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block
blind-fold¹ /'blaɪndfəʊld/ n a piece of cloth that covers the
eyes to prevent seeing
blindfold² v [T] to put a blindfold on: The prisoner was
blindfolded.
blindfold³ BrE || blind-fold-ed /'blaɪndfəʊldɪd/ AmE — adv
with a blindfold over one's eyes: I could do it blindfold.
blind man's 'buff || blindman's bluff AmE — n [U] a
children's game in which one child, whose eyes are covered
with a blindfold, tries to catch the others
blind-side /'blaɪndsaɪd/ v [T] AmE infml 1 to deliberately ask
someone a difficult question or give them an unpleasant
surprise that confuses them, so that they do not know how
to react: The Senator was clearly blindsided by the ques-
tion. 2 to hit someone unexpectedly from the side: One of
the gang blindsided Sammy with a baseball bat.
blind spot n 1 the point in the eye where the nerve enters,
which is not sensitive to light 2 a place or an area that
cannot be seen easily, especially the part of the road slightly
behind and to the side of the driver of a car 3 something
that one is unable and perhaps unwilling to understand: I
have a blind spot where computers are concerned.
bling bling /ˌblɪŋ 'blɪŋ/ also bling n [U] slang expensive
objects such as jewellery, cars, and clothes that are owned in
order to be seen and admired. Bling bling is often an impor-
tant part of VIDEOS for RAP and R&B songs.
blink¹ /blɪŋk/ v [I;T] 1 to shut and open your eyes quickly: I
blinked as I came out into the sunlight. 2 if lights blink, they
shine less brightly and then more brightly, or they go on
and off quickly: The light on your answering machine is
blinking. 3 not (even) blink to not seem at all surprised: She
didn't even blink when I told her the price. 4 blink and you
miss it BrE infml used to mean that something happens for a
very short time or is very small, so that it is easy not to
notice it: It's a tiny little village - blink and you miss it.
blink² n 1 an act of blinking 2 on the blink infml (of machin-
ery) not working properly: The radio's on the blink again.
blink-ered /'blɪŋkəd|-ərd/ adj 1 (of a horse) wearing blink-
ers 2 derog showing an inability to understand or accept
anything beyond one's own familiar ideas, customs, beliefs
etc: blinkered opinions | She's so blinkered!
blink-ers /'blɪŋkəz||-ər/ n [P] 1 also blinders AmE — a pair
of flat pieces of leather fixed beside a horse's eyes to prevent
it seeing objects on either side: (fig.) David has blinkers on
when it comes to politics. 2 AmE for WINKERS
blink-ing /'blɪŋkɪŋ/ adj [A] BrE euph infml for BLOODY: Don't be
such a blinking fool!
blintze, blintz /blɪnts/ n AmE a thin flat breadlike cake made
in Jewish cooking and rolled around cheese or fruit
blip /blɪp/ n 1 a very short sound produced by a machine,
such as a RADAR apparatus or a machine that measures a sick
person's heartbeat → compare BLEEP 2 an image produced
by a RADAR apparatus 3 a short pause in a process, usually
caused by a small problem
bliss /blɪs/ n [U] complete happiness: a young couple in
married bliss | It's sheer bliss to be able to spend the day in
bed. —ful adj —fully adv: blissfully happy | The passengers
carried on drinking and dancing blissfully unaware of the
impending disaster.
blissed out /ˌblɪst 'aʊt/ adj BrE infml extremely happy and
relaxed, especially as a result of using illegal drugs: blissed-
out partygoers
B-list /'biː lɪst/ adj [A] B-list celebrities, actors etc are people
who are fairly well known because they are on television, in
the newspapers etc, but who are not really famous: They'd
invited some B-list celebrity to open the new supermarket. →
compare A-LIST
blis-ter¹ /'blɪstər/ n 1 a thin watery swelling under the skin,
caused by rubbing, burning etc: These new shoes have given
me blisters. 2 a similar swelling on the surface of things such
as painted wood or a rubber TYRE
blister² v [I;T] to (cause to) form blisters: When I play tennis
my hands blister from holding the racquet. | The heat blistered
the paint on the building.
