Неизвестен Автор - Словарь американских идиом (8000 единиц)

[corn belt] 1. The Midwest; the agricultural section of the United States where much corn is grown. * /Kansas is one of the slates that lies within the corn belt./

[corner] See: AROUND THE CORNER, CUT CORNERS, FOUR CORNERS, OUT OF THE CORNER OF ONE'S EYE.

[cost a bomb] or [an arm and a leg] To be extremely expensive. * /My new house has cost us an arm and a leg and we're almost broke./

[cotton] See: ON TOP OF THE WORLD also SITTING ON HIGH COTTON.

[cotton picking], [cotton-pickin'] , , Worthless, crude, common, messy. * /Keep your cotton picking hands off my flowers!/ * /You've got to clean up your room, son, this is a cotton-pickin' mess!/

[couch case] , , A person judged emotionally so disturbed that people think he ought to see a psychiatrist (who, habitually, make their patients lie down on a couch). * /Joe's divorce messed him up so badly that he became a couch case./

[couch doctor] , , A psychoanalyst who puts his patients on a couch following the practice established by Sigmund Freud. * /I didn't know your husband was a couch doctor, I thought he was a gynecologist!/

[couch potato] A person who is addicted to watching television all day. * /Poor Ted has become such a couch potato that we can't persuade him to do anything./

[cough up] , 1. To give (money) unwillingly; pay with an effort. * /Her husband coughed up the money for the party with a good deal of grumbling./ 2. To tell what was secret; make known. * /He coughed up the whole story for the police./

[couldn't care less] , To be indifferent; not care at all. * /The students couldn't care less about the band; they talk all through the concert./ Also heard increasingly as "could care less" (nonstandard in this form.)

[counsel] See: KEEP ONE'S OWN COUNSEL.

[count] See: STAND UP AND BE COUNTED.

[countdown] . , 1. A step-by-step process which leads to the launching of a rocket. * /Countdown starts at 23:00 hours tomorrow night and continues for 24 hours./ 2. Process of counting inversely during the acts leading to a launch; liftoff occurs at zero. 3. The time immediately preceding an important undertaking, borrowed from Space English. * /We're leaving for Hawaii tomorrow afternoon; this is countdown time for us./

[counter] See: UNDER THE COUNTER.

[count heads] or [count noses] , To count the number of people in a group. * /On the class picnic, we counted heads before we left and when we arrived to be sure that no one got lost./ * /The usher was told to look out into the audience and count noses./

[count off] 1. To count aloud from one end of a line of men to the other, each man counting in turn. * /The soldiers counted off from right to left./ 2. To place into a separate group or groups by counting. * /The coach counted off three boys to carry in the equipment./ * /Tom counted off enough newspapers for his route./

[count on] 1. To depend on; rely on; trust. * /The team was counting on Joe to win the race./ * /I'll do it; you know you can count on me./ * /The company was counting on Brown's making the right decision./ Syn.: BANK ON. 2. See: FIGURE ON(2).

[count one's chickens before they're hatched] , To depend on getting a profit or gain before you have it; make plans that suppose something will happen; be too sure that something will happen. Usually used in negative sentences. * /When Jim said that he would be made captain of the team, John told him not to count his chickens before they were hatched./ * /Maybe some of your customers won't pay, and then where will you be? Don't count your chickens before they're hatched./

[count out] 1. To leave (someone) out of a plan; not expect (someone) to share in an activity; exclude. * /"Will this party cost anything? If it does, count me out, because I'm broke."/ * /When the coach was planning who would play in the big game he counted Paul out, because Paul had a hurt leg./ 2. To count out loud to ten to show that (a boxer who has been knocked down in a fight) is beaten or knocked out if he does not get up before ten is counted. * /The champion was counted. out in the third round./ 3a. To add up; count again to be sure of the amount. * /Mary counted out the number of pennies she had./ 3b. To count out loud, (especially the beats in a measure of music). * /The music teacher counted out the beats "one-two-three-four," so the class would sing in time./

[count to ten] , To count from one to ten so you will have time to calm down or get control of yourself; put off action when angry or excited so as not to do anything wrong. * /Father always told us to count to ten before doing anything when we got angry./ Compare: KEEP ONE'S HEAD. Contrast: BLOW A FUSE, FLY OFF THE HANDLE.

[county mounty] , , Sheriff's deputy. * /The county mounties are parked under the bridge./

[courage] See: HAVE THE COURAGE OF ONE'S CONVICTIONS, SCREW UP ONE'S COURAGE.

[course] See: IN DUE COURSE, MATTER OF COURSE, OF COURSE, PAR FOR THE COURSE.

[court] See: DAY IN COURT, FRONT COURT, HOLD COURT, KANGAROO COURT.

[cousin] See: FIRST COUSIN, SECOND COUSIN.

[cover] See: FROM COVER TO COVER at FROM --- TO(3), UNDER COVER.

