Dictionary of third edition A & C Black London Phần 2 potx

deals are now done by phone or computer

or on the Internet.

Big Blue /b blu/ noun IBM (infor￾mal.)

Big Board /b bɔd/ noun US

same as New York Stock Exchange

(informal.)

‘…at the close, the Dow Jones Industrial

Average was up 24.25 at 2,559.65, while New

York S.E. volume totalled 180m shares. Away

from the Big Board, the American S.E.

Composite climbed 2.31 to 297.87’

[Financial Times]

big business /b bzns/ noun

very large commercial firms

Big Four /b fɔ/ noun 1. the four

large British commercial banks:

Barclays, LloydsTSB, HSBC and

Natwest (now joined by several former

building societies that have become

banks) 2. the four largest Japanese secu- rities houses: Daiwa, Nikko, Nomura

and Yamaichi

Big Three /b θri/ noun US a name for the three big car makers in

Detroit, i.e. General Motors (GM),

Chrysler and Ford (informal.)

bilateral /balt(ə)rəl/ adjective be￾tween two parties or countries
The

minister signed a bilateral trade

agreement.

bilateral clearing /ba
lt(ə)rəl

klərŋ/ noun the system of annual set￾tlements of accounts between certain

countries, where accounts are settled by

the central banks

bilateral credit /ba
lt(ə)rəl

kredt/ noun credit allowed by banks

to other banks in a clearing system (to

cover the period while cheques are be- ing cleared)

bilateral netting /ba
lt(ə)rəl

netŋ/ noun the settlement of contracts

between two banks to give a new

position

bill /bl/ noun 1. a written list of

charges to be paid
The sales assistant

wrote out the bill.
Does the bill in- clude VAT?
The bill is made out to

Smith Ltd.
The builder sent in his bill.

She left the country without paying

her bills. 2. a list of charges in a restau- rant
Can I have the bill please?
The

bill comes to £20 including service. 3. a written paper promising to pay money bills payable (B/P) bills, especially bills

of exchange, which a company will

have to pay to its creditors bills re- ceivable (B/R) bills, especially bills of

exchange, which are due to be paid by a

company’s debtors due bills bills

which are owed but not yet paid.
bill

of exchange 4. US same as banknote

a $5 bill (NOTE: The UK term is note

or banknote.) 5. a draft of a new law

which will be discussed in Parliament 6.

a small poster ‘stick no bills’ the un- authorised putting up of posters is pro- hibited verb to present a bill to

someone so that it can be paid
The

plumbers billed us for the repairs.

bill broker /bl
brəυkə/ noun a dis- count house, a firm which buys and sells

bills of exchange for a fee

billing /blŋ/ noun the work of writ- ing invoices or bills

billing error /blŋ
erə/ noun a mis- take in charging a sum to a credit card

billion /bljən/ one thousand million

(NOTE: In the USA, it has always meant

one thousand million, but in UK Eng￾lish it formerly meant one million mil￾lion, and it is still sometimes used with

this meaning. With figures it is usually

written bn: $5bn say ‘five billion dol￾lars’.)

‘…gross wool receipts for the selling season to

end June 30 appear likely to top $2 billion’

[Australian Financial Review]

‘…at its last traded price the bank was

capitalized at around $1.05 billion’

[South China Morning Post]

bill of exchange /
bl əv ks- tʃend$/ noun a document, signed by

the person authorising it, which tells

another person or a financial institution

to pay money unconditionally to a

named person on a certain date (NOTE:

Bills of exchange are usually used

for payments in foreign currency.) to accept a bill to sign a bill of ex- change to show that you promise to pay

it to discount a bill to buy or sell a

bill of exchange at a lower price than

that written on it in order to cash it later

COMMENT: A bill of exchange is a

document raised by a seller and signed by

a purchaser, stating that the purchaser

accepts that he owes the seller money,

and promises to pay it at a later date. The

person raising the bill is the ‘drawer’; the

person who accepts it is the ‘drawee’. The

seller can then sell the bill at a discount to

Big Blue 37 bill of exchange

raise cash. This is called a ‘trade bill’. A

bill can also be accepted (i.e. guaranteed)

by a bank, and in this case it is called a

‘bank bill’.

bill of lading /
bl əv ledŋ/ noun a list of goods being shipped, which the

transporter gives to the person sending

the goods to show that the goods have

been loaded

bill of sale /
bl əv sel/ noun a docu- ment which the seller gives to the buyer

to show that the sale has taken place

BIN abbreviation bank identification

number

bind /band/ verb 1. to tie or to attach

2. to make it a legal duty for someone or

something to act in a particular way

The company is bound by its articles of

association.
He does not consider

himself bound by the agreement which

was signed by his predecessor. (NOTE:

[all senses] binding – bound)

binder /bandə/ noun 1. a stiff card￾board cover for papers 2. US a tempo￾rary agreement for insurance sent before

the insurance policy is issued (NOTE:

