Неизвестен Автор - Словарь американских идиом (8000 единиц)

[feel] or [look small] To have the impression that one is insignificant, foolish, or humiliated. * /"I feel small next to Hemingway," the young student of creative writing said./

[feel out] To talk or act carefully with someone and find what he thinks or can do. * /The pupils felt out the principal about a party after the game./ * /John felt out his father about letting him have the car that evening./ * /At first the boxers felt each other out./ Compare: SOUND OUT.

[feel out of place] To experience the sensation of not belonging in a certain place or company. * /Dave felt out of place among all those chess players as he knows nothing about chess./

[feel the pinch] To be short of money; experience monetary difficulties. * /If we are going to have a recession, everybody will feel the pinch./

[feel up] , , To arouse sexually by manual contact. * /You mean to tell me that you've been going out for six months and he hasn't ever tried to feel you up?/ Contrast: COP A FEEL.

[feel up to something] , To feel adequately knowledgeable, strong, or equipped to handle a given task. * /Do you feel up to jogging a mile a day with me?/ Contrast: BE UP TO SOMETHING.

[feet] See: FOOT.

[feet of clay] A hidden fault or weakness in a person which is discovered or shown. * /The famous general showed he had feet of clay when he began to drink liquor./ * /The banker seemed to be honest, but he had feet of clay and was arrested for stealing./

[feet on the ground] An understanding of what can be done; sensible ideas. Used with a possessive. * /John has his feet on the ground; he knows he cannot learn everything at once./ * /Ted dreams of sudden riches, but Henry keeps his feet on the ground and expects to work for his money./ * /Mrs. Smith was a dreamer, but her husband was a man with his feet on the ground./ Contrast: IN THE CLOUDS.

[fell] See: AT ONE FELL SWOOP.

[fellow] See: HAIL-FELLOW-WELL-MET, REGULAR GUY or REGULAR FELLOW.

[fellow traveller] A sympathizer with a political movement who does not officially belong to the political party in question. * /Many Germans after World War II were innocently accused of being fellow travellers of Nazism./ * /During the McCarthy era, many Americans were accused of being Communist fellow travellers./

[fence] See: GRASS IS ALWAYS GREENER ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FENCE, MEND ONE'S FENCES, ON THE FENCE.

[fence in] or [hedge in] or [hem in] To keep (someone) from doing what he or she would like to do. Usually used in the passive. * /Mary felt fenced in because her father would not let her drive a car or have dates with boys./ * /John didn't like his job because he had to do the same kind of work all the time. He felt that he was hemmed in./

[fence-sitter] A person unable to pick between two sides; a person who does not want to choose. * /Daddy says he is a fence-sitter because he doesn't know which man he wants for President./

[fence-sitting] or Choosing neither side. * /You have been fence-sitting for too long. It is time you made up your mind./ Contrast: MAKE UP ONE'S MIND, TAKE SIDES.

[fence with] or [spar with] To talk with (someone) as if you were fighting like a swordsman or boxer; to give skillful answers or arguments against (someone). * /The governor was an expert at fencing with reporters at press conferences./

[ferret out] or [smell out] or [sniff out] To hunt or drive from hiding; to bring out into the open; search for and find. * /John ferreted out the answer to the question in the library./ * /Jane smelled out the boys' secret hiding place in the woods./

[few] See: MAN OF FEW WORDS, NOT A FEW, QUITE A FEW.

[few and far between] Not many; few and scattered; not often met or found; rare. - Used in the predicate. * /People who will work as hard as Thomas A. Edison are few and far between./ * /Places where you can get water are few and far between in the desert./ * /Really exciting games are few and far between./

[fickle finger of fate] See: ACT OF GOD.

[fiddle] See: PLAY SECOND FIDDLE.

[fiddle around] See: FOOL AROUND(3).

[fiddler] See: PAY THE PIPER or PAY THE FIDDLER.

[fiddle with] To carelessly play with something. * /If Jimmy continues to fiddle with our computer, he is liable to ruin it./

[field] See: CENTER FIELD, LEFT FIELD, OUT IN LEFT FIELD, PLAY THE FIELD, RIGHT FIELD.

[field goal] 1. A score in football made by kicking the ball over the bar between the goal posts. * /The Giants were not able to make a touchdown but they kicked two field goals./ Compare: EXTRA POINT. 2. A score in basketball made by a successful shot through the basket not made on a free throw. * /A field goal counts two points./ Compare: FOUL SHOT, FREE THROW.

[fifth] See: TAKE THE FIFTH.

[fifth column] A group or organization within a country that works to bring about the country's downfall, usually through acts of espionage and sabotage. * /The Communist party in the United States was considered by Senator McCarthy to be the Soviet Union's fifth column./

[flfty-flfty(1)] , Equally; evenly. * /The two boys divided the marbles they won fifty-fifty./ * /When Dick and Sam bought an old car, they divided the cost fifty-fifty./

[fifty-fifty(2)] , 1. Divided or shared equally. * /It will be a fifty-fifty arrangement; half the money for me and half for you./ 2. Half for and half against; half good and half bad. * /There is only a fifty-fifty chance that we will win the game./ Compare: HALF AND HALF.

[fight against time] See: RACING TO STAND STILL.

[fight fire with fire] , , To fight back in the same way one was attacked; make a defense similar to the attack. * /The candidate was determined to fight fire with fire in the debate./

[fight it out] See: SLUG IT OUT.

