Collins English Thesaurus Essential. Collins Dictionaries
benefit, gain, extra, plus (informal), asset, perk (Brit. informal), icing on the cakebony ADJECTIVE = thin, lean, skinny, angular, gaunt, skeletal, haggard, emaciated, scrawny, undernourished, cadaverous, rawboned, macilent (rare)book NOUN 1 a book about witches = work, title, volume, publication, manual, paperback, textbook, tract, hardback, tome, e-book or ebook, blook 2 I had several names in my little black book that I called regularly. = notebook, album, journal, diary, pad, record book, Filofax (trademark), notepad, exercise book, jotter, memorandum book, e-book or ebook, blook ▸ VERB She booked herself a flight home last night. = reserve, schedule, engage, line up, organize, charter, arrange for, procure, make reservations, e-book or ebook ● book in We were happy to book in at the Royal Pavilion Hotel. = register, enter, enrolbooking NOUN = reservation, date, appointmentbookish ADJECTIVE = studious, learned, academic, intellectual, literary, scholarly, erudite, pedantic, well-read, donnishbooklet NOUN = brochure, leaflet, hand-out, pamphlet, folder, mailshot, handbillboom NOUN 1 an economic boom = expansion, increase, development, growth, advance, jump, boost, improvement, spurt, upsurge, upturn, upswing ◼ OPPOSITE: decline 2 The stillness of the night was broken by the boom of a cannon. = bang, report, shot, crash, clash, blast, burst, explosion, roar, thunder, rumble, clap, peal, detonation ▸ VERB 1 Lipstick sales have boomed even more. = increase, flourish, grow, develop, succeed, expand, strengthen, do well, swell, thrive, intensify, prosper, burgeon, spurt ◼ OPPOSITE: fall 2 Thunder boomed like battlefield cannons over Crooked Mountain. = bang, roll, crash, blast, echo, drum, explode, roar, thunder, rumble, resound, reverberate, pealboomerang VERB = rebound, backfire, come home to roostboon NOUN 1 This battery booster is a boon for photographers. = benefit, advantage, blessing, godsend, gift 2 She begged him to grant her one boon. = gift, present, grant, favour, donation, hand-out, gratuity, benefactionboorish ADJECTIVE = loutish, gross, crude, rude, hick (informal, chiefly U.S. & Canad.), coarse, vulgar, rustic, barbaric, churlish, uneducated, bearish, uncouth, unrefined, uncivilized, clownish, oafish, lubberly ◼ OPPOSITE: refinedboost VERB They need to take action to boost sales. = increase, develop, raise, expand, add to, build up, heighten, enlarge, inflate, magnify, amplify, augment, jack up ◼ OPPOSITE: decrease ▸ NOUN 1 The paper is enjoying a boost in circulation. = rise, increase, advance, jump, addition, improvement, expansion, upsurge, upturn, increment, upswing, upward turn ◼ OPPOSITE: fall 2 It did give me a boost to win such an event. = encouragement, helpboot VERB One guy booted the door down. = kick, punt, put the boot in(to) (slang), drop-kick ● boot someone out Committee members may be booted out if they fail to attend meetings. = dismiss, sack (informal), expel, throw out, oust, relegate, kick out, eject, kiss off (slang, chiefly U.S. & Canad.), show (someone) the door, give (someone) the boot (slang), give (someone) their marching orders, give (someone) the bullet (Brit. slang), give (someone) the bum's rush (slang), throw (someone) out on their ear (informal), give (someone) the heave or push (informal)bootleg ADJECTIVE = illicit, illegal, outlawed, pirate, unofficial, black-market, unlicensed, under-the-table, unauthorized, contraband, hooky (slang), under-the-counter ◼ OPPOSITE: officialbooty NOUN = plunder, winnings, gains, haul, spoils, prey, loot, takings, pillage, swag (slang), boodle (slang, chiefly U.S.)booze VERB a load of drunken people who had been boozing all afternoon = drink, indulge, get drunk, tipple, imbibe (formal), tope (literary), carouse, bevvy (dialect), get plastered, drink like a fish, get soused, get tanked up (informal), go on a binge or bender (informal), hit the booze or bottle (informal)boozer NOUN 1 I just popped into the boozer for a drink. = pub, local (Brit. informal), bar (informal, chiefly Brit.), inn, tavern, beer parlour (Canad.), beverage room (Canad.), public house, watering hole (facetious, slang), roadhouse, hostelry, alehouse (archaic), taproom 2 We always thought