vehicle for travelling across water
body bodies
NOUN 1 Your body is all of you, from your head to your feet.
2 You can say body when you mean just the main part of a human or other animal, not counting head, arms and legs.
bodyguard bodyguards
NOUN a person employed to protect someone
bog bogs
NOUN an area of wet, spongy ground
boil boils, boiling, boiled
VERB 1 When a hot liquid boils, or when you boil it, it starts to bubble and to give off steam.
2 When you boil food, you cook it in boiling water.
boiler boilers
NOUN a piece of equipment that burns fuel to provide hot water
boisterous
ADJECTIVE Someone who is boisterous is noisy and lively.
SYNONYMS: loud, rowdy
boisterously ADVERB
bold bolder, boldest
ADJECTIVE 1 brave or confident • He was bold enough to ask for her autograph.
2 clear and noticeable • The sign was painted in bold colours.
[from Old Norse ballr meaning dangerous or terrible]
bollard bollards
NOUN a short, thick post used to stop vehicles from entering a road
bolt bolts, bolting, bolted
NOUN 1 a metal object that screws into a nut and is used to fasten things together
VERB 2 If you bolt one thing to another, you fasten them together using a bolt. • They bolted the chair to the floor.
3 If you bolt a door or window, you slide a metal bar across in order to fasten it.
bomb bombs, bombing, bombed
NOUN 1 a container filled with material that explodes when it hits something or when it is set off by a timer
VERB 2 If you bomb something, you attack it with a bomb.
[from Greek bombos meaning a booming sound]
bond bonds
NOUN a close relationship between people • the bond between mothers and babies
bone bones
NOUN the hard parts that form the framework of a person’s or animal’s body
bonfire bonfires
NOUN a large fire made outdoors, to burn rubbish or to celebrate something
[from bone + fire – bones were used as fuel in the Middle Ages]
bonnet bonnets
NOUN 1 the metal cover over a car’s engine
2 a baby’s or woman’s hat tied under the chin
bonus bonuses
NOUN 1 an amount of money added to a person’s usual pay
2 a good thing that you get in addition to something else
bony bonier, boniest
ADJECTIVE Bony people or animals are very thin, with not much flesh covering their bones.
book books, booking, booked
NOUN 1 a number of pages held together inside a cover
VERB 2 When you book something, you arrange to have it or use it at a particular time. • Mum booked two rooms at the hotel.
bookcase bookcases
NOUN a piece of furniture where you keep books
booklet booklets
NOUN a small book with a paper cover
boom booms, booming, boomed
NOUN 1 a deep, echoing sound
2 a fast increase in something • There has been a boom in the sale of sun cream this summer.
VERB 3 If something booms, it makes a loud booming sound. • We heard the foghorn boom in the distance.
boomerang boomerangs
NOUN a curved, wooden missile that can be thrown so that it returns to the thrower. Boomerangs were traditionally used as weapons by Australian Aborigines.
boost boosts, boosting, boosted
VERB If someone boosts something, they improve or increase it. • The teacher boosted Juliet’s confidence when she praised her story.
boot boots
NOUN 1 strong shoes that come up over your ankle, and sometimes your calf
2 the covered space in a car, usually at the back, for carrying things in
booth booths
NOUN 1 a small, partly-enclosed area • a telephone booth
2 a stall where you can buy things, for example at a market or a fair
border borders
NOUN 1 the dividing line between two countries
2 a strip or band round the edge of something
3 flower beds round the edges of a garden
borderline borderlines
NOUN If someone or something is on the borderline, they are on the division between two different categories.
bore bores, boring, bored
VERB 1 If something bores you, you find it dull and uninteresting.
2 If you bore a hole in something, you make it using a tool such as a drill.
3 the past tense of bear
NOUN 4 someone or something that bores you
bored
ADJECTIVE If you are bored, you are miserable because you have nothing interesting to do.
boring
ADJECTIVE dull and uninteresting
ANTONYM: interesting
born
VERB When an animal such as a human baby is born, it comes out of its mother’s body and starts to live.
borrow borrows, borrowing, borrowed
VERB If you borrow something that belongs to someone else, they let you have it for a period of time. • I borrowed a book from my friend.
boss bosses, bossing, bossed
NOUN 1 Someone’s boss is the person in charge of the place where they work.
VERB 2 If someone bosses you, they keep telling you what to do.
bossy bossier, bossiest
ADJECTIVE If you are bossy, you like to order other people around.
botany
NOUN the study and classification of plants
both
ADJECTIVE OR PRONOUN Both is used when saying something about two things or two people. • You can both come to my party.
bother bothers, bothering, bothered
VERB