French–English dictionary

broder

(transitive) To embroider with thread.

broderie

(figurative) The elaboration of an account, etc. with details, especially when fictitious.

broie

(textiles) A tool used for breaking flax or hemp. [from 15th c.]

bromance

(slang) A close but nonsexual relationship between two or more men.

bromure

(inorganic chemistry) A binary compound of bromine and some other element or radical.

broncher

(idiomatic, chiefly in the negative) To put effort into something.

bronchial

Of or relating to the bronchia, bronchi or bronchioles.

bronchiolite

(pathology) Inflammation of the bronchioles; especially common in young children.

bronchite

(uncountable) An inflammation of the bronchi of the lungs, that causes the cilia of the bronchial epithelial cells to stop functioning.

Bronx

A borough of New York City, New York, United States.

bronzage

A darkening of the skin resulting from exposure to sunlight or similar light sources.

bronzé

(of the skin) Tanned; darkened as a result of exposure to the sun.

bronzer

(transitive, intransitive) To change to a tan colour due to exposure to the sun.

Brooklyn

A borough of New York City, New York, United States. It is located on the western end of Long Island.

brossage

The act of brushing something.

brosse

Not requiring the use of a hairbrush, scrubbing brush, or other brush.

brosse à cheveux

A brush used in hair care for brushing, tidying, and detangling hair

brosse à dents

A brush, used with toothpaste, for cleaning the teeth.

brosse à tableau

(North America, Philippines) An object used to erase something written either by chalk on a chalkboard, by a marker on a whiteboard, or by some other erasable implement; a chalkboard eraser, whiteboard eraser, etc.

brosser

(transitive) To untangle or arrange with a brush.

brouette

(British) A small vehicle used to carry a load and pulled or pushed by hand.

brouhaha

A stir; a fuss or uproar.

brouillard

(uncountable) A thick cloud that forms near the ground; the obscurity of such a cloud.

brouille

A breaking up of amicable relations, a falling out.

brouiller

(transitive) To perplex, confuse (someone).

brouilleur

Any device used to jam radio reception.

brouillon

A version of a written work (such as a book or paper) or drawing.

Broumpristoche

The fictional dwarf who is the title character of that story.

broussailles

The plants in a forest which only reach a relatively low height (such as shrubs and bushes).

brousse

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

brouter

(intransitive, of an animal) To move about while eating parts of plants, especially plants other than pasture, such as shrubs or trees.

broutille

A trifle; an insubstantial thing.

brownie

(usually, countable, baking, originally, US) A small square piece of rich cake, usually made with chocolate. [from 1897]

broyage

A former method of execution by placing heavy weights on the victim.

broyer

To reduce to fine particles by pounding or grinding.

broyer du noir

(intransitive) (typically with over, on or about) To dwell upon moodily and at length, mainly alone.

broyeur

(in particular, US) A machine that reduces organic matter to compost; depending on size, whole tree trunks are reduced to sawdust; a woodchipper.

brrr

Used to express being cold, to show shivering.

bruant

Any of various songbirds of the genus Emberiza, having short bills and brown or gray plumage.

bruine

Light rain.

bruiner

(impersonal) To rain lightly.

bruissement

A soft crackling sound similar to the movement of dry leaves.

bruisser

To make a rustling sound while moving.

bruit

trouble; troublesome business; fuss, commotion

bruit de pas

A step, as in a stair.

bruitage

(uncountable, US) The creation of sound effects, and their addition to film and TV images.

brûlage

The act of burning something with fire.

brûlant

So hot as to seem to burn (something).

brûlé

(of food) Carbonised.

brûler

(intransitive) To be on fire, especially producing bright flames.

brûleur

An element on a kitchen stove that generates localized heat for cooking.

brûlure

(pathology) A burning pain in the chest that is caused by stomach acid entering the gullet.

brûlures d'estomac

(pathology) A burning pain in the chest that is caused by stomach acid entering the gullet.

brumal

Belonging to winter; winterlike; wintry.

brume

(uncountable) A thick cloud that forms near the ground; the obscurity of such a cloud.

brumer

(intransitive) To form mist.

brumes

Any faint light through which something is seen.

brumeux

(literary) Foggy or misty; wintry. [from mid 19th c.]

brun

Having a brown colour.

brun gris

Of a brownish grey colour.

brunch

A meal eaten later in the day than breakfast and earlier than lunch, and often consisting of typical foods from both of those meals.

brune

A person, especially female, with brown hair.