blis-ter-ing /'blɪstərɪŋ/ adj 1 very hot: the blistering heat of
the desert 2 full of anger and severe disapproval; SCATHING: a
blistering attack on the government —ly adv: blisteringly hot
'blister pack also bubble pack n a packet for small
products with a clear plastic front fixed to a thick paper
backing
blithe /blaɪð||blaɪð, blaɪθ/ also blithe-some /-səm/ lit — adj
sometimes derog (especially of a person's behaviour) happy and
unworried: a blithe lack of concern —ly adv: They blithely
carried on chatting, ignoring the customers who were waiting
to be served.
blith-er-ing /'blɪðərɪŋ/ adj [A] slang stupid; talking nonsense:
You blithering idiot!
blitz¹ /blɪts/ n 1 also blitz-krieg /'blɪtskriːg/ a (period of)
sudden heavy attack, especially from the air 2 [(on)] infml a
period of great activity for some special purpose: an adver-
tising blitz | Let's have a blitz on all these letters that need
answering.
blitz² v [T] to make blitz attacks on: London was badly blitzed
in 1940.
Blitz, the the time during World War II when German
planes dropped many bombs on British cities, especially
London: Sam had rescued three people from a burning house
during the Blitz.
blitzed /blɪtst/ adj especially AmE infml very tired or very drunk
Blitz-er, Wolf /'blɪtsər/ (1948-) a television news ANCHOR for
CNN. He became known in the US during the Gulf War in
the 1990s.
Blix, Hans /blɪks, hæns/ (1928-) a Swedish DIPLOMAT who
was sent by the United Nations to look for WEAPONS OF
MASS DESTRUCTION in Iraq in 2002 and 2003 because several
countries believed that the Iraqi government was hiding
them. He was often known as the 'chief UN weapons
inspector'. He and his group were not able to find the
weapons and asked for more time, but the US and British
governments did not want to wait and went to war with
Iraq in March 2003.
Blix-en, Baroness Kar-en /'blɪksən, 'kærən/ (1885-1962)
a Danish writer who wrote in English using the man's name
Isak Dinesen. She wrote many short stories, but her most
famous book, Out of Africa, describing her life on a coffee
farm in Kenya, was made into a film in 1985.
bliz-zard /'blɪzəd||-ərd/ n a long severe snowstorm → see
RAIN (USAGE)
bloat-ed /'bləʊtɪd/ adj unpleasantly swollen: the bloated
body of a drowned dog | I felt absolutely bloated after our
Christmas dinner. | (fig.) a bloated estimate of the cost
bloat-er /'bləʊtər/ n a large fat fish (especially a HERRING) that
has been treated with salt and smoke
blob /blɒb||blɑːb/ n [(of)] a drop or small round mass: a blob of
paint on the floor
bloc /blɒk||blɑːk/ n [C+sing./pl. v] a group of people (especially
politicians), political parties, or nations that act together: the
Communist bloc → see also EN BLOC; compare BLOCK
block¹ /blɒk||blɑːk/ n 1 [C[of]] a solid usually straight-sided
mass or piece of hard material such as wood or stone: a
block of ice | The floor was made of wooden blocks. 2 [C]
especially BrE a large building divided into separate parts: a
block of flats | an office block → see also TOWER BLOCK 3 [C],
especially AmE (the distance along one of the sides of) a
building or group of buildings built between two streets: The
office is four blocks from here. | We live on the same
block. 4 [C(of)] a quantity of things considered as a single
unit: a block of seats in a theatre | a block of shares in a
business 5 [C usually sing.] something that stops movement or
activity: a block in the water pipe | I seem to have a mental
block about computers. (=I can't understand them at all) | a
novelist suffering from writer's block (=feeling unable to
write) → see also ROADBLOCK 6 [the] the large piece of
wood, with a hollow for the neck, on which people's heads
were cut off as a punishment in former times 7 [C] a piece
of wood or metal with words or line drawings cut into the
surface of it, for printing 8 [C] a movement in sport that
stops your opponent from getting the ball or scoring
(SCORE) 9 [C] tech a physical unit of stored information on a
MAGNETIC TAPE or DISK: How big are the blocks on this
tape? 10 sb's been around the block (a few times) AmE
spoken used in order to say that someone has a lot of
experience of life in general or of a particular kind of
situation: The man responsible for the crime spree was no