Confusing Words Clarified: Group B; Homonyms, Homophones, Homographs, Synonyms, etc. +(lists of "B" sections that are organized into what for some people are confusing groups of words)A classic story tells how Plato had defined man as a featherless two-tooted animal, and his students agreed. The next day, Diogenes pulled the feathers off a cock and took it to Plato. "Here's Plato's man," he said. It was an embarrassing moment for Plato. Thereafter he corrected the definition to "a featherless two-footed animal with flat nails". Ever since Plato's description, man has never ceased to define man, and has constantly sought a more meaningful self-definition. Voltaire altered the Platonic version, in Candide, to "man is a featherless biped with a soul".
Another unknown author created, "Man is the only animal that eats when he is not hungry, and drinks when he is not thirsty." Efforts have been made to help you grasp the meanings of various words that may be confusing so you can utilize them with greater accuracy in your communication. Your comments and suggestions are always welcome by writing to: E-mail Contact (just click it for an e-mail form) or by typing, words@wordinfo.info, as the address in your e-mail heading. If you have any problems understanding the pronunciation symbols, go to this Pronunciation Chart for clarifications.boar, Boer, boor, bore
boar (BOHR)
A male swine or pig: "We just saw a wild boar running into the woods."
Boer (BOHR)
A Dutch colonist or descendant of a Dutch colonist in South Africa: "An Afrikaner is another name for a Boer or a person who was born, raised, or lived in South Africa, whose first language is Afrikaans, and whose ancestors were Dutch."
boor (BOOR)
A person with rude, clumsy manners, and little refinement; often referred to as a peasant: "Because the farmer often acted like a boor, the people in the village usually tried to stay away from him."
bore (BOHR)
1. To make weary by being dull, repetitive, monotonous, or tedious: "That film was one big bore."
2. To make a hole in or through something as with a drill: "He wanted to bore a hole in the door frame." When the hunter talks about hunting boar, he may be considered a bore by others. A male pig that has nothing to do but lie around is just a boar that is a bore. A bore is a person who talks when we wish he would listen. board, bored
board (BORD, BOHRD)
1. A flat, thin slab of sawed wood: "They nailed a board over the broken window."
2. An organized group of people who manage or direct a company or organization: "She sits on the bank's board of directors; so, now she's a board member at our bank." 3. Daily meals which one can pay for when he/she is paying to stay at a hotel, school, etc.: "He's looking for a place that provides board and lodging as he starts his trip." 4. As a verb, to get into or onto an airplane, a bus, a train, etc.: "Everyone must have a ticket in order to board the train." "The pirates tried to board the ship, but they were fought off by an armed guard." 5. To cover or to close something with pieces of wood: "The caretaker wanted to board up the window before it got too late."bored (BORD, BOHRD)
Wearied by being in the company of someone who is dull, tedious, long-winded, etc.: "I hate to tell you but I am bored to death by long meetings."
I appreciate that my friend is a good sounding board and not sounding bored in response. It would appear that the uninterested directors of a business are nothing more than a bored board. Parents are people who bear infants, bore teen-agers, and board newlyweds. boarder, border
boarder (BOR dur, BOR duhr)
1. A lodger, a bed and breakfast, a resident: "The ranch has boarder vacationers during the summer."
2. A lodger who receives meals regularly at a fixed price: "To earn extra money, they took in a boarder." 3. Someone who enters, gets on, or embarks: "The passenger was a boarder of the plane at noon after having been a boarder of a bus that delivered him to the airport." border (BOR dur, BOR duhr)
1. An edge, a rim, a perimeter: "Summer cottages were built all around the border of the lake."
2. A frontier, a boundary: "Do you need a passport to cross the Canadian border?" 3. To be next to, to adjoin: "California has a border with the Pacific Ocean." 4. A trim, a hem: "The seamstress sewed a border of flowers on the dress." A renter's boundary, or limitation, in a room and board situation is said to be a boarder border. boat, ship
boat (BOHT)
A water born vessel which is propelled by means of oars, paddles, power: "The students paddled their small red boat on the river, winning the race."
ship (SHIP)
1. A large water born vessel; for example, sea going, that is propelled by power or sail: "The large ship, carrying fruit, sailed carefully through the Panama Canal."
2. To transport on a water born vessel: "I will ship my new car by freighter to England." 3. To send away: "The plan is to ship the boys off to boarding school when they are older." bode, bowed
bode (BOHD)
1. Past tense of the verb bide. To wait or to continue in a state or condition: "Due to the weather, the travellers had to bode the completion of their travels until the ice storm ended."
2. To anticipate or to foretell; to predict: "The reading of the astrological signs bode great happiness for the newlywed couple." bowed (BOU'd, BOH'd)
1. To incline one’s head and back, bending forward from the waist: "As the hearse passed by, the villagers bowed respectfully."
2. To submit, to yield, to stoop: "The old baroness felt bowed by the responsibilities of her position in the castle." 3. To play a stringed musical instrument; such as, a violin: "The young girl bowed her violin with precision, creating lovely music." bogey, bogy
bogey (BOH gee)
One stroke over par in a game of golf: "The champion claimed a bogey over her closest competition."
bogy, bogey, bogie (BOH gee)
A goblin; an evil spirit: "The children huddled in their beds after listening to stories about a bogy."
