Неизвестен Автор - Словарь американских идиом (8000 единиц)

[fall off] See: DROP OFF(4).

[fall off the wagon] , , To return to the consumption of an addictive, such as alcohol or drugs, after a period of abstinence. * /Poor Joe has fallen off the wagon again - he is completely incoherent today./

[fall on] or [fall upon] 1. To go and fight with; attack. * /The robbers fell on him from behind trees./ 2. To meet (troubles). * /The famous poet fell upon unhappy days./

[fallout] 1. Result of nuclear explosion; harmful radioactive particles. * /Some experts consider fallout as dangerous as the bomb itself./ 2. Undesirable aftereffects in general. * /As a fallout of Watergate, many people lost their faith in the government./

[fall out] 1. To happen. * /As it fell out, the Harpers were able to sell their old car./ Compare: TURN OUT(6). 2. To quarrel; fight; fuss; disagree. * /The thieves fell out over the division of the loot./ 3. To leave a military formation. * /You men are dismissed. Fall out!/ Contrast: FALL IN. 4. To leave a building to go and line up. * /The soldiers fell out of the barracks for inspection./

[fall over backwards] or [fall over oneself] To do everything you can to please someone; try very hard to satisfy someone. * /The hotel manager fell over backwards to give the movie star everything she wanted./ * /The boys fell over themselves trying to get the new girl's attention./

[fall over yourself] See: FALL OVER BACKWARDS.

[fall short] To fail to reach (some aim); not succeed. * /His jump fell three inches short of the world record./ * /The movie fell short of expectations./ Contrast: MEASURE UP.

[fall through] , To fail; be ruined; not happen or be done. * /Jim's plans to go to college fell through at the last moment./ * /Mr. Jones' deal to sell his house fell through./ Contrast: COME OFF.

[fall to] 1. To begin to work. * /The boys fell to and quickly cut the grass./ Syn.: TURN TO. 2. To begin to fight. * /They took out their swords and fell to./ 3. To begin to eat. * /The hungry boys fell to before everyone sat down./ 4. Begin; start. * /The old friends met and fell to talking about their school days./

[fall to pieces] To disintegrate; collapse. * /After the death of Alexander the Great, his empire started to fall to pieces./

[fall wide of the mark] See: WIDE OF THE MARK.

[false] See: PLAY ONE FALSE, SAIL UNDER FALSE COLORS.

[family] See: RUN IN THE BLOOD or RUN IN THE FAMILY, IN A FAMILY WAY.

[family tree] Ancestry. * /My family tree can be traced back to the sixteenth century./

[famine] See: FEAST OR A FAMINE.

[fancy doing something] - An expression of surprise. * /Fancy meeting you here in such an unexpected place!/

[fancy pants] , A man or boy who wears clothes that are too nice or acts like a woman or girl; sissy. * /The first time they saw him in his new band uniform, they yelled "Hey, fancy pants, what are you doing in your sister's slacks?"/

[fan] See: HIT THE FAN.

[fan out] To spread in several directions. * /The main road fans out at the edge of the forest in four different directions./

[fan the breeze] 1. See: SHOOT THE BREEZE. 2. To swing and miss the ball in baseball. * /The batter tried to hit a home run but he fanned the breeze./

[far] See: AS FAR AS or SO FAR AS, SO FAR also THUS PAR, BY FAR, FEW AND FAR BETWEEN, SO PAR, SO GOOD.

[far afield] Remote; far from the original starting point. * /When we started to discuss theology. Jack was obviously getting far afield from the subject at hand./

[far and away] Very much. * /The fish was far and away the biggest ever caught on the lake./ Compare: BY FAR, HEAD AND SHOULDERS(2).

[far and near] Far places and near places; everywhere. * /People came from far and near to hear him speak./

[far and wide] Everywhere, in all directions. * /The wind blew the papers far and wide./ * /My old school friends are scattered far and wide now./ * /The movie company looked far and wide for a boy to act the hero in the new movie./ Compare: ALL OVER.

[farfetched] Exaggerated; fantastic. * /Sally told us some farfetched story about having been kidnapped by little green men in a flying saucer./

[far cry] Something very different. * /His last statement was a far cry from his first story./ * /The first automobile could run, but it was a far cry from a modern car./

[far from it] Not even approximately; not really at all. * /"Do you think she spent $100 on that dress?" Jane asked. "Far from it," Sue replied. "It must have cost at least $300."/

[far gone] In a critical or extreme state. * /He was so far gone by the time the doctor arrived, that nothing could be done to save his life./

[farm] See: COLLECTIVE FARM.

[farm out] 1. To have another person do (something) for you; send away to be done. * /Our teacher had too many test papers to read, so she farmed out half of them to a friend./ 2. To send away to be taken care of. * /While Mother was sick, the children were farmed out to relatives./ 3. To send a player to a league where the quality of play is lower. * /The player was farmed out to Rochester to gain experience./

[far-out] 1. Very far away; distant. * /Scientists are planning rocket trips to the moon and far-out planets./ 2. Very different from others; queer; odd, unusual. * /He enjoyed being with beatniks and other far-out people./ * /Susan did not like some of the paintings at the art show because they were too far-out for her./

[fashion] See: AFTER A FASHION, HIGH FASHION or HIGH STYLE.

[fast] See: HARD-AND-FAST, PLAY FAST AND LOOSE.

[fast and furious] or Very fast; with much speed and energy. * /He was mowing the grass at a fast and furious rate./ * /When I last saw her she was driving fast and furious down the street./ Compare: GREAT GUNS.

