
blab | blab: Colloq v. broadcast, tattle, babble, betray, reveal, disclose, divulge, expose: Don''t tell Frieda - she''ll blab your secrets all over town.
blabbermouth | blabbermouth: Colloq n. tell-tale, babbler, chatterer, gossip, Colloq blab, tattle-tale, big-mouth: Oscar is such a blabbermouth that you can''t tell him anything you don''t want everyone to know.
black | black: adj. 1 jet, jet-black, coal-black, inky, sooty, swart, swarthy, raven, ebony, dusky, Literary ebon, hyacinthine: Her hair was as black as coal. 2 Negro, Negroid, coloured, dark-skinned: Most of the Black races live near or south of the equator. 3 dark, pitch-black, jet-black, coal-black, Stygian; starless, moonless: He bundled his coat round himself and walked into the black night. 4 dark, sombre, dusky, gloomy, menacing, glowering, louring or lowering, threatening, funereal: The sky became black with storm clouds. 5 malignant, baleful, baneful, deadly, deathly, sinister, dismal, hateful, disastrous: It was a black day when he came into my life. 6 bad, foul, iniquitous, wicked, evil, diabolical, infernal, hellish, atrocious, awful, malicious, abominable, outrageous, vicious, villainous, flagitious, vile, disgraceful, unscrupulous, unconscionable, unprincipled, blackguardly, knavish, perfidious, insidious, nefarious, dastardly, treacherous, unspeakable, disgraceful, shameful, scurvy, criminal, felonious: You have told the blackest lies about me. 7 angry, wrathful, furious, frowning, bad-tempered, sulky, resentful, clouded, threatening, glowering: She gave him a black look and he withered in abject fear. --v. 8 boycott, embargo, blacklist, ban, interdict: Because of the dispute over plumbers'' wages, the other building-trades unions have blacked every manufacturer in the business.
blacken | blacken: v. 1 darken, smudge, begrime: The chimney sweep''s face was blackened with soot. 2 slander, libel, asperse, cast aspersions on, traduce, smear, sully, soil, besmirch, taint, tarnish, defame, revile, malign, vilify, discredit, denigrate: His article has blackened my reputation.
blackleg | blackleg: n. scab, strikebreaker: Despite the strike, the plant is being operated by blackleg labour.
blackmail | blackmail: n. 1 extortion, ransom, tribute, US graft: Even if you pay the blackmail, that is no guarantee that he won''t demand more later. --v. 2 extort money from; force, coerce, compel, make: They had discovered his indiscretions and were blackmailing him. He blackmailed her into signing the alimony settlement.
blade | blade: n. 1 knife, cutting edge: Don''t hold the knife by the blade. 2 Literary sword, rapier, sabre, dagger, poniard, stiletto, cutlass, bayonet, knife, penknife, jackknife: She plunged the blade in up to the hilt. 3 leaf, leaflet, frond, shoot: The blades of grass were flattened where he had walked. 4 Rather old-fashioned playboy, ladies'' man, man about town, fop, dandy: He was quite a gay blade in his youth.
blame | blame: v. 1 find fault with, censure, criticize, fault; accuse, charge, indict, condemn, point to, point (the finger) at, rebuke, reprimand, recriminate, reproach, scold, reprehend, reprove: Don''t blame me if you can''t get to school on time. 2 hold responsible, fix (the) responsibility upon or on, put or place or lay (the) blame on, lay at someone''s door, denounce, incriminate: Why blame Carol for the mess? --n. 3 censure, criticism, reproof, rebuke, recrimination, disapproval, disapprobation, reproach, objurgation, condemnation, reprehension: The cyclist put the blame for the accident on me. 4 culpability, responsibility; guilt, Slang rap: Why should you take the blame for something that Donald did?
blameless | blameless: adj. faultless, guiltless, innocent, irreproachable, unimpeachable: Hugh has led a blameless life.
bland | bland: adj. 1 gentle, soothing, smooth, mild, suave, urbane, cool, unruffled, calm, composed, unemotional, nonchalant, insouciant: His reaction to the news of the invasion was bland indifference. 2 insipid, boring, dull, uninteresting, ennuyant, tasteless, Colloq US plain vanilla; Slang US blah: The play is a bland mixture of clich�s embedded in a tired plot.
