[born out of wedlock]{adj. phr.} Born to parents who are not married to each other; without legal parents. •/Sometimes when a married couple can’t have children, they adopt a child who was born out of wedlock./ •/Today we no longer make fun of children born out of wedlock./

[born with a silver spoon in one’s mouth]{adj. phr.} Born to wealth and comfort; provided from birth with everything wanted; born rich. •/The stranger’s conduct was that of a man who had been born with a silver spoon in his mouth./ Compare: WELL-HEELED.

[born yesterday]{adj. phr.} Inexperienced and easily fooled; not alert to trickery; easily deceived or cheated.?—?Usually used in negative sentences. •/When Bill started the new job, the other workers teased him a little, but he soon proved to everyone that he wasn’t born yesterday./ •/I won’t give you the money till I see the bicycle you want to sell me. Do you think I was born yesterday?/ Compare: NOBODY’S FOOL.

[borrow] See: LIVE ON BORROWED TIME.

[borrow trouble]{v. phr.} To worry for nothing about trouble that may not come; make trouble for yourself needlessly. •/Don’t borrow trouble by worrying about next year. It’s too far away./ •/You are borrowing trouble if you try to tell John what to do./ Compare: ASK FOR, CROSS ONE’S BRIDGES BEFORE ONE COMES TO THEM, CRY BEFORE ONE IS HURT.

[bosom friend]{n. phr.} A very close friend; an old buddy with whom one has a confidential relationship. •/Sue and Jane have been bosom friends since their college days./

[boss] See: STRAW BOSS.

[boss one around]{v. phr.} To keep giving someone orders; to act overbearingly toward someone. •/"If you keep bossing me around, darling," Tom said to Jane, "the days of our relationship are surely numbered."/

[botch up]{v. phr.} To ruin, spoil, or mess something up. •/"I botched up my chemistry exam," Tim said, with a resigned sigh./

[both] See: CUT BOTH WAYS, PLAGUE ON BOTH YOUR HOUSES.

[both --- and]{coord. conj.} Used to emphasize that two or more things are talked about. •/Both Frank and Mary were at the party./ •/Millie is both a good swimmer and a good cook./ •/In the program tonight Mary will both sing and dance./ •/The frog can move quickly both on land and in the water./ Compare: AS WELL AS. Contrast EITHER OR.

[bothered] See: HOT AND BOTHERED.

[bottle blond]{n.}, {slang} A person who is obviously not a natural blond but whose hair is artificially colored. •/I doubt that Leonora’s hair color is natural; she strikes me as a bottle blond./

[bottleneck]{n.} A heavy traffic congestion. •/In Chicago the worst bottleneck is found where the Kennedy and the Eden’s expressways separate on the way to the airport./

[bottle up]{v.} 1. To hide or hold back; control. •/There was no understanding person to talk to, so Fred bottled up his unhappy feeling./ 2. To hold in a place from which there is no escape; trap. •/Our warships bottled up the enemy fleet in the harbor./

[bottom] See: BET ONE’S BOOTS or BET ONE’S BOTTOM DOLLAR, FROM THE BOTTOM OF ONE’S HEART, FROM --- TO ---, GET TO THE BOTTOM OF, HIT BOTTOM or TOUCH BOTTOM, ROCK BOTTOM, SCRAPE THE BOTTOM OF THE BARREL.

[bottom dollar]{n.}, {v. phr.}, {informal} One’s last penny, one’s last dollar. •/He was down to his bottom dollar when he suddenly got the job offer./

[bottom drop out] or [bottom fall out] {v. phr.} {informal} 1. To fall below an earlier lowest price. •/The bottom dropped out of the price of peaches./ 2. To lose all cheerful qualities; become very unhappy, cheerless, or unpleasant. •/The bottom dropped out of the day for John when he saw his report card./ •/The bottom fell out for us when the same ended with our team on the two yard line and six points behind./

[bottom line]{n.}, {informal} (stress on "line") 1. The last word on a controversial issue; a final decision. •/"Give me the bottom line on the proposed merger," said John./ 2. The naked truth without embellishments. •/Look, the bottom line is that poor Max is an alcoholic./ 3. The final dollar amount; for example, the lowest price two parties reach in bargaining about a sale. •/"Five-hundred, " said the used car dealer, "is the bottom line. Take it or leave it."/

[bottom line]{v.}, {informal} (stress on "bottom") To finish; to bring to a conclusion. •/Okay, you guys, let’s bottom line this project and break for coffee./

[bottom out]{v. phr.} To reach the lowest point (said chiefly of economic cycles). •/According to the leading economic indicators the recession will bottom out within the next two months./

[bounce] See: GET THE BOUNCE, GIVE THE BOUNCE.

[bound] See: BIND, BY LEAPS AND BOUNDS, OUT OF BOUNDS, WITHIN BOUNDS.

[bound for]{adj. phr.} On the way to; going to. •/I am bound for the country club./ •/The ship is bound for Liverpool./

[bound up with]{v. phr.} To be connected; be involved with. •/Tuition at our university is bound up with the state budget./

[bow] See: TAKE A BOW.

[bow and scrape]{v.} To be too polite or obedient from fear or hope of gain; act like a slave. •/The old servant bowed and scraped before them, too obedient and eager to please./

[bowl of cherries] See: BED OF ROSES.

[bowl over]{v.}, {informal} 1. To knock down as if with a bowled ball. •/The taxi hit him a glancing blow and bowled him over./ 2. To astonish with success or shock with misfortune; upset; stun. •/He was bowled over by his wife’s sudden death./ •/The young actress bowled over everybody in her first movie./

[bow out]{v.}, {informal} 1. To give up taking part; excuse yourself from doing any more; quit. •/Mr. Black often quarreled with his partners, so finally he bowed out of the company./ •/While the movie was being filmed, the star got sick and had to bow out./ 2. To stop working after a long service; retire. •/He bowed out as train engineer after forty years of railroading./

[box] See: IN A BIND or IN A BOX, PENALTY BOX, PRESS BOX, STUFF THE BALLOT BOX, VOICE BOX.

[box office]{n.}, {informal} 1. The place at movies and theaters where tickets may be purchased just before the performance instead of having ordered them through the telephone or having bought them at a ticket agency. •/No need to reserve the seats; we can pick them up at the box office./ 2. A best selling movie, musical, or drama (where the tickets are all always sold out and people line up in front of the box office). •/John Wayne’s last movie was a regular box office./ 3. Anything successful or well liked. •/Betsie is no longer box office with me./

[boy] See: ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY, FAIR-HAIRED BOY, MAMA’S BOY, OLD BOY, SEPARATE THE MEN FROM THE BOYS.

[boyfriend]{n.}, {informal} 1. A male friend or companion. •/"John and his boyfriends have gone to the ball game," said his mother./ 2. A girl’s steady date, a woman’s favorite man friend; a male lover or sweetheart. •/Jane’s new boyfriend is a senior in high school./ Contrast: GIRL FRIEND.

[boys will be boys] Boys are only children and must sometimes get into mischief or trouble or behave too roughly. •/Boys will be boys and make a lot of noise, so John’s mother told him and his friends to play in the park instead of the back yard./