Adam Makkai - Словарь американских идиом: 8000 единиц

[people who live in glass houses should not throw stones]Do not complain about other people if you are as bad as they are. — A proverb. •/ Mary says that Betty is jealous, but Mary is more jealous herself. People who live in glass houses should not throw stones. /

[pep talk] {n.} , {informal} A speech that makes people feel good so they will try harder and not give up. •/ The football coach gave the team a pep talk. / •/ Mary was worried about her exams, but felt better after the teacher’s pep talk. /

[period of grace]See: GRACE PERIOD.

[perish the thought] {v. phr.} Let us not even think of it; may it never come true. — Used as an exclamation. •/ If John fails the college entrance exam — perish the thought — he will go back to high school for one more year. / •/ Perish the thought that Mary should have cancer. / Compare: GOD FORBID.

[perk up] {v.} To get or give back pep, vigor, health, or spirit; become or make more lively; liven up. •/ He perked up quickly after his illness. / •/ The rain perked up the flowers wonderfully. /

[person]See: IN PERSON.

[pet name] {n. phr.} A special or abbreviated name indicating affection. •/ He never calls his wife her real name, "Elizabeth," but only such pet names as "honey," "honey bunch," "sweetheart," and "sugar." /

[petard]See: HOIST WITH ONE’S OWN PETARD.

[Peter]See: ROB PETER TO PAY PAUL.

[peter out] {v.} , {informal} To fail or die down gradually; grow less; become exhausted. •/ After the factory closed, the town pretty well petered out. / •/ The mine once had a rich vein of silver, but it petered out. / •/ But as he thought of her, his anger slowly petered out. / Compare: GIVE OUT.

[photo finish] {n. phr.} A close finish in a race of people or animals, where the camera must decide the actual result, sometimes by millimeters. •/ The black horse was declared the winner in a photo finish. /

[pick]See: BONE TO PICK or CROW TO PICK.

[pick a bone]See: BONE TO PICK.

[pick a fight]See: PICK A QUARREL.

[pick a hole in]or [pick holes in] {v. phr.} , {informal} To find a mistake in or things wrong with; criticize; blame. •/ The witness said he had been walking in the moonlight last Sunday, but the lawyer picked a hole in what he said by proving that there was no moon and that it rained Sunday night. / •/ Mary is always picking holes in what the other girls do. / Compare: FIND FAULT.

[pick and choose] {v.} To select with much care; choose in a fussy way; take a long time before choosing. •/ He was never one to pick and choose. / •/ Some people pick and choose to get something perfect, and some just because they can’t make up their minds. /

[pick apart]or [pick to pieces] {v. phr.} To criticize harshly; find things wrong with; find fault with. •/ After the dance, the girls picked Susan apart. / •/ They picked the play to pieces. /

[pick a pocket] {v. phr.} To steal by removing from the pocket of another. •/ While in the train, somebody picked his pocket and took the last dollar he had. /

[pick a/the lock] {v. phr.} To burglarize; open illegally; open a lock without the regular key. •/ The robber got into the house by picking the lock. /

[pick a quarrel] {v. phr.} To seek the opportunity for a fight or a quarrel. •/ When Charlie has too much to drink, he has a tendency to pick a quarrel with whomever happens to be around. / See: PICK A FIGHT.

[pick at] {v.} 1. To reach or grasp for repeatedly. •/ The baby kept picking at the coverlet. / 2. To eat without appetite; choose a small piece every little while to eat. •/ He picked at his food. / 3. To annoy or bother continually; find fault with. •/ They showed their displeasure by continually picking at her. / Syn.: PICK ON.

[pick holes in] {v. phr.} To criticize or find fault with something, such as a speech, a statement, a theory, etc. •/ It is easier to pick holes in someone else’s argument than to make a good one yourself. /

[pick-me-up] {n. phr.} Something you take when you feel tired or weak. •/ John stopped at a drugstore for a pick-me-up after working three hours overtime. / •/ Mary always carried a bar of chocolate in her pocketbook for a pick-me-up. /

[pickpocket] {n.} A thief; a petty criminal who steals things and money out of people’s pockets on a bus, train, etc. •/ In some big cities many poor children become pickpockets out of poverty. /

[pick off] {v.} 1. To pull off; remove with the fingers. •/ He picked off the burs that had stuck to his overcoat. / 2. To shoot, one at a time; knock down one by one. •/ The sniper picked off the slower soldiers as they came out into the road. / 3. To catch a base runner off base by throwing the ball quickly to a fielder who tags him out. •/ The pitcher turned around suddenly and threw to the second baseman to pick the runner off second base. / Compare: OFF BASE. 4. To catch and, especially in football, to intercept. •/ Alert defenders picked off three of Jack’s passes. /

