Adam Makkai - Словарь американских идиом: 8000 единиц

[wade through] {v. phr.} To read through something long and laborious. •/ It took John six months to wade through Tolstoy’s War and Peace in the original Russian. /

[wag]See: TONGUES TO WAG or TONGUES WAG.

[wagon]See: FIX SOMEONE’S WAGON, HITCH ONE’S WAGON TO A STAR, JUMP ON THE BAND WAGON, OFF THE WAGON, ON THE WAGON.

[wag one’s chin]See: BEAT ONE’S GUMS, CHEW THE FAT, CHEW THE RAG, SHOOT THE BREEZE.

[wait]See: LIE IN WAIT.

[wait at table]or [wait on table]or [wait table] {v. phr.} To serve food. •/ Mrs. Lake had to teach her new maid to wait on table properly. / •/ The girls earn spending money by waiting at table in the school dining rooms. /

[waiting list] {n.} A list of persons waiting to get into something (as a school). •/ The nursery school enrollment was complete, so the director put our child’s name on the waiting list. / •/ The landlord said there were no vacant apartments available, but that he would put the Rogers' name on the waiting list. /

[waiting room] {n. phr.} The sitting area in a doctor’s, lawyer’s, accountant’s, etc. office, or in a hospital, or other workplace, where people wait their turn. •/ Some doctor’s offices have elegantly furnished waiting rooms with magazines, newspapers, and coffee for the patients. /

[wait on]or [wait upon] {v.} 1. To serve. •/ Sue has a summer job waiting on an invalid. / •/ The clerk in the store asked if we had been waited upon. / 2. {formal} To visit as a courtesy or for business. •/ We waited upon the widow out of respect for her husband. / •/ John waited upon the President with a letter of introduction. / 3. To follow. •/ Success waits on hard work. /

[wait on hand and foot] {v. phr.} To serve in every possible way; do everything for (someone). •/ Sally is spoiled because her mother waits on her hand and foot. / •/ The gentlemen had a valet to wait on him hand and foot. / Compare: HAND AND FOOT.

[wait on table]See: WAIT AT TABLE.

[wait up] {v. phr.} To not go to bed until a person one is worried about comes home (said by parents and marriage partners). •/ My mother always waited up for me when I went out as a young student. / •/ She always waits up for her husband when he’s out late. /

[wait upon]See: WAIT ON.

[wake]See: IN THE WAKE OF.

[walk]See: WIN IN A WALK.

[walk all over]See: WALK OVER.

[walk a tightrope] {v. phr.} To be in a dangerous or awkward situation where one cannot afford to make a single mistake. •/ "When we landed on the moon in 1969," Armstrong explained, "we were walking a tightrope till the very end." /

[walk away with]or [walk off with] {v.} 1. To take and go away with; take away; often: steal. •/ When Father went to work, he accidentally walked off with Mother’s umbrella. / •/ How can a thief walk off with a safe in broad daylight? / 2. To take, get, or win easily. •/ Jim walked away with all the honors on Class Night. / •/ Our team walked off with the championship. /

[walking dictionary] {n. phr.} A person highly knowledgeable in matters of language use. •/ If you want to know what "serendipity" means, ask my Uncle Fred. He is a professor of English and is also a walking dictionary. /

[walking encyclopedia] {n. phr.} A polymath; a person very well versed in a number of different disciplines. •/ My uncle is a veritable walking encyclopedia when it comes to the history of World War II. / Contrast: WALKING DICTIONARY.

[walking papers]or [walking orders]also [walking ticket] {n.} , {informal} A statement that you are fired from your job; dismissal. •/ The boss was not satisfied with Paul’s work and gave him his walking papers. / •/ George is out of work. He picked up his walking ticket last Friday. /

[walk off with]See: WALK AWAY WITH.

[walk of life] {n. phr.} Way of living; manner in which people live. •/ Many rich people have yachts; people in their walk of life can afford them. / •/ The banker did not want his son to marry a girl in a different walk of life. / •/ People from every walk of life enjoy television. / Compare: THE TRACKS.

[walk on air] {v. phr.} , {informal} To feel happy and excited. •/ Sue has been walking on air since she won the prize. / •/ His father’s compliment left Jed walking on air. / Compare: ON CLOUD NINE, ON TOP OF THE WORLD.

[walk on eggs] {v. phr.} To act with utmost caution due to being in a precarious position. •/ Tom has been walking on eggs ever since he started working for a new boss in Cincinnati. /

[walk out] {v.} 1. To go on strike. •/ When the company would not give them higher pay, the workers walked out. / 2. To leave suddenly; especially to desert. •/ He didn’t say he wasn’t coming back; he just walked out. / — Often used informally with "on". •/ The man walked out on his wife and children. / Compare: LEAVE FLAT, LEAVE IN THE LURCH.

