[beside the point] or [beside the question] {adj.} or {adv. phr.} Off the subject; about something different. •/What you meant to do is beside the point; the fact is you didn’t do it./ •/The judge told the witness that his remarks were beside the point./ Compare: BEAT AROUND THE BUSH, NEITHER HERE NOR THERE.

[best] See: AS BEST ONE CAN, AT BEST, FOR THE BEST, GET THE BETTER OF or GET THE BEST OF, HAD BETTER or HAD BEST, HE LAUGHS BEST WHO LAUGHS LAST, MAKE THE BEST OF, PUT ONE’S BEST FOOT FORWARD, SECOND BEST, TO THE BEST OF ONE’S KNOWLEDGE, WITH THE BEST or WITH THE BEST OF THEM.

[best bib and tucker] or [Sunday best] or [Sunday go-to-meeting clothes] {n. phr.}, {informal} Best clothes or outfit of clothing. •/The cowboy got all dressed up in his best bib and tucker to go to the dance./ •/Mary went to the party in her Sunday best and made a hit with the boys./ Compare: GLAD RAGS.

[best man]{n.} The groom’s aid (usually his best friend or a relative) at a wedding. •/When Agnes and I got married, my brother Gordon was my best man./

[best seller]{n.} An item (primarily said of books) that outsells other items of a similar sort. •/Catherine Neville’s novel "The Eight" has been a national best seller for months./ •/Among imported European cars, the Volkswagen is a best seller./

[bet] See: YOU BET or YOU BET YOUR BOOTS or YOU BET YOUR LIFE.

[be the making of]{v. phr.} To account for the success of someone or something. •/The strict discipline that we had to undergo in graduate school was the making of many a successful professor./ •/The relatively low cost and high gas mileage are the making of Chevrolet’s Geo Metro cars./

[bet one’s boots] or [bet one’s bottom dollar] or [bet one’s shirt] {v. phr.}, {informal} 1. To bet all you have. •/This horse will win. I would bet my bottom dollar on it./ •/Jim said he would bet his boots that he would pass the examination./ 2. or [bet one’s life]. To feel very sure; have no doubt. •/Was I scared when I saw the bull running at me? You bet your life I was!/

[bet on the wrong horse]{v. phr.}, {informal} To base your plans on a wrong guess about the result of something; misread the future; misjudge a coming event. •/To count on the small family farm as an important thing in the American future now looks like betting on the wrong horse./ •/He expected Bush to be elected President in 1992 but as it happened, he bet on the wrong horse./

[better] See: ALL BETTER, DISCRETION IS THE BETTER PART OF VALOR, FOR BETTER OR WORSE, FOR THE BETTER, GET THE BETTER OF, GO --- ONE BETTER, HAD BETTER, HALF A LOAF IS BETTER THAN NONE or HALF A LOAF IS BETTER THAN NO BREAD, SEE BETTER DAYS, THINK BETTER OF.

[better half]{n.}, {informal} One’s marriage partner (mostly said by men about their wives.) •/"This is my better half, Mary," said Joe./

[better late than never] It is better to come or do something late than never. •/The firemen didn’t arrive at the house until it was half burned, but it was better late than never./ •/Grandfather is learning to drive a car. "Better late than never," he says./ Compare: HALF A LOAF IS BETTER THAN NONE.

[better than]{prep. phr.} More than; greater than; at a greater rate than. •/The car was doing better than eighty miles an hour./ •/It is better than three miles to the station./

[between] See: BETWIXT AND BETWEEN, COME BETWEEN, PEW AND FAR BETWEEN.

[between a rock and a hard place] See: BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA.

[between life and death]{adv. phr.} In danger of dying or being killed; with life or death possible. •/He held on to the mountainside between life and death while his friends went to get help./ •/The little sick girl lay all night between life and death until her fever was gone./

[between the devil and the deep blue sea] or {literary} [between two fires] or [between a rock and a hard place] {adv. phr.} Between two dangers or difficulties, not knowing what to do. •/The pirates had to fight and be killed or give up and be hanged; they were between the devil and the deep blue sea./ •/The boy was between a rock and a hard place; he had to go home and be whipped or stay in town all night and be picked up by the police./ •/When the man’s wife and her mother got together, he was between two fires./ Compare: COMING AND GOING(2), IN A BIND.

[between the eyes] See: HIT BETWEEN THE EYES.

[between the lines] See: READ BETWEEN THE LINES.

[between two fires] See: BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA.

[between two shakes of a lamb’s tail] See: BEFORE ONE CAN SAY JACK ROBINSON.

[be up to no good]{v. phr.}, {informal} To be plotting and conniving to commit some illegal act or crime. •/"Let’s hurry!" Susan said to her husband. "It’s dark here and those hoodlums obviously are up to no good."/

[be up to something]{v. phr.}, {informal} 1. To feel strong enough or knowledgeable enough to accomplish a certain task. •/Are you up to climbing all the way to the 37th floor?/ •/Are we up to meeting the delegation from Moscow and speaking Russian to them?/ 2. Tendency to do something mischievous. •/I’m afraid Jack is up to one of his old tricks again./

[beyond measure]{adj.} or {adv. phr.}, {formal} So much that it can not be measured or figured without any limits. •/With her parents reunited and present at her graduation, she had happiness beyond measure./ •/No one envied him for he was popular beyond measure./

[beyond one’s depth]{adj.} or {adv. phr.} 1. Over your head in water; in water too deep to touch bottom. •/Jack wasn’t a good swimmer and nearly drowned when he drifted out beyond his depth./ 2. In or into something too difficult for you; beyond your understanding or ability. •/Bill decided that his big brother’s geometry book was beyond his depth./ •/Sam’s father started to explain the atom bomb to Sam but he soon got beyond his depth./ •/When Bill played checkers against the city champion, Bill was beyond his depth./ Compare: OVER ONE’S HEAD(1).

[beyond one’s means]{adj. phr.} Too expensive, not affordable. •/Unfortunately, a new Mercedes Benz is beyond my means right now./

[beyond one’s nose] See: SEE BEYOND ONE’S NOSE.

[beyond question(1)]{adj. phr.} Not in doubt certain; sure. — Used in the predicate. •/People always believe anything that Mark says; his honesty is beyond question./ Contrast: IN QUESTION.

[beyond question(2)] or [without question] {adv. phr.} Without doubt or argument; surely; unquestionably. •/Beyond question, it was the coldest day of the winter./ •/John’s drawing is without question the best in the class./

[beyond reasonable doubt]{adv. phr.}, {formal and legal} Virtually certain; essentially convincing. •/The judge instructed the jurors to come up with a verdict of guilty only if they were convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that Algernon was the perpetrator./

[beyond the pale]{adv.} or {adj. phr.} In disgrace; with no chance of being accepted or respected by others; not approved by the members of a group. •/After the outlaw killed a man he was beyond the pale and not even his old friends would talk to him./ •/Tom’s swearing is beyond the pale; no one invites him to dinner any more./