Словарь американских идиом: 8000 единиц
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[melt] See: BUTTER WOULDN’T MELT IN ONE’S MOUTH, MELT IN ONE’S MOUTH.
[melting pot]{n. phr.} A country where different nationalities mingle and mix with the result that, in the second generation, most people speak the main language of the country and behave like the majority. •/It is no longer considered entirely true that the United States is a melting pot; many immigrants speak a second language./
[melt in one’s mouth]{v. phr.} 1. To be so tender as to seem to need no chewing. •/The chicken was so tender that it melted in your mouth./ 2. To taste very good; be delicious. •/Mother’s apple pie really melts in your mouth./
[memory] See: IN MEMORY OF.
[mend] See: ON THE MEND.
[mend one’s fences]{v. phr.}, {informal} To do something to make people like or follow you again; strengthen your friendships or influence. •/The senator went home from Washington to mend his fences./ •/John saw that his friends did not like him, so he decided to mend his fences./
[mend one’s ways]{v. phr.} To reform; change one’s behavior from negative to positive. •/He had better mend his ways or he’ll wind up in jail./
[mental telepathy]{n. phr.} The passing of one person’s thoughts to another without any discoverable talking or carrying of signals between them. •/Mrs. Smith knew the moment her husband’s ship sank on the other side of the world. It seems like a case of mental telepathy./ •/Most or all men who practice mental telepathy on stage have really trained themselves to detect tiny clues from the audience./
[mention] See: NOT TO MENTION.
[meow] See: CAT’S MEOW.
[mercy] See: AT THE MERCY OF.
[mercy killing]{n. phr.} The act of killing a terminally ill patient or animal in order to avoid further suffering. •/Mercy killing of humans is illegal in most countries, yet many doctors practice it secretly./
[merrier] See: MORE THE MERRIER.
[merry] See: LEAD A MERRY CHASE, MAKE MERRY.
[message] See: GET THE MESSAGE.
[mess around]{v. phr.} 1. To engage in idle or purposeless activity. •/Come on, you guys, — start doing some work, don’t just mess around all day!/ 2. {vulgar} To be promiscuous; to indulge in sex with little discrimination as to who the partner is. •/Allen needs straightening out; he’s been messing around with the whole female population of his class./ Compare: FOOL AROUND.
[mess up]{v. phr.}, {slang}, {informal} 1. To cause trouble; to spoil something. •/What did you have to mess up my accounts for?/ 2. To cause someone emotional trauma. •/Sue will never get married; she got messed up when she was a teenager./ 3. To beat up someone physically. •/When Joe came in after the fight with the boys, he was all messed up./
[method in (to) one’s madness]{n. phr.} A plan or organization of ideas hard to perceive at first, but that becomes noticeable after longer and closer examination. •/We thought he was crazy to threaten to resign from the university but, when he was offered a tenured full professorship, we realized that there had been method in his madness./
[mickey mouse(1)]{adj.}, {slang} Inferior; second rate; chicken; easy; gimmicky. •/Watch out for Perkins; he’s full of mickey mouse ideas./
[mickey mouse(2)]{n.} ({derogatory}) A stupid person; a policeman; a white man (as used by blacks).
[midair] See: UP IN THE AIR(2) also IN MIDAIR.
[middle] See: CHANGE HORSES IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREAM, IN THE MIDDLE.
[middle ground]{n.} A place halfway between the two sides of an argument; a compromise. •/John wanted to go running. Bill said it was too hot. Tom took the middle ground and suggested a hike./ •/The committee found a middle ground between the two proposals./
[middleman]{n.} A person or small business standing in an intermediary position between two parties. •/A retail merchant is the middleman between the factory and the consumer./
[middle of the road]{n. phr.} A way of thinking which does not favor one idea or thing too much; being halfway between two different ideas. •/The teacher did not support the boys or the girls in the debate, but stayed in the middle of the road./
[middle-of-the-road]{adj.} Favoring action halfway between two opposite movements or ideas; with ideas halfway between two opposite sides; seeing good on both sides. •/The men who wrote the Constitution followed a middle-of-the-road plan on whether greater power belonged to the United States government or to the separate states./ •/Senator Jones favors a middle-of-the-road policy in the labor-management dispute./
[midfield stripe]{n.} The line across the center of a football field; the 50-yard line. •/The visitors were able to cross the midfield stripe once during the whole game./
[midnight oil] See: BURN THE MIDNIGHT OIL.
[midstream] See: CHANGE HORSES IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREAM or CHANGE HORSES IN MIDSTREAM.
[might] See: WITH MIGHT AND MAIN.
[mighty] See: HIGH-AND-MIGHTY.