15 PHRASE If you do your bit , you do something that, to a small or limited extent, helps to achieve something. □ Marcie always tried to do her bit.
16 PHRASE You say that one thing is every bit as good, interesting, or important as another to emphasize that the first thing is just as good, interesting, or important as the second. [EMPHASIS ] □ My dinner jacket is every bit as good as his.
17 PHRASE If you say that something is a bit much , you are annoyed because you think someone has behaved in an unreasonable way. [mainly BRIT , INFORMAL , FEELINGS ] □ It's a bit much expecting me to dump your boyfriend for you.
18 PHRASE You use not a bit when you want to make a strong negative statement. [mainly BRIT , EMPHASIS ] □ I'm really not a bit surprised. □ 'Are you disappointed?'—'Not a bit.'
19 PHRASE You say not a bit of it to emphasize that something that you might expect to be the case is not the case. [BRIT , EMPHASIS ] □ Did he give up? Not a bit of it!
20 PHRASE You can use bits and pieces or bits and bobs to refer to a collection of different things. [INFORMAL ]
21 PHRASE If you get the bit between your teeth , or take the bit between your teeth , you become very enthusiastic about a job you have to do.
22 PHRASE If something is smashed or blown to bits , it is broken into a number of pieces. If something falls to bits , it comes apart so that it is in a number of pieces. □ She found a pretty yellow jug smashed to bits.
23 thrilled to bits → see thrilled
bitch /b I tʃ/ (bitches , bitching , bitched )
1 N‑COUNT If someone calls a woman a bitch , they are saying in a very rude way that they think she behaves in a very unpleasant way. [RUDE , OFFENSIVE , DISAPPROVAL ]
2 → see also son of a bitch
3 VERB [oft cont] If you say that someone is bitching about something, you mean that you disapprove of the fact that they are complaining about it in an unpleasant way. [INFORMAL , DISAPPROVAL ] □ [V + about ] They're forever bitching about everybody else. [Also V ]
4 N‑COUNT A bitch is a female dog.
bitchy /b I tʃi/ ADJ If someone is being bitchy or is making bitchy remarks, they are saying unkind things about someone. [INFORMAL , DISAPPROVAL ] □ I'm sorry. I know I was bitchy on the phone. ● bitchi|ness N‑UNCOUNT □ There's a lot of bitchiness.
bit|coin /b I tkɔ I n/ (bitcoins ) also Bitcoin N‑UNCOUNT Bitcoin is a digital currency used as a means of payment on the internet. □ Is bitcoin the gold standard of online currency? ● N‑COUNT A bitcoin is a unit of this currency. □ Shops in some parts of Berlin now take payments in bitcoins as well as euros.
bite ◆◆◆ /ba I t/ (bites , biting , bit , bitten )
1 VERB If you bite something, you use your teeth to cut into it, for example in order to eat it or break it. If an animal or person bites you, they use their teeth to hurt or injure you. □ [V n] Both sisters bit their nails as children. □ [V + into ] He bit into his sandwich. □ [V n adv/prep] He had bitten the cigarette in two. □ [V ] Llamas won't bite or kick.
2 N‑COUNT A bite of something, especially food, is the action of biting it. □ [+ of ] He took another bite of apple. □ You cannot eat a bun in one bite. ● N‑COUNT A bite is also the amount of food you take into your mouth when you bite it. □ Look forward to eating the food and enjoy every bite.
3 N‑SING [usu N to-inf] If you have a bite to eat, you have a small meal or a snack. [INFORMAL ] □ It was time to go home for a little rest and a bite to eat.
4 VERB If a snake or a small insect bites you, it makes a mark or hole in your skin, and often causes the surrounding area of your skin to become painful or itchy. □ [be V -ed] We were all badly bitten by mosquitoes. [Also V ]
5 N‑COUNT [oft n N ] A bite is an injury or a mark on your body where an animal, snake, or small insect has bitten you. □ Any dog bite, no matter how small, needs immediate medical attention.
6 VERB When an action or policy begins to bite , it begins to have a serious or harmful effect. □ [V ] As the sanctions begin to bite there will be more political difficulties ahead. □ [V prep/adv] The recession started biting deeply into British industry.
7 VERB If an object bites into a surface, it presses hard against it or cuts into it. □ [V prep/adv] There may even be some wire or nylon biting into the flesh. [Also V ]
8 N‑UNCOUNT If you say that a food or drink has bite , you like it because it has a strong or sharp taste. [APPROVAL ] □ …the addition of tartaric acid to give the wine some bite.
9 N‑SING If the air or the wind has a bite , it feels very cold. □ There was a bite in the air, a smell perhaps of snow.
10 VERB If a fish bites when you are fishing, it takes the hook or bait at the end of your fishing line in its mouth. □ [V ] After half an hour, the fish stopped biting and we moved on. ● N‑COUNT Bite is also a noun. □ If I don't get a bite in a few minutes I lift the rod and twitch the bait.
11 → see also love bite , nail-biting
12 PHRASE If someone bites the hand that feeds them, they behave badly or in an ungrateful way towards someone who they depend on. □ She is cynical about the film industry, but ultimately she has no intention of biting the hand that feeds her.