Oxford Business English Dictionary for Learners of English

ШЗЭ .beat sb/sth 'down (to sth) to persuade sb to reduce the price at which they are selling sth: I beat down the price to $6 000. .beat 'off sb/sth to force sb/sth away: They have managed to beat off competition from two large energy groups. СШ2 A noun goes after off, but a pronoun comes between the verb and off.

'beauty pa.rade (BrE also 'beauty .contest) noun [C] (informal)

an occasion when several competing companies or people try to persuade sb to use their services: Ireland is to award four telecommunications licences in a beauty parade next year.

_;bed and 'breakfast noun {BrE) (abbr в&в)

[и] a service that provides a room for the night and breakfast the next morning: Do you do bed and breakfast?

[c] a place that provides this service: There are several good bed and breakfasts in the area.

beef - bi:f/ verb ШЗЭ .beef 'up sth (with sth) to make sth bigger, better, more interesting, etc: Staff numbers will be beefed up by 10%. о We need to beef up our customer care. A noun must always follow up, but a pronoun comes between the verb and up.

be'ginning .inventory = opening stock

be,ginning of 'year noun [sing.] (abbr BOY) {Accounting) the start of the financial year: balance at beginning of year: $570 000

behemoth /bi'hi:mD9; 'bi:hiniD9; AmE-mo:9/ noun [c]

a very big and powerful company or organization: a multinaticnal corporate behemoth

'Beige Book noun [sing.] (.Economics) in the US, one of the regular reports on the state of the economy in the regions of the US, published by the central bank: The Beige Book notes that some companies in Atlanta have seen increases in orders.

beleaguered /bi'li:gad;AmE-gard/adjective

experiencing great financial problems: There are signs that the beleaguered manufacturing sector may be recovering.

experiencing a lot of criticism and difficulties: The beleaguered chairman was forced to resign.

the beis /Ъе1/ noun [sing.] {Stock Exchange) the sound used to signal when business starts and ends at a stock exchange: Stocks (= their prices) are expected to drop after the opening bell on Wall Street.

ПЕШ a'Earm/'warning bells used in expressions to mean that people are starting to feel worried and suspicious about sth: The publisher set alarm bells ringing when it warned that its profits had fallen dramatically.

beli curvenoun [c] a line on a graph, shaped like a bell, that shows the normal way that measurements are spread when

there are a large number of cases chosen without any particular method

.bells and 'whistles noun [pi.] (informaf) (used especially about computers, cameras, etc.) extra features that are not really necessary but make a product more attractive to buyers: This digital camera has all the latest bells and whistles.

bellwether /'belwe6a(r)/ noun [C, usually sing.]

sth that helps you to see what will happen in the future: London house prices are seen as a bellwether of consumer confidence, о The company is a bellwether of global industrial trends.

{Stock Exchange) especially in the US, a share, bond, etc. whose changes in price are a good guide to what will happen to the prices of other shares, bonds, etc: Technology bellwether Sony rose 7.2% to 6 420 yen. о a bellwether stock

belly /'beli/ noun [НЛ1 go belly 'up (informaf) if a project or a business goes belly up, it fails: Many Internet startups went belly up because of poor business plans. See note at bankrupt