sth such as a sport or a type of music suddenly becomes very popular and successful (

W Rif 83:              The only way to satisfy the

golf boom was to build more courses. Ifo&vLfih

►                ON BOAT US 3 a long pole that the bottom of a sail is attached to and that you move to change the position of the sail itftjfj — picture o page R4

►                SOUND 1 , 4 [usually sing.] a loud deep sound

: the distant boom of the guns             — see

also SONIC BOOM

►                IN RIVER/HARBOUR M;   ,p. 5 a floating barrier that is

placed across a river or the entrance to a harbour to prevent ships or other objects from coming in or going out 7jcH

►                FOR MICROPHONE M % M 6 a long pole that carries a microphone or other equipment ft ft;

mverb

►                MAKE LOUD SOUND £ * g ufo 1 [V] to make a loud deep

sound M n4 ; M P|r1 :          Outside, thunder boomed and

crashed. 2 ~ (out) to say sth

in a loud deep voice VJ> U W A W r # : [V speech] ‘Get out of my sight!’ he boomed. “ #ij it ft W JaL PJ #! ”

WAUfeifto o [V] A voice boomed out from the darkness. H Bg 41 # A U % A W # H 0 0 He had a booming voice.

►                OF BUSINESS/ECONOMY $ik; gs$f-3 [V] to have a period

of rapid growth; to become bigger, more successful, etc. By the 1980s, the

computer industry was booming. PJ 20             80

o Business is booming! A^i!

‘boom box noun (especially NAmE) = ghetto blaster

boom er /‘burner)/ noun 1 {NAmE) = baby boomer 2 a large male kangaroo A^tHll

boomerang 0A^

boom erang /'buimaraerj/ noun, verb mnoun a curved flat piece of wood that you throw and that can fly in a circle and come back to you. Boomerangs were first used by Australian Aborigines as weapons when they were hunting. [a] A        A 3jt

() mverb [V] if a plan boomerangs on sb, it hurts them instead of the person it was intended to hurt 'STASIS

B ; §       BACKFIRE

'boomerang kid (also boomerang child) noun {informal) an adult child who returns home to live with his or her parents after being away for some time ( J®

|Hl/slH]^^S#|W]ftW ) &IUL, 0

mm

'boom town noun a town that has become rich and successful because trade and industry has developed there (     kM )

boon /burn/ noun ~ (to/for sb) something that is very helpful and makes life easier for you

&b:         The new software will prove a boon to Internet

users.

.boon com'panion noun (literary) a very good friend

boon-docks /'burndDks; NAmE -da:ks/ (also boon-ies) noun [pi.] {NAmE, informal, disapproving) an area far away from cities or towns

boon dog gle /'buindDgl; NAmE -da:gl; -do:gl/ noun {NAmE, informal) a piece of work that is unnecessary and that wastes time and/or money ft M X1$ X ft

(««if);   (mmat >

boor /bua(r); ba:(r); NAmE bur/ noun {old-fashioned) a rude unpleasant person         A;    A