Словарь американских идиом (8000 единиц)
Шрифт:
[big deal] <interj.>, <slang>, <informal> (loud stress on the word "deal") Trifles; an unimportant, unimpressive thing or matter. * /So you became college president - big deal!/
[big frog in a small pond] <n. phr.>, <informal> An important person in a small place or position; someone who is respected and honored in a small company, school, or city; a leader in a small group. * /As company president, he had been a big frog in a small pond, but he was not so important as a new congressman in Washington./ Contrast: LITTLE FROG IN A BIG POND.
[bigger than one's stomach] See: EYES BIGGER THAN ONE'S STOMACH.
[big hand] <n.> Loud and enthusiastic applause. * /When Pavarotti finished singing the aria from Rigoletto, he got a very big hand./
[big head] <n.>, <informal> Too high an opinion of your own ability or importance; conceit. * /When Jack was elected captain of the team, it gave him a big head./ Compare: SWELLED HEAD.
[big house] <n.> A large jail or prison. * /The rapist will spend many years in the big house./
[big lie, the] <n.>, <informal> A major, deliberate misrepresentation of some important issue made on the assumption that a bold, gross lie is psychologically more believable than a timid, minor one. * /We all heard the big lie during the Watergate months./ * /The pretense of democracy by a totalitarian regime is part of the big lie about its government./
[big mouth] or [big-mouthed] See: LOUD MOUTH, LOUD-MOUTHED.
[big shot] or [big wig] <n.> An important or influential person. * /Elmer is a big shot in the State Assembly./
[big stink] <n.>, <slang> A major scandal; a big upheaval. * /I'll raise a big stink if they fire me./
[big time] <n.>, <informal> 1. A very enjoyable time at a party or other pleasurable gathering. * /I certainly had a big time at the club last night./ 2. The top group; the leading class; the best or most important company. * /After his graduation from college, he soon made the big time in baseball./ * /Many young actors go to Hollywood, but few of them reach the big time./
[big-time] <adj.> Belonging to the top group; of the leading class; important. * /Jean won a talent contest in her home town, and only a year later she began dancing on big-time television./ * /Bob practices boxing in the gym every day; he wants to become a big time boxer./ Often used in the phrase "big-time operator". * /Just because Bill has a new football uniform he thinks he is a big-time operator./ Compare: SHOW OFF. Contrast: SMALL-TIME.
[big top] <n.> The main tent under which a circus gives its show; the circus and circus life. * /Lillian Leitzel was one of the great stars of the big top./ * /The book tells of life under the big top./
[big wheel] <n.>, <informal> An influential or important person who has the power to do things and has connections in high places. * /Uncle Ferdinand is a big wheel in Washington; maybe he can help you with your problem./
[big yawn] <n.> A very boring person, story or event. * /I love my grandma very much, but the stories she tells sure are a yawn./
[bill] See: CLEAN BILL OF HEALTH, FILL THE BILL.
[bind] See: DUTY BOUND, IN A BIND, MUSCLE BOUND, ROOT-BOUND.
[bingo card] <n.>, <slang> A response card, bound into a periodical, containing numbers keyed to editorial or advertising matter, giving the reader the opportunity to send for further information by marking the numbers of the items he is interested in; such a card can be mailed free of charge. * /Jack thinks he is saving time by filling out bingo cards instead of writing a letter./
[bird] See: EARLY BIRD CATCHES THE WORM or EARLY BIRD GETS THE WORM, EAT LIKE A BIRD, FINE FEATHERS DO NOT MAKE FINE BIRDS, FOR THE BIRDS, KILL TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE.
[bird has flown] <slang> The prisoner has escaped; the captive has got away. * /When the sheriff returned to the jail, he discovered that the bird had flown./
[bird in the hand is worth two in the bush (a)] Something we have, or can easily get, is more valuable than something we want that we may not be able to get; we shouldn't risk losing something sure by trying to get something that is not sure.
– A proverb. * /Johnny has a job as a paperboy, but he wants a job in a gas station. His father says that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush./
[bird of a different feather] <n. phr.> A person who is free thinking and independent. * /Syd won't go along with recent trends in grammar; he created his own. He is a bird of a different feather./
[birds of a feather flock together] People who are alike often become friends or are together; if you are often with certain people, you may be their friends or like them.
– A proverb. * /Don't be friends with bad boys. People think that birds of a feather flock together./
[birds and the bees (the)] <n. phr.>, <informal> The facts we should know about our birth. * /At various ages, in response to questions, a child can be told about the birds and the bees./
[bird watcher] <n.> A person whose hobby is to study birds close-up in their outdoor home. * /A bird watcher looks for the first robin to appear in the spring./
[birthday suit] <n.> The skin with no clothes on; complete nakedness. * /The little boys were swimming in their birthday suits./
[bit] See: A BIT, CHAMP AT THE BIT, FOUR BITS, QUITE A LITTLE or QUITE A BIT, SIX BITS, TAKE THE BIT IN ONE'S MOUTH, TWO BITS.
[bitch] See: SON OF A BITCH.
[bite] See: BARK WORSE THAN ONE'S BITE, PUT THE BITE ON, ONCE BITTEN, TWICE SHY at BURNT CHILD DREADS THE FIRE.