The UK term is cover note.)

binding /bandŋ/ adjective which le￾gally forces someone to do something

a binding contract
This document is

not legally binding. the agreement is

binding on all parties all parties sign￾ing it must do what is agreed

birr /b%/ noun a unit of currency used

in Ethiopia

birth rate /b%θ ret/ noun the num- ber of children born per 1,000 of the

population

BIS abbreviation Bank for Interna- tional Settlements

black /blk/ noun in the black, into

the black in or into credit
The com- pany has moved into the black.
My

bank account is still in the black. verb

to forbid trading in specific goods or

with specific suppliers
Three firms

were blacked by the government.
The

union has blacked a trucking firm.

black economy /blk kɒnəmi/

noun goods and services which are paid

for in cash, and therefore not declared

for tax. Also called hidden economy,

parallel economy, shadow economy

Black Friday /blk frade/ noun a sudden collapse on a stock market

(NOTE: Called after the first major col￾lapse of the US stock market on 24th

September, 1869.)

blackleg /blkle/ noun an em- ployee who continues working when

there is a strike

black list /blk lst/ noun 1. a list of

goods, people or companies which have

been blacked 2. a list of people consid- ered by an employer to be too dangerous

or disruptive to employ

blacklist /blklst/ verb to put

goods, people or a company on a black

list
Their firm was blacklisted by the

government.

black market /blk mɑkt/ noun

the buying and selling of goods or cur- rency in a way which is not allowed by

law
There is a flourishing black mar- ket in spare parts for cars.
You can

buy gold coins on the black market. to

pay black market prices to pay high

prices to get items which are not easily

available

Black Monday /blk mnde/ noun

Monday, 19th October, 1987, when

world stock markets crashed

Black Tuesday /blk tjuzde/

noun Tuesday, 29th October, 1929,

when the US stock market crashed

Black Wednesday /blk wenzde/

noun Wednesday, 16th September,

1992, when the pound sterling left the

European Exchange Rate Mechanism

and was devalued against other

currencies

COMMENT: Not always seen as ‘black’,

since some people believe it was a good

thing that the pound left the ERM.

blank /blŋk/ adjective with nothing

written on it noun a space on a form

which has to be completed
Fill in the

blanks and return the form to your local

office.

blank cheque /blŋk tʃek/ noun a cheque with the amount of money and

the payee left blank, but signed by the

drawer

blank endorsement /blŋk n- dɔsmənt/ noun an endorsement which

consists of a signature, and no other

details

blanket agreement /
blŋkt ə- rimənt/ noun an agreement which

covers many different items

bill of lading 38 blanket agreement

blanket lien /
blŋkt liən/ noun

US a lien on a person’s property (in- cluding personal effects)

blind trust /bland trst/ noun a trust set up to run a person’s affairs

without the details of any transaction

being known to the person concerned

(NOTE: Blind trusts are set up by politi￾cians to avoid potential conflicts of in￾terest.)

blip /blp/ noun bad economic figures

(a higher inflation rate, lower exports,

etc.), which only have a short-term

effect

‘…whether these pressures are just a cyclical

blip in a low inflation era, or whether the UK is

drifting back to the bad old days will be one of

the crucial questions for the stock market this

year’ [Financial Times]

block /blɒk/ noun 1. a series of items

grouped together
I bought a block of

6,000 shares. 2. a series of buildings

forming a square with streets on all

sides
They want to redevelop a block

in the centre of the town. a block of

offices, an office block a large building

which only contains offices verb to

stop something taking place
He used

his casting vote to block the motion.

The planning committee blocked the re￾development plan.

block booking /blɒk bυkŋ/ noun

booking of several seats or rooms at the

same time
The company has a block

booking for twenty seats on the plane or for ten rooms at the hotel.

blocked account /blɒkt əkaυnt/

noun a bank account which cannot be

used, usually because a government has

forbidden its use

blocked currency /blɒkt krənsi/

noun a currency which cannot be taken

out of a country because of government

exchange controls
The company has a

large account in blocked roubles.

block trading /blɒk tredŋ/ noun

trading in very large numbers of shares

blowout /bləυaυt/ noun US a rapid

sale of the whole of a new stock issue

(informal.)

