Словарь американских идиом (8000 единиц) - неизвестен Автор

[flakeball] or [flake] <n.>, <slang>, <drug culture> A disjointed, or "flaky" person, who is forgetful and incoherent, as if under the influence of narcotics. * /Hermione is a regular flakeball./ Compare: SPACED OUT.

[flame] See: ADD FUEL TO THE FLAME, GO UP IN FLAMES.

[flanker back] <n.> A football back who can play far to the outside of his regular place. * /The coach is still looking for a speedy boy to play flanker back./

[flare up] <v.> 1. To burn brightly for a short time especially after having died down. * /The fire flared up again and then died./ 2. To become suddenly angry. * /The mayor flared up at the reporter's remark./ * /The mother flared up at her children./ 3. To begin again suddenly, especially for a short time after a quiet time. * /Mr. Gray's arthritis flared up sometimes./ * /Even after they had conquered the country, revolts sometimes flared up./

[flare-up] <n.> The reoccurrence of an infection or an armed conflict. * /He had a flare-up of his arthritis./ * /There was a bad flare-up of hostilities in some countries./

[flash] See: IN A FLASH.

[flash card] <n.> A card with numbers or words on it that is used in teaching, a class. * /The teacher used flash cards to drill the class in addition./

[flash in the pan] <n. phr.>, <slang> A person or thing that starts out well but does not continue. * /The new quarterback was a flash in the pan./ * /Mary got 100 on the first test in arithmetic but it was just a flash in the pan because she failed in arithmetic./

[flat] See: FALL FLAT, IN NO TIME or IN NOTHING FLAT, LEAVE FLAT.

[flat as a pancake] <adj. phr.> Very level; very flat; having no mountains or hills. * /A great part of the American Midwest is as flat as a pancake./

[flat broke] See: STONE-BROKE.

[flatfoot] <n.>, <slang>, <derogatory> A policeman. * /"What does Joe do for a living? - He's a flatfoot."/

[flat-footed] <adj.>, <informal> 1. Straightforward; forthright; direct; outright. * /The governor issued a flat-footed denial of the accusation./ * /He came out flat-footed against the idea./ 2. Not ready; not prepared; - usually used with "catch". * /The teacher's question caught Tim flat-footed./ * /Unexpected company at lunch time caught Mrs. Green flat-footed./

[flat-out] <adv. phr.>, <informal> 1. Without hiding anything; plainly; openly. * /The student told his teacher flat-out that he was not listening to her./ 2. At top speed; as fast as possible. * /He saw two men running flat-out from the wild rhinoceros./

[flatter oneself] To be sure of your own talent or skill; highly confident. * /I flatter myself that I am a better swimmer than he is./

[flea in one's ear] <n. phr.>, <informal> An idea or answer that is not welcome; an annoying or surprisingly sharp reply or hint. * /I'll put a flea in his ear if he bothers me once more./

[flea market] <n. phr.> A place where antiques, second-hand things, and cheap articles are sold, and especially one in the open air. * /The local antique dealers held a flea market and fair on the high-school athletic field./ * /There are many outdoor flea markets in Europe./

[flesh] See: IN PERSON also IN THE FLESH, NEITHER FISH NOR FOWL also NEITHER FISH, FLESH, NOR FOWL, PRESS THE FLESH, THORN IN THE FLESH.

[flesh and blood] <n.> 1. A close relative (as a father, daughter, brother); close relatives. Used in the phrase "one's own flesh and blood". * /Such an answer from her - and she's my own flesh and blood, too!/ 2. The appearance of being real or alive. * /The author doesn't give his characters any flesh and blood./ 3. The human body. * /Before child labor laws, small children often worked 50 or 60 hours a week in factories. It was more than flesh and blood could bear./

[flesh out] <v.>, <informal> 1. To add to; make fuller, bigger, or longer. * /The author fleshed out his story by adding more about his war experiences./ 2. also [flesh up] To become heavier, put on weight, or flesh. * /He lost weight after his illness but is beginning to flesh out again./ See: FILL OUT.

[flesh up] See: FLESH OUT(2).

[fling oneself at] See: THROW ONESELF AT.

[fling oneself at someone's head] See: THROW ONESELF AT SOMEONE'S HEAD.

