Неизвестен Автор - Словарь американских идиом (8000 единиц)

[look to] 1. To attend to; get ready for; take care of. * /Plans had been prepared that looked to every possibility./ * /The president assigned a man to look to our needs./ 2. To go for help to; depend on. * /The child looks to his mother to cure his hurts./ 3. See: SEE TO.

[look to one's laurels] To make sure that your reputation is not spoiled; protect your good name; keep your record from being beaten by others. * /Tom won the broad jump, but he had to look to his laurels./ * /Look to your laurels, Joan. Betty says she is going to run against you for head cheerleader./

[look up] 1. To improve in future chances; promise more success. * /The first year was tough, but business looked up after that./ 2. To search for; hunt for information about; find. * /It is a good habit to look up new words in a dictionary./ 3. To seek and find. * /While he was in Chicago, Henry looked up a friend of college days./

[look upon] See: LOOK ON(1).

[look up to] To think of (someone) as a good example to copy; honor; respect. * /Mr. Smith had taught for many years, and all the students looked up to him./ * /Young children look up to older ones, so older children should be good examples./

[loop] See: KNOCK FOR A LOOP or THROW FOR A LOOP.

[loose] See: AT LOOSE ENDS, CAST OFF or CAST LOOSE, CUT LOOSE, FAST AND LOOSE, HAVE A SCREW LOOSE, LET LOOSE or SET LOOSE or TURN LOOSE, ON THE LOOSE.

[loose ends] 1. Parts or things that should be finished or put together. * /Mary's composition had many loose ends./ * /When George came home after a long trip, he started picking up the loose ends./ 2. See: AT LOOSE ENDS.

[lord it over] To act as the superior and master of; dominate; be bossy over; control. * /John learned early to lord it over other children./ * /The office manager lorded it over the clerks and typists./

[Lord knows] See: GOD KNOWS.

[lose] See: HEADS I WIN, TAILS YOU LOSE.

[lose face] To be embarrassed or shamed by an error or failure; lose dignity, influence or reputation; lose self-respect or the confidence of others. * /Many Japanese soldiers were killed in World War II because they believed that to give up or retreat would make them lose face./ * /John's careless work made him lose face with his employer./ * /The banker lost face when people found out he bet on horse races./

[lose ground] 1. To go backward; retreat. * /The soldiers began to lose ground when their leader was killed./ Compare: GIVE GROUND. 2. To become weaker; get worse; not improve. * /The sick man began to lose ground when his cough grew worse./ * /When the Democrats are in power, the Republicans lose ground./ Contrast: GAIN GROUND.

[lose heart] To feel discouraged because of failure; to lose hope of success. * /The team had won no games and it lost heart./ Contrast: TAKE HEART.

[lose one's balance] Contrast: KEEP ONE'S BALANCE.

[lose oneself] 1. To go wrong; miss your way; become unable to find the right direction. * /Fred lost himself in the confusion of downtown Boston streets./ 2. To conceal yourself; hide. * /The pick-pocket lost himself in the crowd and escaped the police./ 3. To become deeply interested and forget yourself; become absorbed. * /Sometimes Harry would lose himself in a book for an afternoon at a time./ Compare: IN A WORLD OF ONE'S OWN.

[lose one's grip] To fail in control or command; lose your strength, force, or ability to lead. * /Mr. Jones began to lose his grip: he no longer wanted the hard jobs, and he left decisions to others./ * /When a locomotive engineer loses his grip, he is no longer trusted with express runs./

[lose one's head (over)] 1. To panic. * /"Let's not lose our heads," the captain cried. "We have good lifeboats on this vessel."/ 2. To become deeply infatuated with someone. * /Don't lose your head over Jane; she is already married./ Contrast: KEEP ONE'S HEAD.

