Adam Makkai - Словарь американских идиом: 8000 единиц

[between the eyes]See: HIT BETWEEN THE EYES.

[between the lines]See: READ BETWEEN THE LINES.

[between two fires]See: BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA.

[between two shakes of a lamb’s tail]See: BEFORE ONE CAN SAY JACK ROBINSON.

[be up to no good] {v. phr.} , {informal} To be plotting and conniving to commit some illegal act or crime. •/ "Let’s hurry!" Susan said to her husband. "It’s dark here and those hoodlums obviously are up to no good." /

[be up to something] {v. phr.} , {informal} 1. To feel strong enough or knowledgeable enough to accomplish a certain task. •/ Are you up to climbing all the way to the 37th floor? / •/ Are we up to meeting the delegation from Moscow and speaking Russian to them? / 2. Tendency to do something mischievous. •/ I’m afraid Jack is up to one of his old tricks again. /

[beyond measure] {adj.} or {adv. phr.} , {formal} So much that it can not be measured or figured without any limits. •/ With her parents reunited and present at her graduation, she had happiness beyond measure. / •/ No one envied him for he was popular beyond measure. /

[beyond one’s depth] {adj.} or {adv. phr.} 1. Over your head in water; in water too deep to touch bottom. •/ Jack wasn’t a good swimmer and nearly drowned when he drifted out beyond his depth. / 2. In or into something too difficult for you; beyond your understanding or ability. •/ Bill decided that his big brother’s geometry book was beyond his depth. / •/ Sam’s father started to explain the atom bomb to Sam but he soon got beyond his depth. / •/ When Bill played checkers against the city champion, Bill was beyond his depth. / Compare: OVER ONE’S HEAD(1).

[beyond one’s means] {adj. phr.} Too expensive, not affordable. •/ Unfortunately, a new Mercedes Benz is beyond my means right now. /

[beyond one’s nose]See: SEE BEYOND ONE’S NOSE.

[beyond question(1)] {adj. phr.} Not in doubt certain; sure. — Used in the predicate. •/ People always believe anything that Mark says; his honesty is beyond question. / Contrast: IN QUESTION.

[beyond question(2)]or [without question] {adv. phr.} Without doubt or argument; surely; unquestionably. •/ Beyond question, it was the coldest day of the winter. / •/ John’s drawing is without question the best in the class. /

[beyond reasonable doubt] {adv. phr.} , {formal and legal} Virtually certain; essentially convincing. •/ The judge instructed the jurors to come up with a verdict of guilty only if they were convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that Algernon was the perpetrator. /

[beyond the pale] {adv.} or {adj. phr.} In disgrace; with no chance of being accepted or respected by others; not approved by the members of a group. •/ After the outlaw killed a man he was beyond the pale and not even his old friends would talk to him. / •/ Tom’s swearing is beyond the pale; no one invites him to dinner any more. /

[beyond the shadow of a doubt] {adv. phr.} , {formal and legal} Absolutely certain, totally convincing. •/ Fred burglarized Mrs. Brown’s apartment, beyond the shadow of a doubt. /

[bib]See: BEST BIB AND TUCKER.

[bide one’s time] {v. phr.} To await an opportunity; wait patiently until your chance comes. •/ Refused work as an actor, Tom turned to other work and bided his time. / •/ Jack was hurt deeply, and he bided his time for revenge. /

[bid fair] {v.} , {literary} To seem likely; promise. •/ He bids fair to be a popular author. / •/ The day bids fair to be warm. /

[big]See: IN A BIG WAY, LITTLE FROG IN A BIG POND, LITTLE PITCHERS HAVE BIG EARS, TALK BIG, TOO BIG FOR ONE’S BREECHES, WHAT’S THE BIG IDEA.

[big as life]or [large as life] {adj. phr.} 1. or [life-size]The same size as the living person or thing. •/ The statue of Jefferson was big as life. / •/ The characters on the screen were life-size. / 2. or [big as life and twice as natural] {informal} In person; real and living. •/ I had not seen him for years, but there he was, big as life and twice as natural. /

[big cheese]or [big gun]or [big shot]or [big wheel]or [big wig] {n.} , {slang} An important person; a leader; a high official; a person of high rank. •/ Bill had been a big shot in high school. / •/ John wanted to be the big cheese in his club. / Compare: WHOLE CHEESE.

