Неизвестен Автор - Словарь американских идиом (8000 единиц)

[bigger than one's stomach] See: EYES BIGGER THAN ONE'S STOMACH.

[big hand] Loud and enthusiastic applause. * /When Pavarotti finished singing the aria from Rigoletto, he got a very big hand./

[big head] , Too high an opinion of your own ability or importance; conceit. * /When Jack was elected captain of the team, it gave him a big head./ Compare: SWELLED HEAD.

[big house] A large jail or prison. * /The rapist will spend many years in the big house./

[big lie, the] , A major, deliberate misrepresentation of some important issue made on the assumption that a bold, gross lie is psychologically more believable than a timid, minor one. * /We all heard the big lie during the Watergate months./ * /The pretense of democracy by a totalitarian regime is part of the big lie about its government./

[big mouth] or [big-mouthed] See: LOUD MOUTH, LOUD-MOUTHED.

[big shot] or [big wig] An important or influential person. * /Elmer is a big shot in the State Assembly./

[big stink] , A major scandal; a big upheaval. * /I'll raise a big stink if they fire me./

[big time] , 1. A very enjoyable time at a party or other pleasurable gathering. * /I certainly had a big time at the club last night./ 2. The top group; the leading class; the best or most important company. * /After his graduation from college, he soon made the big time in baseball./ * /Many young actors go to Hollywood, but few of them reach the big time./

[big-time] Belonging to the top group; of the leading class; important. * /Jean won a talent contest in her home town, and only a year later she began dancing on big-time television./ * /Bob practices boxing in the gym every day; he wants to become a big time boxer./ Often used in the phrase "big-time operator". * /Just because Bill has a new football uniform he thinks he is a big-time operator./ Compare: SHOW OFF. Contrast: SMALL-TIME.

[big top] The main tent under which a circus gives its show; the circus and circus life. * /Lillian Leitzel was one of the great stars of the big top./ * /The book tells of life under the big top./

[big wheel] , An influential or important person who has the power to do things and has connections in high places. * /Uncle Ferdinand is a big wheel in Washington; maybe he can help you with your problem./

[big yawn] A very boring person, story or event. * /I love my grandma very much, but the stories she tells sure are a yawn./

[bill] See: CLEAN BILL OF HEALTH, FILL THE BILL.

[bind] See: DUTY BOUND, IN A BIND, MUSCLE BOUND, ROOT-BOUND.

[bingo card] , A response card, bound into a periodical, containing numbers keyed to editorial or advertising matter, giving the reader the opportunity to send for further information by marking the numbers of the items he is interested in; such a card can be mailed free of charge. * /Jack thinks he is saving time by filling out bingo cards instead of writing a letter./

[bird] See: EARLY BIRD CATCHES THE WORM or EARLY BIRD GETS THE WORM, EAT LIKE A BIRD, FINE FEATHERS DO NOT MAKE FINE BIRDS, FOR THE BIRDS, KILL TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE.

[bird has flown] The prisoner has escaped; the captive has got away. * /When the sheriff returned to the jail, he discovered that the bird had flown./

[bird in the hand is worth two in the bush (a)] Something we have, or can easily get, is more valuable than something we want that we may not be able to get; we shouldn't risk losing something sure by trying to get something that is not sure. - A proverb. * /Johnny has a job as a paperboy, but he wants a job in a gas station. His father says that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush./

[bird of a different feather] A person who is free thinking and independent. * /Syd won't go along with recent trends in grammar; he created his own. He is a bird of a different feather./

[birds of a feather flock together] People who are alike often become friends or are together; if you are often with certain people, you may be their friends or like them. - A proverb. * /Don't be friends with bad boys. People think that birds of a feather flock together./

[birds and the bees (the)] , The facts we should know about our birth. * /At various ages, in response to questions, a child can be told about the birds and the bees./

[bird watcher] A person whose hobby is to study birds close-up in their outdoor home. * /A bird watcher looks for the first robin to appear in the spring./

[birthday suit] The skin with no clothes on; complete nakedness. * /The little boys were swimming in their birthday suits./

[bit] See: A BIT, CHAMP AT THE BIT, FOUR BITS, QUITE A LITTLE or QUITE A BIT, SIX BITS, TAKE THE BIT IN ONE'S MOUTH, TWO BITS.

[bitch] See: SON OF A BITCH.

[bite] See: BARK WORSE THAN ONE'S BITE, PUT THE BITE ON, ONCE BITTEN, TWICE SHY at BURNT CHILD DREADS THE FIRE.

[bite off more than one can chew] , To try to do more than you can; be too confident of your ability. * /He bit off more than he could chew when he agreed to edit the paper alone./ * /He started to repair his car himself, but realized that he had bitten off more than he could chew./

[bite one's head off] To answer someone in great anger; answer furiously. * /I'm sorry to tell you that I lost my job, but that's no reason to bite my head off!/

[bite one's lips] To force oneself to remain silent and not to reveal one's feelings. * /I had to bite my lips when I heard my boss give the wrong orders./

[bite the dust] , 1. To be killed in battle. * /Captain Jones discharged his gun and another guerrilla bit the dust./ 2. To fall in defeat; go down before enemies; be overthrown; lose. * /Our team bit the dust today./

[bite the hand that feeds one] To turn against or hurt a helper or supporter; repay kindness with wrong. * /He bit the hand that fed him when he complained against his employer./

[bitter] See: TO THE BITTER END.