[lose one's heart] To fall in love; begin to love. * /She lost her heart to the soldier with the broad shoulders and the deep voice./ * /Bill lost his heart to the puppy the first time he saw it./

[lose one's marbles] To go mad; become crazed. * /Stan must have lost his marbles; he is hopelessly pursuing a happily married woman./

[lose one's shirt] , To lose all or most of your money. * /Uncle Joe spent his life savings to buy a store, but it failed, and he lost his shirt./ * /Mr. Matthews lost his shirt betting on the horses./

[lose one's temper] To lose control over one's anger; to get angry. * /He lost his temper when he broke the key in the lock./ Compare: BLOW A FUSE, FLY OFF THE HANDLE. Contrast: HOLD ONE'S TEMPER.

[lose one's tongue] , informal To be so embarrassed or surprised that you cannot talk. * /The man would always lose his tongue when he was introduced to new people./ Compare: CAT GET ONE'S TONGUE.

[lose out] To fail to win; miss first place in a contest; lose to a rival. * /John lost out in the rivalry for Mary's hand in marriage./ * /Fred didn't want to lose out to the other salesman./ Compare: MISS OUT. Contrast: WIN OUT.

[loser] See: FINDERS KEEPERS or FINDERS KEEPERS LOSERS WEEPERS.

[lose sight of] 1. Not to be able to see any longer. * /I lost sight of Mary in the crowd./ * /I watched the plane go higher and higher until I lost sight of it./ Contrast: CATCH SIGHT OF. 2. To forget; overlook. * /Johnny was so interested in the game he lost sight of the time./ * /No matter how rich and famous he became, he never lost sight of the fact that he had been born in the slums./

[lose touch] , To fail to keep in contact or communication. - Usually used with "with". * /After she moved to another town, she lost touch with her childhood friends./ Compare: OUT OF TOUCH.

[lose track] To forget about something; not stay informed; fail to keep a count or record. * /What's the score now? I've lost track./ - Usually used with "of". * /Mary lost track of her friends at camp after summer was over./ * /John lost track of the money he spent at the circus./ Compare: OUT OF TOUCH. Contrast: KEEP TRACK.

[loss] See: AT A LOSS, THROW FOR A LOSS.

[lost] See: GET LOST, NO LOVE LOST.

[lost cause] A movement that has failed and has no chance to be revived. * /Communism in Eastern Europe has become a lost cause./

[lost upon] adj. Wasted. * /Tim's generosity is completely lost upon Sue; he can't expect any gratitude from her./

[lot] See: A LOT, CAST ONE'S LOT WITH, SAND LOT, THINK A GREAT DEAL OF or THINK A LOT OF, THROW IN ONE'S LOT WITH or CAST IN ONE'S LOT WITH.

[loud] See: ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, OUT LOUD, THINK ALOUD or THINK OUT LOUD.

[loud mouth] or [big mouth] , A noisy, boastful, or foolish talker. * /Fritz is a loud mouth who cannot be trusted with secrets./ * /When he has had a few drinks, Joe will make empty boasts like any other big mouth./

[loud-mouthed] or [big-mouthed] , Talking noisily, boastfully, or foolishly. * /Fred was a loud-mouthed fellow, whose talk no one listened to./ * /If I were you, I would not listen to that loud-mouthed boy./

[lounge lizard] A well-dressed male fortune hunter who sits around in bars and other public places, and attends many social events to try to pick up wealthy women through smart conversation. * /Harry has the reputation of being a lounge lizard; he is looking for a rich wife./

[louse up] , To throw into confusion; make a mess of; spoil; ruin. * /When the man who was considering John's house heard that the basement was wet, that was enough to louse up the sale./ * /Fred's failure in business not only lost him his business but loused him up with his wife./ * /The rain loused up the picnic./ See: MESS UP(2), FUCK UP.

[love] See: FOR LOVE OR MONEY, IN LOVE, LABOR OF LOVE, MAKE LOVE, NO LOVE LOST, PUPPY LOVE also CALF LOVE.

