A dictionary of Confusable Phrases: More Than 10,000 Idioms and Collocations

body shop • body shopper
body shop —
1
. a shop or garage where the bodies of automo-
tive vehicles are repaired: After a car accident, I had my car
repaired at a body shop my insurance company referred me
to. 2. (Body Shop) a UK based skin and body care company:
A talk was given by a Body Shop representative about the pres-
sures put on women in order for cosmetic companies to sell
their anti-aging products. 3. (sl.) an employment agency:
Known as “body shops,” some of these middlemen are at the
heart of many of the charges of visa fraud. They recruit work-
ers overseas and arrange for their visas.
body shopper —(sl.) a contractor in a Third World country
who recruits local programmers for U.S. companies: Program-
mers undercut by foreign body shoppers are waging a cam-
paign to get immigration authorities to stop issuing short-
term visas to foreign programmers.
body work • body worker
body work —
1
. certain physical therapies like jogging, aero-
bics, etc.: Take thirty minutes out your day to do body work;
it can be walking, Yoga, aerobics, whatever you enjoy. 2. work
on the metal shell of a motor vehicle: I bought my Mustang
from a guy who did body work for a living, so it has had quite
a bit of work done to it.
body worker —(U.S. euph.) an erotic masseur; a prostitute:
In the same manner that some prostitutes refer to themselves
as escorts … many erotic masseurs refer to themselves as body
workers.
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body work

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boil down • boil up
boil down —be reduced by boiling: These plums are heaped
up in the pan, but they will boil down.
boil up —(of a quarrel, crisis, etc.) develop; be about to occur:
A dispute is boiling up over who should be the first to greet
our royal visitors.