blank | blank: adj. 1 empty, plain, bare: I stared at the blank paper, unable to write even my name. 2 unornamented, unadorned, undecorated, void: Whenever Irena sees a blank wall she feels compelled to hang a painting on it. 3 vacant, empty: The actor''s mind went completely blank --he had forgotten his lines. 4 passive, impassive, expressionless, emotionless, vacuous, mindless, unexpressive: He gave us a blank look when asked about the missing rare stamps. 5 disconcerted, discomfited, nonplussed, confused, helpless, resourceless, perplexed, dazed, bewildered: The two old men looked at each other with blank and horror-stricken faces. 6 unrelieved, stark, sheer, utter, pure, unmixed, absolute, unqualified: Jack faced the blank prospect of solitary confinement. --n. 7 space; line, box: Please fill in the blanks on the form. 8 nothing, zero, nil; void, emptiness: I asked her when the baby was coming, but I drew a blank.
blare | blare: v. 1 blast, bellow, trumpet, ring, boom, thunder, roar, bray; resound, echo, reverberate, resonate: Everyone in the neighbourhood can hear your hi-fi blaring. --n. 2 blast, bellow, ring, roar, boom, noise, sound, clamour: The games began with a blare of trumpets.
blas� | blas�: adj. 1 bored, jaded, weary, unimpressed, ennuy�: Her blas� attitude does little to endear her at job interviews. 2 indifferent, cool, superior, supercilious, sophisticated, unmoved, nonchalant, emotionless, phlegmatic, apathetic, pococurante, carefree, light-hearted, insouciant: His blas� behaviour hides his basic feelings of insecurity.
blaspheme | blaspheme: v. 1 curse, swear, imprecate, execrate, profane, damn: They were denounced for blaspheming against God. 2 abuse, malign, calumniate, defame, disparage, revile, put down, decry, deprecate, depreciate, belittle: The ungrateful wretches blaspheme the charitable soul who would help them.
blasphemous | blasphemous: adj. profane, impious, irreverent, disrespectful, sacrilegious, irreligious, sinful, wicked, evil, iniquitous: He was excommunicated for his blasphemous writings.
blast | blast: n. 1 blow, gust, wind, gale: The door opened and a blast of icy air made us shiver. 2 blare, sound, noise, racket, din, bellow, roar; boom: At the trumpet-blast thousands of Goths descended screaming on the camp. 3 explosion, burst, eruption, discharge; detonation: A blast of dynamite levelled all the houses in the vicinity. 4 (at or in) full blast. fully, at full tilt, at the maximum, completely, thoroughly, entirely, maximally, Slang with no holds barred, US to the max: The factory was going full blast before the strike. --v. 5 blow up, explode, dynamite, demolish, destroy, ruin, waste, lay waste, shatter, devastate: The pillbox was blasted out of existence by our guns. 6 defame, discredit, denounce, criticize, attack; ruin, destroy: The candidate has been blasted by the press. 7 curse, damn: The minister continued to blast the proposal till the legislature dropped it.
blatant | blatant: adj. 1 obvious, flagrant, palpable, obtrusive, arrant, shameless, unashamed, brazen, overt, glaring: Those hooligans have shown a blatant disregard for the law. 2 noisy, clamorous, loud, bellowing, strident, vociferous, rowdy, boisterous, obstreperous, uproarious: The blatant radical faction insists on making itself heard.
blaze | blaze: n. 1 flame, fire, holocaust, inferno, conflagration: The fuel barrels exploded, feeding the blaze. 2 outburst, eruption, flare-up: Her speech fanned the Lower House into a blaze of resentment. 3 light, brightness, brilliance, brilliancy, glow: The blaze of lamps lit up the whole square. --v. 4 burn, flare up, flame: In a few minutes the logs were blazing merrily. 5 blaze away (at). fire, shoot, open fire, blast; bombard, shell: The enemy appeared, and we just blazed away at them.
bleach | bleach: v. 1 whiten, lighten, fade, blanch, blench, Technical etiolate: My jeans are all bleached by the sun. --n. 2 whitener, chlorine: Add a little bleach to the laundry.
bleak | bleak: adj. 1 cheerless, dreary, depressing, dismal, gloomy, sombre, melancholy, sad, unhappy, mournful: 1940 was one of the bleakest periods in British history. 2 cold, chilly, raw, bitter: The days were getting shorter, and the bleak winter was setting in. 3 barren, bare, exposed, windswept, desolate: How depressing the bleak landscape of the Russian steppes can be in winter!
