Неизвестен Автор - Словарь американских идиом (8000 единиц)

[rainy day] A time of need; especially: a time when you really need money. * /Squirrels gather acorns for a rainy day./ * /Each week Mrs. Carlson saved a little money for a rainy day./

[raise a hand] See: LIFT A FINGER.

[raise a row] To cause a disturbance, a fuss, or a scene. * /He raised quite a row when he noticed that someone had scratched his brand new car./

[raise a stink] To cause a disturbance; complain; protest strongly. * /Quite a stink was raised in the office when the boss discovered that several employees had left early./

[raise Cain] , To be noisy; cause trouble. * /When John couldn't go on the basketball trip with the team he raised Cain./ * /The children raised Cain in the living room./ Compare: KICK UP A FUSS, RAISE THE DEVIL.

[raise eyebrows] To shock people; cause surprise or disapproval. * /The news that the princess was engaged to a commoner raised eyebrows all over the kingdom./

[raise funds] or [money] To solicit donations for a charity or a specific project. * /Our church is trying to raise the funds for a new organ./

[raise hackles] or [raise one's hackles] To make (someone) upset or annoyed; arouse hostility. * /Attempts to add new ingredients to the beer raised hackles among all the old brew masters./

[raise havoc] See: PLAY HAVOC WITH.

[raise heck] See: RAISE THE DEVIL.

[raise hob] See: RAISE THE DEVIL.

[raise one's sights] To aim high; be ambitious. * /Teenage boys sometimes think too much of themselves and have a tendency to raise their sights too high./

[raise one's voice] To speak loudly, as if in anger or in protest. * /"I'm sorry, Mom," Peter said. "I didn't mean to raise my voice."/

[raise the devil] or [raise heck] or [raise hob] or [raise ned] , To make trouble; start a fight or an argument. * /Mr. Black raised heck when he saw the dented fender. He blamed the other driver./ * /Some teenage boys raised the devil in town on Halloween night and damaged a lot of property./ Compare: KICK UP A FUSS.

[raise the roof] , 1. To make a lot of noise; be happy and noisy. * /The gang raised the roof with their singing./ 2. To scold loudly. * /Mother raised the roof when she saw the dog's muddy footprints on her new bedspread./ Compare: KICK UP A FUSS, RAISE CAIN.

[rake in] To realize great profits; take in money. * /Because of the heavy snowfall, ski lodge operators in the Rocky Mountains have been raking in the dough this winter season./

[rake off] To illegally expropriate part of a sum paid. * /The secretary-treasurer of the association has been caught raking off some of the membership dues./

[rake-off] See: KICKBACK.

[rake over the coals] See: HAUL OVER THE COALS.

[rake up] To expose; gather; bring to light. * /Let's forget about the past; there's no need to rake up all those old memories./

[ramble on about] To chatter on idly and without a purpose. * /When Ted has too much to drink, he always rambles on about the good old days./

[ram down one's throat] See: SHOVE DOWN ONE'S THROAT.

[random] See: AT RANDOM.

[rank] See: CLOSE RANKS, PULL RANK.

[rank and file] Ordinary people; the regular membership of an organization; the enlisted privates in the Army. * /The general usually inspects the rank and file on specific national holidays./ * /The secretary of the association sends letters annually to the rank and file./

[rap] See: TAKE THE RAP.

[rap one's knuckles] To scold or punish. * /The principal rapped our knuckles for cheating on the test./ * /If you talk back to Dad, you'll get your knuckles rapped./ * /The club got its knuckles rapped by the principal for hazing new members./ * /Why rap my knuckles? It wasn't my fault./ Compare: DRESSING DOWN, GIVE IT TO(2).

[rat] See: SMELL A RAT.

[rate] See: AT ANY RATE, FIRST RATE.

[rather] See: HAD RATHER.

[rat on] See: BLOW THE WHISTLE, RAT OUT.

[rat out] or [rat out on] , To desert; to leave at a critical time. * /Joe ratted out on Sue when she was seven months pregnant./

[rat race] , A very confusing, crowded, or disorderly rush; a confusing scramble, struggle, or way of living that does not seem to have a purpose. * /The dance last night was a rat race. It was too noisy and crowded./ * /School can be a rat race if you don't keep up with your studies./ * /This job is a rat race. The faster you work, the faster the boss wants you to work./

[rate with someone] To be esteemed highly by another. * /The professor really rates with both the graduate students and the undergraduates./

[rattle] See: SABRE RAITLING.

[rattle off] or [reel off] To say quickly without having to stop to think; recite easily and rapidly. * /When Roger was seven he could rattle off the names of all the states in alphabetical order./ * /Joan memorized the "Gettysburg Address" so well that she could reel it off./ * /We asked the waitress what flavors of ice cream she had, and she rattled them off./

[rattle one's saber] To threaten another government or country without subsequent acts of war. * /It is considered an act of demagoguery on the part of politicians to rattle their sabers./ Compare: YELLOW JOURNALISM.

[rave about] To talk very enthusiastically about someone or something. * /Hank praised the new TV show very highly but we didn't think it was anything to rave about./

[raw] See: IN THE RAW.

[raw deal] Unfair treatment; inequity. * /Barry got a raw deal when he was sent to teach the class on advanced nuclear physics; he's an inexperienced graduate student./

[razzle-dazzle] , Fancy display; showing off. * /He is such a good player that he doesn't have to add razzle-dazzle to his game./ * /Do we need all this razzle-dazzle to advertise our fair?/

[reach] See: BOARDING HOUSE REACH.

