boilerplate
142
in a steam engine, or to provide heating in a house → see
also DOUBLE BOILER, POTBOILER
boil·er·plate /'bɔɪləpleɪt||-ər-/ n [C;U] AmE a standard piece
of writing or a design for something that can be easily used
each time you need it, for example in business or legal
documents: a boilerplate for a fax message | lawyers selling
boilerplate wills
'boiler suit also coveralls AmE — n [C;U] a garment made in
one piece, worn for dirty work; OVERALLS → compare DUNGA-
REES
boil·ing /'bɔɪlɪŋ/ adj 1 very hot: Can I open a window? It's
boiling in here. | boiling hot | It's been boiling hot all summer.
→ see COLD 2 very angry: I was boiling with pent-up rage.
'boiling point n 1 the temperature at which a liquid boils:
Oil has a low boiling point. → compare FREEZING
POINT 2 the point at which high excitement, anger etc
develops into action: Relations between the two countries
have almost reached boiling point.
bois·ter·ous /'bɔɪstərəs/ adj 1 (of a person or behaviour)
noisily cheerful and rough: Her sons are nice boys, but rather
boisterous. 2 (of weather) wild and rough —-ly adv —-ness
n [U]
bok choy /ˌbɒk 'tʃɔɪlˌbaɪk-/ n [U] a vegetable with green
leaves, eaten especially in E Asia
Bo·lan, Marc /'bəʊlən, mɑːk||maːrk/ (1947–77) a British
singer and songwriter in the 1970s with the popular group
T. Rex. His songs include 20th Century Boy and Get It On. He
died young in a car crash.
bold /bəʊld/ adj 1 (of a person or behaviour) brave, confi-
dent, and adventurous; not afraid to take risks: The council
today announced its bold new plans for the city centre. | He's a
bold thinker, with lots of original ideas. 2 derog (of a person
or behaviour) without respect or shame; INSOLENT: She's a
bold child. | He sat there (as) bold as brass (=extremely
boldly) and refused to leave. 3 (of the appearance of some-
thing) strongly marked; clearly formed: the bold shape of the
cliffs | a drawing done in a few bold lines 4 [no comp.] (of
print) in boldface: The headwords in this dictionary are
printed in bold type. 5 be/make (so) bold (as) to fml or humor
(especially in social matters) to dare to: That's a very un-
usual dress you're wearing, if I might make so bold (as to say
so). —-ly adv —-ness n [U]
bold·face /'bəʊldfeɪs/ n [U] (in printing) thick black letters
bold·faced /ˌbəʊld'feɪst♦/ adj 1 without respect or shame;
BOLD 2 [no comp.] (of print) in boldface
bold·ly /'bəʊldli/ to boldly go where no man has gone
before a phrase from the television SERIES Star Trek, describ-
ing the idea of discovering new and exciting places in space.
The phrase is also one of the most famous examples of a SPLIT
INFINITIVE which is considered by some people to be bad
English. → see also STAR TREK
bole /bəʊl/ n the TRUNK (=the main stem) of a tree
bo·le·ro¹ /bə'leərəʊ/ n pl. -ros (a piece of music written for) a
Spanish dance
bol·e·ro² /'bɒlərəʊllbə'leərəʊ/ n pl. -ros a (woman's) short
JACKET open at the front and usually not reaching the waist
Bo·leyn, Anne /bə'lɪn/ (1507–36) the second wife of the
English king HENRY VIII, who was the mother of Queen
Elizabeth I. Henry wanted to end his first marriage in order to
marry Anne Boleyn, but the Pope would not allow it, and this
led to the separation of the Church of England from the
Roman Catholic Church. Henry later had Anne's head cut off.
Bol·i·var, Simon /'bɒlɪvɑːr ||'boʊ-/ (1783–1830) also known
as the Liberator; a soldier and political leader who, at the
time when many parts of South America were ruled by
Spain, fought against the Spanish army and won independ-
ence for Venezuela, Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, and Ecuador.
He is greatly respected in South America, and the country
Bolivia is named after him.
Bo·liv·i·a /bə'lɪviə/ a mountainous country in the western
part of South America, surrounded by Brazil, Chile, Argen-
tina, Peru, and Paraguay. Population: 8,586,443 (2003).
