Словарь американских идиом: 8000 единиц
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[bet on the wrong horse]{v. phr.}, {informal} To base your plans on a wrong guess about the result of something; misread the future; misjudge a coming event. •/To count on the small family farm as an important thing in the American future now looks like betting on the wrong horse./ •/He expected Bush to be elected President in 1992 but as it happened, he bet on the wrong horse./
[better] See: ALL BETTER, DISCRETION IS THE BETTER PART OF VALOR, FOR BETTER OR WORSE, FOR THE BETTER, GET THE BETTER OF, GO --- ONE BETTER, HAD BETTER, HALF A LOAF IS BETTER THAN NONE or HALF A LOAF IS BETTER THAN NO BREAD, SEE BETTER DAYS, THINK BETTER OF.
[better half]{n.}, {informal} One’s marriage partner (mostly said by men about their wives.) •/"This is my better half, Mary," said Joe./
[better late than never] It is better to come or do something late than never. •/The firemen didn’t arrive at the house until it was half burned, but it was better late than never./ •/Grandfather is learning to drive a car. "Better late than never," he says./ Compare: HALF A LOAF IS BETTER THAN NONE.
[better than]{prep. phr.} More than; greater than; at a greater rate than. •/The car was doing better than eighty miles an hour./ •/It is better than three miles to the station./
[between] See: BETWIXT AND BETWEEN, COME BETWEEN, PEW AND FAR BETWEEN.
[between a rock and a hard place] See: BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA.
[between life and death]{adv. phr.} In danger of dying or being killed; with life or death possible. •/He held on to the mountainside between life and death while his friends went to get help./ •/The little sick girl lay all night between life and death until her fever was gone./
[between the devil and the deep blue sea] or {literary}[between two fires] or [between a rock and a hard place]{adv. phr.} Between two dangers or difficulties, not knowing what to do. •/The pirates had to fight and be killed or give up and be hanged; they were between the devil and the deep blue sea./ •/The boy was between a rock and a hard place; he had to go home and be whipped or stay in town all night and be picked up by the police./ •/When the man’s wife and her mother got together, he was between two fires./ Compare: COMING AND GOING(2), IN A BIND.
[between the eyes] See: HIT BETWEEN THE EYES.
[between the lines] See: READ BETWEEN THE LINES.
[between two fires] See: BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA.
[between two shakes of a lamb’s tail] See: BEFORE ONE CAN SAY JACK ROBINSON.
[be up to no good]{v. phr.}, {informal} To be plotting and conniving to commit some illegal act or crime. •/"Let’s hurry!" Susan said to her husband. "It’s dark here and those hoodlums obviously are up to no good."/
[be up to something]{v. phr.}, {informal} 1. To feel strong enough or knowledgeable enough to accomplish a certain task. •/Are you up to climbing all the way to the 37th floor?/ •/Are we up to meeting the delegation from Moscow and speaking Russian to them?/ 2. Tendency to do something mischievous. •/I’m afraid Jack is up to one of his old tricks again./
[beyond measure]{adj.} or {adv. phr.}, {formal} So much that it can not be measured or figured without any limits. •/With her parents reunited and present at her graduation, she had happiness beyond measure./ •/No one envied him for he was popular beyond measure./
[beyond one’s depth]{adj.} or {adv. phr.} 1. Over your head in water; in water too deep to touch bottom. •/Jack wasn’t a good swimmer and nearly drowned when he drifted out beyond his depth./ 2. In or into something too difficult for you; beyond your understanding or ability. •/Bill decided that his big brother’s geometry book was beyond his depth./ •/Sam’s father started to explain the atom bomb to Sam but he soon got beyond his depth./ •/When Bill played checkers against the city champion, Bill was beyond his depth./ Compare: OVER ONE’S HEAD(1).
[beyond one’s means]{adj. phr.} Too expensive, not affordable. •/Unfortunately, a new Mercedes Benz is beyond my means right now./
[beyond one’s nose] See: SEE BEYOND ONE’S NOSE.
[beyond question(1)]{adj. phr.} Not in doubt certain; sure. — Used in the predicate. •/People always believe anything that Mark says; his honesty is beyond question./ Contrast: IN QUESTION.
[beyond question(2)] or [without question]{adv. phr.} Without doubt or argument; surely; unquestionably. •/Beyond question, it was the coldest day of the winter./ •/John’s drawing is without question the best in the class./
[beyond reasonable doubt]{adv. phr.}, {formal and legal} Virtually certain; essentially convincing. •/The judge instructed the jurors to come up with a verdict of guilty only if they were convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that Algernon was the perpetrator./
[beyond the pale]{adv.} or {adj. phr.} In disgrace; with no chance of being accepted or respected by others; not approved by the members of a group. •/After the outlaw killed a man he was beyond the pale and not even his old friends would talk to him./ •/Tom’s swearing is beyond the pale; no one invites him to dinner any more./
[beyond the shadow of a doubt]{adv. phr.}, {formal and legal} Absolutely certain, totally convincing. •/Fred burglarized Mrs. Brown’s apartment, beyond the shadow of a doubt./