105
Bede, the Venerable
She started singing on her own after the group stopped
working together. She married the footballer David Beckham
and they have two children. The couple are famous celebri-
ties (CELEBRITY) who often appear in newspapers and maga-
zines wearing expensive, fashionable clothes, and they are
also known for having a happy marriage. Newspapers often
call them Posh 'n Becks.
**beck·on** /'bekən/ v [I(to);T] to call, order, or signal with a
movement of the head, hand etc: *I could see her beckoning*
*(to) me from the other side of the room.* | *She beckoned me to*
*follow her.* | *He beckoned with his finger and the child came*
*running.* | *He stood waiting until the policeman beckoned him*
*on.* | (fig.) *I'd like to stay – but work beckons, you know!*
**be·come** /bɪ'kʌm/ v **became** /bɪ'keɪm/, **become** 1 [L] to
begin or come to be: *He became king at the age of 17.* | *After*
*the death of her father she became the richest woman in the*
*world.* | *The weather became warmer.* | *We soon became*
*acclimatized to the warmer weather.* | *These constant delays*
*are becoming a bit of a bore.* | *She became increasingly*
*anxious about her husband's strange behaviour.* | *He with-*
*drew from the competition when it became clear that he stood*
*no chance of winning.* 2 [T] *fml* to be right or suitable to;
BEFIT: *This sort of behaviour hardly becomes a person in your*
*position.*
**become of sbdy./sthg.** *phr v* [T] to happen to, often in a
bad way: *I don't know what will become of us if the company*
*goes bankrupt.* | *Whatever became of that nice girl you used to*
*share a flat with?*
Compare **become, get, turn, go**. **Become** and
**get** can be used with most types of adjective to describe
changes in people and things. **Become** is more common
in writing, and **get** is more common in spoken English,
especially where a quick change is involved: *Mary*
*became/got angry.* | *The sky became/got cloudy.* When
things change colour, **turn** can be used, or more
informally, **go**, especially if the change does not last long:
*The leaves are turning brown.* | *His face went red when*
*they made fun of him.* In this use, **go** is more common in
British English and less common in American English. **Go**
can also be used to show changes (usually for the worse)
in expressions such as as: *He went mad/blind/deaf/bald.* |
*The meat's gone bad.*
**be·com·ing** /bɪ'kʌmɪŋ/ *adj fml* 1 apprec (of colour, clothes
etc) looking very good on the wearer: *Blue always looks very*
*becoming on her.* 2 proper or suitable; APPROPRIATE: *His*
*laughter was not very becoming on such a solemn occasion.* →
opposite UNBECOMING —**ly** *adv*
**bec·que·rel** /ˌbekə'rel/ *n* a unit used for measuring levels of
RADIOACTIVITY
**bed¹** /bed/ *n* 1 [C;U] a piece of furniture for sleeping on: *a*
*room with two beds* | *I like reading in bed.* | *a comfortable bed*
*for the night* | *a 40-bed hospital* (=with beds for 40 people) |
*It's time for bed.* (=time to go to sleep) | *It's time those*
*children went to bed.* | *You look ill, young man: bed is the place*
*for you!* | *He helped me to make the bed.* (=make it ready for
sleeping in) | *He tried to get her to go to bed with him.* (=have
sexual relations with him) | *He took to his bed.* (=went to
bed and stayed there because of illness) 2 [C] a surface that
forms the base or bottom of something: *the bed of a river* |
*the seabed* | *The hut rests on a bed of cement.* 3 [C] a piece of
ground prepared for plants; a FLOWERBED 4 [C] a band of
rock lying above or below others; STRATUM: *In this part of the*
*country you can see the rock beds clearly, one on top of the*
*other.* 5 **be brought to bed of** *lit* or *old use* to give birth to (a
child) 6 **get out of bed on the wrong side** *infml* || also **get up**
**on the wrong side of the bed** *AmE infml* to be in a bad
temper 7 **you've made your bed and you must lie on it** you
must accept the bad results of your actions → see also
BED OF ROSES 8 **be in bed with someone** also **get into bed**
**with** *BrE* to join or start working with another business
company or political group, in order to get a business or
political advantage, used especially when you disapprove of
this arrangement (often used in newspapers, television news
etc): *It's a union town – which means that the politicians are*
*in bed with the unions.* | *BT immediately got into bed with*
*MCI, America's second-biggest long-distance phone company.* |
*Once again, the government has been caught in bed with the*
*tobacco industry.*
beds
single bed
double bed
bunk beds
twin beds
camp bed BrE/
cot AmE
futon
cot BrE/
crib AmE
carrycot BrE/
portacrib AmE
cradle
**bed²** v -dd- [T] 1 [+obj+adv/prep] to fix on a base (or beneath
the surface); EMBED: *The machine is bedded in*
*cement.* 2 [T(OUT)] to plant in a bed or beds: *These young*
*plants will soon be ready for bedding (out) in the border.* 3 *old-*
*fash* to persuade (a woman) to have sexual relations with one
**bed down** *phr v* 1 [T;bed sbdy/sthg.