Словарь американских идиом: 8000 единиц
Шрифт:
[feel no pain]{v. phr.}, {slang} To be drunk. •/After a few drinks, the man felt no pain and began to act foolishly./
[feel one’s oats]{v. phr.}, {slang} 1. To feel frisky or playful; be eager and excited. •/The horses were feeling their oats./ •/When they first got to camp, the boys were feeling their oats./ 2. To act in a proud or important way. •/The new gardener was feeling his oats and started to boss the other men./
[feel one’s way]{v. phr.} To proceed cautiously by trial and error; probe. •/I won’t ask her to marry me directly; I will feel my way first./
[feel] or [look small]{v. phr.} To have the impression that one is insignificant, foolish, or humiliated. •/"I feel small next to Hemingway," the young student of creative writing said./
[feel out]{v.} To talk or act carefully with someone and find what he thinks or can do. •/The pupils felt out the principal about a party after the game./ •/John felt out his father about letting him have the car that evening./ •/At first the boxers felt each other out./ Compare: SOUND OUT.
[feel out of place]{v. phr.} To experience the sensation of not belonging in a certain place or company. •/Dave felt out of place among all those chess players as he knows nothing about chess./
[feel the pinch]{v. phr.} To be short of money; experience monetary difficulties. •/If we are going to have a recession, everybody will feel the pinch./
[feel up]{v. phr.}, {vulgar}, {avoidable} To arouse sexually by manual contact. •/You mean to tell me that you’ve been going out for six months and he hasn’t ever tried to feel you up?/ Contrast: COP A FEEL.
[feel up to something]{v. phr.}, {informal} To feel adequately knowledgeable, strong, or equipped to handle a given task. •/Do you feel up to jogging a mile a day with me?/ Contrast: BE UP TO SOMETHING.
[feet] See: FOOT.
[feet of clay]{n. phr.} A hidden fault or weakness in a person which is discovered or shown. •/The famous general showed he had feet of clay when he began to drink liquor./ •/The banker seemed to be honest, but he had feet of clay and was arrested for stealing./
[feet on the ground]{n. phr.} An understanding of what can be done; sensible ideas. Used with a possessive. •/John has his feet on the ground; he knows he cannot learn everything at once./ •/Ted dreams of sudden riches, but Henry keeps his feet on the ground and expects to work for his money./ •/Mrs. Smith was a dreamer, but her husband was a man with his feet on the ground./ Contrast: IN THE CLOUDS.
[fell] See: AT ONE FELL SWOOP.
[fellow] See: HAIL-FELLOW-WELL-MET, REGULAR GUY or REGULAR FELLOW.
[fellow traveller]{n.} A sympathizer with a political movement who does not officially belong to the political party in question. •/Many Germans after World War II were innocently accused of being fellow travellers of Nazism./ •/During the McCarthy era, many Americans were accused of being Communist fellow travellers./
[fence] See: GRASS IS ALWAYS GREENER ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FENCE, MEND ONE’S FENCES, ON THE FENCE.
[fence in] or [hedge in] or [hem in]{v.} To keep (someone) from doing what he or she would like to do. Usually used in the passive. •/Mary felt fenced in because her father would not let her drive a car or have dates with boys./ •/John didn’t like his job because he had to do the same kind of work all the time. He felt that he was hemmed in./
[fence-sitter]{n.} A person unable to pick between two sides; a person who does not want to choose. •/Daddy says he is a fence-sitter because he doesn’t know which man he wants for President./
[fence-sitting]{n.} or {adj.} Choosing neither side. •/You have been fence-sitting for too long. It is time you made up your mind./ Contrast: MAKE UP ONE’S MIND, TAKE SIDES.
[fence with] or [spar with]{v.} To talk with (someone) as if you were fighting like a swordsman or boxer; to give skillful answers or arguments against (someone). •/The governor was an expert at fencing with reporters at press conferences./
[ferret out]{literary} or [smell out] or [sniff out]{v.} To hunt or drive from hiding; to bring out into the open; search for and find. •/John ferreted out the answer to the question in the library./ •/Jane smelled out the boys' secret hiding place in the woods./
[few] See: MAN OF FEW WORDS, NOT A FEW, QUITE A FEW.
[few and far between]{adj. phr.} Not many; few and scattered; not often met or found; rare. — Used in the predicate. •/People who will work as hard as Thomas A. Edison are few and far between./ •/Places where you can get water are few and far between in the desert./ •/Really exciting games are few and far between./