Словарь американских идиом (8000 единиц)
Шрифт:
[come clean] <v. phr.>, <slang> To tell all; tell the whole story; confess. * /The boy suspected of stealing the watch came clean after long questioning./
[comedown] <n.> Disappointment; embarrassment; failure. * /It was quite a comedown for Al when the girl he took for granted refused his marriage proposal./
[come down] <v.> 1. To reduce itself; amount to no more than. Followed by "to". * /The quarrel finally came down to a question of which boy would do the dishes./ Syn.: BOIL DOWN(3). 2. To be handed down or passed along, descend from parent to child; pass from older generation to younger ones. * /Mary's necklace had come down to her from her grandmother./
[come down hard on] <v.>, <informal> 1. To scold or punish strongly. * /The principal came down hard on the boys for breaking the window./ 2. To oppose strongly. * /The minister in his sermon came down hard on drinking./
[come down in the world] <v. phr.> To lose a place of respect or honor, become lower (as in rank or fortune). * /The stranger plainly had come down a long way in the world./ Compare: DOWN ON ONE'S LUCK.
[come down off one's high horse] <v. phr.> To become less arrogant; to assume a more modest disposition. * /The boastful candidate for Congress quickly came down off his high horse when he was soundly beaten by his opponent./
[come down on like a ton of bricks] <v. phr.>, <slang> To direct one's full anger at somebody. * /When the janitor was late for work, the manager came down on him like a ton of bricks./
[come down to earth] See: COME BACK TO EARTH.
[come down with] <v.>, <informal> To become sick with; catch. * /We all came down with the mumps./ * /After being out in the rain, George came down with a cold./
[come from far and wide] <v. phr.> To originate or hail from many different places. * /The students at this university come from far and wide and speak many languages./
[come full circle] <v. phr.>, <informal> 1. To become totally opposed to one's own earlier conviction on a given subject. * /Today's conservative businessperson has come full circle from former radical student days./ 2. To change and develop, only to end up where one started. * /From modern permissiveness, ideas about child raising have come full circle to the views of our grandparents./
[come hell or high water] <adv. phr.>, <informal> No matter what happens; whatever may come. * /Grandfather said he would go to the fair, come hell or high water./ Compare: COME WHAT MAY, THROUGH THE MILL.
[come home to roost] See: CHICKENS COME HOME TO ROOST.
[come in] <v.> 1. To finish in a sports contest or other competition. * /He came in second in the hundred-yard dash./ 2. To become the fashion; begin to be used. * /Swimming trunks for men came in after World War I; before that men used full swim suits./
[come in for] <v.> To receive. * /He came in for a small fortune when his uncle died./ * /His conduct came in for much criticism./
[come in handy] <v. phr.>, <informal> To prove useful. * /Robinson Crusoe found tools in the ship which came in handy when he built a house./ * /The French he learned in high school came in handy when he was in the army in France./
[come into] <v.> To receive, especially after another's death; get possession of. * /He came into a lot of money when his father died./ * /He came into possession of the farm after his uncle died./
[come into one's own] <v. phr.> To receive the wealth or respect that you should have. * /John's grandfather died and left him a million dollars; when John is 21, he will come into his own./ * /With the success of the Model T Ford, the automobile industry came into its own./
[came natural] See: COME EASY.
[come of] <v.> 1. To result from. * /After all the energy we spent on that advertising campaign, absolutely nothing came of it./ 2. To become of; happen to. * /"Whatever became of your son, Peter?"/
[come of age] See: OF AGE.
[come off] <v.> 1. To take place; happen. * /The picnic came off at last, after being twice postponed./ 2. <informal> To do well; succeed. * /The attempt to bring the quarreling couple together again came off, to people's astonishment./
[come off it] also [get off it] <v. phr.>, <slang> Stop pretending; bragging, or kidding; stop being silly.
– Used as a command. * /"So I said to the duchess..." Jimmy began. "Oh, come off it," the other boys sneered./ * /Fritz said he had a car of his own. "Oh, come off it," said John. "You can't even drive."/
[come off] or [through with flying colors] <v. phr.> To succeed; triumph. * /John came off with flying colors in his final exams at college./
[come off second best] <v. phr.> To not win first but only second, third, etc. place. * /Our home team came off second best against the visitors./ * /Sue complains that she always comes off second best when she has a disagreement with her husband./
[come on] <v.> 1. To begin; appear. * /Rain came on toward morning./ * /He felt a cold coming on./ 2. To grow or do well; thrive. * /The wheat was coming on./ * /His business came on splendidly./ 3. or [come upon]. To meet accidentally; encounter; find. * /He came on an old friend that day when he visited his club./ * /He came upon an interesting idea in reading about the French Revolution./ Syn.: COME ACROSS, HAPPEN ON. 4. <informal> Let's get started; let's get going; don't delay; don't wait.
– Used as a command. * /"Come on, or we'll he late," said Joe, but Lou still waited./ 5. <informal> Please do it! Used in begging someone to do something. * /Sing us just one song, Jane, come on!/ * /Come on, Laura, you can tell me. I won't tell anybody./
[come-on] <n.>, <slang> An attractive offer made to a naive person under false pretenses in order to gain monetary or other advantage. * /Joe uses a highly successful come-on when he sells vacant lots on Grand Bahama Island./
[come one's way] <v. phr.> To be experienced by someone; happen to you. * /Tom said that if the chance to become a sailor ever came his way, he would take it./ * /I hope bad luck isn't coming our way./ * /Luck came Bill's way today and he hit a home run./ Compare: GO ONE'S WAY, IN ONE'S FAVOR.