[bum around]{v. phr.}, {slang} To aimlessly wander in no definite direction, like a vagabond. •/Jim had been bumming around in the desert for three days and nights before he was able to remember how he got there in the first place./

[bump] See: GOOSE BUMPS.

[bump into]{v.}, {informal} To meet without expecting to; happen to meet; come upon by accident. •/Mary was walking down the street, when she suddenly bumped into Joan./ •/Ed was surprised to bump into John at the football game./ Syn.: RUN INTO.

[bump off]{v.}, {slang} To kill in a violent way; murder in gangster fashion. •/Hoodlums in a speeding car bumped him off with Tommy guns./

[bum’s rush]{n. phr.}, {slang} Throwing or pushing someone out from where he is not wanted. •/When John tried to go to the party where he was not invited, Bill and Fred gave him the bum’s rush./ •/Tom became too noisy, and he got the bum’s rush./ 2. To hurry or rush (someone). •/The salesman tried to give me the bum’s rush./

[bum steer]{n.} Wrong or misleading directions given naively or on purpose. •/Man, you sure gave me a bum steer when you told me to go north on the highway; you should have sent me south!/

[bundle of laughs]{n. phr.} A very amusing person, thing, or event. •/Uncle Lester tells so many jokes that he is a bundle of laughs./

[bundle up] See: WRAP UP(1).

[burn] See: EARS BURN, KEEP THE HOME FIRES BURNING, MONEY TO BURN.

[burn a hole in one’s pocket]{v. phr.} To make you want to buy something; be likely to be quickly spent. •/Money burns a hole in Linda’s pocket./ •/The silver dollar that Don got for his birthday was burning a hole in his pocket, and Don hurried to a dime store./

[burn down]{v. phr.} To burn to the ground; be totally gutted by fire. •/The old frame house burned down before the firefighters could get to it./

[burn in effigy] See: HANG IN EFFIGY.

[burn one’s bridges] also [burn one’s boats] {v. phr.} To make a decision that you cannot change; remove or destroy all the ways you can get back out of a place you have got into on purpose; leave yourself no way to escape a position. •/Bob was a good wrestler but a poor boxer. He burned his boats by letting Mickey choose how they would fight./ •/When Dorothy became a nun, she burned her bridges behind her./

[burn one’s fingers]{v. phr.}, {informal} To get in trouble doing something and fear to do it again; learn caution through an unpleasant experience. •/He had burned his fingers in the stock market once, and didn’t want to try again./ •/Some people can’t be told; they have to burn their fingers to learn./

[burn out]{v. phr.} 1. To destroy by fire or by overheating. •/Mr. Jones burned out the clutch on his car./ 2. To destroy someone’s house or business by fire so that they have to move out. •/Three racists burned out the Black family’s home./ 3a. To go out of order; cease to function because of long use or overheating. •/The light bulb in the bathroom burned out, and Father put in a new one./ •/The electric motor was too powerful, and it burned out a fuse./ 3b. To break, tire, or wear out by using up all the power, energy, or strength of. •/Bill burned himself out in the first part of the race and could not finish./ •/The farmer burned out his field by planting the same crop every year for many years./

[burn-out]{n.} A point of physical or emotional exhaustion. •/There are so many refugees all over the world that charitable organizations as well as individuals are suffering from donor burn-out./

[burn rubber]{v. phr.}, {slang} 1. To start up a car or a motorcycle from dead stop so fast that the tires leave a mark on the road. •/The neighborhood drag racers burned a lot of rubber — look at the marks on the road!/ 2. To leave in a hurry. •/I guess I am going to have to burn rubber./

[burnt child dreads the fire] or [once bitten, twice shy] A person who has suffered from doing something has learned to avoid doing it again. — A proverb. •/Once Mary had got lost when her mother took her downtown. But a burnt child dreads the fire, so now Mary stays close to her mother when they are downtown./

[burn the candle at both ends]{v. phr.} To work or play too hard without enough rest; get too tired. •/He worked hard every day as a lawyer and went to parties and dances every night; he was burning the candle at both ends./

[burn the midnight oil]{v. phr.} To study late at night. •/Exam time was near, and more and more pupils were burning the midnight oil./

[bum to a crisp]{v. phr.} To burn black; burn past saving or using especially as food. •/While getting breakfast, Mother was called to the telephone, and when she got back, the bacon had been burned to a crisp./

[burn up]{v.} 1. To burn completely; destroy or be destroyed by fire. •/Mr. Scott was burning up old letters./ •/The house burned up before the firemen got there./ 2. {informal} To irritate, anger, annoy. •/The boy’s laziness and rudeness burned up his teacher./ •/The breakdown of his new car burned Mr. Jones up./

[burn up the road]{v. phr.}, {informal} To drive a car very fast. •/In his eagerness to see his girl again, he burned up the road on his way to see her./ •/Speed demons burning up the road often cause accidents./

[burst at the seams]{v. phr.}, {informal} To be too full or too crowded. •/John ate so much he was bursting at the seams./ •/Mary’s album was so full of pictures it was bursting at the seams./

[burst into]{v. phr.} 1. To enter suddenly. •/Stuart burst into the room, screaming angrily./ 2. To break out. •/The crowd burst out cheering when the astronauts paraded along Fifth Avenue./

[burst into flames]{v. phr.} To begin to burn suddenly. •/The children threw away some burning matches and the barn burst into flames./

[burst into tears]{v. phr.} To suddenly start crying. •/Mary burst into tears when she heard that her brother was killed in a car accident./

[burst with joy] or [pride] {v. phr.} To be so full of the feeling of joy or pride that one cannot refrain from showing one’s exuberant feelings. •/Armstrong and Aldrin burst with pride when they stepped out on the moon in July, 1969./

[bury one’s head in the sand] See: HIDE ONE’S HEAD IN THE SAND.

[bury the hatchet]{v. phr.}, {informal} To settle a quarrel or end a war; make peace. •/The two men had been enemies a long time, but after the flood they buried the hatchet./ Compare: MAKE UP(5).

[bus] See: MISS THE BOAT or MISS THE BUS.

[bush] See: BEAT ABOUT THE BUSH, BIRD IN THE HAND IS WORTH TWO IN THE BUSH.

[bushel] See: HIDE ONE’S LIGHT UNDER A BUSHEL.

[bushes] See: BEAT THE BUSHES.

[business] See: DO THE BUSINESS, HAVE NO BUSINESS, LAND-OFFICE BUSINESS, MEAN BUSINESS, MONKEY BUSINESS, THE BUSINESS.

[bust up]{v. phr.}, {slang} To terminate a partnership, a relationship, a friendship, or a marriage. •/If Jack keeps drinking the way he does, it will bust up his marriage to Sue./

[busy work]{n.} Work that is done not to do or finish anything important, but just to keep busy. •/When the teacher finished all she had to say it was still a half hour before school was over. So she gave the class a test for busy work./