blemish | blemish: v. 1 deface, mar, scar, impair, disfigure: They did nothing to blemish the beauty of the landscape. 2 tarnish, stain, sully, spoil, mar, flaw, harm, damage, scar, injure, bruise, besmirch: She has blemished my reputation by spreading those stories about me. --n. 3 disfigurement, scar, mark, impairment, stain, smear, blot; defect, flaw, error, fault, imperfection, error, erratum: Her complexion was entirely without blemish.
blend | blend: v. 1 mix, mingle, combine, meld, commingle, intermingle: The Latakia is blended with the Virginia to produce a fine smoking tobacco. 2 shade, grade, gradate, graduate, merge, coalesce, fuse, unite: Note how the pink sky and the tinted clouds blend in this Turner painting. --n. 3 mixture, mix, combination, mingling, meld, commingling, intermingling: His humour is a fine blend of the sardonic with slapstick.
bless | bless: v. 1 consecrate, hallow, sanctify; extol, glorify, praise, revere, adore: God bless this ship and all who sail in her. Bless the Lord. 2 give, make happy or fortunate, endow, favour, furnish, provide, supply, grace: She is blessed with one of the most beautiful soprano voices that I have ever heard.
blessing | blessing: n. 1 benediction, prayer, consecration: Each spring the vicar officiated at the blessing of the fleet. 2 boon, favour, advantage, good fortune, godsend, luck, profit, gain, help, asset, gift, bounty: Hot, sunny days are a blessing for wine growers.
blight | blight: n. 1 affliction, disease, plague, infestation, pestilence, scourge: The crops were visited with a blight that lasted seven years. 2 misfortune, curse, trouble, woe, calamity: Genius may suffer an untimely blight. --v. 3 afflict, infest, plague, scourge; wither, mar, taint, blast: Central Africa has been blighted by famine after famine.
blind | blind: adj. 1 sightless, eyeless, unsighted, purblind, stone-blind: He has been blind from birth. 2 imperceptive, slow, insensitive, thick, dense, obtuse, stupid, weak-minded, dull-witted, slow-witted, dim-witted, Colloq Brit gormless: How blind some parents are! There''s another case of the blind leading the blind. 3 indiscriminate, undiscriminating, heedless, reckless, rash, impetuous, inconsiderate, unreasoning, mindless, senseless, thoughtless, unthinking, irrational, delusional: He did her bidding with the blind obedience of a dog. 4 blind to. unaware or unconscious of, impervious or insensible to, unaffected or untouched or unmoved by: The critics were blind to her merits as a novelist till many years had passed. --v. 5 deceive, blindfold, blinker; bamboozle, hoodwink, fool: Wolsey could not blind himself to the true condition of the church. How jealousy blinds people! 6 conceal, hide, eclipse, overshadow; dazzle, blindfold: The bright lights of the city blinded our view of the airport runway. Her beauty blinded him to her greed. --n. 7 shade, curtain, screen, cover, shutter(s), awning: The sun is too bright - please draw the blind. 8 pretence, pretext, front, cover, smokescreen, stratagem, subterfuge, ruse, trick, deception, Colloq dodge; Slang scam: The plumbing service is merely a blind for getting into houses to rob them.
blindly | blindly: adv. recklessly, heedlessly, deludedly, indiscriminately, rashly, impetuously, irrationally, thoughtlessly, mindlessly, senselessly, unthinkingly: Despite his parents'' warnings, he went blindly on, till one day he was arrested.
blink | blink: v. 1 wink, flicker, Technical nictitate: She blinked in the strong light. 2 twinkle, flicker, gleam, glimmer, shimmer, flash, sparkle, scintillate, coruscate: A billion stars blinked in the wintry sky. 3 flinch, wince, shrink, quail, blench, recoil, start, move: She didn''t even blink when she had the injection. 4 blink at. wink at, ignore, overlook, disregard: That inspector has been known to blink at health violations. --n. 5 wink, flicker: He switched the cards in the blink of an eye. 6 on the blink. Colloq out of order, broken, in disrepair, not working or operating, not operational, Slang US out of whack, on the fritz: The fridge is on the blink again.
bliss | bliss: n. happiness, blitheness, gladness, joy, blessedness, delight, felicity, glee, enjoyment, pleasure, joyousness, cheer, exhilaration, gaiety, blissfulness, rapture, ecstasy: The bliss of our honeymoon has remained with us throughout our marriage.
