badg|er /bæ dʒə r / (badgers , badgering , badgered )
1 N‑COUNT A badger is a wild animal which has a white head with two wide black stripes on it. Badgers live underground and usually come up to feed at night.
2 VERB If you badger someone, you repeatedly tell them to do something or repeatedly ask them questions. □ [V n] She badgered her doctor time and again, pleading with him to do something. □ [V n to-inf] They kept phoning and writing, badgering me to go back. □ [V n + into ] I had foolishly allowed myself to be badgered into volunteering .
ba d guy (bad guys ) N‑COUNT [usu pl] A bad guy is a person in a story or film who is considered to be evil or wicked, or who is fighting on the wrong side. You can also refer to the bad guys in a situation in real life. [INFORMAL ] □ In the end the 'bad guys' are caught and sent to jail.
ba d hai r day (bad hair days ) N‑COUNT [usu sing] People sometimes say they are having a bad hair day when they do not feel very happy or relaxed, especially because their hair does not look good. [INFORMAL ] □ All this fuss is because Carol is having a bad hair day.
badi|nage /bæ d I nɑːʒ, -nɑː ʒ/ N‑UNCOUNT Badinage is humorous or light-hearted conversation that often involves teasing someone. [LITERARY ] □ …light-hearted badinage.
bad|ly ◆◇◇ /bæ dli/ (worse , worst )
1 ADV [ADV with v] If something is done badly or goes badly , it is not very successful or effective. □ I was angry because I played so badly. □ The whole project was badly managed. □ The coalition did worse than expected, getting just 11.6 per cent of the vote.
2 ADV [ADV with v, ADV adj] If someone or something is badly hurt or badly affected, they are severely hurt or affected. □ The bomb destroyed a police station and badly damaged a church. □ One man was killed and another badly injured. □ It was a gamble that went badly wrong.
3 ADV [ADV with v] If you want or need something badly , you want or need it very much. □ Why do you want to go so badly? □ Planes landed at Bagram airport today carrying badly needed food and medicine.
4 ADV [ADV with v] If someone behaves badly or treats other people badly , they act in an unkind, unpleasant, or unacceptable way. □ They have both behaved very badly and I am very hurt. □ I would like to know why we pensioners are being so badly treated.
5 ADV [ADV after v] If something reflects badly on someone or makes others think badly of them, it harms their reputation. □ Teachers know that low exam results will reflect badly on them. □ Despite his illegal act, few people think badly of him.
6 ADV [usu ADV -ed, oft ADV after v] If a person or their job is badly paid, they are not paid very much for what they do. □ You may have to work part-time, in a badly paid job with unsociable hours. □ This is the most dangerous professional sport there is, and the worst paid.
7 → see also worse , worst USAGE badly
Don’t use ‘bad’ as an adverb. Don’t say, for example, ‘
ba d|ly o ff (worse off , worst off ) in AM, also use bad off 1 ADJ [usu v-link ADJ ] If you are badly off , you are in a bad situation. □ The average working week in Japan is 42.3 hours, compared with 41.6 in the U.K., so they are not too badly off.
2 ADJ [usu v-link ADJ ] If you are badly off , you do not have much money. □ It is outrageous that people doing well-paid jobs should moan about how badly off they are.
bad|min|ton /bæ dm I ntən/ N‑UNCOUNT Badminton is a game played by two or four players on a rectangular court with a high net across the middle. The players try to score points by hitting a small object called a shuttlecock across the net using a racket.
bad-mouth /bæ dmaʊð/ (bad-mouths , bad-mouthing , bad-mouthed ) VERB If someone bad-mouths you, they say unpleasant things about you, especially when you are not there to defend yourself. □ [V n] Both men continually bad-mouthed each other.
ba d-te mpered ADJ Someone who is bad-tempered is not very cheerful and gets angry easily. □ He became bad-tempered and we argued constantly.
bae /be I / (baes ) N‑COUNT [usu sing] Your bae is someone you are romantically involved with or in love with. [INFORMAL ] □ You might give that photo a caption like, "Just another Tuesday with my bae." □ Hey, bae, thinking about you.
baf|fle /bæ f ə l/ (baffles , baffling , baffled ) VERB If something baffles you, you cannot understand it or explain it. □ [V n] An apple tree producing square fruit is baffling experts. ● baf|fling ADJ □ I was constantly ill, with a baffling array of symptoms. ● baf|fled ADJ [usu v-link ADJ ] □ Police are baffled by the murder.
baf|fle|ment /bæ f ə lmənt/ N‑UNCOUNT Bafflement is the state of being baffled. □ The general response was one of understandable bafflement.
bag ◆◆◇ /bæ g/ (bags )
1 N‑COUNT A bag is a container made of thin paper or plastic, for example one that is used in shops to put things in that a customer has bought. ● N‑COUNT A bag of things is the amount of things contained in a bag.
2 N‑COUNT A bag is a strong container with one or two handles, used to carry things in. □ She left the hotel carrying a shopping bag. ● N‑COUNT A bag of things is the amount of things contained in a bag.
3 N‑COUNT A bag is the same as a handbag .