[duty bound] {adj. phr.} Forced to act by what you believe is right. Abraham Lincoln walked miles once to return a few pennies that he had overcharged a woman because he felt duty bound to do it. John felt duty bound to report that he had broken the window.
[cheesecake] {n.}, {slang}, {informal} A showing of the legs of an attractive woman or a display of her breasts as in certain magazines known as cheesecake magazines. Photographer to model: «Give us some cheesecake in that pose!»
[look down on] also [look down upon] {v.} To think of as less good or important; feel that is not as goodas you are, or that is not worth having or doing; considerinferior. Mary looked down on her classmates because she was betterdressed than they were. Jack looked down on Al for his poormanners. Miss … Читать далее
[burn up] {v.} 1. To burn completely; destroy or be destroyed by fire. Mr. Scott was burning up old letters. The house burned up before the firemen got there. 2. {informal} To irritate, anger, annoy. The boy’s laziness and rudeness burned up his teacher. The breakdown of his new car burned Mr. Jones up.
[local yokel] {n.}, {slang}, {citizen’s hand radio jargon} Citypolice officer, as opposed to state police or highway patrol. There’s a local yokel westbound on the move.
[out of character] {adv.} or {adj. phr.} 1. Not in agreement with aperson’s character or personality; not in the way that a personusually behaves or is expected to behave; not usual; unsuitable;uncharacteristic. Mary is a nice girl. Her fit of temper was out ofcharacter. 2. Not in character; unsuitable for a part or character. It … Читать далее
[lunar module ] or [Lem] {n.}, {Space English} That portionof the rocket assemblage on a flight to the Moon in which theastronauts descend to the Moon’s surface. Building the L. M. was oneof the most expensive parts of the American space program.
[take effect] {v. phr.} 1. To have an unexpected or intendedresult; cause a change. It was nearly an hour before the sleepingpill took effect. 2. To become lawfully right, or operative. Thenew tax law will not take effect until January.
Идиома: praise someone or something to the skies Перевод: превозносить кого-либо или что-либо до небес Пример: The teachers praised the principal to the skies for the new policies at the school. Учитель превознес директора школы до небес из-за новой политики в школе.
[talk a blue streak] {v. phr.}, {informal} To talk on and on, usually very fast. Sue is a nice girl but after one drink she talksa blue streak and won’t stop.
[hold forth] {v.} 1. To offer; propose. As a candidate, Jonesheld forth the promise of a bright future. 2. To speak in public;preach. — Usually used with little respect. Senator Smith washolding forth on free trade.
Идиома: hold on a leash Перевод: держать на поводке, держать в узде Пример: His wife holds him on a leash, he can’t do anything without her approval. Его жена держит его в узде, он ничего не может сделать без ее одобрения.
[stow away] {v.} 1. {informal} To pack or store away. After NewYear’s Day the Christmas decorations were stowed away until anotherseason. 2. To hide on a ship or another kind of transportation to geta free ride. John ran away from home and stowed away on a freightergoing to Jamaica.
[smack one’s lips] {v. phr.} To reveal an appetite for; showenjoyment of. Eleanor smacked her lips over the dessert ofstrawberries and whipped cream.
Идиома: pour oil on troubled waters Перевод: уладить ссору, конфликт; сделать что-либо, чтобы усмирить враждующих людей, чтобы улучшить положение Пример: The teachers tried to pour oil on troubled waters when they saw the fight among the students. Учитель попытался уладить ссору, когда увидел драку между учениками.
[jailbait] {n.}, {slang} A girl below the legal age of consent forsex; one who tempts you to intimacy which is punishable byimprisonment. Stay away from Arabella, she is a jailbait.
[in the raw] {adj.} or {adv. phr.} 1. In the simplest or mostnatural way; with no frills. Henry enjoyed going into the woods andliving life in the raw. 2. {informal} Without any clothing; naked. In the summer the boys slept in the raw.
[laugh all the way to the bank] {v. phr.} To have made asubstantial amount of money either by lucky investment or by somefraudulent deal and rejoice over one’s gains. If you had done whatI suggested, you, too, could be laughing all the way to the bank.
Идиома: build on sand Перевод: строить на песке, на ненадежном основании Пример: Richard has nothing but high-risk stocks; his fortune is built on sand. У Ричарда ничего нет, кроме акций компаний с высоким уровнем инвестиционного риска, его состояние построено на песке.
[fairy tale] or [story] {n.} An inaccurate, even false account ofsomething; a result of wishful thinking. Jeff said he was going tobe promoted soon, but we all suspect that it is only one of hiscustomary fairy tales.
Идиома: make a bed Перевод: стелить постель Пример: My mother always told me to make my bed when I was a child. Моя мать всегда говорила мне застилать свою кровать, когда я был ребенком.
[side street] {n.} A street that runs into and ends at a mainstreet. The store is on a side street just off Main Street. TheSpellmans bought a house on a side street that runs off Broad Street. Compare: BACK STREET, CROSS STREET.
Идиома: golden opportunity Перевод: отличная и исключительная возможность Пример: The hot weather was a golden opportunity for the ice cream seller to make money. Жаркая погода была отличной возможностью заработать для продавца мороженного.
Идиома: drop a hint Перевод: невзначай намекнуть о чем-либо; дать какой-либо совет; сделать какое-либо предложение Пример: The clerk dropped a hint that he wanted to transfer to the new department. Служащий невзначай упомянул, что хочет переводиться в новое отделение.
[as yet] {adv. phr.} Up to the present time; so far; yet. We know little as yet about the moon’s surface. She has not come as yet.
