Adam Makkai - Словарь американских идиом: 8000 единиц

[talk up] {v.} 1. To speak in favor or support of. •/ Let’s talk up the game and get a big crowd. / 2. To speak plainly or clearly. •/ The teacher asked the student to talk up. / Syn.: SPEAK UP. 3. {informal} To say what you want or think; say what someone may not like. •/ Talk up if you want more pie. / •/ George isn’t afraid to talk up when he disagrees with the teacher. / Syn.: SPEAK UP. Compare: SPEAK OUT.

[tall order]See: LARGE ORDER.

[tall story]or [tale] {n. phr.} See: FISH STORY.

[tamper with] {v.} 1. To meddle with (something); handle ignorantly or foolishly. •/ He tampered with the insides of his watch and ruined it. / 2. To secretly get someone to do or say wrong things, especially by giving him money, or by threatening to hurt him. •/ A friend of the man being tried in court tampered with a witness. /

[tank]See: THINK TANK.

[tan one’s hide] {v. phr.} , {informal} To give a beating to; spank hard. •/ Bob’s father tanned his hide for staying out too late. /

[tape]See: FRICTION TAPE, MASKING TAPE.

[taper down] {adj. phr.} To decrease; reduce. •/ He has tapered down his drinking from three martinis to one beer a day. /

[taper off] {v.} 1. To come to an end little by little; become smaller toward the end. •/ The river tapers off here and becomes a brook. / 2. To stop a habit gradually; do something less and less often. •/ Robert gave up smoking all at once instead of tapering off. / Contrast: COLD TURKEY.

[tar]See: BEAT THE --- OUT OF.

[tar and feather] {v.} To pour heated tar on and cover with feathers as a punishment. •/ In the Old West bad men were sometimes tarred and feathered and driven out of town. /

[task]See: TAKE TO TASK.

[taste]See: LEAVE A BAD TASTE IN ONE’S MOUTH.

[tat]See: TIT FOR TAT.

[tax trap] {n.} , {informal} Predicament in which taxpayers in middle-income brackets are required to pay steeply progressive rates of taxation as their earnings rise with inflation but their personal exemptions remain fixed, resulting in a loss of real disposable income. •/ Everybody in my neighborhood has been caught in a tax trap. /

[T-bone steak] {n.} A steak with a bone in it which looks like a "T". •/ On Jim’s birthday we had T-bone steak for supper. /

[tea]See: CUP OF TEA also DISH OF TEA.

[teach a lesson] {v. phr.} To show that bad behavior can be harmful. •/ When Johnny pulled Mary’s hair, she taught him a lesson by breaking his toy boat. / •/ The burns Tommy got from playing with matches taught him a lesson. /

[teach the ropes]See: THE ROPES.

[team up with] {v. phr.} To join with; enter into companionship with. •/ My brother prefers to do business by himself rather than to team up with anybody else. /

[teapot]See: TEMPEST IN A TEAPOT.

[tear around] {v. phr.} To be constantly on the go; dash around. •/ No one can understand how she manages to tear around from one social event to another and yet be a good mother to her children. /

[tear down] {v.} 1. To take all down in pieces; destroy. •/ The workmen tore down the old house and built a new house in its place. / 2. To take to pieces or parts. •/ The mechanics had to tear down the engine, and fix it, and put it together again. / 3. To say bad things about; criticize. •/ "Why do you always tear people down? Why don’t you try to say nice things about them?" / •/ Dorothy doesn’t like Sandra, and at the class meeting she tore down every idea Sandra suggested. /

[tear into] {v. phr.} To attack vigorously, physically or verbally. •/ The anxious buyers tore into the wedding gowns on sale at the famous department store. / See: RIP INTO.

[tearjerker] {n.} A sentimental novel or movie that makes one cry. •/ Love Story, both in its novel form and as a movie, was a famous tearjerker. /

[tear oneself away] {v. phr.} To force oneself to leave; leave reluctantly. •/ The beaches in Hawaii are so lovely that I had to tear myself away from them in order to get back to my job in Chicago. /

[tear one’s hair] {v. phr.} To show sorrow, anger, or defeat. •/ Ben tore his hair when he saw the wrecked car. / •/ The teacher tore his hair at the boy’s stupid answer. / •/ It was time to go to class, but Mary had not finished the report she had to give, and she began tearing her hair. /

[tears]See: BORE TO TEARS, CROCODILE TEARS.

[tear up] {v.} 1. To dig a hole in; remove the surface of; remove from the surface. •/ The city tore up the street to lay a new water pipe. / •/ Mother tore up the carpeting in the living room and had a new rug put in. / 2. To tear into pieces. •/ Mary tore up the old sheets and made costumes for the play out of the pieces. / •/ John tore up his test paper so that his mother wouldn’t see his low grade. /

[tee off] {v.} 1. To hit the golf ball from a small wooden peg or tee to begin play for each hole. •/ We got to the golf course just in time to see the champion tee off. / 2. {slang} To hit a ball, especially a baseball very hard or far. •/ He teed off on the first pitch. / 3. {slang} To attack vigorously. •/ The governor teed off on his opponent’s speech. / 4. {slang} To make (someone) angry or disgusted. •/ It teed me off when Billy stole my candy. / •/ Joe was teed off because he had to wait so long. /

[teeth]See: TOOTH.

