French–English dictionary

Bolivie

A country in South America. Official name: Plurinational State of Bolivia. Capitals: La Paz and Sucre.

bolivien

Of, from, or pertaining to Bolivia, or the Bolivian people.

Bolivienne

A person from Bolivia or of Bolivian descent.

Bollywood

The Hindi-language film industry located in Mumbai.

bolognais

Of, from or relating to the city of Bologna, capital and largest city of Emilia-Romagna, Italy, or the surrounding metropolitan city.

bolognaise

An Italian sauce made from ground meat and tomato, originating in Bologna.

bombarde

A medieval primitive cannon, used chiefly in sieges for throwing heavy stone balls.

bombardement

The act of bombing, especially towns or cities.

bombarder

(transitive) To bomb with nuclear weapons.

Bombardier

A surname from French.

Bombay

(dated) The former name of Mumbai, the state capital of Maharashtra, India.

bombe

An explosive device used or intended as a weapon, especially, one dropped from an aircraft.

bombe sexuelle

(chiefly, British, India, slang) A very attractive woman.

bombement

An object which is sticking out from a surface; a swelling, protuberant part; a bending outward, especially when caused by pressure.

bomber

(intransitive) To stick out from a surface without breaking it.

bon

Used to introduce a sentence in order to draw attention to the importance of what is being said.

bon à rien

(idiomatic) Useless; worthless.

bon ap'

Used to wish someone enjoyment of the meal they are about to eat.

bon appétit

Used to wish someone enjoyment of the meal they are about to eat.

bon courage

(literary) Used, especially at a parting, to express the wish that the outcome of a person's actions be positive for them; typically said to someone who is about to start a journey or a daring endeavour.

bon d’échange

A piece of paper or other token that entitles the holder to a discount, or that can be exchanged for goods and services.

bon débarras

Used to indicate that a departure or loss is welcome.

bon Dieu de merde

(blasphemous) An expletive.

bon Dieu de merde!

(vulgar, colloquial) An expression of anger, surprise, intense excitement or frustration.

bon gars

(idiomatic, colloquial) Used to show encouragement or approval to a boy, man, or male animal.

bon marché

Of little worth.

bon matin

Used as a greeting when meeting someone for the first time in the morning.

bon mot

A clever saying, phrase, or witticism; often, a witty riposte in dialogue.

bon pour la santé

Conducive to health.

bon sang

(UK, Commonwealth, Ireland) Used to express anger, excitement, surprise, etc. [From late 19th c.]

bon sens

Ordinary sensible understanding; one's basic intelligence which allows for plain understanding and without which good decisions or judgments cannot be made.

bon travail

(idiomatic) Well done; congratulations!

bon vent

Used to indicate that a departure or loss is welcome.

bon vieux

Reliable; typical; consistently good.

bon voyage

Used to wish someone a good journey.

bonace

(nautical) A period without waves or wind.

Bonaventure

A surname transferred from the given name.

bonbon

(countable, chiefly, North America, Philippines) A piece of confectionery of this kind.

bonbon à la menthe

A mint-flavored candy, often eaten to sweeten the smell of the breath.

bonbonne

The part of a revolver that contains chambers for the cartridges.

bond

A sizeable jump, great leap.

bondage

(sex) The practice of physically restraining people for sexual pleasure, such as by tying up or shackling.

bonde

(obsolete, slang) A sharper or pickpocket.

bonding

(networking) A method of aggregating multiple network interfaces on a computer into a single logical interface

bondir

(intransitive) To run quickly or for a short distance.

bondon

(obsolete, slang) A sharper or pickpocket.

bondonner

(transitive) To batter, bruise; to cause to bulge or swell.

bonheur

(uncountable) The emotion of being happy; joy; elation.

bonhomme

(informal) A male person; a bloke, a chap, a guy, a man; also, preceded by a modifying word, sometimes with a sense of mild reproach: used as a familiar term of address to a man.

bonhomme de neige

A humanoid figure made with large snowballs stacked on each other. Human traits like a face and arms may be fashioned with sticks (arms), a carrot (nose), and stones or coal (eyes, mouth).

boniment

(informal, figurative) Foolish talk or writing; nonsense.

bonimenteur

Somebody who sells things in an aggressive or showy manner.

bonite à ventre rayé

A skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis)

bonjour

(rather formal in, _, US, Canada) A greeting or farewell said in the afternoon.

