The Oxford Thesaurus - An A-Z Dictionary Of Synonyms
.pdfbankrupt, ruined, Colloq on one's beam-ends, on one's uppers, strapped, flat or dead or stony-broke, hard up, short, up against it, US flat, on the skids; Slang Brit skint: I was
broke after paying the rent - I didn't even have money for food.
broken adj. 1 fragmented, shattered, shivered, splintered, ruptured, cracked, split, smashed, pulverized, disintegrated, destroyed, demolished: A broken Ming vase cannot be worth much. 2 fractured: With a broken leg, she certainly won't be competing in the slalom. 3 enfeebled, weakened, crushed, defeated, beaten, ruined; dispirited, dejected, discouraged, demoralized, defeated, subdued, debilitated, Colloq licked: Rosa's running away with a sailor left Hugh a broken man. 4 tamed, trained, disciplined, obedient, docile, domesticated, subdued; conditioned: What use is a horse that isn't broken? 5
violated, transgressed, disobeyed, contravened, defied, flouted,disregarded, ignored, infringed: The rules of this club are broken too often: we'll have to tighten things up. 6 interrupted, disturbed, discontinuous, disjointed, disconnected, fragmented, fragmentary, intermittent, erratic, sporadic: I couldn't stop worrying about the operation and had a terrible night of broken sleep. 7 Also, broken-down. out of order or commission, not working or functioning, in disrepair, Slang on the blink, out of kilter, kaput, US on the fritz, out of whack:
My watch is broken. Why waste money repairing that broken-down car of yours?
broken-hearted
adj. heart-broken, depressed, downhearted, dejected, devastated, crushed, overwhelmed, heartsick, downcast, upset; forlorn, sorrowful, disconsolate, inconsolable, grief-stricken, miserable, wretched, melancholy, heavy-hearted, sad, doleful, dolorous, woeful, woebegone, gloomy, morose, glum, cheerless, Colloq down: She was broken-hearted when her puppy was lost.
broker |
n. stockbroker; agent, dealer, middleman, intermediary, |
go-between, Brit stockjobber: I have phoned my broker to tell |
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him to sell all my shares. |
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brooch |
n. clasp, pin; fastening: She was wearing the cameo brooch I |
had given to her mother.
brood n. 1 young, offspring, progeny; children, family: A mallard
was tending her brood among the rushes.
--v. 2 incubate, hatch, set, sit, cover: The old hen was brooding three eggs. 3 Also, brood on or over. ponder (on or over), meditate (on or over), contemplate, ruminate (on or over), muse (on or over): He just sits there brooding over the subject of his next novel. 4 mope, sulk, pout, pine, eat one's heart out, fret, worry, agonize, despair: Don't just brood over the problem, do something about solving it!
brook° |
n. stream, rivulet, run, runnel, rill, US and Canadian and |
Australian and New Zealand creek; No. Eng. dialect beck, gill or |
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ghyll; Scots burn: The river is fed by numerous brooks from |
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every part of the country. |
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brooký |
v. endure, tolerate, stand, abide, put up with, suffer, allow: |
She runs the business in her own way and brooks no interference |
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from anyone. |
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broth |
n. stock, bouillon, consomm‚; soup; decoction: We tossed food |
scraps into the large, simmering pot to make a broth. |
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brothel |
n. bordello, whore-house, house of ill fame or ill repute, |
bawdy-house, bagnio; seraglio, harem, Obsolete stew, Colloq US sporting house, Slang Brit knocking-shop, US cat-house: On their first night in Paris, they visited a brothel.
brother n. sibling; relation, relative, kin, kinsman; fellow, fellow-man, fellow-clansman, fellow-citizen, fellow-countryman, fellow-creature; associate, colleague, confrŠre, companion,
Colloq pal, chum, Brit and Australian mate, US buddy: Some day, perhaps all men will regard each other as brothers.
brotherhood
n. 1 brotherliness, fellowship, companionship, alliance, friendship, comradeship, camaraderie, kinship: We should all live together in harmony and brotherhood. 2 fraternity, guild, society, association, order, league, union, organization, club, community, circle, set, clique: The tribes fused into a united and enthusiastic brotherhood.