[flip-flop(1)] <v.>, <informal> To alternate the positions of; exchange the places of; switch. * /The football coach had one play in which he flip-flopped his left halfback and fullback./

[flip-flop(2)] <n.>, <informal> A complete change; a switch from one thing to an entirely different one. * /John wanted to be a carpenter like his father, but when he saw the print shop he did a flip-flop and now he's learning printing./

[flip-flop(3)] <adj. phr.>, <informal> Involving or using a change from one of two places, positions, or alternatives to the other. * /The machine was controlled by a flip-flop switch./ * /The football coach hoped to surprise his opponents by using a flip-flop offense./

[flip one's lid] also [flip one's wig] <slang> 1. To lose one's temper. * /When that pushy salesman came back Mom really flipped her lid./ Compare: BLOW A FUSE. 2. To lose your mind; become insane. * /When he offered me three times the pay I was getting, I thought he had flipped his lid./ 3. To become unreasonably enthusiastic. * /She flipped her lid over a hat she saw in the store window./ * /He's flipped his lid over that new actress./

[flip out] <v. phr.>, <slang>, <informal> To go insane, to go out of one's mind. * /A is impossible to talk to Joe today - he must have flipped out./

[flock] See: BIRDS OF A FEATHER FLOCK TOGETHER.

[floor] See: GROUND FLOOR, MOP THE FLOOR WITH, WALK THE FLOOR.

[floor one] <v. phr.> To overwhelm; astound; nonplus. * /John's sudden announcement that he would retire floored all of us in the office./

[floorwalker] <n.> A section manager in a department store. * /To exchange this pair of shoes, you must first get the floorwalker's approval./

[flop] See: FLIP-FLOP.

[flower child] <n.>, <slang>, <informal> 1. A young person who believes in nonviolence and carries flowers around to symbolize his peace-loving nature. * /Flower children are supposed to be nonviolent, but they sure make a lot of noise when they demonstrate!/ 2. Any person who cannot cope with reality. * /"Face facts, Suzie, stop being such a flower child!"/

[flower power] <n.>, <slang> The supposed power of love and nonviolence as intended to be used by members of the anti-culture to change American society. * /The young people were marching for flower power./

[fluff one's lines] See: BLOW ONE'S LINES.

[fluff stuff] <n.>, <slang>, <citizen's band radio jargon> Snow. * /We can expect some fluff stuff this afternoon./

[flunk out] <v. phr.> To have to withdraw from school or college because of too many failing grades. * /Fred flunked out of college during his junior year./

[flush it] <v. phr.>, <slang> 1. To fail (something). * /I really flushed it in my math course./ 2. <interj.>, <used imperatively> Expression registering refusal to believe something considered stupid or false. * /"You expect me to buy that story? Flush it!"/

[fly] See: BIRD HAS FLOWN, GO FLY A KITE, MAKE THE FEATHERS FLY, MAKE THE FUR FLY, ON THE FLY, POP FLY, SACRIFICE FLY.

[fly at one's throat] <v. phr.> To attack you suddenly with great anger. * /When Tom called Dick a bad name, Dick flew at his throat./

[fly ball] <n.> A baseball hit high into the air. * /He hit an easy fly ball to center field./

[fly blind] <v. phr.> 1. To fly an airplane by instruments alone. * /In the heavy fog he had to fly blind./ 2. <informal> To do something without understanding what you are doing. * /I'm glad the car runs now; I was flying blind when I fixed it./ * /He's flying blind when he talks about philosophy./

[fly-by-night(1)] <adj.> Set up to make a lot of money in a hurry, then disappear so people can't find you to complain about poor work, etc.; not trustworthy; not reliable. * /Mrs. Blank bought her vacuum cleaner from a new company; when she tried to have it fixed, she found it was a fly-by-night business./

[fly-by-night(2)] <n.>, <informal> 1. A company that sells many cheap things for a big profit and then disappears. * /A dependable company honors its guarantees, but a fly-by-night only wants your money./ 2. A person who does not pay his bills, but sneaks away (as at night.) * /Hotels are bothered by fly-by-nights./

[fly by the seat of one's pants] <v. phr.>, <slang> To fly an airplane by feel and instinct rather than with the help of the instruments. * /Many pilots in World War I had to fly by the seat of their pants./

[flying] See: WITH FLYING COLORS.

[flying high] <adj.>, <slang> Very happy; joyful. * /Jack was flying high after his team won the game./ Compare: IN THE CLOUDS, ON TOP OP THE WORLD.

[flying start] See: GET OFF TO A FLYING START.

[flying tackle] <n.>, <informal> A tackle made by jumping through the air at the person to be tackled. * /Most football coaches don't want their players to make flying tackles./ * /The policeman stopped the burglar with a flying tackle./

[flying wedge] <n.>, <informal> 1. An offensive formation in football in which players link arms and line up to form a "V" with the ball carrier in the middle. * /The flying wedge was so dangerous and hurt so many players that rules have forbidden it for over 50 years./ 2. A group (as of guards or policemen) who use a "V" formation to help someone get through a crowd. * /Police had to form a flying wedge to get the movie star through the crowd of autograph hunters./

[fly in the face of] or [fly in the teeth of] <v. phr.> To ignore; go against; show disrespect or disregard for. * /You can't fly in the face of good business rules and expect to he successful./ * /Floyd's friends tried to help him, but he flew in the teeth of their advice and soon became a drunkard./

[fly in the ointment] <n. phr.>, <informal> An unpleasant part of a pleasant thing; something small that spoils your fun. * /We had a lot of fun at the beach; the only fly in the ointment was George's cutting his foot on a piece of glass./ * /Your new job sounds too good to be true - interesting work, high pay, short hours. Isn't there any fly in the ointment?/

[fly off the handle] <v. phr.>, <informal> To become very angry. * /John flew off the handle whenever Mary made a mistake./ * /The children's noise made the man next door fly off the handle./ Syn.: LOSE ONE'S TEMPER.

