Adam Makkai - Словарь американских идиом: 8000 единиц

[fat city] {n.} , {slang} A state of contentment due to wealth and position. •/ Bully for the Smiths; they have arrived in Fat City. /

[fate]See: TEMPT FATE or TEMPT THE FATES.

[father]See: LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON.

[Father Christmas] {n.} , {British} The joyful spirit of Christmas; Santa Claus. •/ English children look forward to the visit of Father Christmas. /

[Father’s Day] {n.} The third Sunday in June set aside especially to honor fathers whether living or dead. •/ The children gave nice presents to their father on Father’s Day. /

[fat is in the fire]Something has happened that will cause trouble or make a bad situation worse. •/ He found out you took it? Well, the fat’s in the fire now. /

[fat of the land] {n. phr.} The best and richest food, clothes, everything. •/ When I’m rich I’ll retire and live off the fat of the land. /

[fault]See: AT FAULT, FIND FAULT, TO A FAULT.

[faultfinding] {n.} Recrimination; nagging; criticism. •/ All of this constant faultfinding will only to lead to trouble between you and your wife. /

[favor]See: CURRY FAVOR, IN FAVOR OF.

[favorite son] {n.} A man supported by his home state for President. •/ At a national convention, states often vote for their favorite sons first; then they change and vote for another man. /

[fear]See: FOR FEAR.

[fear and trembling]or [fear and trepidation] {n. phr.} Great fear. •/ He came in fear and trembling to tell his father he had a bad report card. /

[feast one’s eyes on] {v. phr.} To look at and enjoy very much. •/ He feasted his eyes on the beautiful painting. /

[feast or a famine] {n. phr.} Plenty or very little; big success or bad failure. •/ In this business it’s either a feast or a famine. / •/ He is very careless with his money, it is always a feast or a famine with him. /

[feather]See: BIRDS OF A FEATHER FLOCK TOGETHER, TAR AND FEATHER, FINE FEATHERS DO NOT MAKE FINE BIRDS, FUSS AND FEATHERS, MAKE THE FEATHERS FLY, RUFFLE FEATHERS.

[feather in one’s cap] {n. phr.} Something to be proud of; an honor. •/ It was a feather in his cap to win first prize. / (From the medieval practice of placing a feather in the helmet of one who won honors in battle.)

[feather one’s nest] {v. phr.} , {informal} 1. To use for yourself money and power, especially from a public office or job in which you are trusted to help other people. •/ The rich man told his lawyer to use his money after he died to build a hospital for poor people, but the lawyer feathered his own nest with the money instead. / •/ The man feathered his nest in politics by getting money from contractors who built roads. / Syn.: LINE ONE’S POCKETS. 2. To make your home pleasant and comfortable; furnish and decorate your house. •/ Furniture stores welcome young couples who want to feather their nests. /

[fed up]( {informal} ) also ( {slang} ) [fed to the gills]or [fed to the teeth] {adj. phr.} Having had too much of something; at the end of your patience; disgusted; bored; tired. •/ People get fed up with anyone who brags all the time. / •/ I’ve had enough of his complaints. I’m fed up. / •/ He was fed to the teeth with television and sold his set to a cousin. / •/ John quit football because he was fed to the gills with practice. / Compare: SICK AND TIRED.

[feed]See: BITE THE HAND THAT FEEDS ONE, CHICKEN FEED, OFF FEED or OFF ONE’S FEED, SPOON FEED.

[feel]See: GET THE FEEL OF and HARD FEELING.

[feel a draft] {v. phr.} , {slang} To have the sensation that one is not welcome in a place; that one has gotten a cold reception. •/ Let’s go, Suzie, I feel a draft. /

[feel for someone] {v. phr.} , {informal} To be able to sympathize with someone’s problems. •/ I can really feel for you, John, for losing your job. /

[feel free to do] {v. phr.} To take the liberty to engage in an activity. •/ Please feel free to take off your jackets; this is an informal party. /

[feel in one’s bones]or [know in one’s bones] {v. phr.} To have an idea or feeling but not know why. •/ I feel in my hones that tomorrow will be a sunny day. / •/ I know in my bones that God will protect us. /

[feel like] {v.} , {informal} To want to do or have. •/ I don’t feel like running today. / •/ I just don’t feel like pancakes this morning. /

[feel like a million]or [feel like a million dollars] {v. phr.} , {informal} To be in the best of health and spirits. •/ I feel like a million this morning. / •/ He had a headache yesterday but feels like a million dollars today. / Compare: LOOK LIKE A MILLION.

[feel like a new man] {v. phr.} To feel healthy, vigorous, and well again after a major physical illness or emotional upheaval. •/ Ted felt like a new man after his successful heart bypass operation. /

[feel like two cents]See: TWO CENTS.

