Словарь американских идиом (8000 единиц)
Шрифт:
[for the most part] <adv. phr.> In general; mostly; most of the time; commonly; generally. * /European countries are, for the most part, tired of war./ Syn.: BY AND LARGE, ON THE WHOLE.
[for the nonce] See: FOR THE TIME BEING.
[for the ride] See: ALONG FOR THE RIDE.
[for the sake of] or [for one's sake] <adv. phr.> On behalf of; for the benefit of. * /For the sake of truth and freedom, Dr. Sakharov, the Soviet dissident, was willing to be banished from Moscow./ * /"Do it for my sake, please!" Tom begged./
[for the time being] also <literary> [for the nonce] <adv. phr.> For now; for a while; temporarily. * /I haven't any note paper, but this envelope will do for the time being./ * /She hasn't found an apartment yet; she's staying with her aunt for the time being./
[for the world] See: NOT FOR THE WORLD.
[for the worse] <adj. phr.> or <adv. phr.> For something that is worse or not as good, with a worse result. * /He bought a new car but it turned out to be for the worse./ * /The sick man's condition changed for the worse./ Compare: TAKE A TURN. Contrast: FOR THE BETTER.
[for to] <prep. phr.>, <dialect> So that you can; to. * /Simple Simon went a-fishing for to catch a whale./ Syn.: IN ORDER TO.
[forty winks] <n. phr.>, <informal> A short period of sleep; a nap. * /When the truck driver felt sleepy, he stopped by the side of the road to catch forty winks./ Compare: SHUT-EYE.
[forward] See: BACKWARD AND FORWARD, LOOK FORWARD TO, PUT ONE'S BEST FOOT FORWARD.
[forward wall] <n.> The line of a football team. * /Princeton 's line outplayed the Rutgers forward wall./
[for you] See: THAT'S --- FOR YOU.
[foul ball] <n.> A batted baseball that lands outside the foul line. * /Mickey hit a long foul ball that landed on the roof./
[foul line] <n.> 1. Either of two lines separating fair from foul ground in baseball. * /Willie hit the ball just inside the foul line for a double./ 2. A line across the upper end of a bowling alley across which a bowler must not step. * /John bowled a strike but it didn't count because he stepped over the foul line./ 3. A line on the floor in front of the basket in basketball, from which foul shots are made. * /Tony scored eight points from the foul line./
[foul out] <v.> 1. To make an out in baseball by hitting a foul fly ball that is caught. * /He fouled out to the catcher./ 2. To be forced to leave a basketball game because of getting more than the limit number of personal fouls. * /A professional basketball player is allowed six personal fouls before fouling out./
[foul play] <n.> Treachery; a criminal act (such as murder). * /After they discovered the dead body, the police suspected foul play./ * /"She must have met with foul play," the chief inspector said when they couldn't find the 12-year-old girl who had disappeared./
[foul shot] <n.> A free throw given in basketball to a player who has been fouled. * /Tony was given two foul shots when he was fouled while trying to shoot./ Compare: FIELD GOAL 2, FREE THROW.
[foul up] <v.>, <informal> 1. To make dirty. * /The birds fouled up his newly washed car./ 2. To tangle up. * /He tried to throw a lasso but he got the rope all fouled up./ 3. To ruin or spoil by stupid mistakes; botch. * /He fouled the whole play up by forgetting his part./ 4. To make a mistake; to blunder. * /Blue suit and brown socks! He had fouled up again./ 5. To go wrong. * /Why do some people foul up and become criminals?/
[foul-up] <n.> (stress on "foul") 1. <informal> A confused situation; confusion; mistake. * /The luncheon was handled with only one or two foul-ups./ 2. <informal> A breakdown. * /There was a foul-up in his car's steering mechanism./ 3. <slang> A person who fouls up or mixes things. * /He had gotten a reputation as a foul-up./
[foundation garment] <n.> A close-fitting garment designed for women to wear underneath their clothes to make them look slim; a piece of woman's underwear. * /Jane wears a foundation garment under her evening dress./
[four] See: HIT ON ALL FOUR, ON ALL FOURS.
[four bits] <n.>, <slang> Fifty cents. * /Tickets to the play are four bits," said Bill./ Compare: TWO BITS.
[four corners] <n.> All parts of a place. * /People came from the four corners of the world to see him./ * /He has been to the four corners of the country./ Compare: ALL OVER.
[four-eyes] <n.>, <slang> A person who wears glasses.
– A rude expression, * /Hey, four-eyes, come over here./
[four-leaf clover] <n.> A small green plant with four leaves which many people think means good luck because clover plants usually have three leaves. * /John has a four-leaf clover in his pocket. He thinks he will have good luck now./
[fourth class] <n.> A class of mail that is not sealed and weighs a pound or more, that includes things that are bought and sold and sent in the mail, and printed things that are not second or third class mail. * /Bill sent away 98 cereal box tops and a dollar and got back a sheriff's badge and gun in the mail by fourth class./
[fourth-class(1)] <adj.> Belonging to the fourth class of mail. * /The package weighed a pound and a half, so it had to be sent by fourth-class mail./
[fourth-class(2)] <adv.> By fourth-class mail. * /How did the company mail the package? Fourth-class./
[fourth world] <n.>, <informal> The poor nations of the world, as distinguished from the oil-rich nations of the third world. * /Sri Lanka will never join OPEC, since it is a fourth world nation./
[fowl] See: NEITHER FISH NOR FOWL.