[pick on] {v.} 1. {informal} To make a habit of annoying or bothering (someone); do or say bad things to (someone). •/ Other boys picked on him until he decided to fight them. / Syn.: PICK AT(3). 2. To single out; choose; select. •/ He visited a lot of colleges, and finally picked on Stanford. /

[pick one’s teeth] {v. phr.} To clean one’s teeth with a toothpick. •/ It is considered poor manners to pick one’s teeth in public. /

[pick one’s way] {v. phr.} To go ahead carefully in difficult or unfamiliar places; advance with care. •/ After nightfall we drove slowly along, picking our way until we found the right turn. / •/ He picked his way across the rough and rocky hillside. /

[pick out] {v.} 1. To choose. •/ It took Mary a long time to pick out a dress at the store. / 2. To see among others; recognize; tell from others. •/ We could pick out different places in the city from the airplane. / •/ We could not pick Bob out in the big crowd. / Syn.: MAKE OUT(2). 3. To find by examining or trying; tell the meaning. •/ The box was so dirty we couldn’t pick out the directions on the label. / Compare: FIND OUT.

[pick over] {v.} To select the best of; look at and take what is good from; choose from. •/ She picked the apples over and threw out the bad ones. / •/ We hurried to the big sale, but we were late and everything had already been picked over. /

[pick the brains of] {v. phr.} To get ideas or information about a particular subject by asking an expert. •/ If you have time, I’d like to pick your brains about home computers. /

[pick to pieces]See: PICK APART, PICK HOLES IN.

[pickup] {n.} , (stress on "pick") 1. A rugged, small truck. •/ When he got into the lumber business, Max traded in his comfortable two-door sedan for a pickup. / 2. Scheduled meeting in order to transfer merchandise or stolen goods. •/ The pickup goes down at 7 A.M. every day by the loading dock. / •/ The dope pushers usually make their pickup on Rush Street. / 3. A person who is easy to persuade to go home with the suitor. •/ Sue is said to be an easy pickup. /

[pick up] {v.} 1. To take up; lift. •/ During the morning Mrs. Carter picked up sticks in the yard. / 2. {informal} To pay for someone else. •/ After lunch, in the restaurant, Uncle Bob picked up the check. / 3. To take on or away; receive; get. •/ At the next corner the bus stopped and picked up three people. / 4. To get from different places at different times; a little at a time; collect. •/ He had picked up rare coins in seaports all over the world. / 5. To get without trying; get accidentally. •/ He picked up knowledge of radio just by staying around the radio station. / •/ Billy picked up a cold at school. / 6a. To gather together; collect. •/ When the carpenter finished making the cabinet, he began picking up his tools. / 6b. To make neat and tidy; tidy up; put in order. •/ Pick up your room before Mother sees it. / 6c. To gather things together; tidy a place up. •/ It’s almost dinner time, children. Time to pick up and get ready. / 7. To catch the sound of. •/ He picked up Chicago on the radio. / 8. To get acquainted with (someone) without an introduction; make friends with (a person of the other sex). •/ Mother told Mary not to walk home by herself from the party because some stranger might try to pick her up. / 9. {informal} To take to the police station or jail; arrest. •/ Police picked the man up for burglary. / 10. To recognize the trail of a hunted person or animal; find. •/ State police picked up the bandit’s trail. / •/ The dogs picked up the fox’s smell. / 11. To make (someone) feel better; refresh. •/ A little food will pick you up. / 12a. To increase (the speed); make (the speed) faster. •/ The teacher told her singing class to pick up the tempo. / •/ The car picked up speed. / 12b. To become faster; become livelier. •/ The speed of the train began to pick up. / •/ After the band practiced for a while, the music began to pick up. / 13. To start again after interruption; go on with. •/ The class picked up the story where they had left it before the holiday. / •/ They met after five years, and picked up their friendship as if there had been no interruption. / 14. {informal} To become better; recover; gain. •/ She picked up in her schoolwork. / •/ He picked up gradually after a long illness. / •/ His spirits picked up as he came near home. /

[pick up the tab] {v. phr.} To pay the bill in a restaurant; be the one who underwrites financially what others are doing. •/ "I am always the one who picks up the tab," Charlie complained bitterly. "Others get away with being freeloaders." / Compare: FOOT THE BILL.

[Pidgin English] {n. phr.} A jargon that consists of some mispronounced English words and some foreign words used by Orientals in talking with Westerners. •/ You can conduct a lot of business in Pidgin English in the Far East. /

[pie]See: EAT HUMBLE PIE, FINGER IN THE PIE, PIE IN THE SKY, SWEETIE PIE.

[piece]See: BY THE PIECE, CONVERSATION PIECE, GIVE A PIECE OF ONE’S MIND, GO TO PIECES, OF A PIECE, PIECE OF CAKE, SAY ONE’S PIECE or SPEAK ONE’S PIECE, TO PIECES.