2. A person or thing which is feared: "Tales abound about a bogy who rides a black horse on dark, moonless nights." bold, bowled
bold (BOHLD)
1. Having courage, fearless, daring: "The captain of the ship was bold in the face of pirates who tried to board his ship."
"This area was settled by bold pioneers." 2. Unduly forward; brazen: "The mother cautioned her small child not to be bold when talking with older people.""If I may be so bold, I'd like to offer a few points of criticism." bowled (BOHLD)
1. To roll a ball or rounded object as in bowling: "The team cheered when the last player bowled a perfect score."
2. In the game of cricket, to deliver the ball to the batsman: "The batsman bowled the final round to win the cricket competition." 3. To surprise: "Her arrival completely bowled her mother over as she was not expecting her daughter until the next day." bolder, boulder
bolder (BOHL duhr)
1. More daring and resistant: "If you want to be noticed, perhaps you need to be a little bolder."
2. Showing or needing confidence or lack of fear: "Few politicians have been bolder than those who want to cut taxes." boulder (BOHL duhr)
A very large stone or rounded piece of rock: "The road was blocked by a boulder."
When the man was removing rocks from the hill with his earth moving machine, he was thinking that he could see a boulder that was bolder than the others because it resisted the pressures which he was using to bring it down. boll, bowl
boll (BOHL)
A seed pod of cotton or flax: "Sometimes the multiple existence of the cotton boll looks like a bunch of snow balls in the fields."
bowl (BOHL)
1. A round dish: "We put the cereal in the bowl for breakfast."
2. A building or stadium shaped like a round dish: "They went to the Rose Bowl to see this year's game." boors, bourse
boors (BOORZ)
Plural of boor, an insensitive or rude person: "'I'm exhausted', she exclaimed, 'I have never met so many boors in one place in my life'."
bourse (BOORS)
A specialized sale; such as, numismatic or philatelic, typically at a convention where the items would be displayed on a table: "The collector set up his booth at the bourse which is held two times per year."
boos, booze
boos (BOOZ)
Sounds uttered to show contempt, scorn, or disapproval: "There were loud boos from the crowd at the end of the speech."
"The announcement was greeted with a mixture of boos and cheers." booze (BOOZ)
A casual expression describing an alcoholic beverage: "After the big football game, the boys went to the bar for a quick booze before going home."
"They bought some chips and booze for the party." There were a lot of boos when the bar ran out of booze. boot, boots; boot, boots
boot, boots (BOOT, BOOTS), noun
1. A covering for the entire foot and the lower part of the leg usually made of leather or rubber: "He had to put a boot on each foot before he went out into the winter snow and his wife wore her boots, too."
2. A forceful kick with the foot: "He gave the football a boot through the goal posts and won the game." 3. Getting fired, or dismissed, from a job: "She got the boot because she told the press about her company secrets." boot, boots (BOOT, BOOTS), verb
1. To kick something with great force: "The teenager kicked the ball way down the field."
2. Forcing someone to leave a place or situation: "The voters decided to boot him out of office." 3. To start a computer: "The new computer boots up much faster than my old one did." "I was told that I don't need all of those applications to open every time I boot my computer." booty; booty, bootee, bootie
booty (BOO tee)
1. Money or goods stolen or taken in war: "Historically, conquering force have been known to take a great deal of booty from their foes."
2. A valuable gain or prize: "Her booty from the the auction included some rare antiques." booty, bootee, bootie (BOO tee, boo TEE)
1. A small child's little shoe or boot: "His mother asked her little son where he hid his other booty."
2. A baby's knitted woolen boot: "The mother put a new bootee on each of the baby's feet." 3. A light, half boot, for women: "Her mother showed her daughter a bootie in the closet that she used to wear before the girl was born." born, borne
born (BORN)
Brought forth, or into, being; offspring: "Her daughter was born yesterday at the hospital."
borne (BORN)
To carry, support, or to hold up: "He has borne a gift for the family from Africa."
borough, borrow, burro, burrow
borough (BUR oh)
A village or a political division of a city or an incorporated town or municipality, that is smaller than a city which may be perceived as part of a larger metropolitan area: "In the metropolis of New York, Queens is a borough where many people live."
burro (BUR oh)
A small donkey often used as a pack animal: "The miners used a burro to carry their mining equipment over the mountains."
borrow (BOR oh)
1. To take for one's use: "I went to the library to borrow a few books."
2. To use an idea, saying, etc. that was thought up by someone else: "The speaker decided to borrow several phrases in his presentation that came from Winston Churchill." burrow (BUR oh)
1. A small hole made in the ground as by a rabbit for habitation and refuge: "Beatrice Potter’s story book character of Peter Rabbit and his family lived in a comfortable burrow."
2. To tunnel by digging either by hand or with machinery: "The engineers used a large bore to burrow through the hillside while building the railroad."
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