blithe | blithe: adj. 1 blissful, happy, cheerful, joyous, merry, light-hearted, well-pleased, delighted, gay, joyful, elated, jubilant: His spirit was blithe and his heart unquenchable. 2 happy-go-lucky, insouciant, heedless, carefree, unconcerned, blas�, casual, detached, indifferent, uncaring, careless: She goes through life with a blithe disregard for the feelings of others.
bloated | bloated: adj. swollen, distended, fully, puffy; puffed up, overgrown, inflated, pompous: He felt bloated after the enormous banquet. That bloated, conceited, self-important petty official had the gall to refuse me a visa.
blob | blob: n. gob, gobbet, globule, drop, droplet, bit, gout, lump, dab, Colloq glob, Chiefly US and Canadian smidgen or smidgin: There''s a blob of jelly on your tie.
block | block: n. 1 piece, chunk, hunk, lump, slab; stump; brick, cube: The figure is carved out of a solid block of stone. 2 bar, obstacle, obstruction, hindrance, stumbling-block, deterrent, impediment, barrier: Her arrival should be no block to your leaving. --v. 3 obstruct, close off, barricade; bar, shut off; hinder, hamper, balk, impede, prevent: Entry to the playing field was blocked by the police. 4 block out. a rough out, design, outline, sketch, lay out, plan: The colonel blocked out a strategy for our escape. b mask, screen, blank (out), erase, eliminate, exclude, blot out, deny: She has blocked out that part of her life from her mind. 5 block (up). stuff (up), congest, clog, Colloq Brit bung up: My nose is all blocked up because of this awful cold.
bloodshed | bloodshed: n. slaughter, carnage, butchery, killing, murder, blood-letting; violence; genocide: Let''s settle this peaceably and avoid bloodshed.
bloodsucker | bloodsucker: n. leech, extortionist, extortioner, blackmailer; parasite, barnacle, Colloq sponge, freeloader, scrounge, scrounger; Slang US moocher: He''s nothing but a bloodsucker, always demanding more and more money.
bloodthirsty | bloodthirsty: adj. murderous, homicidal, savage, feral, cruel, ruthless, pitiless, vicious, brutal, sadistic, ferocious, fierce, Formal sanguinary, Literary fell: Bloodthirsty pirates had slaughtered the whole crew.
blot | blot: n. 1 stain, spot, mark, smudge, blotch, blemish, disfigurement, smear, smirch, scar, Colloq splodge or US also splotch: An ink blot covered the date of the document. There are a few blots on his record from his time in the army. --v. 2 stain, spot, spatter, smudge, mark, blur: You have blotted these pages where you wrote with a fountain-pen. 3 blot one''s copybook. err, destroy or ruin or mar or spoil one''s reputation, commit an indiscretion, transgress, sin: She''s certainly blotted her copybook by having an affair with that subaltern. 4 blot out. a obscure, conceal, cover (up), hide, eclipse, dim: The clouds blotted out the sun for a few minutes. b obliterate, destroy, erase, demolish, efface, annihilate, delete, rub or wipe out: He subconsciously blotted out all memory of the accident.
blow� | blow�: v. 1 breathe, puff, exhale; expel: If the crystals turn green when you blow into the tube, it means that you''ve had too much to drink. Blow some air into the balloon. 2 waft, puff, whistle, whine, blast: An icy wind blew through the cracks in the windows. 3 Colloq bungle, botch, make a mess of, muff, mismanage, Colloq screw up, mess up, fluff, bugger up, Taboo fuck up: It was my last chance to win and I blew it. 4 Colloq spend, lavish, squander, waste, throw out or away: She blew hundreds on that dress and now she won''t wear it. 5 short-circuit, burn out: All the fuses blew when I turned on the electric heater. 6 blow hot and cold. vacillate, hesitate, dither, Colloq shilly-shally: The sales manager has been blowing hot and cold over my proposal for a month now. 7 blow out. a extinguish: I blew out all the candles in one breath. The match blew out in the wind. b explode, burst: One of my tyres blew out on the way over here. c short-circuit, burn out: The lights blew out during the storm. 8 blow up. a become furious or angry or enraged, flare up, lose one''s temper, Slang blow one''s top or US also stack, flip one''s lid: She really blew up when I said I was going to the pub. b explode, burst, shatter, Colloq bust; detonate, dynamite, destroy, blast: The bridge blew up with a roar. Demolition experts will blow up the dam. c enlarge, inflate, embroider, magnify, expand, exaggerate, overstate: The tabloid press has blown up the story out of all proportion. d enlarge, magnify, amplify, expand, increase: Can you blow up just this corner of the photograph? e inflate; distend, swell: We were busy blowing up balloons for the party. --n. 9 gale, storm, tempest, whirlwind, tornado, cyclone, hurricane, typhoon, north-easter, nor''easter: We can expect a big blow tonight - winds of gale force, they say.