[tee up] {v.} To set the golf ball on the tee in preparation for hitting it toward the green. •/ Arnold Palmer teed the ball up for the final hole. /

[telepathy]See: MENTAL TELEPATHY.

[tell]See: DO TELL, I’LL SAY or I TELL YOU, I’LL TELL YOU WHAT, I’M TELLING YOU, YOU’RE TELLING ME, YOU TELL 'EM.

[tell apart] {v. phr.} To see the difference between; know each of. •/ The teacher could not tell the twins apart. /

[tell a thing or two] {v. phr.} , {informal} To tell in plain or angry words; scold. •/ When John complained about the hard work, his father told him a thing or two. / •/ If Bert thinks he would like to join the army, I’ll tell him a thing or two that will make him change his mind. / Compare: BAWL OUT, GIVE A PIECE OF ONE’S MIND, TELL OFF, THING OR TWO.

[tell it like it is] {v. phr.} , {slang} , {informal} To be honest, sincere; to tell the truth. •/ Joe is the leader of our commune; he tells it like it is. /

[tell it to the marines]or [tell it to Sweeney] {slang} I don’t believe you; Stop trying to fool me. •/ John said, "My father knows the President of the United States." Dick answered, "Tell it to the marines." /

[tell off] {v.} 1. To name or count one by one and give some special duty to; give a share to. •/ Five boy scouts were told off to clean the camp. / 2. {informal} To speak to angrily or sharply; attack with words; scold. •/ Mr. Black got angry and told off the boss. / •/ Bobby kept pulling Sally’s hair; finally she got angry and told him where to get off. / Syn.: TELL ONE WHERE TO GET OFF. Compare: GIVE A PIECE OF ONE’S MIND, LAY DOWN THE LAW, TELL A THING OR TWO.

[tell on] {v.} 1. To tire; wear out; make weak. •/ The ten-mile hike told on Bill. / 2. {informal} To tell someone about another’s wrong or naughty acts. — Used mainly by children. •/ Andy hit a little girl and John told the teacher on Andy. / •/ If you hit me, I’ll tell Mother on you. /

[tell tales out of school] {v. phr.} To tell something that is secret; tell others something that is not meant to be known. •/ Don’t tell Jane anything. She is always telling tales out of school. / Compare: LET THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG, SPILL THE BEANS.

[tell one where to get off]or [tell one where to head in] {v. phr.} , {informal} To talk angrily to; speak to or answer with rough language; scold. •/ Bob told Ted to get out of his way. Ted told Bob where to get off. / •/ Mary laughed at Barbara’s hairdo. Barbara told Mary where to head in. / Compare: TELL A THING OR TWO, TELL OFF.

[tell time] {v. phr.} To read a clock or watch. •/ Although Johnny is only three years old, he is already able to tell time. /

[tell you what]See: I’LL TELL YOU WHAT.

[temper]See: GOD TEMPERS THE WIND TO THE SHORN LAMB, HOLD ONE’S TEMPER or KEEP ONE’S TEMPER, LOSE ONE’S TEMPER.

[temperature]See: RUN A TEMPERATURE.

[tempest in a teapot] {n. phr.} Great excitement about something not important. •/ Bess tore her skirt a little and made a tempest in a teapot. /

[tempt fate]or [tempt the fates] {v. phr.} To take a chance; run a risk; gamble. •/ You’re tempting fate every time you drive that old wreck of a car. /

[ten]See: DIME STORE or FIVE-AND-TEN, COUNT TO TEN.

[ten-four?] {v. phr.} , {interrog.} , {slang} , {citizen’s band radio jargon} Do you understand? •/ Is that a ten-four? /

[ten gallon hat] {n.} , {informal} A tall felt hat with a wide, rolled brim worn by men in the western part of the U.S. •/ Men from the southwest usually wear ten gallon hats. /

[ten roger] {v. phr.} , {slang} , {citizen’s band radio jargon} I acknowledge. •/ That’s a ten roger. /

[ten to one]or [two to one] {adv.} or {adj. phr.} , {informal} Almost certainly, nearly sure to be true; very likely to happen. •/ Ten to one it will rain tomorrow. / •/ It is ten; to one that Bill will be late. /

[term]See: BRING TO TERMS, COME TO TERMS, IN SO MANY WORDS(2) or IN NO UNCERTAIN TERMS, IN TERMS OF.

[terror]See: HOLY TERROR.

[test]See: ROAD TEST, SCREEN TEST.

[tether]See: END OF ONE’S ROPE or END OF ONE’S TETHER.

[than]See: LESS THAN, LESS THAN NO TIME, MORE THAN.

[thank one’s lucky stars] {v. phr.} , {informal} To be thankful for good luck; think oneself lucky. •/ You can thank your lucky stars you didn’t fall in the hole. /