Adam Makkai - Словарь американских идиом: 8000 единиц

[draw near] {v. phr.} To approach; come near. •/ The time is drawing near when this century will end and the next will begin. /

[draw off] {v. phr.} To drain away; deflect. •/ A light flanking attack was made in order to draw off the enemy’s fire. /

[draw on] {v. phr.} 1. To arrive; approach. •/ As midnight drew on, the New Year’s Eve party grew louder and louder. / 2. To secure funds from a bank or person. •/ Jack kept drawing on his bank account so much that several of his checks bounced. /

[draw out] {v. phr.} 1. To take out; remove. •/ Johnny drew a dollar out of the bank to buy his mother a present. / •/ The hunter drew out his gun and shot the snake. / 2. To make (a person) talk or tell something. •/ Jimmy was bashful but Mrs. Wilson drew him out by asking him about baseball. / 3. To make come out; bring out. •/ The bell of the ice-cream truck drew the children out of the houses. / •/ Mary was drawn out of her silence by Billy’s jokes. / 4. To make longer or too long; stretch. •/ The Smiths drew out their vacation at the beach an extra week. / •/ It was a long drawn out meeting because everybody tried to talk at once. / •/ Mary and her mother drew out their goodbyes so long at the bus station that Mary almost missed the bus. /

[draw the fire of]See: DRAW OFF.

[draw the line]See: DRAW A LINE.

[draw to a close] {v. phr.} To finish; terminate; come to an end. •/ The meeting drew to a close around midnight. /

[draw up] {v.} 1. To write (something) in its correct form; put in writing. •/ The rich man had his lawyers draw up his will so that each of his children would receive part of his money when he died. / 2. To plan or prepare; begin to write out. •/ The two countries drew up a peace treaty after the war ended. / •/ Plans are being drawn up for a new school next year. / Compare: WRITE UP. 3. To hold yourself straight or stiffly, especially because you are proud or angry. •/ When we said that Mary was getting fat, she drew herself up angrily and walked out of the room. / 4. To stop or come to a stop. •/ The cowboy drew up his horse at the top of the hill. / •/ A big black car drew up in front of the house. / Syn.: PULL UP.

[dread]See: BURNT CHILD DREADS THE FIRE.

[dream of] {v.} To think about seriously; think about with the idea of really doing; consider seriously. — Usually used with a negative. •/ I wouldn’t dream of wearing shorts to church. /

[dressing down] {n.} , {informal} A scolding. •/ The sergeant gave the soldier a good dressing down because his shoes were not shined. /

[dress a window]See: WINDOW DRESSING.

[dress like a million dollars]See: BEST BIB AND TUCKER.

[dress up] {v.} 1a. To put on best or special clothes. •/ Billy hated being dressed up and took off his best suit as soon as he got home from church. / 1b. To put on a costume for fun or clothes for a part in a play. •/ Mary was dressed up to play Cinderella in her school play. / 2. To make (something) look different; make (something) seem better or more important. •/ A fresh coat of paint will dress up the old bicycle very much. / •/ Tommy dressed up the story of what he did on vacation and made it seem twice as interesting as it was. /

[dressed fit to kill]See: BEST BIB AND TUCKER.

[dressed like a peacock]See: BEST BIB AND TUCKER.

[dribs and drabs] {n. phr.} Portions; small bits. •/ John paid Oliver back what he owed him in dribs and drabs. /

[drift off] {v. phr.} 1. To fall asleep, •/ He kept nodding and drifting off to sleep while the lecturer was speaking. / 2. To depart; leave gradually. •/ One by one, the sailboats drifted off over the horizon. /

[drink down] {v. phr.} To drink in one gulp; swallow entirely. •/ Steve was so thirsty that he drank down six glasses of orange juice in rapid succession. /

[drink in] {v. phr.} To absorb with great interest. •/ The tourists stood on the beach drinking in the wonderful Hawaiian sunset. /

[drink like a fish] {v. phr.} To drink (alcoholic beverages) in great quantities; to be addicted to alcohol. •/ John is a nice guy but, unfortunately, he drinks like a fish. /

[drink up] {v. phr.} To finish drinking; empty one’s glass. •/ "Drink up that cough syrup," the nurse said, "and never mind the taste," /

[drive]See: LINE DRIVE.

[drive a bargain] {v. phr.} 1. To buy or sell at a good price; succeed in a trade or deal. •/ Tom’s collie is a champion; it should be easy for Tom to drive a bargain when he sells her puppies. / •/ Father drove a hard bargain with the real estate agent when we bought our new house. / 2. To make an agreement that is better for you than for the other person; make an agreement to your advantage. •/ The French drove a hard bargain in demanding that Germany pay fully for World War I damages. /

[drive a hard bargain]See: DRIVE A BARGAIN.