Blue Book /blu bυk/ noun 1. GB an annual publication of national statistics

of personal incomes and spending pat- terns 2. US a document reviewing mon- etary policy, prepared for the Federal

Reserve

blue chip /blu tʃp/ noun a very safe

investment, a risk-free share in a good

company

blue-chip investments /
blu tʃp

nvestmənts/, blue-chip shares

/
blu tʃp seəz/, blue-chips /blu

tʃps/ plural noun low-risk shares in

good companies

blue-collar union /blu kɒlə

junjən/ noun a trade union formed

mainly of blue-collar workers

blue-collar worker /blu kɒlə

w%kə/ noun a manual worker in a

factory

Blue list /blu lst/ noun US a daily

list of municipal bonds and their ratings,

issued by Standard & Poor’s

blue sky laws /
blu ska lɔz/

plural noun US state laws to protect

investors against fraudulent traders in

securities

bluetooth /blutuθ/ trademark a type of technology allowing for commu￾nication between mobile phones, com￾puters and the Internet

bn /bljən/ abbreviation billion

board /bɔd/ noun 1. board of di￾rectors
He sits on the board as a rep￾resentative of the bank.
Two directors

were removed from the board at the

AGM. 2. a group of people who run an

organisation, trust or society 3. on board on a ship, plane or train 4. a screen on which share prices are posted

(on the wall of the trading floor in a

Stock Exchange) verb to go on to a

ship, plane or train
Customs officials

boarded the ship in the harbour.

‘CEOs, with their wealth of practical

experience, are in great demand and can pick

and choose the boards they want to serve on’

[Duns Business Month]

board meeting /bɔd
mitŋ/ noun

a meeting of the directors of a company

board of directors /
bɔd əv da- rektəz/ noun 1. GB a group of direc- tors elected by the shareholders to run a

company
The bank has two represen- tatives on the board of directors. 2. US

a group of people elected by the share- holders to draw up company policy and

to appoint the president and other exec- utive officers who are responsible for

managing the company

‘…a proxy is the written authorization an

investor sends to a stockholder meeting

blanket lien 39 board of directors

conveying his vote on a corporate resolution or

the election of a company’s board of directors’

[Barrons]

COMMENT: Directors are elected by

shareholders at the AGM, though they are

usually chosen by the chairman or chief

executive. A board will consist of a chair￾man (who may be non-executive), a chief

executive or managing director, and a se￾ries of specialist directors in charge of var￾ious activities of the company (such as

production director or sales director). The

company secretary will attend board

meetings, but is not a director. Apart from

the executive directors, who are in fact

employees of the company, there may be

several non-executive directors, ap￾pointed either for their expertise and con￾tacts, or as representatives of important

shareholders such as banks. These

non-executive directors are paid fees. The

board of an American company may be

made up of a large number of

non-executive directors and only one or

two executive officers; a British board has

more executive directors.

board order /bɔd
ɔdə/ noun an order to a stockbroker to buy or sell at a

particular price

boardroom /bɔdrum/ noun a room where the directors of a company meet

boardroom battle /
bɔdrum

bt(ə)l/ noun an argument between

directors

boiler room /bɔlə rυm/ noun a room in which telephone sales execu- tives try to sell securities to potential

investors

BOJ abbreviation Bank of Japan

bolivar /bɒlvɑ/ noun the unit of cur- rency used in Venezuela

boliviano /bə
lviɑnəυ/ noun a unit

of currency used in Bolivia (NOTE: Also

called the Bolivian peso.)

bolsa noun the Spanish word for stock

exchange

Bombay Stock Exchange

/
bɒmbe stɒk ks
tʃend$/ noun the

main stock exchange in India. Abbrevia- tion BSE

bona fide /
bəυnə fadi/ adjective

trustworthy, which can be trusted a bona fide offer an offer which is made

honestly

bonanza /bənnzə/ noun great

wealth, or a source of great wealth

The oil well was a bonanza for the com- pany.
Last year was a bonanza year

for the electronics industry.

bona vacantia /
bəυnə vəkntiə/

noun a property with no owner, or

which does not have an obvious owner,

and which usually passes to the Crown

bond /bɒnd/ noun 1. a contract docu- ment promising to repay money bor- rowed by a company or by the

government at a certain date, and paying

interest at regular intervals 2. goods

(held) in bond goods held by customs

until duty has been paid entry of

goods under bond bringing goods into

a country in bond to take goods out

of bond to pay duty on goods so that

they can be released by customs 3. a form of insurance fund which is linked

to a unit trust, but where there is no

yield because the income is automati- cally added to the fund

COMMENT: Bonds are in effect another

form of long-term borrowing by a com￾pany or government. They can carry a

fixed interest or a floating interest, but the

yield varies according to the price at

which they are bought; bond prices go up

and down in the same way as share

prices.

bonded /bɒndd/ adjective held in

bond

bonded warehouse /
bɒndd

weəhaυs/ noun a warehouse where

goods are stored until excise duty has

been paid

bondholder /bɒndhəυldə/ noun a person who holds government bonds

bondised /bɒndazd/, bondized ad￾jective referring to an insurance fund

linked to a unit trust

bond market /bɒnd
mɑkt/ noun a market in which government or munici- pal bonds are traded

bond rating /bɒnd
retŋ/ noun a rating of the reliability of a company or

government or local authority which has

issued a bond (the highest rating is

AAA)

bond-washing /bɒnd
wɒʃŋ/ noun

selling securities cum dividend and buy- ing them back later ex dividend, or sell- ing US Treasury bonds with the interest

coupon, and buying them back

ex-coupon, so as to reduce tax

board order 40 bond-washing