[peel off] {v.} To dive away from a group of airplanes in a flightformation; bring one plane down from a group. As the group nearedthe home base, pilot after pilot peeled off for a landing.
[clean-up] {n.} 1. An act of removing all the dirt from a given set of objects. What this filthy room needs is an honest clean-up. 2. The elimination of pockets of resistance during warfare or a police raid. The FBI conducted a clean-up against the drug pushers in our district.
[part with] {v.} 1. To separate from; leave. He parted with usat the end of the trip. Compare: PART COMPANY. 2. To let go. Theywere sorry to part with the old house. He had to part with hissecretary when she got married. Compare: GIVE UP.
[on the nose] {adv. phr.}, {informal} Just right; exactly. Stanley hit the ball on the nose. The airplane pilot found thesmall landing field on the nose.
Идиома: have a feeling about something Перевод: казаться, находиться под впечатлением о чем-либо Пример: I have a strange feeling about the new man in our company. У меня странное впечатление о новом человеке в нашей компании.
[go to town] {v. phr.}, {slang} 1. To do something quickly or withgreat force or energy; work fast or hard. The boys went to town onthe old garage, and had it torn down before Father came home fromwork. While Sally was slowly washing the dishes, she rememberedshe had a date with Pete that evening; then … Читать далее
[tell it like it is] {v. phr.}, {slang}, {informal} To be honest, sincere; to tell the truth. Joe is the leader of our commune; hetells it like it is.
[lord it over] {v. phr.} To act as the superior and master of;dominate; be bossy over; control. John learned early to lord itover other children. The office manager lorded it over the clerksand typists.
[blue Monday] {n.} A Monday when you have to work after a happy weekend. It was blue Monday and John nodded sleepily over his books. Housewives sometimes wish they could sleep through blue Monday.
[Roman collar] {n.} The high, plain, white collar worn by priestsand clergymen. The man with the Roman collar is the newEpiscopalian preacher. Many Protestant churches do not requiretheir ministers to wear Roman collars.
[in a fog] or [in a haze] {adv. phr.} Mentally confused; not surewhat is happening. I didn’t vote for Alice because she always seemsto be in a fog. I was so upset that for two days I went around ina haze, not even answering when people spoke to me. Contrast: ALLTHERE, HIT ON ALL CYLINDERS.
Идиома: attract someone’s attention Перевод: привлечь чье-либо внимание Пример: The strange behavior of the man attracted the policeman’s attention. Странное поведение человека привлекло внимание полицейского.
[see eye to eye] {v. phr.} To agree fully; hold exactly the sameopinion. Though we did not usually agree, we saw eye to eye in thematter of reducing taxes. Jim did not see eye to eye with Sally onwhere they would go for their vacation.
[go on] {v.} 1a. To continue; not stop. After he was hit by theball, Billy quit pitching and went home, but the game went on. TheTV picture began to jump, and it went on like that until Father turneda knob. I asked Jane a question but she went on reading and didn’tanswer. Mother told Jim … Читать далее
[ham it up] {v. phr.}, {slang} To do more than look natural inacting a part; pretend too much; exaggerate. When Tom told theteacher he was too sick to do homework, he really hammed it up. The old-fashioned movies are funny to us because the players hammedit up. Compare: LAY IT ON.
Идиома: blood runs cold / blood freezes Перевод: кровь стынет в жилах (от ужаса); быть очень напуганным Пример: The thought of the damage such a bomb could do made my blood run cold. У меня кровь стынет в жилах при мысли о том, какие разрушения могла бы вызвать эта бомба.
[baloney] {n.}, {informal} Nonsense, unbelievable, trite, or trivial. John brags that he’s won the $10 million lottery, and I think it’s just a lot of baloney. «Will you marry Joe?» mother asked. «Baloney,» Susie answered with a disgusted look. Do you still believe all that baloney about socialism excluding free enterprise? Look at China and … Читать далее
[in plain English] {adv. phr.} Plainly; simply; in clear language. Stop healing around the bush and saying that John «prevaricates»;in plain English he is a liar.
[on the heels of] {prep.} Just after; following. — Often used with «hard» for emphasis. Hardon the heels of the women’s liberation parade, homosexuals declared a»gay pride week.»
[talk down] {v.} 1. To make silent by talking louder orlonger. Sue tried to give her ideas, but the other girls talked herdown. Compare: SHOUT DOWN. To use words or ideas that are tooeasy. The speaker talked down to the students, and they werebored.
[lounge lizard] {n. phr.} A well-dressed male fortune hunter whosits around in bars and other public places, and attends many socialevents to try to pick up wealthy women through smart conversation. Harry has the reputation of being a lounge lizard; he is looking fora rich wife.
[hell] See: COME HELL OR HIGH WATER, GO THROUGH HELL AND HIGHWATER, HELL-ON-WHEELS, LIKE HELL, TO HELL WITH, UNTIL HELL FREEZESOVER, WHEN HELL FREEZES OVER.
[cry over spilled milk] or [cry over spilt milk] {v. phr.}, {informal} To cry or complain about something that has already happened; be unhappy about something that cannot be helped. After the baby tore up Sue’s picture book, Sue’s mother told her there was no use crying over spilled milk. You have lost the game … Читать далее
[fence in] or [hedge in] or [hem in] {v.} To keep fromdoing what he or she would like to do. Usually used in the passive. Mary felt fenced in because her father would not let her drive a caror have dates with boys. John didn’t like his job because he hadto do the same kind … Читать далее
[all the —er] {substandard} The —est; as… as. — Used with a comparative adjective or adverb and subordinate clause in place of a superlative adjective or adverb. That was all the bigger he grew. Is that all the faster you can go?