[beside the point] or [beside the question] {adj.} or {adv.
phr.} Off the subject; about something different. •/What you meant to do is
beside the point; the fact is you didn’t do it./ •/The judge told the
witness that his remarks were beside the point./ Compare: BEAT AROUND THE
BUSH, NEITHER HERE NOR THERE.
[best] See: AS BEST ONE CAN, AT BEST, FOR THE BEST, GET THE BETTER OF or
GET THE BEST OF, HAD BETTER or HAD BEST, HE LAUGHS BEST WHO LAUGHS LAST, MAKE
THE BEST OF, PUT ONE’S BEST FOOT FORWARD, SECOND BEST, TO THE BEST OF ONE’S
KNOWLEDGE, WITH THE BEST or WITH THE BEST OF THEM.
[best bib and tucker] or [Sunday best] or [Sunday go-to-meeting
clothes] {n. phr.}, {informal} Best clothes or outfit of clothing.
•/The cowboy got all dressed up in his best bib and tucker to go to the
dance./ •/Mary went to the party in her Sunday best and made a hit with the
boys./ Compare: GLAD RAGS.
[best man]{n.} The groom’s aid (usually his best friend or a relative)
at a wedding. •/When Agnes and I got married, my brother Gordon was my best
man./
[best seller]{n.} An item (primarily said of books) that outsells
other items of a similar sort. •/Catherine Neville’s novel "The Eight" has
been a national best seller for months./ •/Among imported European cars,
the Volkswagen is a best seller./
[bet] See: YOU BET or YOU BET YOUR BOOTS or YOU BET YOUR LIFE.
[be the making of]{v. phr.} To account for the success of someone or
something. •/The strict discipline that we had to undergo in graduate school
was the making of many a successful professor./ •/The relatively low cost
and high gas mileage are the making of Chevrolet’s Geo Metro cars./
[bet one’s boots] or [bet one’s bottom dollar] or [bet one’s shirt]
{v. phr.}, {informal} 1. To bet all you have. •/This horse will win.
I would bet my bottom dollar on it./ •/Jim said he would bet his boots that
he would pass the examination./ 2. or [bet one’s life]. To feel very
sure; have no doubt. •/Was I scared when I saw the bull running at me? You
bet your life I was!/
[bet on the wrong horse]{v. phr.}, {informal} To base your plans
on a wrong guess about the result of something; misread the future; misjudge a
coming event. •/To count on the small family farm as an important thing in
the American future now looks like betting on the wrong horse./ •/He
expected Bush to be elected President in 1992 but as it happened, he bet on the
wrong horse./
[better] See: ALL BETTER, DISCRETION IS THE BETTER PART OF VALOR, FOR
BETTER OR WORSE, FOR THE BETTER, GET THE BETTER OF, GO --- ONE BETTER, HAD
BETTER, HALF A LOAF IS BETTER THAN NONE or HALF A LOAF IS BETTER THAN NO BREAD,
SEE BETTER DAYS, THINK BETTER OF.
[better half]{n.}, {informal} One’s marriage partner (mostly said
by men about their wives.) •/"This is my better half, Mary," said Joe./
[better late than never] It is better to come or do something late than
never. •/The firemen didn’t arrive at the house until it was half burned, but
it was better late than never./ •/Grandfather is learning to drive a car.
"Better late than never," he says./ Compare: HALF A LOAF IS BETTER THAN NONE.
[better than]{prep. phr.} More than; greater than; at a greater rate
than. •/The car was doing better than eighty miles an hour./ •/It is
better than three miles to the station./
[between] See: BETWIXT AND BETWEEN, COME BETWEEN, PEW AND FAR BETWEEN.
[between a rock and a hard place] See: BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE
SEA.
[between life and death]{adv. phr.} In danger of dying or being
killed; with life or death possible. •/He held on to the mountainside between
life and death while his friends went to get help./ •/The little sick girl
lay all night between life and death until her fever was gone./
[between the devil and the deep blue sea] or {literary} [between two
fires] or [between a rock and a hard place] {adv. phr.} Between two
dangers or difficulties, not knowing what to do. •/The pirates had to fight
and be killed or give up and be hanged; they were between the devil and the
deep blue sea./ •/The boy was between a rock and a hard place; he had to go
home and be whipped or stay in town all night and be picked up by the
police./ •/When the man’s wife and her mother got together, he was between
two fires./ Compare: COMING AND GOING(2), IN A BIND.
[between the eyes] See: HIT BETWEEN THE EYES.
[between the lines] See: READ BETWEEN THE LINES.
[between two fires] See: BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA.
[between two shakes of a lamb’s tail] See: BEFORE ONE CAN SAY JACK
ROBINSON.
[be up to no good]{v. phr.}, {informal} To be plotting and
conniving to commit some illegal act or crime. •/"Let’s hurry!" Susan said to
her husband. "It’s dark here and those hoodlums obviously are up to no
good."/
[be up to something]{v. phr.}, {informal} 1. To feel strong enough
or knowledgeable enough to accomplish a certain task. •/Are you up to
climbing all the way to the 37th floor?/ •/Are we up to meeting the
delegation from Moscow and speaking Russian to them?/ 2. Tendency to do
something mischievous. •/I’m afraid Jack is up to one of his old tricks
again./
[beyond measure]{adj.} or {adv. phr.}, {formal} So much that
it can not be measured or figured without any limits. •/With her parents
reunited and present at her graduation, she had happiness beyond measure./
•/No one envied him for he was popular beyond measure./
[beyond one’s depth]{adj.} or {adv. phr.} 1. Over your head in
water; in water too deep to touch bottom. •/Jack wasn’t a good swimmer and
nearly drowned when he drifted out beyond his depth./ 2. In or into something
too difficult for you; beyond your understanding or ability. •/Bill decided
that his big brother’s geometry book was beyond his depth./ •/Sam’s father
started to explain the atom bomb to Sam but he soon got beyond his depth./
•/When Bill played checkers against the city champion, Bill was beyond his
depth./ Compare: OVER ONE’S HEAD(1).
[beyond one’s means]{adj. phr.} Too expensive, not affordable.
•/Unfortunately, a new Mercedes Benz is beyond my means right now./
[beyond one’s nose] See: SEE BEYOND ONE’S NOSE.
[beyond question(1)]{adj. phr.} Not in doubt certain; sure. — Used in
the predicate. •/People always believe anything that Mark says; his honesty
is beyond question./ Contrast: IN QUESTION.
[beyond question(2)] or [without question] {adv. phr.} Without
doubt or argument; surely; unquestionably. •/Beyond question, it was the
coldest day of the winter./ •/John’s drawing is without question the best
in the class./
[beyond reasonable doubt]{adv. phr.}, {formal and legal} Virtually
certain; essentially convincing. •/The judge instructed the jurors to come up
with a verdict of guilty only if they were convinced beyond a reasonable doubt
that Algernon was the perpetrator./
[beyond the pale]{adv.} or {adj. phr.} In disgrace; with no chance
of being accepted or respected by others; not approved by the members of a
group. •/After the outlaw killed a man he was beyond the pale and not even
his old friends would talk to him./ •/Tom’s swearing is beyond the pale; no
one invites him to dinner any more./