[feel low] {v. phr.} To be depressed; be in low spirits. •/ I don’t know what’s the matter with Mary, but she says she has been feeling very low all afternoon. /

[feel no pain] {v. phr.} , {slang} To be drunk. •/ After a few drinks, the man felt no pain and began to act foolishly. /

[feel one’s oats] {v. phr.} , {slang} 1. To feel frisky or playful; be eager and excited. •/ The horses were feeling their oats. / •/ When they first got to camp, the boys were feeling their oats. / 2. To act in a proud or important way. •/ The new gardener was feeling his oats and started to boss the other men. /

[feel one’s way] {v. phr.} To proceed cautiously by trial and error; probe. •/ I won’t ask her to marry me directly; I will feel my way first. /

[feel]or [look small] {v. phr.} To have the impression that one is insignificant, foolish, or humiliated. •/ "I feel small next to Hemingway," the young student of creative writing said. /

[feel out] {v.} To talk or act carefully with someone and find what he thinks or can do. •/ The pupils felt out the principal about a party after the game. / •/ John felt out his father about letting him have the car that evening. / •/ At first the boxers felt each other out. / Compare: SOUND OUT.

[feel out of place] {v. phr.} To experience the sensation of not belonging in a certain place or company. •/ Dave felt out of place among all those chess players as he knows nothing about chess. /

[feel the pinch] {v. phr.} To be short of money; experience monetary difficulties. •/ If we are going to have a recession, everybody will feel the pinch. /

[feel up] {v. phr.} , {vulgar} , {avoidable} To arouse sexually by manual contact. •/ You mean to tell me that you’ve been going out for six months and he hasn’t ever tried to feel you up? / Contrast: COP A FEEL.

[feel up to something] {v. phr.} , {informal} To feel adequately knowledgeable, strong, or equipped to handle a given task. •/ Do you feel up to jogging a mile a day with me? / Contrast: BE UP TO SOMETHING.

[feet]See: FOOT.

[feet of clay] {n. phr.} A hidden fault or weakness in a person which is discovered or shown. •/ The famous general showed he had feet of clay when he began to drink liquor. / •/ The banker seemed to be honest, but he had feet of clay and was arrested for stealing. /

[feet on the ground] {n. phr.} An understanding of what can be done; sensible ideas. Used with a possessive. •/ John has his feet on the ground; he knows he cannot learn everything at once. / •/ Ted dreams of sudden riches, but Henry keeps his feet on the ground and expects to work for his money. / •/ Mrs. Smith was a dreamer, but her husband was a man with his feet on the ground. / Contrast: IN THE CLOUDS.

[fell]See: AT ONE FELL SWOOP.

[fellow]See: HAIL-FELLOW-WELL-MET, REGULAR GUY or REGULAR FELLOW.

[fellow traveller] {n.} A sympathizer with a political movement who does not officially belong to the political party in question. •/ Many Germans after World War II were innocently accused of being fellow travellers of Nazism. / •/ During the McCarthy era, many Americans were accused of being Communist fellow travellers. /

[fence]See: GRASS IS ALWAYS GREENER ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FENCE, MEND ONE’S FENCES, ON THE FENCE.

[fence in]or [hedge in]or [hem in] {v.} To keep (someone) from doing what he or she would like to do. Usually used in the passive. •/ Mary felt fenced in because her father would not let her drive a car or have dates with boys. / •/ John didn’t like his job because he had to do the same kind of work all the time. He felt that he was hemmed in. /

[fence-sitter] {n.} A person unable to pick between two sides; a person who does not want to choose. •/ Daddy says he is a fence-sitter because he doesn’t know which man he wants for President. /

[fence-sitting] {n.} or {adj.} Choosing neither side. •/ You have been fence-sitting for too long. It is time you made up your mind. / Contrast: MAKE UP ONE’S MIND, TAKE SIDES.

[fence with]or [spar with] {v.} To talk with (someone) as if you were fighting like a swordsman or boxer; to give skillful answers or arguments against (someone). •/ The governor was an expert at fencing with reporters at press conferences. /

[ferret out] {literary} or [smell out]or [sniff out] {v.} To hunt or drive from hiding; to bring out into the open; search for and find. •/ John ferreted out the answer to the question in the library. / •/ Jane smelled out the boys' secret hiding place in the woods. /

[few]See: MAN OF FEW WORDS, NOT A FEW, QUITE A FEW.

[few and far between] {adj. phr.} Not many; few and scattered; not often met or found; rare. — Used in the predicate. •/ People who will work as hard as Thomas A. Edison are few and far between. / •/ Places where you can get water are few and far between in the desert. / •/ Really exciting games are few and far between. /