Adam Makkai - Словарь американских идиом: 8000 единиц

[hang up] {v.} 1. To place on a hook, peg, or hanger. •/ When the children come to school, they hang up their coats in the cloakroom. / 2a. To place a telephone receiver back on its hook and break the connection. •/ Carol’s mother told her she had talked long enough on the phone and made her hang up. / 2b. To put a phone receiver back on its hook while the other person is still talking. — Used with "on". •/ I said something that made Joe angry, and he hung up on me. / 3a. {informal} To cause to be stuck or held so as to be immovable. — Usually used in the passive. •/ Ann’s car was hung up in a snowdrift and she had to call a garageman to get it out. / 3b. {informal} To stick or get held so as to be immovable. •/ A big passenger ship hung up on a sandbar for several hours. / 4. {informal} To cause a wait; delay. •/ Rehearsals for the school play were hung up by the illness of some of the actors. / 5. {informal} To set (a record.) •/ Bob hung up a school record for long distance swimming. /

[hang-up] {n.} , {informal} (stress on "hang") 1. A delay in some process. •/ The mail has been late for several days; there must be some hang-up with the trucks somewhere. / 2. A neurotic reaction to some life situation probably stemming from a traumatic shock which has gone unconscious. •/ Doctor Simpson believes that Suzie’s frigidity is due to some hang-up about men. /

[happen on]or [happen upon] {v.} , {literary} To meet or find accidentally or by chance. •/ The Girl Scouts happened on a charming little brook not far from the camp. / •/ At the convention I happened upon an old friend I had not seen for years. / Syn.: CHANCE ON, COME ACROSS(1),(3). Compare: HIT ON.

[happy]See: STRIKE A HAPPY MEDIUM, TRIGGER HAPPY at QUICK ON THE TRIGGER.

[happy as the day is long] {adj. phr.} Cheerful and happy. •/ Carl is happy as the day is long because school is over for the summer. /

[happy-go-lucky]See: FOOTLOOSE AND FANCY-FREE.

[happy hour] {n.} , {informal} A time in bars or restaurants when cocktails are served at a reduced rate, usually one hour before they start serving dinner. •/ Happy hour is between 6 and 7 P.M. at Celestial Gardens. /

[happy hunting ground] {n. phr.} 1. The place where, in American Indian belief, a person goes after death; heaven. •/ The Indians believed that at death they went to the happy hunting ground. / 2. {informal} A place or area where you can find a rich variety of what you want, and plenty of it. •/ The forest is a happy hunting ground for scouts who are interested in plants and flowers. / •/ Shell collectors find the ocean beaches happy hunting grounds. /

[hard]See: GIVE A HARD TIME, GO HARD WITH, SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS.

[hard-and-fast] {adj.} Not to be broken or changed; fixed; strict. •/ The teacher said that there was a hard-and-fast rule against smoking in the school. /

[hard as nails] {adj. phr.} , {informal} 1. Not flabby or soft; physically very fit; tough and strong. •/ After a summer of work in the country, Jack was as hard as nails, without a pound of extra weight. / 2. Not gentle or mild; rough; stern. •/ Johnny works for a boss who is as hard as nails and scolds Johnny roughly whenever he does something wrong. /

[hard-boiled] {adj.} Unrefined; tough; merciless. •/ "Because you were two minutes late," my hard-boiled boss cried, "I will deduct fifteen minutes worth from your salary!" /

[hard cash]See: COLD CASH.

[hard feeling] {n.} Angry or bitter feeling; enmity. — Usually used in the plural. •/ Jim asked Andy to shake hands with him, just to show that there were no hard feelings. / •/ Bob and George once quarreled over a girl, and there are still hard feelings between them. /

[hard-fisted] {adj.} 1. Able to do hard physical labor; strong. •/ Jack’s uncle was a hard-fisted truck driver with muscles of steel. / 2. Not gentle or easy-going; tough; stern. •/ The new teacher was a hard-fisted woman who would allow no nonsense. / 3. Stingy or mean; not generous with money. •/ The hard-fisted banker refused to lend Mr. Jones more money for his business. /

[hard going] {adj. phr.} Fraught with difficulty. •/ Dave finds his studies of math hard going. /

[hardheaded] {adj.} Stubborn; shrewd; practical. •/ Don is a hardheaded businessman who made lots of money, even during the recession. /

[hardhearted] {adj.} Unsympathetic; merciless. •/ Jack is so hardhearted that even his own children expect nothing from him. /

[hard-hitting] {adj.} Working hard to get things done; strong and active; stubbornly eager. •/ The boys put on a hard-hitting drive to raise money for uniforms for the football team. / •/ He is a hard-hitting and successful football coach. /

[hard line] {n. phr.} Tough political policy. •/ Although modern economists were trying to persuade him to open up to the West, Castro has always taken the hard line approach. /

[hard-liner] {n.} A politician who takes the hard line. See: HARD LINE.

