B
[babe in the woods] A person who is inexperienced or innocent in certain things. * /He is a good driver, but as a mechanic he is just a babe in the woods./ Compare: OVER ONE'S HEAD, BEYOND ONE'S DEPTH.
[baby] See: WAR BABY.
[baby boom] A sudden increase in the birth rate. * /The universities were filled to capacity due to the baby boom that followed World War II./
[baby grand] A small grand piano no longer than three feet, maximally four feet. * /This apartment can't take a regular grand piano, so we'll have to buy a baby grand./
[baby kisser] , A person campaigning for votes in his quest for elected political office; such persons often kiss little children in public. * /Nixon was a baby kisser when he ran for Vice President with Eisenhower./
[back] See: BACK OF or IN BACK OF, BEHIND ONE'S BACK, BRUSH BACK, COME BACK, CUT BACK, DOUBLE BACK, DRAW BACK, DROP BACK. EYES IN THE BACK OF ONE'S HEAD, FADE BACK, FALL BACK, FALL BACK ON, FLANKER BACK. FROM WAY BACK, GET BACK AT, GET ONE'S BACK UP, GIVE THE SHIRT OFF ONE'S BACK, GO BACK ON, HANG BACK, HARK BACK, HOLD BACK, LIKE WATER OFF A DUCK'S BACK, LOOK BACK, OFF ONE'S BACK, ON ONE'S BACK, PAT ON THE BACK, PIGGY-BACK, PIN ONE'S EARS BACK, PUT BACK THE CLOCK or TURN BACK THE CLOCK, PUT ONE'S BACK TO IT, SCRATCH ONE'S BACK, SET BACK, SET BACK ON ONE'S HEELS, SIT BACK, STAB IN THE BACK, TAKE A BACK SEAT, TAKE BACK, TALK BACK also ANSWER BACK, TURN ONE'S BACK ON, WEIGHT OF THE WORLD ON ONE'S SHOULDERS or WORLD ON ONE'S BACK, WHILE BACK.
[back and forth] Backwards and forwards. * /The chair is rocking hack and forth./ * /The tiger is pacing hack and forth in his cage./ Compare: TO AND FRO.
[back away] To act to avoid or lessen one's involvement in something; draw or turn back; retreat. * The townspeople backed away from the building plan when they found out how much it would cost.
[back door] , , Rear of vehicle. * /I am watching your back door./
[back down] or [back off] , To give up a claim; not follow up a threat. * /Bill said he could beat Ted, but when Ted put up his fists Bill backed down./ * /Harry claimed Joe had taken his book, but backed down when the teacher talked with him./ Syn.: BEAT A RETREAT. Compare: BACK OUT, GIVE IN, GO BACK ON(1).
[back in circulation] 1. Socially active once again (said about people); back on the dating circuit after a divorce or a romantic breakup. * /Now that Sully is divorced from Jim she is hack in circulation./ 2. Once again available to the public (said about types of paper money, rare coins, or other commercially available goods). * /In the USA the two-dollar hill was back in circulation for a short time only in the 1950s and 1960s./