[walk over]or [walk all over]or [step all over] {v. phr.} {informal} To make (someone) do whatever you wish; make selfish use of; treat like a slave; impose upon. •/ Jill is so friendly and helpful that people walk all over her. / •/ We wanted the man’s business, so we let him step all over us. / Compare: TAKE ADVANTAGE OF.

[walk the chalk]or [walk the chalk line]or [walk the chalk mark]To act exactly as you are supposed to; behave properly; obey. •/ That new teacher really makes the students walk the chalk. / •/ In some classes the students play and talk, but Mr. Parker makes them walk the chalk. / •/ That theater owner wants his place to be orderly, and if boys and girls don’t walk the chalk, he puts them out. / (From the fact that sailors used to be asked to walk a chalk line along the deck of the ship to prove they were not drunk.) Compare: TOE THE MARK.

[walk the floor] {v. phr.} To walk one direction and then the other across the floor, again and again; pace. •/ Mr. Black walked the floor, trying to reach a decision. / •/ The sick baby had his mother walking the floor all night. / •/ Mrs. Black’s toothache hurt so much that she got up and walked the floor. /

[walk the plank] {v. phr.} 1. To walk off a board extended over the side of a ship and be drowned. •/ The pirates captured the ship and forced the crew to walk the plank. / 2. {informal} To resign from a job because someone makes you do it. •/ When a new owner bought the store, the manager had to walk the plank. /

[wall]See: BACK TO THE WALL, BEAT ONE’S HEAD AGAINST A WALL, CLIMB THE WALL, FORWARD WALL, HANDWRITING ON THE WALL, HOLE-IN-THE-WALL, STONE WALL or BRICK WALL, TO THE WALL.

[wallflower] {n.} A girl who has to sit out dances because nobody is asking her to dance. •/ "I used to be a wallflower during my high school days," Valerie complained, "but my luck changed for better once I got into college." /

[wallop]See: PACK A PUNCH or PACK A WALLOP.

[walls have ears]Sometimes one’s most confidential conversations are overheard. •/ "Be careful what you say," he whispered. "Remember that walls have ears." /

[want ad] {n.} A small advertisement on a special page in a newspaper that offers employment opportunities and merchandise. •/ "You want a temporary job?" he asked the recent arrival in town. "Go and look at the want ads!" /

[war]See: COLD WAR, TUG OF WAR.

[war baby] {n.} , {informal} A person born during a war. •/ War babies began to increase college enrollments early in the 1960s. / •/ The war babies forced many towns to build new schools. /

[ward off] {v. phr.} To deflect; avert. •/ Vitamin C is known to ward off the common cold. /

[warmer]See: BENCH WARMER.

[warm one’s blood] {v. phr.} To make you feel warm or excited. •/ When the Bakers came to visit on a cold night, Mr. Harmon offered them a drink to warm their blood. /

[warm the bench] {v. phr.} , {informal} To act as a substitute on an athletic team. •/ Bill has been warming the bench for three football seasons; he hopes that the coach will let him play this year. / —  [bench warmer] {n.} , {informal} A substitute player. •/ Last year Ted was only a bench warmer, but this year he is the team’s star pitcher. /

[warm up] {v.} 1. To reheat cooked food. •/ Mr. Jones was so late that his dinner got cold; his wife had to warm it up. / •/ When the children had left for school, their mother warmed up the breakfast coffee. / 2. To become friendly or interested. •/ It takes an hour or so for some children to warm up to strangers. / •/ As he warmed up to his subject, Tom forgot his bashfulness. / 3. To get ready for a game or other event by exercising or practicing. •/ The dancers began to warm up fifteen minutes before the performance. / •/ The coach told us to warm up before entering the pool. /

[warm-up] {n.} A period of exercise or practice in preparation for a game or other event. •/ During the warm-up the baseball players were throwing the ball around and running up and down the side of the field. / •/ Before the television quiz program, there was a warm-up to prepare the contestants. /

[warpath]See: ON THE WARPATH.

[warrant]See: SIGN ONE’S OWN DEATH WARRANT.

[wash and wear] {adj.} Not needing to be ironed. — Refers especially to synthetic and synthetic blend fabrics. •/ Dick bought three wash and wear shirts to take on his trip. / •/ Sally’s dress is made of a wash and wear fabric. /

[washed out] {adj.} Listless in appearance; pale, wan. •/ Small wonder Harry looks so washed out; he has just recovered from major surgery. /

[washed up] {adj.} Ruined; finished; a failure. •/ Harry is looking awfully sad. I hear his business has collapsed and he is all washed up. /

[wash one’s dirty linen in public]See: AIR ONE’S DIRTY LINEN IN PUBLIC.

[wash one’s hands of] {v. phr.} To withdraw from or refuse to be responsible for. •/ We washed our hands of politics long ago. / •/ The school washed its hands of the students' behavior during spring recess. /