Essential English Vocabulary: A-Z Word Definitions

Words Starting with 'B'

• Be afraid: To feel fear or apprehension.
• Be careful: To be cautious and watchful.
• Be envious: To desire what someone else has.
• Be in need: To require something essential.
• Be popular: To be liked or admired by many people.
• Be right: To be correct or accurate.
• Be scary: To cause fear or fright.
• Be successful: To achieve a desired outcome or goal.
• Be suspicious: To have a cautious distrust of someone or something.
• Beach holiday: A vacation spent by the sea.
• Beard: Hair grown on the chin and cheeks of a man.
• Bee: A flying insect known for producing honey.
• Beehive: A structure where bees live and store honey.
• Beg: To ask someone earnestly or humbly for something.
• Beggar: A person who lives by asking for money or food.
• Beginning: The point in time or space at which something starts.
• Behavioral problems: Difficulties or issues related to conduct and actions.
• Believe: To accept something as true or real.
• Benefit: An advantage or profit gained from something.
• Bin liner: A bag used to line a rubbish bin.
• Birth: The emergence of a baby or young from the body of its mother.
• Blog: A regularly updated website or web page, typically run by an individual or small group, written in an informal or conversational style.
• Blues: A genre of music originating in African-American communities.
• Body: The physical structure of a person or animal.
• Body part: A component or organ of a living body.
• Book: A written or printed work consisting of pages bound together.
• Boom: A deep, resonant sound; also, a period of rapid economic growth.
• Border: A line separating two countries, administrative divisions, or other areas.
• Borrow: To take and use something belonging to someone else with the intention of returning it.
• Bouquet: An attractively arranged bunch of flowers.
• Brain: An organ of soft nervous tissue contained in the skull of vertebrates, functioning as the coordinating center of sensation and intellectual and nervous activity.
• Brass band: A musical ensemble consisting primarily of brass instruments.
• Brave: Ready to face and endure danger or pain; showing courage.
• Break: An interruption of continuity or uniformity.
• Breathtaking: Extremely exciting, beautiful, or impressive.
• Bride: A woman on her wedding day or just before and after it.
• Brilliant: Exceptionally clever or talented; very bright or radiant.
• Broken bone: A fractured bone.
• Bubble: A thin sphere of liquid enclosing air or another gas.
• Build: To construct something by putting parts or materials together.
• Busy: Occupied with work or activity.
• Butter: A pale yellow edible fatty substance made by churning cream.
• Buy: To acquire something by paying for it.
• Budget: An estimate of income and expenditure for a set period of time.

Words Starting with 'C'

• Cabbage: A leafy green or purple biennial plant, grown as a vegetable.
• Calculate: To determine (the amount or number of something) mathematically.
• Calculator: A small electronic device used for calculations.
• Call on: To visit someone or to formally ask someone to do something.
• Calm: Not showing or feeling nervousness, anger, or other strong emotions.
• Camel: A large, long-necked mammal of arid regions, with one or two humps on its back.
• Campaign: An organized course of action to achieve a particular goal.
• Cancer: A disease caused by an uncontrolled division of abnormal cells in a part of the body.
• Candidate: A person who applies for a job or is nominated for election.
• Canvas: A strong, coarse unbleached cloth made from hemp, flax, or cotton.
• Captain: The person in command of a ship, aircraft, or sports team.
• Carpet: A floor covering made from thick woven fabric.
• Carry out: To perform or complete a task or activity.
• Cassette: A compact case containing magnetic tape, used for recording and playing back audio or video.
• Casual: Relaxed and unconcerned; informal.
• Cause: A person or thing that gives rise to an action, phenomenon, or condition.
• Cave: A natural underground chamber in a hillside or cliff.
• Cell: The smallest structural and functional unit of an organism.
• Centenarian: A person who is 100 or more years old.
• Ceremony: A formal religious or public occasion, especially one celebrating a particular event.
• Certainty: Firm conviction that something is the case.
• Chain: A series of connected links or rings.
• Chance: A possibility of something happening; an opportunity.
• Change: To make or become different.
• Change my mind: To alter one's opinion or decision.
• Changing room: A room where people can change their clothes.
• Chaos: Complete disorder and confusion.
• Characteristic: A feature or quality belonging typically to a person, place, or thing and serving to identify it.
• Charismatic: Exercising a compelling charm that inspires devotion in others.
• Charity: An organization set up to provide help and raise money for those in need.
• Cheap: Low in price; inexpensive.
• Cheat: To act dishonestly or unfairly in order to gain an advantage.
• Chef: A professional cook, typically in a restaurant or hotel.
• Chemical: A distinct compound or substance, especially one which has been artificially prepared or purified.
• Chemist: A person engaged in chemical research or experiments; a pharmacist.
• Child labor: The use of children in industry or business, especially when illegal or considered inhumane.
• Childhood: The period of a person's life when they are a child.
• Church: A building used for public Christian worship.
• Citizen: A legally recognized subject or national of a state or commonwealth.
• City break: A short holiday spent in a city.
• Civics: The study of the rights and duties of citizenship.
• Civil ceremony: A non-religious ceremony, typically a marriage or funeral, conducted by a state official.
• Claim: To state or assert that something is the case, typically without providing evidence or proof.
• Cleanliness: The state of being clean or free from dirt.
• Clear: Easy to perceive, understand, or interpret.
• Clever: Quick at learning and understanding things.
• Climate: The weather conditions prevailing in an area in general or over a long period.
• Climb: To go or come up (a slope, incline, or staircase), especially by using the hands and feet.
• Climbing wall: An artificial wall with handholds and footholds for climbing.
• Clock: A device for measuring and indicating time.
• Clone: An organism or cell, or group of organisms or cells, produced asexually from one ancestor or stock, to which they are genetically identical.
• Close: To move (something) so that an opening is covered or obstructed.
• Clothes: Items worn to cover the body.
• Coast: The part of the land adjoining or near the sea.
• Coin: A flat, typically round piece of metal with an official stamp, used as money.
• Cold: Of or at a low temperature.
• Color therapy: A complementary therapy that uses color and light to treat physical or mental health.
• Colorful: Having much or varied color; full of interest.
• Combat: Fighting between armed forces.
• Come across: To meet or find by chance.
• Comfort: A state of physical ease and freedom from pain or constraint.
• Comfortable: Providing physical ease and relaxation.
• Comment: A verbal or written remark expressing an opinion or reaction.
• Commerce: The activity of buying and selling, especially on a large scale.
• Common: Occurring, found, or done often; prevalent.
• Communicate: To share or exchange information, news, or ideas.
• Company: A commercial business; also, the fact or state of being with another person or people.