ADJECTIVE 1 difficult to deal with • an awkward situation
2 clumsy and uncomfortable • The large bag was awkward to carry.
[from Old Norse ofugr meaning turned the wrong way]
axe axes
NOUN a tool with a handle and a sharp blade, used for chopping wood
axis axes
NOUN 1 an imaginary line through the middle of something, around which it moves • The earth turns on its axis.
2 one of the two sides of a graph
axle axles
NOUN the long bar that connects a pair of wheels on a vehicle
Bb (#ulink_1434220a-b1fe-5066-8200-ff7d7a82d89e)
babble babbles, babbling, babbled
VERB If someone babbles, they talk in a quick and confused way that is difficult to understand.
baboon baboons
NOUN an African monkey with a pointed face, large teeth and a long tail
baby babies
NOUN a child in the first year or two of its life
baby-sit baby-sits, baby-sitting, baby-sat
VERB If you baby-sit for someone, you look after their children while they are out.
bachelor bachelors
NOUN a man who has never been married
back backs, backing, backed
ADVERB 1 When people or things move back, they move in the opposite direction to the one they are facing.
2 When you go back to a place or situation, you return to it. • She went back to sleep.
NOUN 3 the rear part of your body
ADJECTIVE 4 The back parts of something are the ones at the rear. • the dog’s back legs
VERB 5 If a building backs on to something, the back of it faces in that direction.
backbone backbones
NOUN the column of linked bones along the middle of the back of a human and other vertebrates
background backgrounds
NOUN 1 the things in a picture or scene that are less noticeable than the main things
2 the kind of home you come from, and your education and experience
backstroke
NOUN a style of swimming movement on your back
backward
ADJECTIVE If you take a backward look, you look behind you.
backwards
ADVERB 1 If you move backwards, you move to a place behind you.
2 If you do something backwards, you do it opposite to the usual way. • He told them to count backwards from 20 to 5.
bacon
NOUN meat from the back or sides of a pig, which has been salted or smoked
bacteria
PLURAL NOUN very tiny organisms that can cause disease
[from Greek bakterion meaning little rod; some bacteria are rod-shaped]
bacterial ADJECTIVE
bad worse, worst
ADJECTIVE 1 Bad things are harmful or upsetting. • I have some bad news.
SYNONYMS: distressing, grave, terrible
2 not enough or of poor quality • We thought the film was very bad.
3 Bad food is not fresh.