be left holding the baby
be responsible for a problem or situation
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be like
similar to something or someone
be made of something
composed or constituted of a particular substance
be made up of something
Consist or be composed of something
be meant to do something
Common English phrase; full definition pending editorial review.
be mother
to act as a mother or caregiver
be my guest
Feel free to do something
be no match for
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
be nothing to do with somebody
Common English phrase; full definition pending editorial review.
be on days
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
be on nights
work at night, typically as a regular shift
be on the phone
Common English phrase; full definition pending editorial review.
be on to
discover or realize the truth about something
be one's own man
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
be one's own worst enemy
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
be oneself
Act naturally without pretending to be someone else
be out for
to have a specific goal or intention in mind
be reported to be something
Common English phrase; full definition pending editorial review.
be reported to have something
Common English phrase; full definition pending editorial review.
be said to be something
Common English phrase; full definition pending editorial review.
be said to have something
Common English phrase; full definition pending editorial review.
be someone's to lose
to have a strong advantage or be in a favorable position
be still my heart
be calm and composed
be supposed to be something
Common English phrase; full definition pending editorial review.
be supposed to do something
Common English phrase; full definition pending editorial review.
be surrounded by somebody
To be accompanied or encircled by someone
be taken ill
To suddenly become sick or unwell
be that as it may
Despite what has been said or done
be the bigger man
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
be there
Attend or participate in an event
be to blame
Common English phrase; full definition pending editorial review.
be to blame for something
Common English phrase; full definition pending editorial review.
be to do with somebody
Common English phrase; full definition pending editorial review.
be yourself
Traditional English proverbial phrase; full definition pending editorial review.
be-all and end-all
The most important thing
be-argered
Drunk. (The word is divided here simply to convey the pronunciation.)
be-blowed
A derisive instruction never carried into effect, as, "You BE-BLOWED." Used similarly to the old "Go to." See BLOW ME.
Beach City
Berbera.
beach-comber
A fellow who prowls about the sea-shore to plunder wrecks, and pick up waifs and strays of any kind.—Sea.
beadies
eyes
beak
A justice of-peace, or magistrate. Also a judge or chairman who presides in court. I clapp'd my peepers full of tears, and so the old beak set me free; I began to weep, and the judge set me free.
beak
Originally a magistrate, judge, or policeman; now a magistrate only; "to baffle the BEAK," to get remanded. Ancient Cant, BECK. Saxon, BEAG, a necklace or gold collar—emblem of authority. Sir John Fielding was called the BLIND-BEAK in the last century. Maybe connected with the Italian BECCO, which means a (bird’s) beak, and also a blockhead.—See WALKER.
beak off
To complain.
beaker-hunter
Or BEAK-HUNTER, a stealer of poultry.
beams and balance
A fixed-order word pair (irreversible binomial); full definition pending editorial review.
bean
A guinea. Half bean; half a guinea.
bean counter
A person who carefully monitors and controls expenses
bean flicker
A lesbian.
bean-tosser
The penis.
beanbag
A testicle.
beans
Money; "a haddock of BEANS," a purse of money; formerly, BEAN meant a guinea; French, BIENS, property.
beans are in flower
A catch-phrase said to one by way of accounting for his being so silly. Our forefathers imagined that the per- fume of the flowering bean made men silly or light-headed.
beanwater
Coffee.
bear
One who contracts to deliver a certain quantity of sum of stock in the public funds, on a future day, and at stated price; or, in other words, sells what he has not got, like the huntsman in the fable, who sold the bear's skin before the bear was killed. As the bear sells the stock he is not possessed of, so the bull purchases what he has not money to pay for; but in case of any alteration in the price agreed on, either party pays or receives the difference. Exchange Alley.
bear
One who contracts to deliver or sell a certain quantity of stock in the public funds on a forthcoming day at a stated place, but who does not possess it, trusting to a decline in public securities to enable him to fulfil the agreement and realize a profit.—See BULL. Both words are slang terms on the Stock Exchange, and are frequently used in the business columns of newspapers.
bear a bob
Be brisk. The allusion is to bobbing for apples, which requires great agility and quickness.
bear a hand
help someone with a task
bear away the bell
To win a competition or prize
bear garden
This place is a perfect bear garden — that is, full of confusion, noise, tumult, and quarrels. In Elizabethan and Stuart times the gardens where bears were kept and baited for public amusement were famous for all sorts of riotous disorder.
bear in mind
Remember and consider something when making a decision
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