[fighting chance] A chance that necessitates struggle and courage; a slim chance. * /The doctor told the family that Jack had a fighting chance to recover./ * /Our business lost a lot of money, but we have a fighting chance to stage a comeback./

[fight off] 1. To struggle against someone so as to free oneself; push an attacker back. * /Suzy fought off her two attackers in Central Park with a couple of karate chops./ 2. To strive to overcome something negative. * /After twelve hours at the computer terminal, Jane had to fight off her overwhelming desire to go to sleep./

[fight shy of] To avoid; escape from. * /Jack always fights shy of anything that even remotely resembles serious work./

[fight tooth and nail] See: TOOTH AND NAIL.

[figure in] 1. To add to a total; remember to put down in figures. * /We figured in the travel expenses but forgot the cost of meals./ 2. To have a part in; be partly responsible for. * /Joe figured in all our touchdowns./ * /Mary's good grades figured in her choice as class president./

[figure on] 1. To expect and think about while making plans. * /We did not figure on having so many people at the picnic./ * /He figured on going to town the next day./ Syn.: PLAN ON. 2. To depend on; be; sure about. * /You can figure on him to be on time./ Syn.: COUNT ON.

[figure out] 1. To find an answer by thinking about (some problem or difficulty); solve. * /Tom couldn't figure out the last problem on the arithmetic test./ * /Sam couldn't figure out how to print a program until the teacher showed him how./ * /Mary couldn't figure out why her cake tasted so funny until she found salt mixed in the sugar bag./ Compare: FIND OUT(1). 2. To learn how to explain; understand. * /Laurence is an odd boy; I can't figure him out./ Compare: MAKE OUT(2).

[figure up] To calculate; add up. * /If you can figure up how many phone calls I've made from your home, I will pay you right away./

[fill in] 1. To write words needed in blanks; put in; fill. * /You should fill in all the blanks on an application for a job./ 2. To tell what you should know. * /The new boy didn't know the rules so Bob filled him in./ * /The teacher filled in Mary about class work done while she was sick./ 3. To take another's place; substitute. * /The teacher was sick and Miss Jones filled in for her./

[fill (in) the gap] To supply a missing piece of information; provide a clue during the course of solving a mystery. * /Sherlock Holmes said, "These fingerprints are bound to fill the gap in our investigation."/

[fill one's shoes] To take the place of another and do as well; to substitute satisfactorily for. * /When Jack got hurt, the coach had nobody to fill his shoes./ * /Joe hopes to fill his father's shoes./ See: IN ONE'S SHOES.

[fill out] 1. To put in what is missing; complete; finish; , to complete (a printed application blank or other form) by writing the missing facts in the blank spaces; to write down facts which are asked for in (a report or application.) * /After Tom passed his driving test he filled out an application for his driver's license./ * /The policeman filled out a report of the accident./ 2. To become heavier and fatter; gain weight. * /When Bill was nineteen he began to fill out./ * /The girl was pale and thin after her sickness, but in a few months she filled out./

[fill the bases] See: LOAD THE BASES.

[fill the bill] , To be just what is needed; be good enough for something; be just right. * /The boss was worried about hiring a deaf boy, but after he tried Tom out for a few weeks, he said that Tom filled the bill./ * /I thought I would need a special tool, but this wrench fills the bill./

[fill up] or [fill it up] or [fill her up] To fill entirely. (Said by the driver of a car to a gas station attendant). * /When the attendant asked Andrew how much gas he wanted in the tank, Andrew replied, "Fill her up."/

[filthy lucre] , Money, especially when thought of as bad or shameful. * /When the rich gambler tried to make Sarah marry him, she said, "Keep your filthy lucre - I shall marry the man I love."/ - Sometimes used in a joking way. * /"Come and let's get rid of some filthy lucre."/

[filthy rich] Extremely rich but without cultural refinement; nouveau riche. * /"The Murgatroyds are filthy rich," Ted complained. "They are rolling in money but they never learned how to behave properly at a dinner table."/

[finders keepers] or [finders keepers, losers weepers] Those who find lost things can keep them. - Used usually by children to claim the right to keep something they have found. * /I don't have to give it back; it's finders keepers./ * /Finders keepers, losers weepers! It's my knife now!/

[find fault] To find something wrong; complain; criticize. * /She tries to please him, but he always finds fault./ * /They found fault with every box I made./ Compare: JUMP ON, PICK AT(3).

[find it in one's heart] To be able or willing because of your nature. * /He could not find it in his heart to tell her about her mother's death./ * /Can you find it in your heart to forgive me?/ * /He could never find it in his heart to be mean to a dog./

[find one's ---] To become able to use (some power of the body or mind.) * /In the program for the parents, John was nervous and could not speak at first; then he found his tongue./ * /The young bird had just found its wings./ * /The baby was just beginning to find his feet./ * /The question surprised him, and it was a minute before he found his tongue./

[find oneself] To find out what one is fitted for and succeed in that. * /Mary tried several lines of work, but at last found herself as a teacher./ * /Sometimes young people move around a long time from job to job before they find themselves./

[find] or [get one's bearings] To know where one is or where one is headed. * /"Without a compass," the sergeant warned the enlisted men, "you will never find your bearings in the desert."/

[find out] 1. To learn or discover (something you did not know before.) * /One morning the baby found out for the first time that she could walk./ * /I don't know how this car works, but I'll soon find out./ * /He watched the birds to find out where they go./ * /Mary was angry when Jane found out her secret./ 2. To get facts; to get facts about. * /He wrote to find out about a job in Alaska./ * /She found out how much the house would cost./ 3. To discover (someone) doing wrong; catch. * /Some children are bad when no one is watching them, but they are usually found out./ * /The boy knew that if he cheated on the test the teacher would find him out./