blow� | blow�: n. 1 stroke, punch, clout, whack, hit, knock, thump, thwack, Colloq wallop: He was felled by a blow to the chin in the fourth round. 2 shock, surprise, bombshell, jolt, bolt from the blue, revelation: It came as a blow to learn that she was leaving in a month.
blue | blue: adj. 1 depressed, low-spirited, dispirited, sad, dismal, down, down in the mouth, gloomy, unhappy, glum, downcast, crestfallen, chap-fallen, dejected, melancholy, despondent, downhearted, morose: I''ve been feeling blue since Kathleen left me. 2 obscene, vulgar, indecent, titillating, pornographic, dirty, filthy, lewd, smutty, risqu�, bawdy, sexy, X, X-rated, 18, US XXX; indelicate, suggestive, off colour, erotic, coarse, offensive, improper: There''s a place nearby that shows blue movies.
bluff� | bluff�: v. 1 deceive, hoodwink, dupe, mislead, delude, trick, cozen, fool, Colloq bamboozle: I bluffed him into believing that I held four aces. 2 pretend, feign, bluster, fool, Colloq kid; Slang bullshit: She became frightened, unaware that I was only bluffing. --n. 3 bombast, bravado, boasting, bragging, bluster, show, puffery; deception, blind; Literary rodomontade, gasconade; Colloq hot air: Roger''s ranting is all bluff - he''s really very timid.
bluff� | bluff�: adj. 1 blustering, gruff, rough, abrupt, blunt, curt, short, crude: Fred''s bluff manner puts many people off. 2 frank, open, hearty, straightforward, plain, plain-spoken, outspoken, affable, approachable, good-natured, friendly: That comment is typical of his bluff honesty. --n. 3 cliff, escarpment, precipice, scarp, headland, promontory, palisades: As you sail down the lower Hudson river, the tall bluffs form a natural wall along the western bank.
blunder | blunder: v. 1 stumble, flounder: I had somehow blundered into a meeting of the local crime syndicate. She blundered upon the truth when she saw them together. --n. 2 mistake, error, gaffe, faux pas, slip, slip-up, howler, Colloq boo-boo, screw-up, fluff, boner, US goof, goof-up: I made a stupid blunder in telling him about the plans.
blunt | blunt: adj. 1 dull, worn: This knife is too blunt to cut bread. 2 abrupt, curt, rough-spoken, plain-spoken, short, direct, candid, frank, unceremonious, undiplomatic, inconsiderate, thoughtless, brusque, outspoken, bluff, brash, indelicate, rude, uncivil, ungracious, discourteous, impolite; straightforward, straight, uncomplicated, uncompromising: Ralph may be blunt, but at least you know exactly where you stand with him. --v. 3 dull, take the edge off: You''ve blunted the scissors cutting that cardboard. 4 soften, mitigate, mollify, soothe; efface, dim, obscure, blur, weaken: Mother''s love is an absorbing delight, blunting all other sensibilities.
blur | blur: n. 1 indistinctness, dimness, haziness, cloudiness, fogginess: We were unable to pick out the star from the blur of the Galaxy. 2 fog, haze, Brit fuzz: Without my spectacles, everything is a blur. --v. 3 dim, befog, obscure, bedim; efface: My vision was momentarily blurred, and I didn''t see the oncoming car. 4 obscure, hide, conceal, veil, mask; weaken: The Honourable Gentleman has blurred the distinction between the unemployed and the unemployable.
blurt | blurt: v. Usually, blurt out. burst out with, utter; reveal, disclose, give away, divulge, Colloq blab: She blurted out the name of her accomplice.
blush | blush: v. be or act ashamed, redden, flush, colour: He blushed when asked if he still loved Belinda.
bluster | bluster: v. 1 storm, rage, harangue: It won''t do any good to bluster on about the postal service. 2 swagger, strut, talk big, boast, brag, blow one''s own horn or trumpet, show off, crow: He''s always blustering about his conquests. --n. 3 swaggering, storming, raging, raving, haranguing, tumult; hot air, puffery, bravado, grandiloquence, Literary rodomontade: He''s all bluster and will do nothing despite his threats.
