Словарь американских идиом (8000 единиц)
Шрифт:
[once upon a time] <adv. phr.> Sometime before now, long ago. * /Once upon a time she was thought to be the most talented actress in the country./ - Often used at the beginning of fairy stories. * /Once upon a time there lived a king who had an ugly daughter./
[on cloud nine] <adj. phr.>, <slang> Too happy to think of anything else; very happy. * /Ada has been on cloud nine since the magazine printed the story she wrote./ * /We were on cloud nine when our team won the state championship./ Compare: ON TOP OF THE WORLD, WALK ON AIR.
[on condition that] <conj.> Providing that; if. * /I will lend you the money on condition that you pay it back in one month./ * /She agreed to act in the play on condition that she could keep her costumes./
[on deck] <adv.> or <adj. phr.> 1. On a floor of a ship open to the outdoors. * /The passengers were playing shufflehoard on deck./ * /The sailors kept busy cleaning and painting on deck./ 2. <informal> Ready to do something; present. * /The scout leader told the boys to be on deck at 8:00 Saturday morning for the hike./ * /Dick was at bat, and Bob was on deck./
[on deposit] <adv. phr.> In a bank. * /I have almost $500 on deposit in my account./ * /The children save their pennies and each month place them on deposit./
[on duty] <adj. phr.> Doing one's job; supervising. * /Two soldiers are on duty guarding the gates./ * /There is always one teacher on duty during study hour./ Contrast: OFF DUTY.
[one] See: AT ONE, FOR ONE, GO IN ONE EAR AND OUT THE OTHER, HANG ONE ON, HOLE IN ONE, KILL TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE, NUMBER ONE, SIX OF ONE AND HALF-A-DOZEN OF THE OTHER, SLIP ONE OVER ON, TEN TO ONE, TWO TO ONE, WORDS OF ONE SYLLABLE.
[one and the same] <adj. phr.> The same; identical. * /Erle Stanley Gardner and A.A. Fair are one and the same person./ * /The spider lily and the Peruvian Daffodil are one and the same./
[one-armed bandit] <n.>, <slang> A slot machine, like those used in Las Vegas and other gambling places. * /Joe was playing the one-armed bandit all day - and he lost everything he had./
[on earth] See: IN THE WORLD.
[on easy street] <adj. phr.>, <informal> Having enough money to live very comfortably; rather rich. * /After years of hard work, the Grants found themselves on easy street./ * /Jim's novel was a success and put him on easy street./ Compare: IN CLOVER, IN THE CHIPS, WELL-TO-DO.
[one damn thing after another] or [ODTAA] (pronounced owed-tay) <n. phr.> If there is one problem, there will be more. * /First I lost my wallet, then a kid broke the window, and, lastly, my car refused to start. It was just one damn thing after another!/ Compare: IF IT'S NOT ONE THING IT'S ANOTHER.
[on edge] <adj. phr.> Excited or nervous; impatient. * /The magician kept the children on edge all through his show./ * /We were all on edge as we listened to the TV for news of the election results./ * /Father was on edge after driving home through the heavy holiday traffic./ See: SET ONE'S TEETH ON EDGE. Contrast: AT EASE(2).
[one eye on] <informal> Watching or minding (a person or thing) while doing something else; part of your attention on.
– Used after "have", "keep", or "with". * /Jane had one eye on the baby as she ironed./ * /Bill kept one eye on his books and the other on the clock./ * /Chris tried to study with one eye on the TV set./ Compare: KEEP AN EYE ON.
[one foot in the grave] <n. phr.> Near to death. * /The dog is fourteen years old, blind, and feeble. He has one foot in the grave./ * /Grandfather has never been sick a day in his life, but Mother cares for him as if he had one foot in the grave./
[one for the books] <n, phr.>, <informal> Very unusual; a remarkable something. * /The newspaper reporter fumed in a story that was one for the books./ * /Their trip through the Rocky Mountains was one for the books./
[one-horse] <adj. phr.> Insignificant; modest; provincial. * /Arnold's business is a one-horse operation; he never had a single employee./
[one man's meat is another man's poison] What is good for one person is not necessarily good for another.
– A proverb, * /Even though Jeff likes to swim in ice cold water, his brother Tun hates it. This is understandable, however, because one's man's meat is another man's poison./ Contrast: WHAT'S SAUCE FOR THE GOOSE IS SAUCE FOR THE GANDER.
[on end] <adj. phr.> Seemingly endless.
– Used with plural nouns of time. * /Judy spent hours on end writing and rewriting her essay./ * /During July and August there was no rain for weeks on end./
[one-night stand] <n. phr.> 1. A single performance given by a traveling company while on a tour. * /After they went bankrupt in the big cities, the traveling jazz quartet played one-night stands in the country./ 2. A brief affair or sexual encounter. * /"With AIDS all around us?" said Jane. "Nobody is having one-night stands anymore."/
[one of these days] or [some of these days] <adv. phr.> Someday; sometime soon. * /One of these days Herbert will be famous./ * /I'm going to do that sewing some of these days./
[one on the city] <n.>, <slang> A glass of water (which is provided free of charge, as a free gift from the city). * /What will you have?
– Oh, just give me one on the city./
[one's money's worth] <n. phr.> A fair return on one's money spent or invested. * /I wouldn't say that the trip was a great bargain, but I feel that we got our money's worth./
[one's own row] See: HOE ONE'S OWN ROW.
[one-two] <n.> 1. A succession of two punches, the first a short left, followed by a hard right punch, usually in the jaw. * /Ali gave Frazir the one-two./ 2. Any quick or decisive action which takes the opposition by surprise, thereby ensuring victory. * /He gave us the old one-two and won the game./
[one up] <adj. phr.> Having an advantage; being one step ahead, * /John graduated from high school; he is one up on Bob, who dropped out./ * /The Platters are one up on their neighbors. They own the only color television set in their neighborhood./