[hard luck]See: TOUGH LUCK.

[hardly any]or [scarcely any]Almost no or almost none; very few. •/ Hardly any of the students did well on the test, so the teacher explained the lesson again. / •/ Charles and his friends each had three cookies, and when they went out, hardly any cookies were left. /

[hardly ever]or [scarcely ever] {adv. phr.} Very rarely; almost never; seldom. •/ It hardly ever snows in Florida. / •/ Johnny hardly ever reads a book. /

[hard-nosed] {adj.} , {slang} Tough or rugged; very strict; not weak or soft; stubborn, especially in a fight or contest. •/ Joe’s father was a hard-nosed army officer who had seen service in two wars. / •/ Pete is a good boy; he plays hard-nosed football. / Compare: HARD-BOILED.

[hard nut to crack]also [tough nut to crack] {n. phr.} , {informal} Something difficult to understand or to do. •/ Tom’s algebra lesson was a hard nut to crack. / •/ Mary found knitting a hard nut to crack. / Compare: HARD ROW TO HOE.

[hard of hearing] {adj.} Partially deaf. •/ Some people who are hard of hearing wear hearing aids. /

[hard-on] {n.} , {vulgar} , {avoidable} . An erection of the male sexual organ.

[hard put]or [hard put to it] {adj.} In a difficult position; faced with difficulty; barely able. •/ John was hard put to find a good excuse for his lateness in coming to school. / •/ The scouts found themselves hard put to it to find the way home. /

[hard row to hoe]or [tough row to hoe] {n. phr.} A hard life to live; a very hard job to do. •/ She has a hard row to hoe with six children and her husband dead. / •/ Young people without enough education will have a tough row to hoe when they have to support themselves. / Syn.: HARD SLEDDING. Compare: DOWN ON ONE’S LUCK, HARD NUT TO CRACK.

[hard sell] {n.} , {informal} A kind of salesmanship characterized by great vigor, aggressive persuasion, and great eagerness on the part of the person selling something; opposed to "soft sell". •/ Your hard sell turns off a lot of people; try the soft sell for a change, won’t you? /

[hard sledding]or [rough sledding]or [tough sledding] {n.} , {informal} Difficulty in succeeding or making progress. •/ Jane had hard sledding in her math course because she was poorly prepared. / •/ When Mr. Smith started his new business, he had tough sledding for a while but things got better. /

[hard-top] {n.} 1. A car that has a metal roof; a car that is not a convertible. •/ Every spring Mr. Jones sells his hard-top and buys a convertible. / 2. or [hardtop convertible]A car with windows that can be completely lowered with no partitions left standing, and with a top that may or may not be lowered. •/ Mr. Brown’s new car is a hardtop convertible. /

[hard up] {adj.} , {informal} Without enough money or some other needed thing. •/ Dick was hard up and asked Lou to lend him a dollar. / •/ The campers were hard up for water because their well had run dry. / Compare: UP AGAINST IT.

[hard way] {n.} The harder or more punishing of two or more ways to solve a problem, do something, or learn something. — Used with "the". •/ The mayor refused the help of the crooks and won the election the hard way by going out to meet the people. / •/ The challenger found out the hard way that the champion’s left hand had to be avoided. /

[hare]See: MAD AS A HATTER or MAD AS A MARCH HARE, RUN WITH THE HARE AND HUNT (RIDE) WITH THE HOUNDS.

[harebrained] {adj.} Thoughtless; foolish. •/ Most of the harebrained things Ed does may be attributable to his youth and lack of experience. /

[hark back] {v.} , {literary} 1. To recall or turn back to an earlier time or happening. •/ Judy is always harking back to the good times she had at camp. / 2. To go back to something as a beginning or origin. •/ The cars of today hark back to the first automobiles made about 1900. / •/ The slit in the back of a man’s coal harks back to the days when men rode horseback. /

[harp away at]or [on] {v.} To mention again and again. •/ In his campaign speeches, Jones harps on his rival’s wealth and powerful friends. /

[Harry]See: TOM, DICK, AND HARRY.

[harum-scarum(1)] {adv.} , {informal} In a careless, disorderly or reckless way. •/ Jim does his homework harum-scarum, and that is why his schoolwork is so poor. /

[harum-scarum(2)] {adj.} , {informal} Careless, wild, or disorderly in one’s acts or performance; reckless. •/ Jack is such a harum-scarum boy that you can never depend on him to do anything right. /

[hash]See: SETTLE ONE’S HASH, SLING HASH.

[hash house] {n.} , {slang} An eating place where cheap meals are served. •/ Joe and his friends went to a hash house around the corner after the game. /

[hash out] {v.} , {informal} To talk all about and try to agree on; discuss thoroughly. •/ The teacher asked Susan and Jane to sit down together and hash out their differences. / •/ The students hashed out the matter and decided to drop it. /