B Flashcards
Back away from something
to go backwards and away from; retreat
Examples:
- The frightened elderly lady backed away from the robber when he brandished a knife.
- The firemen tried their best to extinguish the raging flames but the explosion that followed forced them to back away quickly from the burning building.
Back down
to withdraw a position or defend and opinion
Examples:
- The authorities finally backed down on their plans to reclaim the land after environmentalists staged a protest.
- John was so adamant about knowing the truth that he refused to back down and continued questioning.
- Backing down from a challenge is not something he would ever do.
Back off
retreat
Examples:
- “Back off and stop pestering me!” she shouted.
- The bullies continued abusing the cat and refused to back off even after they were told by other students to stop.
Back out of something or back out
withdraw from a promise to do something
Examples:
- David backed out of the competition as he had to go overseas for urgent business.
- She back out just as we were making plans for the trip.
- Reluctant to invest anymore money in the company, Gino back out of the venture capital contract.
Back up something or back something / someone up
- to copy information from a computer
- as a form of support
- to reverse a direction
Examples:
- Worried that all information may be lost, Dennis immediately backed up all data on his object into his thumb drive.
- Everyone backed her up when she approached the teacher to request for an extension of the project deadline.
- Irene backed up the car so that mother could load groceries into the boot.
Bail out something or bail someone out
save; rescue
Examples:
- His parents had to bail him out after he was arrested for rowdy behaviour.
- During the recession. the government had to bail out some companies that were on the verge of bankruptcy.
Ball up somebody or ball somebody up
- to confuse or complicate matters
- to mess up
Examples:
- I was so balled up by the new job that I had no idea how to go about doing it.
- The new piece of evidence balled the investigators up and they had to go back and look over at all the evidences again.
Bang about some place
to make a lot of loud noises when moving about
Examples:
- Angry with her husband for making a mess, she banged about the kitchen as she started cleaning up.
- “Stop banging around upstairs! It’s midnight and I’m trying to get some sleep here!” the neighbour hollered.
Bang away at somebody or something
- to ask questions in a fast and forceful way
- to work hard and long on something
Examples:
- The reporters banged away at the Police Commissioner, firing questions regarding the string of kidnappings that had happened in the past few months.
- the brothers banged away at their robotics model hoping to have it ready in time for the competition.
Bang up something or somebody
to cause a lot of damage; injury
Examples:
- The man was banged up quite badly after he refused to give in to the demands of the mobsters.
- the car was banged up in the accident and had to be towed to the workshop.
Bank on something or somebody
to count on and depend on
Examples:
- Having waited till the last minute to do his revision, Sam banked on studying a few selected topics and hoped that those topics would be tested on during the exam.
- The divorced mother was banking on the maintenance fees to help bring up her young child.
Barge in on something
to interrupt and enter without permission
Examples:
- He was so eager to share the news that he barged into the office without knocking.
Bash up somebody/something or bash somebody up
beak damage or hurt by hitting
Examples:
- Not only was he robbed of money in the cash register, the shopkeeper was all bashed up too.
- When he could not repay his debts, the loan shark bashed him up.
Bawl somebody out or bawl out something
- scold
- sing or shout out loud in an unpleasant manner
Examples:
- His wife bawled him out for forgetting to pick her up at the shopping mall.
- The teacher bawled Elvin out for coming to class late.
- The only place where Thomas could bawl out was in the bathroom during his shower.
Be along
arrive
Examples:
- Have some patience. The bus will be along soon.
- The cleaners will be along soon to clean up this mess.
