Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary полностью

bi|sex|ual /ba I se kʃuəl/ (bisexuals ) ADJ Someone who is bisexual is sexually attracted to both men and women. ● N‑COUNT Bisexual is also a noun. □  He was an active bisexual. ●  bi|sexu|al|ity /ba I se kʃuæl I ti/ N‑UNCOUNT □  Lillian opened up to Frank about her bisexuality.

bish|op /b I ʃəp/ (bishops )

1 N‑COUNT ; N‑TITLE A bishop is a clergyman of high rank in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Orthodox churches.

2 N‑COUNT In chess, a bishop is a piece that can be moved diagonally across the board on squares that are the same colour.

bish|op|ric /b I ʃəpr I k/ (bishoprics ) N‑COUNT A bishopric is the area for which a bishop is responsible, or the rank or office of being a bishop.

bi|son /ba I s ^ə n/ (bison ) N‑COUNT A bison is a large hairy animal with a large head that is a member of the cattle family. They used to be very common in North America and Europe. [mainly BRIT ] in AM, usually use buffalo

bis|tro /biː stroʊ/ (bistros ) N‑COUNT A bistro is a small, informal restaurant or a bar where food is served.

bit ◆◆◆ /b I t/ (bits )

1 QUANT A bit of something is a small amount of it. □  All it required was a bit of work. □  I got paid a little bit of money.

2 PHRASE A bit means to a small extent or degree. It is sometimes used to make a statement less extreme. [VAGUENESS ] □  This girl was a bit strange. □  She looks a bit like his cousin Maureen. □  That sounds a bit technical. □  Isn't that a bit harsh?

3 PHRASE You can use a bit of to make a statement less forceful. For example, the statement 'It's a bit of a nuisance' is less forceful than 'It's a nuisance'. [VAGUENESS ] □  It's all a bit of a mess. □  This comes as a bit of a disappointment.

4 PHRASE Quite a bit means quite a lot. □  They're worth quite a bit of money. □  Things have changed quite a bit. □  He's quite a bit older than me.

5 PHRASE You use a bit before 'more' or 'less' to mean a small amount more or a small amount less. □  I still think I have a bit more to offer. □  Maybe we'll hear a little bit less noise.

6 PHRASE If you do something a bit , you do it for a short time. In British English, you can also say that you do something for a bit . □  Let's wait a bit. □  I hope there will be time to talk a bit. □  That should keep you busy for a bit.

7 N‑COUNT A bit of something is a small part or section of it. [mainly BRIT ] □ [+ of ] That's the bit of the meeting that I missed. □  Now comes the really important bit. □  The best bit was walking along the glacier.

8 N‑COUNT A bit of something is a small piece of it. [mainly BRIT ] □ [+ of ] Only a bit of string looped round a nail in the doorpost held it shut. □ [+ of ] …crumpled bits of paper.

9 N‑COUNT You can use bit to refer to a particular item or to one of a group or set of things. For example, a bit of information is an item of information. □ [+ of ] There was one bit of vital evidence which helped win the case. □ [+ of ] Not one single bit of work has been started towards the repair of this road.

10 N‑COUNT In computing, a bit is the smallest unit of information that is held in a computer's memory. It is either 1 or 0. Several bits form a byte. [COMPUTING ]

11 N‑COUNT A bit is 12½ cents; mainly used in expressions such as two bits , which means 25 cents, or four bits , which means 50 cents. [AM ]

12Bit is the past tense of bite .

13 PHRASE If something happens bit by bit , it happens in stages. □  Bit by bit I began to understand what they were trying to do.