[fly the coop] <v. phr.>, <slang> To leave suddenly and secretly; run away. * /The robbers flew the coop before the police arrived./ * /His partner flew the coop with all the money./

[flying visit] <n. phr.> A visit of very short duration. * /Tom came to New York for only a flying visit. We had hardly eaten lunch when he had to leave./

[flying saucer] See: U.F.O.

[fly into a rage] or [temper] <v. phr.> To become very angry. * /By the time we mention the name of her ex-husband, she flies into a rage./

[foam at the mouth] <v. phr.>, <slang> To be very angry, like a mad dog. * /By the time Uncle Henry had the third flat tire he was really foaming at the mouth./

[fob off] <v.>, <informal> 1. To get something false accepted as good or real. * /The peddler fobbed off pieces of glass as diamonds./ Syn.: PALM OFF, PASS OFF. 2. To put aside; not really answer but get rid of. * /Her little brother asked where she was going, but she fobbed him off with ah excuse./

[fog] See: IN A FOG.

[foggy bottom] <n.>, <slang> An area in downtown Washington, D.C. where many offices of the Department of State are located; hence figuratively, the U.S. Department of State. * /The press secretary gave us a lot of foggy bottom double-talk about the hostage crisis in the Near East./

[fold up] <v.>, <informal> To collapse; fail. * /The team folded up in the last part of the season./ * /The new restaurant folded up in less than a year./ Compare: FALL APART.

[folk] See: WEE FOLK.

[follow] See: AS FOLLOWS.

[follower] See: CAMP FOLLOWER.

[follow in one's footsteps] also [follow in one's tracks] <v. phr.> To follow someone's example; follow someone exactly, * /He followed in his father's footsteps and became a doctor./ Compare: LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON.

[follow one's heart] <v. phr.> To do what one wishes to do rather than to follow the voice of reason. * /Instead of accepting a lucrative job in his father's business, Jim followed his heart and became a missionary in the jungle./

[follow one's nose] <v. phr.>, <informal> 1. To go straight ahead; continue in the same direction. * /Just follow your nose and you'll get there./ 2. To go any way you happen to think of. * /Oh, I don't know just where I want to go. I'll just follow my nose and see what happens./

[follow out] <v. phr.>, <informal> 1. To do fully; finish (what you are told to do.) * /The boy followed out the instructions and made a fine model plane./ Compare: FOLLOW THROUGH. 2. To keep working at (something) until it is finished; give (something) your attention until it comes to an end or conclusion. * /The student followed out all the index references in the encyclopedia until he found what he wanted to know./ Compare: FOLLOW UP.

[follow suit] <v. phr.> 1. To play a card of the same color and kind that another player has put down. * /When diamonds were led, I had to follow suit./ 2. To do as someone else has done; follow someone's example. * /When the others went swimming, I followed suit./

[follow through] <v. phr.> 1. To finish a movement that you have started; continue an action to its natural ending. * /A football passer should follow through after he throws the ball./ 2. To finish an action that you have started. * /Bob drew plans for a table for his mother, but he did not follow through by making it./

[follow up] <v. phr.>, <informal> 1. To chase or follow closely and without giving up. * /The Indians followed up the wounded buffalo until it fell dead./ 2. Make (one action) more successful by doing something more. * /After Mary sent a letter to apply for a job, she followed it up by going to talk to the personnel manager./ * /The doctor followed up Billy's operation with x-rays, and special exercises to make his foot stronger./ Compare: FOLLOW OUT, FOLLOW THROUGH(2). 3a. To hunt for (more news about something that has already been in the newspapers, radio or TV news); find more about. * /The day after news of the fire at Brown's store, the newspaper sent a reporter to follow up Mr. Brown's future plans./ 3b. To print or broadcast (more news about some happening that has been in the news before). * /The fire story was printed Monday, and Tuesday's paper followed it up by saying that Mr. Brown planned to build a bigger and better store at the same place./

[follow-up] <n.> Additional work or research by means of which an earlier undertaking's chances of success are increased. * /I hope you'll be willing to do a bit of follow-up./