[bitter pill] Something hard to accept; disappointment. * /Jack was not invited to the party and it was a bitter pill for him./

[black] See: BLACK AND WHITE, IN THE BLACK, LOOK BLACK, POT CALLS THE KETTLE BLACK.

[black and blue] Badly bruised. * /Poor Jim was black and blue after he fell off the apple tree./

[black and white] 1. Print or writing; words on paper, not spoken; exact written or printed form. * /He insisted on having the agreement down in black and white./ * /Mrs. Jones would not believe the news, so Mr. Jones showed her the article in the newspaper and said, "There it is in black and white."/ 2. The different shades of black and white of a simple picture, rather than other colors. * /He showed us snapshots in black and white./

[black-and-white] Divided into only two sides that are either right or wrong or good or bad, with nothing in between; thinking or judging everything as either good or bad. * /Everything is black-and-white to Bill; if you're not his friend, you are his enemy./ * /The old man's religion shows his black-and-white thinking; everything is either completely good or completely bad./

[black day] A day of great unhappiness; a disaster. * /It was a black day when our business venture collapsed./

[black eye] 1. A dark area around one's eye due to a hard blow during a fight, such as boxing. * /Mike Tyson sported a black eye after the big fight./ 2. Discredit. * /Bob's illegal actions will give a black eye to the popular movement he started./

[blackout] 1. The darkening of a city curing an air raid by pulling down all curtains and putting out all street lights. * /The city of London went through numerous blackouts during World War II./ 2. A cessation of news by the mass media. * /There was a total news blackout about the kidnapping of the prime minister./

[black out] 1. To darken by putting out or dimming lights, * /In some plays the stage is blacked out for a short time and the actors speak in darkness./ * /In wartime, cities are blacked out to protect against bombing from planes./ 2. To prevent or silence information or communication; refuse to give out truthful news. * /In wartime, governments often black out all news or give out false news./ * /Dictators usually black out all criticism of the government./ * /Some big games are blacked out on television to people who live nearby./ 3. To lose consciousness; faint. * /It had been a hard and tiring day, and she suddenly blacked out./

[black sheep] A person in a family or a community considered unsatisfactory or disgraceful. * /My brother Ted is a high school dropout who joined a circus; he is the black sheep in our family./

[blame] See: TO BLAME.

[blank check] 1. A bank check written to a person who can then write in how much money he wants. * /John's father sent him a blank check to pay his school bills./ 2. Permission to another person to do anything he decides to do. * /The teacher gave the pupils a blank check to plan the picnic./

[blanket] See: WET BLANKET.

[blast off] 1. To begin a rocket flight. * /The astronaut will blast off into orbit at six o'clock./ 2. Also [blast away] To scold or protest violently. * /The coach blasted off at the team for poor playing./

[blaze a trail] 1. To cut marks in trees in order to guide other people along a path or trail, especially through a wilderness. * /Daniel Boone blazed a trail for other hunters to follow in Kentucky./ 2. To lead the way; make a discovery; start something new. * /Henry Ford blazed a trail in manufacturing automobiles./ * /The building of rockets blazed a trail to outer space./ See: TRAILBLAZER.

[bleep out] See: BLIP OUT.

[bless one's heart] To thank someone; consider one the cause of something good that has happened. * /Aunt Jane, bless her heart, left me half a million dollars!/

[blessing] See: MIXED BLESSING.

[blind] See: FLY BLIND.

[blind alley] 1. A narrow street that has only one entrance and no exit. * /The blind alley ended in a brick wall./ 2. A way of acting that leads to no good results. * /John did not take the job because it was a blind alley./ * /Tom thought of a way to do the algebra problem, but he found it was a blind alley./

[blind as a bat/beetle/mole/owl] Anyone who is blind or has difficulty in seeing; a person with very thick glasses. * /Without my glasses I am blind as a bat./

[blind date] An engagement or date arranged by friends for people who have not previously known one another. * /A blind date can be a huge success, or a big disappointment./

[blind leading the blind] One or more people who do not know or understand something trying to explain it to others who do not know or understand. * /Jimmy is trying to show Bill how to skate. The blind are leading the blind./

[blind spot] 1. A place on the road that a driver cannot see in the rearview mirror. * /I couldn't see that truck behind me, Officer, because it was in my blind spot./ 2. A matter or topic a person refuses to discuss or accept. * /My uncle Ted has a real blind spot about religion./

[blink] See: ON THE BLINK.

[blip out] or [bleep out] , To delete electronically a word on television or on radio either because it mentions the name of an established firm in a commercial or because it is a censored word not allowed for television audiences, resulting in a sound resembling the word "bleep." * /What was the old product they compared Spic-n-Span to? - I don't know; they've bleeped it out./

[blitz] See: SAFETY BLITZ.

[block] See: CHIP OFF THE OLD BLOCK, KNOCK ONE'S BLOCK OFF, ON THE BLOCK.

[blockhead] , An unusually dense, or stupid person whose head is therefore exaggeratedly compared to a solid block of wood. * /Joe is such a blockhead that he flunked every course as a freshman./

[blood] See: DRAW BLOOD, FLESH AND BLOOD, IN COLD BLOOD, IN ONE'S BLOOD or INTO ONE'S BLOOD, MAKE ONE'S BLOOD BOIL or MAKE THE BLOOD BOIL, NEW BLOOD, OUT OF ONE'S BLOOD, RUN IN THE BLOOD or RUN IN THE FAMILY, SPORTING BLOOD, SWEAT BLOOD, WARM ONE'S BLOOD.