Неизвестен Автор - Словарь американских идиом (8000 единиц)

[stand by] 1. To be close beside or near. * /Mary could not tell Jane the secret with her little brother standing by./ * /Would you just stand by and watch the big boys beat your little brother?/ 2. To be near, waiting to do something when needed. * /The policeman in the patrol car radioed the station about the robbery, and then stood by for orders./ * /Lee stood by with a fire extinguisher while the trash was burning./ 3. To follow or keep (one's promise). * /He is a boy who always stands by his promises./ 4. To be loyal to; support; help. * /When three big boys attacked Bill, Ed stood by him./ * /Some people blamed Harry when he got into trouble, but Joe stood by him./ Compare: BACK UP, HANG TOGETHER, STAND UP FOR.

[stand by one's guns] See: STICK TO ONE'S GUNS.

[stand for] 1. To be a sign of; make you think of; mean. * /The letters "U.S.A." stand for "United States of America."/ * /The written sign "=" in an arithmetic problem stands for "equals."/ * /Our flag stands for our country./ * /The owl stands for wisdom./ 2. To speak in favor of something, or show that you support it. * /The new President stood for honest government./ * /John always stands for what is right./ 3. To try to be elected for. * /Three men from London are standing for parliament./ * /The governor did not stand for reelection./ 4. To allow to happen or to be done; permit. - Usually used in the negative, * /The teacher will not stand for fooling in the classroom./ Compare: HAVE IT(4), PUT UP WITH.

[stand in awe of] To look upon with wonder; feel very respectful to. * /Janet always stands in awe of the superintendent./ * /The soldier stood in awe to his officers./

[stand in for] To substitute for someone. * /The famous brain surgeon was called out of town so his assistant had to stand in for him during the operation./

[stand in one's way] See: IN ONE'S WAY.

[stand in with] , To be liked by or friendly with. - Usually used with "well". * /John stands in well with the teacher./

[stand off] 1. To stay at a distance; stay apart. * /At parties, Mr. Jones goes around talking to everyone, but Mrs. Jones is shy and stands off./ 2. To keep (someone or something) from coming near or winning. * /The soldiers defending the fort stood off a large band of Indians./ * /The other schools wanted to beat our team and win the championship, but our boys stood them all off./ Contrast: GIVE GROUND.

[standoffish] Stiff; aloof; reserved in manner. * /The famous chess player is hard to get to know because he is so standoffish./

[stand on ceremony] To follow strict rules of politeness; be very formal with other people. - Usually used with a helping verb in the negative. * /Grandmother does not stand on ceremony when her grandchildren call./

[stand one in good stead] To be helpful or useful to. * /A boy scout knife will stand you in good stead when you do not have other tools./ * /Julia knew how to typewrite, and that stood her in good stead when she looked for a job./

[stand one's ground] also [hold one's ground] 1. To stay and fight instead of running away. * /The enemy attacked in great numbers but our men stood their ground./ Compare: GAIN GROUND. Contrast: GIVE GROUND, LOSE GROUND. 2. To defend a belief or statement; refuse to weaken when opposed; insist you are right. * /John's friends said he was mistaken but he stood his ground./ Compare: STICK TO ONE'S GUNS.

[stand on one's own feet] or [stand on one's own two feet] To depend on yourself; do things yourself; earn your own living; be independent. * /After his father died, John had to stand on his own feet and earn his own living./ * /You should learn to stand on your own two feet./

[stand out] 1. To go farther out than a nearby surface; protect. * /A mole stood out on her cheek./ Compare: STICK OUT(1b). 2. To be more noticeable in some way than those around you; be higher, bigger, or better. * /Fred was very tall and stood out in the crowd./ * /John stood out as a track star./

[stand over] 1. To watch closely; keep checking all the time. * /Ted's mother had to stand over him to get him to do his homework./ 2. To be held over for later action; be postponed; wait. * /The committee decided to let the proposal stand over until its next meeting./

[stand pat] , To be satisfied with things and be against a change. * /Bill had made up his mind on the question and when his friends tried to change his mind, he stood pat./ Compare: STAND ONE'S GROUND(2).

[stand the gaff] , To stand rough treatment; do well in spite of great physical or mental hardship. * /An athlete must learn to stand the gaff./ * /No person running for office gets far unless he can stand the gaff./ Compare: HOLD OUT 2, STICK OUT 2.

[stand to reason] To seem very likely from the known facts. * /If you have a driver's license, it stands to reason you can drive./ * /Joe is intelligent and studies hard; it stands to reason that he will pass the examination./

[stand trial] To submit to a trial by court. * /The case has been postponed and he may not have to stand trial until next April./

[stand up] 1. To rise to a standing position; get up on your feet. * /A gentleman stands up when a lady enters a room./ 2. To be strong enough to use hard or for a long time. * /A rocket must be built strongly to stand up under the blast-off./ * /The old car has already stood up for twenty years./ Compare: WEAR WELL. 3. To make a date and then fail to keep it. * /June cried when Bill stood her up on their first dale./

[stand up and be counted] To be willing to say what you think in public; let people know that you are for or against something. * /The equal rights movement needs people who are willing to stand up and be counted./ * /If you disagree with the group, you should be ready to stand up and be counted./

[stand up for] or [stick up for] To defend against attack; fight for. * /John always stands up for his rights./ * /When Mary was being criticized, Jane stuck up for her./ Compare: BACK UP, GO TO BAT FOR, STAND BY, STAND ONE'S GROUND, STICK TO ONE'S GUNS, GO TO BAT FOR.

