belles lettres
Polite literature; poetry, and standard literary works which are not scientific or technical: the study or pursuit of such literature. The term — which is French — has given birth to the very ugly words bellettrist and bellettristic.
Browse all entries 4938
All languages English Tiếng Việt
bellows
The lungs. BELLOWSER, a blow in the "wind," or pit of the stomach, taking one’s breath away.
bellowsed
Or LAGGED, transported.
bellowser
Transportation for life: i.e. as long.
bellwether
The chief or leader of a mob; an idea taken from a flock of sheep, where the wether has a bell about his neck.
bellwether of the flock
A jocose and rather deprecatory term applied to the leader of a party. The allusion is to the wether or sheep which leads the flock with a bell fastened to its neck.
bellwether state
A state that accurately predicts national election outcomes
belly
His eye was bigger than his belly; a saying of a person at a table, who takes more on his plate than he can eat.
belly plea
The plea of pregnancy, generally adduced by female felons capitally convicted, which they take care to provide for, previous to their trials; every gaol having, as the Beggar's Opera informs us, one or more child getters, who qualify the ladies for that expedient to procure a respite.
belly up
to fail or go bankrupt
belly up to the bar
to approach or participate in something with enthusiasm
belly-vengeance
Small sour beer, apt to cause gastralgia.
bellyfull
A hearty beating, sufficient to make a man yield or give out. A woman with child is also said to have got her belly full.
belong to somebody
to be the property or possession of someone
belong to something
be a part or member of something
below par
Not meeting the usual standard or expectation
below the belt
Unfair.
below the chair
Said of one who has not yet reached the presidential position, as of an alderman who has not yet served the mayoralty.
below the gangway
In the House of Com- mons, on the farther side of the passage-way between the seats which separate the Ministry from the rest of the Members. To sit "below the gangway" is to sit amongst the general members, and not among the Ministers or ex- Ministers and leaders of the Opposition.
below the mahogany
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
below the salt
of lower social status
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.
Advertisement
Ad space — ads help keep Idiomer free. Premium will remove them.