Capital: La Paz.
boll /bəʊl/ n the seed case of the cotton plant
bol·lard /'bɒləd, -lɑːd||'bɑːlərd/ n a short thick post a) BrE
at the end of streets closed to cars so that they may not
enter b) BrE in the middle of a street, where walkers
wait c) on a ship or beside the water, for tying ships' ropes
to
bol·lock /'bɒlək||'bɑː-/ v [T] BrE slang to tell someone angrily
that you do not like what they have done: I'll bollock him
for sticking his rubbish in my cupboard.
bol·lock·ing /'bɒləkɪŋ||'bɑː-/ n give someone a bollocking
BrE to tell someone that you are very angry about something
they have done: I expect I'll get a bollocking from my boss
when she finds out.
bol·locks¹ /'bɒləks||'bɑː-/ n, interj BrE taboo slang 1 [P] TESTI-
CLES 2 [U] derog complete nonsense 3 be the (dog's) bol-
locks a rude expression used in order to say that someone
or something is extremely good: Their new album's the dog's
bollocks. | I went to that club in Camden on Friday night. It's
definitely the bollocks.
bollocks² v
bollocks sthg. ⇔ up BrE || bol·lix sthg. ⇔ up
/'bɒlɪks||'bɑː-/ AmE — phr v [T] taboo slang to spoil; BUNGLE
—'bollocks-up n
,boll 'weevil n an insect that attacks the cotton plant
Bol·ly·wood /'bɒliwʊd||'bɑː-/ n an informal name for the
Indian film industry, based on the names 'Hollywood' and
'Bombay', the city where most popular Indian films are
made
bo·lo·gna /bə'ləʊni/ n [U] AmE a popular SAUSAGE meat made
of BEEF, VEAL and PORK commonly served in sandwiches
(SANDWICH). Children often take bologna sandwiches to
school.
Bo·lo·gna /bə'ləʊnjə/ the capital city of Emilia-Romagna in
north central Italy, built below a group of mountains called
the Apennines
Bol·o·gnese /ˌbɒlə'neɪz♦ ||ˌbəʊlə'njeɪz/ adj cooked with a
thick liquid made of TOMATOes and very small pieces of meat:
Bolognese sauce | spaghetti Bolognese
bo·lo·ney, baloney /bə'ləʊni/ n [U] slang foolish talk; non-
sense: That's a lot of boloney.
bo·lo tie /'bəʊləʊ ˌtaɪ/ also string tie n AmE a string worn
around the neck with ends hanging down the front of a
shirt, held together by a decorative object and worn usually
by men in the western US
Bol·she·vik /'bɒlʃɪvɪk||'bəʊl-/ n 1 a member of the political
party led by Lenin, which took power in Russia in the
RUSSIAN REVOLUTION of 1917 and later became the Commu-
nist Party 2 an insulting word for a Communist or anyone
with strong LEFT-WING opinions
Bol·shoi Bal·let, the /ˌbɒlʃɔɪ 'bæleɪtˌbəʊlʃɔɪ bæ'leɪ/ a
famous Russian school and theatre for BALLET, based in
Moscow
bol·shy, bolshie /'bɒlʃi||'bəʊlʃi/ adj BrE infml derog unhelpful
or unwilling and tending to argue: I asked her to do some
typing but she's being a bit bolshy about it.
bol·ster¹ /'bəʊlstə/ n a large long PILLOW that goes across
the head of a bed under the other pillows
bolster² v [T(UP)] to support, strengthen, or increase: These
price cuts are sure to bolster demand for their products. |
bolster up someone's pride
bolt¹ /bəʊlt/ n 1 a screw with no point, which fasten
through a piece of metal (NUT) to hold things together 2 a
metal bar that slides across to fasten a door or window 3 a
short heavy ARROW to be fired from a CROSSBOW 4 a flash of
lightning; THUNDERBOLT 5 a large quantity of rolled
cloth 6 bolt from the blue something unexpected and
unpleasant: His sudden death came as a bolt from the blue. —
see also NUTS AND BOLTS, have shot one's bolt (SHOOT¹)
bolt² v 1 [I] to move fast or run away suddenly: My horse
bolted and threw me in the mud. | The thief bolted when he
saw the policeman. 2 [T(DOWN)] to eat very quickly: She bolted
(down) her breakfast. 3 [I;T] to (cause to) fasten with a bolt:
She bolted the door. | This door bolts on the inside. | These two
metal parts bolt together; this one bolts onto that one. | Let me
out! I'm bolted in. 4 [T] AmE, becoming rare to break away from
(a political party): He bolted the Republicans.
bolt³ n [S] an act of suddenly running away: The prisoner
made a bolt for (=towards) the door.