[stand up to] To meet with courage. * /Mary stood up to the snarling dog that leaped toward her./ * /A soldier must stand up to danger./

[stand up with] , To be best man or maid of honor at a wedding. * /A groom often chooses his brother to stand up with him./

[star] See: FIVE-STAR, SEE STARS, HITCH ONE'S WAGON TO A STAR, LUCKY STAR, THANK ONE'S LUCKY STARS.

[starch] See: TAKE THE STARCH OUT OF.

[stare in the face] 1. To be about to meet or to happen to (you.) * /Grandmother became very sick and death was staring her in the face./ * /Defeat stared them in the face, but the soldiers fought on bravely./ 2. To be easy to see; be plain. * /Are you looking for your pencil? It's on your desk, staring you in the face./ * /Their friends all knew that Mary loved John, but John did not see it even though it was staring him in the face./

[stars in one's eyes] 1. An appearance or feeling of very great happiness or expectation of happiness. * /Mary gets stars in her eyes when she thinks of her boyfriend./ 2. A belief in the possibility of quick and lasting reforms in people and life and an eagerness to make such changes. * /Some inexperienced people get stars in their eyes when they think of improving the world./ - [starry-eyed] Very happy and excited, perhaps with little reason; eager and self-confident about improving human nature and general conditions of life. * /Young people are often starry-eyed and eager to improve the world; they do not know how hard it is./

[start] See: BY FITS AND STARTS, HEAD START, JACK-RABBIT START, RUNNING START.

[start from scratch] See: FROM SCRATCH.

[start in] , 1. To begin to do something; start. * /Fred started in weeding the garden./ * /The family started in eating supper./ Compare: GO AT. 2. To begin a career. * /Bob started in as an office boy and became president./ 3. To give a first job to. * /The bank started him in as a clerk./

[start out] 1. To begin to go somewhere. * /Bill started out for school on his bicycle./ * /Art started out on a voyage around the world./ Compare: SET OUT. 2. To begin a career or life. * /Harry started out as an errand boy in a business office./ * /We all start out in life as helpless infants./ Syn.: START IN. 3. To give one a first job. * /The garage man started Pete out as a grease rack man./ Syn.: START IN(3).

[start something] , To make trouble; cause a quarrel or fight. * /John is always starting something./ * /Jack likes to play tricks on the other boys to start something./ Compare: MAKE SOMETHING OF.

[start the ball rolling] See: GET THE BALL ROLLING.

[start up] 1. To begin operating, * /The driver started up the motor of the car./ * /The engine started up with a roar./ 2. To begin to play (music). * /The conductor waved his baton, and the band started up./ * /The orchestra started up a waltz./ Compare: STRIKE UP. 3. To rise or stand suddenly. * /When he heard the bell, he started up from his chair./

[stash bag] or [stuff bag] , , 1. A small bag containing marijuana cigarettes or the ingredients for making them. * /The police are holding John because they found a stash bag full of the stuff on him./ 2. Any small bag resembling a stash bag used for small personal items such as lipstick, driver's license, etc. * /Do you have any room for my keys in your stash bag?/

[state] See: LIE IN STATE.

[state-of-the-art] The best and - the latest any field of research can offer; modem; the latest; the most advanced. * /State-of-the-art personal computers may cost a little more than older models, but may be worth the cost for those who need them./ Compare: UP TO DATE.

[status symbol] Signs of wealth and prestige. * /A new yacht or airplane might be a status symbol to a bank manager./

[stead] See: STAND IN GOOD STEAD.

[stave off] , To keep from touching or hurting you. Syn.: WARD OFF. * /The white knight struck with his sword. The black knight staved it off with his own sword./ * /Bill's warm new coal staved off the cold./ * /They staved off starvation by eating two of the sled dogs./

[stay in] To remain at home. * /The weather was so bad that we decided to stay in all day./

[stay out] To stay away from home. * /Her father was very upset because Mary stayed out until 3 A.M. last night./

[stay put] To stay in place; not leave. * /Harry's father told him to stay put until he came back./ * /The rocks can be glued to the bulletin board to make them stay put./ * /After Grandmother came home from her trip to visit Aunt May, she said she wanted to stay put for a while./

[stay up late] To not go to bed until very late. * /Peter has to stay up late these days as he is preparing for his comprehensive exams./ See: BURN THE MIDNIGHT OIL.

[stay with] See: STICK WITH.

[steady] See: GO STEADY.

[steak] See: SALISBURY STEAK, T-BONE STEAK.

[steal] See: LOCK THE BARN DOOR AFTER THE HORSE IS STOLEN.

[steal a march on] To get ahead of someone by doing a thing unnoticed; get an advantage over. * /The army stole a march on the enemy by marching at night and attacking them in the morning./ * /Jack got the job by getting up earlier than Bill. He stole a march on him./ Compare: GET THE JUMP ON, GET THE BETTER OF, TAKE BY SURPRISE.

[steal away] See: SLIP AWAY.

[steal one's thunder] To do or say something, intentionally or not, that another person has planned to say or do. * /Fred intended to nominate Bill for president, but John got up first and stole Fred's thunder./ * /Mary was going to sing "Oh! Susanna," but Ellen did it first and Mary said Ellen had stolen her thunder./ * /Smith heard that Jones was going to offer a new law which people wanted, so he himself proposed the law first, stealing Jones' thunder./

[steal the show] To act or do so well in a performance that you get most of the attention and the other performers are unnoticed. * /Mary was in only one scene of the play, but she stole the show from the stars./