Oxford Business English Dictionary for Learners of English

you think sth is likely to happen: Investors have been betting that an economic recovery will come in the second half of the year, о Management is betting the company's future on the new technology. gamble

beta /'bi:ta; AmE 'beita / noun [C, usually sing.]

(IT', Marketing) (often used as an adjective) a new product, especially computer software, that is in the second or final stage of testing, in which a few customers try it before the public buy or use it: The beta users said they liked the product, but not enough to pay a high price for it. о a beta version of the software

a beta copy/site/version

(Stock Exchange) (often used as an adjective) = beta coefficient

(IT, informal) = beta test

'beta coefficient (also 'beta) noun [c] (Stock Exchange) a measurement of how much the price of a share has changed in a particular period of time, compared with the average change in the price of all shares in the market. A share with a high beta coefficient is likely to rise or fall more than the average: A fund with a beta coefficient of 1.0 will move exactly like the market.

'beta test noun, verb (IT; Marketing)

noun [c] (also 'beta, informal)

the second or final test of a product, especially a new piece of computer software, by a few customers before the final version is sold to or used by the public: Beta tests are scheduled to start in October.

verb [+ obj]

beta-test to test a product for the second or final time by giving it to a few customers to try before the final version is sold to or used by the public: The software was created and beta-tested in 2004. ► 'beta .testing (also 'beta, informal) noun [u]

alpha test

,better-than-ex'pected adjective [usually before noun]

better-than-expected sales, profits, results etc. are higher than had been predicted previously: The company reported better-than-expected sales in the first quarter. lower-than-expected

beverage /'bevarid3/ noun [C] (formal) any drink that is produced and sold to people: laws governing the sale of alcoholic beverages о Femsa is Latin America's largest beverage company.

b/f (also spelled b/fwd) = brought forward

BFOQ /'bi: ef эи 'kju:; AmE ou/ = bona fide occupational qualification

bi- /bai/ combining form (in nouns and adjectives) two; twice; double: bilingual о bimonthly СЕШ Bi- with a period of time can mean either 'happening twice' in that period of time, or 'happening once in every two' periods.

biannual /bai'aenjual/ adjective [only before noun] happening twice a year: a biannual meeting ЕЕШ Twice-yearly can be used with the same meaning: a twice-yearly meeting. ► bi'annually adverb annual, biennial

bias /'baias/ noun, verb

noun [и; C, usually sing.] (plural biases)

see also: gender bias

if sb/sth has a bias towards sth, they usually choose that course of action rather than another because they believe it is better: The Bank of England currently has a bias towards lower interest rates, о We're looking for people with a bias for action.

О to have/show a bias

(Finance) the way that prices tend to either increase or decrease: The market bias is positive (= prices are rising).

a negative/positive bias ♦ a downward/an upward bias ♦ an easing/a neutral bias

(Marketing) mistakes in the results of market research tests or interviews, caused by problems with the number or type of people questioned, the type of questions asked, the attitude of the person doing the research, etc: Avoid bias in your research by random sampling.

verb [+ obj] (biasing, biased or biassing, biassed)

bias sb/sth (towards/against/in favour of sb/sth) to influence sb's opinions or decisions in an unfair way: The newspaper reports have biassed people against the company.

(Marketing) to produce market research results that are not accurate: The size of the sample may bias the results.

bid /bid/ noun, verb

noun [C]

see also: agreed bid, closed conditional takeover counter--, open paper sealed

etc.

I 47 Big Bang