[fast buck] or [quick buck] Money earned quickly and easily, and sometimes dishonestly. * /You can make a fast buck at the golf course by fishing balls out of the water trap./ * /He isn't interested in a career; he's just looking for a quick buck./

[fast talker] , , A con artist or a swindler, one who is particularly apt to get away with illegitimate transactions because of the clever way he talks. * /I wouldn't trust Uncle Joe if I were you, - he is a fast talker./

[fast time] See: DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME.

[fasten on] To attach; tie something to make it secure. * /"Fasten on your life jackets when you get into the life boats," the captain said./

[fat] See: CHEW THE FAT.

[fat chance] , Little or no possibility; almost no chance. * /A high school team would have a fat chance of beating a strong college team./ * /Jane is pretty and popular; you will have a fat chance of getting a date with her./ Compare: GHOST OF A.

[fat city] , A state of contentment due to wealth and position. * /Bully for the Smiths; they have arrived in Fat City./

[fate] See: TEMPT FATE or TEMPT THE FATES.

[father] See: LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON.

[Father Christmas] , The joyful spirit of Christmas; Santa Claus. * /English children look forward to the visit of Father Christmas./

[Father's Day] The third Sunday in June set aside especially to honor fathers whether living or dead. * /The children gave nice presents to their father on Father's Day./

[fat is in the fire] Something has happened that will cause trouble or make a bad situation worse. * /He found out you took it? Well, the fat's in the fire now./

[fat of the land] The best and richest food, clothes, everything. * /When I'm rich I'll retire and live off the fat of the land./

[fault] See: AT FAULT, FIND FAULT, TO A FAULT.

[faultfinding] Recrimination; nagging; criticism. * /All of this constant faultfinding will only to lead to trouble between you and your wife./

[favor] See: CURRY FAVOR, IN FAVOR OF.

[favorite son] A man supported by his home state for President. * /At a national convention, states often vote for their favorite sons first; then they change and vote for another man./

[fear] See: FOR FEAR.

[fear and trembling] or [fear and trepidation] Great fear. * /He came in fear and trembling to tell his father he had a bad report card./

[feast one's eyes on] To look at and enjoy very much. * /He feasted his eyes on the beautiful painting./

[feast or a famine] Plenty or very little; big success or bad failure. * /In this business it's either a feast or a famine./ * /He is very careless with his money, it is always a feast or a famine with him./

[feather] See: BIRDS OF A FEATHER FLOCK TOGETHER, TAR AND FEATHER, FINE FEATHERS DO NOT MAKE FINE BIRDS, FUSS AND FEATHERS, MAKE THE FEATHERS FLY, RUFFLE FEATHERS.

[feather in one's cap] Something to be proud of; an honor. * /It was a feather in his cap to win first prize./ (From the medieval practice of placing a feather in the helmet of one who won honors in battle.)

[feather one's nest] , 1. To use for yourself money and power, especially from a public office or job in which you are trusted to help other people. * /The rich man told his lawyer to use his money after he died to build a hospital for poor people, but the lawyer feathered his own nest with the money instead./ * /The man feathered his nest in politics by getting money from contractors who built roads./ Syn.: LINE ONE'S POCKETS. 2. To make your home pleasant and comfortable; furnish and decorate your house. * /Furniture stores welcome young couples who want to feather their nests./

[fed up] () also () [fed to the gills] or [fed to the teeth] Having had too much of something; at the end of your patience; disgusted; bored; tired. * /People get fed up with anyone who brags all the time./ * /I've had enough of his complaints. I'm fed up./ * /He was fed to the teeth with television and sold his set to a cousin./ * /John quit football because he was fed to the gills with practice./ Compare: SICK AND TIRED.

[feed] See: BITE THE HAND THAT FEEDS ONE, CHICKEN FEED, OFF FEED or OFF ONE'S FEED, SPOON FEED.

[feel] See: GET THE FEEL OF and HARD FEELING.

[feel a draft] , To have the sensation that one is not welcome in a place; that one has gotten a cold reception. * /Let's go, Suzie, I feel a draft./

[feel for someone] , To be able to sympathize with someone's problems. * /I can really feel for you, John, for losing your job./

[feel free to do] To take the liberty to engage in an activity. * /Please feel free to take off your jackets; this is an informal party./

[feel in one's bones] or [know in one's bones] To have an idea or feeling but not know why. * /I feel in my hones that tomorrow will be a sunny day./ * /I know in my bones that God will protect us./

[feel like] , To want to do or have. * /I don't feel like running today./ * /I just don't feel like pancakes this morning./

[feel like a million] or [feel like a million dollars] , To be in the best of health and spirits. * /I feel like a million this morning./ * /He had a headache yesterday but feels like a million dollars today./ Compare: LOOK LIKE A MILLION.

[feel like a new man] To feel healthy, vigorous, and well again after a major physical illness or emotional upheaval. * /Ted felt like a new man after his successful heart bypass operation./

[feel like two cents] See: TWO CENTS.

[feel low] To be depressed; be in low spirits. * /I don't know what's the matter with Mary, but she says she has been feeling very low all afternoon./

[feel no pain] , To be drunk. * /After a few drinks, the man felt no pain and began to act foolishly./

[feel one's oats] , 1. To feel frisky or playful; be eager and excited. * /The horses were feeling their oats./ * /When they first got to camp, the boys were feeling their oats./ 2. To act in a proud or important way. * /The new gardener was feeling his oats and started to boss the other men./

[feel one's way] To proceed cautiously by trial and error; probe. * /I won't ask her to marry me directly; I will feel my way first./