{v. phr.} To be immobilized in mud, snow, etc.; slow down.
•/Our research got bogged down for a lack of appropriate funding./
•/Don’t get bogged down in too much detail when you write an action story./
[bog down, to get bogged down]
{v. phr.}, {mostly intransitive or
passive} 1. To stop progressing; to slow to a halt. •/Work on the new
building bogged down, because the contractor didn’t deliver the needed concrete
blocks./ 2. To become entangled with a variety of obstacles making your
efforts unproductive or unsatisfying. •/The novelist wrote tittle last summer
because she got bogged down in housework./
[boggle the mind]
{v. phr.}, {informal} To stop the rational
thinking process by virtue of being too fantastic or incredible. •/It boggles
the mind that John should have been inside a flying saucer!/
[boil]
See: MAKE ONE’S BLOOD BOIL or MAKE THE BLOOD BOIL.
[boil down]
{v.} 1. To boil away some of the water from; make less by
boiling. •/She boiled down the maple sap to a thick syrup./ •/The fruit
juice boiled down until it was almost not good for jelly./ 2. To reduce the
length of; cut down; shorten. •/The reporter boiled the story down to half
the original length./ 3. To reduce itself to; come down to; be briefly or
basically. •/The whole discussion boils down to the question of whether the
government should fix prices./
[boil over]
{v. phr.} 1. To rise due to boiling and overflow down the
sides of a pan or a pot. •/"Watch out!" Jane cried. "The milk is boiling over
on the stove!"/ 2. To become enraged to the point of being unable to contain
oneself. •/John took a lot of abuse from his boss, but after 25 minutes he
suddenly boiled over and told him what he thought of him./
[boiling point]
{n.} 1. The temperature at which a liquid boils.
•/The boiling point of water is 272° Fahrenheit./ 2. The
time when you become very angry. •/He has a low boiling point./ •/After
being teased for a long time, John reached the boiling point./ •/When John
made the same mistake for the fourth time, his teacher reached the boiling
point.__/ Compare: BLOW UP(1b), MAKE ONE’S BLOOD BOIL.
[bolt from the blue]
{n. phr.} Something sudden and unexpected; an
event that you did not see coming; a great and usually unpleasant surprise;
shock. •/We had been sure she was in Chicago, so her sudden appearance was a
bolt from the blue./ •/His decision to resign was a bolt from the blue./
Compare: OUT OF THE BLUE.
[bombshell]
See: EXPLODE A BOMBSHELL.
[bond]
See: SAVINGS BOND.
[bone]
See: BRED IN THE BONE, FEEL IN ONE’S BONES or KNOW IN ONE’S BONES,
FUNNY BONE, MAKE NO BONES, SKIN AND BONES, T-BONE STEAK, WORK ONE’S FINGERS TO
THE BONE.
[bonehead]
{n.}, {slang} An unusually dense or stupid person.
•/John is such a bonehead — small wonder he flunks all of his courses./
[bone of contention]
{n. phr.} Something to fight over; a reason for
quarrels; the subject of a fight. •/The boundary line between the farms was a
bone of contention between the two farmers./ •/The use of the car was a
bone of contention between Joe and his wife./