[be itching to]{v. phr.} To have a very strong desire to do something. •/Jack is itching to travel abroad./

[be it so] See: SO BE IT.

[belabor the point]{v. phr.} To overexplain something to the point of obviousness, resulting in ridicule. •/"Lest I belabor the point," the teacher said, "I must repeat the importance of teaching good grammar in class."/

[belfry] See: BATS IN ONE’S BELFRY or BATS IN THE BELFRY.

[believe] See: MAKE BELIEVE, SEEING IS BELIEVING.

[believe one’s ears]{v. phr.} 1. To believe what one hears; trust one’s hearing. — Used with a negative or limiter, or in an interrogative or conditional sentence. •/He thought he heard a horn blowing in the distance, but he could not believe his ears./ 2. To be made sure of (something). •/Is he really coming? I can hardly believe my ears./

[believe one’s eyes]{v. phr.} 1. To believe what one sees; trust one’s eyesight. — Used with a negative or limiter or in an interrogative or conditional sentence. •/Is that a plane? Can I believe my eyes?/ 2. To be made sure of seeing something. •/She saw him there but she could hardly believe her eyes./

[bell] See: RING A BELL, WITH BELLS ON.

[bellyache]{v.} To constantly complain. •/Jim is always bellyaching about the amount of work he is required to do./

[belly up]{adj.}, {informal} Dead, bankrupt, or financially ruined. •/Tom and Dick struggled on for months with their tiny computer shop, but last year they went belly up./

[belly up]{v.}, {informal} To go bankrupt, become afunctional; to die. •/Uncompetitive small businesses must eventually all belly up./

[below par]{adj.} or {adv.} Below standard. •/Bob was fired because his work has been below par for several months now./ Contrast: UP TO PAR or UP TO SNUFF.

[below the belt]{adv. phr.} 1. In the stomach; lower than is legal in boxing. •/He struck the other boy below the belt./ 2. {informal} In an unfair or cowardly way; against the rules of sportsmanship or justice; unsportingly; wrongly. •/It was hitting below the belt for Mr. Jones’s rival to tell people about a crime that Mr. Jones committed when he was a young boy./ •/Pete told the students to vote against Harry because Harry was in a wheelchair and couldn’t be a good class president, but the students thought Pete was hitting below the belt./

[belt] See: BELOW THE BELT, SEAT BELT, TIGHTEN ONE’S BELT, UNDER ONE’S BELT.

[belt out]{v.}, {slang} To sing with rough rhythm and strength; shout out. •/She belted out ballads and hillbilly songs one after another all evening./ •/Young people enjoy belting out songs./

[be my guest]{v. phr.} Feel free to use what I have; help yourself. •/When Suzie asked if she could borrow John’s bicycle, John said, "Be my guest."/

[beneath one]{adj. phr.} Below one’s ideals or dignity. •/Bob felt it would have been beneath him to work for such low wages./

[bench] See: ON THE BENCH, WARM THE BENCH.

[bench warmer] See: WARM THE BENCH.

[bend over backward] or [lean over backward] {v. phr.}, {informal} To try so hard to avoid a mistake that you make the opposite mistake instead; do the opposite of something that you know you should not do; do too much to avoid doing the wrong thing; also, make a great effort; try very hard. •/Instead of punishing the boys for breaking a new rule, the principal bent over backward to explain why the rule was important./ •/Mary was afraid the girls at her new school would be stuck up, but they leaned over backward to make her feel at home./ Compare: GO OUT OF ONE’S WAY.

[benefit] See: GIVE THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT.

[bent on] or [bent upon] Very decided, determined, or set. •/The sailors were bent on having a good time./ •/The policeman saw some boys near the school after dark and thought they were bent on mischief./ •/The bus was late, and the driver was bent upon reaching the school on time./

[be nuts about]{v. phr.} To be enthusiastic or very keen about someone or something; be greatly infatuated with someone. •/Hermione is nuts about modern music./ •/"I am nuts about you, Helen," Jim said. "Please let’s get married!"/

[be off]{v. phr.} 1. {v.} To be in error; miscalculate. •/The estimator was off by at least 35% on the value of the house./ 2. {v.} To leave. •/Jack ate his supper in a hurry and was off without saying goodbye./ 3. {adj.} Cancelled; terminated. •/The weather was so bad that we were told that the trip was off./ 4. {adj.} Crazy. •/I’m sure Aunt Mathilda is a bit off; no one in her right mind would say such things./ 5. {adj.} Free from work; having vacation time. •/Although we were off for the rest of the day, we couldn’t go to the beach because it started to rain./

[be on]{v. phr.} 1. To be in operation; be in the process of being presented. •/The news is on now on Channel 2; it will be off in five minutes./ 2. To be in the process of happening; to take place. •/We cannot travel now to certain parts of Africa, as there is a civil war on there right now./

[be one’s age] See: ACT ONE’S AGE.

[be oneself]{v.} To act naturally; act normally without trying unduly to impress others. •/Just try being yourself; I promise people will like you more./

[be on the outs with]{v. phr.} To not be on speaking terms with someone; be in disagreement with someone. •/Jane and Tom have been on the outs with one another since Tom started to date another woman./

[be on the rocks] See: ON THE ROCKS, GO ON THE ROCKS.

[be on the verge of]{v. phr.} To be about to do something; be very close to. •/We were on the verge of going bankrupt when, unexpectedly, my wife won the lottery and our business was saved./

[be on the wagon] See: ON THE WAGON, FALL OFF THE WAGON.

[be on to]{v. phr.} To understand the motives of someone; not be deceived. •/Jack keeps telling us how wealthy his family is, but we are on to him./

[be over]{v. phr.} To be ended; be finished. •/The show was over by 11 P.M./ •/The war will soon be over./

[be out]{v. phr.} 1. To not be at home or at one’s place of work. •/I tried to call but they told me that Al was out./ 2. To be unacceptable; not be considered; impossible. •/I suggested that we hire more salespeople but the boss replied that such a move was positively out./ 3. To be poorer by; suffer a loss of. •/Unless more people came to the church picnic, we realized we would be out $500 at least./ 4. To be in circulation, in print, published. •/Jane said that her new novel won’t be out for at least another month./ 5. A baseball term indicating that a player has been declared either unfit to continue or punished by withdrawing him. •/The spectators thought that John was safe at third base, but the umpire said he was out./

[be out to]{v. phr.} To intend to do; to plan to commit. •/The police felt that the gang may be out to rob another store./

[berth] See: GIVE A WIDE BERTH.

[be set on] or [upon] {v. phr.} To be determined about something. •/Tow is set upon leaving his Chicago job for Tokyo, Japan, although he speaks only English./

[beside oneself]{adj. phr.} Very much excited; somewhat crazy. •/She was beside herself with fear./ •/He was beside himself, he was so angry./ •/When his wife heard of his death, she was beside herself./