definition pending editorial review.
buy out
to purchase the entire stock or ownership of a company
buy straw hats in winter
To buy something when it is cheapest, often because it is out of season
buy the big one
To die.
buy the farm
to die or be killed, often in a dramatic or unexpected manner
buy the rights
Purchase the legal rights to something
buy the rumor
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
buy time
Delay or postpone something to gain an advantage
buy to let
Purchase a property to rent out for profit
buy up
To purchase something in large quantities
buz
To share equally the last of a bottle of wine, when there is not enough for a full glass to each of the party.
buz-bloke
A pickpocket who principally confines his attention to purses and loose cash. Grose gives BUZ-GLOAK, an ancient cant word. GLOAK was old cant for a man. BUZ-NAPPER, a young pickpocket.
buz-man
An informer; from BUZ, to whisper, but more generally a thief.
buz-napper’s academy
A school in which young thieves were trained. Figures were dressed up, and experienced tutors stood in various difficult attitudes for the boys to practise upon. When clever enough they were sent on the streets. Dickens gives full particulars of this old style of business in Oliver Twist.
buzz off
go away and leave someone alone
buzzard
A simple fellow. A blind buzzard: a pur-blind man or woman.
buzzer
A pickpocket. Grose gives BUZ-COVE and, as above mentioned, BUZ-GLOAK.
buzzworm
rattlesnake
by a hair's breadth
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
by a landslide
to win by a large margin
by a long chalk
By far.
by a long shot
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
by a long way
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
by all accounts
According to all available information or reports
by an eyelash
by a very small margin
by any means
using every possible method to achieve something
by any stretch of the imagination
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
by cock and pie
We meet with cock's bones, cock's wounds, cock's mother, cock's body, cock's passion, etc., where we can have no doubt that the word is a minced oath, and stands for God. The pie is the table or rule in the old Catholic office, showing how to find out the service for each day (from Med. Lat. pica).
by ear
To sing or play by ear rreans to sing or play without reading the musical notes, depending on the ear only.
by far
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
by feir means
Straightforwardly; without deception or compulsion.
by george
An exclamation similar to BY JOVE. The term is older than is frequently imagined—vide Bacchus and Venus (p. 117), 1737. "’Fore (or by) GEORGE, I’d knock him down." Originally in reference to Saint George, the patron saint of England, or possibly to the House of Hanover.
by golly
An ejaculation, or oath; a compromise for "by God." BY GUM is another oblique oath. In the United States, small boys are permitted by their guardians to say GOL DARN anything, but they are on no account allowed to commit the profanity of G--d d----n anything. A manner of "sailing close to the wind" which is objectionable to the honest mind.
by guess and by golly
by luck and intuition
by guess or by gosh
by chance or intuition
by halves
To do something incompletely or inadequately
by hand
done manually, not by machine
by hand
Without the aid of machinery or an intermediate agent. A letter "sent by hand" is one delivered by a personal messenger, not sent through the post. But a child "brought up by hand" is one reared on the bottle instead of being breast-fed.
by hook or crook
Either rightfully or wrong- fully; somehow; one way or another.
by jingo
An oath or exclamation having no particular meaning, and no positive etymology, though it is believed by some that JINGO is derived from the Basque jenco, the devil.
by long odds
By a great difference; as, "He is the best man by long odds." In horse-racing, odds are the ratio by which the amount staked by one party to a bet exceeds that of the other; hence long odds indicates a big variance in this ratio.
by means of something
Using something as a method or tool
by mistake
Unintentionally or accidentally
by no means
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
by no stretch
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
by no stretch of imagination
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
by no stretch of the imagination
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
by now
at the present time, considering what has happened before
by one and one
Singly, one at a time; en- tirely by oneself. He was one too many for me. He was a little bit too clever, he outwitted me.
by one's lights
According to one's own beliefs or values
by one's own hand
Done by oneself without help
by perseverance the snail reached the arc
English proverb; full definition pending editorial review.
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