he was a bit of a boozer. = drinker, toper (literary), drunk, soak (slang), alcoholic, lush (slang), drunkard, sot, tippler, wino (informal), alko or alco (Austral. slang), inebriateborder NOUN 1 Clifford is enjoying life north of the border. = frontier, line, marches, limit, bounds, boundary, perimeter, borderline, borderland 2 pillowcases trimmed with a hand-crocheted border = edge, lip, margin, skirt, verge (Brit.), rim, hem, brim, flange ▸ VERB white sand bordered by palm trees and tropical flowers = edge, bound, decorate, trim, fringe, rim, hem ● border on something The atmosphere borders on the surreal. = come close to, approach, be like, resemble, be similar to, approximate, come nearborderline ADJECTIVE = marginal, bordering, doubtful, peripheral, indefinite, indeterminate, equivocal, inexact, unclassifiablebore1 VERB Get the special drill bit to bore the correct-size hole. = drill, mine, sink, tunnel, pierce, penetrate, burrow, puncture, perforate, gouge outbore2 VERB Dickie bored him all through the meal with stories of the Navy. = tire, exhaust, annoy, fatigue, weary, wear out, jade, wear down, be tedious, pall on, send to sleep ◼ OPPOSITE: excite ▸ NOUN He's a bore and a fool. = nuisance, pain (informal), drag (informal), headache (informal), yawn (informal), anorak (informal), pain in the neck (informal), dullard, dull person, tiresome person, wearisome talkerbored ADJECTIVE = fed up, tired, hacked (off) (U.S. slang), wearied, weary, uninterested, sick and tired (informal), listless, browned-off (informal), brassed off (Brit. slang), ennuied, hoha (N.Z.)boredom NOUN = tedium, apathy, doldrums, weariness, monotony, dullness, sameness, ennui (literary), flatness, world-weariness, tediousness, irksomeness ◼ OPPOSITE: excitementboring ADJECTIVE = uninteresting, dull, tedious, stale, tiresome, monotonous, old, dead, flat, routine, humdrum, insipid, mind-numbing, unexciting, ho-hum (informal), repetitious, wearisome, unvaried, yawnsomeborn VERB She was born in London on April 29, 1923. = brought into this world, delivered
| USAGE This word is spelled without an e: a new baby was born. The word borne, spelled with an e, is the past participle of the verb bear: he had borne his ordeal with great courage, not he had born his ordeal with great courage. |
borrow VERB 1 Can I borrow a pen please? = take on loan, touch (someone) for (slang), scrounge (informal), blag (slang), mooch (slang), cadge, use temporarily, take and return ◼ OPPOSITE: lend 2 I borrowed his words for my book's title. = steal, take, use, copy, adopt, appropriate, acquire, pinch (informal), pirate, poach, pilfer, filch, plagiarizebosom NOUN 1 a flattering style that accentuates the bosom = breast, chest, front, bust, thorax 2 He went back to the snug bosom of his family. = midst, centre, heart, protection, circle, shelter 3 Something gentle seemed to move in her bosom. = heart, feelings, spirit, soul, emotions, sympathies, sentiments, affections ▸ ADJECTIVE They were bosom friends. = intimate, close, warm, dear, friendly, confidential, cherished, boon, very dearboss NOUN He cannot stand his boss. = manager, head, leader, director, chief, executive, owner, master, governor (informal), employer, administrator, supervisor, superintendent, gaffer (informal, chiefly Brit.), foreman or woman or person, overseer, kingpin, big cheese (old-fashioned, slang), numero uno (informal), Mister Big (slang, chiefly U.S.), sherang (Austral. & N.Z.) ● boss someone around He started bossing people around and I didn't like it. = order around, dominate, bully, intimidate, oppress, dictate to, terrorize, put upon, push around (slang), browbeat, ride roughshod over, tyrannize, rule with an iron handbossy ADJECTIVE = domineering, lordly, arrogant, authoritarian, oppressive, hectoring, autocratic, dictatorial, coercive, imperious, overbearing, tyrannical, despotic, high-handedbotch VERB It's a silly idea, and he has botched it. = spoil, mar, bungle, fumble, screw up (informal), mess up, cock up (Brit. slang), mismanage, muff, make a nonsense of (informal), bodge (informal), make a pig's ear of (informal), flub (U.S. slang), crool or cruel (Austral. slang) ▸ NOUN I rather made a botch of that whole thing. = mess, failure, blunder, miscarriage, bungle,