Словарь американских идиом: 8000 единиц
Шрифт:
[talk rot]{v. phr.} To say silly things; talk nonsense. •/He’s talking rot when he says that our company is almost bankrupt./
[talk shop]{v. phr.}, {informal} To talk about things in your work or trade. •/Two chemists were talking shop, and I hardly understood a word they said./
[talk through one’s hat]{v. phr.}, {informal} To say something without knowing or understanding the facts; talk foolishly or ignorantly. •/John said that the earth is nearer the sun in summer, but the teacher said he was talking through his hat./
[talk turkey]{v. phr.}, {informal} To talk about something in a really businesslike way; talk with the aim of getting things done. •/Charles said, "Now, let’s talk turkey about the bus trip. The fact is, it will cost each student $1.50."/ •/The father always spoke gently to his son, but when the son broke the windshield of the car, the father talked turkey to him./
[talk up]{v.} 1. To speak in favor or support of. •/Let’s talk up the game and get a big crowd./ 2. To speak plainly or clearly. •/The teacher asked the student to talk up./ Syn.: SPEAK UP. 3. {informal} To say what you want or think; say what someone may not like. •/Talk up if you want more pie./ •/George isn’t afraid to talk up when he disagrees with the teacher./ Syn.: SPEAK UP. Compare: SPEAK OUT.
[tall order] See: LARGE ORDER.
[tall story] or [tale]{n. phr.} See: FISH STORY.
[tamper with]{v.} 1. To meddle with (something); handle ignorantly or foolishly. •/He tampered with the insides of his watch and ruined it./ 2. To secretly get someone to do or say wrong things, especially by giving him money, or by threatening to hurt him. •/A friend of the man being tried in court tampered with a witness./
[tank] See: THINK TANK.
[tan one’s hide]{v. phr.}, {informal} To give a beating to; spank hard. •/Bob’s father tanned his hide for staying out too late./
[tape] See: FRICTION TAPE, MASKING TAPE.
[taper down]{adj. phr.} To decrease; reduce. •/He has tapered down his drinking from three martinis to one beer a day./
[taper off]{v.} 1. To come to an end little by little; become smaller toward the end. •/The river tapers off here and becomes a brook./ 2. To stop a habit gradually; do something less and less often. •/Robert gave up smoking all at once instead of tapering off./ Contrast: COLD TURKEY.
[tar] See: BEAT THE --- OUT OF.
[tar and feather]{v.} To pour heated tar on and cover with feathers as a punishment. •/In the Old West bad men were sometimes tarred and feathered and driven out of town./
[task] See: TAKE TO TASK.
[taste] See: LEAVE A BAD TASTE IN ONE’S MOUTH.
[tat] See: TIT FOR TAT.
[tax trap]{n.}, {informal} Predicament in which taxpayers in middle-income brackets are required to pay steeply progressive rates of taxation as their earnings rise with inflation but their personal exemptions remain fixed, resulting in a loss of real disposable income. •/Everybody in my neighborhood has been caught in a tax trap./
[T-bone steak]{n.} A steak with a bone in it which looks like a "T". •/On Jim’s birthday we had T-bone steak for supper./
[tea] See: CUP OF TEA also DISH OF TEA.
[teach a lesson]{v. phr.} To show that bad behavior can be harmful. •/When Johnny pulled Mary’s hair, she taught him a lesson by breaking his toy boat./ •/The burns Tommy got from playing with matches taught him a lesson./
[teach the ropes] See: THE ROPES.
[team up with]{v. phr.} To join with; enter into companionship with. •/My brother prefers to do business by himself rather than to team up with anybody else./
[teapot] See: TEMPEST IN A TEAPOT.
[tear around]{v. phr.} To be constantly on the go; dash around. •/No one can understand how she manages to tear around from one social event to another and yet be a good mother to her children./
[tear down]{v.} 1. To take all down in pieces; destroy. •/The workmen tore down the old house and built a new house in its place./ 2. To take to pieces or parts. •/The mechanics had to tear down the engine, and fix it, and put it together again./ 3. To say bad things about; criticize. •/"Why do you always tear people down? Why don’t you try to say nice things about them?"/ •/Dorothy doesn’t like Sandra, and at the class meeting she tore down every idea Sandra suggested./
[tear into]{v. phr.} To attack vigorously, physically or verbally. •/The anxious buyers tore into the wedding gowns on sale at the famous department store./ See: RIP INTO.
[tearjerker]{n.} A sentimental novel or movie that makes one cry. •/Love Story, both in its novel form and as a movie, was a famous tearjerker./
[tear oneself away]{v. phr.} To force oneself to leave; leave reluctantly. •/The beaches in Hawaii are so lovely that I had to tear myself away from them in order to get back to my job in Chicago./