Brunei

A country in Southeast Asia. Capital: Bandar Seri Begawan.

brunette

(of a person) Having brown hair.

brunir

(intransitive) To become brown.

Brunswick

Synonym of Braunschweig: a city in Lower Saxony, Germany.

brusque

Without notice to prepare the mind for the event; sudden; hasty; unceremonious. [First attested in the late 16th century.]

brusquer

(transitive) To bully in an intimidating, bossy, or supercilious way.

brut

Of inferior quality.

brutal

Shameless or impudent; shocking or audacious; brash. [from 1570s]

brutalement

In a brutal manner; viciously, barbarically.

brute

A person with the characteristics of an unthinking animal; a coarse or brutal person, particularly one who is dim-witted. [from 17th c.]

brute force

(computer science) A method of computation wherein the computer is let to try all permutations of a problem until one is found that provides a solution, in contrast to the implementation of a more intelligent algorithm.

Brutus

a Roman cognomen.

bruyamment

in a noisy manner; in such a way as to create a great deal of noise or sound

bruyance

the physical strength of the sound pressure level, measured in decibels

bruyant

Blowing in loud and abrupt bursts.

bruyère

White heath (Erica arborea), a thorny Mediterranean shrub.

bryophyte

(botany) Any plant of the division Bryophyta, defined sensu lato to comprise the mosses, liverworts and hornworts and corresponding to all embryophytes that are not vascular plants.

buanderie

A place that has facilities for washing and drying clothes that the public may pay to use.

bubale

A type of grassland antelope, Alcelaphus buselaphus, native to parts of Africa.

bubale roux

A type of grassland antelope, Alcelaphus buselaphus, native to parts of Africa.

bubonique

Of or pertaining to buboes.

bubuler

To make a hoo, the cry of an owl.

Bucarest

The capital city of Romania.

buccal

(relational) Relating to the mouth.

bûcher

(idiomatic, intransitive) to work tirelessly

bûcheron

A worker whose occupation is to harvest trees.

bûcheur

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

bucolique

Rustic, pastoral, country-styled.

Budapest

The capital and the most populous city of Hungary.

budget

The monetary assets of a person or organization.

budgétaire

Appropriate to a restricted budget.

buée

(countable) A layer of fine droplets or particles.

buffet

A cabinet, closet, or other piece of furniture with shelves intended for storing cookware, dishware, or food; similar cabinets or closets used for storing other items.

buffle

An animal from the subtribe Bubalina, also known as true buffalos, such as the Cape buffalo, Syncerus caffer, or the water buffalo, Bubalus bubalis.

bug

(chiefly, _, computing, engineering, _, jargon) A problem that needs fixing.

Bugatti

A surname from Italian.

buggé

(informal) Badly designed or implemented.

buis

(botany) Any of several trees, of the genus Buxus, often used as a hedge, for topiary, and as a source of boxwood

buisson

(horticulture) A woody plant distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, being usually less than six metres tall; a horticultural rather than strictly botanical category.

buissonner

(British, India) To fail to attend school or work without permission; to play truant (usually as in 'to bunk off').

bulbe

The bulb-shaped underground portion of a plant such as a tulip, consisting of a shortened stem and many fleshy scale leaves, from which the rest of the plant may be regrown.

bulgare

Relating to Bulgaria, its people, or the Bulgarian language.

