Неизвестен Автор - Словарь американских идиом (8000 единиц)

[odds-on] , Almost certain; almost sure; probable. * /Ed is the odds-on choice for class president, because he has good sense and good humor./

[of age] 1a. Old enough to be allowed to do or manage something. * /Mary will be of driving age on her next birthday./ Contrast: OVER AGE, UNDER AGE. 1b. Old enough to vote; having the privileges of adulthood. * /The age at which one is considered of age to vote, or of age to buy alcoholic drinks, or of age to be prosecuted as an adult, varies within the United States./ 2. Fully developed; mature. * /Education for the foreign born came of age when bilingual education was accepted as a necessary part of the public school system./

[of a piece] Of the same kind; in line. - Usually used with "with". * /His quitting the job is of a piece with his dropping out of school./

[of course] 1. As you would expect; naturally. * /Bob hit Herman, and Herman hit him back, of course./ * /The rain came pouring down, and of course the track meet was canceled./ 2. Without a doubt; certainly; surely. * /Of course you know that girl; she's in your class./

[off a duck's back] See: LIKE WATER OFF A DUCK'S BACK

[off-again, on-again] or [on-again, off-again] , Not settled; changeable; uncertain. * /John and Susan had an off-again, on-again romance./ * /I don't like this off-again, on-again business. Are we going to have the party or not?/

[off and on] also [on and off] Not regularly; occasionally; sometimes. * /Joan wrote to a pen pal in England off and on for several years./ * /It rained off and on all day./ - Sometimes used with hyphens like an adjective. * /A worn-out cord may make a hearing aid work in an off-and-on way./ Compare: BY FITS AND STARTS, FROM TIME TO TIME, NOW AND THEN.

[off balance] 1. Not in balance; not able to stand up straight and not fall; not able to keep from turning over or falling; unsteady. * /Never stand up in a canoe; it will get off balance and turn over./ * /Paul was speeding along on his bicycle, when an unexpected hole in the road caught him off balance and he fell over./ 2. Not prepared; not ready; unable to meet something unexpected. * /Our quarterback kept the other team off balance by changing often from line plays to passes and tricky end runs./ * /The teacher's surprise test caught the class off balance, and nearly everyone got a poor mark./

[off base] , Not agreeing with fact; wrong. * /The idea that touching a toad causes warts is off base./ * /When Tom said that the teacher's explanation did not agree with the book, the teacher was embarrassed at being caught off base./

[offbeat] , Nonconventional; different from the usual; odd. * /Linguistics used to be an offbeat field, but nowadays every self-respecting university has a linguistics department./

[off center] Not exactly in the middle. * /Mary hung the picture off center, because it was more interesting that way./

[off-center] , Different from the usual pattern; not quite like most others; odd. * /Roger's sense of humor was a bit off-center./ Compare: OFF-KEY.

[off-color] or [off-colored] 1. Not of the proper hue or shade; not matching a standard color sample. * /The librarian complained that the painter had used an off-color green on the walls./ 2. Not of the proper kind for polite society; in bad taste; dirty. * /When Joe finished his off-color story, no one was pleased./

[off day] A period when one is not functioning at his or her best; a period of weakness. * /The champion was obviously having an off day; otherwise she would have been able to defeat her opponent./ Contrast: DAY OFF.

[off duty] Not supposed to be at work; having free time; not working. * /Sailors like to go sight-seeing, when they are off duty in a foreign port./ * /It seems that all the taxis in New York are off duty whenever it rains./ - Often used with hyphens, before a noun. * /The bank robber was captured by an off-duty policeman./ Contrast: ON DUTY.

[off feed] or [off one's feed] , Not feeling well; lacking in vitality; droopy; moody. * /Mary was worried; her canary was off feed./ * /Jerry seemed to be off his feed; he did not joke and laugh with the others./

[off (one/he/she/it) goes!] Said of a person, a vehicle, or a memorable thing who/which has started leaving or moving, both as a statement of fact (declarative assertion) or as a command (imperative). * /When the boat hit the water in the formal launching ceremony, they cried out simultaneously, "Off she goes!"/

[off guard] In a careless attitude; not alert to coming danger; not watching. * /In the second that the boxer was off guard, his opponent landed a knockout punch./ * /Timmy s question caught Jean off guard, and she told him the secret before she knew it./ Contrast: ON GUARD.

[offhand] 1. Informal; casual; careless. * /Dick found Bob's offhand manner inappropriate for business./ 2. In an improvised fashion. * /Offhand, I would guess that at least five thousand people attended the festival./

[off in a flash] See: IN A FLASH.

[off-key] , 1. Not proper; queer. * /When George told jokes at the funeral, everyone thought his action was off-key./ 2. In a false key. * /John always sings off-key./ Compare: OUT OF LINE.

[off limits] See: OUT OF BOUNDS.

[off one's back] 1. Stopped from bothering one; removed as an annoyance or pest. * /"Having a kid brother always following me is a nuisance," Mary told her mother. "Can't you get him off my back?"/ * /The singer was so popular with teenagers that he took a secret vacation, to keep them off his back./ Contrast: ON ONE'S BACK(2). See: GIVE THE SHIRT OFF ONE'S BACK.

[off one's chest] , Told to someone and so not bothering you anymore; not making you feel worried or upset, because you have talked about it. * /After Dave told the principal that he had cheated on the test, he was glad because it was off his chest./ * /Father felt that Tom wasn't helping enough around the house, so he got it off his chest by giving Tom a list of things to do./ Compare: MAKE A CLEAN BREAST OF. Contrast: ON ONE'S CHEST.