[big daddy] {n.} , {slang} , {informal} The most important, largest thing, person or animal in a congregation of similar persons, animals, or objects. •/ The whale is the big daddy of everything that swims in the ocean. / •/ The H-bomb is the big daddy of all modern weapons. / •/ Al Capone was the big daddy of organized crime in Chicago during Prohibition. /

[big deal] {interj.} , {slang} , {informal} (loud stress on the word "deal") Trifles; an unimportant, unimpressive thing or matter. •/ So you became college president — big deal! /

[big frog in a small pond] {n. phr.} , {informal} An important person in a small place or position; someone who is respected and honored in a small company, school, or city; a leader in a small group. •/ As company president, he had been a big frog in a small pond, but he was not so important as a new congressman in Washington. / Contrast: LITTLE FROG IN A BIG POND.

[bigger than one’s stomach]See: EYES BIGGER THAN ONE’S STOMACH.

[big hand] {n.} Loud and enthusiastic applause. •/ When Pavarotti finished singing the aria from Rigoletto, he got a very big hand. /

[big head] {n.} , {informal} Too high an opinion of your own ability or importance; conceit. •/ When Jack was elected captain of the team, it gave him a big head. / Compare: SWELLED HEAD.

[big house] {n.} A large jail or prison. •/ The rapist will spend many years in the big house. /

[big lie, the] {n.} , {informal} A major, deliberate misrepresentation of some important issue made on the assumption that a bold, gross lie is psychologically more believable than a timid, minor one. •/ We all heard the big lie during the Watergate months. / •/ The pretense of democracy by a totalitarian regime is part of the big lie about its government. /

[big mouth]or [big-mouthed]See: LOUD MOUTH, LOUD-MOUTHED.

[big shot]or [big wig] {n.} An important or influential person. •/ Elmer is a big shot in the State Assembly. /

[big stink] {n.} , {slang} A major scandal; a big upheaval. •/ I’ll raise a big stink if they fire me. /

[big time] {n.} , {informal} 1. A very enjoyable time at a party or other pleasurable gathering. •/ I certainly had a big time at the club last night. / 2. The top group; the leading class; the best or most important company. •/ After his graduation from college, he soon made the big time in baseball. / •/ Many young actors go to Hollywood, but few of them reach the big time. /

[big-time] {adj.} Belonging to the top group; of the leading class; important. •/ Jean won a talent contest in her home town, and only a year later she began dancing on big-time television. / •/ Bob practices boxing in the gym every day; he wants to become a big time boxer. / — Often used in the phrase "big-time operator". •/ Just because Bill has a new football uniform he thinks he is a big-time operator. / Compare: SHOW OFF. Contrast: SMALL-TIME.

[big top] {n.} The main tent under which a circus gives its show; the circus and circus life. •/ Lillian Leitzel was one of the great stars of the big top. / •/ The book tells of life under the big top. /

[big wheel] {n.} , {informal} An influential or important person who has the power to do things and has connections in high places. •/ Uncle Ferdinand is a big wheel in Washington; maybe he can help you with your problem. /

[big yawn] {n.} A very boring person, story or event. •/ I love my grandma very much, but the stories she tells sure are a yawn. /

[bill]See: CLEAN BILL OF HEALTH, FILL THE BILL.

[bind]See: DUTY BOUND, IN A BIND, MUSCLE BOUND, ROOT-BOUND.

[bingo card] {n.} , {slang} A response card, bound into a periodical, containing numbers keyed to editorial or advertising matter, giving the reader the opportunity to send for further information by marking the numbers of the items he is interested in; such a card can be mailed free of charge. •/ Jack thinks he is saving time by filling out bingo cards instead of writing a letter. /

[bird]See: EARLY BIRD CATCHES THE WORM or EARLY BIRD GETS THE WORM, EAT LIKE A BIRD, FINE FEATHERS DO NOT MAKE FINE BIRDS, FOR THE BIRDS, KILL TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE.

[bird has flown] {slang} The prisoner has escaped; the captive has got away. •/ When the sheriff returned to the jail, he discovered that the bird had flown. /

[bird in the hand is worth two in the bush (a)]Something we have, or can easily get, is more valuable than something we want that we may not be able to get; we shouldn’t risk losing something sure by trying to get something that is not sure. — A proverb. •/ Johnny has a job as a paperboy, but he wants a job in a gas station. His father says that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. /

[bird of a different feather] {n. phr.} A person who is free thinking and independent. •/ Syd won’t go along with recent trends in grammar; he created his own. He is a bird of a different feather. /

[birds of a feather flock together]People who are alike often become friends or are together; if you are often with certain people, you may be their friends or like them. — A proverb. •/ Don’t be friends with bad boys. People think that birds of a feather flock together. /

[birds and the bees (the)] {n. phr.} , {informal} The facts we should know about our birth. •/ At various ages, in response to questions, a child can be told about the birds and the bees. /

[bird watcher] {n.} A person whose hobby is to study birds close-up in their outdoor home. •/ A bird watcher looks for the first robin to appear in the spring. /