brotherly adj. fraternal, kind, affectionate, cordial, friendly, amicable, amiable, neighbourly, loyal, devoted: The boys grew
up together and maintained a brotherly relationship throughout their lives.
browbeat v. bully, intimidate, threaten, badger, dominate, cow, frighten, discourage, tyrannize, hector, harass, keep after,
nag, Colloq hassle: The foreman constantly browbeat anyone who wasn't one of his drinking cronies.
browse v. look over or through, skim (through), scan, thumb or flip or flick through: I was browsing through some recent acquisitions at the second-hand bookshop.
bruise n. 1 injury, hurt, contusion, bump, welt, scrape, abrasion, scratch, wound, black-and-blue mark, blotch, blemish, mark, spot, discoloration, damage, Technical ecchymosis: I got this bruise from walking into the corner of the table. The price is lower if the fruit has a few bruises.
--v. 2 injure, contuse, hurt, scrape, harm; wound, damage: I bruised my knee when I fell down. Being arrested certainly bruised his self-esteem.
bruiser n. prizefighter, boxer, fighter; tough, ruffian, bodyguard, thug, hoodlum, bouncer, Colloq hooligan, tough guy, toughie, Brit minder, US roughneck, hood, gorilla, plug-ugly, torpedo, enforcer: The heavyweight contender is really a big bruiser. Mr Big strode in with two of his bruisers.
brunt n. (full) force, burden, onus, weight, impact; shock, stress, violence, onslaught: As the head of the department was on holiday, I had to take the full brunt of the customers' complaints.
brush° n. 1 brushwood, shrubs, undergrowth, branches, scrub, brush, bracken, brambles, underbrush, underwood: It took us three days to clear the brush from around the house. 2 thicket, brake, copse, grove, boscage: The fox disappeared into the brush, which was too dense for the dogs to follow.
brushý n. 1 hairbrush, toothbrush, clothes-brush, shoe-brush, nail-brush, paintbrush; broom, dust-broom, besom, US whisk broom: This brush is too harsh and may damage your teeth. 2 See brush-off. 3 encounter, engagement, skirmish, Colloq Brit
spot of bother: Mark has had several brushes with the law.
--v. 4 scrub, clean; groom, curry; sweep, whisk, gather: Brush your teeth twice a day. I brushed down the mare before saddling her. Brush the crumbs off the table. 5 graze, touch: He deliberately tried to brush against her in the corridor. 6
brush aside or away. disregard, dismiss, put aside, shrug off: Brushing aside the members' objections, he tried to force the committee's acceptance of the new rules. 7 brush off. dismiss, ignore, rebuff, send off or away or packing: He asked her out, but she brushed him off. 8 brush up (on). review, restudy, go over, refresh, study, Archaic con: You should brush up on your geometry before taking trigonometry.
brush-off n. dismissal, rebuff, rejection, snub, Colloq cold shoulder, put-down, slap in the face, the (old) heave-ho; Chiefly US and Canadian walking papers: Tanya has given Theo the brush-off - said she never wants to see him again.
brusque adj. blunt, rude, overbearing, impolite, uncivil, discourteous, ungracious, ill-mannered, unmannerly; churlish, gruff, abrupt, short, curt, sharp, terse, brash, bluff: I could tell that the
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interviewer had already decided against me by her brusque |
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attitude. |
brutal |
adj. 1 inhuman, savage, cruel, pitiless, harsh, severe, |
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barbaric, barbarous, beastly, bestial, sadistic, murderous; |
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inhumane, heartless, hard-hearted, unkind, fierce, |
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stony-hearted, insensitive, unfeeling, cold-blooded, |
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unsympathetic, remorseless, ruthless, ferocious, atrocious, |
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Draconian or Draconic, Literary fell: Few survived the brutal |
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treatment in the concentration camps. 2 rude, ill-mannered, |
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coarse, unrefined, boorish, ill-bred, rustic, crass, uncouth, |
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uncultured, uncultivated, rough, crude: His brutal behaviour |
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made him unfit to represent the Crown. |
brute |
adj. 1 brutish, dull, unfeeling, senseless, blind, |
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unintelligent, unthinking, thoughtless, mindless, unreasoning, |
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irrational, instinctive, physical, material; insensate, |
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unconscious: He was able to lift the safe without help, by |
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sheer brute strength. |
--n. 2 animal, beast, savage: He wrote that man was the middle
link between angels and brutes. George behaved like an absolute brute to her.