Bonn

An independent city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, on the Rhine River; the former capital of West Germany and (until 1999) seat of government of unified Germany.

bonnasse

(by extension) Someone who is very attractive; a sex symbol.

bonne

A charlady, a woman employed to do housework; cleaning lady.

bonne à tout faire

A female servant or cleaner (short for maidservant).

bonne affaire

An agreement between parties concerning the sale of property; or a contract by which one party binds themself to transfer the right to some property for a consideration, and the other party binds themself to receive the property and pay the consideration.

bonne chance

(literary) Used, especially at a parting, to express the wish that the outcome of a person's actions be positive for them; typically said to someone who is about to start a journey or a daring endeavour.

bonne cible

A collision of a projectile with the target.

bonne d'enfants

A child's nurse.

bonne d’enfant

A person who cares for one or more babies or children for a short period of time in place of their legal guardians.

bonne fortune

(informal) A stream of saliva from a person's mouth.

bonne santé

(dated) Sound, entire, healthy; robust, not impaired.

bonne sœur

A female member of a religious order; especially one devoted to more active service; (informally) a nun.

bonne volonté

A favorably disposed attitude toward someone or something.

bonne-main

A gratuity; a small amount of money left for a bartender, waiter, taxi driver or other servant as a token of appreciation. [from mid-18th c.]

bonnes manières

The treatment of other people with courtesy and politeness, and showing correct public behaviour.

bonnet

(headwear) A cap that fits the head closely, usually knitted from wool.

bonnet de nuit

(headwear) A warm cloth cap worn while sleeping, often with pajamas, being common attire in northern Europe before effective home heating became widespread. [From 14th c.]

bonnette anti-vent

A cover for a microphone to exclude airy noises such as wind and breathing.

bonsaï

(transitive) To make into a bonsai by restricting the roots and pruning.

bonté

(uncountable) The trait of being willing to donate money, resources, or time.

bonté divine

(dated, exclamation) An exclamation of surprise or shock.

bonus

Something extra that is good; an added benefit.

bonzaï

(transitive) To make into a bonsai by restricting the roots and pruning.

boo

A people of Benin and Nigeria.

boogie

(informal) A style of swing dance.

bookmaker

(gambling) A person (or a business) who calculates odds and accepts bets, especially on horse racing; a bookie.

booléen

(logic, computing) Pertaining to data items that can have “true” and “false” (or, equivalently, 1 and 0 respectively) as their only possible values and to operations on such values.

boolien

(logic, computing) Pertaining to data items that can have “true” and “false” (or, equivalently, 1 and 0 respectively) as their only possible values and to operations on such values.

boom

(economics, business) A period of prosperity, growth, progress, or high market activity.

boomerang

A flat curved airfoil that spins about an axis perpendicular to the direction of flight, originally used in various parts of the world as a hunting weapon or, in returnable types, for sports or training.

bootlegger

One who is illegally a producer and/or trader of goods, especially of alcohol.

boqueteau

A grove of small growth; a thicket of brushwood; a wood cut at certain times for fuel or other purposes, typically managed to promote growth and ensure a reliable supply of timber. See copse.

boracique

Relating to, or impregnated with borax.

borborygme

A rumbling sound made by the movement of gas in the intestines.

bord

(nautical) The side of a ship.

bord à bord avec

Side by side with.

bord de mer

The coastal land bordering a sea or an ocean.

Bordeaux

The capital city of Gironde department, France; the capital city of the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine.

bordeaux-clairet

(chiefly, UK) A dry red wine produced in the Bordeaux region of France, or a similar wine made elsewhere.

bordée

(nautical) One side of a ship above the water line; all the guns on one side of a warship; their simultaneous firing.

bordel

A confused, muddled, or messed-up condition or state; a ridiculously chaotic situation; confusion or chaos regarded as the normal state.

bordélique

Disorganized.

bordereau

A detailed statement, especially one containing a detailed listing of documents or accounts.

bordigue

A fence placed across a river to catch fish.

bordure

The outer edge of something.

bordure du trottoir

(British spelling) .

boréal

Of, relating to, or coming from the north.

borique

Relating to, or impregnated with borax.

Boris

A en given name.

borne

A similar post preventing vehicle access to a pedestrian area, to delineate traffic lanes, or used for security purposes.

borne kilométrique

A stone milepost (or by extension in other materials), one of a series of numbered markers placed along a road at regular intervals, typically at the side of the road or in a median.

