A-Z Database
A leader, pace or trendsetter as in a bellwether stock, which is usually a blue-chip stock definitive of its industry sector. Bellwether dates origina...
Belly-up has meant dead or dying since the 18th century, probably from the way dead or dying fish float belly-up in water. Belly-up in the sense of ba...
If the context is golf, below par means very good or excellent. Out of the context of golf, it means the complete opposite. For example, if someone’s...
Meaning unfair is from the late 19th century and derives from boxing. Following the rules laid down by the Marquis of Queensbury in 1867, pugilists we...
To give someone or something a good belt is to hit, thrash or tackle with gusto and dates from the early 19th century. It derives from thrashing someo...
A belt and braces approach or policy is one that has double security or provides two means for the same end. The expression dates from the 1930s with...
British slang for shut up which dates from the 1930s. Eric Partridge's Dictionary of Slang maintains the source is RAF slang, but gives no further exp...
A belter describes something that is excellent or splendid as in a belter of a game describing an excellent, exciting sporting contest of some kind. A...
Go to extreme lengths to accommodate or help someone. The expression is originally American from c. 1925.
American colloquialism for having a drink dates from the early 19th century with the obvious allusion to lifting a glass towards one’s mouth with bent...
A drinking spree is originally American from the early 19th century and became anglicised by the late 1800s. It is thought to have derived from bend t...
Bent as in crooked or dishonest, dates from the early 20th century; the obvious allusion to being the opposite of straight. Bent meaning homosexual, u...
Bent can mean crooked, dishonest or it can mean homosexual, in both cases the opposite of straight. The expression gains its power and emphasis becaus...
British slang for someone not held in high esteem. Its origin is rhyming slang c.1930 from Berkeley or Berkshire Hunt. Yes. Hunt rhymes with you know...
A person who goes berserk displays wild and uncontrollable behaviour. It derives from the frenzied fighting style of Norse warriors called Berserkers...