Bunyan, John
176
values. His films include Le Charme Discret De La Bourgeoisie
and Cet Obscur Objet Du Désir.
Bun·yan, John /'bʌnjən/ (1628-88) an English PREACHER
who wrote The PILGRIM'S PROGRESS while he was in prison
for his beliefs
Paul Bunyan
Bunyan, Paul a GIANT (=an extremely large man) in old
American stories. He was a LUMBERJACK (=someone whose
job is to cut down trees) from the forests of Canada and the
north US, who travelled with a blue OX called Babe. They
changed the shape of the land as they walked along, for
example by making mountains and also the GRAND CANYON.
buoy¹ /bɔɪl'bu:i, bɔɪ/ n a floating object fastened to the
bottom of the sea, for example to show ships where there
are rocks → see also LIFE BUOY
buoy² v [T(UP) usually pass.] 1 to keep floating: buoyed by the
water 2 to support; keep high: profits buoyed (up) by a
steady increase in demand 3 to raise the spirits of; make
confident: They were buoyed up by hopes of success.
buoy·an·cy /'bɔɪənsi||'bɔɪənsi, 'bu:jənsi/ n [U] 1 the ten-
dency of an object to float, or to rise when pushed down
into a liquid: the buoyancy of light wood 2 the power of a
liquid to make an object float: the buoyancy of water 3 the
ability to recover quickly from disappointment, bad news
etc 4 the ability, e.g. of prices or business activity, to remain
or return quickly to a high level after a period of difficulty:
the buoyancy of the American market
buoy·ant /'bɔɪənt||'bɔɪənt, 'bu:jənt/ adj showing buoyancy:
Cork is a very buoyant material. | a buoyant mood | a buoyant
economy/stockmarket —ly adv
BUPA /'bu:pə, 'bjʊə-/ abbrev. for British United Provident
Association; a company which sells private health insurance
and runs its own hospitals outside the National Health
Service: Are you in (=insured by) BUPA?
bur /bɜːr/ n a BURR
Bur·ber·ry /'bɜːbəri||'bɜːrbəri, -beri/ trademark an expensive
type of RAINCOAT made from a special cloth with the same
name
bur·ble /'bɜːbəl||'bɜːr-/ also bubble AmE — v 1 [I] to make a
sound like a stream flowing over stones 2 [I(ON, AWAY);T] to
talk or say quickly but foolishly or in a way that is hard to
hear clearly: He would burble on/burble away for hours about
his stamp collection. | She quickly burbled her thanks and left
the room.
burbs /bɜːbz||bɜːrbz/ n [the] AmE infml for SUBURBS: I know,
you'll just get married and live in the burbs like everybody
else!
Bur·chill, Ju·lie /'bɜːtʃɪl||'bɜːr-, 'dʒu:li/ (1959–) a British
JOURNALIST and NOVELIST who is known for her strong
opinions. She has written articles for many newspapers and
magazines including The Guardian, The Times, and The
Spectator. Her NOVELS include Ambition and No Exit. She used
to be married to the British writer and critic Tony Parsons.
bur·den¹ /'bɜːdn|-ɜːr-/ n fml 1 [C] something that is carried;
a load: a heavy burden → see also BEAST OF BURDEN 2 [C] a
heavy duty or responsibility which is hard to bear: divorce
parents who have to bear/carry the burden of maintaining
two households | People on high incomes face a huge tax
burden. | the burdens of high office 3 [the S(of)] the main
subject or point: The burden of his complaint was that ...
burden² v [T(with)] to load or trouble: I will not burden you
with a lengthy account of what happened. | burdened with
heavy taxation → see also UNBURDEN
burden of 'proof n [the S] the duty or responsibility of
proving something: The burden of proof lies with the person
who makes the charge.
bur·den·some /'bɜːdnsəm||'bɜːr-/ adj fml causing or being a
burden; ONEROUS: burdensome duties
bu·reau /'bjʊərəʊ/ n pl. bureaux /'bjʊərəʊz/ 1 BrE a large
desk or writing-table with a wooden cover which shuts or
slides over the top to close it 2 AmE for CHEST OF DRAW-
ERS 3 an office or organization that collects and/or provides
facts: an information bureau 4 especially AmE a division of a
government department
bu·reau·cra·cy /bjʊə'rɒkrəsi,||-'rɑː-/ n usually derog 1 [S] a
group of government, business, or other officials who are
appointed rather than elected: the Civil Service bureauc-
racy 2 [C;U] (a system of) government by such offi-
cials 3 [U] a system of doing things officially which is
annoyingly and unnecessarily difficult to understand or deal
with and usually ineffective: the company bureaucracy
bu·reau·crat /'bjʊərəkræt/ n usually derog a member of a
bureaucracy
bu·reau·crat·ic /ˌbjʊərə'krætɪk/ adj usually derog of or like a
bureaucracy or a bureaucrat: bureaucratic rules | In this
company you have to go through complex bureaucratic proce-
dures just to get a new pencil. —ally /kli/ adv
bureau de change /ˌbjʊərəʊ də 'ɒndʒ||-ʃɑːndʒ/ n Fr an
office or shop where people can change foreign money into
local money or change local money into foreign money
Bureau of Indian Affairs, the abbrev. the BIA n a
government organization which is concerned with the WEL-
FARE and education of Native Americans and with other
legal matters concerning RESERVATIONS (=areas set aside for
Native Americans to live on)
bur·geon /'bɜːdʒən||'bɜːr-/ v [I] fml to grow or develop
quickly: the burgeoning home computer industry
burg·er /'bɜːgər||'bɜːr-/ n 1 a round flat cake mainly of
meat, often contained in a bread roll; a HAMBURGER
2 -burger a) a HAMBURGER in which the meat is covered
with the stated substance: a cheeseburger b) something like
a HAMBURGER but made of a different substance: a
nutburger/a soyaburger
'burger bar n BrE a type of restaurant selling burgers; where
food is ordered from a bar
'Burger King trademark a restaurant in the US and many other
countries, which serves HAMBURGERS and other types of FAST
FOOD
bur·gess /'bɜːdʒəs||'bɜːr-/ n old use or pomp a free man of a
city or country, having the right to elect representatives to
the government
Burgess, Anthony (1917–93) a British writer whose novels
include Earthly Powers, A Dead Man in Deptford, and A
CLOCKWORK ORANGE, which was made into a CONTROVERSIAL
film. He also wrote ESSAYS and books about the English
language, including The Novel Now and A Student's Guide to
Contemporary Fiction.
Burgess, Guy (1911–63) an Englishman who was a SPY for
the former Soviet Union and escaped there in 1951 → see
also Anthony BLUNT, Donald MACLEAN, Kim PHILBY
burgh /'bʌrə||bɜːrg, 'bʌrəʊ/ n ScotE for BOROUGH
burg·her /'bɜːgər||'bɜːr-/ n often humor a person who lives in a
particular town: Their wild behaviour outraged the respect-
able burghers of Oxford.
burg·lar /'bɜːglər||'bɜːr-/ n a thief who breaks into houses,
shops etc with the intention of stealing, especially during
the night → see also CAT BURGLAR; compare HOUSE
BREAKER, ROBBER, THIEF