[reach first base] See: GET TO FIRST BASE.

[reach for the sky] , 1. To put your hands high above your head or be shot. - Usually used as a command. * /A holdup man walked into a gas station last night and told the attendant "Reach for the sky!"/ Syn.: HANDS UP. 2. To set one's aims high. * /"Why medical technician?" asked her father. "Reach for the sky! Become a physician!"/

[read between the lines] To understand all of a writer's meaning by guessing at what he has left unsaid. * /Some kinds of poetry make you read between the lines./ * /A clever foreign correspondent can often avoid censorship by careful wording, leaving his audience to read between the lines./

[read into] To attribute extra meaning to; deduce from; consider to be implicit in. * /Just because Fred's letters sounded so friendly Mary was wrong to read anything serious into them./

[read off] To read in a speaking voice from a list. * /The secretary read off the names of those present in alphabetical order./

[read one like a book] , To understand someone completely; know what he will think or do at any time. * /John's girlfriend could read him like a book./ Compare: READ ONE'S MIND.

[read one one's rights] To give to an arrested person the legally required statement regarding the rights of such a person. * /"Read him his rights," Sergeant," the captain said, "and book him for breaking and entering."/

[read one's mind] To know what someone else is thinking. * /I have known John so long that I can read his mind./ - [mind reader] * /That's exactly what I was going to say. You must be a mind reader!/ Compare: READ LIKE A BOOK.

[read the riot act] To give someone a strong warning or scolding. * /Three boys were late to class and the teacher read the riot act to them./

[read over] To read hurriedly in a rather superficial manner. * /The professor said he had no time to read my essay thoroughly but that he had read it over and would comment later in detail./

[read up on] To study carefully in preparation for an examination or other special purpose. * /Since Mr. and Mrs. Lee are going to take their American citizenship exams soon, they must read up on the Constitution and the three branches of government./

[ready] See: AT THE READY, ROUGH-AND-READY.

[ready-made] Mass-produced; machine made. * /I buy all my dresses ready-made because I can't afford to have them made to order./

[ready money] Cash on hand. * /Frank refuses to buy things on credit, but, if he had the ready money, he would buy that lovely old house./

[real] See: FOR REAL, IT'S BEEN REAL.

[rear] See: BRING UP THE REAR.

[rear end] 1. The back part (usually of a vehicle) * /The rear end of our car was smashed when we stopped suddenly and the car behind us hit us./ - Often used like an adjective, with a hyphen. * /A head-on crash is more likely to kill the passengers than a rear-end crash./ Contrast: HEAD-ON. 2. Rump; backside. * /Bobby's mother was so annoyed with his teasing that she swatted his rear end./

[rear its head] To appear; emerge. * /After decades of certainty that tuberculosis had been eradicated globally, it suddenly reared its ugly head right here in the United States./

[reason] See: IN REASON, LISTEN TO REASON, RHYME OR REASON, STAND TO REASON, WITHIN REASON.

[receive with open arms] See: WITH OPEN ARMS.

[reckon with] To consider as one of the things which may change a situation; consider (something) that will make a difference in the results. * /The coach said the opposing pitcher had a fast ball to be reckoned with./ Syn.: TAKE INTO ACCOUNT.

[reckon without] To fail to consider as one of the things which might change a situation; not think about. * /The committee for the class picnic party made careful plans for a beach party but they reckoned without a sudden change in the weather./

[record] See: MATTER OF RECORD, OFF THE RECORD, ON RECORD.

[red] See: IN THE RED, PAINT THE TOWN RED, SEE RED.

[redcap] A porter at an airport or at a railroad station. * /Mr. Smith works as a redcap at Chicago's O'Hare Airport./

[red carpet] See: ROLL OUT THE RED CARPET.

[red cent] The one-cent coin; a copper coin; very little money. * /Poor Oscar is so broke he doesn't have a red cent to his name./

[red eye] Bloodshot eyes that are strained from too much reading. * /Poor Tim has a red eye; he must have been studying too late again./

[red eye] , A night flight. * /The company refused to pay for him to take a more expensive daytime flight, so he had to come in on the red eye./

[red-handed] In the very act; while committing a crime or evil action. * /The criminal was caught red-handed while holding up the neighborhood bank at gunpoint./

[red herring] A false scent laid down in order to deceive; a phony or misleading story designed to cause confusion. * /That story about the president having an affair was a red herring created by the opposition in order to discredit him./

[red-letter day] A holiday; memorable day (usually printed in red on calendars). * /The Fourth of July is a red-letter day./ * /It was a red-letter day for Felix, when he won the lottery./

[red-light district] A district of brothels or where prostitutes hang out. * /Most unwisely, the young sailor decided to spend his leave on shore by haunting the red-light districts of the port of call./

[red tape] Unnecessary bureaucratic routine; needless but official delays. * /If you want to get anything accomplished in a hurry, you have to find someone in power who can cut through all that red tape./

[reel off] See: RATTLE OFF.

[reference] See: IN REFERENCE TO or WITH REFERENCE TO.

[refine on] or [refine upon] 1. To make better; improve. * /Mary was asked to refine on her first outline to make it clearer and more exact./ 2. To be better than; surpass. * /Modern medical techniques refine on those of the past./

[regain one's feet] To get back up again after falling down. * /Tom fell while he skied down the hill but he regained his feet quickly./ Compare: TO ONE'S FEET.