[cover a lot of ground] To process a great deal of information and various facts. * /Professor Brown's thorough lecture on asteroids covered a lot of ground today./

[covered-dish supper] or [potluck supper] A meal to which each guest brings a share of the food. * /Dolly made a chicken casserole for the covered-dish supper./

[cover girl] A pretty girl or woman whose picture is put on the cover of a magazine. * /Ann is not a cover girl, but she is pretty enough to be./

[cover ground] or [cover the ground] 1. To go a distance; travel. * /Mr. Rogers likes to travel in planes, because they cover ground so quickly./ 2. To move over an area at a speed that is pleasing; move quickly over a lot of ground. * /The new infielder really covers the ground at second base./ * /Herby's new car really covers ground!/ 3. To give or receive the important facts and details about a subject. * /If you're thinking about a trip to Europe, the airline has a booklet that covers the ground pretty well./ * /The class spent two days studying the Revolutionary War, because they couldn't cover that much ground in one day./

[cover one's tracks] or [cover up one's tracks] 1. To hide and not leave anything, especially foot marks, to show where you have been, so that no one can follow you. * /The deer covered his tracks by running in a stream./ 2. To hide or not say where you have been or what you have done; not tell why you do something or what you plan to do. * /The boys covered their tracks when they went swimming by saying that they were going for a walk./ Compare: COVER UP(1).

[cover the waterfront] To talk or write all about something; talk about something all possible ways. * /The principal pretty well covered the waterfront on student behavior./

[cover up] , 1. To hide something wrong or bad from attention. * /The spy covered up his picture-taking by pretending to be just a tourist./ * /A crooked banker tried to cover up his stealing some of the bank's money by starting a fire to destroy the records./ Compare: COVER ONE'S TRACKS(2). 2. In boxing: To guard your head and body with your gloves, arms, and shoulders. * /Jimmy's father told him to cover up and protect his chin when he boxed./ 3. To protect someone else from blame or punishment; protect someone with a lie or alibi. Often used with "for". * /The teacher wanted to know who broke the window and told the boys not to try to cover up for anyone./ * /The burglar's friend covered up for him by saying that he was at his home when the robbery occurred./

[cover-up] , A plan or excuse to escape blame or punishment; lie, alibi. * /When the men robbed the bank, their cover-up was to dress like policemen./ * /Joe's cover-up to his mother after he had been fighting was that he fell down./

[cow] See: HOLY CATS or HOLY COW, SACRED COW.

[cowboy] , , A person who drives his car carelessly and at too great a speed in order to show off his courage. * /Joe's going to be arrested some day - he is a cowboy on the highway./

[cow college] , 1. An agricultural college; a school where farming is studied. * /A new, bigger kind of apple is being grown at the cow college./ 2. A new or rural college not thought to be as good as older or city colleges. * /John wanted to go to a big college in New York City, not to a cow college./

[cows tail] , A person who is behind others. * /John was the cow's tail at the exam./ * /Fred was always the old cow's tail for football practice./

[cozy up] , To try to be close or friendly; try to be liked. - Usually used with "to". * /John is cozying up to Henry so he can join the club./

[crack] See: HARD NUT TO CRACK or TOUGH NUT TO CRACK.

[crack a book] , To open a book in order to study. - Usually used with a negative. * /John did not crack a book until the night before the exam./ * /Many students think they can pass without cracking a book./

[crack a bottle] To open a new bottle of alcoholic beverage. * /On birthdays it is customary to crack a bottle and offer one's best wishes./

[crack a joke] , To make a joke; tell a joke. * /The men sat around the stove, smoking and cracking jokes./

[crack a smile] , To let a smile show on one's face; permit a smile to appear. * /Bob told the whole silly story without even cracking a smile./ * /Scrooge was a gloomy man, who never cracked a smile./ * /When we gave the shy little boy an ice cream cone, he finally cracked a smile./

[crack down] , To enforce laws or rules strictly; require full obedience to a rule. * /After a speeding driver hit a child, the police cracked down./ - Often used with "on". * /Police suddenly cracked down on the selling of liquors to minors./ * /The coach cracked down on the players when he found they had not been obeying the training rules./

[crack of dawn] The time in the morning when the sun's rays first appear. * /The rooster crows at the crack of dawn and wakes up everybody on the farm./

[cracked up] , Favorably described or presented; praised. - Usually used in the expression "not what it's cracked up to be". * /The independent writer's life isn't always everything it's cracked up to be./ * /In bad weather, a sailing cruise isn't what it's cracked up to be./

[cracking] See: GET CRACKING - at GET GOING(2).

[crackpot] , , 1. An eccentric person with ideas that don't make sense to most other people. * /Don't believe what Uncle Noam tells you - he is a crackpot./ 2. * /That's a crackpot idea./

[crack the whip] , To get obedience or cooperation by threats of punishment. * /If the children won't behave when I reason with them, I have to crack the whip./

[crack up] 1. To wreck or be wrecked; smash up. * /The airplane cracked up in landing./ * /He cracked up his car./ 2. To become mentally ill under physical or mental overwork or worry. * /He had kept too busy for years, and when failures came, he cracked up./ * /It seemed to be family problems that made him crack up./ 3. Burst into laughter or cause to burst into laughter. * /That comedian cracks me up./

[cradle] See: ROB THE CRADLE.

[cradle robber], [cradle robbing] See: ROB THE CRADLE.

[cramp] See: WRITER'S CRAMP.

[cramp one's style] , To limit your natural freedom; prevent your usual behavior; limit your actions or talk. * /He cramped his style a good deal when he lost his money./ * /Army rules cramped George's style./

[crash dive] A sudden dive made by a submarine to escape an enemy; a dive made to get deep under water as quickly as possible. * /The captain of the submarine told his crew to prepare for a crash dive when he saw the enemy battleship approaching./

[crash-dive] 1. To dive deep underwater in a submarine as quickly as possible. * /We shall crash-dive if we see enemy planes coming./ 2. To dive into (something) in an airplane. * /When the plane's motor was hit by the guns of the enemy battleship, the pilot aimed the plane at the ship and crash-dived into it./