Would you eat a bomb or a bombe for dessert? Would you enjoy your picnic by a born, a borne, or a bourne? You bought a donkey. Did you purchase a borough, a burro, or a burrow? The robbers stole all of the gold bars from the vault. Did they steal bouillon or bullion?
bomb, bombe
A bomb is an explosive device. If you bomb something, you cause it to explode.
The terrorist built a bomb in the basement of his house.
A bombe is a frozen dessert.
The bombe contained two different flavors of ice cream.
boos, booze
Boos are cries of disapproval from an audience.
Her long awaited performance brought only boos from the disappointed fans.
Booze is whiskey or other alcoholic beverage.
The trooper found the wrecked car full of stolen booze.
bootee, bootie, booty
A bootee or bootie is a bootlike covering for the foot or a shoe. They are usually soft, and sometimes they are disposable.
The surgeon's bootie was ripped off of his foot by the harsh terrain.
Booty is something that is gained by violence or deception.
The booty taken from those defeated was worth millions.
born, borne, bourne
Born means to be brought forth by birth.
Her children have all been born at the local hospital.
Borne is the past participle of bear.
Surely Christ hath borne our griefs.
A bourne is a small stream or boundary.
The bourn behind the cottage is where she found her lost ring.
borough, burro, burrow
A borough is a community, district, precinct, or ward.
During medieval times, boroughs were settlements in England that had some form of self-government.
A burro is a donkey.
The burro is often used as a pack animal.
Burrow means to dig into the ground.
Marlene stared out the window and watched the rabbit burrow into the side of the hill.
bough, bow
A bough is a tree branch.
The robin built a nest on the bough of a walnut tree.
A bow is the front part of a ship. It also means to bend over in respect.
The peasants were expected to bow before the king or be put to death.
bouillon, bullion
Bouillon is a broth made from water in which chicken, beef, or some other food has been cooked.
The chef always made his own chicken bouillon.
Bullion is bars of gold or silver.
The gold bullion mysteriously disappeared from the supposedly inaccessible vault.
boy, buoy
A boy is a male child.
Mrs. Danvers gave birth to a boy.
A buoy is a floating device.
The buoy became stuck in the sand.
braid, brayed
A braid is a weave of three strands of hair, yarn, etc.
Jessica’s hair hung in a long braid down her back.
Brayed is the past tense of bray, the sound with which a donkey communicates.
The donkey brayed at the snarling dogs.
braise, brays, braze
Braise is a cooking term that means to cook slowly with fat and moisture in a closed pot.
Shelly prepared to braise the lean cut of roast beef.
Brays is the plural form of bray, the sound a donkey makes.
The donkey brays at every passing animal.
When you braze two objects, you solder them together.
Michael needs to braze the joints in order to fix the leak.