2.7 bubble =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
bubble n. 1 blister, air pocket, globule, droplet: This painted surface is full of air bubbles. 2 bubbles. froth, foam, suds, lather, spume; effervescence, carbonation, fizz: The cider is full of bubbles.
--v. 3 foam, froth, boil, seethe, fizz: A pot of soup was bubbling on the stove.
bubbly adj. 1 effervescent, foamy, frothy, fizzy, sparkling: I could see that the surface was all bubbly. 2 effervescent, merry, ebullient, bouncy, animated, vivacious, cheerful, cheery, lively, excited: Janet is known for her bubbly personality.
--n. 3 champagne, sparkling wine, sparkling burgundy, Asti spumante, Colloq Brit champers: Let's open a bottle of bubbly and celebrate.
bucket |
n. |
pail, scuttle: Keep this bucket of coal near the hearth. |
buckle |
n. |
1 clasp, fastener, clip, fastening, hook, catch: The buckle |
broke on my belt and my trousers fell down.
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--v. 2 collapse, cave in, crumple, bend, warp, distort, twist, |
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bulge: The support gave way and the entire wall buckled. |
bug |
n. 1 insect, beetle, larva, grub, caterpillar, butterfly, |
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mosquito, fly, spider, Colloq Brit creepy-crawly, US no-see-em: |
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There's a bug on your collar. 2 microbe, germ, virus; disease, |
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affliction, illness, sickness, ailment, disorder, malady, |
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infection; condition, complaint, infirmity, indisposition: |
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She's caught some kind of bug and won't be in for a few days. 3 |
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obsession, craze, fad, mania, rage: Almost everyone in those |
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days succumbed to the hula hoop bug. 4 enthusiast, faddist, |
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fan, fanatic; hobbyist: She's turned into a fruit machine bug. |
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5 listening device; microphone, transmitter, electronic |
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eavesdropper, tap: They planted a bug in the ambassador's |
telephone. 6 fault, error, mistake, failing, shortcoming, Colloq hang-up, glitch: There's a bug in the program that's preventing the list from being sorted. They can't market the device till they've ironed out all the bugs.
--v. 7 annoy, irritate, pester, irk, harass, bother: I wish
Mum'd stop bugging me about my homework. 8 tap, spy on: They bugged her phone and recorded all her conversations.
bugger n. 1 buggerer, sodomite. 2 chap, fellow, man; boy, lad, child, tot; Slang chiefly Brit geezer , US jerk; Colloq guy , Brit
bloke, fool, idiot: He's a cute little bugger, isn't he? Who's that silly-looking bugger with Christina?
--v. 3 Also, bugger up. ruin, destroy, botch, bungle, wreck; make a mess of, Colloq mess or screw up, Brit bollocks or ballocks up, balls up, make a balls-up of, cock up, US ball up, bollix up; Taboo fuck up: He's buggered the recording, so we'll have to start again at the beginning. Why does she bugger up everything I try to do? 4 bugger about or around. a fool about, waste time, dawdle, Colloq US lallygag or lollygag; Taboo fuck about or around: He buggers about the house all the time instead of looking for a job. Don't bugger about with my hi-fi. b cause complications for, create difficulties for: She
pretends to be helping me, but she's just buggering me about. 5 bugger off. go away, depart, leave, clear off or out, Colloq make tracks, skedaddle, beat it, Slang piss off; Taboo fuck off: Oh, bugger off and leave me alone!
build v. 1 construct, erect, raise, set up, assemble: I hope to build my own house in another year or so. 2 found, establish, base: The theory is built on the principle that light travels
at 186,000 miles per second. 3 develop: She built the company in about five years. 4 Also, build up. intensify; increase, develop, enlarge, strengthen: The distant hum of voices gradually built to a mighty roar.