Bornéo

A Pacific island shared by Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia; the world’s third largest island.

borsalino

A felt hat with a fairly low, creased crown with a brim that can be turned up or down.

borsch

A beetroot soup that can be served hot or cold, usually with sour cream, called borsch in its countries of origin.

bortsch

A beetroot soup that can be served hot or cold, usually with sour cream, called borsch in its countries of origin.

bosco

(nautical) The officer (or warrant officer) in charge of sails, rigging, anchors, cables etc. and all work on deck of a sailing ship.

bosnien

(uncountable) The standardized variety of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken primarily by Bosniaks in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Bosnienne

(uncountable) The standardized variety of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken primarily by Bosniaks in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

boson

(particle) A particle with totally symmetric composite quantum states, which exempts them from the Pauli exclusion principle, and that hence obeys Bose-Einstein statistics. They have integer spin. Among them are many elementary particles, and some (gauge bosons) are known to carry the fundamental forces. Compare fermion.

bosquet

A dense uncultivated tract of trees and undergrowth, larger than woods.

boss

(video games) An enemy, often at the end of a level, that is particularly challenging and must be beaten in order to progress.

bosse

(informal, countable) A bump on the head.

bosser

(intransitive, slang, UK, Irish, Commonwealth) To study with effort or determination.

bosseur

(slang, British) One who swots; a boffin, nerd, or smart aleck.

bossu

(derogatory, now, offensive) A person with a humpback; a person who suffers from kyphosis.

bossue

(derogatory, now, offensive) A person with a humpback; a person who suffers from kyphosis.

Boston

An unincorporated community in Missouri; named for the city in Massachusetts.

bostryche typographe

A kind of bark beetle, Ips typographus.

bot

(computing) A piece of software designed to perform a task (often a minor but repetitive one) automatically or on command, especially when operating with the appearance of a (human) user profile or account.

botanique

Of or pertaining to botany; relating to the study of plants.

botaniste

(botany) A person engaged in botany, the scientific study of plants.

botox

A toxic compound (generic name botulinum toxin type A) produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, that causes the paralysis of muscles, used in cosmetic surgery to conceal wrinkles and for muscle spasm relief and headache prevention.

Botswana

The Republic of Botswana, since 1966.

botte

A group of similar things, either growing together, or in a cluster or clump, usually fastened together.

botter

(transitive) To strike or hit with the foot or other extremity of the leg.

bottillon

An overshoe or sock worn to cover dirty shoes or feet.

bottleneck

An inclined plane on which heavy bodies slide by the force of gravity, especially one constructed on a mountainside for conveying logs by sliding them down.

botulisme

(pathology) Poisoning caused by the toxin from Clostridium botulinum, an anaerobic bacterium that grows in improperly prepared food.

boubouler

To make a hoo, the cry of an owl.

bouc

(childish) A male goat.

bouc émissaire

(informal, sometimes, derogatory) A scapegoat.

bouc-émissariser

(transitive, intransitive) To unfairly blame or punish someone for some failure; to make a scapegoat of.

boucan

A loud noise; a cacophony or loud commotion.

boucanier

(crime) A criminal who plunders at sea; commonly attacking merchant vessels, though often pillaging port towns.

bouché

Slow to comprehend; of low intelligence. (of a person)

bouche bée

In a state of astonishment, wonder, expectation, or eager attention; as with mouth hanging open.

bouche-trou

A short-term fix or temporary measure used until something better can be obtained; that which serves as an expedient in an emergency; a band-aid solution.

bouchée

A piece of food of a size that would be produced by biting; a mouthful.

boucher

(transitive) To fill or obstruct (something) so that it is not possible to pass.

bouchère

A person who prepares and sells meat (and sometimes also slaughters the animals).

boucherie

(figuratively) An upset (as of a game with unexpected results, or a national presidential convention) or heavy defeat.

bouchon

(obsolete, slang) A sharper or pickpocket.

bouchonné

Of wine, contaminated by a faulty or tainted cork.

boucle

A metal clasp with a hinged tongue or a spike through which a belt or strap is passed and penetrated by the tongue or spike, in order to fasten the ends of the belt together or to secure the strap to something else.

boucle d'oreille

A piece of jewelry worn on the ear.

boucler

To fasten (something) using a buckle (noun sense 1); hence (obsolete) , to fasten (something) in any way.