Bulgarie

A country in Southeast Europe. Official name: Republic of Bulgaria. Capital and largest city: Sofia.

bulldozer

A tractor with caterpillar tracks and an attached blade for pushing earth and building debris for coarse preliminary surface grading, demolishing building structures, etc.

bulle

A small spherical cavity in a solid material.

bulles

An emission of a rapid stream of bubbles.

bulletin

(originally) A small ball placed in a container to cast a vote; now, by extension, a piece of paper or card used for this purpose, or some other means used to signify a vote.

bulletin de vote

(originally) A small ball placed in a container to cast a vote; now, by extension, a piece of paper or card used for this purpose, or some other means used to signify a vote.

bunker

(military) A flat, concrete gun emplacement.

buraliste

A person who sells tobacco, cigarettes, cigars, snuff and sundry items.

bureau

An administrative unit of government; office.

bureaucrate

An official who is part of a bureaucracy.

burger

(informal) A hamburger.

Burgondie

A historical region and former administrative region of France; since 2016, part of the administrative region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté.

burin

A cutting tool used to remove parts of stone, wood or metal by pushing or pounding the back when the sharp edge is against the material. It consists of a slim, oblong block of metal with a sharp wedge or bevel formed on one end and sometimes a handle at the other end; there are hand tool versions (the original type) and versions as bits for power tools.

burlesque

(dated) Parodical; parodic

burn

(automotive) Use of the throttle to spin the wheels of a vehicle being held stationary, causing the spinning tires to produce smoke and burn rubber.

burn-out

A person who has the experience of long-term exhaustion and diminished interest.

burné

(vulgar, colloquial) Tough and courageous; having balls.

burnes

(uncountable, vulgar, colloquial) Masculinity, particularly strength, courage, and force of will; chutzpah; brazenness.

burqa

(strictly) An enveloping Central Asian garment which covers the whole body, incorporating a netted screen to cover the eyes, chiefly worn by women in fundamentalist denominations of Islam to observe sartorial hijab (the practice of wearing concealing clothing in front of adult men after the age of puberty).

burrito

A Mexican dish consisting of a flour tortilla wrapped around a filling of meat and/or beans, cheese etc.

bus

(automotive) A motor vehicle for transporting large numbers of people along roads.

Busan

A metropolitan city of South Korea. It is the second largest city and the largest port city in Korea. It is also well known for its beaches and port.

busc

A strip of metal, whalebone, wood, or other material, worn in the front of a corset to stiffen it.

buse

Any of several Old World birds of prey of the genus Buteo with broad wings and a broad tail.

Bush

A surname from Middle English.

Bushinengué

An escaped black slave of the Caribbean and the Americas or a descendant of such a person. [from 17th c.]

businesswoman

A woman involved in business.

buste

A sculptural portrayal of a person's head and shoulders.

but

The point intended to be hit, or object intended to be attained or affected.

but (marqué)

A point scored in a game as a result of placing the object into the goal.

but de la victoire

(sports) A point or goal that wins a competition.

but-sur-balles

(baseball) An award of first base to a batter following four balls being thrown by the pitcher; known in the rules as a "base on balls".

butane

(organic compound) A hydrocarbon (either of the two isomers of C4H10, n-butane and 2-methylpropane) found in gaseous petroleum fractions.

buter

To complain; especially, to grumble; to forebode evil; to utter complaints or forebodings habitually.

buteur

(football) A person who scores a goal, or scores goals

butin

An amount of something that has been taken, especially of fish, illegal loot, or items purchased on a shopping trip.

butor

Several bird species in the Botaurinae subfamily of the heron family Ardeidae.

butor étoilé

A bittern found in Europe, Asia, and Africa (Botaurus stellaris).

butte

(US) An isolated hill with steep sides and a flat top.

butte-témoin

(geology) A part of a formation separated from the rest of the formation by erosion.

butter

(intransitive, rarely, transitive) To make a physical impact on.

buveur

A habitual drinker, especially one who is frequently intoxicated.

buveuse

A habitual drinker, especially one who is frequently intoxicated.

buzz

A clamour, a commotion; a fuss or uproar. [from 17th c.]

Byzance

(historical) An ancient Greek city situated on the Bosporus in modern Turkey, renamed Constantinople in 330 C.E.; modern Istanbul.

Byzantin

(historical) A native of Byzantium (modern-day Istanbul) or of the Byzantine empire