--n. 5 physique, figure, body, shape, Slang bod: He has a good build from working out at the gym.
building n. edifice, structure, construction, erection: The building where I work is air-conditioned.
bulge |
n. 1 lump, hump, protuberance, bump, swelling, projection: |
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This wallet is making a bulge in my jacket. |
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--v. 2 protrude, stick out, swell (out): His stomach bulges |
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out over his belt. |
bulk |
n. 1 volume, magnitude, mass, enlargement, largeness, size: |
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The sausage-makers add bread just for bulk. 2 majority: The |
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bulk of the people voted for the proposal. |
bulky |
adj. large, voluminous, unwieldy, awkward, ungainly, |
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cumbersome, Brit chunky: The package, though quite bulky, |
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didn't cost much to post. |
bulletin n. message, notice, communication, announcement, communiqu‚, dispatch or despatch, report, account, flash, news item,
newsflash: And now, here's a bulletin from the centre court at Wimbledon.
bully n. 1 persecutor, intimidator, tyrant: That bully Roderick is always beating up the younger boys.
--v. 2 persecute, intimidate, tyrannize, torment, browbeat, daunt, awe, cow, terrorize; hector, harass, push around: Roderick even bullied his best friend into parting with his allowance.
--adj. 3 Old-fashioned jolly, worthy, admirable: Ah, there you are, my bully boy!
--interj. 4 Usually, Bully for (someone)! Bravo!, Great!, Fantastic!, Fabulous!, Marvellous!, Spectacular!; So what?, What of it?; US Peachy!, Dandy!, Neat-oh!; Old-fashioned Fantabulous!: 'David's won the snooker competition again.' 'Bully for him!'
bulwark n. 1 defence or US defense, safeguard, redoubt, bastion, buffer, barrier, rampart, fortification: A strong defence is the best bulwark against aggression from outside.
--v. 2 defend, protect, shelter: Marnie's indifference to others bulwarks her against any feelings of contrition.
bum |
n. 1 buttocks, posterior, hindquarters, fundament, behind, |
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rump, bottom, behind, derriŠre, rear end, backside, seat, rear, |
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Colloq Brit arse, US fanny, can, hinie, tush, tushy or tushie, |
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tokus or tochis or tuchis, keister or keester, ass: Why don't |
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you get off your fat bum and go out and get a job?! 2 tramp, |
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panhandler, beggar, vagrant, loafer, drifter, vagabond, hobo, |
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derelict, gypsy; Brit caird, tinker, traveller; US |
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(shopping-)bag lady: Along the Bowery the doorways and |
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pavements are strewn with bums. 3 improper, unjustified, false, |
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trumped up, untrue, fabricated, made-up, bogus: That auto theft |
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charge was a bum rap, but he still served 18 months. |
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--adj. 4 bad, awful, unfair, dishonest, poor, rotten, Slang |
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lousy, crummy: I still think you got a bum deal on that |
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toaster. |
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--v. 5 borrow, beg, sponge, Colloq scrounge, cadge, touch, put |
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the touch on, US mooch, hit, hit up: Can I bum a cigarette from |
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you? |
bump |
n. 1 blow, collision, thud, hit, knock, buffet, clunk, whack: |
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That bump on the head seems to have affected him. 2 lump, |
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protuberance, welt, swelling, tumescence, knob, bulge: How did |
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you get that bump on your forehead? |
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--v. 3 knock (against), strike, hit, collide (with), run into, |
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ram; smash, crash, Colloq wallop: I bumped into the car in |
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front as I was parking. 4 bump into. meet, encounter, run into |
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or across, come across, stumble over: I bumped into Philippa at |
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the hairdresser's. 5 bump off. murder, kill, put away, |
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assassinate, do away with, execute, liquidate, dispatch or |
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despatch, Slang take for a ride, destroy, eliminate, rub out, |
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wipe out, do in, US waste, ice: They bumped off Wimpy, boss; he |
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was pulled out of the river wearing concrete overshoes. |
bumpy adj. lumpy, rough, uneven, irregular, knobby, knobbly, pitted; potholed, bouncy, jarring, jerky, rutted: The skin on his
forehead is a bit bumpy. This is the bumpiest road in the town.
bunch n. 1 bundle, cluster, batch, clump; bouquet, nosegay, posy, spray: That's a nice-looking bunch of grapes. Mr Herbert arrived with a bunch of flowers for me. 2 crowd, knot, collection, group, lot, gathering, cluster, clutch, batch,
assortment, mass: A bunch of people stood outside the courtroom, awaiting news of the verdict.
