5 PHRASE Someone who is living on borrowed time or who is on borrowed time has continued to live or to do something for longer than was expected, and is likely to die or be stopped from doing it soon. □ Perhaps that illness, diagnosed as fatal, gave him a sense of living on borrowed time. USAGE borrow
You don’t normally talk about borrowing or lending things that can’t be moved. Don’t say, for example, ‘
bor|row|er /bɒ roʊə r / (borrowers ) N‑COUNT A borrower is a person or organization that borrows money.
bor|row|ing /bɒ roʊ I ŋ/ (borrowings ) N‑UNCOUNT Borrowing is the activity of borrowing money. □ We have allowed spending and borrowing to rise in this recession.
bor|stal /bɔː r st ə l/ (borstals ) N‑VAR In Britain in the past, a borstal was a kind of prison for young criminals, who were not old enough to be sent to ordinary prisons.
bos|om /bʊzəm/ (bosoms )
1 N‑COUNT A woman's breasts are sometimes referred to as her bosom or her bosoms . [OLD-FASHIONED ] □ …a large young mother with a baby resting against her ample bosom.
2 ADJ [ADJ n] A bosom friend is a friend who you know very well and like very much indeed. □ They were bosom friends. □ Sakota was her cousin and bosom pal.
boss ◆◆◇ /bɒ s/ (bosses , bossing , bossed )
1 N‑COUNT [oft poss N ] Your boss is the person in charge of the organization or department where you work. □ He cannot stand his boss. □ Occasionally I have to go and ask the boss for a rise.
2 N‑COUNT If you are the boss in a group or relationship, you are the person who makes all the decisions. [INFORMAL ] □ He thinks he's the boss.
3 VERB If you say that someone bosses you, you mean that they keep telling you what to do in a way that is irritating. □ [V n prep/adv] We cannot boss them into doing more. □ [V n] 'You are not to boss me!' she shouted. ● PHRASAL VERB Boss around , or in British English boss about , means the same as boss . □ [V n P ] He started bossing people around and I didn't like what was happening. [Also V P n]
4 PHRASE If you are your own boss , you work for yourself or make your own decisions and do not have anyone telling you what to do. □ I'm very much my own boss and no one interferes with what I do.
▸ boss around or boss about → see boss 3 COLLOCATIONS boss NOUN 1
noun + boss : company, party, team, union
adjective + boss : former, new SYNONYMS boss NOUN 1
manager: The chef, staff and managers are all Chinese.
head: …the head waiter.
chief: …a commission appointed by the police chief.
master: My master ordered me not to deliver the message except in private.
supervisor: …a full-time job as a supervisor at a factory.
bossy /bɒ si/ ADJ If you describe someone as bossy , you mean that they enjoy telling people what to do. [DISAPPROVAL ] □ She remembers being a rather bossy little girl. ● bossi|ness N‑UNCOUNT □ They resent what they see as bossiness.
bo|sun /boʊ s ə n/ (bosuns ) N‑COUNT The bosun on a ship is the officer whose job it is to look after the ship and its equipment.
bot /bɒ t/ (bots ) N‑COUNT A bot is a computer program that carries out tasks for other programs or users, especially on the internet. [COMPUTING ]
bo|tan|ic /bətæ n I k/ ADJ [ADJ n] Botanic means the same as botanical .
bo|tani|cal /bətæ n I k ə l/ (botanicals )
1 ADJ [ADJ n] Botanical books, research, and activities relate to the scientific study of plants. □ The area is of great botanical interest. □ …botanical gardens.
2 N‑COUNT Botanicals are drugs which are made from plants. □ The most effective new botanicals are extracts from cola nut and marine algae.
bota|nist /bɒ tən I st/ (botanists ) N‑COUNT A botanist is a scientist who studies plants.
bota|ny /bɒ təni/ N‑UNCOUNT Botany is the scientific study of plants.
botch /bɒ tʃ/ (botches , botching , botched )
1 VERB If you botch something that you are doing, you do it badly or clumsily. [INFORMAL ] □ [V n] It is a silly idea and he has botched it. □ [V -ed] …a botched job. ● PHRASAL VERB Botch up means the same as botch . □ [V P n] I hate having builders botch up repairs on my house. □ [V n P ] Hemingway complained that Nichols had 'botched everything up'.
2 N‑COUNT [usu sing] If you make a botch of something that you are doing, you botch it. [INFORMAL ] □ I rather made a botch of that whole thing.
▸ botch up → see botch 1
bo tch-up (botch-ups ) N‑COUNT [usu sing] A botch-up is the same as a botch . [INFORMAL ] □ They were victims of a computer botch-up.
both ◆◆◆ /boʊ θ/
1 DET You use both when you are referring to two people or things and saying that something is true about each of them. □ She cried out in fear and flung both arms up to protect her face. □ Put both vegetables into a bowl and crush with a potato masher. ● QUANT Both is also a quantifier. □ [+ of ] Both of these women have strong memories of the Vietnam War. □ We're going to Andreas's Boutique to pick out something original for both of us. ● PRON Both is also a pronoun. □ Miss Brown and her friend, both from Stoke, were arrested on the 8th of June. □ Will there be public-works programmes, or community service, or both? ● PRON Both is also an emphasizing pronoun. □ He visited the Institute of Neurology in Havana where they both worked. □ 'Well, I'll leave you both, then,' said Gregory. ● PREDET Both is also a predeterminer. [EMPHASIS ] □ Both the band's writers are fascinating lyricists. □ Both the horses were out, tacked up and ready to ride.