[drive at] {v.} To try or want to say; mean. — Used in the present participle. •/ John did not understand what the coach was driving at. / •/ He had been talking for half an hour before anyone realized what he was driving at. /

[drive home] {v. phr.} To argue convincingly; make a strong point. •/ The doctor’s convincing arguments and explanation of his X-ray pictures drove home the point to Max that he needed surgery. /

[drive-in] {adj.} / {n.} A kind of movie theater, fast food restaurant, or church, where the customers, spectators, or worshippers do not leave their automobiles but are served the food inside their cars, can watch a motion picture from inside their cars, or can participate in a religious service in their cars. •/ Let’s not waste time on the road; let’s just eat at the next drive-in restaurant. / •/ There is a drive-in theater not far from where we live. / •/ Max and Hilde go to a drive-in church every Sunday. /

[drive like Jehu] {v. phr.} , {informal} To drive very fast, carelessly or recklessly. •/ When Joe is late for work, he drives like Jehu. /

[drive one ape], [bananas], [crazy], [mad]or [nuts] {v. phr.} , {informal} To irritate, frustrate, or tickle someone’s fancy so badly that they think they are going insane. •/ "Stop teasing me, Mary," John said. "You are driving me nuts." / •/ "You are driving me bananas with all your crazy riddles," Steve said. /

[drive one round the bend] {v. phr.} , {informal} To upset someone so much that they think they are going crazy. •/ "Slow down, please," Miss Jones cried. "You are driving me around the bend!" / Contrast: DRIVE ONE APE, BANANAS, ETC.

[driver]See: BACKSEAT DRIVER.

[drive to the wall] {v. phr.} To defeat someone completely; to ruin someone. •/ Poor Uncle Jack was driven to the wall by his angry creditors when his business failed. / Compare: GO TO THE WALL.

[drive someone bananas]or [drive someone nuts]or [drive someone ape] {v. phr.} , {slang} {informal} To excite someone to the point that he or she goes out of his or her mind; to drive someone crazy. •/ You’re driving me bananas /nuts with that kind of talk!]

[drop]See: AT THE DROP OF A HAT, BOTTOM DROP OUT, JAW DROP or JAW DROP A MILE.

[drop a line] {v. phr.} To write someone a short letter or note. •/ Please drop me a line when you get to Paris; I’d like to know that you’ve arrived safely. /

[drop back] {v.} To move or step backwards; retreat. •/ The soldiers dropped back before the enemy’s attack. / •/ The quarterback dropped back to pass the football. / Compare: DRAW BACK, FADE BACK, FALL BACK.

[drop by]or [stop by] {v.} 1. or [drop around]To make a short or unplanned visit; go on a call or errand; stop at someone’s home. •/ Drop by any time you’re in town. / •/ Mv sister dropped around last night. / •/ Don’t forget to stop by at the gas station. / Syn.: DROP IN. 2. or [drop into]To stop (somewhere) for a short visit or a short time. •/ We dropped by the club to see if Bill was there, but he wasn’t. / •/ I dropped into the drugstore for some toothpaste and a magazine. /

[drop by the wayside]See: FALL BY THE WAYSIDE.

[drop dead] {v.} , {slang} To go away or be quiet; stop bothering someone. — Usually used as a command, •/ "Drop dead!" Bill told his little sister when she kept begging to help him build his model airplane. / •/ When Sally bumped into Kate’s desk and spilled ink for the fifth time, Kate told her to drop dead. / Compare: BEAT IT, GET LOST.

[drop in] {v.} To make a short or unplanned visit; pay a call. — Often used with "on". •/ We were just sitting down to dinner when Uncle Willie dropped in. / •/ The Smiths dropped in on some old friends on their vacation trip to New York. / Syn.: DROP BY, RUN IN(2).

[drop in the bucket] {n. phr.} A relatively small amount; a small part of the whole. •/ Our university needs several million dollars for its building renovation project; $50,000 is a mere drop in the bucket. /

[drop name] {v. phr.} To impress people by mentioning famous names. •/ He likes to pretend he’s important by dropping a lot of names. /

[drop off] {v.} 1. To take (someone or something) part of the way you are going. •/ Joe asked Mrs. Jones to drop him off at the library on her way downtown. / 2. To go to sleep. •/ Jimmy was thinking of his birthday party as he dropped off to sleep. / 3. To die. •/ The patient dropped off in his sleep. / 4. or [fall off]To become less. •/ Business picked up in the stores during December, but dropped off again after Christmas. / Contrast PICK UP(14).

[dropout] {n.} Someone who did not finish school, high school and college primarily. •/ Tim is having a hard time getting a better job as he was a high-school dropout. / •/ Jack never got his B.A. as he became a college dropout. /

[drop out] {v.} To stop attending; quit; stop; leave. •/ In the middle of the race, Joe got a blister on his foot and had to drop out. / •/ Teenagers who drop out of high school have trouble finding jobs. /