[off one's feet] See: KNOCK OFF ONE'S FEET, SWEEP OFF ONE'S FEET.

[off one's hands] No longer in your care or possession. * /Ginny was glad to have the sick dog taken off her hands by the doctor./ Contrast: ON ONE'S HANDS.

[off one's head] Crazy; mad. * /We had no doubt that the old man was off his head when we saw him jumping into the lake with his winter coat on./

[off one's high horse] , 1. Not acting proud and scornful; humble and agreeable. * /The girls were so kind to Nancy after her mother died that she came down off her high horse and made friends with them./ 2. Acting friendly again; not angry and unpleasant any more; agreeable. * /Sally wouldn't speak to anyone all afternoon because she couldn't go to the movies, but she's off her high horse now./ Contrast: ON ONE'S HIGH HORSE.

[off one's nut] See: OFF ONE'S HEAD.

[off one's rocker] or [off one's trolley] , Not thinking correctly; crazy; silly; foolish. * /Tom is off his rocker if he thinks he can run faster than Bob can./ * /If you think you can learn to figure skate in one lesson, you're off your trolley./ Syn.: OUT OF ONE'S HEAD.

[off one's trolley] See: OFF ONE'S ROCKER.

[off season] See: LOW SEASON. Contrast: HIGH SEASON, ON SEASON.

[offshoot] A derivative; a side product. * /The discovery of nuclear reactors was ah offshoot of research in quantum physics./

[off the air] Not broadcasting; observing radio silence. * /The talk show is off the air on Wednesdays and Fridays./

[off the bat] See: RIGHT AWAY or RIGHT OFF THE BAT.

[off the beam] or 1. (Of an airplane) Not in the radio beam that marks the path to follow between airports; flying in the wrong direction. * /A radio signal tells the pilot of an airplane when his plane is off the beam./ 2. Wrong; mistaken. * /Maud was off the beam when she said that the girls didn't like her./ Contrast: ON THE BEAM.

[off the beaten track] Not well known or often used; not gone to or seen by many people; unusual. * /The theater is off the beaten track./ * /We are looking for a vacation spot that is off the beaten track./ Compare: OUT OF THE WAY.

[off the cuff] , Without preparing ahead of time what you will, say; without preparation. * /Some presidents like to speak off the cuff to newspaper reporters but others prefer to think questions over and write their answers./

[off-the-cuff] , Not prepared ahead of time. Used of a speech or remarks. * /Jack was made master of ceremonies because he was a good off-the-cuff speaker./

[off the ground] See: GET OFF THE GROUND.

[off the handle] See: FLY OFF THE HANDLE.

[off the hog] See: LIVE HIGH OFF THE HOG.

[off the hook] Out of trouble; out of an awkward or embarrassing situation. * /Thelma found she had made two dates for the same night; she asked Sally to get her off the hook by going out with one of the boys./

[off the record(1)] Confidentially. * /"Off the record," the boss said, "you will get a good raise for next year, but you'll have to wait for the official letter."/ Contrast: ON RECORD, GO ON RECORD, JUST FOR THE RECORD.

[off the record(2)] Not to be published or told; secret; confidential. * /The president told the reporters his remarks were strictly off the record./ - Sometimes used with hyphens, before the noun. * /The governor was angry when a newspaper printed his off-the-record comments./

[off the top of one's head] or , Without thinking hard; quickly. * /Vin answered the teacher's question off the top of his head./ * /When Lorraine was asked to recite, she talked off the top of her head./

[off the wagon] , No longer refusing to drink whiskey or other alcoholic beverages; drinking liquor again, after stopping for a while. * /When a heavy drinker quits he must really quit. One little drink of whiskey is enough to drive him off the wagon./ Contrast: ON THE WAGON.

[off the wall] Strange; out of the ordinary; stupid. * /He has been making off-the-wall remarks all day; something must he the matter with him./

[of it] See: WHAT OF IT.

[of late] , In the recent past; not long ago; a short time ago; lately; recently. * /There have been too many high school dropouts of late./

[of necessity] Because there is no other way; because it must be; necessarily. * /Being a professional actor of necessity means working nights and Sundays./

[of no avail] See: TO NO AVAIL.

[of old(1)] Of ancient times; of long ago. * /Knights of old had to wear armor in battle./

[of old(2)] From earlier experience. * /You won't get any money from Freddie. I know him of old./

[of oneself] See: GIVE OF ONESELF.

[of one's life] The best or worst; greatest. - Usually describing a time or effort. * /At Disneyland, Tommy had the time of his life./ * /His race for the presidency was the political fight of his life./

[of one's own accord] or [of one's own free will] Without suggestion or help from anyone else; without being told; voluntarily. * /On her mother's birthday, Betsy did the dishes of her own accord./ * /But Johnny hates baths. I can't believe he would take one of his own free will./

[of one's own free will] See: OF ONE'S OWN ACCORD.

[of service] Valuable as a source of aid; helpful; useful. * /When a visitor seems lost or confused, the courteous student will ask "May I be of service?"/ * /A good jackknife is often of service to a camper./

[of sorts] or [of a sort] Not especially good; not very good; of common quality. * /Joel was a magician of sorts, and popular at parties./

[often] See: EVERY NOW AND THEN or EVERY SO OFTEN, MORE OFTEN THAN NOT.

[of die devil] See: SPEAK OF THE DEVIL AND HE APPEARS.

[of the first water] , Of the finest quality; superior; very good; best. * /The jeweler chose diamonds of the first water for the queen's crown./ * /The dance program at graduation was of the first water./ Compare: FIRST-CLASS.