[love affair] A friendship between lovers; a romance or courtship. * /The love affair of Bob and Jane went on for months./ * /Harry had many love affairs, but he never married./

[love game] A game of tennis which is won without the opponent scoring. * /Britain took a love game on Songster's service./

[love-in] , , A festival or occasion to celebrate life, human sensuality, the beauty of nature, human sexuality, and universal love; affairs so conceived by some frequently deteriorate into obscenity and drug using sessions in parody of their stated purpose. * /The hippies gathered for a big love-in in the Halght-Ashbury district of San Francisco./

[lovers' lane] A hidden road or walk where lovers walk or park in the evening. * /A parked car in a lonely lovers' lane often is a chance for holdup men./

[low] See: LAY LOW, LIE LOW.

[lowbrow] A person of limited culture; a nonintellectual. * /Some people claim that only lowbrows read the comics./ Contrast: HIGH BROW.

[lowdown] , , The inside facts of a matter; the total truth. * /Nixon never gave the American people the lowdown on Watergate./

[lower the boom] , To punish strictly; check or stop fully. * /The mayor lowered the boom on outside jobs for city firemen./ * /Father lowered the boom on the girls for staying out after midnight./ Syn.: CRACK DOWN. * /The police lowered the boom on open gambling./

[low-key] Relaxed and easygoing. * /Surprisingly, dinner with the governor was a low-key affair./

[low season] Contrast: HIGH SEASON.

[luck] See: DOWN ON ONE'S LUCK, LUCK OUT, PRESS ONE'S LUCK or PUSH ONE'S LUCK, IN LUCK, OUT OF LUCK.

[luck out] , , 1. Suddenly to get lucky when in fact the odds are against one's succeeding. * /I was sure I was going to miss the train as I was three minutes late, but I lucked out, the train was five minutes late./ 2. To be extraordinarily fortunate. * /Catwallender really lucked out at Las Vegas last month; he came home with $10,000 in cash./ 3. (By sarcastic opposition) to be extremely unfortunate; to be killed. * /Those poor marines sure lucked out in Saigon, didn't they?/

[lucky] See: THANK ONE'S LUCKY STARS.

[lucky star] A certain star or planet which, by itself or with others, is seriously or jokingly thought to bring a person good luck and success in life. * /John was born under a lucky star./ * /Ted was unhurt in the car accident, for which he thanked his lucky stars./

[lump in one's throat] A feeling (as of grief or pride) so strong that you almost sob. * /John's mother had a lump in her throat at his college graduation./ * /All during her husband's funeral, Aunt May had a lump in her throat./ * /The bride's mother had a lump in her throat./

[lump sum] The complete amount; a total agreed upon and to be paid at one time. * /The case was settled out of court with the plaintiff receiving a lump sum of half a million dollars for damages./

[lunar module (L.M.)] or [Lem] , That portion of the rocket assemblage on a flight to the Moon in which the astronauts descend to the Moon's surface. * /Building the L.M. was one of the most expensive parts of the American space program./

[lung] See: AT THE TOP OF ONE'S VOICE or AT THE TOP OP ONE'S LUNGS.

[lurch] See: LEAVE IN THE LURCH.

[lust for] To physically yearn for; hanker after; want something very strongly. * /Ed has been lusting after Meg for a very long time./

[luxury] See: IN THE LAP OF LUXURY.

M

[mackerel] See: HOLY CATS or HOLY MACKEREL.

[mad about] 1. Angry about. * /What is Harriet so mad about?/ 2. Enthusiastic about. * /Dan is mad about pop music./

[mad as a hatter] or [mad as a March hare] Not able to think right; crazy. * /Anyone who thinks the moon is made of green cheese is mad as a hatter./

[mad as a hornet] or [mad as hops] or [mad as a wet hen] , In a fighting mood; very angry. * /When my father sees the dent in his fender, he'll be mad as a hornet./ * /Bill was mad as hops when the fellows went on without him./ * /Mrs. Harris was mad as a wet hen when the rabbits ate her tulips./