--v. 3 sort, class, classify, categorize, assort, group
together, bracket: It would be a mistake to bunch all different kinds of liberals into the same category. 4 bunch up. gather; smock; collect, crowd, group, cluster: The fabric is all bunched up at the bottom. Don't let the people bunch up in front of the exits.
bundle n. 1 bunch, collection, package, parcel, packet, pack; bale, sheaf; Archaic fardel: I have to leave this bundle at the laundry today. Bring this bundle of hay for the horse.
--v. 2 gather (together), tie up (together), collect, pack, package: He bundled up all his belongings. 3 bundle off or out. dispatch or despatch, pack off, hustle or hurry off or
away, send away or off; decamp, scurry off or away, Colloq Brit do a moonlight flit: We bundled Aunt Mary off home as soon as the storm subsided. That couple have bundled out of room 429.
bungle v. spoil, botch, mismanage, stumble, bumble, Golf foozle, Colloq foul or screw or louse up, blow, mess or muck up, make a
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mess or hash or muddle of, muff, Slang Brit bugger, US snafu, |
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Taboo fuck up: Smith has bungled the job again; we'll have to |
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replace him. |
buoy |
n. 1 (navigational or channel) mark or marker, float; nun |
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(-buoy), can (-buoy), bell (buoy), gong (-buoy), siren, signal, |
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mooring-buoy, spar-buoy, lollipop: Returning to port, always |
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leave the red buoys to starboard. |
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--v. 2 Often, buoy up. lift, raise, elevate, support, hearten, |
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sustain, keep up: We sang songs to buoy up our spirits while |
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the rescuers dug their way towards us. |
buoyant adj. 1 afloat, floating, floatable: The wood was water-logged and no longer buoyant. 2 light, resilient, lively, vivacious, bright, cheerful, carefree, blithe, animated, jaunty, bouncy, ebullient, light-hearted , Colloq peppy: One had to admire his buoyant optimism, even under adverse conditions.
burden n. 1 load, weight, gravamen; strain, pressure, trouble, onus,
millstone, cross, albatross: The old man put down his burden. The burden of the evidence is against them. His feeling of guilt over her death in the crash was a terrible burden to bear.
--v. 2 load, weigh down, saddle with, encumber; tax, oppress: The mules were heavily burdened with a month's supply of food. Don't burden me with your problems.
burdensome
adj. onerous, cumbersome, oppressive, weighty, troublesome, wearisome, bothersome, distressing, worrying, worrisome, vexatious, irksome: A tax on food is burdensome for those on a low income.
bureau n. 1 Brit (writing-)desk, US chest of drawers, chest, dresser, chifferobe, chiffonier: Simon has a beautiful antique bureau in his office. One of my cuff-links rolled under the bureau. 2 office, agency, department, division, section, subdivision, subsection, desk: I sent the form to the bureau a month ago, but I still don't have my visa.
bureaucracy
n. officialdom, officialism, government, red tape, administration, authorities: The bureaucracy survives because the officials rely on graft for their income.
burglar n. housebreaker, thief, robber; sneak-thief, cat burglar, US second-story or second-storey man: The burglars, remarkably, didn't take the most valuable paintings.
burial n. interment, funeral, entombment, obsequies, sepulture: His six ex-wives attended the burial.
burlesque n. 1 caricature, lampoon, spoof, parody, satire, mockery, travesty, Colloq take-off; (grotesque) imitation, vulgarization, exaggeration: In the mid-19th century, burlesques drove pantomimes off the stage. 2 US striptease, strip show, nudie or girlie show: The old comedians insist that burlesque acts were an art form, but the audience went just for the girls.
--v. 3 satirize, take off, lampoon, spoof, parody, caricature, travesty: Cervantes burlesqued the old romances in Don Quixote
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