breathe out
To exhale.
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Breche de Roland
A deep defile in the crest of the Pyrenees, some three hundred feet in width, between two precipitous rocks. The legend is that Roland, the paladin, cleft the rock in two with his sword Durandal, when he was set upon by the Gascons at Roncesvalles.
bred in the bone
A part of one's nature. "What's bred m the bone will come out in the flesh." A natural propensity cannot be repressed.
breeched
Money in the pocket: the swell is well breeched, let's draw him; the gentleman has plenty of money in his pocket, let us rob him.
breeched
Or TO HAVE THE BAGS OFF, to have plenty of money; "to be well BREECHED," to be in good circumstances. Also among schoolboys to be well flogged.
breeches
To wear the breeches; a woman who governs her husband is said to wear the breeches.
breeches
"to wear the BREECHES," said of a wife who usurps the husband’s prerogative. Equivalent to the remark that "the grey mare is the better horse."
breeches bible
An edition of the Bible printed in 1598, wherein it is said that Adam and Eve sewed figleaves together, and made themselves breeches.
breeches buoy
A pair of short canvas breeches forming a cradle in which, by means of a pulley and rope, people can be con- veyed from ship to ship or ship to shore.
breeching
A flogging. Term in use among boys at several private schools.
breed in the bone
A habit or trait is deeply ingrained
breef
Probably identical with BRIEF, a shortened card used for cheating purposes; thus described in an old book of games of about 1720—
breeks
Breeches.—Scotch, now common.
breeze
To raise a breeze; to kick up a dust or breed a disturbance.
Brehon Laws
This is the English name for an ancient legal system which pre- vailed in Ireland from about the 7th century. They cover every phase of Irish life and furnish an interesting picture of the country in those early days.
brekker
Breakfast.
Brevet Rank
Titular rank without the pay that usually goes with it. A brevet major had the title of major, but the pay of captain, or whatever his substantive rank happened to be. (Fr. brevet, dim. of bref, a letter, a document.
Brevity is the soul of wit (William Shakespeare)
Being concise is a key element of cleverness
brew up
To make (a liquid, especially tea, coffee, or beer) by brewing.
brewsky
A beer.
Briar-root Pipe
A tobacco-pipe made from the root-wood of the large heath (bruyere), which grows in the south of France. Bribery and Corruption is a phrase often used rather loosely in English. In English law a bribe is a gift or other material inducement held out to a person to betray a trust or duty. Bribing at an election is a very serious offence, of which briber and bribed are held to be equally guilty.
brick
A "jolly good fellow;" "a regular BRICK," a staunch fellow. About the highest compliment that in one word can be paid one man. Said to be derived from an expression of Aristotle’s—τετραγωνος ἀνηρ.
brick and mortar
Physical stores or buildings, as opposed to online
brick in
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
brick in one's hat
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
brick tea
The inferior leaves of the plant mixed with a glutinous substance (sometimes bullock's or sheep's blood), pressed into cubes, and dried. These blocks were frequently used as a medium of exchange in Central Asia.
bride and groom
a newly married couple
bride cake
A relic of the Roman confar- reatio, a mode of marriage practised by the highest class in Rome.
Bride of the Sea
Venice ; so called from the ancient ceremony of the wedding of the sea by the Doge, who threw a ring into the Adriatic, saying, "We wed thee, O sea, in token of perpetual domination.
bridegroom's men
In the Roman marriage by confarreatio, the bride was led to the Pontifex Maximus by bachelors, but was conducted home by married men. Polydore Virgil says that a married man preceded the bride on her return, bearing a vessel of gold and silver. See BRIDE CAKE.
bridge
To make a bridge of any one's nose; to push the bottle past him, so as to deprive him of his turn of filling his glass; to pass one over. Also to play booty, or purposely to avoid winning.
bridge
A cheating trick at cards, by which any particular card is cut by previously curving it by the pressure of the hand. Used in France as well as in England, and termed in the Parisian Argot FAIRE LE PONT.
Bridge of Gold
According to a German tradition, Charlemagne's spirit crosses the Rhine on a golden bridge at Bingen, in seasons of plenty, to bless the vineyards and corn- fields.
Bridge of Sighs
Over this bridge, which connects the palace of the doge with the state
bridge over troubled waters
To help someone during a difficult time
bridge the gap
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
Bridgewater Treatises
Instituted by vhe Rev. Francis Henry Egerton, Earl of Bridgewater, in 1829. He left the interest of £8,000 to be given to the author of the best treatise on "The power, wisdom, and goodness of God, as manifested in the Creation.
bridle road
A way for r. riding- horse, but not for a horse and cart.
brief
A pawnbroker’s duplicate; a raffle card, or a ticket of any kind.
bright and early
Very early in the morning
bright lights
An exciting and attractive place
bright line
A clear and absolute distinction or boundary
bright side
The positive aspect of a situation
bright spark
A clever or ingenious person
bright young thing
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
bright-line rule
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
brim
(Abbreviation of Brimstone.) An abandoned woman; perhaps originally only a passionate or irascible woman, compared to brimstone for its inflammability.
brim
A violent irascible woman, as inflammable and unpleasant as brimstone, from which the word is contracted.
briney
The sea. A "dip in the BRINEY" once a year is a great attraction to Cockney excursionists. A story is told of one excursionist saying to another, as they stripped in a double machine, "Why, ’Arry, what dirty feet you’ve got!" "’Ave I; well yer see I wasn’t down last year."
bring a knife to a gunfight
to be poorly prepared for a situation
bring a lump to someone's throat
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
bring about
Cause something to happen or exist
bring back to life
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
bring down
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see bring, down.
bring down the curtain
To end or conclude something
bring down the hammer
To take severe or decisive action
bring down the house
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
bring forward
To move a scheduled event to an earlier time
bring home
to make something clear or relevant
bring it weak
to perform poorly or without enthusiasm
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