Словарь американских идиом (8000 единиц)
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[duty calls] <n. phr.> One must attend to one's obligations. * /"I'd love to stay and play more poker," Henry said, "but duty calls and I must get back to the office."/
[dwell on] or [dwell upon] <v.> To stay on a subject; not leave something or want to leave; not stop talking or writing about. * /Joe dwelt on his mistake long after the test was over./ * /Our eyes dwelled on the beautiful sunset./ * /The principal dwelled on traffic safety in his talk./ Compare: HARP ON. Contrast: TOUCH ON.
[dyed-in-the-wool] <adj. phr.> Thoroughly committed; inveterate; unchanging. * /He is a died-in-the-wool Conservative Republican./
[dying to] <adj. phr.> Having a great desire to; being extremely eager to. * /Seymour is dying to date Mathilda, but she keeps refusing him./
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[each and every] <adj. phr.> Every.
– Used for emphasis. * /The captain wants each and every man to be here at eight o'clock./ * /The teacher must learn the name of each and every pupil./ Syn.: EVERY SINGLE.
[each other] or [one another] <pron.> Each one the other; one the other. * /That man and his wife love each other./ * /Bill and Mary gave one another Christmas presents last year./ * /All the children at the party were looking at one another trying to recognize one another in their masks and costumes./ * /The birds fought each other over the bread./
[eager beaver] <n. phr.>, <slang> A person who is always eager to work or do anything extra, perhaps to win the favor of his leader or boss. * /Jack likes his teacher and works hard for her, but his classmates call him an eager beaver./ * /The man who was promoted to be manager was an eager beaver who got to work early and left late and was always offering to do extra work./
[eagle eye] <n.> Sharp vision like that of an eagle; the ability to notice even the tiniest details. * /The new boss keeps an eagle eye on all aspects of our operation./
[ear] See: ABOUT ONE'S EARS or AROUND ONE'S EARS, BELIEVE ONE'S EARS, DRY BEHIND THE EARS, FLEA IN ONE'S EAR, GIVE AN EAR TO or LEND AN EAR TO, GO IN ONE EAR AND OUT THE OTHER, JUG-EARED, LITTLE PITCHERS HAVE BIG EARS, MUSIC TO ONE'S EARS, PIN ONE'S EARS BACK, PLAY BY EAR, PRICK UP ONE'S EARS, ROASTING EAR, TURN A DEAF EAR, UP TO THE CHIN IN or UP TO THE EARS IN, WET BEHIND THE EARS.
[early] See: BRIGHT AND EARLY.
[early bird] <n> An early riser from bed. * /Jane and Tom are real early birds; they get up at 6 A.M. every morning./
[early bird catches the worm] or [early bird gets the worm] A person who gets up early in the morning has the best chance of succeeding; if you arrive early or are quicker, you get ahead of others.
– A proverb. * /When Billy's father woke him up for school he said, "The early bird catches the worm."/ * /Charles began looking for a summer job in January; he knows that the early bird gets the worm./ Compare: FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED.
[earn one's keep] <v. phr.> To merit one's salary or keep by performing the labor or chores that are expected of one. * /John earned his keep at the music conservatory by dusting off all the musical instruments every day./
[earnest] See: IN EARNEST.
[ears burn] <informal> To feel embarrassment or shame at hearing others talk about you. * /Joan overheard the girls criticizing her and it made her ears burn./ * /Joe's ears burned when he heard his classmates praising him to each other./
[earth] See: COME BACK TO EARTH or COME DOWN TO EARTH, DOWN-TO-EARTH, IN THE WORLD or ON EARTH, MOVE HEAVEN AND EARTH.
[ear to the ground] <n. phr.>, <informal> Attention directed to the way things are going, or seem likely to go, or to the way people feel and think. * /The city manager kept an ear to the ground for a while before deciding to raise the city employees' pay./ * /Reporters keep an ear to the ground so as to know as soon as possible what will happen./
[ease] See: AT EASE or AT ONE'S EASE, ILL AT EASE.
[ease off] or [ease up] <v.> To make or become less nervous; relax; work easier. * /When the boss realized that John had been overworking, he eased off his load./ * /With success and prosperity, Mr. Smith was able to ease off./ Compare: LET UP(3).
[easily] See: BREATHE EASILY or BREATHE FREELY.
[east] See: DOWN EAST.
[easy] See: FREE AND EASY, GET OFF EASY, ON EASY STREET, TAKE IT EASY or GO EASY or TAKE THINGS EASY.
[easygoing] <adj.> Amiable in manner; relaxed; not excited. * /Because Al has an easygoing personality, everybody loves him./
[easy as pie] See: PIECE OF CAKE.
[easy come, easy go] <truncated sent.>, <informal> Something you get quickly and easily may be lost or spent just as easily. * /Grandfather thought Billy should have to work for the money Father gave him, saying "Easy come, easy go."/
[easy does it] <informal> Let's do it carefully, without sudden movements and without forcing too hard or too fast; let's try to just hard enough but not too hard. * /"Easy does it," said the boss as they moved the piano through the narrow doorway./ Compare: TAKE IT EASY.
[easy mark] <n.> A foolishly generous person; one from whom it is easy to get money. * /Bill is known to all the neighborhood beggars as an easy mark./ See: SOFT TOUCH.
[easy money] <n.>, <informal> Money gained without hard work; money that requires little or no effort. * /The movie rights to a successful play mean easy money to the writer of the play./ * /Young people who look for easy money are usually disappointed./
[eat] See: DOG-EAT-DOG, LIVE HIGH OFF THE HOG or EAT HIGH ON THE HOG, LOOK LIKE THE CAT THAT ATE THE CANARY.