The original 1898 version of Brewer is available online at
http://www.bartleby.com/81. There, if you click on a letter, you will get a list of the phrases beginning with that letter. Since some letters have several pages they also give the first phrase on page two, page three, etc. Another click will get you to the explanation. This can work better that the search engine where
burning,
boats and
bridges don't work because the phrase is listed under
burn.A more up-to-date edition is available for money at eg
http://shopping.kelkoo.co.uk/b/a/ss_Brewers_dictionary.h tml