6 PHRASE If you say that someone is rocking the boat , you mean that they are upsetting a calm situation and causing trouble. □ I said I didn't want to rock the boat in any way.
7 PHRASE If two or more people are in the same boat , they are in the same unpleasant situation. COLLOCATIONS boat NOUN 1
noun + boat : canal, patrol, pleasure, rescue; fishing, sailing
adjective + boat : inflatable, wooden
verb + boat : moor; sail, steer; capsize
boat|builder /boʊ tb I ldə r / (boatbuilders ) also boat builder N‑COUNT A boatbuilder is a person or company that makes boats.
boat|building /boʊ tb I ld I ŋ/ also boat-building N‑UNCOUNT Boatbuilding is the craft or industry of making boats. □ Sunbeam Yachts started boatbuilding in 1870.
boat|er /boʊ tə r / (boaters ) N‑COUNT A boater or a straw boater is a hard straw hat with a flat top and brim which is often worn for certain social occasions in the summer.
boat|house /boʊ thaʊs/ (boathouses ) also boat house N‑COUNT A boathouse is a building at the edge of a lake, in which boats are kept.
boat|ing /boʊ t I ŋ/ N‑UNCOUNT [oft N n] Boating is travelling on a lake or river in a small boat for pleasure. □ You can go boating or play tennis. □ They were killed in a boating accident.
boat|load /boʊ tloʊd/ (boatloads ) also boat load N‑COUNT A boatload of people or things is a lot of people or things that are, or were, in a boat. □ …a boatload of rice.
boat|man /boʊ tmən/ (boatmen ) N‑COUNT A boatman is a man who is paid by people to take them across an area of water in a small boat, or a man who hires boats out to them for a short time.
bo at peo|ple N‑PLURAL Boat people are people who escape from their country in small boats to travel to another country in the hope that they will be able to live there. □ …50,000 Vietnamese boat people.
boa t train (boat trains ) N‑COUNT A boat train is a train that takes you to or from a port.
boat|yard /boʊ tjɑː r d/ (boatyards ) N‑COUNT A boatyard is a place where boats are built and repaired or kept.
bob /bɒ b/ (bobs , bobbing , bobbed )
1 VERB If something bobs , it moves up and down, like something does when it is floating on water. □ [V prep/adv] Huge balloons bobbed about in the sky above.
2 VERB If you bob somewhere, you move there quickly so that you disappear from view or come into view. □ [V adv/prep] She handed over a form, then bobbed down again behind a typewriter.
3 VERB When you bob your head, you move it quickly up and down once, for example when you greet someone. □ [V n] A hostess stood at the top of the steps and bobbed her head at each passenger. ● N‑COUNT Bob is also a noun. □ The young man smiled with a bob of his head.
4 N‑COUNT A bob is a fairly short hair style for women in which the hair is the same length all the way round, except for the front.
5 PHRASE Bits and bobs are small objects or parts of something. [mainly BRIT , INFORMAL ] □ The microscope contains a few hundred dollars-worth of electronic bits and bobs.
bobbed /bɒ bd/ ADJ If a woman's hair is bobbed , it is cut in a bob.
bob|bin /bɒ b I n/ (bobbins ) N‑COUNT A bobbin is a small round object on which thread or wool is wound to hold it, for example on a sewing machine.
bob|ble /bɒ b ə l/ (bobbles ) N‑COUNT A bobble is a small ball of material, usually made of wool, which is used for decorating clothes. [BRIT ] □ …the bobble on his nightcap. in AM, usually use tassel
bo b|ble hat (bobble hats ) N‑COUNT A bobble hat is a woollen hat with a bobble on it. [BRIT ]
bob|by /bɒ bi/ (bobbies ) N‑COUNT A bobby is a British police officer, usually of the lowest rank. [BRIT , INFORMAL , OLD-FASHIONED ] □ These days, the bobby on the beat is a rare sight.
bo b|by pin (bobby pins ) N‑COUNT A bobby pin is a small piece of metal or plastic bent back on itself, which someone uses to hold their hair in position. [AM ] in BRIT, use hairgrip
bob|cat /bɒ bkæt/ (bobcats ) N‑COUNT A bobcat is an animal in the cat family which has reddish-brown fur with dark spots or stripes and a short tail. Bobcats live in North America. □ Bobcats roam wild in the mountains.
bob|sled /bɒ bsled/ (bobsleds ) N‑COUNT A bobsled is the same as a bobsleigh . [mainly AM ]
bob|sleigh /bɒ bsle I / (bobsleighs ) N‑COUNT A bobsleigh is a vehicle with long thin strips of metal fixed to the bottom, which is used for racing downhill on ice. [BRIT ] in AM, use bobsled
bod /bɒ d/ (bods ) N‑COUNT A bod is a person. [BRIT , INFORMAL ] □ He was definitely a bit of an odd bod.
bode /boʊ d/ (bodes , boding , boded ) VERB If something bodes ill, it makes you think that something bad will happen in the future. If something bodes well, it makes you think that something good will happen. [FORMAL ] □ [V adv + for ] She says the way the bill was passed bodes ill for democracy. □ [V adv] Grace had dried her eyes. That boded well.
bodge /bɒ dʒ/ (bodges , bodging , bodged ) VERB If you bodge something, you make it or mend it in a way that is not as good as it should be. [BRIT , INFORMAL ] □ [V n] I thought he had bodged the repair.